Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-10-29
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS

DllDA,BIfIilh OTCHeSrdl CohCc''-
L cocrs have had the unusual oppor'
tunity during the past year of hearing,
nj close intervals, some OF the principal
works Of the later Italian composers
who arc breaking away rrom the tradi-
non OF their native land. which holds
that the opera is the national form of
musical expression and who are making
hold essays in the field OF absolute music,
generally compositions to a program. 1t
is true but nevertheless absolute music.
The latest Of these opportunities came
Yesterday afternoon when Alfredo Ca
selln's war pieces received their first
hearing in this city. These extreme cx'
cursions into the realm OF modern as
,onance inevitably brought to mind the
"ssven Symphonic Expressions of
NoIinicro. Pause del Silenzio" which
was plnycd hero by Mr.. Stokowski sea-
son before last. Both OF these compo-
sitions ore based upon the war and up
n rho present time are two OF the most
noteworthy works having their genesis
in the great conflict.
II is no disparagemeRt 70 Malipiero
), ,av that tho work Of Casella is far
tbo more intellieible, chiefly because OF
tho detailed program which was sup
njIed 70 the audience. In each oil the
Ave- sections of the Casela work there
was note by the composer when maze
clpnr what he was trying TO express III
NalIpiero's seven numbers there was no
Guide except the tempo and the genera
character Of the movement as lndlcatcu
by the musical terms.
u1uIs brings up again the old aucs-
,Ion Of how far n composer may
,.r,,in,otolv 90 In attempting TO de-
.,siho mundane and concrete things in
tones A program in such works as
these ia absolutely necessary II the
bnorer is IN understand what the COM
noser wants to express when the ms
Zion of tho music extends outside OF the
purely and elementary emotional. :,
Music is the most sensitive or all
forms of expression and also the most
limited. Writing music to program IL
almost as old as coherent music ltseli,
and the greatest composers did not as
dain to use Il program IN certain OF
their works. although their greatest
comnositions did not take this form.
Both Bach and Beethoven used pro-
gram in few of their works, but they
did II with u naivete which makes clear
that thcv considered the program to be
Incidental TO these especial compost =
tions and not essential to general un-
dprstanding of their music. But outside
Of the call of the post horn in Bach
end the song of certain birds in Bee
thoven's Symphony No. u, there are rev
cases Of the admittedly great com
pOSers trying to initiate sounds outside
Of the legitimate province OF music OF
to describe concrete happenings in tones.
THE whole matter resolves itself into
J. the question OF how far n composer
may 60 before he finds himself trying
to express tonally things which demand
the more definite medium of words, line
or color
The late +. w. Haweis, an English
clergy man. who wrote voluminousIy on
musical matters. and wrote a good bit
Of nonsense about it as we'll, nevcrthc
less made in one Of his books a striking
comparison with regard to program
music. He takes MendClssohn's over
turP Calm Sea and Prosperous Noy-
age MS the starting point and shows
how the composer has depicted tonally
the beginning of the voyage, the rising
OF the storm, it's subsistence and the
completion of the voyage in safety.
Then he devi5es a program of his own
TO wit: That n man comes down tc
breakfast, finds tho eggs overdone anC
the coffee undcrdonC and various Other
culinary Deficiencies. A quarrel witt
The OVcrworked wife CnsucS, with {
reconciliation Mt the end. Then he asks
the reader to differentlate between thI
two subjects if no program were fur
rlShcd, or in Case his own program were
supplied instead Of that os the com
poser and asks how many hearers woulC
h" able to point out the difference by
car alone.
This is doubtless spcCious reasoning
snd It must be admitted that tho rev
elend gentleman S choice of the com
position was wise one, bCCauS'
MendeISSohn in this overture has useC
few Of tho physical attributes OF al
actual storm. He may have 'playcc
tat", but Mt oil c,cnta, he did no
make n" error of RoSsini in the storm
scene of the william Tell" Ovcrtur,
Of having the roar Of the thunder sounr
before the fash Of the lightning appear
IN tn" orrhcstraton, Nevertheless, ther
II food for thought in the matter Of pro
gram music in his comparison.
Is not likely that the war vii
i produce any great piece Of musica
composition. Nnythmg which is at
Wmnl"d must ," accompanied, as Mr.
'aScl!n has wisely done, with YER
"mplHt" program; but even in this cas-
.h' composition can hardly be CXpcctC
get across with the average con
cert audience,
h" reasons for this are numerous
'ut ono will suffice. In order 10 get an
"'uelSt lndlnG at all Of the emotion
iI.oNcd by, var, it is necessary for tn
hSarer to have experienced at least som
VI these emotions. and to obtain fn
Nhpathy with the expression of th
composer it is essential that the listcne
m, T% person Of equal emotional feeling
tneSe requirements alone 'let out" tn
average concert gOcr.
music Ia too limited in its exprcssio
nr the attcmnted description of con
'Iete events. 1t must always be a mat
,tr OF considerable doubt ms to lust hu,
I"r music alone is aLio to influence tl
'm,hd' because some imaginations AZ
,ur more susceptible than others ~ i'm
II mrSSIons, tonal rs we'll as optic {
"H!mral; and h"nc" will find things whic
Tnl he inromprchcnsiblc to those [
less vivid sensibiIities.
VIE modern Italian composers Of III
Class represented by Cassclla an
Mdlipiero seem to be determined to brea
swsy from the tradition of their rae
sMa saa enter the field Of orchestral musi,
sue moss successful of these sttemp