The Festival Author(s): Herbert Thompson Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 44, No. 725 (Jul. 1, 1903), pp. 476-477 Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/903870 . Accessed: 09/02/2015 18:33

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This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Mon, 9 Feb 2015 18:33:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL I, 476 TIMES.--JLY 1903.

The principal vocal performers were Madame Albani, his work in a different mood from that in which I should Miss Marguerite Macintyre, Madame Clara Samuell and regard the efforts of a fluent utterer of things not worth Madame Ella Russell (); Madame Clara Butt saying, or even of a well-meaning stammerer of things (); Mr. Ben Davies, Mr. John Coates and Mr. beyond his reach. Charles Saunders (); Mr. Santley, Mr. Kennerley The witty compilers of a bogus Encyclopaedia intro- Rumford, Mr. Andrew Black and Mr. Watkin Mills duced into their skit a suggestive cross-reference: (basses). All these artists maintained the high reputation 'Wagner, the late Richard: see Strauss, Richard,' and which is associated with their names. there is no doubt that the younger composer does, in his The music on the Selection Day included ' Acis and thematic development, his glowing orchestral colouring, Galatea' ; Sound an alarm' Timotheus and his climaxes, owe much to ' 'Revenge!I passionate Wagner; yet cries' and a portion of that noble oratorio, Solomon,' in I incline to think that his art is, if not so obviously, very addition to the Fourth Organ Concerto. The solo part in essentially akin to Beethoven, and owes not a little to the last-named work was very clearly played by Sir Bach. One is often reminded of the Beethoven whose Walter Parratt, his first appearance at a Handel Festival. determination to be characteristic, even at the expense of Moreover, the Master of the King's Musick, with that the beautiful, made him indulge in the strenuous and artistic intuitiveness which is so eminently characteristic insistent discords in the first movement of the ' Eroica,' of him, selected stops that were the nearest akin to those and the premature return of the first subject which used by Handel himself. Sir Walter thereby very Sir George Grove loved, though he humorously said it properly disdained the employment of ear-tickling effects, was 'as wrong as stealing or lying'; or again, the and he shunned an anachronistic cadenza by playing a unmitigated cacophony which precedes the final move- few bars which were in perfect accord with the composi- ment of the Choral Symphony. These are, however, tion he interpreted so well. The Concerto was performed like the shadows in a picture, which take their proper with its original choral ending, probably for the first relative place in the whole scheme of chiaroscuro, and time since Handel himself played the work. though they afford precedent for even the discords in A large audience assembled on the 23rd ult. and which Strauss indulges, the question of degree remains listened with evident enjoyment to the familiar music of to be considered, and one has yet to determine whether the ' Messiah.' Of the choruses the best renderings were these' shadows' bear the right artistic relation to their ' Surely He hath borne our griefs,' ' Lift up your heads,' context. and the 'Hallelujah.' The fine quartet of soloists-- In another point Strauss has gone beyond the limits Madame Albani, Madame Clara Butt, Mr. Ben Davies, laid down by Beethoven in his famous axiom that music and Mr. Santley (the veteran , who first appeared should be an expression of the emotions rather than at the Festival of 1865), received a very warm welcome. painting; but even here it must be remembered that Mr. Walter W. Hedgcock, organist of the Crystal Palace, Beethoven himself whimsically transgressed this rule in again rendered good service at the huge instrument he the very work in which he laid it down, while Strauss, manipulates so well. Dr. F. H. Cowen kept his forces where he has diverged into realism, has generally the well in hand, and fully justified his appointment as excuse of a fantastic subject, and it must be admitted conductor of the time-honoured Handel Festival. that there is a legitimate place in art for the grotesque. Of course Liszt, whose influence upon this generation will probably turn out to be greater than has hitherto THE RICHARD STRAUSS FESTIVAL. been generally allowed, is the immediate artistic ancestor There can be little doubt that the Richard Strauss of Strauss, but I need hardly insist upon a point which Festival held in St. James's Hall, June 3-9, was among will be evident to even the most casual hearer. As the most interesting events of the London musical season. to Bach's influence, it may be felt in the licence Whether it was also to be reckoned among the most which Strauss allows himself in his counterpoint, in enjoyable depended very much upon the hearer's degree which the carrying out of a melodic idea to its logical of receptivity. There is much in Strauss's music that conclusion is regarded as of far more importance than runs counter to all one's preconceptions, yet the slightest the jarring discords which are produced in its course. knowledge of musical history suffices to convince us that As a matter of fact, I think it is rather a mistake to make this is no valid reason for condemning the composer. too much of discords. The discords of one generation Indeed, the reticence with which many of the London are the concords of another, and it is hardly safe to say critics have written of Strauss suggests that they have a that an harmonic combination is wrong because it sounds wholesome dread of imitating their predecessors who made strange to our unaccustomed ears. What seems to me to themselves ridiculous for all time by their blind denuncia- be a greater weakness is the composer's inclination to tion of Wagner, or the still earlier generation who make so much of details that the main lines of his music declared that Beethoven's influences upon the music of are neglected, a sort of pre-Raphaelitism in music which, his time had been more or less pernicious. To think of like its prototype in painting, one admires for its dexterity this makes one careful, but of course it should not while feeling that the gain is overbalanced by the corres- prevent a critic from foregoing all criticism. ponding loss, for after all the whole is greater than any Until this Festival we have had little opportunity of of its parts. judging the work of Richard Strauss in its entirety. Even Let us now turn to the actual compositions, taking now his two are known to us, as Wagner's chief them in chronological order. First there was the ' Aus works were up till 1882, merely through the medium of Italien' (Op. 16), the only one broken up into movements, concert performances of extracts; but he differs from after the pattern of the classical symphony. Of this two Wagner in that his most typical works are intended movements were played, one of which, the slow move- primarily for the concert-room--the eight Symphonic ment, 'Sorrento,' shows a sense of delicate orchestral Poems, all of which, save only a couple of movements of colour which is as fine in its way as anything Strauss has the early ',' were given at the Festival. ever done. Much in advance of this is the ' ' It may therefore be said that the material now exists for (Op. 20), a work which carries conviction with it. It forming a more or less comprehensive judgment on the glows with colour and passion, it is continuous and broad composer's work, though it must be allowed that in in its lines, and it is always musical. ' ' (Op. 23) many cases a single hearing is by no means sufficient is not superficially attractive, but it is a profound study for forming an opinion on music which in complexity of character, rugged and barbaric, but not going beyond and elaboration exceeds anything that has gone before it. the hitherto recognised bounds of art. Its power is In endeavouring to record one's impressions it is well to tremendous, and, as a matter of detail, there is a distinct begin by making one's standpoint clear. Of one thing I flavour of the first few bars of the Choral Symphony in have for some time been clearly convinced, that Strauss the opening. 'Tod und Verklirung' (Op. 24) is more possesses genius; he has not only an unsurpassed tech- truly 'musical,' especially in the really noble coda in nique, but he has ideas which are original and beautiful, which the work culminates, while the freakish 'Till sometimes ' beautiful ' in the generally accepted sense of Eulenspiegel' (Op. 28) is equally happy as a musical sensually pleasing, sometimes in the more modern sense grotesque, in which the touches of burlesque do not of expressing character. This being the case, I approach obscure the glimpses of real beauty. And here I may

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Mon, 9 Feb 2015 18:33:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE MUSICAL TIMES.-JULY I, 1903. 477 say that Strauss seems to me to have genuine melodic THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS IN LONDON. invention; his themes often have distinction, and are After for an undue which it has never vulgar or sentimental. The next symphonic. waiting time, during been heard in of the world, Dr. poem is ' ' (Op 30), and here I many parts Elgar's we come to much more debateable The The Dream of Gerontius' has at last found its way to ground. subject London. The circumstances of its introduction to the itself has been objected to, but it is not fair to quite Westminster Cathedral on the 6th ult.- style 'a system of philosophy set to music,' for it Metropolis-at is ratherit" a musical on Nietzsche's work were, it must be admitted, appropriate enough, if from a commentary of view left to be desired. bearing that title, which, as it has been said, is not practical point they something so much ' the of a of as The setting of Cardinal Newman's poem by one who in building up system thought and is in with it of a world of feeling.' At the same time it may be religion temperament perfect sympathy doubted whether Strauss has not more should naturally come under the special protection of the attempted Roman Catholic and it was if than music can express without losing its ideal community, fitting, only character. And here one is inclined to doubt from the point of view of sentiment, that it should be certainly in the when whether his anxiety to express each minute phase of his given great building which, completed, has not resulted in the is to be the cathedral church of their Archbishop. complex subject pre-Raphaelite Even in its destitute of the wealth insistence on details to which reference has already been gaunt incompleteness, made. The riddle of existence is, in a the of colour which is meant to adorn it, the interior of word, gigantic is and theme of this wonderful production, and Strauss expresses Bentley's spacious building immensely impressive, its his work with the alternated seems a fitting place for the ' Solemn Musick' of which insolubility by ending Milton wrote. its acoustic at chords of C major and B major. It is done so deftly that Unhappily properties are, the effect is not so crude as be least in its present condition, of a somewhat capricious nearly barbarously might and one has to be to form a expected,-not much worse than Schumann's ' Question' kind, very favourably placed -but this serves to show how Strauss follows clear judgment of the music performed. From some relentlessly the details were but I doubt out his 'programme' to its logical conclusion. Still positions fairly distinct, more realistic Don but here the whether in any portion of the church the weight of tone is' Quixote' (Op. 35), was felt to be as as it should composer has the excuse of a subject grotesque and sufficiently impressive fantastical in character. This is a most remarkable be. Delicacy and distance certainly lent charm to much of the but on the other hand the more work, ingeniously and happily planned. In a prelude the music, character of the hero is built his native his massive choral effects lost something. The choral and up, chivalry, orchestral were not assiduous study of romances, and the growing aberration forces, though thoroughly efficient, of his intellect are all and then out of these numerous enough for so large an auditorium. The depicted, chorus numbered about 200 but insufficient materials is formed the chief theme representing the only voices, of the Doleful his numbers proved the only fault chargeable to the exceed- Knight Visage, accompanied by homely well-drilled of the North Staffordshire squire Sancho. On this a series of ten variations is based, ingly singers each an adventure in which the District Choral Society. The finish and precision of representing protagonists their and their excellent intonation deserve take part, while the finale represents 's performance retirement and death. The realism culminates in the high praise, and these virtues were intensified in the for the reason mentioned adventure with the flock of sheep, whose ' baas' are as semi-chorus, though already free from the trammels of and as is the refined singing of these twenty-three picked members rhythm harmony at least for the of the refined Nature itself. Here again the question arises: Is this was, majority audience, of imitation which in itself cannot stretch away to an almost imperceptible point. The Society's passage by any conductor is Mr. and to him is due a of courtesy be styled ' music' admissible as a shadow in James Whewall, the For I incline to think that it is share of the honour belonging to this very practised picture? my part chorus. The band consisted of well-known London too extended to be quite ' in the picture,' though it serves to set off the unmistakable of the next variation, musicians, and was thoroughly up to its work. beauty of the was the in which Don Quixote his ideas of The novel feature performance appear- expounds chivalry. ance of Dr. in the for the first This is one of the glowing episodes, which glows all the Ludwig Wiillner title-r6le, more contrast with the of what has time in this country. Dr. Wiillner was obviously handi-. by grotesque ugliness but his was gone before. Last of all comes the ' Heldenleben' capped by the English words, reading which has been so much discussed of late that characterized by an intensity of feeling which atoned for (Op. 40), and also went far to atone for the marked absence it need not be considered at length. Here again there is this, some in the battle scene, as a of purely vocal charm. His two colleagues, Miss Muriel unmitigated cacophony yet combine to a remark- whole the impression left is of tremendous and Foster and Mr. Ffrangcon-Davies, power able sensuous of voice with dramatic brilliance. It has vitality, and this covers a multitude degree beauty of sins. insight, and it would be difficult to imagine more of their The scheme also included a large number of songs, in completely satisfying renderings respective which Strauss shows the charm of which he parts than they, who are now familiar in the truly lyrical work is capable. were Frau Strauss-de Ahna work, are able to give. As for the itself, repeated They sung by to convince one of its and of the and Mr. Ffrancgon-Davies most sympathetically, and hearings help power Mr. Harrison two scenes from ' Guntram.' absolute greatness of its not infrequent moments of real John sang the first time on this The early for Pianoforte and Orchestra, in which inspiration. One who heard it for occasion would realize its full and the influence of Brahms is very marked, was played with hardly impressiveness, the utmost clearness and charm Mr. Backhaus. The to this extent it may be said that less than full justice has by of Gerontius' in 'Concertgebouw Orchestra' from Amsterdam even now been done to 'The Dream Symphonic With this the was engaged for the Festival, not from any want of London. reservation, however, perform- confidence in the of but because ance, which was conducted by the composer, was one of powers English players, and finish in all its details. they happen to have made a speciality of Strauss's exceptional sympathy music, which with a London band would have involved Dr. Edward Elgar has been the recipient of a very an impracticable amount of rehearsal. It is a fine, well- remarkable gift which well represents the esteem in which he is held in North Staffordshire. It consists disciplined band, not too refined in quality, but possessing a good ensemble. Mr. Zimmermann's fine playing of a splendid specimen of the potter's art executed by of the fantastic violin solo in the ' Heldenleben' and Mr. C. J. Noke, a resident of Stoke-on-Trent, an artist a Mr. Mossel's execution of the corresponding violoncello and designer well known in the district. The gift, part in ' Don Quixote' deserve more than a conventional loving cup over twelve inches in height, was executed at word of acknowledgment. The work of was the Doulton Works as a remembrance of the performance shared by the composer and Mr. Mengelberg, the of the 'Dream of Gerontius' given at Hanley. The cup conductor of the Amsterdam Orchestra, a very able is enriched with a portrait of Dr. Elgar in his academic artist, whose reading of the 'Heldenleben' was most robes, surrounded with symbolic bays. The prevailing forceful and brilliant. tint is a rich brown, and the whole design is well thought- HERBERT THOMPSON. out and suggestive to a high degree.

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