Evening star., 1936-02-29

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We have played with our orchestra
excerpts from dido and Aeneas," and
also q suite for string orchestra. The
present "Chaconne" is work for vio-
lins, cellos and basses only; 1t does
not have a part for violas in 1t. The
main theme, as Is usual in chaconne,
constantly recurs-in q different way,
however, to the passacaglia. Where it
always appears In the bass in the pas
sacaglia, it sounds forth in different
registers throughout the work
This work has never before been
played In Washington.
Symphony in G Major. Opus
10 6--------------- -Boccherini
TT SEEMS to me that il is both a Joy
and the pleasant duty Of an or
chestral conductor to acquaint his lis
teners, first Of all, with the acknowl-
edged standard works of the great
classic composers. as well as Of those
works which are presented to him by
contemporary composers.
But there Is third and equally
pleasant duty incumbent upon him,
and that Is 20 delve into the rich treas
ures of many Of the lesser known COM
posers Of times gone by.
Quite recently I found al unusually
fine musical nugget in symphony by
Boccherini, which, think. will have
its first performance in Washington
on the coming Thursday. This work,
which is in four movements, has all
the grace Of the composers OF the
period Of Mozart and Haydn, and.
with the exception of these two great
geniuSes, Is of more interest musically
than any other symphonic compost
ton of the period that can recall.
It has depth of feeling, charm Of ut
terance, contrast throughout. and a
virility which makes one wonder why
this work should at any time have
been sheived. as undoubtedly it must
have been. Problems it does not pre-
sent. It appeared in TITS in Paris, is
the third one of Boccherini's sixteenth
opus, which contains six symphonies.
and of which this one Is undoubtedly
the most important.
I feel for this work particular fond
ness, inasmuch as it was created by
the man who was the greatest cellist
of his time, and whose works for that
instrument have been favorites of
every cellist in the literature for the
instrument.
Boccherini. Italian by birth, lived
most of his life in Spain, where he be-
came a great favorite of the Madrid
court circles.
This symphony starts with a warm
hearted and singing frs allegro. then
a beautiful andante amoroso is fol-
lowed by a tempo dimenuetto," which
is eminently worthy Of the man who
created what is probably the most IA
nous minuet in the world. The finale
Is of brilliant gaiety.
Concerto in D Minor" Bach
I HE Bach, concerto was originally
= a violin concerto and is played
ir the Busoni arrangement.
It often happened in Bach's time
that certain works were used for COM
binations of different instruments
This makes the traditional indigna.
ton against any transcription rather
ridiculous affair, as certainly the
pontiffs would naturally be too full
of respect to deny the authority oi
such q master as Bach. or Vivaldi, OF
Handel-who sinned constantly in this
direction.
think that the entire first half Of
this program will be new to our Wash
ington public.
Egon Petri, at one time Busoni's
greatest pupil and one Of the great
pianists of the day, will interpret both
the Bach arrangement and the origi.
nal work Of his distinguished master.
Indian Fantasy sy"------------Buson1
THE Busoni Indian Fantasy" Is
= another work which is rarely
heard. Those who have read the re-
cent articles and biographies which
have appeared about Busoni know
that here Is one of the most intri-
guing Of modern musical personal-
ties, q man who has created more in
the way of q sincere attitude among
the younger composers than any Of
the other masters Of the day. These
younger ones. although they might be
Influenced by momentary tendencies
Of fashionable modes. quickly returned
to the more serious aspects Of the
arts as presented by Busoni; that is
k say, those who are at all worthy Of
their callin as artists.
Busoni himself was a curious mix
ture of fiery Latinism and German
thoroughness, Of intellect and temper
ament, Of nearly every contradictory
element Of which artists are composed.
It was his strength and at the same
time his tragedy. Although undoubt-
edly the greatest pianist Of his day,
he was considered by many as not
possessing enough "feeling" ng"-this
being due to the fact that several
generations had been Influenced by
the overemotional, all too sentimental
virtuosi Of the Romantic kind who
made the hearts of virtuous concert
going maidens beat more rapidly, but
who were not In reality the ideal
medium between great music and the
public.
Busoni, with his superb attitude Of
q nearly pr1estly approach towards
his art, with his razor like dissection
Of the works he played. was not the
man for this peculiar sort Of hero
worship.
The came held good In his compo-
sitions. He considered that the ideal
artist should never do anything the
some way twice. And although this,
Of course. IS undoubtedly the ideal
attitude Of the greatest ones, IL can
only be maintained BY one who Is In
tellectually Ia constant command OF