Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-14


this country. Not only did he give the
first American hearing bf the B minor
Mass, but the first American perform
ances as well of the st. John Passion,
the Christmas oratorio and large
number Of the cantatas.
In passing II may be mentioned that
Bach composed more than 300 Of these
cantatas. Where being five sets of them
for every Sunday and holy day in the
year, besides many single ones and
others written for special occasions.
About 200 Of these are still extant, the
others having been lost in one way or
another.
These losses are due to the fact that
Bach was not appreciated for many
years after his death, and it was not
until 100 years after the composition
of the st. Matthew Passion that It had
its first adequate, IL not actually its
first, performance in Germany, under
Mendelssohn, who did more than any
other one man to place Bachs music
where its merits entitled It to rank. In
the same way two of the five settings OF
the Passion have been lost, and the
greatest Of them all, that according to
st. Matthew, had an exceedingly mar
row escape.
THE story of the rescue of the st.
i Matthew Passion music is an inter :
esting one. Zelter, the teacher Of Men
delssohn, was out walking in Berlin
one day, when he noticed an auction
sale at the house of retired cheese
monger who had acquired wealth shortly
before his death.
Out of sheer curiosity, Zelter entered
the house and. seeing some music manu- :
script sticking out Of package ap-
parently of waste paper and other odds
and ends, bid for the package and Sc
cured it. He took it home and opened
it, when the music manuscript proved
to Re the score of the st. Matthew Pas
sion complete, in Bach's own writing.
Zelter was later pursuaded to give
the score to Mendelssohn as a Christ
mas present and Mendelssohn was thus
the first to know its great beauty. He
give it in Germany in 1920, just about
one century after it had been composed.
So far as is known, this was the first
adequate rendition of the mighty work
that had ever been given. The origi-
nal manuscript is still in possession OF
the Mendelssohn family, which Incl
dentally has innumerable scores Of the
great masters, including most of the
later Beethoven quartets and some OF
the symphonies.
Stories like this. of which there are
many and we'll authenticated, show how
little Bach was understood by the mu
sicians of his own time and those who
came Immediately after him. Within
forty years his name had become a
mere tradition and it was not until
Mendelssohn took the lead that he began
to be appreciated.
DUT to return to the Bethlehem Choir
- In his widest dreams Bach prob
ably never thought of such perform
ance of his works as is now given an :
nually in the Lehigh valley. The size
of the chorus for which Bach wrote
his cantatas in Leipsic was twelve
voices, and these were supplemented by
a body of about eighteen instrumental =
lists. What would he have thought
could he have heard his works inter
preted last week by fine orchestra of
about seventy skilled instrumentalists
and sung by chorus of more than
200, trained to the acme of perfection
the whole conducted by one of the most
loving, conscientious and faithful OF
his followers? --.
The immense amount Of work and
time devoted to the work of the Bach