The New York herald., 1922-03-05

enters; procession of Bacchus." The
other divisions and titles were pub
lished in this newspaper after Tues
day evenings performance. DR.. Ru-
dolf Mengelberg, cousin of Willem
Mengelberg, the conductor, is the
program annotator of the Concertge-
bouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and
he recently wrote that in the first
part of the symphony we find IAN ex-
preston of the emotion Of earthly
fellowship which attains its highest
organized form in human society.
Toward the end Mailer unites US
with the loftier fellowship-that of
the spirit OF belief, of love-"
Makes Mailer Ridiculous.
The music of the first part of the
mental and lasts thirty-five minutes,
furnishes no justification whatever for
the later program. while it Is OBJ
viously, indeed incontrovertibly suited
to the one originally offered by the
composer. The sleep of the earth. the
sudden squealing of the pipes OF Pan,
the uplifting OF the myriad voices of
young summer and the bacchanalian
procession, rioting and reeling in or
chestral inebriety are traceable. To
ask the listener to find in such music
ssNya - hn ion nf
earthly fellowship Except that which
becomes rhapsodic over its cups) is to
make Mailer ridiculous.
The second part of the composition
has five subdivisions. The first Is
minuet, which, according to the orig
inal program, meant What the flow
crs of the meadows tell me-" This is
, one of the best parts of the symphony.
IT has moro spontaneity. less evident
effort, more freshness of idea and free
dom of style, than most of the other
parts. The next subdivision is a
scherzo. which-still following the first
program-means What the animals
in the forest told me-" The composer
IS listening to the voices of the forest
inhabitants. A distant post horn re-
NstllS llAil W lilOh1liNo VI man. AiI
forgets the beasts and writes an in
terminable trumpet solo. 1t would be
good If it were half as long. The
movement comes to an end four times
and each time resolutely goes forward
again. Mailer was so enamored Of his
ideas that he suffocated them in his
long embraces.
In the fourth movement what
man tells me- a contralto voice sings
the Wanderers Night Song" from
"Thus spake Zarathustra." The bur-
den of the song is Joy needs eter
nifty Therefore we are carried at
once to the next subdivision, what
the angels tell me-" in which the con-
tralto unites with a choir Of women
and boys IN song from ''Des Knaben
Wunderhorn," pointing to tho mercy
and love of Christ The final section
is instrumental and Is intended TO sing
Of love. II begins very beautifully
The thematlc matter is comparatively
unlmportant. for It lacks definite char
acter, but the treatment Is most ef-
foctive. But here again Mailer must
fall in love with his own creation and
drive It TO death. This finale, liko the
scherzo, ends not less than four times.
n written with Ingenuity.
This composition requires two hours
for its performance. allowing a neces-
sary intermission between the first and
second eserts. The first part, as we
have seen, cannot be forced TO march
in company with the program made
for It by Mailer in his later years. or
his disciples. Neither can this music
stand Boldly up on it's own feet. II is
very dull music indeed. II is written
with immense technical ingenuity. for
Mailer never lacked that. The array
of instruments on the stage Is alone
sufficient 20 promise many striking
and even amazing utterances.
When. therefore, one finds the strings
rclegated TO secondary offices and the
wind and percussion proclaiming the