Evening star., 1937-01-02

y.
It is not difficult to do. 1t is bee
and poverty. beset by slander and
intrigues and disappointments, he re-
manned as an artist. as a creator-un-
touched, godlike. This little man. i'll
and poor most of his life. who died at
80. whose very grave has vanished,
left lis a monument in tones so rich
and pure, a legacy so unsullied and
perfect as no one before or since has
been able to equal, either in quantity
or quality.
No matter what his circumstances
were. he created works divine in both
inspiration and form. And during the
very period in which he wrote Gn the
incredible time of six weeks) his three
world-shattering symphonies Cthe ones
in G minor. In E fiat and tomorrow's
Jupiter" the greatest of alb. he had
to make heart-rending appeals to
friends for trifling sums, in order to
go on existing.
IT WOULD be folly to read in the
passionate G minor any of the
bitterness which as a man he must
have felt. because in the other two We
have such exquisite charm (as in the
E f1at) or such perfect and powerful
design (as in the "Jupiter') that these
works must have been born. developed
and completed in a spirit of the most
absolute artistic detachment.
To try to connect such music with
any immediate circumstance, or even
the purpose of personal release"
would be both futile and a total mis-
understanding of their essential spirit.
If We would look for such transient
values. we will not find them. Mozart
never intended them to be there. But
these works (and especially the
themes in. for instance, the first and
last movements of the "Jupiter') have
a simple. direct and nearly cosmic
vitality that is apparent to the sensi-
tive listener as the deep and lasting
essence of feeling without its more
usual" aspect of expression. And
after listening to this work it is as
though for once We had beheld spirit
without a body.
That Is all can and care to say
about Mozart. Those who know him
as feel I do by now will understand.
THE Mozart overture to der
Schauspieldirektor' Is but one
more Of countless number of COM
positions which for some incompre-
hensible reason have disappeared (or
nearly so) from the regular" reper-
toire. More and more do I become
astonished and indignant at this atti-
tude on the part of program makers
and conductors. Is it not part of
their bounden duty, both toward their
public, and even more so towards
their art. to try to discover and en-
thuse over unknown, or, anyhow, gen.
orally too little known, masterworks,
rather than to repeat over and over
the same and rather limited number
Of so-called popular classics?" This
overture can hold its own with any of
Mozart's, and Is written in the same
style as the one to The Marriage of
Figaro"
The "Maurerische Trauermusik"
was written shortly after Mozart be-
came q Free Mason, and on the oc-
casion of the death Of the Austrian
archduke. who also happened to be
a Mason. I myself have never seen
1t on any program. It Is a most i'm
pressive composition and reminds one
Of the slow movement in both the
"Eroica" and Seventh Symphonies by
Beethoven.
The ID Minor Concerto is prob
ably the finest one among the many
piano concertos which Mozart wrote.
1t has been played before here by
the unforgettable Gabrilowitsch. and
will today be played by the equally
beloved Myra Hess.
IRON a purely technical point Of
view. the first movement of the
Jupiter" has two phrases which
make up the principal subject-one Of
firm and one of gentle character.
Each is but two bars long. After
an initial exposition, it is accom-