Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-25
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS

THE general futility Of the chamber
L music compositions being produced
by the composers today has been strik-
ingly shown this season in Philadcl-
phia BY the performance of the eccentric
composition in this form by Alfredo Ca
sello. played at a concert of the Cham
Der Music Association by the Rich
Quartet and the Ravel quartet. played
last Sunday afternoon before the same
organization by the Lett Quartet.
Not that the two compositions may
be placed justly In the same class.
Ravel's quartet Is one of the most sig
nifrant works in chamber music OF the
later French composers. and both from
its intrinsic merits and from its re-
ception thus far by the musical public,
Il nromises to be one of the three string
uuartets that France has added to the
permanent repertoire in the last CEN
tury, the two others being the Dcbussy
quartet and that Of Cesar Frnnck.
Casella's quartet. on the other hand.
seems. at least on first hearing. simply
to be a wild outbreak of unthinking and
almost irresponsible modernism. 10 tn"
ear accustomed to the quartets OF the
classics. it offers nothing tonaily. anu
while he has demolished form, he has
put nothing in its place.
THE string quartet as form OF COM
i position seems to have gone about
as completely out Of existence as the
piano sonata. The loss to music is
almost irreparable. The older com l..
posers wrote piano sonatas first and
then string Quartets. finally aspiring to
the symphony when the technique IN
sonata had been thoroughly completed
through these media: -,
But the present day composer VIII
not 20 through this discipline. AS often
as not, he will begin with SYMPHONY
as soon as he has mastered sufficient
harmony TO be able to write away from
the plano-and some of the most mod J.
ern works sound as though they were
written even before this. 1t would be
safe to say that, were a thorough can
vass of the manuscripts OF ambitious
American composers possible, there
would be found as many, II not more
symphonies and operas as there woulL
be sonatas or string Quartets.
An Interesting thing In connection
with the concert of the Lett Quartet
last Sunday was the effect Of placing
two movements from a Haydn quartet
lust before the Ravel. 1t was amazing
how fresh the Haydn number sounded
even when sandwiched in betwee'
Brahms and Ravel. In spontaneity ant
grace there have been few composers hit
equal, and these qualities go loni
way in effective quartet composition.
TT IS true beyond question tina
i Haydn's quartets have stood the acit
test of time better than his symphonies
so much better that not season passes
that several Haydn quartets are no
played In oil the great music centers O.
the country, whereas performances o
any Of the symphonies are few and Ia
between, despite the fact that Their
are four or five times the number o
orchestral concerts in all the big citie
thar there are chamber music concerts
OF course, the greatest element II
this Is the fact that the instrumental
tiou of the quartet has not changed
since the time OF Haydn. whereas tn
orchestra has been many times en-
larged, new Instruments giving innu
merabie varieties Of tone, both alon
and In combination, have been adde'
and the technique of Beethoven, Ber
lioz and Wagner has increased i'm
mcnsely the possibilities Of the orches
ira in tone and expression.
But the modern orchestral writer
are undoubtedly composing. more in tn
spirit of their times than are those TO
chamber music, and those who IN thei
music interpret most accurately tn
spirit Of their age are they whose com
positions will live; provided that thei
works have in them the same element
of this age which will live in economi
history. 1t Is an age whose rapidit
and noise are not fitted to expositio
in the string quartet and similar com
binations, and perhaps this is the rea
son why we are getting sucn poo
material along these lines.
WAGNER used to say that there wa
w no use for him or for any one els
to compose symphony because Bee
thoyen had exhausted the possibilities c
this form of composition, a statemen
which later the works of Brahms
Tschaikowsky, Cesar Franck an
Dvorak disproved. 1t IL much nor
Of question as to whether Beethovc
did not actually exhaust the POSSIBLE
tiles of the piano sonata and the strin
quartet. Since his day there has bee
little enough done for these Inslrumien,
to make the question fair one.
Perhaps Wagner was right AZ to ii
symphony, if additional instruments hl