New-York tribune., 1921-11-07
Friends of Music
Sponsors for Ideal
Concert Program
Less Familiar Works of Ger.
man Composers Finely
Presented at Town Hall:
Nine. Cerliardi Soloist
By III. f. Krehbiel

BY tt. T.. krchbiel
1t seems to be difficult matter accu-
rately to adjust the purposes and tho
doings of the Society of the Friends of
Music so that they may be in perfect
accord. To give hearing to music Of
tho highest type which does not fall
within the scope Of other concert or
ganizations or ordinary concert givers,
that ostensibly Is Its mission, and 1t is
ut once n beautiful, a lofty one, and one
which would make For tho increase and
refinement Of popular knowledge and
taste. The program of the concert in
Town Hall yesterday afternoon was al
most ideal. The overture to "Geno-
veva," by Schumann, was, perhaps, nm
necessary, for the reason that it lies
properly within the neld cultivated by
symphonic orchestras, But it is seldom
heard and is beautiful.
The Concerto Crosse, by Handel, for
two violins and violoncello as the con-
certino and string band, was de-
cidcdly to the purpose, not only be-
cause Of its beauty, but also because it
belongs to an archaic class Of compost
tions rarely represented in the schemes
of orchestral concerts, and also because,
we'll played by a small band in small
room, it is more effective than under
the inflated conditions which prevail at
symphonic concerts. II is chamber
music, and should be heard as such
The church cantata by Bach, "Gott soil
Allen mein Herze haben.' was also we'll
chosen-or would have been well
chosen had it been performed by
proper and adequate apparatus. But in
it the organ is extensively used obbli-
cato, and for the noble instrument for
which Bach wrote n cabinet organ was
poor substitute, offering neither vari-
; ETY. of color nor the diapason tone
sence of all the wind instruments OF
! the band except the oboes, which were
but little in evidence.
The style Of tho work is that Of tho
old Italian solo cantsta, and, in view of
the fact that it is largely based upon
concerto which Bach wrote for violin,
and also for clavichord, the monoto-
nous tone of the instrumental part
initiated greatly against. itx effect,
nobly as the vocal part was sung by
Nine. Gerhardt That, indeed was
notable achievement, as was also. we
think, the Interpretation Of the work
by Mr.. Bodanzky, while the singing by
the choir Of the stanza from Luther's
hymn, "Nun bitten wir den heiligen
Geist," though not exactly uplifting,
was creditable to the choristers and
their trainer, Mr.. Stephen Townsend
MIR. Wilfrid Pelletier played the organ
part and MIR. Paul Eisler accompanied
the recitatves in Nine. Gerhardt's
arioso and siciiano discreetIy upon a
makeshift harpsichord. Who the solo
players in the Handel concerto were the
program neglected to tell us--which
was pity, for the character as we'll as
the excellence Of their work deserved
recognition.
The customary sheet of words was
also wanting, because of failure of
delivery by the printer, the audience
was told. This must have been dis
appointing to the listeners who were
unfamiliar with the German language
and the songs by Mailer which
brought the concert to a close. Those
familiar with the German tongue, how
ever, hnd no need OF the printed
words, for Nine. Gerhardt's enuncia-
tlon and diction were exemplary; had
she merely read the text she would
! have made ravishing music. The titles
OF the Mailer songs were bit con-
fusing. They were settings Of excerpts
! from the collectlon OF German folk
songs made by Clemens Brentano and
his brother-in-law, Won Arnim, called
: "Des Knaben Wunderhorn," a collec-
ton which has parallel in the his
tory of English literature in Bishop
Percy's "Reliques," though it contains
fewer metrical romances.
If Nine. Gerhardt adhered to the list
of songs as printed in the programs,
some OF them are queerly named 1t
is scarcely likely that anybody would
give title like "Das Irdische Leben"
to the wondrously pathetic miniature
ballad which lovers of folksong know
as "Das hungernde Kind" ("The Starv-
ing Child"). The strong infusion of
the folksong spirit in Mahler's genius
made him singularly felicitous in his
settings of these traditional texts To
US there seems to be more and truer
feeling in any one of his "Wunderhorn"
songs than in the most ambitious of
his symphonic movements. There is
genuine spontaneity in their humor as
we'll an their pathos. Their perform
ance by Nine. Gerhardt was perfection,
and SO was their accompaniment bv the
orchestra, so far as Mr.. Bodan KY could
make it So. The tone of his wood
winds did not stand a severe test, how
ever.