New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-09

&c astonishing the masterpieces OF
.,,e written by a composer Of
-,1vi6e reputation, should only nov
sd known 10 the English speak
voy'd Yet this has been the story
eu,pv Of Moussorgsky's best lyrics
~ are now for the FIRST time made
.r,b,c 10 American musicians IN the
..,.rolumc collection, Masters Of
.;sr song. edited by Kurt Schind-
and published by G. Schirmer. Mr..
s1;,5ler. rs editor and as director of
:. sSola Csntorum chorus, has done
-. .ban any other one man to make
4. voesl music of Russia known TO
,-,,iesps. His volume, "A Century
. Russian Song published six years
=, WAS ar astonishing glimpse into
,,v world Of music. Here, in the
mss Of a hundred pages, was a
enc OF The development Of Russian
SIC 10 its various schools and ideals,
IN as dozens OF orchestral concerts
..gld never supply.
The present volumes arc in effect a
...,;nuaton OF the first. One of them
!. devoted wholly 20 Moussorgsky's
.,ncs Il completes the two great
.r,lss "Sungs and Dances of Death =
"a without Sunlight" and adds aD-
,.,.- from ''The Child's Nursery
,,,le all represented by one or two
,.,0. in the previous volume. II
.toVs Moussorgsky as the ballad
-,i.er. as the humanitarian and Pan
g.vis, Us tho humorist, as the painter
n nature. and, what is more surpris-
;,r as the lover. Il shows him in his
sat enthusiasm for Russian foiksong
.,d in his last phase as the technical
,poya,or. the lineal ancestor Of mod
en- impressionism-
The candid critic, reviewing these
.,i,v.six songs which Mr.. SCHNEIDER
=, revealed. can only conclude that
vouuorrsky is one Of the great song
,yi,ers Of the world. The placing
II composers is always slippery and
Controversial task, yet it helps to con
,,v definite picture If ono says
psp,v that Moussorgsky's name
.bopld be- added TO those other four
,bcb are commonly accepted as rep
,ssenting the supreme in lyriclsm-
S,bubert. Schumann, Brahms and
Wolf. There have been other cAndl-
s,tes. GREG and even MacDoveu
hrr been nominated for the brother
haod and Strauss is running strong
Pu By the logical and elimlnatve
process which Ernest Newman applies
% The work Of Hugo Wolf, Moussorg-
.ky would probably DC the choice. One
night "rate" his songs and list his
,ryeral musical virtues as Mr.. Newman
did With Wolf. But this would need a
bcok-though. indeed, Moussorgsky de
serves an extended critical volume to
r,place the brochure by Calvocoressl,
which has been so overworked by com
nsntatorS For the present the songs
can plead their own case
They plead, Of course, not alone By
their sheer musical beauty, but by
,h,ir close union Of music and verse,
the extraordinary delineative power
q their accompaniments, the daring
aad simplicity of their technique and
inc remarkable range of their manner
and subject matter. Only Wolf, OF
The four master song writer's, can ap-
proach Moussorgsky in faithful adher-
,sce 70 the text. But Moussorgsky was
perhaps more sensitive than any Of
them in the choosing of his poems.
Tn, tragic intensity of his two serious
cycles is far more genuine than the
salon smotionalism Of the Muller
leder.o the 4Winterreise," or the
"WOmsn's Life and Love" His feeling
io- the grand sweeps of scenery, as
shown in the grandiose song to the
Dnieper River, was extraordinarily
vivid HIS power to translate the epic
emotion. the vague sense Of vast human