New-York tribune., 1920-01-28
Bruckner's Fourth
Symphony Is Heard
Az Carnegie Hall
German Composers Work,
Last Given Here in 1910
and Before in 1888. Not
Popular With Conductors
By II. f. krehbjel

The occasional performance Of a
symphony by Bruckner is, apparently,
an obligation which conductors i'm
pose upon themselves from sense Of
duty There have been indications. as
there were yesterday when Mr.
Bodanzky brought forward the fourth,
which is yclept Romantic" at a con-
cert of the New Symphony Orchestra,
IN Carnegie Hall, that the perform
ances are looked upon by the public
in the light of impositions. Before
then this work hao been heard only
twice in New York-at "historical'
concert Of the Philharmonic Society,
March so, 1910, and Seidl concert
IN Chickering Hall, March l6, 1888
In the ten years which have elapsed
since the last hearing, the fifth, sixth,
seventh and eighth symphonies of the
composer have been performed. but
the people OF New York have been
mere fully spared the ninth, of which
Bruckner completed oaly three move
ments and abandoned with the sug-
gestion that his "Te Deum" be per
formed as finale and that the work
be inscribed to God Almighty. OF the
earlier symphonies we know nothing
sufocated by Nonotony
Ten years ago we thought it q bit
unaccountable that conductors had
shown themselves indifferent to the
Symphony in Efat unless it was be
cause they realized that the last
movement was an incubus which must
perforce kill the pleasurable sensa-
tions produced by the earlier sections,
especially the Scherzo Yesterday the
reason seemed to us more obvious,
though the out-doorsy' spirit which
breathes IN the beginning of the first
movement and awakens delightful cx-
pectatlons was speedily sutfocated by
the deadly miasma OF monotony which
eXhales from. the ingenious themes.
We cannot recall another work by an
approved master in the technique Of
composition in which there is such an
amount OF making of faces as prel-
udes to q significant utterance
And that is not all. No sooner is an
idea brought to expression fcarfully
inflated expression, than the music
dies down TO next to nothing and an
other ascent is begun to the same
climax. The school Of German com
posers, to which Bruckner belongs,
used to have much to say in condemna-
ton OF the "Rosalien" OF old fashioned
composers, meaning the reiteration Of
melodic figure on different degrees
Of the scale for the purpose of lead
ing from one theme to another. If
there is another example in symphonic
llterAture of the abuse Of this trite but
comfortable device comparable to that
found IN this work we do not know il.
Cobblor's Patches
We felt yesterday as if at least one
third of the score was filed with these
cobbler's patches N.r Seidl used 10
repeat description given by him
Of how he had seen Reissingcr, or some
other old pedantic worthy, at work on
score and heard him say: "Now comes
crescendo and we go UP the mountain;
then when We are so high, We come to
the bottom again 1t was vastly divert
ing as Wagner described it, but # his
disciple Bruckner does more than march
his instrumental hosts up q hill and
then, like the King Of France and his
twice 10000 men, march them down
again. we cannot detect the action. The
sclf-styled progressists may call this
development; to US j, is mere iteration,
damnable iteration, which can corrupt
neither sinner nor saint.
/. There is pleasant music in the
Scherzo, which is "Hunt's Up with
commonplace dance music TO accom-
pany the meal on the greensward Ito
accept the composers own program),
but much Of this was spoiled yester-
day by the founderng Of the horn
players. On the whole, we fear that
the performance OF the symphony did
no more habilitate it in the standard
repertory than did the earlier perform
ances by Seidl and Mailer. It. compan-
ions OF the program, which will be re-
poated tins evening, were Wagner's
'Siegfried Idyl" and Beethoven's Egg
mont overture