New-York tribune., 1922-11-30
Gloom Shadows
9th Concert OF
C'itySynnpl,ony
Urirelieved Melancholy of
skindertoten-lieder'' by
MahIer Work Injustice
ON Mime. Gerl,ardt's Art
korngold Opera Sung
Mime. .Jeritza Brings Rare
Charm to Role Which She
introduced Last Y ar
BY H., E. Krehbiel

Mr.. Dirk Foch and Mr.. Gasti invited
the patrons of the City Symphony
Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera
to spend large portion of the after
noon and evening of yesterday in
mortuary meditation. AT the Town
Hall the sixth symphonic concert SINCE
last Sunday took place. There was an
other by the Philharmonic s iety at
the College of the City of New York
in the evening, making the seventh af-
fair of its kind in five days, and in the
two days remaining of this eventful
week there will be five more orchestral
concerts. The cultivation of high-class
music, term which seems to be
synonymous with the exploitation of
conductors, goes on apace, and perhaps
we shall soon see the time when our
100000 of people will call for musical
pabulum exclusively symphonic, or at
least, orchestral. 1t is now offered, in
decidedly commendable form, by Mr..
Rothafel in association with moving
pictures and vaudeville at the Capitol
Theater, proceeding at which we are
by no means disposed to cavil
But this is not what we intended to
descant upon when We began writing
What was in our mind was the circum-
stance that for three-quarters of an
hour, or thereabouts, in the afternoon,
we were asked to listen to iheditations
on the death of children and for three
hours in the evening to d musico- dra-
matte study of morbid mind of man
perplexed in the extreme between de-
votion to dead wife and sensual de-
sire stimulated by momentary asso-
citation with woman who in voice and
feature resembled the consort who had
gone into the beyond. Mr.. Foch gave
us the five "Kindertoten-iieder" by
Ruckert set to music by Mailer; Mr..
Gatti the opera 'Die tote Stadt," com
posed by Erich Korngold. The songs
were not new, but they were not ia
miliar. They never will be familiar.
AS poems they are natural and tender
German poet Of exquisite sensibility by
the death Of two of his children. For
the compound German title we cannot
find an equivalent. For the persistent
ly gloomy mood of the music to which
they have been set we can as little find
justification. The composer would not
help us out If he were still among the
living. That the feeling with which he
filled them was poignant and sincere
we know. But we also know that had
he been asked the wherefore of his
setting he would have refused an ex-
planation.
Mahler's Theories Singular
Mah1er's attitude toward all art, all
music including his own, was singu-
lar one. Once at a private dinner ta
Bile the conversation turned on lyrical
poems and their composition, and he
made the cryptic remark that no artist
to whom had come a great and beau
tiful inspiration ought to give it to
the world. He should keep it shut up
in the shrine of his own soul. We
did not ask him how art was to exist
under such conditions or what it's serv
ice to mankind, but left him to his
broodings Nor did we ever question
his privilege to secure as many per
formances of his own works as he
could. AS to their merits we have our
opinions and have also exercised the
privilege of expressing them and leav-
ing them to their fate.
Nearly twelve years ago--it was in
January, 191O--he had DR.. Wullner
sing The "Kindertotenlieder" at con-
certs of the Philharmonic Society here
and in Brooklyn. At that time he re-
fused to permit anything to be printed
on the program except the texts of the
songs with translations) and the fol-