New-York tribune., 1920-11-15

pealng beauty in compositions SO
archaic that it lacked the elements
even Of tonaity. A toccata by
Claudia Merulo, capriccio on the In
tcrval Of the cuckoo's cali by Giorolan-
no Frescobaldi, a toecata by Johann
Iakob Frobcrgcr had been played down
to the final chord of the last piece be-
fore the ear heard the closing chord,
which suggested the major or minor
mode Of to-day, and yet his hearers
followed him with beaming counte-
nances and exslamations of Charming"
were mingled With the noise of beat
ing and ruddicd palms.
They were brave old men whose
spirits Mr.. Bauer evoked. Merulo, a
great organist of the Cathedral Of st.
Mark in Venice, who Aourished in the
latter half of the sixteenth century;
Frescobaldi, who attained to such a
popularity as an organist that at the
age of twenty-five he played to an au-
dlence OF 10000 people; Froberger, who
is set down by historians as the first
Of the tribe Of peripatetic virtuosos.
and of whom the story is told chat he
worked the bellows Of the organ in
Westminster Abbey at the wedding of
Charles II and Catherine Of Portugal
and was so awed by the pomp of the
function that he forgot to blow and
the organ stopped breathless, where
upon he filled the bellows, mounted the
bench and played so brilliantly that he
was recognized by court lady, who
mad heard him play in VIENNA story
worthy of a modern press agent, but
not publicly married in Westminster
Abbey, but privately, at Portsmouth.
After these worthless had been dis
posed of Mr.. Bauer played a sonata in
eight movements descriptive of the
combat between David and Goliath by
Johann Kuhnau, who was the great
backs predecessor as cantor Of the St.
Thomas School in Leipsic A naive
piece OF program music is this old
sonata, which Mr.. Shedlock placed in
the hands Of music students.
Goliath RACES in the first movement
and strides over the ground like Wag-
ner's giants; David approaches him in
a gentle pastorale; Goliath is ponder
ously rampant until the pebble flies.
glisanda from the shepherd lads sling:
then the towering human hulk falls
gathering down amongst the lowest
keys; the Philistines fly prestssimo,
the lsraelites rejoice in Siciliano,
the, women sing antiphonally "Saul
hath slain his thousands and David his
ten thousands" and the Israelites dance
and leap for JOY in the finale.
In generous music all this, but
truer in its spirit than the crude tonal
delineations of many modern pro-
gramst
Then came the mighty Bach, 200
years old now, but like Bacchus "ever
fair and ever young" OF his music
there was one piece, wholly new to the
audience at least in the form in which
it was presented. Mr.. Bauer trans
scribed a Fantasia which the old mas
ter wrote for harpsichord with pedal
keyboard for two pianofortes.
He played primo in a concert-grand
pianoforte and Ernest Hoffman, played
secondo on a pianoforte with metal
hammers and (probably) light strings
which gave out an imitation of the
sound Of the old quilted instrument.
This "spinet grand" Eve know it from
the opera house, was used again to fiji
out the figured bass in the concerto in
D, in the performance of which Mr..
Bauer had the help also Of Samuel
Gardner, violin; Georges Barrere, flute,
and small band Of strings conducted
by Mr.. Rene Pollain.
It was this composition, played as
Bach's concertos and suites ought to
be played, which sent the audience
home in such merry mood.
There was a long wait for the bands
men who had played at the concert of
the Symphony Society and this inter-
mission Mr. Bauer filled by a volun-
teered performance Of one Of Pach's
partitas. The concert was given under
the auspices of the Society OF the
Friends OF Music