New-York tribune., 1920-10-31
By II. E. Krehbiel

In q necessarily hurried comment on
some new music by the Italian Casella
l"Italia"), performed by the Philadei-
pha Orchestra last Tuesday night,
we made reference to the stagnation
into which all music except the opera
has lain in Italy for nearly two CEN
turies. 1t was impossible then, it Is
impracticable now, to discuss this
phenomenon, for 1t would involve a
survey Of the history of Italian music
since the invention of the opera,
which was the great fundamental
cause Of the degradation Of the lnstru-
mental and ecclesiastical art for which
once all the natives of the Occidental
world, looked to the land from
which came the renascence of all forms
Of culture. Such a survey, full of sug-
gestion is we'll as fact, though limited
in scope, was made by Mr.. Oscar G..
Sonneck twenty years ago in q Ger
man essay written for the Journal of
the international Musical Society and
repubhshed in translation In the
authors collection of essays entitled
SUM Cuique" C. Schirmer. 1916) to
which we are beholdcn for most Of the
historical material which we shall
brlng forward here. A large portion
of Mr.. Sonneck's splendid disouisition
is devoted to the opera. which ha treats
also as degenerate offspring and
which he holds responsible for the
decay Of pure music in Italy. Against
Its pernicious influence the fine
minds Of Italy labored in vain through
the sseventeenth and eighteenth CEN
turtles and down to the middle OF the
nineteenth, when the uplift which he
halls In the concluding pages of his
essay may be said to have begun. The
condition Of instrumental music as
ate as 1850 may be guessed from the
words Of an Italian writer, Zuliani.
who in discussing the state of music
in Rome in 1878, said:
Twenty years ago pure instru-
mental music was thing unknown in
-Nome; few macstri cult
vated the German classics. TIL.
pianssts played nothing but opera music
-, poor arrangements. Tullic
Ramacciotti, an excellent violinist. y
highly educated and progressive-mind
ed ARTIST. was the first to venture upor
the unpopular mission Of inviting tn,
pubIlc to attend quartet soir6es s-witl
light success: some few foreigner.
Gang 20 them; Roman society, even the
'lberally educated, felt a holy horro,
when anybody so much as mentioned
classical instrumental music
1t was thankless apostolate."
This in 1851; is was not until 1856.
that string quartet Of Cherubini's We
aublicly performed in Italy. Then, un
der the influence Of Liszt, whose asso
citation with the Roman Church n,
doubt helped him to the ear and min,
OF Italian musicians (though Of thi
Mr.. Sonneck says nothing), Sgambati
q pupil OF Liszt, and Pinelli, a pupil O
Joachim, attempted to open a way t,
the instrumental classics. The forme
gave the Romans their first opportuni
~ TO hear one Of Beethoven's sym
phonies. Pinelli gave some orchestra
concerts, and at tho first of them hi
receipts were IA lire-about sS--an,
ne had to pay the wages Of sixty mu
sicians.
Attempts to Stimulate Orchestral
Concerts
The movement spread from Rome tc
Florence, Lucca, Naplee, Modens
Milan, Pisa, Brescia, Turin. Quartet
societies were formed, journals were
established, prizes were offered and
won by such admirable musicians as
Bazzini, Faccio and Martucci. In 1876
Andreoli gave popular" concerts of
chamber and symphonic music. After
the orchcstras of La Scala and Turin
had won renown in Paris in 1878
Giulio Ricordi, the great publisher in
Milan, organized the Societa Orches-
trale del Teatro Scala and gave from
four to six annual concerts under
Faccio. We have programs of these
for several years Of later period and
they are admirable; but at first they
were closed to German composers. But