New-York tribune., 1920-05-30
A French Estimate of Brahms

n French Estimate OF Brahms
A Frenchman, Paul Landormy, has
written little book on Brahms in which
he attempts to estimate the value of his
compositions and fix the limits of his
genius. We have not seen the book. but
reviewer, writing in "The Musical
| Times" gives US a pretty clear intima-
ton Of the authors conceits. Some of
them are surprising, to say the least.
One of these is that the best of Brahms
is to be found in the first two violin
sonatas. The violin concerto is merely
estimable," and the double concerto
praiseworthy. The symphonies are the
least interesting Of his compositions, and
the unhappy result of "an inordinatc
ambition imposed on him by his circle"
Of friends for "sublimity fails him. and
the sentiment which he tries to express
in them che feels but shallowly." In the
first &C minor) the first movement strup-
giles in vain to be pathetic; the Andanti
rhetoric; the finale has a principal
theme .proclaiming with such effrontery
its relationship with that of the ode to
JOY that one ends by feeling quite un-
comfortable and somewhat ashamed"
The Allegretto is the only movement
worthy Of the composer. Here we pause
to recall the familiar remark made by
Brahms to the wseacre who called his
attention to the resemblance between
the theme Of his finale and that of Bee
thovens choral symphony, "Any fool
can see that"
But we fail to see why any one
capable Of appreciating the grandeur
of the Brahms finale should feel either
, uncomfortable or ashamed if the COM
poser had made a literal quotation of
the Beethovenian melody and treated
it as he did the melody which has
only an obvious likeness to it. The
German Requiem" is set down among
Brahms's less Characteristic produc-
tions. 1t is popular for the same reason
that Mendelssohn's oratorios arc pop
ular. 'It is the severe and archaic
art of Handel and Bach brought to the
reach of the big public by a clever
modernization which leaves the illu-
sion Of an antique style. It is Bach
and Handel popularized." In it Brahms
makes an unnatural effort to speak a
dead language, and it contains nothing
Of the melodic and rhythmic elements
which mark the best of his COMPOST
tlons. Of course it is interesting to
observe how the mind Of French
critic reacts to the music of Brahms
after the war; but comment on M.
Landormy's opinions would be unprof-
table. 1t is a bit surprising, of course,
to be told that Brahms wrote SYM
rhonles because his friends urged him
to do so and thereby transcribed the
narrow domain in which he was orig
inal Schumann, we believe, saw
"ve;led symphonies" in his pianoforte
sonatas before they were published.
and as for the c minor, it was kept in
the mind of the composer much longer
than the nine wears of the Horatian
adage before it was given to the world.
The impulse to write q symphony did
not come to Brahms from his friends.
even though Schumann urged him on
more than q quarter Of a century be-
fore the first symphony saw the Light.
1t was an individual and artistic
prompting, and if he'held back his hand
until all the musical world onged to
know what it held it was because of
all composers since Beethoven he
was ilkest to that master in his capac-
ity for self-criticism