New-York tribune., 1922-03-27
Friends of Music
End Season With
Pleasing Program
Mozart Symphony, Bach
Concerto for Piano, Flute
and Violin and Brahms
@'Song of Destiny" Given
By III. +. krehbiel

The Society Of the Friends Of Music
gave the last OF its concerts for this sea-
son in Town Hall yesterday afternoon. 1t
vas not only its last but also its most
interesting meeting, and the one which
most fully met the purposes for which
ostensibIy the society was founded.
The program embraced three num-
bers ouIy-one of the many unfamiliar
symphonies of Mozart, a concerto for
pianoforte, flute, violin and string or
chestra by Bach, and Brahms's
"Schicksslslied" ("Song Of Destiny'O
Cor chorus and orchestra--all music de-
manding sympathetic intimacy as we'll
as understanding on the part of per-
formers and hearers.
The symphony was the one in G
major identified as No. 333 in K6chel's
Catalogue Of the composers works. In
way. like Schubert's oXquisitely idyl-
lie work in NJ minor, it is torso, since
il lacks tho customary minuet- Schu
bert began a Scherzo for his work, but
for an unknown reason abandoned it
and, so far as is known, made no at
tempt TO write a finale. Mozart, too,
started a jocose movement for this
symphony, but put 1t aside, though he
wrote q peculiarly animated last move
ment. Why no minuet? Nobody knows.
He certainly was not indifferent to the
work, for when il was played in Vien-
ia in 1881 he wrote home that the per
formance was "magnifque" and q COM
plete success. Moreover the orchestra
was one of extraordinary size for
those days-forty violins, ten violas,
ten double basses, eight violoncellos,
all the wind instruments doubled and
six bassoons. The record is al inter
esting and instructive document and
certainly testifies to unusual interest
in the composition either on his part
or that of the conductor. Its beauties
we're capitally published yesterday by
Mr.. Bodanzky and his men, ard Gas at
the opera last Friday night) the won
der grew that SO much Ioveliness is
suffered to remain hidden under the
dust of ignorance and neglect Per
haps we are about to experience Il
renascence in the musical art Certain
it is that reaction would be whole
some.
Bach Concerto Pleases
More archaic, but also delightful to
the sensiblities of those who believe
that music was designed to be heard
instead of seen, touched, tasted and
smelled, was the Bach concerto, the
solo parts of which were played by Har-
old Bauer, Cino Nastrucci and Nicolas
I.aucella. 1t was that in A minor,
transcribed by Bach himself from a
clavier fugue, with slow movement,
which has no accompaniment, taken
from Trio Sonata in ID minor. This
adagio was the most charming
portion of the work, not only because
OF the exquisite tenderness of
its themes, bat because in it the bal
nee between the solo instruments was
better preserved than in the first move
ment and finale. Mr.. Bauer indeed
strove, with the taste and confluence
Characteristic of him in all his play
ing of Bach, to prevent the panoforte
from assuming too dominant part,
but the weight Of the string orchestra
when all the forces were employed
crushed the life out of the solo parts
for violin and flute nevertheless. The
same thing was noticeable recently at
concert of the Symphony Society