New-York tribune., 1920-02-11
Half Cantata.
Half Symphony
Is "The Bells -
Philadelphia Orch str a
Brings With 1t Chorus of
200 Voices and SOloists
to Present Innovation
Work by Rachmaninoff
Music Fails to Express
Properly the Melodious
Lines of Edgar A. Poe
By III. E. Krehbiel

By II. E. Krehbiel
70 give especial attractiveness to Its
fourth concert, which took place in
Carnegie Hall last night, the Phila-
delphia Orchestra brought with it n
chorus of about 200 voices. and with
their aid and that of three solo singers
gave hearing to composition by
Rachmaninoff, which had its first per-
iormancc in America in the home of
the orchestra last Friday.
, Inc title of the work as printed on
the house bill is Symphony No. ),
me me Bells, (poem by Edgar Allan
| loe).' A little inept, if not mislead-
ing, is this title, for the composition
is entitled to the designation symphony
only by most liberal construction Of
the term. 1t contains symphonic cle-
ments in its construction, and it has
! tour movements which are contrasted
IN mood, though not so much so as anv
OF the acknowledged symphonies with
which we are familiar.
but musical work in four move
ments IS not necessarily symphony.
not even if the instrumental element
| is dominant in ii, which is not the case
IN this instance. 1t was not even so
much of symphony as Beethoven's
'fantasla,' for pianoforte, orchestra
and chorus which, with Madame
Samarotf playing the solo part. had
thoroughly delightful performance
before the novelty Of the evening was
reached.
Half Cantata, Half Symphony
mat "Fantasia," as we pointed out
/ long ago, is the embryonic form of the
last of Beethoven's immortal nine. the
d minor, with its choral finale. in
which, as in the smaller and earlier
work, theme is developed by solo
voices, orchestra and chorus. Mr. Rach-
manlnof's composition & an anon
alous thing half cantata and half
! symphony. The nearest parallel to it
! IN musical literature is Mahlcr's
symphony Of a thousand" with which
Mr.. Stokowsky and his forces made a
great deal of noise, literally as we'll as
| tiguratively speaking, a few years ago.
1t falls somewhat short of cantata
with "The Bells' as its text, in that it's
verbal element is a paraphrase Of Poe's
poem twice removed-the music having
been composed to Russian transla-
ton and the English version being a
sian translation. In the process of this
twotold remoulding the original poem
was lost-a circums Stance to which we
were reconciled by the reflection that
no musical setting of THE Bells" is
conceivable which would retain the
music of Poes words. That music is
inherent in the poem in its apt employ
ment of ''alllteration's artful aid,'' its
harmony of rhyme and its onomatopes.
instrumental music cannot give us
equivalents for single one Of these
elements.
After the long drawn out procla-
nation by the stupendous harmonious
company last night it was pleasant to
forget all that had been heard and
mentally listen to the melodious flow Of
such lines as What a world of merri-
ment their melody foretells," "the sink
ing and the swelling" "the clamor and
the clangor." "the turbulent tale of
terror" the melancholy menace" and
the "mutfled monotone;" hear the
rhythmical pulsations "Keeping time,
and feel the emotional spree evoked
by the pictures which inspired the poet
and were limned in words.
The singers last night did their duty
nobly, though not a dozen of the lines
( sung by principals or choristers were
distinguishable. We were, therefore,
thrown for an understanding of the
composition sentirely on the tonal de-
lineation of the moosss o. the contrast
my PlCLuI Co-s-inc neIIlmeHU OIL a
sleighing party (section onc), the 10y
of wedding (section two), the terrors
of Il cont1agration (section three) and
the sorrow and solcmnity of death and
burial.
There were suggestions Of chimes
aarums and funereal toiings in the
themes employed by the composer, but
his chief reliance, even in the vocal
parts, was upon expressive harmonic
and instrumental color, the voices be-
ing treated as a part Of the band The
first and third movements seemed to us
the most eloquent-the first because
of the graciousness of its thematic ma =
terial and the ingenious combination
by which, at the beginning especially,
a silvery sheen was spread over the
music; the third because of the thrill
ing effects of choral harmony, in the
production Of which the singers from
Philadelphia, trained by MIR. Stephen
S. Townsend, were startirgly effective
Singing Revelation
The singing was, indeed, something
in the nature of "A revelation compared
with that to which local choirs have
accustomed US. 1t was a noticeable
fact, considering his theme, that Mr..
Rachmaninoff made only moderate use
of numerous tubes, bell-chimes and
otnei percussion instruments WltnOuL
which no modern symphonist seems to
be able to get along.
For the Birmingham festival Of
1906 Mr.. Josef Holbrooke made Il
setting of Poe's poem in cantata form,
and his orchestration called out the
remark from a waggish critic that
he had used every kind of bell except
the dumbell. Instead Of initiating
his English predecessor Mr.. Racn-
maninoff was almost as continent as
his countryman Moussorgsky, who
made gong and his brass choir
ring the bells of the Kremlin in
Boris Godounoff."
The solo singers, who performed
q difficult task satisfactorily, were
Florence Hinkle, Arthur Hackett and
Frederick Patton. The concert began
with Beethoven's third "Ieonore" over
ture.