New-York tribune., 1922-01-15
By II. E. krchbiel

s.rt singers during the war which led
a 4 larger attention than had hitherto
teen paid to the songs of Russian COM
rosar,, but il had something to do with
tho case. Nine. Sembrich, who became
the exemplar of the song singers, be-
esn her expositions of the Russian art
twenty years ago, as she did OF folk
ssnss also. OF late, however, Russian
soues have become much In vogue, and |
myers now include groups Of songs |
b Arcnsky, Cui, Borodin, Moussorgsky
~ their fellow nationalsts in their
lsts almost as often as ten years ago
sney included groups of songs by
seArbert, Schumann and Brahms. And \
~ .tuxsian songs promise to become
- pcputar as the German. 1t is good
sign cf growing culture, almost as good
sac S0as. rabe sign as was the sub
-AstitAtisc Of German, English and
EreerA xrt-songs for the opera airs
~hich were the staple Of concert sing
css generation or SO ago, when song
recitaas were practically unknown and
the 81 .1Ts were heard only in con-
cert: Il which pianist AND violinist
also had part.
In those concerts the song proper.
~ contradistlnguish from the opera
air and the sentimental English ballad
"A the latter generally reserved for a so
called 'cncorc'D was almost as rarc an
article as a piece Of Russian instru
msntal music. One does not have 70
m're than fifty years old to remcm
hr wen the names of Russian com.
pesers were rs scarce as hens to.th
son concert programs, and less than half
rs old to remember the first perform
-sHcc here Of Russian opera thouoh
one was gwen in America half a con.
tury or so ago. 1t has never hc.,
heard OF here since, though it ranks
With the finest IN musical history. We
nave seen d lbrctto of that onera
verstoffsky's "Askold's Tomb" hnt
hat he had heard it. The FIRST com
position BY Russian Cor rather the
a'st piece Of charactcristically Russian
ntusc) which made Il deep impression
Ca our critical mind was one Of
Tschaikcwsky's, and prompted the ut
I Ssrance, Beware of the Muscovitc,"
(which the late James Huneker per.
sisted In quoting till his death, though
! repeatedly admonshcd, as "Warc the
y Nuscovite'
III We knew Rubnsteln' music and had
shown 1t tor years, but had never rec
Tnlssd the nationalist in him to an
extent deserving Of more than passing
remark. Essentially he was a German
composer, circumstance easily cx-
psned by the conditions of his artis-
'e development. He was racially a
Jew, and though born in Russia and
pstronized and lifted into prominence
~ the Russian aristocracy, he never
Z 'ecame a strong reflex Of the charac-
"ristic elements Of Russian art His
own recognition Of the fact had half
humorous, half pathetic expression in
MS confession that he did not himself
know what he was, the Russians saying
.tna' ne was German, the Germans
49, ne was Russian, the Christians
was Jew, the Jews that he
W" Christia., the Classicists that
~ was Romantic and the Romanti-
s':'' lnss ne was a Classic. On one
r0"s ae was convinced-he had no
''~p''ny with the Russian school of
4.p0sers represented by Balakireff,
W. Moussorgsky. Rimsky-
and Borodin-the Big Five" as mod
an politicians would say--who started
NE s'hool and saw it Immediately 90
pie es like the League of Peace in
.'us day.
=, One thing Rubinstein foresaw as {.
sobable result Of Of the efforts of the
,'o-called "Kushka"--the young school.
; II was that their use Of the Rus
san folksong idiom might result in
new qualification of music in GEN.
e'al." 1t has led to that in Russia, at
: ~~stS anu one OF tuc ulOSI COIVIuClHR
! demonstrations of the fact may be
round in the two volumes Of Modern
"uss;an Songs" edited by Ernest New
man and published by the Ditson COM
/ ssa'es Of Boston, New York and Chi
, sagc. There are something like one
aonafed songs In the two volumes. rep
'ssentng tairty-one composers, the ar
,"ngement being alphabetical by the
composers names. Volume I contains
'ongs by Alphoraky, Arensky, Bagoin
sS.xy' Ba!akireff, Rlcichmann, Borodin,
.cc~' Dargomijsky. Gliere, Gliaka,
''e'chaH'nog, 1npo'itoH, Iva noff, Jacob
sss0a' Aall'nlkoa, kopy!off, Korestscncn-
ss"0' L'apounof, Mcdtner and Nous
s'gsky; Volume II, songs by Nous
a.ssssAy twho seems to have captured
MODERN fancy more completely than
ny other one of his compatriots),
s:snmaninof. Rimsky-KorsakotY, Ru-
'.a'ssin' sachinofsky, Sokoleff, Stravin-
~ Isneieff, Tschaikoffsky, Teherep-
w. I'nlakotf, Vassilenko and Wihtol.
~" worthy OF note, in proof of what
0een said about the late but ener-