Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-03-02
NJ u SIC
LONDON 0UARTET,S CONTEXT


Last night at the Washington Au-
ditorium. Washingtonians not only
heard the famous London String Quar-
tet In its first concert in the Cap;tal
CITY. but also enjoyed initiation to
chamber music in a large hall It has
always been customary to expect this
type OF music only in small audi
forums and drawing rooms and there
were those who attended last night 8
concert with a dubious feeling as to
what the result would be with quartet
music in the huge Auditorium. The
result was a pleasant surprise and
proved highly successful. AS James
Levey, first vtolinist of the group.
remarked after the concert, the people
generally cannot hear chamber music
in the small. special halls usually open
only to small groups Of the wealthy.
patron class. Therefore, this type Of
music must be taken into the big au-
ditoriums TO reach the general public.
This has been a prime object Of the
London String Quartet. especially in
this tour. and has proved successful
everywhere.
The quartet opened its program last
night with the melidous Haydn Quar-
tet for Strings in c." opus rs, No 8.
This work IS well known under the
title Of the Emperor Quartet" So
called because It utilizes as the theme
for the beautiful second movement
tpOco adagio Cantabilel Havdn's world
celebrated song Colt erhalte Franz
don Kaiser" written in 1897. and
adopted by the Austrians as their ma
uonal hymn. In the quartet the
theme is used with delicate variations
and IS one of the most beautiful fea-
lures Of the composition. The entire
work IS eXCellently constructed and
shows the composers advance from
the simple harmOnies of his earlier
quartets TO the polvphonic treatment
or the different parts In the later com
position.
Playing Well Co-ordinated.
The remarkable coordination and
clean. firm attack of all four instru-
nentS and their tonal eVenneSS of ac-
cent were shown TO finest advantage
in this work. An encore in exception
ally good taste was TsChaikowski g
"Andante Cantabile" which intro
duced its lovely melody with cello
piZZicatO and the second violin carry
ing the theme. Then. again. the first
violin sang the melody and the three
other instruments gave plucked- string
accompaniment. ending, pianissimo
with a Veritahle benediction chord that
was exquisite.
The second listed work was the
charming fairy suite. THE Pixy
Ring" written by Waldo Warner,
viola PLAYER in the quartet. This was
tho works second hearing in quartet
form In Washington, 1t having been
introduced here about a year ago by
the FlonZaley Quartet. 1t is a light
fantastic thing, not OF the real cham
Der music type at all, as its composer
stated later. The first three move
ments all emphasize the tinkling
elfn qualities with chimes and tin
king bluebI.is, stealthy pixie motives
and grotesque gnome dances. In the
fourth movement the human element
enters and IS amusingly delineated by
vibrant cello theme. The final move
ment. ring dance brings in all the
motives emphasizing the elfin dance
Of the earlier fairy themes and fading
away ultra pianissimo. Mr.. Warner
says the quartet's American audi
ences seem to like this work better
than the British people. He got his
inspiration from tales of the pixies
told him when he was sojourning for
n time in a farmhouse in Cornwall,
where the country people rather be-
leve in their pixies. The more hui
man melody seemed q bit Irish In