1887- -1888 il H-E-KREHBIEL/ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES iai#:**v REVIEW OF THE NEW YORK MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888 CONTAINING PROGRAMMES OF NOTEWORTHY OCCURRENCES, WITH NUMEROUS CRITICISMS, BY H. E. KREHBIEL ^C^ NEW YORK & LONDON NOVELLO, EWER & CO. 1888 COPYRIGHTED, 1 888, BY H. E. KREHBIEL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Klectrotyped, Printed and Bound by THE ALDINE PRINTING WORKS, No. 248 Walnut Street, CINCINNATI. MUSIC LIBRARX \J. TO MR. LUCIEN WULSIN, A FRIEND. EDITOR'S NOTE. ACCURACY in the record has been my chief concern in the compilation of this REVIEW. /// determining what to include in it I have tried to be guided entirely by the question of artistic significance and value. The number of musical entertainments omitted is small; as a rule, they were pupils' and benefit concerts. When performances of novelties are credited to the concerts of the New York Philharmonic Society, Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, Symphony Society, or Mr. Thomas (except the Popular Matinees), it should be borne in mind that the compositions were, in reality, first heard at the public rehearsals for these concerts. In the first three cases these rehearsals took place on the afternoon of the preceding day ; in the last case, on the preceding Thursday afternoon. H. E. KREHBIEL. New York, April 23, 1888. 526204 irmr^n REVIEW OF THE NEW YORK MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888 OCTOBER Saturday, Fifteenth. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's thirty-seventh organ recital, first of the season. Praludium, G major (Book VIII, No. 2), J. S. Bach ; Andante con moto, G minor, A. P. F. Boely; Elevation, E major, Saint-Saens; Overture, E minor ("Horn"), G. Morandi; Pastorale, A major, op. 5, Henri Des- hayes; Larghetto, C major, C. J. Frost; Canzona, A minor, op. 40, No. 2, Guilmant; Andantino, D major, Joseph Barnby ; Senate Pastorale, Rheinberger. Monday, Seventeenth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. First concert in America of Sign- orina Teresina Tua. Overture, " Egmont," Beethoven; Violin Concerto, G minor, Bruch ; Concerto for pianoforte, F minor (second and third movements), Chopin (Alexander Lambert); "Air Hongrois," Ernst; "Legende," Wieniawski; "Zapateada," Sarasate ; Gavotte, Arthur Bird; Minuet, from (0 October.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. " Euryanthe," Weber. Conductor of the orchestra, Frank Van der Stucken. The coming to our shores of the fascinating creature whose exceedingly euphonious name suggests that any amount of envy of the unknown second person singular, to whom it seems addressed, might be set down as righteous, compelled our music patrons either to discard all thought of trying to estimate her artistic station or to decide beforehand how much value in such an estimate was to be allotted to winsome ways and cunning coquetries and how much reserved for serious art. Doubtless, for the majority of those who got within eye and earshot of Teresina Tua, the former alternative made the stronger appeal. A dainty and piquant personality who can ravish one sense with her mere outward appearance and behav- ior, who is accoutred besides with a pair of deep, round eyes that open with childish delight at every sign that their owner is the cause of pleasure, with full Roman lips drawn always into a semi-circular pout, who can put a violin under her dimpled chin and attack it with a pretty pugnacity which must challenge every fibre of the blest wood to thrill in accord with her wishes such a creature invites criticism of the unemotional, uncompromising, inconsiderate kind only from heart-callous listeners or devotees who approach the temple of music solely to worship. And such a creature is the woman who gave her first American concert on this occasion. Naturally she achieved a triumph, and naturally also those who gave willing labor to make that triumph brilliant thought that the underpinning had been snatched by envy from all musical judgment when the rash reviewer of the concert suggested that Teresina Tua is not a repository of all the excellences known to the violinist's art. Yet the truth had to be told. Signorina Teresina Tua is a most charming woman, who courtesies and smiles so as to put every susceptible man's heart in a flutter, and who plays the violin exceed- ingly well. In some things she is absolutely unique ; but, alas ! they are not those things which stamp a violin player as a good musician. Sarasate's ' ' Zapateada, " in her hands, becomes a veritable bit of musical witchcraft. Under her fingers its simple Spanish dance tune explodes into a thousand little scintillant notes, which flicker and flutter and sputter most tunefully and rhythmically until, with THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {October. a final toss of the bow, she brings the corruscating exhibition to a close, and bows and smiles her delight at the frantic behavior of her bewildered auditors. It is a delightfully exciting pleasure which the little gypsy provides, but it is a pleasure like that of looking at fireworks. When the last rocket is burned out the pleasure is past, and when Signorina Tua attempts to give pleasure of a higher type the limitations of her art become evident. This was the case in her entrance-piece, Bruch's beautiful concerto in G minor. At the beginning of its declamatory phrases every ear Was charmed by the sweetness and mellowness of her tone, albeit there was very little of it, but soon it became apparent that the heart of the composition was not going to be touched; that it was going to be given in minia- ture; that she approached this new work with the old-fashioned definition of a concerto in her mind, with the thought that it was merely a display piece for the solo instrument. Then balance and symmetry were cast to the wind, its suave and classic dignity gave way to pretty sentimentalities, its artistic variety to melting sweets and all but inaudible pianissimos. The strong, rhythmical accents of its finale more especially were either neglected or distorted, and with all the evidences of technical skill which were offered, the con- certo did not present itself with the nobility which is native to it, and to which we are accustomed in our concert rooms. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. First appearance in America of Herr Heinrich Botel, tenor from the Stadt Theatre, Hamburg. Verdi's opera, "Der Troubadour." Cast: Graf von Luna, Emil Steger ; Leonora, Frau Herbert-Forster ; Azu- cena, Fraulein Jenny Boner; Manrico, Herr Botel; Ferrando, Carl Miihe. Wednesday, Nineteenth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second concert of Teresina Tua. Overture, "Prometheus," Beethoven; Concerto for violin, E minor, Mendelssohn ; Introduction and Polonaise, Weber- Liszt (William H. Sherwood); "Souvenir de Moscou," Wieniawski; Nocturne, E-flat, op. 9, Chopin-Sarasate ; Polonaise, G major, Laub; German Dances, Anton Urspruch. Conductor of the Orchestra, Frank Van der Stucken. (3) October.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Der Troubadour." Friday, Twenty-first. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Signorina Teresina Tua's first violin recital. "Dreaming by the Brook," for pianoforte, Robert Goldbeck (played by the composer) ; Seventh Concerto for the violin, De Beriot; Hungarian Rhapsody, No. VIII, Liszt (Mr. Goldbeck); "Serenade Andalouse," Sarasate; "On Wings of Song," Mendelssohn-Liszt, and "Tourbillon," Rob- ert Goldbeck (Mr. Goldbeck) ; Nocturne, Chopin-Wilhelmj ; Mazourka, Wieniawski. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Der Troubadour." Saturday, Twenty-second. CHICKERING HALL. 2 p. m. Signorina Tua's first matinee. So- nata for violin and pianoforte, Grieg (Signorina Tua and Alex- ander Lambert); Song, "Thou art my All," Bradsky (Henry Duzensi) ; Air Varie, Vieuxtemps ; Barcarolle, Moszkowski (Mr. Lambert); Songs, "Thou art like unto a Flower," Rubin- stein, and "Spring Song," Gounod (Mr. Duzensi); Cavatina, Raff; Mazourka, Zarzycki. THALIA THEATRE. 2 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Der Troubadour." SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's thirty-eighth organ recital. Praludium et Fuga, A minor (Book VIII, No. 7), J. S. Bach; "Reverie," A major, B. Luard Selby; " Marche Religieuse," G minor, op. 61, and Allegretto, A major, op. 62, J. Baptiste Calkin; Grand Choeur, A major, Th. Salome; Andante, A minor, op. 122, Merkel; Preghiera, A-flat, and Allegretto, C major (Book IV), Filippo Capocci; Marche Triomphale, E-flat, Guilmant ; Sonata, No. 2, C minor, Mendelssohn. (4) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [October. Monday, Twenty-fourth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Teresina Tua's second violin recital. " Dernier Amour," for pianoforte, Gottschalk (Robert Gold- beck) ; Songs : "Von ewiger Liebe/' and " Minnelied," Brahms (Max Heinrich) ; Ballade et Polonaise, Vieuxtemps ; Marche Funebre and Berceuse, Chopin (Mr. Goldbeck) ; Songs: "Am Meer" and " Friihlingsglaube," Schubert (Mr. Heinrich); "Memories " and "Cricket," Robert Goldbeck (Mr. Goldbeck) ; "Faust Fantaisie," Wieniawski. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Der Troubadour." Wednesday, Twenty-sixth. THALIA THEATRE. 8p.m. German opera. Flotow's " Martha." Cast : Lady Harriet, Selma Kronold ; Nancy, Jenny Boner ; Lord Tristan, H.Gerold; Lionel, Heinrich Botel; Plunket, Carl Miihe. Friday, Twenty-eighth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Teresina Tua's third violin recital. Thirty-two variations, C minor, Beethoven (Edwin Klahre); ' ' Fantaisie Caprice, " Vieuxtemps ; Songs, ' ' Sonntag am Rhein " and "Tragodie," I, II and III, Schumann (Max Heinrich); Nocturne, B-flat minor, Chopin, and " Le Rossignol," Liszt (Mr. Klahre); Romance for violin, Rubinstein; Mazourka, Zarzycki; " Cantique d' Amour," Liszt (Mr. Klahre); " Lieder des Jung Werners am Rhein," I, II, III, IV, Hugo Briickler (Mr. Heinrich) ; " Airs Hongrois," Ernst. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Martha." Saturday, Twenty-ninth. CHICKERING HALL. 2 p. m. Teresina Tua's second matinee. Sonata for pianoforte and violin, op. 47, Beethoven (at the pianoforte, Alexander Lambert); Songs: " Junge Lieder," I (5) October.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. and II, and "Heimweh," I, II and III, Brahms (Max Hein- rich); Ballade et Polonaise, Vieuxtemps; " Vogel als Prophet," Schumann, and Gavotte, Reinecke (Mr. Lambert) ; Songs : " In der Fremde," " Waldesgesprach," and " Friihlingsnacht," Schumann (Mr. Heinrich) ; "Spinning Song," Wagner-Liszt (Mr. Lambert); "Serenade Andalouse," Sarasate. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's thirty-ninth organ recital. Canzona, D minor (Book II, Novello's edition), J. S. Bach; Cantabile, B-flat, and Prelude, C minor, Edmond Lemaigre; Adagio, A-flat (from a nocturne), Spohr; Marcia Fantastica, C major, op. 4, No. 6, Bargiel; Sketch, C minor, J. E. West; Funeral March, C minor, op. 12, Otto Dienel; " Dialogue," op. 32, No. i, B. O. Klein ; Sonata, E minor, Oscar Wagner. Sunday, Thirtieth. ARION HALL. 8 p. m. First concert of the season of the Manner- gesangverein Arion. " Ein Sangerfestzug," Frank Van der Stucken; " Das Grab im Busento," for male chorus and orches- tra, F. Gernsheim; Concert air, " Sappho, "R. Volkmann (Mrs. Marie Gramm); "Saul's Prophetengesang," unaccompanied male chorus, F. Gevaert ; Adagio and finale, from the G minor violin concerto, Bruch (Signorina Teresina Tua) ; ' ' Waldes- lied," Conradin Kreutzer (Franz Remmertz) ; Ballet music, "Le Cid," Massenet; " Du schone, du liebe, du wonnige Maid," M. Von Weinzierl, bass solo (Mr. Remmertz), male chorus and orchestra. Conductor, Frank Van der Stucken. The compositions by Gernsheim, Gevaert, Massenet and Von Weinzierl were performed for the first time in New York. This was the first concert held in the new club-house of the Mannergesangverein Arion after the dedication exercises in Sep- tember. The circumstances may serve as justification for a few observations on a distinctively German feature of social and artistic life in New York. One would think that the quality which the Germans, with their fondness for extraordinary compages of letters, call Gemiithlichkeit, and which is a stock subject of their poets along with wine and fatherland, would make them an exceedingly (6) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {October. ' ' clubable " people ; and yet the fact is that of ordinary club life they know little. As a class they are domestic, and have so long been accustomed to sharing their pleasures with their families that they have not felt the need of club-houses in which to dine occa- sionally, and enjoy with their friends a quiet game of cards or billiards. That in the Liederkranz and Mannergesangverein Arion are nevertheless to be found two of the largest and most prosperous clubs in the city, is explained by the fact that these two organiza- tions promote not only the congeniality which the German loves, in a form which does not preclude the participation of his wife and daughter, but also artistic culture of a kind to which all Germans are devoted that is, music. It is impossible for selfishness or individualism to enter into the German's cultivation of music. In the parish schools of the fatherland, and in the home circle, the sentiments to which these people are devoted are inculcated in the children through the medium of the folksongs, which are sung in school and at home always in harmony, simple or complex, according to circumstances. Where the children of other people sing a melody laboriously in unison, a group of German children will sing their song with a second or a second and third part added. So they grow up with the thought of music associated with that of companionship. To drift into a singing society as soon as the voice matures is to them the most natural thing in the world, and the singing societies of Germany are the strongest props of that national feeling which enabled the country to triumph over its traditional foe in 1870. The love for those customs of the fatherland the German never puts aside. The customs cross the ocean with him, and are not forgotten in the new life opened to him here. In the midst of the bustling noises of the city he manages to hear the song of the Loreley and the murmur of the Rhine, and on the treeless western prairie he can yet find the shadows of the Schwarzwald. It is because of this that every American community containing a few hundred Germans boasts its singing society. Since 1849, when the first festival of German singers was held in Cincinnati, the Sanger- fests of the North American Sangerbund have been held biennally, first in one city, then in another, and though a critic might say that at these great gatherings (as many as 3,000 singers sometimes being (7) October.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. brought together) the worship of Gambrinus is more industriously cultivated than that of Apollo, the festivals have done much to promote musical culture in America. Indirectly Cincinnati, where the festivals started, owes her Music Hall, her May Festivals, her College of Music, and her Art Museum to their influence. The grafting of a modified form of the club idea on the distinctively German singing society has produced that feature of social life exemplified in the Liederkranz and the Arion. The Liederkranz is the older society, its origin dating back to January, 1847. I n wealth and membership it also outranks the Arion, but the charac- teristic German elements have more vigorous representation in the latter. Since 1856 the Liederkranz has had a chorus of mixed voices, whereas the Arion has stubbornly held out against this feature, in spite of the fact that it has been desired by the musical conductors. The Arion has maintained carnival meetings, which are among the most enjoyable of its entertainments, on a plane that no other organization in the city has been able to imitate. The activity of the Liederkranz has had a stronger tendency toward social things. A few years ago the Liederkranz built a fine, large club-house in Fifty-eighth street, which it imagined at the time would suffice for its uses for many years to come. But already the hall is overcrowded, and at each social meeting, or concert, to which the members are privileged to bring the ladies of their families, they bewail the lack of accommodations. A large percentage of the Liederkranz membership is American by birth, having been attracted by the social advantages offered by the society. The Arion membership is almost exclusively German, and the proportion of active singers is larger. Its members lay more stress upon the use of the German language within its walls, and one does not need to be a very close observer to note that the second generation of Arionites is more thoroughly Teutonized than the second generation of Liederkranzler. This does not mean, how- ever, that they are any the less patriotic Americans. In fact, if one were in search of temples in which the fires of American patriotism are kept brightly burning, he would have to count Liederkranz and Arion Halls among the first. It is only the customs, not the poli- tics, of Germany that the German- American citizen clings to with such tenacity beer, not Bismarck; music, not Moltke. (8) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \October. The Arion Society, or, to speak more correctly, the Mannerge- sangverein Arion, is an offshoot of the Liederkranz. In its origin it exemplifies the axiom that the multiplication of musical organiza- tions is generally due to discord. In January, 1854, fourteen members of the Liederkranz, being unable longer to agree with their fellows, cut loose and organized the Arion. Within a week they gave their first concert in the Apollo Rooms, in Broadway near Canal street. The first conductor was a musician named Meyer- hofer, who was succeeded by Karl Bergmann. The latter remained in the position, save during a short interregnum beginning in 1862, until 1870. Other conductors for short terms were Karl Anschiitz, F. L. Ritter, V. Hartmann and H. Grenier. In 1871 Dr. Leopold Damrosch was brought from Breslau, where he was conducting the opera and orchestral society, and remained conductor until 1884. He in turn was succeeded by the present conductor, Frank Van der Stucken, a native-born American. In addition to the customary music for male voices the Arion from the beginning cultivated operettas. In 1855 a work of this kind, entitled " Mordgrund- bruck," the music composed by Mr. Bergmann, was brought forward, and in 1856 " Der Gang zum Eisenhammer," by the same composer. Amusing little works in the same style, which do not call for female voices, are still given occasionally, but only for the diversion of the members and their families. There have been also some essays in a higher field. The choruses in the first Wagner opera performed in America were sung by the Arion Society. This was " Tannhauser, " produced under the direction of Mr. Bergmann at the Stadt Theatre in the Bowery on August 27, 1859. Madame Siedenberg was the Elizabeth, Herr Pickaneser the Tannhauser, and a singer named Lehmann the Wolfram. In 1869 the Arion, follow- ing a natural impulse, performed " Der Freischiitz," the most Ger- man of German operas. For the last twenty years or thereabouts the theatre of Arion activity had been in St. Mark's Place. The increase in membership and the necessity of following the current of population, how- ever, at length compelled the society to imitate the Liederkranz. Towards the close of 1885 the officers decided to build a new hall. A lot of ground at the southeast corner of Park avenue and Fifty- ninth street was purchased for $95,000, and three prizes were (9) October.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. offered for plans for the proposed new club-house. Of the ten competitors Messrs. De Lemos and Cordes were successful. The original plans contemplated a building to cost $200,000, but the plans were afterward changed so as to make the building fire-proof throughout, and this, together with some unexpected difficulties met with in sinking the foundations, increased the cost of the new club- house to $350,000. Ground was broken in March, 1886, and the corner-stone was laid with musical ceremonies on June i2th. The -new building has a frontage of 125 feet on Park avenue and 90 feet on Fifty-ninth street. Its height is 90 feet above the curb, and it has three stories and a basement. The lower story is of Berea sandstone, the rest of buff brick and terra cotta. The architectural forms and all the decorations, external as well as internal (except in two rooms in the basement), are in the style of the early Italian renaissance. At the four corners of the roof stand classic tripods, and midway between them on the two fronts are zinc groups of heroic size. That on Park avenue represents Arion on the back of a dolphin, that on Fifty-ninth street Prince Carnival and two female figures dancing. The former was modelled by Aloys Loher, the latter by Henry Baerer. The cost of the two groups was $18,000. A unique feature in the construction of the building is the use of the so-called Spanish arch in the floors, the span being sometimes twenty feet. The arch was never before used in a large public building in America, and was executed in this instance by Senor Guastavino, a Spanish architect. It effects a great saving of iron in construction. The staircases are of iron and marble, the halls laid with French flint tiles. The building is lighted throughout by electricity, and not less than $14,000 was expended on apparatus for ventilation. In the basement is a drinking room, Kneipe, carried out in every particular of decoration and furniture in the mediaeval German style, with wrought iron fixtures, heavy oak wainscoting, tables and chairs and stained glass windows. Its dimensions are twenty-three feet by fifty. Hat rooms, toilet rooms, a bowling alley, etc. , fill the rest of the space. Two vestibules, the main one with heavy fluted columns, occupy much of the first story. Opening into them are a reading-room, two family dining-rooms, billiard and card-rooms, committee and janitor's rooms, which use up the rest of the floor. In the second (10) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \October. story is a banqueting hall fifty-one feet wide and ninety-five feet long, besides kitchen, pantry, toilet-rooms, etc. Nearly the whole of the third story is occupied by the hall, which is used as a con- cert and dancing room. It is one hundred and twenty feet long, sixty-two feet wide, and fifty-eight feet six inches high. The space is unbroken by columns, the iron roof trusses carrying the ceiling. The decorations are in stucco and panels. Across one end is a gallery, but the stage will be a temporary one, and the floor is level to accommodate dancers. Above the hall are apartments for the janitor and servants. An elevator runs from the bottom to the top of the building, the motive power coming from the sub-cellar. The ventilating fans are driven by electricity. The general appearance of the building is chaste and elegant, the facades being relieved by handsome balconies, and the ornamental designs in terra cotta being consistent in style with the architectural forms. NOVEMBER Tuesday, First. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in Adolphe Adam's opera, "Der Postilion von Lonjumeau." Cast: Chapelou and Saint Phar, Heinrich Botel; Biju and Alcindor, Carl Miihe; Marquis von Corey. Eduard Elsbach; Madelaine and Frau von Latour, Selma Kronold. Wednesday, Second. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. First subscription night of the fourth season of opera in German. Wagner's ' ' Tristan und Isolde." Cast: Tristan, Albert Niemann; Isolde, Lilli Lehmann; Konig Marke, Emil Fischer; Brangdne, Marianne Brandt ; Kurwenal, Adolf Robinson ; Melot, Rudolph von Milde ; Hirt, Otto I^emlitz ; Seemann, Max Alvary ; Steuermann, Emil Sanger. Conductor, Herr Anton Seidl. Thursday, Third. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and first organ recital (first of the season). Prelude and Fugue, D minor (Book III, No. 4), J. S. Bach; Adagio, from the Fourth Symphony, Beethoven (arranged by W. T. Best) ; So- nata, C minor, No. 5, op. 50, S. de Lange; " Ave Maria," op. 5, No. 4, Adolph Henselt; Marche Triomphale, E-flat, op. 7, No. i, Henri Deshayes; Gavotte, G minor, op. 37, No. i, A. Dupont (transcribed by W. J. Westbrook) ; Postlude, E-flat, Henry Smart. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Martha." (12) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [November. Friday, Fourth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Die Meistersinger." Cast: Hans Sachs, Herr Fischer; Veit Pogner, Herr Elmblad; Kunz Vogelgesang, Herr Cook; Konrad Nachtigal, Herr Sanger ; Sixtus Beckmesser, Herr Kem- litz; Fritz Kothner, Herr Von Milde; Balthazar Zorn, Herr Hoppe; Ulrich Eisslinger, Herr Gottich; Augustus Moser, Herr Verworner; Herman Ortel, Herr Dorfler; Hans Schwarz, Herr Eiserbeck ; Hans Foltz, Herr Dore ; Walther von Stolzing, Herr Alvary ; David, Herr Ferenczy ; Eva, Frau Seidl-Kraus ; Mag- dalena, Fraulein Brandt ; Nachtwachter, Herr Sanger. Conduc- tor, Herr Anton Seidl. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Teresina Tua's fourth violin recital. Ballade, No. 2, Liszt (Edwin Klahre); Concerto, De Beriot; Songs: " Sonntag am Rhein," and " Wanderlied," Schumann (Max Heinrich); Air Varie, Vieuxtemps ; ' ' Kamenoi-Ostrow, " No. 22, Rubinstein, and Scherzo, B-flat minor, Chopin (Mr. Klahre) ; Songs: " Der Neugierige," and " Ungeduld," Schu- bert (Mr. Heinrich) ; " Faust Fantaisie," Wieniawski. Saturday, Fifth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Beet- hoven's "Fidelio." Cast: Pizarro, Herr Alexi; Rocco, Herr Fischer; Minister, Herr von Milde; Leonore, Fraulein Leh- mann ; Florestan, Herr Niemann ; Marcellina, Fraulein Dilthey ; Jaquino, Herr Kemlitz. Conductor, Herr Anton Seidl. CHICKERING HALL. 2 p. m. Teresina Tua's third matinee. Suite, "Aus Holberg's Zeit," Grieg (Edwin Klahre); Ballad and Polonaise, Vieuxtemps; Songs: "Aufenthalt" and " Stand- chen," Schubert (Max Heinrich); "Am Loreley Fels," Raff, and Etude, D-flat, Liszt (Mr. Klahre) ; Adagio, Bruch ; Ma- zourka, Zarzycki; Songs: " Im wunderschonen Monat Mai," and ' ' Die alten bosen Lieder, " Schumann (Mr. Heinrich) ; Polonaise, A-flat major, Chopin (Mr. Klahre); "Souvenir de Moscou," Wieniawski. November.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fortieth organ recital. (In commemoration of Mendelssohn obiit November 5, 1847.) Prelude and Fugue, E minor (Book II, Novello's edition), J. S. Bach ; Elegie, C minor, Lemaigre ; Old German Song, ' ' Es ist in den Wald gesungen," Mendelssohn (arranged by S. P. Warren); "A Twilight Picture," D-flat, Harry Rowe Shelley; Wedding March and Nocturne, Mendelssohn ; Rhapsodic, No. i (on a Breton melody), Saint-Saens; Adagio, D major, op. 13, No. i, Otto Dienel; Sonata, No. 6, D minor, Mendelssohn. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. First concert, tenth season, of the New York Symphony Society. Overture "Hositzka," Dvorak; First three movements from the Concerto Sympho- nique, D minor, Litolff (M. Camille Gurickx) ; Ballet Music from "Idomeneo," Mozart; Songs: "Gruppe aus dem Tar- tarus," Schubert, and "Die beiden Grenadiere," Schumann (Herr Johannes Elmblad) ; Symphony No. 5, C minor, op. 67, Beethoven. Conductor, Mr. Walter J. Damrosch. STANDARD THEATRE. 8 p. m. First representation of " Dorothy," book by B. C. Stephenson, music by Alfred Cellier. Cast : Squire Bantam, William Hamilton; Geoffrey Wilder, Eugene Oudin ; Harry Sherwood, John Brand ; John Tuppitt, F. Boudi- not; Lurcher, Harry Paulton; Tom Strutt,}. E. Nash; Dorothy Bantam, Lillian Russell; Lydia Hawthorne, Agnes Stone; Mrs. Privett, Rosa Leighton ; Phyllis, M. Halton. Conductor, Signer A. de Novellis. Messrs. Stephenson and Cellier call their " Dorothy " a "comedy- opera." Why they do so I do not know; but they have proved themselves clever enough to entitle them to the presumption that it was because they were unwilling to contribute to the confusion of terms and ignoring of exact definitions, which for several years past have been associated with the production of works belonging to the category which embraces " Dorothy." There seems to be an antip- athy ,on the part of English-speaking people to the thoroughly wholesome and respectable title of operetta, and so composers, managers, and reviewers have conspired together to rob the French opera comique of the dignity which attaches to its name, just as THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \November. Offenbach, when he decked out his mongrel invention, despoiled the time-honored Italian opera buffa. Whether Messrs. Stephenson and Cellier have bettered matters much by compounding the word "comedy-opera" I shall not stop to discuss. Perhaps they have thereby escaped some of the rigors of criticism, and as the latter should not be permitted to weigh heavily on a production which, after all, is designed only to make an evening pass pleasantly, their objects and the degree in which they have attained them should not be scrutinized too closely. Let it suffice that they have not out- raged musical terminology, and have provided a pleasantly diverting entertainment in which, though the lines of a plot are only visible through a glass darkly, there are some clever and "singable" verses, some pretty rustic scenes and some tuneful music. To dis- pose of the latter element at once it may be said that it is far from pretentious in style, being generally of the light English ballad type, with an occasional happy infusion of dance rhythms which impart just about energy enough to enable it to escape the stagnation which is the chief defect in the book. A drinking song in the first act, and a hunting song in the finale of the second are, perhaps, the most vivacious and pleasing members, and they have the additional merit of bringing with them an invigorating whiff of English air which is appropriate to the theatre of the play. It would be worth a good deal to ' ' Dorothy " if as much as this modest praise could be honestly spoken of the book. Mr. Stephen- son is ingenious enough in inventing rhymes and metres, as the following specimen (the best by odds in the book) will show. It is a verse from the introductory song of a bailiff: Attorney's bills do not decrease In size by contemplation ; And arguing does not release A debtor s obligation. You surely would not let me see A man in your position Object to pay a little fee Or cavil at addition ; A six and eightpence less or more You really must not grudge, sir ; And two and two make more than four When ordered by a judge, sir. This is clever, and if the man who wrote it had constructive ability he would be a good builder of the verbal scaffolds of musical (15) Noiwnbcr. ] THK MUSICAL SKASON 1887-1888. comedies. But here Mr. Stephenson is deficient. His first act is light-hearted, sunshiny and vivacious, but it is little else than a succession of entrance scenes of the characters. When he comes to develop the story, if ' ' Dorothy " can be said to have such a property, he fails. It is most distressingly obvious in the second act, which is made over the same last that served Mr. Paulton in "Erminie," that the librettist is hopelessly at sea, and when Mr. Paulton essayed to play the pilot he only made matters worse. The act requires vigorous pruning, not in the expectation that thereby it will be brought within the bounds of reason (such would be a hopeless endeavor), but merely to enable the patience of the audience to endure to the end of the play. THALIA THEATRE. 8 P- rn. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Der Postilion von Lonjumeau." Monday, Sei vv//// . METRPOLIIAN OPERA HOUSE. German opera. Wagner's " Tann- hauser." Cast: Landgraf, Herr Elmblad; Tannhauser, Herr Niemann ; Wolfram, Herr Alexi ; Walther, Herr Alvary ; Biterolf, Herr von Milde; Heinrich, Herr Kemlitz; Reinmar. Herr Sanger; Elizabeth, Frau Seidl-Kraus; Venus, Frau Biro de Marion; Ein junger Hirt, Fraulein Dilthey. Conductor, Herr Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Der Postilion." Tuesday, Eighth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's First Sym- phony concert. Overture, ' ' Coriolan, " Beethoven ; Symphony , No. 7, A major, op. 92, Beethoven; Concerto, No. i, E minor, op. 1 1 , Chopin (arrangement and orchestration by Tausig ; played by Rafael Joseffy) ; introduction and closing scene from "Tristan und Isolde," Wagner; "Kaisermarsch," Wagner. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. (16) THK MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \Noveinbfi. ]\'fdnc$da\, Ninth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. First representation in America of Wagner's "Siegfried." Cast: Siegfried. Herr Max Alvary; Mitne, Herr Ferenczy; Wotati- ll'aiiderer, Herr Emil Fischer; Alberich, Herr Rudolph von Milde: Fafncr, Herr Johannes Elmblad; Erda, Fraulein Mari- anne Brandt ; Briinnhilde, Fraulein Lilli Lehmann ; Stimme des H'aldi'ogels, Frau Seidl-Kraus. Conductor, Herr Anton Seidl. The production of Wagner's "Siegfried" was an invitation to the public of New York to take the longest and most decisive step away from the ordinary conventions of the lyric theatre that had been asked of them. What the ultimate response to the invitation would be it would have been foolishly presumptuous to attempt to predict ; but the favor with which ' ' Tristan und Isolde " was received last season was unquestionably sincere, and the same promptings placed the public in an attitude toward the new drama which made its appreciation easy and its acceptance genuine and heart}'. Vet the difference between the ordinary opera and "Tris- tan und Isolde" is not so great as between it and "Siegfried," notwithstanding that in the love tragedy Wagner took as uncom- promising a stand as ever did a Greek poet, and hewed to the lines of his theoretical scheme with unswerving fidelity. In the subject matter lies the distinction. In spite of the absence of that ethical element which places " Tannhauser" immeasurably above "Tris- tan " as a dramatic poem, the latter drama contains an expression of the universal passion which is so vehement, so truthful, and so sublime that it seems strange anybody susceptible to music and gifted with emotions should be deaf to its beauties or callous to its appeals. Besides this, the sympathies are stirred in behalf of the personages, who, after all, stand as representatives of human nature, and though the cooperation of the chorus is restricted to a single act, the dramatic necessity of the restriction is so obvious that an audience once engrossed in the work could do naught else than to resent such a violation of propriety as the introduction of a chorus in any but the first scene would be. In " Siegfried," however, the case is not so plain. Here there is not only no chorus, but scarcel more than five minutes in which even two solo voices are \,irenib(r.} THE MUSICAL SKASOX 1887-1888. united. The personages of the play, with two exceptions, the hero and Brijnnhilde, have no claim upon human sympathy, and their actions can scarcely arouse a loftier feeling than curiosity. Through two acts and a portion of the third the music of woman's voice (save in a dozen or more measures) and the charm of woman's presence are absent from the stage, and instead we are asked to accept a bear, a dragon, and a bird, a sublimely solemn peripatetic god and two dwarfs, repulsive in mind and hideous of body. The exchange seems anything but fair. These are the drawbacks concerning which there can be no controversy; their enumeration involves questions of fact (which no one would put) and not questions of taste. To them, as falling perhaps under the latter category, are to be added the difficulties which result from an effort to employ in a serious drama mechan- ical devices of a kind that custom associates only with children's pantomimes and idle spectacles. A bear is brought in to frighten a dwarf; a dragon sings, vomits forth steam from his cavernous jaws, fights and dies with a kindly and prophetic warning to his slayer; and a bird becomes endowed with the gift of articulate speech through a miraculous process, which takes place in another of the personages of the play. I have thus suggested at the outset most of the grounds on which criticisms of "Siegfried" might be based from the conven- tional as well as universal point of view. To close one's mind to the force of objections which can be urged against the work is a species of folly which, fortunately for the cause of art, is practiced by but few of those who sit in the seats of judgment in this country. But the purpose of my proceeding was not to lay a foundation for disparagement, but rather in order that the resolution of the discord might heighten appreciation of the beauty of the poet-composer's creation. For "Siegfried," in spite of defects, is a strangely beautiful and impressive creation, which, under trying circumstances, challenged the plaudits of an audience that, it may be imagined, found all the obstructions of convention which I have mentioned lying between its appreciation and Wagner's work. The plaudits were a deserved token of recognition of the splendid interpretation which it received at the hands of the Metropolitan company. Few of those who are familiar with (18) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \November. European performances of "The Ring of the Niblung" since it was withdrawn from the Bayreuth festivals were inclined to insti- tute comparisons injurious to the Metropolitan representation. The tetralogy is the loftiest achievement each year of the Court Opera at Dresden, which is ambitious to become a sort of minor Wagner- ian Mecca. Now the scenic outfit of "Siegfried" at the Metropol- itan Opera House is in some particulars finer than at the Saxon capital, while the singers are equally good, to say the least. It is only in stage management that the Dresden representations surpass the performance on this occasion, the most striking discrepancy being in the treatment of light effects a mechanical detail in which American theatres are many years behind the theatres of continental Europe. It was the story of the mythical German hero, Siegfried, which aroused in Wagner the impulse that produced "The Ring of the Niblung." The story was a familiar one to German dramatic literature, and Wagner's first purpose was not unlike that of several of his predecessors. It was his study of the union between the mediaeval German epic and the tales of Norse mythology, doubtless, that persuaded him to attempt the task of blending their leading features into one continuous work after the manner of the Greek tragic poets. The incidents in "Siegfried" are nearly all found in the two Eddas and the prose paraphrase of the Elder Edda, known as the Volsunga Saga. Wagner draws his people and his magic apparatus from this source, though he uses a poet's license in handling them. In the Scandinavian story Sigurd is brought up at the Frankish Court of King Hjalprek by Regin, a dwarf, son of Hreid- mar, who had exacted a ransom from Odin, Loki, and Hoenir for the killing of his son Otter. The ransom included a ring, which Andvari, from whom Loki obtained the gold, cursed when he was robbed of it. Odin was obliged to surrender the ring to Hreidmar, on whom the curse first fell. His sons Fafnir and Regin demanded of him a share of the treasure and were refused. Thereupon Fafnir killed Hreidmar in his sleep and took the gold. Regin then asked for his half of the inheritance, but Fafnir frightened him away with threats of death, and transforming himself into a dragon stood guard over his treasure. Regin came to the Court of King Hjalprek while searching for a hero able to kill Fafnir, and his choice fell on (19) Nt'r.'] THI MCSICAI. SKASON 1887-1888. something more to say in a retrospect of the season, was succinctly stated by Mr. Van der Stucken in his prospectus as follows : In announcing a series of concerts to be devoted exclusively to the compositions of musicians born in America, Mr. Van der Stucken believes that he is consistently carrying out the principles which have characterized his efforts in behalf of musical progress since he came to New York. The purpose of his Novelty Concerts, of which the first was given in October, 1884, was to give a hearing to the young writers who had been left unconsidered in the schemes of the established concert organizations. To acquaint the public with the styles of all the schools ( he made up his programmes from the works of the younger German, Italian, French, Russian, Flemish, and Scandinavian writers. His last concert of the first season he surrendered to his countrymen the Americans. In all his subsequent concerts, Mr. Van der Stucken made it a point to give American composers a hearing, and he has had the satisfaction of seeing his example followed in a measure by the conductors of New York and other cities. Of necessity, however, he has heretofore been restricted in the choice of " forms." To escape this restriction, to quicken the interest of Americans in the creations of their compatriots, and to extend to composers that encouragement which flows from public performance and discussion, he has planned a set of concerts to follow each other in quick succession which shall present the achievements of native American composers in all the phases from a symphony to a song. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Concert by Signor Italo Campanini. Overture, "La Muette de Portici," Auber; Terzetto from "Italiana in Algieri," Rossini (Signori Nannetti Corsini, and Baldini); Aria, "O Nadir," from " Les Pecheurs de Perles," Bizet (Signor Galassi) : "Fantasia Appassionata " for violin, Vieuxtemps (Signora Torricelli) ; Aria, ' ' Cielo e Mar," from "Gioconda," Ponchielli (Signor Baldini); Aria, " Caro nome." from "Rigoletto," Verdi (Signora Repetto); Aria, "Ah si, ben mio," from "II Trovatore," Verdi (Signor Campanini); Aria, " Nobil Signor," from "Les Huguenots," Meyerbeer (Signora Scalchi); Sestetto, "Chi mi frena," from "Lucia," Donizetti; Terzetto from "Crispino," Ricci (Signori Nannetti, Corsini, and Galassi) ; Pianoforte Solos : Nocturne, C-sharp minor, Chopin, and Polonaise No. 2, Liszt (Camille Gurickx); Rondo from " Lucia," Donizetti (Signora Repetto); (30) THE MUSICAL SEASON* 1887-1888. [November. Aria from " Simon e Boccanegra," Verdi (Signor Nannetti) ; Duetto from "La Favorita," Donizetti (Signora Scalchi and Signor Galassi) ; Mazurka for violin, Wieniawski (Signora Torricelli); Quartet, " Un di, se ben," from "Rigoletto," Verdi (Signore Repetto and Scalchi, and Signori Baldini and Galassi); " Campanini March" (author not named). Con- ductors. A. Gore and P. Giorza. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Stradella, " by Flotow. Cast: Alessandro Stradella, Herr Botel ; Bassi, Hermann Gerold ; Leonore, Helene Livingston ; Malvolio, Carl Mtihe ; Barbarino, Felix Schnelle. Wednesday, Sixteenth . METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Mey- erbeer's "Prophet.'' Cast: Jean, Herr Niemann; Bertha, Frau Biro de Marion; Fides, Fraulein Brandt; Oberthal, Herr Robinson; Jonas, Herr Kemlitz : Mathesen, Herr von Milde; Zacharias, Herr Elmblad. Conductor, Mr. Walter J. Dam- rosch. Thursday, Seventeenth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and third organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, F minor, Handel ; Larghetto, E-flat, from the First Symphony, Spohr (arranged by W. T. Best); Sonata in D, op. 269, P. Fumagalli : Offertoire in E, and Toccata in G, Theodore Dubois ; Andante, C minor, op. 30, No. 2, S. de Lange; Festival March in C, Henry Hiles. CHICKERIN<; HALL. 8p.m. Second American Concert. Overture, "In the Mountains." Arthur Foote; Pianoforte Concerto, D minor, Arthur Whiting (solo by the composer) ; Arioso from "Montezuma," Frederic Grant Gleason (Mrs. Corinne Moore- Lawson) ; Scherzo from Symphony in A, Arthur Bird ; " R&verie " for strings, Silas G. Pratt ; " Royal Gaelic March," Edgar S. Kelley; Cantata, " The Voyage of Columbus," Dudley- Buck (conducted by the composer : solos by H. S. Brown, Stuart Colville, J. T. Drill, and H. F. Reddall; chorus, the Apollo Club of Brooklyn). Conductor, Frank Van der Stucken. (30 November^ THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by Walter J. Hall. Trio, C minor, op. i, No. 3, Beethoven (pianoforte, Mr. Hall; violin. Eduard Herrmann ; violoncello, Adolf Hartdegen) ; Song from " Der Trompeter," Nessler (Miss Dora Henninges) ; Chaconne for violin solo, Bach (Mr. Herrmann); " Rhapsodic d'Auvergne,"' Saint-Saens; Mazurka, Godard; Serenata and Tarantella. Moszkowski ; Songs : " Bitte," Franz, " Sonnenschein" and " Er der Herrlichste," Schumann (Miss Henninges); Introduction and Polonaise for violoncello, Davidoff (Mr. Hartdegen) : Gavotte, Sgambati, and Rhapsodie Hongroise No. 6, Liszt. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Der Troubadour," Verdi. Friday, Eighteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's " Tannhauser. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. Saturday, Nineteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wagner's "Siegfried," Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-second organ recital. (In memoriam Franz Schubert, obiit November 19, 1828.) Toccata and Fugue, D minor (Book VI, Novello edition). Bach; Andantino, A-flat, op. 94, No. 2, Schubert (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Russian Romance, A major, Heinrich Hoffmann (arranged by Harry Rowe Shelley) ; Adagio in C, op. posth. , Schubert (arranged by W. T. Best); "Ave Maria," E major, Adolph Henselt (arranged by Bartlett); Andantino, B-flat. second entr'acte, "Rosamunde," Schubert (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Sonata No. 4, Guilmant. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. First concert, forty-sixth season, of the Philharmonic Society of New York. " Eine Faust Overture," Wagner; Symphony No. 5, C minor, op. 67. Beethoven ; Concerto for violin, op. 46, Rubinstein (Madame THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [November. Camilla Urso) ; Symphonic Poem, " Festklange, " Liszt. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Third American Concert. Organ Solos : Triumphal March, Dudley Buck, and Fugue in A minor, Eugene Thayer (Frank G. Dossert) ; Songs : " Moonlight" and " Early Love," Frank Van der Stucken (Mrs. Marie Gramm); Pianoforte Solos: Scherzo, William Mason, " Loreley," Ed- ward B. Perry and "Medea," William H. Sherwood (William H. Sherwood) ; Madrigal, " Fair Daffodils," Samuel P. Warren (Choir of St. Stephen's Church); Pieces for pianoforte, four hands: Scherzo, Edgar S. Kelley, and Tarantelle, Edmund S. Mattoon (Mr. Kelley and Mr. Sherwood) ; Songs : ' ' Sweet wind that blows" and "She loves me," G. W. Chadwick (Frederick Jameson) ; Pianoforte Solos : Mazourka, F. Dewey, Gavotte, Wilson G. Smith, and Polonaise, William H. Dayas (Mr. Sherwood); Festival Magnificat, W. W. Gilchrist (St. Stephen's Choir). THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Der Postilion," Adam. Sunday, Twentieth. CASINO. 8 p. m. Signorina Tua played at the first popular concert of the season. LIEDERKRANZ HALL. 8 p. m. First concert of the season by the Deutscher Liederkranz. "Die Feuer-Anbeter," ("The Fire Worshippers") by A. Goring Thomas (solos by Frau Seidl- Kraus and Adolph Silbernagel; translation by Reinhold L. Herman); Fantasia for pianoforte, orchestra, and chorus, op. 80, Beethoven (pianoforte, Frl. Adele Aus der Ohe); Part- songs for male voices : ' ' Das Heldengrab," L. Liebe, and ' ' Car- mosenella" (Italian folk-song) Gustav Schmidt; Songs: "Wie stolz und stattlich geht er"and "Jetzt ist er hinaus," Riedl, "Sommer- Abend," Lassen (Frau Seidl-Kraus) ; Andante Spi- anato et Polonaise, Chopin (Frl. Aus der Ohe) ; ' ' Die Glocken des Strassburger Ministers," Liszt (baritone solo, Max Treu- mann). Conductor, Reinhold L. Herman. (33) November.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Monday, Twenty-first. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's " Tristan und Isolde." Frl. Meisslinger as Brangdne and Herr von Milde as Kurwenal. Conductor, Anton Seidl. FiFTH-A VENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. First night of a three weeks' season of comic operetta in English, and first performance in New York of "The Begum," words by Harry B. Smith, music by Reginald De Koven. Cast : The Begum of Oude, Mathilde Cottrelly ; Howja-Dhu, De Wolf Hopper ; Poote- Wehl, Edwin H. Hoff; Klahm-Chou'dee, Hubert Wilke; Mynt-Jhuleep, Digby Bell; Aminah, Marion Manola; Jhust-Naut, J. de Angellis; Asch-Khart, Harry Macdonough ; Namouna, Laura Joyce Bell ; Damayanti, Annie Myers; Khara-Mel, Nina Bertini; Nougat, Grace Seavey ; Bon-Bon, Paul Franko. Conductor, A. Nowak. "The Begum" is humorous, albeit with a vulgar humor; it was picturesquely attired ; it has music of which at least it may be said that it can be comprehended, so far as need be, without any more effort than is required to appreciate a minstrel song ; it has a story with a conceit at the bottom of it which is clever enough to support a framework of rhymes and verses, and elastic enough to allow unbounded scope for those comical absurdities which the low comedian of the operetta stage has long been in the habit of injecting into all plays with music, regardless of their effect upon the comedy. It was a success (measuring success by money-making capability) as much because of some of its defects as in spite of others. As a work laying claim to an honorable designation it is defective in that it shines almost wholly by reflected light; but this defect did not hurt its popularity. Operetta audiences are not critical after once they have laughed heartily and, if they were compelled in ' ' The Begum " to recognize a somewhat slavish imitation in both words and music, their resentment was estopped by the fact that the imitations were clever and the models admirable. To an experienced listener who has practised the habit of discrimination, it was obvious that had there been no " Mikado" there never would have been a " Begum;" and had there never been a Gilbert and Sullivan, no collaboration (34) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [November. of Harry B. Smith and Reginald De Koven would have had to be chronicled. Not only for their forms, but also for their thoughts, the authors of "The Begum" lean heavily on the genial Englishmen. Mr. Smith, writer of the book, works over Mr. Gilbert's products with more freedom and ease than Mr. De Koven does Sir Arthur Sullivan's, but both men have considerable ingenuity, and if they do not invent felicitously, they apply cleverly in all things except those which belong to construction. Mr. Gilbert knows better than to introduce all his characters one after the other, each with a stereotyped kind of entrance song, and Sir Arthur Sullivan, if he repeats himself in manner, at least puts variety of rhythm and melody into each new score. His " Mikado" pieces may show a resemblance in physiog- nomy to the pieces in "Patience," but they are not all copies of each other. They are merely related, not twins. Mr. De Koven differs from the majority of his colleagues among operetta composers in having put his best music in the second act. A quartet, ' ' We think, and minds salubrious have often thought before " ; two duets, "In the carnage of a scrimmage" and "I love at last I've met my fate, "and a ballad, "She I love is fair and queenly," are worth all else in the score. I would include also the Begum's song, "What though my griefs can not be called extensive," were it not that in this case the question of property asserts itself so importunately as not to admit of praise to Mr. De Koven. Besides it is palpably not what Mr. De Koven intended it to be a piece of music with Oriental color. It may be Irish, it is certainly not Hindoo. The composer has too little command of the orchestra and too slight a knowledge of the characteristic rhythms and melodic intervals peculiar to Eastern music to enable him to imbue his score with the local color which it might properly have shown. The piece ran to the end of the three weeks' season. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Carri Brothers. Suite for pianoforte and violin, G minor, op. 26, Franz Ries (Ferdinand and Hermann Carri) ; Canzone, ' ' Ritornerai fra poco," Hasse (Miss Berta Bracewell) ; Pianoforte Solos: "Au Matin" and Second Mazurka, Godard (Hermann Carri); Concerto No. i, for violin, Paganini (Ferdinand Carri); Songs: (35) November.'} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. "Sing, sing," Kjerulf, and "Serenade," Moszkowski (Miss Bracewell); Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 4, Liszt (Hermann Carri); "Di tanti palpiti," for violin, Rossini-Paganini (Ferdinand Carri) ; Barcarolle ' ' Ou voulez vous aller ? " Gounod (Miss Bracewell, with violin obbligato) ; Trio, C minor, op. 85, Jadassohn (Messrs. Carri and C. Bareuther). Tuesday, Twenty-second. CHICKERING HALL. 3 p. m. Fourth American Concert. String Quartet in D major, G. W. Chadwick (G. Dannreuther, E. Thiele, O. Schill and Adolf Hartdegen); "Love Song," Willard Burr, and "I saw thee weep," Hermann Rietzel (Miss Effie Stewart) ; Sonata for pianoforte and violin, John Knowles Paine (Mr. Dannreuther and William H. Sherwood); Songs: "When I dream of thee," Edgar H. Sherwood, "Milkmaid's Song," Arthur Foote (Miss Stewart); Sextet in D minor, for strings, Johann Beck (the quartet, J. Lendner, and C. Hem- man.) Mr. Chadwick's quartet was modest in respect of length, but this fact brought into prominence a quality in the composer which deserves commendation. It suggested the possession of the art of self-criticism, which was not conspicuous in the compositions brought forward in the preceding concerts of the series.' Mr. Chadwick, in this quartet at least, stops talking when he has nothing more to say. It is not burdened with remplissage, but is straightforward, even in its confession of indebtedness to its model (in the second movement), the posthumous quartet by Schubert. This second movement is a theme in D minor with variations. The theme, slightly reminiscent of Schubert's, is a fine, broad melody, and two of the variations, the first and third, are excellently con- ceived and admirably carried out. Mr. Paine's sonata is beautifully written and if the principal subject of its slow movement were better suited in character to the use made of it, there would be no feature in it which an honest critic would need to be chary in praising. Yet like other compo- sitions of the serious-minded Harvard professor, it might have more warmth. (36) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {November. The gem of the afternoon was the sextet. Mr. Beck, its composer, is a young man, born in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a strongly pronounced individuality, a sterling artistic character and unquestionably much musical learning. I doubt whether there is a composer in America who could match his slow movement in this sextet, and his first movement (the second best of the four) is not far behind it. Mr. Beck's imagination is not only prolific; it is also poetical in a high degree. The interest which he invites by his themes is paired with interest in his treatment of them. The work- ing out of the slow movement discovers a most fecund fancy, and his part-writing is that of a musician who is so firmly grounded in technical knowledge that learning has become the willing servant of the imagination. His music, when most erudite and ingenious, is most replete with feeling. The future career of Mr. Beck may be watched with a higher interest than curiosity. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's second Sym- phony Concert. Symphony, E-flat (No. 3, Breitkopf and Hartel edition), Haydn; Recitative and Air, "E Susanna non vien," Mozart (Miss Gertrude Griswold); Symphonic Poem, "The Tempest," J. K. Paine; Aria, ''!! est doux," Massenet (Miss Griswold) ; Dramatic Symphony, "Romeo and Juliet" (the Ball and Love scenes and Scherzo), Berlioz. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. First concert, tenth season, of the Philharmonic Club of New York (Richard Arnold and Philip Farber, violins, Eugene Weiner, flute, Friedhold Hemman, viola, Emil Schenck, violoncello, and August Kalkhof, double- bass). Pianoforte Quartet, op. 47, Schumann ; Cavatina, " Plus grand dans son obscurite," Gounod (Miss Jennie Button); Andante and Gavotte from the Quartet, op. 75, Bazzini; Song, "Wenn der Fruhling auf die Berge steigt," Lassen (Miss Button); Sextet, "Serenade," op. 34 (MS.), Arnold Krug. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Ber Troubadour." (37) November.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Wednesday, Twenty-third. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. First time in America of " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen," Music by Victor E. Nessler. Cast: Werner Kirchhof, Robinson; Conradin, Elmblad; Major Domo, Kemlitz; Rector, Sanger; Baron von Schonau, Fischer; Marie, Frau Seidl-Kraus; Graf von Wildenstein, von Milde; Grafin, Frl. Meisslinger; Damian, Ferenczy. Conductor, Anton Seidl. It was not surprising, nor altogether inexplicable, that Nessler's opera won such a degree of popularity as to make it a fair financial success. The record of the last four years was against such an achievement by a light opera, but the ' ' Trompeter " is as little to be bound by the fetters of tradition or the deductions of wiseacres as the hero and heroine of Scheffel's poem, upon which the opera is based, were to be deterred from loving each other by the social restrictions of two centuries ago. The "Trompeter" was born under a lucky star. During the scant five years of its life it has perhaps been played oftener than any three operas in existence. From one point of view that which limits itself to the art-value of the work the fact baffles explanation, for with all its vivacity and freshness and simple beauty, it is not a striking work. Dozens of its predecessors in the field of German comic opera, to say nothing of the opera comique of the Frenchmen, Adam, Boildieu, Halevy, and Auber, are much superior in every way. But the German's heart is stronger than his aesthetic judgment, and the " Trompeter " tugs at the heartstrings of those who have been taught by centuries of tradition to love the things which are celebrated in this book and score. Throughout the Fatherland the name of Scheffel is a household word; every university student has sung the songs from his ' ' Gaudeamus " in hundreds of Commerse ; every German school-girl has wept sentimental tears over the parting of Werner and Margaretha, and rejoiced hysterically at their reunion; and every heart filled with love of country has swelled at the poet's pictures of the Rhine and the Black Forest. Long before his death in April, 1886, the admiration for his works, especially for " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen," had grown into a sort of cult which would most assuredly have turned the five (38) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {November. hundredth anniversary of Heidelberg University in 1886 into a Scheffel Festival had not the singer of the old Palatine town died before that famous event occurred. It is this cult which has put Nessler's opera into the niche it now occupies, aided, perhaps, by the German Madchen's sentimental disposition toward the picturesque toggery and chivalresque bearing of the hero. This disposition is so strong that it overrides all aesthetic considerations which might grow out of the modern conviction that the trumpet is an unromatic instrument, and a carousing student who pawns his Corpus juris sings love songs to the Countess Palatine at night and chooses a life of careless and useless vagabondage, is scarcely an ideal hero according to nineteenth century notions. In January, 1886, an opera on the same subject to which an unknown musician named Emil Kaiser composed the music was produced at the Thalia Theatre. The book of this opera was constructed with more skill than that put at the service of Herr Nessler, but the music was worse than commonplace and the work did not make itself popular. The story followed ScheffePs poem more closely in the denoument than Nessler's opera, though that was a doubtful virtue, for when the poet promoted the trumpeter into a chapelmaster of the Sixtine Chapel in Rome he was guilty of as great a folly as when he permitted him to play "fugues" and "swelling chords" upon his instrument and organize an orchestra containing a clarinet a full century before the clarinet was invented. The Roman episode is handled with fine poetical skill, however, and is not quite so trite as the denoument in Nessler's opera where a stiff-necked and gouty old baron hands his daughter over to his trumpeter because the young man had fought bravely while the bridegroom whom the baron had chosen turned out to be a craven, and finds a strawberry mark on the youth which takes the place of the Pope's patent of nobility in the original poem. The story of the opera can be put together without much difficulty from the suggestions thrown out in the foregoing remarks. The music is generally fresh and melodious and, especially in the prologue, it touches a chord which is bound to vibrate responsively wherever Germans form a considerable community. It voices the national love for jollity and male chorus music. It is not good dramatic music and is innocent of the devices which opera writers (39) November.'} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. usually employ to stamp their characters with individuality. It is simply good, tuneful music, now stirring as the chorus sings, now sentimental and charming and pretty when the lovers are voicing their sweet passion. But the opera has one element which splendidly adapted it to the uses of the Metropolitan Opera House. It admits of much opulence of stage attire and picturesque pageantry. Thursday, Twenty-fourth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Fifth American Concert. First Symphony, F major, G. Templeton Strong; Cantata, "King Trojan," H. W. Parker (solos, Mrs. Henrietta Beebe Lawton, Miss Charlotte Walker, Miss Hattie J. Clapper, Max Heinrich, Frederick Jameson, and J. Allen Preisch) ; " Carnival " from Suite in F, Ernest Guiraud. Conductor, Frank Van der Stucken. Mr. Strong's symphony belongs to the class of ' ' programme music." It has a title, "In the Mountains," and its four movements are designed to depict the scenes and emotions of a day. Thus the first movement has a superscription, "In the Afternoon"; the " Adagio," " In the Gloaming"; the "Allegro," which stands in the place of the customary scherzo, "At Midnight the Wild Hunt"; the finale ("Allegro Molto"), "In the Morn." It will strike every one that the scheme is modelled on that of Raffs symphony, "Im Walde," and I wish for the sake of Mr. Strong, to whose fine creative talent the symphony bears witness, that the resemblance to Raff's music extended only to the adoption of a programme. This is not the case, however. The " Im Walde," it is true, suggested little else than the sequence of poetical purposes, but the " Lenore " symphony by the same composer contributed much of the characteristic matter in the delineation of the nocturnal hunt. Not only the instrumental colors but the melodic and rhythmical devices as well which Raff employs in his musical description of the ride of the ghostly lover and his bride, with all its grewsome episodes, have been paraphrased by Mr. Strong. The fact is to be regretted, for the movement is a most stirring piece of music, and one that could not have been composed except by one having a thorough command of the technical elements of composition. The Raff (4o) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {November. infusion, moreover, was unnecessary, for until the paraphrase was reached the movement was splendid in spirit, ideas, and workman- ship. It is to be expected that young composers will fall into the habit of copying the manner of the masters whom they admire before they develop an individual style of their own, but it would help them greatly if they would cultivate the lofty virtue of self-criticism until they were able after completion to prune their scores of every quotation direct or indirect which they are able to detect after a work has been long enough out of mind to make calm examination possible. For Mr. Strong's talent I have heretofore expressed much admiration. I believe that he will be a credit to the art of his native land, but before then he must become more original in his manner of expressing his musical thoughts. Nothing is more contemptible in musical criticism than the common penchant for hunting down reminiscences, but sometimes it becomes necessary to direct attention to borrowed ideas, and it can only benefit the American movement if the men who stand for it now are held to a strict accountability in the matter of meum and tuum. Mr. Strong's symphony, especially in its third and fourth movements, is a composition deserving to be put among the half-dozen best compositions performed at these concerts. The greater, therefore, was the pity that in each movement there was music which suggested the appropriateness of sub-titles like these : Introduction, ' ' Second Act of ' Siegfried ' " ; Adagio, "Third Act of 'Tristan und Isolde'"; Allegro, "Last Movement 'Lenore' Symphony." Mr. Parker's cantata was composed in 1885 and had been heard previously in Munich, where Mr. Parker made his last music studies, and in Providence. It is a smooth and melodious compo- sition, capitally scored so far as the instrumental combinations are concerned, but monotonous in color and feeling. Unlike Mr. Strong's symphony it seems to have few reminiscences of other works, but it has equally few evidences of real originality. The ' ' Carnival " from an orchestral suite by Guiraud was the brightest and the merriest bit of music in the five American programmes, and it was given particular prominence by the circumstance that it was the only composition in Mr. Van der Stucken's list which showed French influences. All the rest were German in manner. November.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Concert by Madame Etelka Gerster, under the management of Mr. Henry E. Abbey. Polonaise in E, Liszt (orchestra); Aria, " Madamina," Mozart (Signer Carbone) ; Aria, "Che faro," Gluck (Mme. Helene Hastreiter); Concerto No. 2, for violin, Wieniawski (Miss Nettie Carpenter); Aria, "Una voce poco fa," Rossini (Madame Gerster); Romanza, "Eri tu," Verdi (Signor De Anna); Cavatinafrom "II Flauto Magico," Mozart (Theodore Bjorksten); Duet from "La Favorita," Donizetti (Madame Hastreiter and Signor De Anna); Overture, "Euryanthe," Weber; Aria, "M'Appari," Flotow (Mr. Bjorksten); Aria from "II Guarany," Gomez (Madame Hastreiter); "Autumn Revery," for harp, Thomas (Madame Sacconi); Bolero from "I Vespri Siciliani," Verdi (Madame Gerster); Aria, "II Balen," Verdi (Signor De Anna); Duet, from "L'Elisir d' Amore," Donizetti (Madame Gerster and Signor Carbone); ' ' Rakoczy " March, Berlioz. Conductor, Adolf Neuendorff. The concert was given a mournful interest by reason of the fact that it demonstrated that Madame Gerster had made a grievous error in supposing that she had recovered from the impairment of her voice which had kept her in retirement since her last appearance in the United States with Mr. Mapleson's company in the season 1883-1884 at the Academy of Music. Her friends received her with great enthusiasm, but the evidences that the voice which had charmed them so often was gone, were so painfully convincing that the newspaper press on the morning after the concert could make no attempt to conceal the fact. Madame Gerster made one more effort, on the evening of November 26th at New Haven, and then abandoned the tour which she had projected with Mr. Abbey as manager. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in Adam's "Postilion." Friday, Twenty-fifth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Meyer- beer's "Prophet." Fraulein Lilli Lehmann as Bertha. Con- ductor, Walter J. Damrosch. (42) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [Nwember. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Concert of the Beethoven String Quartet (G. Dannreuther, Ernst Thiele, O. Schill, and Adolf Hartdegen). Quartet, G minor, op. 27, Grieg; Songs, "Ich denke Dein," and "Wohin?" Lassen (Miss Ella Earle); "Traume" (transcribed for strings), Wagner; Petite Marche, Cesar Cui; Song, "Kennst du das Land," Schubert (Miss Earle) ; Trio, A minor, op. 50, Tscha'ikowsky. (Pianoforte, Alexander Lambert). Saturday, Twenty-sixth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Mr. Thomas's second Popular Mat- inee for Young People. "Huldigungs-Marsch," Wagner; Overture, "Oberon," Weber; Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue, Bach-Esser; Scherzo, " Midsummer Night's Dream," Mendels- sohn; Symphonic Poem, "Les Preludes," Liszt; Theme and Variations from the Quartet in D minor, Schubert; Ballet music from "Henri VIII," Saint-Saens. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Ness- ler's "Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-third organ recital. "St. Ann's" fugue (Book VI, Novello edition), Bach; Gran Coro Trionfale, E-flat, Capocci ; " Litanei," A-flat, Liszt; Variations on "The Star-spangled Banner," Dudley Buck; Piece Heroique, B minor, Cesar Franck ; Fest Sonata, C major, op. 371, Dr. W. Volckmar. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Second concert, tenth season, of the Symphony Society. Symphony No. i, Eugene d' Albert; Air, " Dalla sua pace," Mozart (Max Alvary) ; Introduction and Serenade from "Namouna," Lalo; Ballad, "Siegfried's Sword," Leopold Damrosch (Herr Alvary) ; Three romantic overtures: " Der Freischiitz," Weber, "Fliegende Hollander," Wagner, " Le Corsair," Berlioz. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. (43) November.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Mr. D' Albert's symphony and the music by Lalo were publicly played for the first time in America, at the public rehearsal on the preceding day. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Boieldieu's "Die weisse Dame." Gaveston, Carl Miihe; Anna, Selma Kronold; George Brown, Heinrich Botel ; Dickson, Felix Schnelle ; Jenny, Carola Englander; Margarethe, Jenny Boner; Mac-Irton, Rudolf Sinnhold; Gabriel, Hermann Korn. Monday, Twenty-eighth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8p.m. German opera. "Fidelio." Herr Robinson as Pizarro. Conductor, Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in an act each of "Postilion," "Martha," and "Troubadour." Tuesday, Twenty-ninth. METROPOLITAN OPERA' HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. First concert in America of Master Josef Hofmann under the managment of Messrs. Abbey, Schoeffel, and Grau. Overture, " Carneval Remain, "Berlioz; Pianoforte Concerto in C, No. i, Beethoven (solo, Josef Hofmann); Symphonic Poem, "Phaeton," Saint- Sae'ns; Variations for pianoforte, Rameau (Master Hofmann); Overture," Midsummer Night's Dream," Mendelssohn; Piano- forte Solos: Berceuse and Waltz, Josef Hofmann, Nocturne, E-flat, and Waltz, E minor, Chopin (Master Hofmann) ; Polacca for Pianoforte and Orchestra, Weber-Liszt (solo, Master Hof- mann). Conductor, Adolf Neuendorff. Those who run after the marvellous without caring even to try to fathom its nature, those who like to exercise their wits in explain- ing the seemingly inexplicable, and those whose hearts warm at the thought that a genius may come down in this matter-of-fact age, and that it may be theirs to speak, not irreverently, with Simeon of old, touching a Musical Messiah all found a rich reward, in the concerts of the wonderful boy who made his first public appearance in America on this occasion. For a year past reports (44) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [November. concerning his remarkably ripe powers as a pianoforte player and composer had reached our ears, first from Berlin, then from Lon- don. The early reports were mere fugitive whisperings; but when the last London season reached its height, the Polish prodigy rode on the crest of its biggest wave. He had played at a concert of the venerable Philharmonic Society under the direction of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and royalty had condescended to smile on him, as a century and a quarter before it had put its head out of a carriage and nodded vigorously to the boy Mozart as he took a walk in the park. Then Hofmann gave a series of recitals in St. James's Hall, and when the time came to announce the last in the newspapers, lo ! it was a needless thing to do, for the tickets were already sold. Such a startling occurrence in the history of concert-giving could not escape the notice of the foreign corre- spondent. Naturally a good deal of curiosity was excited in New York, and so sincere was the desire to study the lad on the part of the serious music-reviewers of the newspaper press that a request for a private meeting at which his powers could be tested was sent to Mr. Abbey before the boy arrived. Mr. Abbey granted the request in a manner that defeated its object. He gave a private recital in Wallack's theatre on the afternoon of November 28th, and invited to it a large company composed almost exclusively of actors men and women, who, I am sorry to say, discovered by their applause at inopportune times that they had hazy notions concerning the things they were applauding. In the literature of no other art are tales of precocity so common as in that of music. They furnish opening phrases for the majority of biographies of a certain class. There is some color of reason why this should even be so. Some elements of a musical nature must be direct gifts or they will never be owned ; the sense of absolute pitch, for instance, cannot be acquired; and hence it is exceedingly fortunate that it is not an essential ingredient in the compounding of a musician. Raff and Meyerbeer are among the eminent composers who did not possess it; nevertheless every student of the art has in the course of his experiences found some child who, without knowing why, could give the name of a tone produced by the touching of an unseen key upon the pianoforte, and sometimes even resolve a dissonant bunch of notes into its (45) November.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. factors. Yet all these things have not prevented the critical part of the world from viewing the tales of premature ripeness with suspicion. One reason of this, doubtless, is the fact that the number of cases in which extraordinary talent in the child has developed into genius in the man are so few. The uncritical and unthinking, of course, are always ready to be astounded and bewildered, and it is because of the preponderance of these in the world's population that the dime museum and the side-show of freaks flourish. From the utterances of the two extreme classes it would be difficult to come to a decision in such a case as that presented by young Hofmann. It was obvious enough at this first hearing that he is gifted in music far beyond any child presented to public notice in recent times; and if the inquiry were to stop here there would be little occasion for controversy. From the technical point of view solely his playing of the pianoforte is phenomenal. The confident ease with which he attacks the task set before him is astonishing at the outset; his nimbleness of finger, his command of the technique peculiar to the instrument, his tone production in respect both of quality and quantity (in the latter put to a merci- less test in the vast audience-room), the nice sense of symmetry which marks his playing of scales and arpeggios, his mastery of dynamic effects and of tone-color all these features of his playing are admirable in themselves, and nothing short of remarkable as elements in the playing of a lad of ten years. But it is none the less true that all of them might be the fruits of imitation, and are not necessarily indicative of the possession of extra- ordinary musical talent. For the proofs of such a possession we generally look at other elements in pianoforte playing to its intel- lectual and emotional contents. In the nature of the case we cannot talk about emotional depth in a child's playing, even though he be a prodigy; when young Hofmann approaches feeling at all it seems rather the product of an instinctive appreciation that some effect is necessary for the sake of beauty in music, and it would be the course of wisdom to exclude from his programmes all the music of such composers as Schumann and Chopin, with whom the emotional element is dominant. But there is a high degree of intelligently directed taste in his playing, which bears testimony to a genuine musical nature. (46) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {November. The majority of his intuitions, even when balked by a mechanical slip, are a delight to the judicious. At his first concert he played two numbers, which lifted this side of his ability into prominence the slow movement of Beethoven's first concerto and the theme and variations by Rameau. It would be difficult with all the arguments at the hands of the cleverest special pleader to convince a musician that the exquisite phrasing and lovely shading in the former and the solidity of style and lucidity of exposition in the latter were acquired by an exercise of a merely imitative faculty, no matter how abnormally developed. As proofs of the deep-grounded musical nature of the lad his reading of these two numbers was far more potent than his performance of two original compositions or his improvisation on a given theme. Josef Hofmann is a wonderful child. The ripeness and maturity of his pianoforte playing, coupled with the perfection of his ' ' finger technic," fill the musician with amazement and tempt him strongly to declare the boy to be a genius. And so, perhaps, he is a genius with a difference. Genius need not be so comprehensive as the sticklers in the use of the word would have us believe. We have not been convinced by what we have heard and seen that this prodigy is at all in the case of Mozart and Mendelssohn, with whose names his has thoughtlessly been associated. He is a genius of another sort; if the dreadful adjective be pardoned, he is a "pian- istic" genius, such as Liszt was at his age, and Rubinstein. His improvisations show to the knowing that he ought not to be com- pared with Mozart, who, when only as old as he, had already composed sonatas, symphonies, and concertos by the score, and who exhibited an instinctive knowledge of "form" full six years earlier; nor with Mendelssohn, who was no older than young Hofmann when he played Bach fugues, and improvised by the hour for Goethe, and on one occasion completed the old poet's mystification by reading at sight autograph manuscripts by Mozart and Beethoven. The latter is scarcely ever numbered with the prodigies (or as the Germans call them, "wonder-children") of music; and yet at Hof- mann's age he composed fourteen variations on a march by Dressier, a two-voiced fugue, and three pianoforte sonatas which have been printed. The feat which the Polish lad performs of taking a theme from a player and continuing it is one that all the prodigies on record (47) November.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. have done, and I believe with much more striking results; for, without wishing to detract from his ability as an improviser, it ought to be said that the power which he displays in creating is not at all comparable with his power in reproducing. His genius lies in the direction of pianoforte playing, and it ought to be an inter- esting subject of study for physiologists as well as psychologists. Here is a child of ten years, with undeveloped mental faculties, with the emotional element of his nature absolutely quiescent, with immature physical outfit, who nevertheless performs feats on the keyboard which from a purely mechanical point of view are bewild- ering. Josef is well born musically, but it would seem as if he had inherited not only the fine musical intuitions which enable him to invest his performances with some of the highest attributes, but also the technical ability to give them expression. Like Liszt, he has a "piano hand" not abnormally large, but with muscles, nerves, and sinews adjusted to enable him to grasp chords and propel his fingers powerfully and independently. His touch is truly musical, moreover; and this, all musicians know, is something else than a mere product of imitation. No praise that the newspapers gave to the playing of young Hofmann was extravagant, except that which found the same warmth of feeling and maturity of expression in it that mark the work of the ripe artist. As I have already observed there can be no talk of real depth of feeling in such a case. But the taste of the lad is exquisite, his command of tone-color amazing, his reposefulness of delivery would reflect credit on any older artist, his sense of symmetry is most delightful, and his digital agility as great as that which the majority of pianoforte players attain after practising as many years as this little lad has lived. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. First concert, eleventh season, of the Vocal Union. Part-songs: "Love and Summer, "John E. West; "Good-night from the Rhine," Raff; Songs: "Thou'rt like a flower," Liszt; "Maiden with the lips so rosy," Meyer- Hellmund (Carl E. Dufft); Part-song: "Corin, for Cleora dying," W. V. Wallace; Pianoforte Solo: "Du bist die Ruh;" Schubert-Liszt (Mrs. Clara E. Thorns); Ode (at a solemn music), " Blest pair of Sirens," C. Hubert H. Parry; Madrigal: (48) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \November. "See where the rapid Bound," Luca Marenzio; Part-song for women's voices: "The Water Nymph," Henry Smart; Piano- forte Solos: "Dream Bells," Robert Goldbeck, " Magic Fire Scene," Wagner-Brassin (Mrs. Thorns); "Lullaby," Barnby; Song: "Thine eyes so blue," Lassen (Mr. Dufft); Part-Song: "Three dough tie men," W. W. Pearson. Conductor, Samuel P. Warren. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. First concert, tenth season, of the Apollo Club. " In the Night," L. Liebe; Sextet, op. 34, Arnold Krug (Philharmonic Club); "Treachery," F. Buchler; Song: "Gretchen," Hauptmann (Miss Ella Earle) "Forest Harps," Edwin Schultz; "King Olafs Christmas," Dudley Buck (Solos by Stuart Colville and H. S. Brown); Song, "O du meine liebliche Liebe," B. O. Klein (Miss Earle) ; ' ' Robin Adair " (Apollo Club) ; Rhapsody Hongroise No. 3, Liszt (Philharmonic Club); "Parting Song," Mendels- sohn. Conductor, Dudley Buck. Wednesday, Thirtieth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Lohengrin." Cast: Lohengrin, Niemann; Konig Hein- rich, Fischer; Telramund, Robinson; Heerrufer, von Milde; Elsa, Frau Seidl-Kraus; Ortrud, Fraulein Brandt. Conductor, Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Die weisse Dame." (49) DECEMBER Thursday, First. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2:30 p. m. Concert of Josef Hofmann. Overture, " Oberon," Weber; Concerto for piano- forte, No. 3, C minor, Beethoven (Master Hofmann) ; Air, "Dich theure Halle," Wagner (Madame Helene Hastreiter) ; Concertstiick, for violin, Saint-Saens (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Solos: Gavotte, Pirani, Romance, Rubinstein, " Le Bananier," Gottschalk (Master Hofmann) ; Overture, " Rienzi," Wagner; "Toreador Song," Bizet (Signer De Anna); Solo for harp (Mme. Sacconi) ; Capriccio, B minor, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann). Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. CHICKERING HALL. 2 p. m. Pianoforte recital by Edwin Klahre. Sonata, op. 31, No. 2, Beethoven; Nocturne, F-sharp, Im- promptu, F-sharp, and Polonaise, op. 53, Chopin; "Am Loreley Fels," Raff; Suite, "Aus Holberg's Zeit," Grieg; " Kammenoi-Ostrow No. 22, and Barcarolle No. 4, Rubin- stein; "Dreams of Love" No. i, Etude, D-flat, and "La Campanella," Liszt. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and fourth organ recital. Prelude, A minor (Book IV, No. 13), Bach; Fugue, E minor, G. Frescobaldi; Adagio from the Symphony in E-flat, No. 4, Haydn (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Fantasie Sonata, A-flat, op. 65, Rheinberger; Fantasia, op. 15, No. i, Emil Sjogren; "Priere," E, op. 64, No. n, C. V. Alkan (aine) ; Offertory, D minor, H. M. Higgs. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. First concert, fifteenth season, of the Oratorio Society. "Requiem," Mozart; third (So) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. part of Schumann's "Scenes from Goethe's 'Faust.'" Prin- cipal singers, Miss Ella Earle, Miss Marie Groebl, Charles Kaiser, Rudolph von Milde and Johannes Elmblad. Con- ductor, Walter J. Damrosch. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. First private concert, fourth season, of the Musurgia. " The Sea hath its Pearls," John S. Camp; Canzonetta, Minuet, and Serenade, Godard (New York Phil- harmonic Club); "Like the Woodland Roses," Franz Mair; Lullaby, Brahms; "The Enchantress," J. L. Hatton) Mrs. Sarah Baron Anderson); Finale, Act I, " Rienzi," Wagner (arranged by Max Spicker); Transcription, " Preislied," Wag- ner, and Ballet, Gluck (Philharmonic Club); "Ring out, Wild Bells," Chopin (transcribed by Max Vogrich) ; " Es muss was Wunderbares sein," Franz Ries, and "Ah! 'tis a Dream," C. B. Hawley (Mrs. Anderson) ; Drinking Song, W. W. Gilchrist. Friday, Second. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Nessler's " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Herr Botel in a mixed bill. Saturday, Third. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Siegfried." Conductor, Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 2 p. m. German opera. Herr Botel in " Der Postilion." SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-fourth organ recital. Fugue, D minor (Book III, Westbrook's arrange- ment), Dr. T. A. Arne; Priere, B-flat, op. 64, No. 4, C. V. Alkan (aine) ; Finale, B-flat, op. 21, Cesar Franck; Adagio in B, from the Sixth Symphony, C. M. Widor ; Sonata, "Ecclesia," op. 32, J. T. Cooper. (50 December.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. CASINO. 8 p. m. Last performance of "The Marquis," book by M. Delacour, music by Paul Lacomb, first produced in the English adaptation by Reece and Freeman at the Casino on September iyth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. Overture, " Mignon," A. Thomas; Pianoforte Concerto in D minor, Mozart (Master Hofmann) ; ' ' Spirto gentil," Donizetti (Theodore Bjorksten); "My soul is dark." G. Federlein (Madame Helene Hastreiter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Pastorale, Scarlatti, Etude, Ravina, Waltz, Chopin, "Spinning Song," Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann); Overture, "Tann- hauser," Wagner; " Non piu andrai," Mozart (Signer De Anna); Polacca, Weber-Liszt (Master Hofmann; orchestra conducted by Casimir Hofmann, his father). Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. Monday, Fifth. CASINO. 8 p. m. First performance of " Madelon," an English version of "La Petite Mademoiselle," book by MM. Meilhac and Halevy, music by Charles Lecocq. Cast: Trompette, Bertha Ricci; Pompanon, Isabelle Urquhart; Jomine, Sylvia Gerrish; Madelon, Lillian Grubb; Rabicamp, Mark Smith; Jolivett, Courtice Pounds; Filoufin, Arthur W. Tarns; Tabou- reau, James T. Powers. Conductor, John J. Braham. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Tuesday, Sixth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 4 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Jubilee," Weber; Concerto for Pianoforte, No. i, C major, Beethoven (Master Hofmann); Violin Solo, "Zigeunerweisen," Sarasate (Miss Nettie Carpenter); " Craco- vienne," Wallace (Master Hofmann); " Le parlate d'amor," Gounod (Madame Helene Hastreiter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Romance, Mazourka No. 2, Souvenir, and Waltz, Josef THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {December. Hofmann (Master Hofmann); Symphonic Poem, " Le Rouet d' Omphale," Saint-Saens; Polacca, Weber-Liszt (Master Hof- mann). Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Theodore Thomas's third Symphony Concert. Fugue, A minor, Bach-Hellmesberger ; Symphony No. 9, C major, Schubert; " Der Wanderer," Schubert (Emil Fischer); " Eine Faust Overture," Wagner; Funeral March from the Sonata in B minor, Chopin (transcribed for orchestra by Theodore Thomas); "Des frommen Landsknecht's Morgen- lied" and "Sehnsucht nach der Heimath," Lenz (Herr Fischer) ; " Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke," Liszt. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8:30 p. m. First concert, twenty-second season, of the Mendelssohn Glee Club. "Harps of the Forest," Edwin Schultz; " Souvenir de Moscou," Wieniawski (Signorina Teresina Tua) ; Songs : " Du bist wie eine Blume," Schumann; "Winds in the Trees," A. Goring Thomas; "Si tu veux, Mignonne," Massenet (Miss Gertrude Griswold) ; "Summer Night," G. Joseph Brambach; "Parting," H. Jiingst; "Rovers," Anton Schamann; " Longb card's Saga," Charles H. Lloyd; Nocturne, Chopin-Sarasate, and "Zapateado," Sarasate (Signorina Tua); "An Old Garden," Hope Temple (Miss Griswold); "Drinking Song," J. Leiter. Conductor, Joseph Mosenthal. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in a mixed bill. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. First concert, first season, of the Damrosch Symphony Society of Brooklyn. Overture, "Frei- schiitz," Weber; Symphony in B minor (unfinished), Schubert; Love song from " Die Walkiire," Wagner (Max Alvary); Elegy and Valse from Serenade for strings, Tscha'ikowsky ; Overture, "FingaFs Cave," Mendelssohn; Air from "Sulamith," Leopold Damrosch (Fraulein Marianne Brandt) ; Prize Song from ' ' Die Meistersinger," Wagner (Herr Alvary); Hungarian Rhapsody No. 14, Liszt. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. (53) December] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Wednesday, Seventh. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Die Jiidin,"by Halevy. Cast: Eleazar, Niemann; jRecha, Lehmann; Cardinal, Fischer; Leopold, Alvary; Eudora, Frau Biro de Marion; Jtuggiero, von Milde; Alberto, Dore. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. First concert, ninth season, of the Banks' Glee Club. Organ overture, "Maritana," Wallace (Will C. Macfarlane); "Soldiers' Chorus," George F. Bristow; "Vesper Music," Barnby (Carl E. Dufft); "Bel raggio," Ros- sini (Mrs. Blanche Stone Barton); "The Merry Wayfarer " and "Summer Song," Mendelssohn; Second Air Varie, Vieuxtemps (J. Neidzielski) ; "The Farewell of Hiawatha," Arthur Foote (solo, Mr. Dufft); "The Larks," F. Hiller (solo, Mrs. Barton) "Souvenir de Haydn," Leonard, (Mr. Neidzielski); "Little Jack Homer," A. J. Caldicott; "Ave Maria," Bach-Gounod (Mrs. Barton); "Evening," Abt (solo, Mr. Dufft). Conductor, H. R. Humphries. Thursday, Eighth. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 3 p. m. First popular matinee of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. "Marche Slave," Tscha'ikowsky ; Overture, "Oberon," Weber; Intermezzo, Bargiel; Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 14, Liszt; Funeral March from the Sonata in B minor, Chopin-Thomas; Slavonic Dances, op. 72, Dvorak; Waltz, "Wine, Woman, and Song," Strauss. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and fifth organ recital. Prelude and fugue, A minor, D. Buxtehude ; Minuet in F, from a Concerto, Bach (arranged by Best) ; Sonata No. 2, G minor, op. 42, Gustav Merkel; Fantasia in A, Cesar Franck; Allegro moderate, in A, E. J. Hopkins; Theme and Variations, A-flat, L. Thiele. (54) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Flying Dutchman," Wagner; Concerto, No. 3, C minor, Beethoven (Master Hofmann); "Elevation," for orchestra, Otto Floersheim; Rondo Capriccioso, Mendels- sohn; "O don Fatale," Verdi (Madame Helene Hastreiter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Variations, Handel, Nocturne, Chopin, and Etude, Ravina (Master Hofmann) ; Overture, "Sakuntala," Goldmark; "A Father's Love," Murio-Celli (Signer De Anna); Rondo Brillante, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann). Conductor, Adolph NeuendorfF. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. First concert of the New York String Quartet (Sam Franko, Henry Boewig, Ludwig Schenck and Victor Herbert). Quartet, G minor, op. 27, Grieg; Sonata, F-sharp minor, op. n, Schumann (Max Vogrich); Songs: "Der Schwan," "Ich liebe Dich," "Erstes Begeg- nen," Grieg (Charles Kaiser); Quartet, C major, op. 66, Rubinstein (pianoforte, Mr. Vogrich). CHICKERING HALL. 8:30 p. m. First private concert, third season, of the Orpheus Glee Club. "On the sea," Dudley Buck; Waltz from "Faust," Gounod-Liszt (William H. Sherwood); "The Tear," Witt; "Je suis Titania," Thomas (Madame Giulia Valda) ; "Sunset," Beardsley Van de Water; "The Haunted Stream," E. H. Phelps (soprano obbligato, Madame Valda); Nocturne, D-flat, op. 26, No. 2, Chopin, and Marche Militaire, D-flat, Schubert-Tausig (William H. Sher- wood) ; "Love," Meyer-Hellmund, and "Ever with Thee," Raff (Madame Valda); " Crown'd with the Clusters of the Vine," A. Mellon (solo, Chester I. Cole). Conductor, Dud- ley Buck. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in "Die Hugenotten," Meyerbeer. Raoul, Botel; Marcel, Miihe; Valentine, Frau Herbert-Forster ; Kdnigin, Frau Hovemann-Korner. (55) December.'} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Friday, Ninth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Gounod's "Faust." Cast: Faust, Alvary; Mephistopheles, Fischer; Valentine, Robinson ; Siebel, Fraulein Meisslinger, Brander, von Milde; Margaretha, Fraulein Lehmann; Martha, FrauGottich. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. Saturday, Tenth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's third Popular Matinee for Young People. Overture, " Fingal's Cave," Men- delssohn; " Romischer Carneval " (Humoreske nach Scheffel) Hans Huber; Fantasia, " Liebesnacht, " Phillip Scharwenka; " Komarins-Kaja," Glinka; Concerto for Violoncello, Victor Herbert (played by the composer); Prelude, "Lohengrin," Wagner; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Liszt. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wagner's "Lohengrin." Herr von Milde as Konig Heinrich. Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-fifth organ recital. Fugue, G minor (Book III, Novello's edition), Bach; Allegretto, B minor, op. 8, Henri Deshayes; "Pilgrim's Lane," Berthold Tours (Miss Anna L. Kelly); Interlude, D major, op. n, Algernon Ashton; March, B-flat, Th. Salome; "Ave Maria," Franz (Miss Kelly); Prelude, "Lohengrin," Wagner (arranged by Sulze) ; Senate Pontificale, Lemmens. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Second concert, forty- sixth season, of the Philharmonic Society. Overture, ' ' Leonore, No. 2," Beethoven; Concerto for violoncello, Victor Herbert (played by the composer) ; Symphony No. 2, D major, op. 73, Brahms; Songs: " Mondnacht" and " Ich kann's nicht fassen, nichtglauben/' Schumann, and "Standchen" and "Ungeduld," (56) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. Schubert (Miss Gertrude Griswold) ; Vorspiel, "Die Meister- singer," Wagner. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. The violoncello concerto was introduced in place of the scene from " Euryanthe," "Wo berg ich mich?" which was announced for Herr Emil Fischer, but who became hoarse after the public rehearsal on the preceding day. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Heinrich Botel in " Die Hugenotten." Monday, Twelfth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Halevy's "Jiidin." Conductor, Walter}. Damrosch. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. Concert by the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra. Overture, "Freischlitz," Weber; Air from "Achilleus," Bruch (Miss Gertrude Edmands) ; Prelude, Adagio and Gavotte, Bach (arranged for string orchestra by Bachrich) ; Funeral March, Schubert (transcribed for orchestra by Liszt) ; Songs: "The Old Song," Grieg, and "The Young Nun," Schubert (Miss Edmands) ; Symphony No. 2 in D, Beethoven. Conductor, Wilhelm Gericke. Tuesday, Thirteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. Overture, " Freischiitz," Weber; Concerto in D minor, Mozart (Master Hofmann); Air from "Traviata," Verdi (Signer De Anna) ; " Faust Fantasia," for violin, Sarasate (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Duo for two pianofortes, Kalkbrenner (Mas- ter Hofmann and his father, Casimir Hofmann) ; ' ' Walkiiren- ritt," Wagner; "O mio Fernando," Donizetti (Mme. Helene Hastreiter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Nocturne, Mazurka and Waltz, Chopin (Master Hofmann); "If with all your hearts," Mendelssohn (Theodor Bjorksten) ; Polacca, Weber-Liszt (Mas- ter Hofmann); Coronation March from "Die Folkunger," Kretschmer. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. (57) December.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Carri brothers, Ferdinand, violin, and Hermann, pianoforte. Sonata for violin and pianoforte, D minor, op. 2, Xaver Scharwenka; " Serenade Venetienne," Svendsen, and "Early Love," Van der Stucken (Mme. Kate de Jonge Levett); Nocturne, op. 28, Meyer- Hellmund, and Minuetto, op. 18, Sgambati; Grand Polonaise, No. 2, op. 21, for violin, Wieniawski; Polonaise, A-flat, for pianoforte, Chopin; Cavatina and Gavotte, No. i, for violin, Carl Bohm; "All Souls' Day," Lassen, and "The Maiden and the Butterfly," Eugene d' Albert (Madame Levett); Trio, A minor, op. 24, Henselt (Carri brothers and Mr. Bareuther). CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH. 8 p. m. Barnby's Scriptural Idyl, " Rebekkah," performed by the choir of the church, with organ and pianoforte accompaniment, under the direction of Miss Kate S. Chittenden, organist. Solos, Mrs. Evelina Hartz, D. A. Haynes, and C. J. Bushnell. Wednesday, Fourteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Gounod's "Faust." Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. THALIA THEATRE. 8p.m. German opera. Herr Botel in " Die Hugenotten." STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. First of four concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor, Wilhelm Gericke. The programme was the same as that of the concert in Brooklyn on the preceding Monday. Thursday, Fifteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. Overture, ' ' Mignon, " Thomas ; ; ' Concertstiick, " Weber (Master Hofmann); " Vieni sua 1'onda," Sapio (Mme. Helene Hast- reiter) ; "Chant Polonais," Chopin-Liszt (Master Hofmann); Overture, ' ' William Tell, " Rossini ; Pianoforte Solos : Etude, (58) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \December. Paganini-Schumann, " Vogel als Prophet," Schumann, Toccata, Rubinstein (Master Hofmann); " Non piu andrai," Mozart (Signer De Anna) ; Rondo Brillante, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann); March from "Tannhauser," Wagner. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and sixth organ recital. Fantasia and Fugue, A minor (Book II, No. 8), Bach; Adagio from the Symphony in G (Letter Q), Haydn (arranged by Best) ; Sonata, E-flat, op. 6, Christian Fink; Priere, in A, op. 64, No. 2, C. V. Alkan (aine) ; Scherzo in F, op. 8, No. i, Henri Deshayes; Impromptu Pastorale, op. 27, Dudley Buck; Overture, "Tannhauser," Wagner (arranged by Mr. Warren). CHICKERING HALL. 8 130 p. m. First private concert of the Rubinstein Club (women's voices). "The Water Nymph" Rubinstein (solo, Mrs. Sarah Baron Anderson); Introduction and Saltarello from the Quartet in G minor, op. 27, Grieg (Beethoven String Quartet); "Twitter, twitter," Sturm; "The Chimes," Macy; "Found," Osgood; "German Shepherds' Song," Kienzl; Harp Solo, "Autumn," Thomas (Miss Maud Morgan); "Visions," Sucher (solos, Miss Marie S. Bissell, Mrs. J. W. Macy); "Summer Nights," Heinrich Hofmann; " Du bist wie eine Blume," and "Die Lerche," Rubinstein (Miss Bessie Howell Grovesteen) ; "The Lotus Flower," Rubinstein; " Sweetly sang the Bird," Rubinstein; Solos for violoncello : Andante Religiose, Volkmann. Gavotte, De Swert (Adolf Hartdegen); "Song of the Winds," R. Becker (solos, Mrs. Annie Norton Hartdegen). Conductor, William R. Chap- man. Friday, Sixteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Siegfried." Conductor, Anton Seidl. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. German opera. Herr Botel in " Die Hugenotten." (59) December.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Saturday, Seventeenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Halevy's "Jiidin." Fraulein Minnie Dilthey as Eudora. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-sixth organ recital. Symphony from the "Christmas Oratorio," Bach; Offertory on two Christmas Hymns, op. 19, No. 2, Guilmant; Airs: "For know ye not," and "O Lord! have mercy," Mendels- sohn (Francis Fisher Powers); "Das Kindleinwiegen " (varia- tions on a Folksong, played in the principal churches of Breslau every Christmas eve, by endowment), Berner-Hesse; Angelus, F minor, op. 16, No. 2, Auguste Dupont; "Christmas," Harry Rowe Shelley (Mr. Powers) ; Cantilene Nuptiale, A-flat, No. 1 1 , Theodore Dubois ; Fantasia on ancient Christmas Carols, W. T. Best. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Third concert, tenth season, of the Symphony Society. Symphony in F, No. 3, op. 90, Brahms ; Terzetto for two violins and viola, Dvorak ; Concerto for pianoforte, Henselt (Mme. Fanny Bloomfield Zeissler) ; Symphony in C, No. i, op. 21, Beethoven. Con- ductor, Walter J. Damrosch. The terzetto was played by all the violins and violas of the orchestra, and was given for the first time. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Second concert, thirtieth season, of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Beethoven programme. Overtures, " Leonore," Nos. i, 2, and 3 ; Concerto for pianoforte, No. 5, E-flat, op. 73, (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe); Symphony, No. 7, A major, op. 92. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. STANDARD THEATRE. 8 p. m. Last performance of "Dorothy," brought forward on November 5th. (60) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {December. Sunday, Eighteenth. ARION HALL. 8 p. m. Second concert of the Mannergesangverein Arion. Overture, " Konig Manfred," Reinecke ; " Normannen- zug," Max Bruch (solo, Franz Remmertz) ; Concerto for piano- forte, E-flat, No. i, Liszt (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe) ; "Der Ritt in's Waldgeheg," Wilhelm Sturm; Scherzo, for orchestra, Otto Floersheim; Melody, " Im Friihling," for strings, Grieg; Slavonic Dance, Dvorak ; Cavatina from " L'Africaine," Meyer- beer, and Love Song from " Die Walktire," Wagner, (Heinrich Duzensi) ; " Salamis," Gernsheim (solo, Mr. Remmertz). Con- ductor, Frank Van der Stucken. Monday, Nineteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Tuesday, Twentieth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's fourth Symphony Concert. Overture, "Bride of Messina, "Schumann; Serenade, No. 2, F major, op. 63, Volkmann; Concerto for pianoforte, No. 2, A major, Liszt (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe) ; Symphony, " Im Walde," op. 153, Raff. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. THALIA THEATRE. 8 p. m. Farewell benefit performance of Hein- rich Botel. " Die Hugenotten." Wednesday, Twenty-first. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's " Tannhauser. " Fraulein Meisslinger as Venus. Conductor, Anton Seidl. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert of the Gounod Vocal Society. Air and variations for organ, Guilmant (William Edward Mul- ligan); "Ave Maria, "Gounod; Aria from ' 'II Bravo di Venezia," Mercadante (Emil Coletti); Romance from the E minor (61) December, .] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Concerto, Chopin, and Largo from the Sonata, op. 10, No. 3, Beethoven, arranged for violin, violoncello, organ, and piano- forte (Eduard Herrman, Frederick Bergner, Mr. Mulligan, and Carl Walter) ; Songs : ' ' Love's Dream " Martin Roeder, and "The Daily Question," Meyer-Hellmund (Miss Josephine Le Clair) ; Rondo, in B minor, for two pianofortes, Carl Walter (Mr. Walter and Emilio Agramonte) ; Duo and chorus from " Mary Magdalen," Martin Roeder (Miss Le Clair, Mr. Coletti and society) ; Forty-second Psalm, Mendelssohn (soprano solo, Madame Di Carlo). Conductor, William Edward Mulligan. Thursday, Twenty-second. STEIN WAY HALL. 3 p. m. Pianoforte recital by Emanuel Moor. Prelude and Fugue, A minor, Bach-Liszt; Sonata, C major, op. 53, Beethoven; Song, "Desire," Moor (Miss Jennie Dutton) ; Nocturne, B-flat minor, Prelude, E minor, Prelude B minor, Chopin; Songs: "To Zuleika" and "To the Wind," Moor (Miss Dutton); Suite No. 2, Moor; Consolation, Noc- turne, D major, Two Hungarian Dances, Moor. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p.m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. " Huldigungsmarsch," Wagner; Sonata, C-sharp minor, op. 27, No. 2, Beethoven (Master Hofmann); Fantaisie Caprice, Vieuxtemps (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Pianoforte Solos: " Les Larmes," Josef Hofmann, Polonaise and Waltz, Chopin (Master Hofmann); Selections from "Sylvia," Delibes; Air from "Dinorah," Meyerbeer (Signor De Anna); "Concert- stuck," Weber (Master Hofmann); "Galop Chromatique," Liszt. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. Friday, Twenty-third. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Weber's "Euryanthe." Cast: Konig Ludwig VI, Elmblad; Adolar, Alvary; Euryanthe, Fraulein Lehmann; Lysiart, Fischer; Eglantine, Fraulein Brandt; Rudolph, Ferenczy; Bertha, Frau- lein Dilthey. Conductor, Anton Seidl. (62) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. To all intents and purposes Weber's opera was new to the American stage. The representation of the work twenty-four years ago under the direction of Carl Anschiitz in Wallack's Theatre, at Broadway and Broome street, has no significance in a discussion of the relation which it bears toward the art-taste and activities of to-day, and is to be mentioned only in deference to the integrity of history and as a tribute to the zeal of the German musicians and amateurs of that day. No one who had deservedly appreciated the perform- ances at the Metropolitan Opera House during the last three seasons could be grudging in the payment of this tribute, for they have after all been only a realization of the hopes of Anschiitz, Bergmann, Neuendorff, and their supporters, to whom in artistic endeavor Mr. Damrosch stood in the direct line of succession. It was a beautiful act of devotion to produce ' ' Euryanthe " at that time, and had it been possible to break down the barriers of fashion and reach the heart of the public the history of the lyric theatre in America during two decades might have been made to read differently. ' ' Tannhauser " and " Lohengrin " were produced in the same manner, and even "Die Walkiire," but " Lohengrin" was popularized by the subsequent performances of Italian com- panies, and "Tannhauser" and "Die Walkiire" had to wait for appreciation until fortuitous circumstance caused fashion, fame, and fortune to smile upon the German establishment. It was a benignant dispensation which preserved "Euryanthe" from representation in the interval. The work is one which it is impossible to approach without affection, but appreciation of all its beauties is conditioned upon the acceptance of theories touching 4 the purpose, construction, and interpretation of the lyric drama which are only now obtaining validity amongst us. Indeed, there are aspects of the case in which "Euryanthe," with all its affluence of melody and all its potency of romantic and chivalric expression, is yet farther removed from the understanding and affections of our public than the dramas of Wagner. We must not deceive ourselves concerning the meaning of the phenomena which we have witnessed of late. In Wagner's works there is so much external splendor, so much scenic embellishment, so much orchestral pomp, so much that is attractive to sight and hearing, that delight in them may exist independently of a recognition of their deeper values. (63) December.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. And Wagner's dramas are all admirable as plays; masterly in con- struction, edifying in their exhibition of dramatic types. They present themselves always as if with a conscious pride in their ability to stand the closest scrutiny, for the principles of dramatic construction which they exemplify have held approval ever since the days of ^Eschylus. Weber's "Euryanthe" comes before us in a different spirit; modestly conscious of grievous dramatic defects, and pleading for pardon even while demanding with appro- priate dignity recognition of the soundness and beauty of the principles that underlie its music and the wondrous tenderness, sincerity, and intensity of its expression of passion. When it was first brought forward in Vienna in October, 1823, Castelli, a German poet and librettist, observed that it was come fifty years before its time. He spoke with a voice of prophecy. It was not until the fifty years had expired that ' ' Euryanthe " really came into its rights, and it was the light reflected upon it by the works of Weber's great successor at Dresden that disclosed in what those rights consisted. Now the critical voices of the world are agreed in pronouncing "Euryanthe" to be the starting-point of Wagner, and as the latter's works grow in appreciation, " Euryanthe" shines with ever-increasing effulgence. It is fortunate, therefore, that before the work, which cost its creator some of his richest heart's blood, was presented to an American audience for judgment, that audience had opportunities to acquire the knowledge and the spirit necessary to an understanding of it. It was doubly fortunate that the day was delayed until artists were found to whom the interpre- tation was a labor of love. No work in the Metropolitan repertory was prepared with greater patience, self-sacrifice, zeal, and affection than "Euryanthe," and the spontaneous, hearty, and evidently sincere approval to which the audience gave expression, must have been as sweet incense to Herr Seidl and the forces that he directed. The woes which ' Euryanthe " has endured are all due to the book of the opera. It would be delightful if one might read or write an estimate of the work without being confronted by the spectre conjured up by Helmine von Chezy's incompetency; but the most pious determination to this end is of no avail. The dreadful thing can be exorcised only by being confronted. The story underlying the play is the ' ' Histoire de Gerard de Nevers (64) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {December. et de la belle et vertueuse Euryante de Savoye, sa mie," which Boccaccio and Shakespeare (" Cymbeline ") used before it fell into the hands of the Chezy. As it presents itself on the stage the story will not take long in the telling. Euryanthe is betrothed to Adolar^ who wagers his title and estates against those of Lysiart on the constancy of her love and her fidelity to her vows. Foiled in his wicked enterprise, Lysiart aided by Eglantine (a she-devil who desires the ruin of Euryanthe, moved by jealous love of Adolar), obtains some seeming proofs of guilt and claims the stakes. Con- fronted with the evidence Euryanthe is speechless, and Adolar is convinced of her guilt. He leads her into a dreary spot in the mountains to kill her, but spares her life at sight of her devotion when he is threatened by a monstrous serpent. Yet he leaves her to die in the lonely place. There she is found by the King while on a hunting expedition, and to him she gives the explanation which, for a reason that must remain unknown till chaos be come again, she neglected to give her husband. The King promises to restore her to Adolar, but excess of joy throws her into a trance which is mistaken for death. Adolar returns to his estates, and finding Lysiart about to marry Eglantine, suspects them of the plot to traduce his wife. Being confirmed in his suspicions by some wild ravings of the conscience-stricken Eglantine, he draws against Lysiart, when the King appears with the story of Euryanthe's death. Eglantine hoping yet to win Adolar, spurns Lysiart, who stabs her to death and is himself led off to punishment, as Euryanthe recovers at once consciousness and a husband. No affection for Weber and his genius, no degree of admiration for the loveliness and tenderness with which he has endowed his heroine, can reconcile the libretto with the most rudimentary demands of reason and coherency. The attitude of the hero and heroine to a mystery which is outside the action, and cannot be brought into sympathetic relationship with the spectators, is the real motive of the conduct of Adolar and Euryanthe. Adolar's sister Emma has killed herself by drinking poison from a ring through grief at the death of her lover Udo. The crime of self-murder prevents her union with Udo, and her ghost haunts the vault in which her body lies, there to be at unrest until tears of innocent suffering falling on the fatal ring accomplish expiation for the crime. (65) December.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. The confiding of this secret to Eglantine is Euryanthe' s only wrong ; the proof that seems so damning to Adolar is nothing more than the ring stolen by Eglantine from Emma's tomb. To give happiness to a ghost Lysiart and Eglantine act like incarnate fiends, Euryanthe refuses to speak when a word would save her, and Adolar, while protesting his willingness to stake the world on her constancy, accepts the ring and Euryanthe' s confession that she had broken her vow of secrecy touching Emma's death as proofs of her wantonness. What an idiotic complication was here created by the prudery of a German blue-stocking in order to avoid Shakespeare's simple expedient, the "mole, cinque-spotted," an expedient which instead of bringing immodesty into the play really snows whiteness on Imogen's pure character. All that could be done to give coherency to the book was done by Herr Seidl down to the restoration of Weber's strange device of exhibiting a tableau during the largo episode in the overture. This device has been ignored in nearly all the German opera houses. Given a public with a poetical imagination, and familiar with the music, there is no question that the tableau is profoundly impressive. The picture disclosed by the preliminary rising of the curtain is the interior of the tomb, with Euryanthe in prayer beside Emma's coffin. Weber wished also to have Eglantine seen playing the spy over Euryanthe 's actions. In accordance with purposes that have since become obvious to all intelligent listeners the music which accom- panies this tableau music of transcendent beauty, full of the mys- ticism of the ghostly tale tells its story whenever it occurs in the opera. In this there is something fascinating, it is true, but alas ! it serves only to emphasize the fundamental weakness of the plot. There is no clearer or more truthful definition of "Euryanthe" than that which has come down to us from Weber himself. ' ' ' Euryanthe ' is a simple, earnest work, which strives for nothing save truthfulness of expression, passion and delineation of char- acter; it lacks the varied changes and stimulating agencies of its predecessor" that is to say of ' 'Der Freischiitz. " These are Weber's own words, and they are only slightly expanded and emphasized by the memorable reply which he made when applied to by a society in Breslau for permission to perform the work in concert form : ' ' ' Euryanthe ' is a purely dramatic attempt which rests for its (66) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. effectiveness upon the cooperation of all the sister arts, and will surely fail if robbed of their help." Here we have stated in the plainest and most succinct terms the foundation principle of the modern German lyric drama. Unlike Wagner, Weber did not pursue his convictions to their extremity but returned in ' ' Oberon " to the simpler operatic style ; but this, I imagine, was largely because of his wish to adapt himself to the customs of the English stage and the taste of the people for whom he composed his fairy opera. For all that he adhered to his belief in the necessity of an intimate and affectionate relationship between poetry and music in opera. In one of those interesting English letters which he wrote to Planche while setting the latter's book of "Oberon" he says: "Poets and composers live together in a sort of angel's marriage which demands a reciprocal trust." It is the beautiful manner in which he has wedded the drama with music that makes " Euryanthe " a work which seems at times almost ineffable. There is no groping in the dark such as might have been expected in the case of a path- finder. Weber is showing the way to hitherto undreamed-of possi- bilities and means, yet his hand is steady, his judgment all but unerring. The eloquence and power of the orchestra as an expositor of the innermost sentiments of the drama are known to him. Witness his use of it in the spectral episode already referred to, in Lysiarfs great air, "Wo berg ich mich?" in Euryanthe 's recital of the secret, Eglantine's distraught confession, and more striking than anywhere else in the wondrously pathetic scene in the third act after Adolar's desertion, and the instrumental introduction to that act in which is to be found the germ of one of Wagner's most telling devices. (How palpable is the loan made by this introduction to the first scenes of the third acts of "Tristan" and "Siegfried"!) Witness also how brilliantly its colors second the joyous, sweeping strains which publish the glories of mediaeval chivalry. Will it ever be possible to put loftier sentiment and sincerer expression into a delineation of brave knighthood and its homage to fair woman than inspire every bar of the first act? Even "Lohengrin" might be accused of heavy-footed affectation in comparison. Where, too, could we turn for more powerful expression of individual character, through the means of declamatory melody, than we find in Euryanthe and Eglantine, and even the parts where the same degree of success (67) December.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. did not crown the composer's efforts? To Wagner's honor, be it said, that he never denied his indebtedness to Weber, but if he had, what would it have benefited him while the representatives of the evil principle in "Euryanthe" and "Lohengrin" presented so ob- vious a parallel, not to mention the drafts upon what might be called the external apparatus in so many parts of the score ? Somewhat forced at times, and weighted with the fruits of reflection the music unquestionably is, but for each evidence of intellectual straining that is offered, how many gems of highly emotionalized music, real music, true music, expressive music, present themselves to charm the hearer, and with what a delightful surprise does one not detect how the old-fashioned cadences and roulades when they come, as they do with as much naivete as in Mozart, have been infused with a dramatic potency not before thought of. The old charge of un- expected modulations and bizarre rhythms can have no force now, and Adolar's romance in the French couplet style, Euryanthe's entrance air with its suggestion of the fragrance of a wild flower, the thrilling duet between the women, Adolar's triumphant song in the second act with the sweeping phrase that lends such vivacity to the overture all these and many others are so many sources of spiritual refreshment. For the performance of the work by the singers and instru- mentalists of the Metropolitan, speaking in general terms, I have only words of praise. The loving care and intelligence bestowed in the preparation bore the best of fruit. Flaws in plenty were easily to be found for the searching, but they would not repay enumeration. The spirit of the performance was profoundly tragic, and Fraulein Lehmann's exhibition, both as to conception and execution, made it almost impossible to believe, what is nevertheless true, that she sang the role of the heroine for the first time on this occasion. The tender grace and sweet suffering of Shakespeare's Imogen had almost ideal publication in her singing and acting. Naturally it was in the pathos of the wild scene of the mountain gorge (judiciously pruned of as much of the absurd serpent episode as possible) that she won her grandest triumph, but at all times she showed a nice appreciation of the spiritual contents of the part. Fraulein Brandt's impersonation of the character of Ortrud in "Lohengrin" can never be mentioned but in words of praise, and (68) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. it was to have been expected that she would give a powerful inter- pretation to that part's obvious prototype, Eglantine. She quite carried the house captive with the intensity of her acting and singing in the second scene of Act I, and was four times recalled. Alvary was in good voice and sang with splendid freedom and breadth as Adolar, besides investing the character with chivalric pride and grace of bearing. Herr Fischer's Lysiart completed the quartet of principal performers, and was worthy of its associates. Vocally it was superb ; another operatic bass of the same calibre is not to be found on the stage I verily believe. Handsome stage-sets were used, and to relieve the gloom the wedding procession of Lysiart and Eglantine was preceded by a ballet in which the waltz part of Weber's ' ' Invitation a la Valse " was made to do service instead of the Pas de Cinq which Weber composed for the first performance in Berlin. The evidences of popular approbation began after the overture, and recalls followed every fall of the curtain. Saturday, Twenty-fourth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Mr. Theodore Thomas's fourth Popular Matinee for Young People. " Marche Heroique," op. 34, Saint-Saens; " Eine Lustspiel Overture," op. 28, Hermann Graedener; "Eine volksthiimliche Suite," John C. Rietzel (i. Introduction and fugue, " Es geht ein Rundgesang"; 2. Romanza, "In einem kiihlen Grunde"; 3. Scherzo, "Briider- leinfein"; 4. Finale, "A,B,C,"and " Bundeslied ") ; Concerto for clarinet, Carl Baermann (Joseph Schreuers) ; Prelude, "Otho Visconti," Frederic Grant Gleason; Hungarian Rhap- sody No. 14, Liszt; Theme and variations from the Quartet in D minor, Schubert; "Cosatschoque," Dargomijsky; Over- ture, ' ' Tannhauser." Conductor, Theodore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p.m. German opera. " Der Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Monday, Twenty-sixth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's "Siegfried." Herr Kemlitz as Mime. Conductor, Anton Seidl. (69) December, ,] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Tuesday, Twenty-seventh. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture," Le Songe d'une Nuit d'ete," Thomas; Con- certo, C minor, No. 3, Beethoven (Master Hofmann); " Melody,'' Gastaldon (Madame Hastreiter) ; Rondo Capriccioso, Mendels- sohn; Romance from "Don Carlos," Verdi (Signer De Anna); Pianoforte Solos: "The Devil's Mill," Josef Hofmann; Gavotte, Pirani; "Spinning Song," Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann); Selections from "Lohengrin," Wagner; Harp Solo (Madame Sacconi) ; " Invitation a la Valse," Weber (Master Hofmann, second pianoforte, Casimir Hofmann) ; "Fackeltanz," Meyerbeer. Conductor, Adolph NeuendorfT. Wednesday, Twenty-eighth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Weber's "Euryanthe." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Thursday, Twenty-ninth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Second concert of the Oratorio Society. Handel's " Messiah," the solo parts in the hands of Madame Fursch-Madi, Miss Gertrude Griswold, Miss Gertrude Edmands, W. H. Lawton, and Max Heinrich. (At the public rehearsal on the preceding day the contralto solos were sung by Mrs. Sarah Baron Anderson). Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Concert of Madame lima Di Murska, assisted by Miss Nettie Carpenter, Madame Eugenie De Roode Rice, Madame Sacconi, Theodor Bjorksten, Signer Carbone, and Signor De Anna. Friday, Thirtieth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. ' ' Lohen- grin." Conductor, Anton Seidl. (70) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [December. Saturday, Thirty-first. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Beetho- ven's " Fidelio." Herr Elmblad as Rocco, Herr Sanger as the Minister. Conductor, Anton Seidl. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, " Phedre," Massenet; Concerto in D minor, Mozart (Master Hofmann); Air from "II Guarany," Gomez (Madame Hastreiter); Sonata for two pianofortes, Mozart (Master Hofmann and Herr Casimir Hofmann); Prize Song from "Die Meistersinger," transcribed for orchestra, Wagner; Ballad from " L'Africaine," Meyerbeer (Signor De Anna); Rondo, A minor, Mozart (Master Hofmann) ; Song, ' ' Love's Request," Reichardt (Madame Hastreiter) ; Nocturne, F-sharp major, Mazurka, F-sharp minor, and Waltz, Chopin (Master Hofmann); Coronation March from "Die Folkunger," Kretschmer. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. (70 JANUARY Monday, Second. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Tristan und Isolde." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Tuesday, Third. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second concert, tenth season, of the Philharmonic Club. Divertimento, op. 53, for two violins, flute, viola, violoncello, and double bass (MS., composed for and dedicated to the Philharmonic Club), Friedrich Gerns- heim; Songs: "Wie bist du, meine Konigin," Brahms, and " Friihlingslied," Jensen (Mrs. Emil Gramm ) ; Andantino and Allegro Scherzando, from the Quartet, op. i, Svendsen; Song, " Im Freien," Schubert (Mrs. Gramm); Quintet, op. 114 ("Forellen"), Schubert (pianoforte, S. B. Mills). METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p.m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. Overture, " Freischiitz, " Weber; Concerto in C major, No. i, Beethoven (Master Hofmann); Romanza from "Mignon," Thomas (Madame Hastreiter); Solos for violin: Romance, Svendsen, and Mazourka, Zarzycki (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Gigue, Bach, Pastorale, Scarlatti, Etude, Ravina, Waltz, Hofmann (Master Hofmann); "Reverie du Soir," Saint-Saens; Air from " Fidelio," Beethoven (Signer De Anna); Fantasia for two pianofortes on " Don Giovanni," Lysberg (Josef Hofmann and father) ; Rakoczy March, Berlioz. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Second concert of the Damrosch Symphony Society. Two movements, Allegro molto vivace, and Andante con moto, from the Symphony in F THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. minor ("Irish"), C. Villiers Stanford; Concerto No. i, for pianoforte, E-flat, Liszt (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe) ; " Le Bal" from the Dramatic Symphony, Berlioz; Overture, "Obe- ron," Weber; Songs: "Es war einmal ein Konig," Grieg, and Swedish Folksong (Herr Johannes Elmblad) ; Barcarolle, "A Night in Venice," Saint-Saens; "Toreador et Andalouse," from the " Bal Costume, " Rubinstein ; Closing Scene from "Das Rheingold," Wagner. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. Thursday, Fifth. GRACE CHURCH. 4 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and seventh organ recital. Overture, " Messiah," Handel; Pasto- rale (Suite) in F, J. S. Bach; Tempo di Menuetto, op. 99, No. 12, Schumann (arranged by W. T. Best); Sonata in G minor, op. 29, Edgar Tinel; Allegretto in E, Capocci; Cantabile, Cesar Franck; Offertory on Christmas Melodies, No. 2, op. 33, Guilmant. Friday, Sixth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. First performance in America of "Ferdinand Cortez," by Spontini. Cast : Ferdinand Cortez, Niemann ; Alvarez, Alvary ; High Priest, Fischer; Telasko, Robinson; Montezuma, Elmblad; Morales, von Milde; Amazily, Fraulein Meisslinger. Conductor, Anton Seidl. A dozen or more circumstances combined to give the represen- tation of Spontini's opera, a unique sort of interest. In one respect it was a good deal like an attempt to resuscitate a mummy, for whatever special criticism may be able to discover touching the work, a simple hearing of the music was sufficient to convince the New York public that Spontini is the most antiquated opera com- poser that had been presented to their consideration for several years. Compared with him Gluck and Mozart have marvelous freshness, and his contemporary, Weber, speaks in the language of to-day. But Spontini, no matter what may be thought of the relation of his music to dominant taste, stands as the representative (73) January.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. of a principle, and if it had been possible for the management to supplement "Ferdinand Cortez" with "Armida" or "Iphigenia in Aulis," the Metropolitan repertory would admirably have exempli- fied the development of the dramatic idea and its struggle with the simply lyrical in opera composition. We should have been asked to take the steps in reverse order, it is true Wagner, Weber, Spontini, Gluck but this fact would only have added to the clear- ness of the historical exposition. The light which significant art- works throw out falls brightest upon the creations that lie behind them in the pathway of progress. " Euryanthe " was appreciated this season through the mediation of ' ' Tristan und Isolde." If we put aside the attractiveness of "Ferdinand Cortez "as a spectacle (and I fancy the resurrection of the mummy was due in the first instance to the picturesqueness of its cerements) the opera will be found to have chiefly an antiquarian interest. With Spontini the people of America have had but little opportunity to become acquainted. Of all his music I can recall only the overtures to "La Vestale" and "Olympia," and a scene from the second act of the former opera as having figured on local pro- grammes ; and only the scene from ' ' La Vestale " performed at the music festival in the Seventh Regiment Armory in 1882 contributed anything to popular knowledge of Spontini' s style as an opera com- poser. ' ' La Vestale " is admittedly its creator's masterpiece, and its choice before " Ferdinand Cortez" would have been desirable but for three reasons : there is more of contemporaneous human interest in the book of " Cortez," greater opportunity for opulence in stage attire, and it afforded Herr Niemann an opportunity to appear in a role which maintains what little life it has in Germany through his efforts. " Ferdinand Cortez" has an American subject. In the long list of successful and once successful operas it stands alone in this respect unless we are willing to accept " Un Ballo in Maschera" in the guise forced upon it by the Roman censors, who compelled Verdi to transfer the theatre of his story from Naples across the Atlantic, move the time back a century and make the Puritans of Boston enact a tragedy under circumstances about as likely as a celebration of the Dionysian mysteries. There have been half a dozen "Colombo" operas, one of them composed by the (74) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. brothers Ricci, authors of the merry comic opera " Crispino e la Comare," but the great Christopher has not survived as an operatic hero and the Conqueror of Mexico is the only naturalized American with whom we have a stage acquaintance. Mr. Stanton surpassed all his previous efforts in the line of spectacle to celebrate the glories of this American opera. The people employed in the representation rivaled in numbers those who constituted the veritable Cortez's army, while the horses came within three of the number that the Spaniard actually took into Mexico. This was carrying realism in the drama pretty close to absolute historical accuracy. A finer sense of dramatic propriety, however, was exhibited in the care with which the pictures and paraphernalia of the opera were prepared. The ancient architecture of Mexico, the sculptures, the symbols of various kinds carried in the processions, the banners of Monte- zuma and some of the costumes of his warriors were copied with painstaking fidelity from the remains of the civilization which existed in Mexico at the time of the conquest. For this reason the opera was more than a mere amusement for the antiquary. A similar striving for truthfulness was shown in the costumes, banners, and trappings of the Spaniards, and as one of the scenes in the opera (the destruction of his fleet by Cortez in order to quell a mutiny among his men and inspire them with that spirit of desperate adventure which makes the story of the Conquest of Mexico read almost like a fairy tale) is founded on fact it was not surprising that the opera aroused a considerable interest in spite of the fact that there is little in the music which meets the aesthetic demands of to-day. The circumstance that "Ferdinand Cortez" was brought for- ward for the first time in this country in a season among whose other novelties were "Siegfried" and "Die Gotterdammerung,' 7 brought Spontini and Wagner into such intimate association that an inquiry is but natural concerning those points of resemblance between the men and their creations which have caused them frequently to be represented as touching hands in the story of the development of the lyric drama. To a music student who went to the Metropolitan representations with his mind unburdened by opin- ions drawn from the article on Spontini, contributed by Dr. Spitta to Grove's Dictionary, or the really admirable essay to be found in (75) January.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Berlioz's collected literary works, it must frequently have seemed as if the relationship between the Gallicised Italian and the intensely native German was more imaginary than real. There are many things in that department or portion of music criticism which has become crystalized into history that are in the same case. How often do we find Wagner discussed as if in some mysterious manner he were the direct heir in art of Gluck, when as a matter of fact, his relationship with Gluck is extremely remote except in belief while his sonship to Weber is as plain as day, as local students were taught by "Euryanthe." There are many more points of resemblance between Spontini and Wagner as representatives of principles in art, than there are between their creations; and there are traits of character in which the men bore a strong likeness to each other. Before Wagner there was probably no composer who worked so constantly, intelli- gently and earnestly as Spontini to attain the highest conceivable effect in interpretation. When Wagner as a young man journeyed to Berlin in the vain hope of having the opera which he had made out of Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" brought out in one of the theatres of the Prussian capital, the most powerful art impression that he received came from a representation of ' ' Ferdi- nand Cortez," under the direction of the composer at the Royal opera. Here he saw a precision in all departments that he had probably never dreamed of singers, actors, stage machinists, and musicians all acting as if inspired by the same thought, aim, and emotion. He heard an orchestra that had been drilled to respond only to the will of its leader and to publish his intentions to the utmost nicety. An orchestra that could bring out a fortissimo like the crashing of a thunderbolt, and in the next second a pianissimo like the exhalation of a spirit. ("Rien qu'un souffle!" was Spon- tini's customary direction to the musicians when he wished them to play pianissimo.) It is not unlikely that the Berlin performance of "Cortez" which Wagner listened to in 1836 had a lasting influence on his career. The aims and effects of his conducting were like Spontini's, though the means adopted were strikingly dissimilar. There was something of the soldier in Spontini and it is not unlikely that it was this something that won him the favor of Napoleon. The military spirit found expression even in the words (76) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. which he was wont to address to his musicians during rehearsal. "Allez!" "En avant!" ' ' Martelez ! " he would command and when after almost numberless rehearsals he was satisfied to bring a work forward he would dismiss his forces from the last rehearsal with the words: "A revoir au champ de bataille!" It was not without fitness that he was called the "Napoleon of Music." Wagner was a militant man, but in another field of activity. He was a soldier in the cause of intellectual and artistic progress. In February, 1887, The Tribune published an interview with Herr Seidl in the course of which he said : As a conductor, technically and intellectually, Wagner can surely be given the highest place. He ruled his musicians completely with his gestures, yes, even sometimes with his eyes alone. He lifted them up into the fairy realms of his imagination, and confided tasks to them which they had never before thought of. He inflamed them with his fiery eyes. An energetic sweep of his baton would bring out a heavy chord from his orchestra such as had never been heard from it. He could charm as ravishing a piano out of the brass instruments as out of a violin ; and to extract a pianissimo simultaneously from all the instruments of the orchestra was the most wonderful feature of his conducting. He was able to initiate the musicians in the melos of a composition without super- fluous words ; a sententious comparison, a witty remark, would throw more light on Wagner's intentions than whole books which have been written about controverted passages. To the judicious the significance of this parallel between the conducting of Spontini and Wagner is plain enough. Sincerity, devotion, reverence, were the mainsprings of their efforts in the interpretation of art works. These qualities are not so common among musicians now as might be supposed, and they were less common when the taste fostered by such composers as Rossini dominated the theatre and concert-room; and if one wishes really to learn why Spontini's music acquired so much significance in modern music history he must compare its spirit with that of the fashionable operas of its day. Study pursued on such lines will do justice to Spontini without enjoining a fictitious belief in the present value of his creations, such as was expressed in some of the news- papers of New York. His manner is antiquated, and though his recitative and melos at times swing themselves up to a lofty plane of expressiveness, they are on the whole wearisome and wanting in (77) January] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. real vital beauty. Spontini was a poor melodist, and melody is now, always was, and always will be in saecula sseculorum the essence of music, be it lyric or dramatic. Like Gluck and Cherubini, Spontini was a foreigner, who, coming to Paris, abandoned Italian ideals and essayed to write up to the dramatic spirit of the unspoiled element in the French people. The first great battle in behalf of the lyric drama had been won by Gluck, and Spontini adopted the works of the German reformer as his models. A dozen Italian operas at least lay behind him when he set out upon his new course, and it is characteristic of the man and of the sincerity of his aims, that when once he had embraced the new art-evangel he looked upon his Italian scores only as the toys of his youth. The music of Bach, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and finally Beethoven received the admiration of his artistic maturity, and only his colossal vanity and egotism, I feel sure, prevented him from recog- nizing the genius of his rival, Weber. In the consciousness of his own merit Spontini was monumental; even Wagner's colossal egotism seems insignificant in comparison with his, though there is one trait that the two men had in common: an unwillingness to recognize the excellence of their contemporaries. When Spontini came to Dresden, in 1844, to conduct his " Vestale," Wagner asked permission to submit an opera score to him for judgment. " Jeune homme," replied Spontini, "what do you want to compose? If you want Romans, you have my 'Vestale;' if you want Greeks, you have my 'Olympia;' if you want Spaniards, you have my 'Cortez;' if you want Indians, you have my 'Nourmahal.'" It is also related by one of Spontini's biographers that being forced to recognize the fact that Weber, Auber, and Rossini had been admitted to the ranks of the dramatic composers, through the merits of " Freischutz," " La Muette," and "William Tell," he cried out angrily: "C'est moi qui a mis la brdche, par laquelle ils mar- chent tous, tous." Even Berlioz, whose admiration for Spontini was boundless, and who did not hesitate to adopt many of his meth- ods (as those who heard ' ' Les Troyens a Carthage " in the season of 1886-1887 will have guessed), records that while Spontini always came to hear his music he never spoke of it except on two occa- sions. In defining his own style Berlioz claimed that the dominant (78) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. qualities of his music were passionate expression, internal fire, rhythmic animation, and unexpected changes, and he described passionate expression as that expression which largely strives to reproduce the most inward meaning of the subject. The same qualities he found in Spontini's music, toward which he probably felt himself drawn quite as much by the fact that like Spontini he had been obliged to do battle with the narrow-mindedness and pedantry of the Conservatory. The criticisms of the professors were directed against the very things in Spontini's music which Berlioz admired, and which he recognized as constituting its peculiar physiognomy. Chief of these were the introduction of new har- monies ' ' invented and successfully applied before the wise men had a suspicion of their existence," and the use of chords and modula- tions " which custom had not yet made public property." These things and certain unique features of his instrumentation were looked upon as contributing to the passionate expression which was Berlioz's avowed aim. Most of them are familiar enough now and caused no surprise at the performances of " Cortez." The occasional shifting of accents to unaccented parts of the bar may still be recognized as an excellent means for producing animation and energy, but it has ceased to astonish, while Spontini's division of the violas, which is productive of really fine effects, is now an every-day device. It is only when looked upon historically that "Cortez" can be found to possess that energy, pride, passion, and gracefulness which Berlioz lauded in it, and which still asserted sufficient force over Schumann to lead him to record in his theatrical diary under date of July 27, 1848: " 'Ferdinand Cortez' von Spontini mit Entziicken zum erstenmal gehort." Saturday, Seventh. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Weber's "Euryanthe." Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-seventh organ recital. Fugue, D minor (Book II, Novello's edition), Bach; Christmas March, E-flat, Merkel ; Pastorale in G, W. T. Best ; Offertory on Christmas Hymns, op. 33, No. 2, Guilmant; Postlude in G, (79) January.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. G. M. Garrett; "Marche des Rois Mages," Theodore Du- bois; Three pieces from "The Messiah," Handel (arranged by Lux). METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Fourth concert, tenth season, of the Symphony Society. Symphony in C major, No. 9, Schubert; "March of Pilgrims," from the Symphony "Harold in Italy," Berlioz; Two movements, Larghetto and Allegro, from the Concerto for Violin, Beethoven (Madame Camilla Urso); "La Russie," Morceau Symphonique, Rubin- stein. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. Monday, Ninth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Second concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Overture, " Melusine," Mendelssohn; Concerto for pianoforte, A minor, Schumann (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe); Fragments from "Siegfried" and " Gotter- dammerung," Wagner (arranged for concert use by Hans Richter) ; Symphony in D minor, No. 2, Dvorak. Conductor, Wilhelm Gericke. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Spon- tini's " Ferdinand Cortez. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. Wednesday, Eleventh. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Ferdi- nand Cortez." Conductor, Anton Seidl. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. First pianoforte recital by Conrad Ansorge. Sonatas, D minor, op. 31, No. 2, and E major, op. 109, Beethoven; Variations in F minor, Haydn; Im- promptu, G major, Schubert; Nocturne, C-sharp minor, Cho- pin; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12, Liszt; Chants Polonais, Chopin-Liszt; "Halka" Fantasia, Tausig. (80) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. Thursday, Twelfth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and eighth organ recital. Fantasia and Fugue, A minor (Book IX, No. i), Bach; Rondeau, "Passacaille," B minor, Couperin (arranged by Best); Sonata No. 3, G major, op. 88 ("Pas- torale"), Rheinberger; Cantabile in C, Capocci; "March of the Magi Kings," Dubois; Concerto Fantasia, D minor, R. P. Stewart. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Second concert of the Beethoven Quartet. Quartet, A minor, op. 51, No. 2, Brahms; Songs, Jensen (Max Heinrich); " Wiegenlied," Marie Elizabeth; Al- legro non troppo, from Quartet, op. 90, No. 2, Rubinstein; Songs, Schubert (Mr. Heinrich); Quartet, E-flat, op. 47, Schu- mann (pianoforte, Miss Jessie Pinney). Friday, Thirteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Siegfried." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Saturday, Fourteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's fifth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. Overture, "Le Roi d'Ys," Eduard Lalo (new); Andante and Scherzo from the Duo Sonata, op. 140, Schubert (transcribed for orchestra by Joseph Joachim) ; Hun- garian Dances, Brahms; Polonaise No. 2, Liszt; Suite No. i, op. 39, M. Moszkowski. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Spon- tini's "Cortez." Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-eighth organ re- cital. Chorale Vorspiel, ' ' Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" (Book VI, Peters's Edition), Bach; Echo Andante, op. 19, Dienel; Overture, C minor, op. 123, Merkel; Fantasie in E, Th. Dubois ; Sarabande, from the fourth Suite for violoncello, Bach; Benediction Nuptiale, op. 9, Saint-Saens ; Sonata No. 4, op. 98, Rheinberger. (81) January.^ THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Third concert, forty- sixth season, of the Philharmonic Society. Suite, D major, No. 3, Bach; Symphonic Prologue to Shakespeare's "Othello," Arnold Krug; Concerto for pianoforte, op. 23, Tscha'ikowsky (Rafael Joseffy); Symphony No. 4, D minor, Schumann. Con- ductor, Theodore Thomas. Sunday, Fifteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p.m. Concert for the benefit of the German Hospital. Overture on American airs, for the organ, Armin Schotte (Mr. Schotte) ; Part-song for male voices, ' ' Schafer's Sonntagslied, " Kreutzer (Liederkranz and Arion) ; Theme and Variations from the ' ' Kreutzer " Sonata, Beethoven (Max Ben- dix and Conrad Ansorge); "Der Ritt durch's Waldgeheg," Wilhelm Sturm, and " Alt-Niederlandisches Lied," Kremser (Arion Society); Air from "Undine," Lortzing (Emil Fischer); Pianoforte Solos : Impromptu, Schubert, and ' ' La Campanel- la," Liszt (Herr Ansorge); Polacca from "Mignon," Thomas (Fraulein Lilli Lehmann); Gut' Nacht, ihr Blumen," Isenmann, and "O Diarnle tief drunt' im Thai," Fittig (Liederkranz); "Souvenir des Alpes," for flute, Boehm (Otto Oesterle); Songs : "Am Meer," Schubert, and " Schonster Engel" Graben- Hoffmann (Herr Fischer); "Die Muttersprache," Engelsberg (Franz Remmertz, Arion, and Liederkranz) ; Festival March, organ, Mackenzie (Mr. Schotte). Conductors, Frank Van der Stucken and Agricol Paur. Monday, Sixteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Ness- ler's "Trompeter von Sakkingen." Conductor, Anton Seidl. CASINO. 8 p. m. Revival of "Erminie," a musical comedy by Harry Paulton and Edward Jakabowski. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English. A per- version of Donizetti's "Daughter of the Regiment," produced (82) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Mile. Zelie de Lussan in the role of Marie. Conductor, George Loesch. The opera was repeated every night of the week except Thursday. Tuesday, Seventeenth. STEINWAY HALL. 3 p. m. First of three pianoforte recitals by Herr Karl Klindworth. Beethoven programme : Six Sonatas, namely: C minor, op. 13 (" Pathetique ") ; C-sharp minor, op. 27, No. 2; A-flat major, op. no; E major, op. 109; C minor, op. in; E-flat major, op. 81 ("Les Adieux, 1' Absence et le Retour"). STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p.m. Theodore Thomas's fifth Symphony Concert. Symphony No. 6, op. in, Rubinstein; Air, "The Dawn still Lingers" (from "Achilleus"), Bruch (Miss Emily Winant) ; Divertissement a la Hongroise, op. 54, Schubert (for orchestra by Franz Liszt and Max Erdmannsdorfer) ; Songs: ' ' Waldesgesprach" and " Widmung," Schumann (Miss Winant) ; Bacchanale from "Tannhauser," Wagner. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Third concert of the Carri brothers. Sonata for violin and pianoforte, Pietro Nardini ; Air, "II va venir," from "La Juive," Halevy (Miss Effie Stewart); Piano- forte Solos: "Die Forelle," Schubert-Heller, Menuet, Rudolph Niemann ; ' ' Othello " Fantasia for violin, Ernst ; Pianoforte Solos: "Der Gnomentanz," Hans Seeling, and Etude "Ero- ica," Henselt; Grand Polonaise for violin, Laub; Songs: "In the Garden" and "Chinese Love Song," Edgar S. Kelley; Trio, B-flat major, op. 4, Carl Goldmark. Wednesday, Eighteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert by Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Struensee," Meyerbeer; Concerto for two pianofortes, Weber (Josef and Herr Casimir Hofmann) ; Violin Solos : Nocturne, Chopin-Sarasate, and Mazurka, Wieniawski (Miss Nettie Carpenter); Romanza, "La Fioraia," Bevignani (83) /anuary.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. (Mme. Hastreiter) ;" Rondo Capriccioso," Mendelssohn (Josef Hofmann); Introduction to the fifth act of " Manfred," Rein- ecke; Pianoforte Solos: Serenade, " Devil's Mill," Berceuse and Waltz, Josef Hofmann (Master Hofmann); Aria from "La Favorita," Donizetti (Signer De Anna); Harp Solo, (Mme. Sacconi) ; Concertstiick," Weber (Master Hofmann) ; Polonaise No. 2 (for orchestra), Liszt. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Die Walkiire," Wagner. Cast : Briinnhilde, Lehmann ; Fricka, Brandt ; Sieglinde, Seidl-Kraus ; Siegmund, Niemann ; Wotan, Fischer ; tfunding, Elmblad ; Jfelmwige, Traubmann ; Wal- traute, Meisslinger ; Gerhilde, Brandt ; Ortlinde, Klein ; Sieg- rune, Dilthey ; Grimmgerde, Kemlitz ; Schivertleite, Gottich ; Jtossweisse, Miron. Conductor, Anton Seidl. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Herr Conrad Ansorge's second pianoforte recital. Sonata, G major, op. 14, No. 2, and Va- riations, op. 35, Beethoven ; Polonaise, A major, Nocturne, C minor, Chopin; Barcarolle, Rubinstein; Arabesque, op. 18, Schumann; Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 10, Liszt; Caprices, Paganini-Liszt. Thursday, Nineteenth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and ninth organ recital. Fantasia and Fugue, C minor, Johann Schneider; Allegretto in D, from the Second Quartet in D minor, Haydn (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Minuet, B-flat, Hamilton Clarke; Larghetto in C, C. J. Frost; Religious March, E-flat, G. A. Macfarren; Organ Symphony, D major, No. 2, Widor. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English. Flotow's "Martha," performed by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Conductor, George Loesch. (84) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. Friday, Twentieth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Beet- hoven's "Fidelio." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Saturday, Twenty-first. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Die Walkiire." Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 2 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Flotow's ' ' Martha. " SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's forty-ninth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, A minor, Bach; Anthem, op. 33, No. i, and Scherzo, op. 16, No. 4, Guilmant; Andante, A major, C. V. Alkan; Melodic, C major, Salome; Andante Cantabile, A major, and Marche Triomphale, E major, Renaud de Vilbac; Senate (Pascale) A minor, Lemmens. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Concert by Josef Hofmann. Overture, "Merry Wives of Windsor," Nicolai; Concerto, G minor, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann, for the first time in public); Song: "Ah, vieni sua Ponda," Sapio (Madame Hast- reiter); Introduction and Rondo from the First Concerto for violin, Vieuxtemps (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Pianoforte Solos : Romanza, Rubinstein, Mazurka, A-flat major, and Waltz, D-flat, Chopin (Master Hofmann); "Les Preludes," Liszt; Aria from " Lucrezia Borgia," Donizetti (Signer De Anna); "Polonaise Americaine " (I quote the programme : ' ' Composed, scored for orchestra, and conducted by Josef Hofmann ") ; " Marche Heroique," Massenet. Conductor. Adolph Neuendorff. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Third concert, thirtieth season, of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Fugue, A minor, Bach (for strings by Joseph Hellmesberger) ; Symphony, No. 3, E-flat ("Rhenish"), Schumann; Scene and Air from "Euryanthe," "Wo berg ich mich?" Weber (Herr Emil Fischer); "Eine Faust Overture," Wagner; Song, " Der (8 5 ) January.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Wanderer," Schubert (Herr Fischer); Morceau Symphonique, "La Russie," Rubinstein. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Monday, Twenty-third. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's "Lohengrin." Herr Alvary as Lohengrin, Herr Emil Steger as Telramund. Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Bizet's "Carmen." Conductor, George Loesch. Tuesday, Twenty-fourth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p.m. Theodore Thomas's sixth Symphony Concert. Preludio "Asrael," Franchetti; Symphony No. 4, E minor, Brahms; Concerto for violin, op. 64, Mendelssohn (Mme. Camilla Urso); Fantasia, "Liebesnacht," Phillip Schar- wenka; Symphonic Poem, "Tasso," Liszt. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. The "Preludio" by Alberto Franchetti was heard for the first time in this country. Its presence in Mr. Thomas's list was doubt- less due to the favorable reception accorded to the composer's short but melodious and well-written Symphony in E minor which Mr. Thomas brought forward at a concert of the Philharmonic Society on April 9, 1887. The new composition, like the symphony, was played from manuscript. It is the introduction to the fourth act of a mystical opera on Wagnerian models which the composer, a young Italian resident in Dresden, recently produced. In the title readers of Oriental folk-lore will recognize the name of the Angel of Death who, until a petition of Mahomet was granted, was wont to come in the body to put the mark on his elect. There are many pictur- esque Hebrew and Turkish traditions in which Asrael (or, as the name is commonly written in English, Azrael) figures which might be utilized in an opera. That Signer Franchetti is a thoroughly Teutonized Italian was disclosed by his symphony, but this prelude is several big steps in advance of that work on the new German road. It is an ambitious and fairly successful attempt at a musical (86) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. mood-picture of large dimensions, with melodies of an unconven- tional type, and sonorous instrumentation. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by Arthur Voorhis, pianist, assisted by Miss Carlotta Pinner and an orchestra conducted by Frank Van der Stucken. Overture, "Konig Stephan," Beethoven; Concerto No. 2, G minor, Saint-Saens; Aria from "Belmont und Constanze," Mozart; " Du bist die Ruh'," Schubert- Liszt ; "Vogel als Prophet," Schumann; Tarantelle, M. Moszkowski; Melody for Strings, Grieg; " Dance of Reap- ers" from music to "The Tempest," Van der Stucken; Songs: "Du bist mein All," Bradsky, and "Cadiz Maidens," Delibes; Scherzo from the first pianoforte concerto, Xaver Scharwenka. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Bos- ton Ideal Opera Company. "Daughter of the Regiment." Wednesday, Twenty-fifth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. First representation in America of "Die Gotterdammerung" by Richard Wagner. Cast: Siegfried, Albert Niemann; Gunther, Adolf Robinson; Ifagen, Emil Fischer; Alberich, Rudolph von Milde; Briinnhilde, Lilli Lehmann; Gutmne, Auguste Seidl- Kraus; Woglinde, Sophie Traubmann; Wellgunde, Marianne Brandt; Flosshilde, Louise Meisslinger. Conductor, Anton Seidl. The drama of "Die Gotterdammerung" in one of its phases excites warmer sympathy than any in the Niblung tetralogy. In it the human element becomes really active for the first time. This circumstance Herr Seidl accentuated by two bold excisions. One of the criticisms on Wagner's treatment of the Siegfried legend is that he has sacrificed all its historical elements in order to bring it into closer relationship with Norse mythology; has, in fact, made the fate of the forgotten gods and goddesses of our ancestors the chief concern of the prologue and succeeding dramas. There is some force in the objection. Like Homer in his " Iliad," Wagner has a celestial as well as a terrestrial plot in his "Ring of the Niblung," (87) January.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. and the men and women in it are but the unconscious agents of the good and evil powers typified in the gods and the niblungs. The criticism, however, is weaker here than in Germany, where ten or a dozen dramas (of which the chief is Geibel's " Brunhild") as well as the mediaeval epic have accustomed the people to think of their national hero with something like historical surroundings. In these works the death of Siegfried is brought about by his alliance with the Burgundians, whose seat was at Worms; and the Gunther of the German legend is easily identified with the founder of the Kingdom of Burgundy, King Gundikar, who was overcome by Atilla and died A. D. 450. Wagner's original draft of "Die Gotterdammer- ung" (an independent drama, entitled "The Death of Siegfried") followed the accepted lines, and it was not until the tetralogy was planned that the mythological elements from the Eddas were drawn into the scheme, the theatre of the play changed, its time pushed back into a prehistoric age, and the death of the hero made to bring about the destruction of the old gods the Ragnarok of the Icelandic tales. The connection between the death of Siegfried and the fate of the gods is explained in the two scenes which were eliminated from the version given at the Metropolitan. The first scene is the prologue in which the Norns (or the "Nornir," as sticklers for correct orthography would write the word), the Fates of Northern mythology, while weaving the golden-stranded rope of the world's destiny, tell of the signs of the coming " Gotterdammer- ung" that is to say, of the Twilight of the Gods. The second is an interview between Brilnnhilde and Waltraute, one of the Val- kyrias (" Valkyrior," if the sticklers wish it again), who comes to urge her sister to avert the doom that threatens the gods by restor- ing the ring to the Rhine-daughters. Both scenes are highly sig- nificant to the plan of the work as a whole, and both have profound beauties to those who are steeped in Wagnerism, but a public unfamiliar with German and unconcerned about Wagner's deeper purposes can much more easily spare than endure them. This drama achieved an almost unparalleled success during the remainder of the season with which, I have no doubt, the abbrevi- ations made by Herr Seidl had much to do. The devotees of Wagner were justified in their disappointment at the loss of two scenes that are highly important from a dramatic point of view, (88) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. but it was better to achieve success for the representations by adapting the drama to the capacity of the public than to sacrifice it bodily on the altar of integrity. Under existing circumstances an ideal attitude on the part of the American public toward Wag- ner's work is impossible, and the question to settle was whether it was not wiser to make concessions to human nature while striving to approach that ideal attitude than to spoil all by a stubborn insistence on the whole loaf or no bread. Besides, intelligent criticism can point out excisions that are absolutely beneficial to the Niblung dramas. Though together they consti- tute a tetralogy, Wagner seems always to have contemplated the representation of each of the dramas separately, and for the sake of unity and clearness he took occasion in each to rehearse all the preceding incidents in the general story. Much can be gained by omitting these recapitulations when the dramas are given in succession, as was done a little later in the season. It ought not to be considered necessary to compel the audience to listen while each new personage is instructed in the contents of the tetralogy from the beginning. It was this defect that prompted a witty critic in 1876 to suggest that, if the play of "Die Walkiire" could not go on without Wotan's long recital to Briinnhilde of the contents of "Das Rheingold," he might at least spare the audience by buying a libretto and permitting the Valkyria to read it between the acts. On this ground the dramas can be relieved of much that is only wearying to the public, especially to a public unfamiliar with the language, and unused, as yet, to contemplating a lyric drama as something different from a diverting entertainment. There are other instances, moreover, in which excisions seem really to be a kindness to Wagner as well as a relief to the public. Herr Seidl's omission of the first scene in the prologue to ' ' Die Gotterdammerung " is a case in point. The picture of the Nornir weaving golden threads into the rope of the world's fate and crooning their prophecies as they pass it from one to the other, then binding themselves together with its broken ends and sinking into the earth as they contemplate the approaching Twilight of the Gods is full of poetical beauty; but it is epical material, not dramatic. A symbol like the thread of fate cannot be materialized without becoming ridiculous. To this the majority of judicious (89) January.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. persons who have witnessed the "Norn scene" in European repre- sentations will bear testimony. The poetical charm disappears at the sight of three women awkwardly struggling with a prosaic rope hitched to the limb of the tree under which Briinnhilde took her long sleep. Symbolism of this kind is not the property of the dramatist; it must be left to the epic poet. There is much beauty in the music of the scene which it is a pity to lose; so there is a wondrous depth of beauty in the scene between Wotan and Erda in the third act of "Siegfried," in fact, the pages devoted to it are the most glowing in the entire score, but had Herr Seidl been brave enough to omit two-thirds of it "Siegfried" would have been the gainer in the eyes of the public, and the exchequer of the Metropolitan would have been several thousands the richer at the end of the season. In "Die Gotterdammerung " little was retained that might have been spared, and the result was that in spite of its length the audiences left the representations with less weariness than either "Die Walkiire" or "Siegfried." The play is full of action, and in the piling up of scenic, musical, and dramatic effects it overtops its predecessors in the tetralogy, and forms a fitting climax and end to that wonderful creation. Its chief moment, the murder of Siegfried, is unquestion- ably the most impressive scene ever created by Wagner. An element of naivete and a most refreshing melodiousness are brought into the musical score by the recurrence of the music in the prologue associated with the Rhine-daughters. Besides this music, much of which was familiar from performances in the concert- room, there is a considerable draft on the exquisite orchestral idyl which makes the second act of the preceding drama so charm- ing (the so-called "Waldweben") and three purely orchestral num- bers which belong to the most beautiful and stupendous music that the tetralogy boasts. There are also two scenes whose intrinsic musical beauty is none the less striking because of the fact that they are most instructive examples of Wagner's method of dramatic composition. The scenes are connected, and in the third act. The central figure of a most attractive group, Siegfried, tells the story of his life as set forth in "Siegfried." As the hero talks the audience hears a recapitulation of the musical score of that drama. He starts up in an outburst of enthusiasm as he reaches (90) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. the account of Briinnhilde's awakening, which is interrupted by the flight over his head of Wotan's ravens. He turns to look after the departing birds when Hagen plunges a spear into his back. I can not recall another stage catastrophe presented with such appalling power as Wagner has shown in this. The music to which the hero, regaining his memory from which he had been treacherously robbed, breathes out his life is that ecstasy in tones to which Siegfried 's kiss inspires the orchestra, and this gives way to the familiar death march, which, from a purely structural point of view, is an epitome of all that is salient in the musical investi- ture of the entire tetralogy, yet in spirit is a veritable apotheosis, a marvellously eloquent proclamation of antique grief and heroic sorrow. Ah ! that death march ! Where in the literature of music shall we look for its like? Let the cold-blooded analyst dissect it, tell of the phrases out of which it is built, and marvel that Siegfrieds simple horn-call could be metamorphosed into so colossal a hymn as that which marks its climax. One may feel its beauty to the full without getting within this technical sway. Such knowledge, indeed, may add keenness to appreciation, but without it we recognize music which tells of the death of a demi-god and of his deeds. We hear in it none of the wails of modern weaklings, see in it no tears of hopeless mourning. It is a grief mixed with pride in the prowess of the dead. We feel the excitement that fills the hearts of strong men bearing the corpse of a hero, and with theirs our own blood leaps through its veins the faster, as it is stirred by the vehement rhythm of that most thrilling of all orchestral tuttis. We forget the changed relations of the present. We glory in the ascent of the hero to Walhalla, there to quaff mead with other heroes, who before him had received the death- mark from Woden's wish-maidens, and sing songs of valor with mighty sonority like Ragnar Lodbrok's " We smote with our swords ! " There are two other instrumental numbers of great beauty in the score of the "Gotterdammerung," but I am spared a descrip- tion of them by the circumstance that they are familiar. They are the entr'acte known as "Siegfried's Rhine Journey" and the January.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. musical postlude after Brunnhilde' s immolation. The story of the drama shows a blending of the tale of Sigurd's death as related in the Volsunga Saga and in the Nibelungenlied. Siegfried leaves Brunnhilde on the rock where he found her, and equipped with her armor and arms besides his magic sword, he goes along the Rhine in quest of new adventures. He meets Gunther, the Gibi- chung, and Hagen, son of Alberich, begotten to contest with Sieg- fried for the ring of which his father, the original robber, was robbed. With Gunther he swears an oath of brotherhood, and, after he has been deprived of all recollection of Brunnhilde by a potion mixed by Hagen, he returns to the fire-girt rock in the guise of Gunther, and drags off Brunnhilde to be Gunther 's bride. In turn he marries Gutnine, Gunther 3 s sister. Brunnhilde sees on his finger the ring which he had wrested from her, and believ- ing herself dishonored and betrayed, she plots with Jfagen and Gunther to accomplish his destruction. While resting after a hunt, the hero is killed in the manner already described. He is brought back to the hall of the Gibichungs. There Gutrune bewails his death, but is put aside by Brunnhilde, who orders a pyre built and dashes into the flames which consume the body. Hagen having quarreled with Gunther, and killed him, attempts before this to take the ring from the dead man, but is frightened back by a threatening motion from the hero's hand. He plunges into the Rhine in a delirium. As the pyre crumbles the river over- flows its banks, the waves roll up to its edge and the Rhine- daughters recover the ring from the ashes. A glow breaks out in the heavens and Walhalla goes up in flames. The charm which lies in the truthfulness and vigor of the drama even when viewed aside from its music defies description. The world which is presented in the play is an original creation. There is scarcely anything in history that can furnish us a point of view from which to judge of the truthfulness of its details, and yet its elements are so harmonious, they supplement each other so perfectly, the characters fit so well into their environ- ment, their untamed emotions are so consistent with the vigor- ous style of expression used that the imagination is taken com- pletely captive. Such a scene as the meeting of Gunther's vas- sals, with their barbarous accoutrements and savage cries, vitalizes (9*) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. the tales of barbarian invasions for the readers of European his- tory. The customs which are exhibited as part of the dramatic material of the piece, though they exist in history, are plainly of barbarous origin, and help wonderfully to give verisimilitude to the play. The mixing of the blood of Siegfried and Gunlher, in the drinking-horn with which the two pledge each other ever- lasting brotherhood, the pronouncing of the oaths on Ifagen's spear, are two scenes in which ancient customs are reproduced with such energy and beauty as to make the volcanic eruptions, sunrises, ship explosions and what not of the French historical operas sink into insignificance. Another interesting ceremony which plays an important part in the drama has come down in some of our own poetry. Siegfried in the guise of Gunther takes Briinnhilde to wife in savage fashion. He penetrates the barrier of fire, wrests the magic ring from her finger, and drawing his sword leads her into the cave with the words: Now, Nothung, witness well That faithfully I wooed ; Lest I wane in truth to my brother, Bar me away from his bride ! Students of folk-lore will recognize in this an allusion to that kind of proxy marriage described by Longfellow in "The Belfry of Bruges" : I beheld proud Maximilian kneeling humbly on the ground ; I beheld the gentle Mary hunting with her hawk and hound ; And her lighted bridal-chamber, where a Duke slept with the Queen, And the armed guard around them, and the sword unsheathed between. Lovely devotion, deep earnestness, trained intelligence, and a high order of skill were united to make the first representation of the drama a memorable event. In two cases all of the qualities were united in a single person. They were those of Herr Seidl and Fraulein Lehmann. Fraulein Lehmann's portrayal of the heroine was an achievement such as it is a happiness to witness, and remains a benediction in the memory. Here is an artist whose vocal gifts and capabilities seem as inexhaustible as her zeal. There is never a thought of self when she plunges into the emotional stream which carries Briinnhilde through the drama. To present (93) January.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. the character, fully, vitally, to exhibit the very fibres out of which its passionate heart-strings are woven, is the task which she set herself, and to perform it she offered up her powers without reserve. The endurance, strength, and sensuous beauty of her voice fill one with amazement when employed with such generosity as inspired her effort in the new drama. Of her companion, Herr Niemann, equal praise might be spoken so far as intelligence and earnestness of effort are concerned. But when the spirit is willing the flesh is frequently weak. Only in the climactic moments did his voice respond to the, to him, exceedingly trying demands imposed by the music ; but the warmth and vigor of his declamation, the frequently effective use of varied vocal color to convey emotion, the energy and beauty of his acting, which, in the death scene sent magnetic shocks through the audience, combined to make his impersonation of Siegfried a valuable exemplification of the kind of singing and acting on which Wagner's dramas depend for their best expression. Herr Fischer, as was demonstrated in "Faust" and "Euryanthe," is wanting in the capacity to express wickedness of any sort, either with face or voice, but what finished vocal art and a matchless bass voice can do for Hagen, he did. The orchestra responded nobly to Herr Seidl's wishes, and performed a notable work. As for Herr Seidl's part of the representation, a record of it ought to be made in the annals of music in language which would shed a last- ing lustre on his name. The reception which the audience ex- tended to the work was in the highest degree gratifying. The duet with which the Metropolitan version opened (between Siegfried and Briinnhilde) aroused such enthusiasm that the danger seemed imminent for a while that the beautiful Rhine journey music would not be heard. After the act, though the first scene in the hall of the Gibichungs, with its unrelieved waste of dramatic dia- logue, was a severe strain on the patience and endurance of the audience, the enthusiasm broke out afresh. There were three recalls. When the curtain fell on the second act Fraulein Leh- mann, Herr Fischer, and Herr Robinson were recalled four times, and after Herr Seidl had appeared once with them he was recalled alone, and, as is his custom, indicated by a gesture that the success was due to the singers and the orchestra. Between the acts the corridors were filled with crowds who relieved their feelings by (94) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [January. excited conversation. The climax was reached, however, in the death scene, which was followed by an outburst of applause and calls for Herr Seidl, repeated time after time, such as the walls of the house have seldom echoed to. The drama was carefully "staged," but there were a few defects due to a foolish effort on the part of the stage-manager to improve on the prescriptions of Wagner. Fearing that the catastrophe which overtakes the gods in the denouement might not be suffi- ciently obvious, the magnificent orchestral postlude was made to accompany two panoramic pictures, one of Wotan and his celestial court, and after it one of Briinnhilde carrying the body of Siegfried upward on her horse. After two representations these wholly unnecessary and reprehensible adjuncts of the drama were dis- carded. Ragnarok in the Icelandic tales is followed by the crea- tion of a new world and a new reign of law. Wagner's ethical conception seems to be that the era of selfishness and greed of power and gold gives place to the era of the dominion of love. Others wish to see in Ragnarok the destruction of paganism and the rise of Christianity, and, in defence of the tableau of Brunnhilde bearing the corpse of Siegfried it was urged that she appeared without the trappings of a Valkyria and was therefore the first messenger of the new religion. Such a conception, however, leads to a complication of absurdities which requires neither enumeration nor discussion. Some of the other disturbing elements were, like this tableau, merely mechanical, and might as easily have been avoided. The change of actors, Herr Alvary (the Siegfried of the preceding drama) giving way to Herr Niemann, was also emphasized by the difference between the vocal and dramatic methods of the two representatives of the character, but it had two things to commend it. First, in "Die Gotterdammerung " Siegfried appears as a tragic character upon whom Fate has placed her seal, and for the presentation of such a character Herr Nie- mann has the better equipment in spite of his worn voice; sec- ondly, in stature the younger tenor does not suggest, like Herr Niemann, the ideal of the hero of the old Niblung legends. The physical attributes with which our ancient ancestors fitted out their hero are described thus in the Volsunga Saga : ' ' His hair was of golden-red hue, fair of fashion and falling down in (95) January.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. great locks. So keen were his eyes that few durst gaze at him. His shoulders were as broad to look on as the shoulders of two; and this is the sign told of his height, that when he was girt with the sword Gram, the dew-shoe of the sword smote the ears of the standing corn. And for all that greater was his strength than his height." METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Rienzi," Wagner; Sonata, op. 13, C minor ("Pathetique"), Beethoven (Master Hofmann); "La mia ban- diera," Rotoli (Signer De Anna); Concerto in G minor, Men- delssohn (Master Hofmann); "Love Song," for string orches- tra, Jonas; Pianoforte Solos: Nocturne, E major, Chopin; " Friihlingslied " and " Spinnerlied," Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann); Aria from " Lucrezia Borgia," Donizetti (Signor De Anna) ; "Invitation a la Valse," Weber (for two pianofortes, Josef and Herr Casimir Hofmann); "Coronation March," Meyerbeer. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. STEINWAY HALL. 3 p. m. Karl Klindworth's second pianoforte recital. Chopin programme: Sonata, B-flat minor, op. 53; Variations Brillantes, op. 12; Second Impromptu, F-sharp, op. 36; Nocturne, D-flat, op. 27, No. 2; Valse, A-flat, op. 34; Barcarolle, op. 60; Nocturne, C minor, op. 48, No. i; Bal- lade, A-flat, op. 47; Scherzo, D-flat, op. 31; Berceuse, op. 57 ; Polonaise, A-flat, op. 53. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Bizet's "Carmen." Thursday, Twenty-sixth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and tenth organ recital. Introduction and Fugue in A, op. 34, Merkel; Andante from the Sonata op. 12, No. 2, Beethoven (arranged by Best) ; Bourree, from the third violoncello sonata, Bach (arranged by Best); Sonata in F, op. 82, E. Silas; Com- munion, in A, Deshayes; Andante Grazioso, in D, Henry Smart; Concert Piece, D minor, op. 22, Otto Dienel. (96) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Flotow's "Martha." Friday, Twenty-seventh. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p.m. German opera. Weber's "Euryanthe." Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Bizet's " Carmen." CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Concert of Miss Sedohr Rhodes. Two movements from the Quartet, D minor, op. 75, Bazzini (Beethoven Quartet); ''Son vergin vezzosa," Bellini (Miss Rhodes); "Best of All," Moir (Albert L.King); " Israfel," Oliver King (Miss Lizzie Macnichol); "Serenade," Raff, and "Maiden with the lips so rosy," Meyer-Hellmund (Carl Dufft); "Serenata alia Spagnola," Borodin, and "Danse Caracteris- tique," E. Thiele (Beethoven Quartet); Duet from "Martha," Flotow (Messrs. King and Dufft); "Caro nome," Verdi (Miss Rhodes); " Clerici beati sunt," H. Hoffman (Mr. Dufft); In- troduction and Saltarello, Grieg (Beethoven Quartet); "Echo," Eckert, and Mazurka, Chopin- Viardot (Miss Rhodes) ; Ter- zetto, "I Naviganti," Randegger (Miss Macnichol, Messrs. King and Dufft). Musical Director, Emilio Agramonte. Saturday, Twenty-eighth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wagner's " Gotterdammerung. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's sixth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. " Arkadische Suite," op. 76, Phil- lip Scharwenka; Concerto No. i, E minor, op. n, Chopin- Tausig (Rafael Joseffy); Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, Liszt; Ballet Music, "Le Cid," Massenet. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. (97) /anuary.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 2 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. "The Bohemian Girl," by Balfe. 8 p.m. "Daughter of the Regiment." SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fiftieth organ recital. Canzona, D minor (Book II, Novello's edition), Bach; Offer- torio, C major, Capocci; Allegretto, B minor, op. 19, No. i, Guilmant; Romanza from -the Symphony in D minor, Schu- mann; Postlude in B-flat, J. E. West; Andante Sostenuto, A major, Eugene Gigout; "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (introduction and variations on Mendelssohn's Christmas Hymn), C. J. Frost. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Fifth concert of the Symphony Society. Symphony, F minor ("Irish"), C. Villiers Stanford; Adagio from the Second Symphony, Saint-Saens; " Le rouet d' Omphale," Saint-Saens; "Overture to a Comedy," Smetana; Concerto for pianoforte, D minor, Rubinstein (Frau- lein Adele Aus der Ohe); Overture, "Sakuntala," Goldmark. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. The symphonic novelty which Mr. Damrosch brought forward on this occasion, proved to be at least an interesting and pleasing if not profound work. Mr. C. Villiers Stanford, its composer, is one of the most serious, dignified and ambitious of England's composers. He occupies himself almost exclusively with the higher forms of writing, and while the warmth of his inspiration may be questioned, there can be no doubt of his musical scholarship or of his sincerity of aim. The symphony is his twenty-eighth numbered work, and was first given a public hearing at one of Herr Richter's concerts in London, June, 1887. It is called by the composer an "Irish Symphony," and Irish it is in its melodic material and its spirit, for which reason, it might be said at once, it does not bear out one of the well-grounded requirements of the symphonic scheme. When a symphony tells its story well the final movement will generally be found to be a vigorous composition with a contest and either triumph or de- feat as its spiritual contents. The spirit of Irish music is the spirit of Irish history. Its glories are the glories of the past, (98) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {January. and when Mr. Stanford, a true Irishman, came to construct his symphony, he seems to have had this thought in his mind. His most successful movement is the Andante con moto, which is a lovely and most affecting lament. After this in merit comes the second movement, Allegro motto vivace, a jig, which fills most admirably the place of the Scherzo, and has a sweet, original mel- ody for its trio. In the finale Mr. Stanford has utilized two Irish melodies, "Remember the glories of Brian the brave," and "Let him remember the days of old," both surcharged with melancholy in spite of their effort to be energetic and militant. The sym- phony suggested most strikingly the characterization of Irish music to be found in Dr. Norman Macleod's Notebook: My father once saw some emigrants from Lochaber dancing on the deck of an emigrant ship and weeping their eyes out ! This feeling is the mother of Irish music. It expresses the struggle of a buoyant, merry heart to get quit of thoughts that often lie too deep for tears. It is the music of an oppressed, conquered but deeply feeling, impres- sible, fanciful and generous people. It is for the harp in Tara's Halls. The score of the symphony, which has been published by Novello, Ewer & Co., bears a bit of evidence of Mr. Stanford's patriotism curious enough to mention an invocation to Phoebus to aid him in his effort to do justice to the melodies of his native land in these words: "Ipse fave clemens patriae patriam- que canenti, Phcebe, coronata qui canis ipse lyra." Sunday, Twenty-ninth. LIEDERKRANZ HALL. 8 p. m. Second concert of the Deutschcr Liederkranz. Scenes from Goethe's "Faust," Schumann (solo parts: Miss Emma Juch, Miss Amanda Fabris, Mrs. Rosa Schaarschmidt, Miss Hettie Kammerer, Miss Koch, Max Al- vary, and George Prehn); Elsds Dream, from "Lohengrin," Wagner (Miss Juch); "Das Gewitter," for male chorus, solos and orchestra, Hermann Mohr; Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 14, Liszt; Recitative and air from "Der Freischiitz," Weber (Mr. Alvary); "Das Waldfraulein," scene for mixed chorus, solos and orchestra, Josef Sttcher. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. (99) January] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Monday, Thirtieth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wagner's "Die Walkiire." First of two successive representations of the three Niblung dramas in the repertory of the Metropolitan Company. Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Bizet's "Carmen." Tuesday, Thirty-first. STEINWAY HALL. 3 p. m. Third pianoforte recital by Karl Klind- worth. Liszt programme. Sonata, B minor; " Anne6s de Pele- rinage"; Seconde Ballade; Valse impromptu; Etude de Con- cert No. 3; Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 8; Polonaise No. 2. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second private concert of the New York Vocal Union. "Silvery Christmas Bells," Randegger; "Zigeunerweisen," Sarasate (Miss Bertha Behrens); " Morning Prayer" and "The Lark's Song," Mendelssohn; "Springtide," Becker (Miss Marion Weed); Cantata, "The Norman Baron," Thomas Anderton; "Come, shepherds, follow me," John Benet; "My bonny Lass, she smileth," Thomas Morley; "Come, Sisters, Come," A. C. Mackenzie; Fantaisie Caprice, Vieuxtemps (Miss Behrens); "Three Doughtie Men," W. W. Pearson; "The Three Singers," Berthold Tours (Miss Weed); "Noble Chief, Thee we Hail," Glinka. Conductor, Samuel P. Warren. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Third concert of the Damrosch Symphony Society of Brooklyn. Symphony No. i, C major, Beethoven; First movement from the Pianoforte Concerto in D minor, Rubinstein (Alexander Lambert) ; Two Hungarian Dances, Brahms; Norwegian Melody, for strings, Grieg; "Je suis Titania," Thomas (Fraulein Lilli Lehmann); Scherzo, Litolff (Mr. Lambert); "Les Preludes," Liszt. Con- ductor, Walter J. Damrosch. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Donizetti's "Daughter of the Regiment." (100) FEBRUARY Wednesday, First. STEINWAY HALL. 3 p. m. Pianoforte recital by Conrad Ansorge. Sonata in F minor, Ansorge; Variations, op. 21, Brahms; "Harmonies du Soir," Liszt; Novelette, Otto Floersheim; "Du bist die Rub'," Schubert-Liszt; "La Campanella," Paganini-Liszt ; Prelude in D-flat, Chopin ; Fantasia on ' ' Les Huguenots," Liszt. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert by Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Fingal's Cave," Mendelssohn; Variations, for two pianofortes, Schumann (Master and Casimir Hofmann) ; Air, "Che faro," Gluck (Helene Hastreiter); Variations, Ra- meau (Master Hofmann); "Scenes Pittoresques," Massenet; Pianoforte Solos: Barcarolle and "Les Larmes," Josef Hof- mann, Serenata, Moszkowski, Toccata, Rubinstein (Master Hofmann); "Credo" from "Otello," Verdi (Signer De Anna); Polacca, Weber-Liszt (Master Hofmann); March and Cortege from "La Reine de Saba," Gounod. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Siegfried." Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. "Carmen." Thursday, Second. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and eleventh organ recital. Trio Sonata, No. 6, in G, Bach; Mili- tary March in D, Beethoven (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Piece Heroique, B minor, Cesar Franck; Andante in D, H. S. (101) February.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Oakeley ; Postlude in D, Berthold Tours ; Andante in E from Suite op. 39, W. Goldner (arranged by N. H. Allen); Sonata No. 3, op. 80, Merkel. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second private concert of the Orpheus Glee Club. "Come, follow me," Driffield; Introduc- tion and Polonaise for violoncello, Davidoff (Adolph Hart- degen); "Like the Woodland Roses." Mair; Soprano Solos: "Se non volevi," Marchetti, and "Die helle Sonne leuchtet," Lassen (Mrs. Norton); "St. John's Eve," Rheinberger; "Twi- light," Buck; Soprano Solos: "Go not, Happy Day," "Le Retour de Printemps," Godard, and "Phillida flouts me" (Mrs. Norton); "A Summer Landscape," Otto; Solos for violoncello: "Souvenir des Alpes," Alard, and "Humo- reske," Kiel (Mr. Hartdegen); "Love," Meyer-Hellmund. Conductor, Dudley Buck. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Bos- ton Ideal Opera Company. Balfe's "Bohemian Girl." Friday, Third. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 3 p. m. Second Popular Mati- nee of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Overture, ' ' Fin- gal's Cave," Mendelssohn; "Eine volksthiimliche Suite," John C. Rietzel; Polonaise No. 2, Liszt; Serenade, F major, No. 2, op. 63, Volkmann; Divertissement a la Hongroise, op. 54, Schubert (for orchestra by Liszt and Erdmannsdor- fer) ; Overture, "Tannhauser," Wagner. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by Captain Marcel Voyer, pianist. Overture, "Prometheus," Beethoven; Fantasia on "La Sonnambula," Thalberg.; Berceuse, Chopin; Valse, Cho- pin; Recitative and Air, "Awake, Saturnia," Handel (Miss Lizzie Macnichol); Allegro from Concerto in A minor, Hummel; Fantasia on "La Muette de Portici," Thalberg; Concerto, G minor, Mendelssohn; "Tremolo," Gottschalk; (102) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [February. "Invitation a la Valse," Weber; Capriccio, B minor, Men- delssohn. Conductor, Frank Van der Stucken. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Die Gotterdammerung. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Bos- ton Ideal Opera Company. "The Bohemian Girl." STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Second Chamber Music Soiree by the New York String Quartet, assisted by Rafael Joseffy. Quartet, A minor, op. 41, No. i, Schumann; Suite, E major, op. n, for pianoforte and violin, Goldmark; Quartet, D major, op. 64, No. 5, Haydn. Saturday \ Fourth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's seventh Popu- lar (Young People's) Matinee. Suite No. 3, D major, Bach; Overture, " Egmont," Beethoven; Suite, " Mozartiana," Tschai- kowsky (first time); " Herzwunden," and " Friihling," for strings, Grieg; Tarantelle, Saint-Saens (Messrs. Oesterle and Schreurs); "Bilder aus Osten," Schumann (for orchestra byReinecke); Overture, " Flying Dutchman," Wagner. Con- ductor, Theodore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Wag- ner's "Lohengrin." Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-first organ recital. Choral Vorspiel, " Ein' feste Burg," Bach; Offertoire, E-flat, Th. Dubois; Cantilene Pastorale, Guilmant; Air, " Jerusalem, thou that killest," Mendelssohn (Miss Anita Mason); Postlude, D major, W. G. Wood ; Air from Suite in D, Bach ; Song, "One Sweetly Solemn Thought," R. S. Ambrose (Miss Mason); Prelude, " Otho Visconti," Gleason (transcribed by H. Clarence Eddy); Sonata, G major, op. 88, Rheinberger. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. 2 p. m. " Daughter of the Regiment " j 8 p. m. " Carmen." (103) February.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Monday, Sixth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Die Walkiire." Conductor, Anton Seidl. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE. 8 p. m. Operetta in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. A version by Oscar Weil of "Francois, les Bas Bleus," words by MM. Dubreuil, Hum- bert, and Burain, music by Firmin Bernicat and Andre Messager. Conductor, George Loesch. Tuesday, Seventh. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p.m. Theodore Thomas's seventh Sym- phony Concert. Symphony, G minor, Mozart; Concerto for pianoforte, No. 4, G major, op. 58, Beethoven (Carl Baer- mann); Symphony, " Landliche Hochzeit," Goldmark. Con- ductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Third concert, tenth season, of the Philharmonic Club. Trio, C minor, op. 66, Mendelssohn (pianoforte, Richard Hoffman) ; Air from ' ' La Reine de Saba," Gounod (Whitney Mockridge) ; Sonata for violin, F. W. Rust (Richard Arnold); "Ever with thee," Raff (Mr. Mockridge); Quartet No. 16, op. 135, Beethoven. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. Second private concert, tenth season, of the Apollo Club. "Hark, the Trumpet calleth," Buck ; Valse, Rubinstein, and Berceuse, Chopin (Miss Adele Aus der Ohe) ; Slavonic Love Song; "Awake. Saturnia," Handel (Miss Emily Winant) ; ' ' The Legend of Heinz von Stein," Arthur W. Thayer (on two themes from "Die Wal- kiire"); "St. John's Eve," Rheinberger; Solos: " Quando a te lieta," Gounod, and "The Garden of Sleep," De Lara (Miss Winant); "Love," Meyer-Hellmund ; Polonaise, Liszt (Fraulein Aus der Ohe); "Integer Vitse," Fleming. Con- ductor, Dudley Buck. Wednesday, Eighth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "II Guarany," Gomez; Concerto, C minor, (104) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {February. No. 3, Beethoven (Master Hofmann) ; Romance from Suite No. i, H. W. Nicholl; "Credo" from "Otello," Verdi (Sign- or De Anna); Rondo Capriccioso, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann) ; Melody, S. B. Schlesinger ; Scherzo from Sym- phony No. i, Neuendorff; Solos: Nocturne and Polonaise, Chopin, Etude, Ravina, Waltz, Hofmann (Master Hofmann) ; Duet from "La Favorita," Donizetti (Mme. Hastreiter and Signor De Anna); Capriccio Brillante, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann) ; Wedding March from ' ' The Rat Catcher of Hamelin," Nessler. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p.m. German opera. "Sieg- fried." Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Third concert of the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra. Overture, " Egmont," Beethoven; Con- certo for violoncello, Schumann (Fritz Giese) ; " Danse Macabre," Saint-Saens; Symphony," Im Walde," Raff. Con- ductor, Wilhelm Gericke. Thursday, Ninth. CHICKERING HALL. 3 p. m. Song and Ballad Concert by Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Lawton. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and twelfth organ recital. Overture, "Saul," Handel (arranged by W. T. Best); Six pieces for the organ, op. 45, G. F. Bristow; Fantasia Eroica, op. 29, F. Kuehmstedt; Andante from the Suite op. 40, W. Goldner (arranged by N. H. Allen) ; Sonata, op. 25, C minor, Th. Salome. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second private concert of the Musurgia. "Thou loveliest Maid," Max von Weinzierl; Cava- tina from "Robert le Diable," Meyerbeer (Miss Ida Klein); "Oh! thou who art the world to me," De Witt; "Three Fishers," Goldbeck; Intermezzo, Krug, and Introduction et Andante Religioso, Titus d' Ernesti (Philharmonic Club) ; "To the Genius of Music," Hermann Mohr; "Sea and (105) February.'} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Heart," A. Oelschlegel; " The Ring and the Rose," folksong; '"Mid Starry Deeps of Splendor," Murio Celli (Miss Klein); Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 3, Liszt (Philharmonic Club) ; Dnnk- ing Song, Max von Weinzierl. Conductor, W. R. Chapman. Friday, Tenth. CHICKERING HALL. 3 p. m. Pianoforte recital by Captain Mar- cel Voyer. Sonata No. i, Weber; Romance, op. 109, b, "The Poet's Harp," Rondo Capriccioso, Mendelssohn; Etude, A minor, Thalberg ; Fantasia on "La Muette de Portici," Thai- berg; Sonata, C-sharp minor, op. 27, No. 2, Beethoven; Fan- tasia Impromptu, op. 66, Nocturne, op. 9, No. 2, Chopin; Polo- naise for pianoforte and 'cello, Chopin- Voyer ; ' ' Spinning Song," Raff; Tarantella, Gottschalk; "Dance of the Fairies," Prudent. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Campanini Concert Company, assisted by Mme. Etelka Gerster. Aria," Ceneren- tola," Rossini (Signor Corsini) ; Concerto for violin, De Beriot (Signora Torricelli) ; Aria, " L' Ebreo," Appoloni (Signor Nan- netti); Aria, "Qui la voce," Bellini (Mme. Gerster); Romanza, " Sei vendicata assai," Meyerbeer (Signor Galassi); Cavatina, "Salve dimora," Gounod (Signor Campanini); Aria, "Ah! se e estinto," Mercadante (Signora Scalchi); Duet, "Sulla tomba," Donizetti (Mme. Gerster and Signor Campanini) ; Rhapsodic Hongroise, Hauser (Signora Torricelli) ; Aria, ' ' Simone Bocca- negra," Verdi (Signor Nannetti); Serenade, " Bella biondina," Rotoli (Signora Scalchi) ; Mazourka, Chopin-Viardot (Mme. Gerster); Duet, "La Favorita," Donizetti (Signora Scalchi and Signor Galassi); Cavatina, Raff (Signora Torricelli); Terzetto from "Crispino," Ricci (Signori Galassi, Corsini, Nannetti). CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert of Wenzel A. Raboch, vio- linist. Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue," Thiele (John White); "Du bist mein All," Bradsky (Miss Caroline Schmitt); An- dante, Perpetuum Mobile from Suite No. 3, for violin, Ries; "Lied," Franz, and "Morgenlied," Rubinstein (Miss Fanny Hirsch); Fantasia and Fugue, G minor, Bach (Mr. White); (106) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \February. "Bildniss der Mutter," Andre (Miss Schmitt); "Scene de Ballet," De Beriot; "Zauberlied," Meyer-Hellmund (Miss Hirsch); Trio, Veit (Messrs. Raboch, Schwarz, and Bareuther). METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. "Die Gotterdammerung. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. Saturday, Eleventh. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Concert of the Campanini Company. Duet, "I Puritani," Bellini (Signori Campanini and Galassi); Hungarian Serenade for violin, Rakowsky (Signora Torricelli) ; Aria, "Madamina," Mozart (Signor Nannetti); Aria, "Qui la voce," Bellini (Mme. Gerster); Aria, "Largo al factotum," Rossini (Signor Galassi); Romanza, "Fanciulle che il core," Meyerbeer (Signora Scalchi); Duet, "Sulla tomba," Donizetti (Mme. Gerster and Signor Campanini); Violin Solos: Ro- mance, Joachim, and Polish Dances, Wieniawski (Signora Tor- ricelli); Romanza, "Cinq Mars," Gounod (Signor Campanini); Gavotte, "Mignon," Thomas (Signora Scalchi); Aria, "Qui sdegno," Mozart (Signor Nannetti); Mazourka, Chopin- Viardot (Mme. Gerster) ; Duet, "Si la stanchezza," Verdi (Signora Scal- chi and Signor Campanini); Terzetto, "Crispino" (Signori Galassi, Nannetti, and Corsini). METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2p.m. German opera. "Faust." Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-second organ re- cital. Toccata, C major (Book III, No. 8, Peters' edition), Bach; Melodia, D major (Book VI), and Allegretto, C major (Book IV), Capocci; Sketch, C minor, J. E. West; "Sound an Alarm," Handel (Charles Herbert Clarke); March, D major (Book V), Henri Deshayes; Andante espressivo, op. 20, No. 2, Otto Dienel; "Angel at the Window," Berthold Tours (Mr. Clarke); " Albumblatt," Wagner; Sonata, No. 3, C minor, Guilmant. (107) February.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Fourth concert, forty- sixth season, of the Philharmonic Society. Overture, ' ' Pro- metheus," Bargiel; "Rolling in Foaming Billows," Haydn (Emil Fischer); Concerto, G major, for strings, Bach; "Der Wanderer," Schubert (Herr Fischer); Symphony, No. 3, op. 55, "Eroica," Beethoven. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Concert of Chamber Music by the Kneisel Quartet of Boston (Franz Kneisel, Otto Roth, Louis Svecenski, and Fritz Giese), assisted by Conrad Ansorge. Quartet, D minor, Schubert; Trio, B-flat, op. 52, Rubinstein; Quartet, A major, op. 41, No. 3, Schumann. Monday, Thirteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p.m. German opera. "Die Gotterdammerung. " Conductor, Anton Seidl. Tuesday, Fourteenth. CHICKERING HALL. 3 p. m. Second pianoforte recital of Captain Marcel Voyer. Sonata No. 3, Weber; "Meditation" (Book VI, No. i), "Spring" (Book V, No. 6), "Spinning Song" (Book VII, No. 4), Mendelssohn; " Les Naiades," Prudent; "Tremolo," Gottschalk; Sonata Appassionata, Beethoven; "Tempest" Scherzo, Berceuse, and Valse, op. 18, Chopin; Etude, A minor, Thalberg. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's eighth Sym- phony Concert. Symphony, No. 3, E-flat," Rhenish," Schu- mann ; Concerto No. 2, op. 95, for violoncello, Rubinstein (Victor Herbert); Symphonic Prologue, " Othello," Arnold Krug ; Funeral March, Chopin-Thomas ; Hungarian Rhap- sody No. 12, Liszt. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Second private concert, twenty- second season, of the Mendelssohn Glee Club. "Sunday Morning," Weinwurm; Pianoforte Solos: Barcarolle, Ru- binstein, and "La Campanella," Paganini-Liszt (Conrad An- sorge); "Swabian Folksong," Zehngraf; " Suomi's Song" (108) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {February. (from the Finnish) Franz Mair; Songs: "Blissful Joy," C. Graumann, " Lithauisches Lied," Chopin, " Dein," Carl Bohm (Mrs. Marie Gramm) ; "Autumn Song," op. 144, No. 3, Rheinberger; "Song to May" (first time, composed for the Club), Reinhold L. Herman; Songs: "My Silent Song," "Love and Sleep," "Love's Fillet," Edgar S. Kel- ley (Max Heinrich); "I press her Eyelids softly down," Volk- mann ; Pianoforte Solo, Rhapsodic Hongroise, Liszt (Mr. Ansorge); "The Cheerful Wanderer," Mendelssohn. Con- ductor, Joseph Mosenthal. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p.m. German opera. "Lohen- grin." Conductor, Anton Seidl. Wednesday, Fifteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 3 p. m. Concert of Josef Hof- mann. Overture, "Leonore, No. 3," Beethoven; Concerto, G minor, Mendelssohn (Master Hofmann); Fantaisie Caprice, Vieuxtemps (Miss Nettie Carpenter); Solos: Gigue, Bach, Pas- torale, Scarlatti, Variations, Handel (Master Hofmann); Aria, "Non conosce il bel suol," Thomas (Mme. Hastreiter); Valse Caprice, Rubinstein; Aria, "Non piu andrai," Mozart (Signer De Anna) ; Solos : Romance, Rubinstein, Serenata, Mosz- kowski, Berceuse and "The Devil's Mill," Josef Hofmann (Master Hofmann); "Schiller March," Meyerbeer. Conduc- tor, Adolph Neuendorff. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert for the benefit of Miss Louise Hoeh. Quartet, op. 3, Mendelssohn (Miss Hoeh, G. Dann- reuther, O. Schill, and Adolf Hartdegen); Songs: "Nacht- stiick," "Sehnsucht," and "Abschied," Schubert (Max Hein- rich); Ballade, G minor, Chopin (Miss Hoeh); "Emperor" variations, Haydn (Beethoven String Quartet); Impromptu, op. 66, Reinecke (Miss Hoeh and S. B. Mills); "The Thorn- bush," and "Through the Valley," Franz, "Cradle Song," Schubert, arranged as quartets for female voices (Meigs Sis- ters); "La Gondoliera," Liszt (Miss Hoeh); "Melodic," Rubinstein, "Humoreske," Kiel, for violoncello (Mr. Hart- (109) February.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. degen); "Serenade," Moszkowski, Minuet, Boccherini (Beet- hoven String Quartet); Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 12, Liszt (Miss Hoeh). Thursday, Sixteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Extra performance. Wagner's "Die Gotterdammerung." Conduc- tor, Anton Seidl. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and thirteenth organ recital. Psalm CXXX, "De Profundis," Spohr (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Choral Prelude, ' ' O Mensch bewein' dein' Siinde gross," Bach; Fantasia and Fugue, G minor, op. 52, Albert Becker; Andante and Allegretto in A, Eugene Gigout; Pastorale in F, Hamilton Clarke; Sonata No. 5, op. in, Rheinberger. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Fourth concert of the Carri broth- ers. Sonata, violin and pianoforte, op. 105, Schumann; "Ah! con Nibbio," Gounod (Miss Lizzie F. Macnichol) ; "Gondoliera,'' Liszt; "Spinning Song," Wagner-Liszt; Fantasia, "II Pirata," for violin, Ernst; Valse Caprice, Tausig; Hungarian Dances, Brahms-Joachim; "Unless," Caracciolo, and "Heart-throbs," Bendel (Miss Macnichol); Trio, op. 42, Gade (violoncello, C. Bareuther). Friday, Seventeenth. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 3 p. m. Concert in place of fourth public rehearsal of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Symphony, E-flat (No. 3, B. and H.), Haydn; Scene, "The Dawn Still Lingers," Bruch (Miss Emily Winant); Symphonic Poem, "Shakespeare's Tempest," J. K. Paine; Song, "Le Spectre de la Rose," Berlioz (Miss Winant); Ball and Love Scenes, and Scherzo from "Romeo and Juliet" Symphony, Berlioz. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. German opera. Forty- seventh, and last, subscription night. "Die Gotterdammer- ung." Conductor, Anton Seidl. (no) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [February. Saturday, Eighteenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German opera. Six- teenth, and last, subscription matinee. Close of the season. Wagner's "Siegfried." Conductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-third organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, E minor (Book II, Novello's edition), Bach; "Communion," C major, Lefebure-Wely ; Dirge, E minor, Ambroise Thomas; "Return, O God of Hosts," Han- del (Miss Mary Ganson); Theme and Variations, Adolph Hesse; Andantino, A-flat, Lemaigre; Polonaise Militaire, Chopin (arranged by S. N. Penfield); "Ave Maria," Cheru- bim" (Miss Ganson); "Ave Maria," F major, J. von Arca- delt; Sonata, E-flat, No. 2, Christian Fink. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8:15 p. m. Concert of Josef Hofmann. Overture, "Sakuntala," Goldmark; Concerto, C major, No. i, Beethoven (Master Hofmann) ; Romance, Svendsen, and Mazourka, Zarzycki, for violin (Miss Nettie Carpenter) ; Duet for harp and pianoforte, J. Thomas and J. Benedict (Mme. Sacconi and Master Hofmann) ; Romance from Suite No. i, H. W. Nicholl; Solos: Nocturne and Polo- naise, Chopin, " Friihlingslied" and " Spinnerlied," Mendels- sohn (Master Hofmann); Romanza from "Ernani," Verdi (Signor De Anna); Polacca, Weber-Liszt (Master Hofmann); Marche Heroique, Massenet. Conductor, Adolph Neuendorff. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Fourth concert, thirti- eth season, of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Mendels- sohn's "Elijah." Solo singers: Mrs. Clementine Lasar Stud- well, Miss Emily Winant, Miss Minnie Dilthey, Miss M. B. Campbell, Theodore Toedt, and D. M. Babcock. Choirmas- ter, Paul Tidden. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Monday, Twentieth. NIBLO'S GARDEN. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the Boston Ideal Opera Company. Auber's "Fra Diavolo." (in) February^ THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Tuesday, Twenty-first. NIBLO'S GARDEN. 8 p. m. Boston Ideal Opera Company. Balfe's "Bohemian Girl." Wednesday, Twenty-second. NIBLO'S GARDEN. Boston Ideal Opera Company. 2 p. m., "Daughter of the Regiment"; 8 p.m., Donizetti's "Elixir of Love." Thursday, Twenty-third. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and fourteenth organ recital. Toccata and Fugue in F, Buxtehude ; Aria in E, P. D. Paradies (arranged by W. T. Best); Sonata, D minor, op. 30, for two performers, Merkel (arranged for one performer by Otto Turke) ; Offertory, D-flat, op. 8, Th. Salo- me; Fantasia, C minor, Hans Huber. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Third and last concert of the New York String Quartet. Quartet, C minor, for strings, G. Rauchenecker ; Sonata, D major, op. 18, pianoforte and vio- loncello, Rubinstein (Conrad Ansorge and Victor Herbert) ; Quintet, B-flat, op. 87, Mendelssohn. NIBLO'S GARDEN. 8 p. m. Boston Ideal Opera Company. "Vic- tor, the Bluestocking." Friday, Twenty-fourth. NIBLO'S GARDEN. 8 p. m. Boston Ideal Opera Company. Balfe's "Bohemian Girl." Saturday, Twenty-fifth. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-fourth organ recital. Prelude, B minor (Book II, No. 10, Peters' edition), Bach; Melody, B-flat, Arthur Carnall; Overture, "Sakuntala," Gold- mark (William E. Mulligan); "Bridal Song," op. 45, Jensen (arranged by S. P. Warren) ; Sonata, C minor, No. 3, (112) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {February. Guilmant (Mr. Mulligan); " Idylle," A major, W. H. Sher- wood; Orgel Hymne, D major, op. 5, Carl Piutti. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Sixth concert, tenth sea- son, of the Symphony Society. Overture, " King Lear," Berlioz; "O Salutaris," Liszt (women's chorus of the Oratorio Society) ; Psalm CXXXVII, for mezzo soprano, women's chorus and orchestra, Liszt (Solo, Fraulein Marianne Brandt); Prelude, " Meistersinger," Wagner; Air from " Sulamith," L. Damrosch (Fraulein Brandt); Symphony, A major, No. 7, Beethoven. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. NIBLO'S GARDEN. Boston Ideal Opera Company. 2 p.m., "Vic- tor, the Bluestocking"; 8 p.m., "Fra Diavolo." Monday, Twenty-seventh. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Second concert of the New York Banks' Glee Club. Organ overture, "Le Cheval de Bronze," Auber (Will C. Macfarlane) ; "Rise and break the chains," Van Bree; Cavatina from "La Reine de Saba," Gounod (Mme. Marie Salvotti) ; " Cantatella," Weber, and Scherzo, Henselt (Diller's Cornet Quartet); "Hunter's Joy," Astholz; "Hallelujah," from "The Messiah," Handel (arranged for male voices by George W. Morgan) ; " O World, thou art wondrous fair," Hiller (soprano obbligato, Mme. Salvotti) ; Rhapsodic Hongroise No. 2, Liszt (Mrs. Theodore Sutro) ; "Great is Jehovah," Schubert-Liszt (tenor solo, J.T. Brennan) ; "The Magic Song," Meyer-Hellmund (Mme. Salvotti); "La Garde," C. A. Foeppl, and "Souvenir de West," L. Schreiber (Cornet Quartet); "Old Folks at Home," popular song arranged by G. Froehlich. Tuesday, Twenty-eighth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's ninth Sym- phony Concert. Symphony in F, No. 5, C. F. Cowen ; Con- certo, A minor, Schumann (Conrad Ansorge); Scene and Air, " Ocean, thou mighty Monster," Weber (Mme. Therese February.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Herbert-Foerster) ; Symphonic Poem, " Auf der Wartburg," August Bungert ; Symphonic Tone - picture, ' ' Wallenstein's Camp, the Capuchin's Sermon," Rheinberger. " Conductor, Theodore Thomas. This programme contained two novelties, of which the most interesting was Mr. Cowen's symphony. The work had not yet attained the dignity of publication in print, though deserving it quite as much as the "Scandinavian" and "Welsh" symphonies of the same composer. It was played from written parts, and indeed was scarcely old enough to have received the engraver's attention. It was on June 9, 1887, I believe, that it had its first performance in Cambridge, England, and it endured the London baptism by fire a few days later at one of Hans Richter's concerts. Herr Richter brought forward three symphonies by British composers last season, two of which were heard during the present season in New York this by Mr. Cowen and Mr. Stanford's "Irish" symphony. Mr. Cowen is easily the first among English symphonists, and his traits of melodiousness and lucidity of writing are recognizable in this latest work, which, so far as the contents go, is considerably more ambitious than its predecessor. It conforms to the old regulations in most particulars, and the composer has tried to emphasize its unity by recurring to some of the melodic material of the first movement in the slow number and the finale. The most noteworthy portion of the symphony seemed, on a single hearing, to be the so-called "free fantasia" part of the first movement, which is, indeed, most admirable music. A dainty and graceful Intermezzo in moderate time (allegretto quasi allegro), which takes the place of the customary Scherzo, evoked more enthusiasm than anything else on the programme. The name of August Bungert is little known in this country, and was not favorably introduced on this occasion. "Auf der Wartburg" is a specimen of that kind of "programme music," which falls in some measure under condemnation because a com- mentary is essential to an appreciation of it. Herr Bungert made his studies at the Leipsic Conservatory, and spends his time mostly in the Riviera composing. An opera, " Nausicaa, " recently com- pleted, has been highly praised. He is author of the book as well THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. {February. as the music, and the programme which he has affixed to his ' ' Auf der Wartburg " is a short poem which voices the thoughts of a visitor to the famous Thuringian castle. Pictures of ancient chivalry are presented with an episode devoted to Luther, to which publication is given, of course by means of the melody of ''Bin' feste Burg." The Janizary music with which the gay scenes in the old castle are pictured, is too commonplace in thought to merit commendation on any other ground than its clever scoring. ("5) March.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. MARCH Thursday, First. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and fifteenth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, D minor, F. Ca- pocci; Andante from Symphony No. 10, Mozart (arranged by W. T. Best); Sonata, B-flat minor, op. i, Philip Wolfrum; Andante and Allegro in D, F. E. Bache; Andante in G, op. 59, No. 3, Guilmant; Concert Piece, E-flat minor, L. Thiele. Friday, Second. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. Third Popular Matinee of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Allegretto giojoso, Tema con Variazioni and Perpetuum Mobile from the Suite op. 39, Moszkowski; Grand Sonata for Strings, Harry Rowe Shelley; Overture, "The Vikings," Emil Hartmann; Fantasia, "Liebes- nacht," Philip Scharwenka; Tarantelle for flute and clarinet, Saint-Saens (Mess. Oesterle and Schreuers) ; Hungarian Rhap- sody, No. 12, Liszt. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Aside from the style of the composition, so unexpected at the present time, there were other evidences of youthfulness and in- experience in Mr. Shelley's sonata, particularly in the working over of the thematic material after its exposition in the first Allegro, but it was a graceful act of Mr. Thomas to give the sonata a per- formance, and I am sure that it will prove profitable to Mr. Shelley. Like most young composers, Mr. Shelley finds difficulty in holding attention by his development of the ideas which he places at the base of his composition. The ideas themselves are more interesting on their first statement than at any time afterward, and there is, therefore, no working up to a climax, but all proceeds on an even THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. plane. His models, too, I should imagine to be rather primitive, selected, in fact, from the music literature which flourished before the forms were made elastic by the growth of the emotional contents of music. Nominally, Mr. Shelley begins his sonata with a prelude in moderate time, but the prelude, instead of serving as an introduction to the first Allegro, has the dimensions of a sepa- rate movement, and I am not sure that it would not have been more effective as a second division of the work. For its present purposes it would profit much by a reduction to the extent of one- half. The most unqualifiedly pleasing impression was made by the Minuet, and especially the first part of its trio. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. First of three concerts given by Herr Anton Seidl. Selections from "Don Giovanni," Mozart (i. Overture; 2. Recitative and Duo, "Maquel mais'affre"; 3. Buffo aria, " Madamina"; 4. Aria, "Dalla sua pace"; 5. Re- citative, "Don Ottavio, son morta," and Aria, "Or sai, chi 1'onore"; 6. Finale, Act I. Solo singers: Frau Lilli Kalisch- Lehmann, Paul Kalisch, Emil Fischer, Frau Auguste Seidl- Kraus, Miss Ida Klein, Emil Steger, and Adolph Sanger); Symphony, C major, Richard Wagner (first performance in New York); Prize Song from "Die Meistersinger," Wagner (Herr Kalisch); Prelude, "Parsifal," Wagner. Conductor, Anton Seidl. On September 17, 1887, The New York Tribune printed the fol- lowing translation of a letter from Herr Seidl, telling the romantic story of the loss and recovery of Wagner's youthful symphony, of which Herr Seidl, while a member of the composer's household, was called on to reconstruct the score : To the Editor of The Tribune : SIR I willingly comply with your request to tell the readers of The Tribune what I know about the symphony by Richard Wagner. In his later years Wagner often recalled the works of his youth with much pleasure. He brought out many things which he had not thought of for nearly fifty years ; for instance, I had to copy several sonatas for piano- forte that had become almost illegible, and these were then performed evenings at home. Quite a number of such youthful compositions oc- curred to him, but many slipped his memory entirely. This was in THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. 1877-8. Several airs which he had composed for introduction in operas which he had either to rehearse or conduct while Capellmeister in Wurzburg and Magdeburg were also discovered. In the year 1873, on the 22d of May, his birthday, he was surprised by a performance in the old Bayreuth Opera-House (not the Festival Theatre, which at that time was not yet built) ; the concert had been secretly arranged, and the suc- cess on the whole was brilliant. On this occasion was performed a grand overture in C major from the year 1832, which at about the time of its composition was played at the Gewandhaus in Leipsic with great ap- plause, and which showed the eighteen-years-old composer in the light of an admirable contrapuntist. The overture consists, after a short, en- ergetic introduction, of a single great fugue for full orchestra ; his facility and firmness in handling the fugue-form were already recognized at that early day. They were the fruits of his studies with the Thomas Cantor Weinlig, to whom he afterward gratefully inscribed the " Liebesmahl der Apostel." The second number on the programme was a grand cantata for orchestra and mixed chorus, which he composed and produced in pub- lic while he was Capellmeister in Magdeburg. This composition is more in Beethoven's style, and reminds one of the Ninth Symphony or the Choral Fantasia. For the conclusion the comedy " The Massacre of the Innocents at Bethlehem," was played, a piece from the pen of Wag- ner's stepfather, the painter and actor, Richard Geyer. Naturally, this comedy gave great pleasure to Wagner, for in his sixtieth year it awakened a multitude of childhood recollections. Besides the compositions mentioned I recall two overtures, "Polonia" and " Britannia," both characterized by their titles. But he was con- tinually recurring to a symphony which he had lost sight of after one performance in Leipsic at a concert of the Euterpe, and one performance in Wurzburg. In the latter place it was that the trombone parts were lost. Letters were written in all directions to all his friends and ac- quaintances, but no trace of the symphony was found. Then he re- quested the litterateur Tappert, of Berlin, a zealous and lucky collector and discoverer of Wagnerian relics, to make journeys wherever he thought it advisable in the interest of the symphony. Tappert, after many inquiries and much reflection, drafted a plan of discovery, follow- ing lines suggested by the biography of the master, and set out upon a tour through Wurzburg, Magdeburg, Leipsic, Prague and finally Dresden. In each place he ransacked all the dwellings, inns, theatres and concert- rooms in which Wagner had lived or labored ; but in vain. At last in Dresden he visited Tichatschek, the famous tenor, who at this time was already bedridden. He knew all the houses in which Wagner had lived while he was Hof-Capellmeister, but nothing was to be found in (118) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. any of them. Tichatschek got a little disgruntled at the much question- ing to which he was subjected and Tappert had to return to Berlin. Be- fore doing so, however, he -requested Fiirstenau, the flautist, to cross- question Tichatschek thoroughly some day when he was in a good humor concerning the possible whereabouts of some trunks which Wag- ner had left behind him in Dresden ; for Wagner had once said that when he fled from Dresden he left all his possessions and did not know what had become of them. The scheme was successful. Tichatschek remembered that in his own attic there were several old trunks belonging to he did not know whom. Fiirstenau looked through them, but soon came down and declared that though musical manuscripts were in the attic they were only unknown parts and that none bore Wagner's handwriting. Tap- pert called for the parts to be sent to Berlin for his inspection. He rec- ognized at a glance that they were not in his handwriting, but on carefully examining the separate sheets he found memoranda in lead- pencil which he thought looked like the youthful handwriting of Wagner. To assure himself he copied the first theme from the first violin part and sent it to Wagner's wife, who played it on the pianoforte in a room ad- joining that in which Wagner, suspecting nothing, sat at breakfast. The master listened a moment in silence and then ran into the room joyfully shouting that it was the theme of the symphony for which he was hunting. The discovery was made! The parts were sent at once to Bayreuth, and I was called upon to make the score out of them. This was a somewhat difficult task, but soon the symphony was again in shape for the eye, and joyfully the study of it was begun. In the last movement, however, the trombone parts were missing. I saw at once that it was a fugato, and that the trombone parts must be peculiarly essential, for each trombone entered at a different moment and moved independently of its two colleagues. This was evident from the cues in the other parts, which contained here and there a trombone note as a cue and nothing more. I told the master that I would not un- dertake on my own responsibility to reconstruct the trombone parts, for I could not guarantee to restore the original treatment of the voices ; it would only be a matter of chance. Soon after this I left Wagner's house, and after a probationary year at the Royal Opera at Vienna as " Gesangscorreptitor " (for which position Wagner himself recommended me to Director Jauner), I went again on Wagner's recommendation to the Leipsic Stadt Theatre as a Capell- meister. Thence I went to the Berlin Victoria Theatre, commissioned to direct the rehearsals and performances for the entire " Nibelungen" cycle. This was in 1881. Wagner came to Berlin with his entire family and March.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. attended the first and fourth performances of the tetralogy; the enthusi- asm and the triumph of the work were immense. Wagner told me that he rejoiced that he had completed the instrumentation of his youthful sym- phony ; he had found the key for the conduct of the voices and had then easily added what was missing. He was hoping for an opportunity to produce the symphony, and thought the most fitting occasion would be a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of his artistic career, which he hoped to conduct in his native city, Leipsic. He asked me to assist him at the early rehearsals. Of course I was delighted with the plan. But fate had other things in store. In 1882 occurred the first per- formance of "Parsifal," and Wagner sought rest after the excessive exertion which that caused in Venice. I was traveling with the Richard Wagner Theatre, conducting the " Nibelungen." Wagner was greatly interested in this tremendous enterprise, which certainly contributed a great deal toward extending acquaintance with his gigantic creation, and stimulated many of the smaller theatres to perform it. He encouraged the director and artists in many letters to continue in the good work. The institution had again reached Berlin when I received a letter asking me to come to Venice for the approaching Christmas festivities in order to aid the master in rehearsing the symphony, which he wished to per- form in honor of the birthday of his wife Cosima. He feared the exertions which the first rehearsals would cost and wrote to me: " You must help me again, so get a furlough and come here; the orchestra of the conservatory has been placed at my disposal and I want to play the symphony at the birthday celebration of my Cosima on the second Christmas day." I was promised leave of absence by my director and rejoiced in anticipation. I telegraphed my acceptance at once, but my director withdrew his consent because of some concert arrangements which he had concluded meanwhile, which called for my services just before and after Christmas, so that at the most I would have barely had time to go to Venice and get back, but not to hold any rehearsals. I have never pardoned this conduct of my director, for it robbed me of the last opportunity to see my dearly beloved master alive. I received one more letter from him in which, as if under the influence of a present- iment, he signed himself "Your old Richard Wagner." The rehearsals which he had been obliged to conduct unaided had tired him greatly, but the performance had brought great joy to all. This joy, it is true, had cost over 2,000 francs, for the orchestra that had been placed at his disposal afterward sent in its bill. A month and a half after this performance the master died suddenly of an attack of heart disease, to which he had several times been (120) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. subjected in his later years. Two months after his death, when I was conducting the Niblung cycle in Venice, I was told personally by the Concertmeister, who had played in the symphony performance, that when he had finished, Wagner laid the baton down with the words : " Now I have conducted for the last time." Is it not strange that great geniuses often occupy themselves shortly before death with the creations of their youthful years ? Thus Wagner, who concluded his life with a return to his first work of magnitude. For many reasons this symphony is a peculiarly valuable aid to an estimate of the musical development of the great master. It shows that Wagner, like every other genius, at first followed in the footsteps of his immediate predecessors, showing, indeed, occasional glimpses of his future, but dis- closing plainest of all the fruits of his studies of the classics. The sym- phony is worked out with keen appreciation of form and betrays enthusiastic admiration for the classics. It is the work of a young sky- stormer who has thoroughly assimilated Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Bach and Weber, and planted the fruit-bringing seeds of this study deep in his intellect. As one takes off his hat in Leipsic before the house in which Wagner was born, in order to honor the spot where a great genius first saw the light, so the musician of the future will take this sym- phony into his hands with the greatest interest and amazement, since it is one of the foundation blocks of the structure whose capstones are "Tristan," " Gotterdammerung " and " Parsifal." Very Respectfully, ANTON SEIDL. Franz ensb ad, Bohemia, Aug. 23, 1887. Naturally the first question that arose on a hearing of this first composition of magnitude written by Wagner in juxtaposition with the prelude to ''Parsifal" was: Does it exhibit any germs of the original genius which is stamped so broadly on every page of the composer's swan-song ? The symphony was written when Wagner was yet under the binding influence of the classics; the prelude when he was a law unto himself. In the former Wagner's creative talent worked within the time-honored ' ' forms " of composition ; in the latter he had completely emancipated himself from those "forms," yet I have no hesitation in saying that the evidences of original genius in this symphony are numerous and unmistakable. Of course it is easy to prophesy after the fact, but the circumstances make it incumbent on a truthful chronicler to say that it was a duty and not an egotistical sentiment on the part of Wagner to save this (121) March.~\ THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. symphony to the world. It shows how native to the man was the impetuous energy which characterizes the works of his prime. In "form," in many features of the treatment, in the invention of his themes he followed Beethoven and Mozart. The evidences are so numerous and so flagrant that no one would attempt to deny them. One can pick out his models without difficulty. But his models chosen, Wagner worked with a daring and ease that must excite amazement and admiration. Compared with his later works the instrumentation of the symphony is harsh; I do not wonder that when he heard it played in Leipsic he did not think it "sounded well." Sensuous beauty of tone was at that time a higher law than characteristic beauty, and Wagner knew his Beethoven better than most of the greybeards of the Conservatory. Compared with what he created in the fullness of his powers it is crude and unripe; when one recalled it while listening to the mellow, luscious "Parsifal" music its voice was acrid. But there was no questioning the vigor and vitality of its proclamation. It reflects the muscular side of the Teutonism of its creator. There is little sentiment in it, little tenderness, little beauty of the higher order. But there is any amount of that nervous strength which is con- ditioned upon a complete command of the elements of composition. If a Conservatory student of to-day were to produce a movement equal to the first (by all odds the finest of the symphony), there is no question what the verdict of his judges would be. Talent of the most promising kind would be conceded to him. The deficiencies of Wagner's genius are also evident in it; his want of humor is shown by the Scherzo, which is wildly rude, but not humorous. His efforts to give unity and a spiritual bond to the disconnected movements are original, and he shows splendid knowl- edge of thematic treatment. There is even in the Andante a use of the mordent which plays so important a part in "Rienzi," "Tristan," and "Die Gotterdammerung. " But I cannot particu- larize more. This symphony proves that Wagner was a profound musician at nineteen. Saturday, Third. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's eighth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. Overture, "The Vikings," Emil (122) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. Hartmann; " Folklife," op. 19, Grieg (for orchestra by Arthur Mees); Scherzo and Finale from the Pianoforte Concerto in B minor, op. 32, Xaver Schanvenka (Miss Louise Veling) ; Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 14, Liszt; "Les Gouttes de Rosee," for harp, Felix Godefroid (Joseph Moser); "Danse Heroique," Frederick Brandeis ; Chopin Suite, Hlavac ; Overture, " Tann- hauser," Wagner. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. The novelty in this list was the ' ' Chopin Suite " by the Russian composer Hlavac. It scarcely deserves to be described otherwise than as ingenious musical fooling. Hlavac has taken Chopin's Etude in F minor and used it (in its original form) as an accom- paniment for six thinly scored orchestral melodies a prelude, scherzino, nocturne, waltz, eclogue, and march giving each mel- ody to a different portion of the orchestra. Finally he unites the six, still adhering to the Etude as an accompaniment. I fancy that a musician would derive more pleasure from looking at the score than from hearing the music. There is a monotonous sameness about the melodies; in fact, they sound like variations of the same theme, and the march is so much more sonorous than the other pieces that when the ensemble was played little was to be heard except the march, the other numbers seeming to be only subsidiary matter. The fault may have lain partly in insufficient study, for the performance was not a finished one. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-fifth organ recital. Fugue, B minor (Book II, No. 10, Peters's edition) Bach; Pastorale, F major, Th. Kullak ; Andante Religioso, G major, Henri Deshayes ; Grand Choeur, D major, Guilmant ; Nocturne, E-flat, Chopin ; Allegro, D major, Berthold Tours ; Variations on "Jerusalem, the golden," William Spark. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m Byron's " Manfred," with Schumann's music, performed for the benefit of the Workingmen's School of the United Relief Work of the Society for Ethical Culture. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. Tuesday, Sixth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p.m. Concert of Mr. Frederic S. Evans, pianist. Overture, ' ' Midsummer Night's Dream, " Mendelssohn ; March.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Songs: " Der Tod und das Madchen," "Am Meer," and " Friihlingsnacht," Schubert (Oscar Franklin Comstock); Con- certo No. 5, E-flat, Beethoven (Mr. Evans) ; Two Hungarian Dances, Brahms; Songs: " Du bist mein All," Bradsky, " Ich Hebe Dich," Grieg, " Zauberlied," Meyer-Hellmund (Miss Helene Eschenbach); Concerto No. 2, G minor, Saint-Saens (Mr. Evans). Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Fourth concert, tenth season, of the Philharmonic Club. Trio, B-flat, op. 97, Beethoven (piano- forte, William H. Sherwood); Bolero, "Le Muletier de Tarragone," P. Henrion (Francis Fischer Powers); Variations and Scherzo from the Quartet in D minor, Schubert ; Songs : "Und wiissten die Blumen," Moszkowski, "Im Abendroth" and "Ungeduld," Schubert (Mr. Powers); Sextet, op. 65, H. Hofmann. Thursday, Eighth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and sixteenth organ recital. Prelude, A minor, J. L. Krebs; Fugue, E minor, Handel ; Adagio from the ' ' Symphonic Triomphale," Hugo Ulrich; Sonata, No. 6, op. 119, Rhein- berger; Andante in D, Basil Harwood; Fantasia in G, A. P. F. Boely, Prelude to " Le Deluge," Saint-Saens (arranged by Guilmant) ; Toccata, A-flat, op. 85, Adolph Hesse. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Third concert of the Oratorio Society. Bach's " Passion Music according to the Gospel of St. Matthew." Solo Singers: Miss Ella Earle, Miss Emily Winant, William Dennison, Emil Fischer, and Max Heinrich. Organist, Frank L. Sealy. Conductor, Walter J. Damrosch. CHICKERING HALL. 8 115 p. m. Third concert of the Beethoven Quartet Club. Quartet, op. 59, No. 3, Beethoven ; Songs : "Aufenthalt," Schubert, and " Sommerabend," Lassen (Miss Adelaide Foresman); Two movements from Quartet op. 192, THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. No. 2, Raff; "The Resurrection," H. R. Shelley (Miss Fores- man) ; Quintet, op. 99, Rubinstein (pianoforte, William H. Sherwood). Saturday, Tenth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's ninth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. A "Request" programme. Sym- phony, B minor, No. 8 (unfinished) Schubert; Allegretto giojoso and Perpetuum Mobile from Suite op. 39, Mosz- kowski ; Andante and Finale from the symphony, ' ' Landliche Hochzeit," Goldmark; Serenade, No. 2, Volkmann; Baccha- nale, "Tannhauser," Wagner; Polonaise, No. 2, Liszt. Con- ductor, Theodore Thomas. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit P. Smith's fifty-sixth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, D minor (Book III, No. 4, Peters's edition) Bach; Andante Grazioso, D major, Henry Smart; Pastorale, E major, Cesar Franck; Fantasia, "Ein' feste Burg," G. A. Thomas; Largo, G major, Handel; Idyl, "At Evening," Dudley Buck; Priests' March from "Athalie," Mendelssohn. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. Fifth concert, forty-sixth season, of the Philharmonic Society. Overture, " Manfred," Schumann; "Siegfried Idyl," Wagner; Concerto for piano- forte, No. 5, E-flat, Beethoven (Fraulein Adele Aus der Ohe) ; Symphony, No. i, D major, op. 60, Dvorak. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Thursday, fifteenth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and seventeenth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, B minor, Eugene Gigout; Larghetto from the Twelfth Concerto for stringed instruments, Handel (arranged by W. T. Best); Sonata, B-flat, No. 4, Mendelssohn; Funeral March on the Chorale, "Jesu, meine Zuversicht," op. 12, Otto Dienel; "Prayer," in B, Franz Bendel; Overture, " Hagar," F. A. Gore Ouseley. March.] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Friday, Sixteenth. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Anton Seidl's second Symphony Concert. Concerto for pianoforte, No. 5, E-flat, Beethoven (William H. Sherwood); "Romantic" Symphony, E-flat, No. 4, Anton Bruckner (first performance in America); Overture, Bacchanale and first scene from " Tannhauser, " as rewritten for the Paris performance in 1 86 1, Wagner; (Venus, Frau Lilli Kalisch-Lehmann, Tannhauser, Paul Kalisch); Funeral March from "Die Gotterdammerung, " Wagner. Conductor, Anton Seidl. The "Romantic" symphony of Anton Bruckner can only be called a symphony by allowing that the descriptive adjective " romantic " has had a justifiable influence on classic form. With the exception of the Scherzo (representative of a hunt) none of the movements shows the form of the classic or even of the modern symphony, as followed by Brahms, Rubinstein and Raff, and cer- tainly still less that of Schumann, who was the most representative of "romantic" symphonists. Everywhere the work is rhapsodical, episodical, and spasmodic. There is no logical symphonic develop- ment of the themes given, and the whole work seems to have been written more for the sake of working up tremendous orchestral climaxes and of producing peculiar harmonic effects than for the sake of writing 2 symphony. The descriptive title of ' ' Symphonic Fantasia" in four movements, would, therefore, have been con- siderably more appropriate than the designation of " symphony." The first movement in E-flat opens with a broad horn-call on a descending fifth, and this gradually widens into a rather beautiful melody, the only broad and entirely satisfactory symphonic theme the work contains. The second subject in D-flat is rather weak in invention, and only interesting through the peculiarity of orchestral treatment to which it is subjected. The Andante in C minor is the weakest movement of the four. Not only is the principal theme short-breathed, jerky, and not original, but even the treatment is not particularly interesting. A short episode in B major, however, which interrupts the movement (without symphonic reason or jus- tification), is rather beautiful, and in the off-hand manner in which (126) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. it is dropped into the composition affords a short pleasure and relief. The Scherzo is undoubtedly the best part of the work. It stands in B-flat, and the use of six horns (strongly suggestive of the open- ing of the second act of "Tristan") gives it a sonority and an orchestral color at once descriptive of its title, "The Hunt." The trio in G-flat, which the composer describes as ' ' Table music of the hunters in the wood," is simplicity itself in thought and orches- tration ; at its conclusion the ' ' Hunt " is resumed. The last move- ment is thoroughly Meyerbeerian in the invention, of its thematic material and in the use of the brass, and therefore in strong contrast to the preceding movements, which, like nearly all of Bruckner's music, are tinctured with Wagner. The short theme in C minor, the most important one of the movement, is bodily taken from "Robert." The orchestral treatment is a constant striving (by the use of crescendos) after dynamic climaxes, but as these cli- maxes when they fall upon the ear with appalling power do not convey any musical thoughts, but only so much musical noise, their frequent reiteration finally becomes wearisome and unsatisfactory. The Bacchanale from the Paris version of Wagner's "Tann- hauser" had been heard here frequently under Mr. Thomas, but Mr. Seidl's interpretation showed, if less finish and accuracy, a more tremendous working up of climaxes. The "Bacchanale" follows right after the Horselberg music in the overture, thus excising the original ending. The part of the goddess is extended somewhat, while the hero's is comparatively unchanged. The additions are of considerably more modern spirit than the orig- inal "Tannhauser," and certainly show Wagner's tremendous ad- vance in orchestration. The influence of his " Tristan und Isolde" period is already clearly discernible in his afterthought to ' ' Tann- hauser." OTTO FLOERSHEIM. Saturday, Seventeenth. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 2 p. m. German Opera. Beet- hoven's "Fidelio," performed for the benefit of Fraulein Marianne Brandt. Cast : Leonore, Fraulein Brandt ; Florestan, Max Alvary; Rocco, Emil Fischer; Minister, Emil Sanger; Marchl\ THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Pizzaro, Max Heinrich ; Marcellina, Frau Seidl-Kraus. Con- ductor, Anton Seidl. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-seventh organ re- cital. Prelude and Fugue, B-flat, (Book I, No. 8, Novello's edition) Bach; " Meditation " and Allegretto, (Book III) De- shayes; Fantasia, E-flat, W. T. Best; Offertoire, op. 8, Sa- lome; Allegro, F-sharp minor, Guilmant; Andante from the Sonata op. 28, Beethoven; Romance, E-flat, Rubinstein; " Coronation March" from " Le Prophete," Meyerbeer. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. First of two concerts of Irish music given by Barton McGuckin and William Ludwig, aided by Miss Amanda Fabris, Miss Attalie Claire, John Cheshire and F. Q. Dulcken. The first part of the programme consisted of selections from Wallace's " Maritana," the second of Irish ballads, harp solos, and a quartet. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. Fifth concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Symphony No. 8, F major, op. 93, Beethoven; Concerto for violoncello, op. 193, Raff (Victor Herbert) ; Air, " Taglich eilen wir im Fluge," from " Der Da- mon," Rubinstein (Mme. Giulia Valda) ; Symphonic Fantasia, "Italy," Richard Strauss. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Monday, Nineteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. The concert of Irish music of Messrs. McGuckin and Ludwig repeated. BIJOU OPERA HOUSE. An English burlesque operetta entitled "The Pearl of Pekin," adapted from " Le Fleur de The," by Lecocq, produced. Tuesday, Twentieth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's tenth Sym- phony Concert. Symphony No. 8, F major, op. 93, Beet- hoven; Concerto for violin No. 2, op. 44, Bruch (Michael (128) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March Banner); Air, "Taglich eilen wir im Fluge," Rubinstein (Giulia Valda); Symphonic Fantasia, "Italy," Richard Strauss. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Emilio Agramonte's eighteenth annual concert. "Forty-second Psalm," Mendelssohn (Gou- nod Society, Conductor, William E. Mulligan) ; Danse Boheme from "Carmen," Bizet (Miss Blanche Taylor); Songs: "My Jean," E. A. MacDowell, and "Murmuring Zephyrs," Jensen (W. F. Tooker, jr.); "E dunque ver?" Rubinstein (Miss Jennie Button); " The Worker," Gounod (Miss Alma Del Martin); " Soave immagine," Mercadante, and "An old Garden," Hope Temple (Miss Gertrude Gris- wold) ; Air and Variations, Proch (Miss Sedohr Rhodes) ; Quartet, " Quis est homo," Dvorak (Mme. Salvotti, Mrs. Bulkley Hills, A. L. King and Emile Coletti); "The Wan- derer," Schubert, and " Clerici beati sunt," Hofmann (Walter A. Hudson); Air from " Le Cid," Massenet (Miss Augustine Michel); Duo and chorus from "Mary Magdalen," Roder (Miss Josephine Le Clair, Mr. Coletti and the Gounod Society); " Dreams," Strelezki, and " Merry Brown Thrush," Buck (Mrs. Bulkley Hills) ; Spanish Serenade, Roder (Mr. King); " Ministri di Baal" from " Le Prophete," Meyerbeer (Miss Lizzie Macnichol) ; " Souvenir de Moscou," Wieniawski (Carlos Hasselbrink) ; " Inflammatus," Rossini (Mme. Salvotti and Gounod Society). Thursday, Twenty-second. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and eighteenth organ recital. Programme of Bach's music. Fan- tasia, in G (Book IV, No. 1 1) ; Trio Sonata, E minor, No. 4 ; Toccata, in F (Book III, No. 2) ; Variations on the Chorale, "Christ, der Du bist der helle Tag " ; Choral Prelude, "Schmiicke dich, O Hebe Seele"; Concerto, in G (arranged from Vivaldi's Violin Concerto) ; Passacaglia with Fugue, C minor. (129) March.'] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Friday, Twenty-third. CHICKERING HALL. 8:15 p. m. Second pianoforte recital by Ed- win Klahre. Sonata op. 26, Beethoven; Ballade, G minor, Chopin; Etude, op. 2, No. 2, Henselt; " Aufforderung zum Tanz," Weber-Tausig ; " Carneval," op. 9, Schumann; Ro- manze, F major, and Barcarolle No. 5, Rubinstein; "Le Rossignol" and " Illustration zur Afrikanerin," Liszt. Saturday, Twenty-fourth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's tenth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. Overture, "Richard III, "op. 68, Volkmann; Fantasia, op. 79, Rheinberger; Concerto for pianoforte, op. 16, Grieg (Johannes Ziegler) ; Symphonic Poem, "Phaeton," Saint-Saens; "Siegfried Idyl," Wagner; Prelude to "Die Meistersinger," Wagner. Conductor, Theo- dore Thomas. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-eighth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, C major (Book I, No. i, Novello's edition), Bach; "Reverie," A major, B. Luard Selby; Pastorale, Corelli; "The Lord is my Light," Marsh (Mrs. Charles Her- bert Clarke) ; Fugue, D major, Guilmant ; Largo, D minor, Gigout ; Air (composed for Holsworthy Church bells), S. S. Wesley; "The better Land," Cowen (Mrs. Clarke); "Ave Maria," Bach-Gounod; Toccata, G major, Dubois. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by Michael Banner, violinist. Concerto, A minor, op. 22, Viotti; " Der schonste Engel," Graben- Hoffman, and " Gestandniss," Meyer-Hellmund (Carl E. Dufft); " Dreams," Strelezki, and " Merry Brown Thrush," Buck (Mrs. Anna Bulkley Hills); Adagio from the Ninth Concerto, op. 55, Spohr; "An Old Garden," Hope Temple (Mrs. Hills); Chaconne, Bach; "Only to Love," Santley (Mr. Dufft) ; Mazourka, op. 26, Zarzycki. THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. Sunday, Twenty-fifth. BROADWAY THEATRE. 8:15 p. m. Concert by the Campanini Concert Company. Monday, Twenty-sixth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Fourth and last concert of the Bos- ton Symphony Orchestra. Symphony in F, No. 3, Brahms; Scene and Air, "Ha! endlich ist der Wurf gefallen," from "Armide," Gluck (Mme. Lilli Kalisch-Lehmann); Symphonic Prologue to Shakespeare's "Othello," Arnold Krug; Air, "Dies Bildniss ist bezaubernd schon," Mozart (Paul Kalisch); Prelude and Isolde's death from " Tristan und Isolde," Wagner (Isolde, Frau Kalisch-Lehmann). Conductor, Wilhelm Gericke. Tuesday, Twenty-seventh. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert given by Caryl Florio, the programme composed of his own compositions. Symphony No. i, in G; Song, "St. Agnes' Eve" (Miss Ella Earle; vi- oloncello obbligato, Michael Brand, the composer at the organ) ; Concerto for pianoforte, A-flat, (Conrad Ansorge) ; Scene, "The Siren's Charm" (Miss Earle; clarinet obbli- gato, Joseph Schreurs, violoncello obbligato, Mr. Brand, the composer at the pianoforte); Symphony No. 2, C minor. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Mr. Florio has figured in the musical activities of New York ever since 1859, when he began his career as choir boy at Trinity Church. He is of English birth, but his interests are those of native American composers, and he deserves all of the encour- agement which he received on this occasion. The audience was fair in point of numbers and exceedingly kind toward the concert- giver. From one point of view it would have been better had greater discrimination characterized its manifestations of approval, for it was somewhat grievous to the judicious to hear the bulk of the applause bestowed on the weaker numbers of the programme March.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. simply because they came early in the evening, and to have the most beautiful music passed by with scarcely a hand. It discounted the value of the approbation. After the first symphony, which contained the least meritorious music of the evening (the utterly uninteresting vocal numbers excepted), there was a great outburst of applause, and Mr. Florio was brought forward by Mr. Thomas to acknowledge the tribute. A similar scene followed the second of the vocal pieces, while the pianoforte concerto, whose slow move- ment and the latter portion of whose finale was worth a hundred pages of the music singled out for applause, seemed to miss appreci- ation entirely, notwithstanding that the solo was played in splendid style by Mr. Ansorge. The portions of the concerto mentioned (barring a vulgar use of the cymbals in the finale), and the first movement of the second symphony were well calculated to excite not only the surprise, but the admiration of musicians, professional as well as amateur. It was in the highest degree promising for the future of native art to discover in them not only a dignified type of beauty, but an energy of spirit and an easy command of musical form which testified to the possession of real creative power by Mr. Florio. The two symphonies are respectively in G major and C minor, and were composed in 1887. The degree of progress which the first movement of the second symphony in particular shows over the first one can scarcely believe to have been accomplished within a twelvemonth. Only in the development, not of the prin- cipal subject, but of the episodical material in the illustrative por- tion of the first movement, does the G major movement compare with that in C minor. In its orchestration the former is years behind the latter. It is the work of a 'prentice hand, monotonous in color, and presenting only middle tints. It is wanting in all poignancy of feeling, wanting in inspiration, and its chief merit is its good logic, which had commendable exposition too in the last movement. The second symphony is much more varied in color and better in invention. Mr. Thomas and his men played the two works with as much care as they are wont to bestow on the best foreign music. In fact, Mr. Ansorge and Mr. Thomas both deserve the gratitude of all native composers for the zeal and skill which they displayed in interpreting Mr. Florio's compositions. ('3* ) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [March. Thursday, Twenty-ninth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and nineteenth organ recital. Motet, " Insanae et vanae curae," Haydn (arranged by Best); Choral Prelude, "Christ lag in Todes-Banden," Bach; Sonata No. 6, op. 137, Merkel; " Evo- cation a la Chapelle Sixtine," Liszt; Introduction and Fugue, C minor, Th. Parmentier; Prelude to "Parsifal," Wagner. Saturday, Thirty-first. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Theodore Thomas's eleventh Popular (Young People's) Matinee. " Marche Slave, " Tschaikowsky ; Overture, "Rienzi," Wagner; "Divertissement a la Hon- groise," op. 54, Schubert (for orchestra by F. Liszt and Max Erdmannsdorfer) ; Fantaisie Hongroise, Liszt (pianoforte, Mrs. M. Beardsley); "The Fairies' Dance," for harp, Parish Alvars (John Cheshire) ; Solo for oboe, St. Verroust (Felix Bour) ; Theme and Variations from the Symphony ' ' Landliche Hoch- zeit," Goldmark; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Liszt. Con- ductor, Theodore Thomas. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's fifty-ninth organ recital. Fantasia (in the form of an echo), J. P. Sweelinck ; "The Darkness" and " Beside the Cross," from "The Redemption," Gounod (arranged by G. C. Martin) ; Funeral March, C minor, Schubert; "O, cessata di piazarmi," Scarlatti; Variations on the " Crucifixus" of Bach's Mass in B minor, Liszt. April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. APRIL Monday, Second. ACADEMY OF Music. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the National Opera Company. Rubinstein's "Nero." Cast: Nero, Eloi Sylva; Julius Vindex, William Ludwig; Tigettinus, William Merton ; Balbillus, George H. Broderick ; Saccus, Joseph Pache; Poppaa Sabina, Charlotte Walker; Epicharis, Clara Poole ; Chtysa, Sophia Traubmann ; Agrippina, Helen Luding- ton; Lupus, Amanda Fabris. Conductor, Gustav Hinrichs. Tuesday, Third. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's eleventh Symphony Concert. Overture, Scherzo and Finale, op. 52, Schumann; Fugue for strings, op. 133, Beethoven; Symphony No. 3, C minor, op. 78, Saint-Saens. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. ACADEMY OF Music. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the National Opera Company. First performance in New York of an English version of Goldmark's "Queen of Sheba." Cast: King Solomon, Alonzo Stoddard; High Priest, Frank Vetta; Sulamith, Bertha Pierson; Assad, Charles Bassett; Baal- Hanan, William Merton; Queen of Sheba, Clara Poole; Astaroth, Amanda Fabris. Conductor, Gustav Hinrichs. Wednesday, fourth. ACADEMY OF Music. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the National Opera Company. Wagner's "Tannhauser," for the first time in English in New York. Cast : Landgrave Herrmann, Frank Vetta; Elisabeth, Bertha Pierson; Tannhduser, Eloi Sylva; (i34) THE MUSICAL SEASOX 1887-1888. \AprU. rcn Eschenback, Wffljam Lndwig; Walter TOM d*r Vogehcdde, Charles Bassett: Biterotf. Aloozo Stoddard: Hdn- rick, der Sckraber, Joseph Pacne; Rdnmar, George H. Broderick; Venus, Sophia Traubmann: Skepkeri. By, AttaHe Claire. Conductor, Gnstar Hinrichs. Thursday. Fifth. GRACE CHURCH. 3 p. m. Samnri p. Warren's one hundred and twentieth organ recital Prelude and Fugue, E-flat (Book III. No. i), Bach; Andanttno from die Symphony, " The Con- secration of Sounds." Spohr (arranged by W.T. Best); Sonata, D minor, NO.II, 00.148, Rheinberger; Meditation Rehgiense. B minor, Octave Bonah; Skmano in G, E. J. Hopkins; Piece Symphoniqne, C minor, op. 14, No. 2, Grieg (arranged by X. H. Allen, MS.). ACADEMY or MUSK. 7145 p. m. Opera in Fj> g CA by die National Opera Company. Gounod's "Faust." Cast: Faust, Barton McGoddn: Mepkutapkdis, Frank Vetta: Valentine, Alonzo Stoddard; Brmnier, George H. Broderick; &WL AttaHe Claire; Marguerite, Amanda Fabris; Martita, Agnes Perring. Condador, Gnstar Hinrichs. Friday, Sixik. CHJCKERIXO HATJ.. 8 p.m. Anton SeidTs third, and last, Sym- phony Concert. Symphony in F, No. 8, op. 93, Beethoven; First movement of the Concerto for violin, Tsrfaaiku>kj (Miss Maud Powefl) ; Concerto for pianbfale, op. 16, Grieg (Alexander Lambert); Selections from "Die rmfimiiiin, ans dem Serafl," Mozart: a Overture, b Air/'Hier son ich dkh denm sehen" (Paul Kafiscfa). c Air,"Ach, ich fiebte" (Fran LOfi Kahsch-Lehmann). ^ Romania," In gen war (Herr Kahsch). ^ Air, "Wekhe We Lost" (Fran Kahsch-Lehmann); Symphony, " L'Ours," C major, Haydn. Conductor, Anton SeidL April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. There is propriety in a brief discussion of some features of this concert. The contrast which the programme presented to the schemes which we have come to look upon as proper to an enter- tainment of such dignity, is one of these features, though it does not call for extended comment. To some extent it brought its punishment with it by making the concert monotonous. There were two and a half hours of music but scarcely any in a slow tempo. Neither of the two symphonies performed contained a slow movement, only one of the four vocal numbers was a quietly-flowing cantilena, and for contrast of mood the public had to depend upon the brief Adagio of the pianoforte concerto. This defect was further accentuated by the most noteworthy feature, and, as I believe, most grievous fault in Mr. Seidl's reading of Beethoven's exquisitely sunny and spirited symphony in F, No. 8. This reading deviated so widely from tradition in the choice of tempi for the second and third movements that I am forced to the suspicion that Mr. Seidl chose the symphony for performance in order to direct attention to his views on this very subject. The dainty Allegretto Scherzando was played with unheard of rapidity, and the Minuet considerably slower than the world is accustomed to. In effect, Mr. Seidl changed the relations which, according to Beethoven's obvious intentions, the two movements bear toward the work as a whole. He treated the second movement as the Scherzo of the symphony and the Minuet as its slow movement. The anomalous character of the Allegretto Scherzando long ago caused the question to be raised whether Beethoven intended it to be looked upon as filling the place of the slow movement or the Scherzo. His own metronome marks seem to settle the matter. He intended that in it eighty-eight eighth notes should be played to the minute. In the Minuet he marks the quarter notes 126. That is to say, as Nottebohm has pointed out, that Beethoven imagined the quarter notes nearly three times as slow in the sec- ond movement as in the third. Besides, the third movement is a Minuet with a trio; it corresponds to the formal requirements of the symphony as Beethoven found them. His first symphony has a Minuet ; he did not introduce the Scherzo until the second ; he returned to the Minuet in the eighth. The metronome marks in this case ought to be conclusive, and they are strengthened (136) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. \Aprn. by the circumstance that a mark put by Schindler, Beethoven's friend and biographer, to the canon which Beethoven improvised at a dinner party given in honor of Malzel, inventor of the metro- nome, indicates even slower time than Beethoven imagined for the movement in the symphony, which has the melody of that canon for its subject. Schindler's mark is eighth notes, 72. Mr. Seidl, using the rubato freely, varied between 100 and 120. The Minuet he played nearly one-quarter, the trio fully one-third slower than Beethoven intended it to be played. The latter part of the movement had, indeed, a truly mucilaginous flow. Beet- hoven once said that there should be no controversy over religion or thoroughbass. He left the tempo question open, and was unquestionably not in favor of subordinating the emotions of a con- ductor to the ticking of a machine; but, in this case, I can find no reason or justification for the perverted tempi introduced by Mr. Seidl. The Allegretto Scherzando lost much of its daintiness of humor, grace, and playfulness; it sounded forced, harassed, hurried, hunted. "Where is the bear?" was the thought that seemed to speak from the quizzical expression on many faces during the performance of the Haydn Symphony in C major, known on the catalogue as "The Bear." If he was present in the symphony at all he was a much more decorous animal than his latterday namesake; his strongest disposition seemed to be a liking for peculiarly energetic, ingenious, and beautiful counterpoint as a means of Terpsichorean inspiration. Even with the last movement in mind it would puzzle one to say why this symphony might not as well be called "Le Chien du Jardinier" as "L'Ours." It was the habit of the sweet, simple, gentle old Haydn to imagine all sorts of romances to supply him with sentiments and colors for his symphonies. He told his French admirer, Bombet, that in one of these works he had depicted the incidents of a voyage to America and back, the parting, tempest, arrival on a strange shore, music and dancing of savages, successful barter with them and return to home and friends after a narrow escape from shipwreck. Evidently the mind of the genial and devout old man was quite as hazy as that of the ordinary German peasant as to the character of the occupants of the American ports a century ago. For the subject of another (137) April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. symphony Bombet says Haydn had imagined a sort of dialogue between Jesus Christ and an obstinate sinner, and afterward fol- lowed the parable of the Prodigal Son. He was, it seems, not only a believer in programme music, but also a percursor of a well- known Chicago symphonist. The titles of these fanciful romances he sometimes gave to the symphonies, and so we find such names as "The Fair Circassian," "Roxalana," "The Hermit," "The Persian," "The Poltroon," "The Queen," and even "The Enam- ored Schoolmaster," in his list of symphonies. Some such ingenu- ous imagining, I take it, is responsible for the fantastic title of this symphony which, however, is anything but ursine. ACADEMY OF Music. 8 p. m. Opera in English by the National Opera Company. Wagner's "Lohengrin." Cast: Henry I, Frank Vetta ; Lohengrin, Barton McGuckin ; Elsa, Charlotte Walker; Telramund, Alonzo Stoddard; Herald, William Mer- ton; Ortrud, Clara Poole. Conductor, Gustav Hinrichs. Saturday, Seventh. ACADEMY OF Music. Opera in English by the National Opera Company. 2 p. m. "Nero;" 8 p. m. "Faust," Charles Bas- sett in the titular role. Conductor, Gustav Hinrichs. SOUTH CHURCH. 4 p. m. Gerrit Smith's sixtieth organ recital. Prelude and Fugue, G minor (Book II, Peters's edition), Bach; "Romance sans paroles" and " Communion" (Book I), Henri Deshayes; "Easter" March, Merkel; Nocturne, G minor, op. 37, No. i, Chopin; Variations on a Scotch air, Dudley Buck; Serenade, A minor, Harry Rowe Shelley; Sonata, E minor, A. G. Ritter. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Testimonial Concert to Miss Jose- phine Le Clair. Organ Fugue, B minor, Bach (Harry Rowe Shelley); Part Songs: "At Evening," Massenet, and " The Wayside Brook," Rheinberger (Gounod Vocal Society) ; "A Summer Night," A. Goring Thomas (Miss Le Clair); "To the Evening Star," from "Tannhauser," Wagner (Max (138) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. Heinrich) ; Songs: "O linger yet, ye moments golden," Otto Floersheim, and " Das erste Lied," Grammann (Mme. Anna Lankow); "By Babylon's Wave," Gounod (Gounod Vocal Society) ; Scena, " Ritorna vincitor," from "Aida," Verdi (Miss Charlotte Walker) ; Songs: "Love's Dream," Roder, and "In Springtime," Schnell (Miss Le Clair) ; Aria, "Celeste Aida," Verdi (Whitney Mockridge) ; Trios: " Mondscheinnacht, " Lachner, and " Nocturne," Otto Floersheim (Miss Walker, Miss Le Clair and Mme. Lankow). Sunday, Eighth. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Mannergesangverein Eichenkranz, for the benefit of the Odd Fellows' Home. Overture, "Anacreon," Cherubim; "Das Herz am Rhein," Schultz; " Du rothe Rose auf griiner Haid," Otto Lessmann (Heinrich Dusenzi); "Wanderer" Fantasia, for pianoforte and orchestra, Schubert-Liszt (Conrad Ansorge); "Krieger's Nacht- wache," L. Liebe; "Genius cocci" from"Bilder aus Wei- mar" for orchestra, C. Them; Pizzicati from "Sylvia," Deli- bes; " Der Landsknecht," cantata for male chorus, soli, and orchestra, Wilhelm Taubert (soli, Mrs. Ida Euler-Klein, Hein- rich Dusenzi, Max Treumann, and George Prehn). Conductor, Arthur Claassen. Monday, Ninth. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Testimonial Concert to Whitney Mockridge. Ballade, B minor, Liszt (Edwin Klahre) ; "To the Evening Star," from "Tannhauser," Wagner (Max Hein- rich); Scene and Air, "E dunque ver?" Rubinstein (Miss Jennie Dutton); "Faust" Fantasia for violin, Sarasate (Miss Maud Powell); Cavatina, "Salve dimora," Gounod (Mr. Mockridge) ; Songs: "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt," Tschai- kowsky, " The Daily Question," Meyer-Hellmund (Miss Emily Winant) ; Scherzo, B-flat minor, Chopin (Mr. Klahre) ; Lar- ghetto, Nardini, and Caprice, Agarew, for violin (Miss Powell) ; Quartet," Now the Concert is all over," Pinsuti. (i39) April.'} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Tuesday, Tenth. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Theodore Thomas's twelfth and last Symphony Concert. Toccata, Bach; Concerto, G major, Bach (violin obbligato, Max Bendix); Scene and Air, "Ah! Perfido ! " Beethoven (Mme. Fursch-Madi) ; " Eine Faust Sym- phonic," Liszt (in the finale tenor solo by Theodore Toedt, chorus by the German Liederkranz). Conductor, Theodore Thomas. CHICKERING HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Carri brothers, assisted by Miss Margarethe von Mitzlaff and C. Bareuther. Suite for violin and pianoforte, G minor, op. 26, Franz Ries; " Mignon," Liszt; "Chanson sans paroles," " Le Temps qui s'envole," " Une fleur Printanniere," H. Carri; Adagio and Rondo from the first concerto for violin, Paganini ; Polonaise, No. 2, Liszt; Airs Hongrois, Ernst; Songs: " Waldesgesprach," " Mit Myrthen und Rosen," "Ich grolle nicht," Schumann; Trio, No. i, op. 15, Rubinstein. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. 8 p. m. Third private concert, tenth season of the Apollo Club. "On the Sea," Buck; Nocturne, F. Doppler (Philharmonic Club) ; " On the Sea- shore," Theodore Eisfeldt; "Thou great, mighty Sea," Delibes (Miss Emma Juch) ; Sonata, for the violin, Rust (Mme. Camilla Urso); "On Upper Langbathsea," Engelsberg; "Sea Greet- ing," A. W. Thayer; "Witches' Dance," Paganini (Mme. Urso); "The Trout" and "Hedge Roses," Schubert (Miss Juch); "The Legend of Heinz von Stein," A. W. Thayer; Andante, from op. 79, Jadassohn and Swedish Dance, Gouvy (Philhar- monic Club); "The Cheerful Wanderer," Mendelssohn. Wednesday, Eleventh. STEINWAY HALL. 8:15 p. m. Concert by Miss Lucie E. Maw- son, pianiste, assisted by Mrs. Marie Gramm, soprano. Sonata, D major, op. 10, No. 3, Beethoven; "Ich liebe dich," Grieg; " Wonneverkiindigung," Sucher; Bouree, Bach; Sonata, (140) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. D minor, Scarlatti; Romance, op. 28, Schumann; Capriccio, B minor. Brahms; Barcarolle, G major, Rubinstein; Tocca- tina, op. 19, Rheinberger; " Du bist die Herrlichste von Allen," F. Ries; "Abschied," and " Er ist gekommen," Franz; Nocturne, C-sharp minor, op. 27, No. i, Waltz, A-flat, op. 64, No. 3, and Etude, F, op. 10, No. 8, Chopin ; Hungarian Rhap- sody No. 12, Liszt. CHICKERING HALL. 8:30 p. m. Second concert, second season of the Gounod Vocal Society. Organ Prelude and Fugue, C minor, Hesse (William Edward Mulligan); "By Babylon's Wave," Gounod; Air from " Samson and Delilah," Saint-Saens (Miss Josephine Le Clair); "At Evening," Massenet; "The Wayside Brook," Rheinberger; Air, "Plus grand dans son obscurite," from "La Reine de Saba," Gounod (Mme. Maria Salvotti); Quartet, " O, Salutaris," Gounod (Mme. Salvotti, Miss Le Clair, Alfred Silbernagel, and Emile Coletti); "The First Walpurgis Night," Mendelssohn (soli, Miss Le Clair, Mr. Silbernagel, and Mr. Coletti). Conductor, Mr. Mulligan; accompanists, Mr. Agramonte, Mr. Mulligan, and E. J. Biedermann. Thursday, Twelfth. GRACE CHURCH. 4 p. m. Samuel P. Warren's one hundred and twenty-first organ recital. Praeludium, "Eroica," in F, G. B. Van Krieken; Adagio and Fugue from the Fifth Sonata, for violin solo, Bach (arranged by W. T. Best); Andante and Variations from the Septuor, Beethoven (arranged by W. T. Best) ; Organ Symphony, F minor, No. 5, C. M. Widor. CHICKERING HALL. 8:30 p. m. Second private concert, first season, of the Rubinstein Club. "The Water Sprite," Schumann; "The Song of the Birds," Rubinstein; Romanza and Scherzo from the Quartet, op. 17, Rubinstein (Beethoven String Quar- tet); Expectation, H. Hofmann; "Ah! how oft my soul is moved," Bendel; "Wind of Evening," E. N. Anderson; Fantasia for Harp on " Un Ballo in Maschera," Toulmin (Miss Maud Morgan); "God in Nature," Schubert (solo quartet, April] THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Miss Marie Bissell, Mrs. L. L. Danforth, Mrs. S. B. Anderson, Mrs. C. M. Raymond); "Ave Maria," Henry Holden Huss (soli, Miss Bessie H. Grovesteen, and Miss Lizzie Boyer) ; Bolero, "Le Muletier de Tarragone," Henrion (Francis Fischer Powers); "Under all the Tree-tops is Rest," Fr. Reichel; Berceuse, Grieg, and "The Mill," from op. 192, No. 2, Raff (Beethoven Quartet); "You Spotted Snakes," G. A. Macfarren. Conductor, William R. Chapman. Mr. Huss' "Ave Maria" was composed for the Rubinstein Club, and had its first performance at this concert. It is written for soprano and alto soli, chorus of women's voices, with accompa- niment of harp, organ, strings, and violin and violoncello obbligato. It was a peculiarly pleasing number in the scheme from the fact that it contained almost all the variety in tonal color offered by the concert. Its full effectiveness, however, was not reached a string sextet being employed in the instrumental part instead of the larger band which the circumstances demanded. As a composi- tion the ' 'Ave Maria " reflects great credit upon Mr. Huss' learning and artistic instincts. Its melodic material is graceful, and not at all commonplace, and his use of harmonies admirable. Its chief defect seemed to be a slight lack of homogeneous flow. Saturday, fourteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 2 p. m. Mr. Thomas's twelfth Popular (Young People's) Matinee. Passacaglia, op. 132, Rheinberger; Ga- votte, Sicilienne and Bouree, Bach ; Symphonic Poem, ' ' Life, Love, Strife and Victory," Ferdinand Praeger; Largo, Handel (violin solo, Max Bendix) ; Minuet, Boccherini; "Liebeslied" and "Hochzeits Klange," Bruno Oscar Klein; " Waldweben," from "Siegfried," Wagner; " Bal Costume" (second series), Rubinstein. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. ACADEMY OF Music, BROOKLYN. Sixth concert, and last, of the thirtieth season of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society. Over- ture, "Tannhauser," Wagner; "Siegfried Ideal," Wagner; Concerto, No. i, E minor, op. n, Chopin (Tausig's edition, Rafael Joseffy) ; Symphony, " Landliche Hochzeit," Gold- mark. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. Sunday, Fifteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Concert by the Mannergesangverein Arion. Dramatic Overture, "Melpomene," George W. Chad- wick; "Young Siegfried," Zollner; Scene from the unfinished opera "Demetrius," Joachim (Fraulein Louise Meisslinger) ; "Nachtzauber," A. M. Storch; "Spanisches Standchen," Al- fred Dregert; Intermezzo from the cantata " Sleeping Beauty," F. H. Cowen (tenor solo, Charles Kaiser) ; " Normannenzug, " Bruch; "Die drei Zigeuner," Liszt (Fraulein Meisslinger); "Die verfallene Miihle," Rheinberger; "Der Lenz ist da," Wilhelm Sturm; Incidental Music for Shakespeare's "Tem- pest," F. Van der Stucken; Zwei Altslavische Lieder, Hugo Jiingst. Conductor, F. Van der Stucken. Monday, Sixteenth. ACADEMY OF Music. 8 p. m. Italian opera by Signer Italo Cam- panini's Company; business manager, Frederick A. Schwab. First representation in America of Verdi's "Otello." Cast: Otello, Signor Marconi; lago, Signer Galassi; Cassio, Signor De Comis; Roderigo, Signor Jovine; Lodovico, Signor Bologna; Montana, Signor Maina ; Un Araldo, Signor Morelli ; Desdemona, Signora Tetrazzini ; Emilia, Signora Scalchi. Conductor, Sig- nor Cleofonte Campanini. From what point of view is ' ' Otello " to be considered ? Is it an Italian opera in the sense that the term is understood to have when we speak of the works of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, or even the Verdi of thirty years ago ? Is it a French opera ? A Ger- man opera ? Or a music drama in the Wagnerian sense ? To the connoisseur, if not to the idle prattler about music, each of these designations suggests a distinct idea; a form, a style, a manner. Which of them might with most propriety be applied to Verdi's latest and probably last creation ? The circumstance that the book is in the Italian language has little to do with the question, no matter how loudly an excitable listener, as on this first represen- tation, may shout "Viva 1' Italiano," to testify his admiration for Verdi's music. "The style is the man." It is many years since April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Verdi ceased to write operas for the Carnival season in his native country; " La Forza del Destino" was composed for St. Petersburg, "Don Carlos" for Paris, ' 'Aida " for Cairo. "Otello" was com- posed and produced under anomalous conditions, and though it first saw the stage lamps at Milan, its style is not distinctively Italian. Neither is it distinctively French or German. It is of its own kind, Verdian; characteristic of the composer of " Rigoletto," "Trova- tore" and "Traviata" in its essence, though widely different from them in expression. The composer himself indicates that he desires it to be looked upon as outside the old operatic conventions. According to him it is a " Dramma lirico in quattro atti." "Aida" he called an " Opera in quattro atti." The distinction is not unde- signed. There are many other external indications that he wished as serious a view to be taken of his work as Wagner ; that he aimed in the first instance at a presentation of its dramatic contents and considered the music as a means, and not entirely as an end. In this he followed a Wagnerian precept. His score is filled with instrumental interludes designed to accompany actions or depict emotions. He leaves no question in our minds on this point, but almost as fully as Wagner in his "Lohengrin " period, he indicates the bodily movements that are to go hand in hand with the music. In the storm-picture which begins the opera, the manipulator of the artificial lightning is not left to his discretion as to the proper time for discharging his brutum fulmen; in the love duet at the close of the first act, the appearance of the moon and stars are sought to be intensified by descriptive effects in the music, and when in the last scene Otello kisses the sleeping Desdemona, and the one charac- teristic theme of the opera (drawn from the love duet) is repeated, the composer indicates on what beat of the bar he desires each kiss to fall. These are only a few instances of Verdi's appreciation of the necessity of suiting the action to the music, the music to the action ; and they sink into insignificance when compared with his treatment of the murder in the last act. Then Otello's entrance and actions up to the waking of Desdemona are accompanied by a solo on the double-basses, interrupted at intervals by energetic staccato passages from the other strings. It is not difficult to recall a num- ber of melodramas written since Beethoven's "Fidelio," in which similar dramatic effects are sought, but the audacity of Verdi's (144) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. procedure is unexampled in Italian opera ; I do not doubt that had he written this scene twenty years ago it would have been received by his countrymen with amazement, if not with hisses. Yet, last February, we are told, the Milan audience redemanded it uproari- ously, and the critics with Italian proclivities could not sufficiently express their admiration for it. What is the meaning of such a change in conviction and taste ? Is it the fruit of legitimate development on Italian lines ? It is entirely an immaterial question whether or not Verdi owes the progress toward dramatic expression which ' ' Aida " and "Otello" show to the influence of Wagner. The music of these two operas and the circumstances surrounding their production show that at an age when most composers rest on their laurels Verdi began to study French and German masters. The fact shows a seriousness of purpose, a conviction of duty toward art, that has few parallels. A few years ago the story was spread that he was so ignorant of their music that he had not even seen the score of Mozart's masterpiece. To offset this his friends related that in 1834 his teacher played and analyzed " Don Giovanni" for him so often that Verdi got a surfeit of it which lasted for a long time. I know nothing about the truth of the story, but have no hesitation in saying that if Verdi knows "Don Giovanni," he has never betrayed the fact in his music from "Oberto" to "Otello." If, on the contrary, he is unfamiliar with the works of Meyerbeer, Wagner, Gounod, and Bizet, the evidences in "A'ida" and "Otello" are strangely misleading. It is enough for my present contention, however, that the score of " Otello " discloses an honest, consistent, and, in some respects, most successful effort to realize the higher purposes which we associate with the conception of a real lyric drama. With this conception nationalism has nothing to do. Nor is it an argument against the acceptance of modern theories by Verdi that he has introduced such set numbers in his score as the so-called "Willow Song" and the " Ave Maria." These are in their nature lyrical, and would have been treated in much the same way by Wagner or any modern French or German composer. Witness Wanker's prize song in " Die Meistersinger," or the Sailor's song at the beginning of " Tristan und Isolde." Shakespeare's Desdemona sings "a song of ' willow' " before her death, just as poor, distraught (MS) April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Ophelia sings her " Hey no nonny, nonny hey nonny." Why should not the heroines of the operas of Verdi and Ambroise Thomas operas do the same ? And why should not their songs be of the strophe kind, and either sound like, or actually be, folktunes ? M. Thomas went to Sweden for his song ; Verdi had genius enough to compose a fair match for it, a strain of marvelous tenderness and pathos. Boito's libretto is perhaps as excellent an opera book as could be made out of Shakespeare's tragedy in most particulars. It is not his fault that the characters have all lost much of their stature in the process of translating them into operatic personages that we seem to see them through the wrong end of our opera glasses. This is the fate that commonly befalls great tragic heroes when conscience- less librettists and composers transfer them from the theatre to the opera house. The liveliest memory that we have of M. Thomas's Hamkt is that he sings a good drinking song. But Boito is respon- sible for having made a spectacular stage devil out of lago. The tendency to do things of this kind was observable in the book of "La Gioconda" which Boito wrote for Ponchielli. There, how- ever, he had some justification in the fact that he was simply re- moulding a play of Victor Hugo's the prince of those dramatists and novelists who utilize the most glaring contrasts and most un- natural contradictions to give piquancy to their creations, and delight in compelling sympathy with a moral monster by consorting in the same breast monumental wickedness with the most tender and amiable feelings. In two instances while constructing the char- acter of lago Boito went outside of Shakespeare. In the first he provided an opportunity which Verdi utilized to the full to show the potency of his system of mixed declamation and melody; in the second he achieved nothing more than an utterly despicable piece of clap-trap for a curtain tableau. There are few elements in the character, as drawn by Shakespeare, for which music has vital and determinate expression. Music cannot voice all of the keen, cruel, steel-like intellectuality which is the basis of what Dr. Johnson describes as "the cool malignity of lago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs and studious at once of his interest and his ven- geance"; it must content itself with the cruder manifestations of his nature. This conviction might have been accepted as the motive which prompted the composition of the so-called " Credo," (146) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. in which the operatic lago blatantly blasphemes God and humanity and pronounces his only belief to be in fate, were it not for the second variation to which I have referred. This is in the finale of the third act. lago works up Otello 1 s jealous rage to such a pitch that the Moor swoons, whereupon, while the air is resounding with shouts of ' ' Evviva, Otello ! " from the chorus, the Ancient plants his foot upon the prostrate form and " standing erect and pointing with horrible triumph to the motionless body of Othello" exclaims " Ecco il Leone!" "Behold the Lion!" This is Bowery melodrama, not tragedy. But Boito has told the story deftly on the whole, and has co-operated in a spirit of rare sympathy with the composer in the production of something which is much superior to the ordinary opera of the Italian stage. It must not be forgotten that Boito's artistic ideals are lofty, and that he made a notable effort to realize them in the one work for which he wrote both words and music, "Mefistofele." Most of the absurdities of the old-fashioned Italian opera will be looked for in vain in " Otello." The chorus does not intrude upon the privacy of the hero's or anybody else's chambers, even though, in one case, it became necessary to build a transparent partition so that they might be seen and heard in a garden while the principal actors were carrying on the thread of the play in front. Signor Campanini's pluck and enterprise favored New York with an earlier opportunity than was enjoyed by any of the capitals of Europe, Milan, Munich, Hamburg, and Vienna excepted, to become acquainted with Verdi's opera. Much has been written about the work, and it has become plain that the defenders of Italian opera against the aggressions of the modern German movement look upon it as a formidable bulwark. The haste with which it was prepared, and the shortcomings in all departments of the representation counsel circumspection and generosity in judgment. It is a tribute to the work to say that it cannot be studied adequately from the printed book. Verdi did not wait fifteen years between "A'ida" and " Otello " for the purpose of lowering his artistic aim. He sought to exalt it. One hearing, even if it be but an imperfect one, is suffi- cient to convince a judicious listener of that. " Otello " is the ripest product of the most gifted of living opera composers the outcome of one of the most remarkable careers that the history of music in Italy has to show. Verdi never undertook a work in more serious (147) April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. mood than this. His desire to vitalize the poetical line by means of truthful, expressive declamation is observable in nearly every meas- ure of the music. Almost every page discloses to the musician some fruit of study successfully pursued since "Aida" was com- posed. In none of his previous works, not even in " Aida," does Verdi show so great a knowledge of orchestration. Occasionally the old Adam triumphs for a moment over his regenerated nature, and he shocks our ears with one of those rapid chromatic rushes, carrying a shrieking piccolo part on top and ending with a vulgar cymbal clash ; but, these few instances excepted, compared with the acrid and noisy accompaniments of " Luisa Miller," and even the operas of the period of his culmination, the accompaniments of " Otello" are as works of Meissonier compared with the daubs of a sign painter. In melodic invention I fail to find in "Otello" an advance over the half a dozen of its predecessors from Verdi's pen, and, indeed, do not think that the score as a whole has as much inspiration as any one act of "Aida." Its appreciation of the value of reflection is, however, correspondingly greater. Naturally ; it is the creation of a studious old man, and reflection plays a greater role in opera composition now than it used to. His point of view has changed ; his style has been bettered, his mechanism refined ; his inspiration waits more on his judgment; but in the means which he uses to get hold of the nervous sensibilities of his hearers one cannot help recognizing the Verdi of whom Rossini was wont to say in characterization of his forcefulness and energy: "Ah! oui, Verdi, oune mousicienne qui a oune casque!" "a musician with a helmet." Signer Campanini's representation of "Otello," creditable as it was to those qualities which Americans cannot be accused of despising, could not be accepted as a complete exposition of Verdi's purposes. Few of the people concerned seemed to have realized fully the value of the directions which Verdi gave as to details. They were hampered, too, by traditions which are as slovenly as they are old. In the chorus of the second act neither the bagpipes nor the mandolins prescribed by the score were used, and the effects aimed at were not obtained. In the stage management little concern was manifested for the mechanical effects which have their musical complements in the score. The opera was repeated on (148) THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. [April. Wednesday and Friday evenings, and Saturday afternoon of the week and the week following. GRAND OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m. English operetta. Opening of a season of one week devoted to representations of ' ' Doro- thy," by Mr. J. C. Duff's Company. "Dorothy" was first brought forward at the Standard Theatre by Mr. Duff on November 5th. Tuesday, Seventeenth. CHICKERING HALL. 8:30 p. m. Third private concert, twenty- second season, of the Mendelssohn Glee Club. "Media Vita," Bruch; "Forsaken," Koschat; "Rovers," op. 22, Schumann; "The Dream King and his Love," Alex. Staeger; "Mazurka," Chopin- Viardot, and " Madchenlied," Meyer-Hellmund (Mad- ame Lilli Kalisch-Lehmann) ; "Harps of the Forest," Edwin Schultz. Conductor, Joseph Mosenthal. Wednesday, Eighteenth. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Third concert of the Banks' Glee Club. Organ solo, "Le Nozze di Figaro," Mozart (Will C. Macfarlane); "Gipsy Life," Schumann; Adagio and Rondo, Vieuxtemps (Michael Banner); "The Hunter's Joy," Merca- dante; "II Bravo," Macfarren (Emile Coletti); " You Spotted Snakes," Macfarren, and "Found," George Osgood (Meigs Sisters); "Robin Adair" (harmonized by Dudley Buck); Scene from " GEdipus," Mendelssohn; "The Jolly Old Crow," Decker; Airs Russes, Wieniawski (Mr. Banner); "Jerusalem," Parker (Mr. Colletti) ; Waltz Song, G. Federlein (Meigs Sisters) ; "Hallelujah," Handel. Conductor, H. R. Humphries. Saturday, Twenty-first. METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE. 8 p. m, Sixth, and last, concert of the Philharmonic Society. Funeral March, Chopin-Thomas (played in memory of Mr. Joseph W. Drexel, late president of the Society); Symphony in F, No. 6 ("Pastorale"), Beet- hoven; " Abscheulicher ! " from "Fidelio," Beethoven (Frau April.} THE MUSICAL SEASON 1887-1888. Lilli Kalisch-Lehmann); Symphonic Variations, op. 27, Nicode; " Gretchen am Spinnrade," Schubert (Frau Kalisch-Lehmann) ; Overture, ' ' Tannhauser, " Wagner. Conductor, Theodore Thomas. Sunday, Twenty-second. STEINWAY HALL. 8 p. m. Grand concert of the German Lieder- kranz. Overture, " Tannhauser ;" "Rolling in Foaming Bil- lows," Haydn (Emil Fischer) ; Ballade et Polonaise, Vieuxtemps (Miss Maud Powell) ; " Media Vita," Bruch; " Jagdmorgen," Rheinberger; " Das Nordlicht," Pohl (Frau Lilli Kalisch-Leh- mann); Prize Song from "Die Meistersinger," Wagner (Paul Kalisch); Introduction and Scenes from " Launcelot," grand opera, Reinhold L. Herman. Conductor, Mr. Herman. (150) RETROSPECT IN point of activity the New York Musical Season, 1887-1888, did not quite equal the two previous seasons whose records I have tried to preserve. This might best be looked upon as a matter of congratulation. Even as it was, New York had too much music too much for proper appreciation, too much for the financial welfare of the concert-givers, too much for the grade of excellence which ought to characterize high-class performances in the American metropolis. Only a few enterprises were profit- able to the undertakers, and the most striking success from a money point of view was less flattering to the taste and judgment of the public than to the curiosity and affectionate instincts of our people, more particularly of our women. I allude to the concerts of Josef Hofmann, the prodigy, given under the direction of Mr. Henry E. Abbey. The record embraces seventy-two concerts of magnitude given by organizations devoted to that end; sixty-five representations of grand opera in German at the Metropolitan Opera House; two brief seasons of opera in English and Italian at the Academy of Music; besides the usual multitude of miscella- neous musical entertainments. I shall pass the principal features of the season in review, directing attention only to the more im- portant of their developments. /. German Opera. The fourth season of Grand Opera in German at the Metropol- itan Opera House began on November 2d, and ended on February 1 8th. It consisted of forty-seven subscription nights, sixteen regular (ISO RETROSPECT Saturday matinees, and an extra matinee. produced in the following order : Fourteen works were COMPOSER. OPERA. DATE FIRST PRODUCTION. TIMES GIVEN. ^^agner Tristan und Isolde .... November 2 1 Wagner Die Meistersinger November 4 I Beethoven . Fidelio November 5 4 \Vagner . Tannhauser November 7 4 Wagner . Siegfried November 9 II Meyerbeer . Der Prophet November 16 2 Nessler Trompeter von Sakkingen . November 23 7 Wagner ... . . Lohengrin November 30 6 Halevy . Die Jiidin December 7 3 Gounod Faust . . December 9 4 Weber Euryanthe December 23 4. Spontini ... . . Ferdinand Cortez January 6 4 Wagner . Die Walkiire January 18 Wagner ...... Die Gotterdammerung January 25 7 Reference to the Prospectus issued in the fall of 1887 shows that save as to four operas the list of works promised by the management was adhered to. The operas announced but not per- formed are: Wagner's "Rienzi," Goldmark's " Konigin von Saba" and "Merlin," and Verdi's "Aida," all of which were included in the repertoire of the preceding season. The works which had their first representation in America were: " Siegfried," "Der Trom- peter von Sakkingen," " Ferdinand Cortez," and " Die Gotterdam- merung," while Weber's "Euryanthe" was revived after it had been forgotten for a full quarter of a century. Practically it, too, was a new work, though I have not included it in the table of novelties. In the following table, showing the total and average receipts of each of the operas, as well as the total and average attendance on each opera, the list is arranged according to popularity, as evi- denced in the financial showing : RETROSPECT OPERA. TOTAL RECEIPTS. AVERAGE RECEIPTS. TOTAL ATTEND- ANCE. AVERAGE ATTEND- ANCE. Die Gotterdammerung, .... Siegfried, $30,324 oo 37,124 50 $4,332 oo 7,774 9S 2O, IOI 27,827 2,871 2.S2Q Die Walkiire, ... ... 11,943 2,985 75 9,254 2,314 Der Prophet, 5,648 75 2,824 37 4,659 2,329 Tristan und Isolde, 8,399 75 2,799 9 2 6,282 2,094 Lohengrin, 15,847 75 2,641 29 13,747 2,291 Faust, .... 10, C2O 25 2,630 06 9,223 2,306 Tannhauser, ... 10,267 2S 2,566 81 8,477 2, 1 08 2, ^4; SO 2, S43 SO 1,044. 1,944 Euryanthe, IO,l62 50 2.S4.O 62 8,63 * 2, ISO Trompeter von Sakkingen, . . Die Judin, 17,319 oo 7 06? 2? 2,474 14 2 7SS 71 14,404 6 727 2,057 2 24.7 Ferdinand Cortez Q OQ/1 OO 2 277 SO 8,S7S 2 174. Fidelio, 8 QQ7 OO 2.24.Q 2S 8 I7Q 2 O7S Totals, 3>i8s.2s8 so $2.8QA 66 I4.7.QI2 2.71 1 This statement of receipts does not include the assessment upon the stockholders, who were called on just before the opening of the season for $2,500 each, the sum thus realized being counted on to meet a deficit which was anticipated as the outcome of the com- bined enterprises represented by the Opera House and the Opera. The total receipts were $190,087.24 from box-office sales and subscriptions, $170,180 from the assessment of the stockholders, and $51,593 from rentals of the building; total, $411,860.24. The total cost of giving the sixty-four representations of opera was $283,668.33, as against $299,088.75 for the season of 1886-1887, when sixty-one representations were given. The average cost per representation in the season 1886-1887 was $4,903.09; in 1887- 1888, $4,432.32, a decrease in favor of the latter season of $470.77. The total decrease in cost was $15,420.42; the total decrease in receipts $16,950.75. For "staging" new operas the sum of $19,727.27 was given out, of which about more than one- half was expended on "Ferdinand Cortez." The decorations for (i53) RETROSPECT "Siegfried" had been purchased a year before. The principal items making up the cost of representations were these : COST OF REPRESENTATIONS. Salaries of principal singers, $105,132 82 Orchestra, 42,408 75 Chorus, 23,962 75 Ballet, 16,567 33 Conductors, 75o oo Stage Manager, 3,ooo oo Supernumeraries, 3,998 90 Advertising, ",176 47 Transportation, 8,317 82 Stage Hands, 9,244 51 Wardrobe, 3,994 96 Properties, 4,427 42 Royalties 9,606 52 Miscellaneous (Box Office, Ushers, Doormen, Police, Prompter, Board Bills, Clerks, Gas, Legal Expenses, Libretti, etc.), 16,423 76 Of the money paid for royalties nearly $9,100 went to the estate of Richard Wagner, Director Stanton having assumed the purely moral obligation of paying royalties on all the Wagnerian works produced. The work of preparing the operas for repre- sentation entailed 459 rehearsals, distributed among the various departments as follows : chorus, 191; ballet, 85; scenic, 19; prop- erty, 7; soli and ensemble, 189; arrangement and stage, 40; orchestra, 24; orchestra and stage, 18; general (dress), 12. The cost of maintaining the opera house during the year was about $146,000, this sum being distributed through the various departments as follows: Taxes and interest, $67,000; engineers, etc., $23,000; lighting, heating, insurance, etc., $22,000; repairs, $5,000; new properties, etc., $23,000 ; repairs to wardrobe, $6,000. To discover the real lessons of the season of German Opera, whose outward results I have now summarized, is as difficult as it is easy for impertinent and ill-instructed criticism to assume to do so. There was no lack of the latter throughout the season, and the rebuke which the events of the last three weeks of opera administered to the too forward enemies of seriousness in art and the too ready advisers of the Metropolitan management, was as RETROSPECT emphatic as it was deserved. No institution is confronted with a more difficult problem than the German Opera. The fickleness of the public, the popular craving for "sensation," the egotism and rapacity of singers, the want of sincerity and loftiness of pur- pose in the stockholders, the inexperience of the management, the instability of an institution which was created to satisfy social ambition rather than to promote art all these factors and scores of others tend to hinder the establishment of such a temple of art as there ought to be in New York City. We are in an era of change in art ideals. To cling to the sweets of Italian melody and live in the memories of Mario and Grisi is folly. So young an art as music cannot stand still for half a century, and Roman tastes, though they may clog for a time, cannot permanently bind a people Teutonic in their origin. The heritage of energy which came to us from the Puritans and the equipment of vigor which the newer element of our population instinctively puts on in the face of the vast mission which here opens to it, invite a style of art which shall be more than the "lascivious pleasing of a lute." The reddest of dramatic blood flows through our national veins, and though we may be beguiled for a time by bloodless literature and false conventions on the stage, it cannot be for long. In my " Review of the New York Musical Season, 1885-1886," I set out in full the story of the establishment of German opera at the Metropolitan Opera House. To that story the season of 1887- 1888 added an interesting and suggestive chapter. Early in Janu- ary the directors formally agreed to continue the German repre- sentations. Soon thereafter it became apparent that the receipts for the season would be considerably less than had been hoped for and expected and immediately a clamor rose against the manage- ment. The lovers of Italian opera joyfully proclaimed that the death-knell of German opera had been rung; the opponents of Wagner's style of lyric-dramatic art attributed the falling off in popular support to the prominence given to Wagner's works in the repertory. The most striking truth that was brought forward by the discussion was that the protesting stockholders (who in the end proved to be very few in number) and the disaffected newspaper writers were one in their ignorance of the practical part of opera- giving. There could be no more striking demonstration of the (^55) RETROSPECT energy, ambition, and lofty zeal of the management, the musical director and the artists than the production within less than three months of five such novelties as "Siegfried," "Der Trompeter von Sakkingen," "Euryanthe," "Ferdinand Cortez" and "Die Gotter- dammerung " ; and those who clamored for a better list, a longer list or a more varied list of operas thereby only testified their want of appreciation of the sacrifices that were made in their behalf. To those who are familiar with the workings of the lyric theatre the achievements of the institution were simply phenomenal. I believe there is nothing in the history of the stage like it, and the only feeling outside of admiration and gratitude justified by the facts is a regret that to meet the supposed demands of the public it was necessary to tax the powers of all concerned to the limit of endurance, and notwithstanding to hurry the operas to perform- ance without adequate preparation. The disaffection, however, threatened mischief to the enterprise and had to be met. The directors met it by getting an expression of opinion as to the future conduct of the institution from the stockholders. On January 21, they issued the following address to the stockholders : METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, 7TH AVENUE AND 39 STREET, NEW YORK, January 21, 1888. My Dear Sir At a meeting of the Directors of the Metropolitan Opera House Company, of New York, Limited, held Friday evening January 2oth, 1888, it was resolved that the following circular be sent to each of the Stockholders, with the request for an answer by Wednesday, January 25th. The Directors made very careful estimates for the Opera season of 1887-88, and found that the Opera could probably be given for the assessments, provided the receipts from the public amounted to $3,000 per performance. The subscription was 50 per cent, larger than last year (about $80,000 against $52,000), and they anticipated larger receipts than for 1886-87, when the average was about $3,300. The standard of high excellence has been maintained, but the public interest in German Opera seems to have so greatly fallen off, that the receipts so far average only about $2,500. This, if continued, will show a deficiency of about $30,000 by the close of the season. Against this the Directors have increase in rentals of about $14,000. (156) RETROSPECT Should no Opera be given next season, the Directors may hope to receive for rents about $60,000. Against this the expenses of interest, taxes, rent of ball rooms, repairs, maintenance, etc., and engagements already made with some artists, will be about $125,000, which would require an assessment of about $ 1,000 per box. Will you kindly answer which of the following propositions you favor : I. To go on with German Opera with an assessment of $3,200 per box. 2. To give no Opera next year, with an assessment of $1,000 per box, and to resume, if possible, the following season. The Directors have not suggested giving Italian Opera because they are convinced that to do so in a satisfactory manner, will require a much larger assessment upon the stockholders, than to give German Opera. Very truly yours, JAMES A. ROOSEVELT, President. The issue was left with the stockholders, and those who were disaffected with the management or with a German opera were called on to show their strength. A meeting was held on the evening of January 27th, which resulted in a decision to continue German opera, under the first proposition of the circular letter, by a vote of over four to one. While the opponents of the modern movement were loudest in their assertions that the Metropolitan Opera had been killed by Wagnerism, and a small clique of stock- holders were striving hardest to overthrow German opera, even at the risk of depreciating their own property, came the announce- ment of two weeks of consecutive representations of the three dramas of " The Ring of the Niblung," which were in the repertory of the company. Those two weeks, and a third in which ' ' Die Gotterdammerung " was given three times, brought more money into the exchequer of the Opera House than any preceding five weeks of the season. To the observer who kept the good of art and the advance- ment of the public in culture and refinement in view there was so much that was gratifying and encouraging in the circumstances last mentioned that it would be an easy matter in a retrospective glance at the season to treat as of little moment the things which a few weeks before seemed to be foreshadowing the downfall of RETROSPECT one of the finest operatic institutions in the world. Such a view would be almost justifiable, too, for the conduct of the public after the question of the continuance of the establishment on its present lines was put at issue likened nothing so much as a popular uprising for the protection of German opera. It would be exceedingly pardonable after the scenes discovered in the Opera House at the last two representations, scenes for which I can find no parallels in my recollections of the lyric drama either here or elsewhere, if the enthusiast should say that the open and covert enemies of German ideals in dramatic music as well as its timid and weak-kneed ad- vocates had been utterly overwhelmed by the waves of popular approval which surged around the opera during its last days. But there are questions involved in the operatic problem which cannot be settled by such demonstrations. The statistics which I have printed ought to be carefully studied by all who desire to comment in any way on the past, present, and future of opera in New York. One plain teaching of the statistics is that the premises upon which the opponents of German opera based their attacks were false. What they set down as the bane of the season was in reality its salvation, so far as salvation was possible. I am by no means disposed to urge or even to defend a preponderating infusion of Wagner's creations in any local operatic list, but in the face of the innumerable assertions that the giving over of one-half the repertory to Wagner was the cause of the falling off in receipts, the fact must be cited that the Wagnerian dramas throughout the season were worth $750 a night more than the rest of the list, and this notwithstanding that there were but two Wagnerian novelties and three of the others. The advantage of the non-Wagnerian list over the Wagnerian, derived from the desire to see new works, which had been much harped on, was therefore as three to two. I cite this fact simply because it must be cited to meet the flood of foolish and false criticism which the management was com- pelled to struggle against. There are aspects in which its contem- plation is not entirely gratifying. It will not conduce to permanency in art taste to permit Wagnerism to become a craze. What ought to be cultivated is the dramatic truthfulness which is its life blood, and appreciation of the serious purpose of art which was the inspi- ration and guiding star of the poet-composer. RETROSPECT But if the statistics show that Wagner's works were the strongest props that the opera had during the season, they also showed that our public is yet afflicted with an instability of taste such as makes the establishment of an operatic institution on a true and lofty basis exceedingly difficult. No single fact connected with the sea. son 1886-1887 was more gladdening than the interest aroused by Beethoven's "Fidelio." It was not a novelty, but had been given here at long intervals for over half a century. In the first season it had proved so discouraging a failure that it was only upon the urgent solicitation of Herr Seidl and the singers that Mr. Stanton consented to experiment with it again. He announced it for two representations only, but to meet the demands of the public had to give an extra performance. The opera which had played to an audience of $300 or $500 in the season 1884-1885, brought $12,231 into the treasury with three representations in the season of 1886-1887. It l d the nst - This season it was the last in the list, though performed by the same artists. So ' ' Tristan und Isolde," which was given eight times in the season 1886-1887, and brought in an average of $4,029.31 a performance, was this season number five in the list with $2,799.92 as the average for three representations. The Wagner operas maintained their hold on popular liking best, but allowing for the natural curi- osity touching the dramas of the Niblung tetralogy (the best adver- tised art-work that the world ever saw), it is nevertheless an indication of a want of deep sincerity and fervent love that ' ' Fi- delio" should drop from first place to fourteenth, and that "Tris- tan," the greatest achievement of Wagner's genius, should be obliged to yield precedence to "Die Walkiire," "Siegfried," "Die Gotterdammerung " and Meyerbeer's "Prophet." So long as such violent changes are possible while the representations remain on an even plane of excellence, so long the management of the German opera will be forced to depend for financial success upon one form or another of sensationalism; and just so long the solu- tion of the operatic problem will be postponed. Thus far Wag- ner has supplied the fuel to keep the fires burning, but the Wagner store-room is almost empty. "Rheingold" and "Parsi- fal" alone remain. (159) RETROSPECT After these, what? There ought to be no difficulty in creating and maintaining a repertory, and there will be none so soon as all the activities associated with opera-giving are brought to a normal basis. A large portion of the operatic literature is as yet unexplored ground. We have ignored Gluck, Mozart, and Marschner; and Weber is almost forgotten. Many masterpieces remain to be given, which are none the less valuable because they cannot be made to cater to sensationalism. There are French and Italian works, too, which deserve a place in the Metropolitan repertory, and which will get a place there if a rational method can be devised or evolved for the maintenance of the institution, which in one sense means a method resting on another basis than nightly receipts of $4,000. So long as such an income is an essential condition the future of opera is not assured. As matters go at present the continuance of the opera rests upon the public spirit of the stockholders, who do for New York what the Government exchequers do for the operatic institutions of continental Europe. Most of the efforts of the stockholders to please themselves in the choice of works have thus far proved disastrous; but this is due wholly to the fact that they have offered so much that was new, beautiful and bewildering in the great lyric dramas of Wagner that the works which depended for success upon their spectacular attractiveness had no charms as against works which were equally attractive as dramas, musical compositions and spectacles. When curiosity has been satisfied and popular taste steadied, then the natural desire for occasional change will be satisfied with such operas as "Cortez," and an occasional ballet of fine dimensions. Yet, having thus expressed my strong conviction of the neces- sity of liberality in the repertory of the German Opera, I must be permitted to add that the impulsive generosity with which the public paid the tribute of their admiration to the three dramas of "The Ring of the Niblung," when they were given twice in suc- cession during the last two weeks of the season was a convincing proof of the success which crowned Wagner's effort to blend poetry, music, pantomime, and painting into a common art of the highest potency of expression. It suggested the thought, too, that there is something peculiarly sympathetic to Americans in the character of (160) RETROSPECT the chief personages of the drama. In their rude forcefulness and freedom from restrictive conventions they might be said to be representative of the American people. They are so full of that vital energy which made us a nation. This is not altogether a fan- ciful idea, nor is the share which the American people (in common with the other races of Teutonic origin) have in the poetical herit- age that Wagner has striven to preserve in his dramas altogether fictitious. I would not assert that the tales of Northern mythology have any peculiar force for us in themselves, but only that their presentation in an idealized form which lifts into prominence the ethical and other elements that are characteristic of the stock from which we are sprung is naturally near to our sympathies. We have not preserved Siegfried in the character of a popular hero, as the peoples who occupy our ancestral homes have done, but we have put his manliness and strength, and even his frank lawlessness into many of the heroes of our fairy tales, while in Sir Walter Scott's Gyneth, who was put into a magic sleep by Merlin, in Tennyson's Enchanted Princess and in the story of the Sleeping Beauty, which we eagerly made a part of our literature, we have retained mem- ories of Briinnhilde's sleep and awakening. Siegfried is a prototype, too, of the American people in being an unspoiled nature. He looks at the world through glowing eyes that have not grown ac- customed to the false and meretricious. The process of nation- making in which we have been engrossed has left us in a position to look at Wagner's art-world in Siegfried's manner. We have heard and seen much, but at heart we are yet unspoiled in art. We are not ridden by conventions of any kind. We can yet bring our emotions with us into the theatre, and are therefore open to an appeal that the delightful pilgrimage be made with serious intent. Wagner dreamed of a regenerated society whose attitude toward art should be like that which once prevailed in Greece. I love to think that it is not altogether impossible that when the conquest of the continent is completed, and the social amalgam of the American people has become fixed, something like the Hellenic ideal may here be realized, and that the lyric drama, now regarded as mere diversion, may be lifted to the position which it ought to occupy as a factor of tremendous potency in the education of the mind and refinement of the soul. (161) RETROSPECT //. Italian and English Opera. The attitude of the public of New York toward the operatic problem had two other exemplifications of a striking character. After the close of the German season at the Metropolitan Opera House brief seasons of opera in English and Italian were given in the Academy of Music. Both were disastrous failures. The loss of the National Opera Company, notwithstanding that the perform- ances were given on the cooperative plan and the principals drew no salaries, was $4,000 in one week. The loss of Signer Campa- nini I cannot estimate, but it must have been very large, for he had gone to a great outlay in the importation of scenery and properties, to say nothing of the exorbitant demand of Signor Ricordi for the right to produce ' ' Otello. " The enterprise was recognized as an unwise one from the start by practically all persons of discretion and experience, but Signor Campanini counted perhaps quite as much on the popularity which he once enjoyed as a singer in New York as he did on public curiosity touching Verdi's last opera. Under such circumstances the advice of well-meaning friends was thrown away, and we were called upon to witness the singular spectacle of an admired composer's most ambitious effort being received with apathy and indifference in one of the largest and most appreciative cities of the world. Naturally the extremists among the champions of Wagner looked upon the occurrence as a final and convincing triumph of their cause, ignoring the fact that other agents than a change of taste operated to produce the catastrophe. If it was unwise to attempt to give a series of operatic representa- tions after the amusement season had practically come to an end, it was simply foolish to do so with an ill-equipped company, in a house that had lost its prestige (and with it fashionable support) and at prices considerably larger than those demanded during the season at the Metropolitan Opera House. After what I have said in discussing the German season I do not apprehend that I can righteously be accused of extravagant sympathy with old-fashioned Italian opera; but I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that the illiber- ality which has marked the discussion of the operatic problem has had much to do with postponing its solution. On one side the writers dispose of Italian opera as summarily as Alexander disposed (162) RETROSPECT of the Gordian knot. They believe that the popular taste has advanced beyond the stage when Italian opera, with its obvious absurdities and its mere lascivious pleasings, can longer give satis- faction. In their opinion Italian opera is dead and past all resur- rection. Another class thinks that as an art-form Italian opera is as potent as ever, and charges its present inanimation to the want of new works and good singers. As in most controversies the truth lies betwixt these two propositions. There is no question that the progress of music has carried the people of Germany, Austria, France, Russia, England, and the United States a little beyond the naive enjoyment which they got for so many gener- ations from Italian melody; if this were not so we would not find them listening with pleasure to the Richter, Lamoureux, and Thomas concerts, the Wagner festivals and the German opera representations. But the advance has not gone so far as to make Italian opera seem an utter absurdity either in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, St. Petersburg, London, or New York where the same prob- lem confronts the musical philosophers. The second theory is a little more tenable than the first, but it lacks completeness from the fact that it does not take into consideration that the spirit of the times exacts something besides beautiful singing in an operatic representation. We all know that when Italian opera was in its glory the public were perfectly willing to accept a listless perform- ance from any one of its great interpreters if he or she would but thrill them with a single air or a single note in an air. Mario was wont to save himself for one glorious outburst, and with it his admirers were satisfied. This would now be impossible. One air doesn't make an opera any more than one swallow makes a summer. The people demand spectacle and action. The modern drama, especially that of the French school, in which Hugo was the exemplar, has fostered a craving for violent emotions, crass contrasts, picturesque situations, and these must alternate with each other in the development of the piece. The everlasting placidity of the Rossinian sing-song offers nothing to the appetite for highly-spiced things, which is almost universal now. Verdi's long domination of the operatic stage was largely due to the successfulness with which he catered to this appetite. In " Rigo. letto," "Trovatore" and "Aida" he is a musical dramatist, not RETROSPECT one of the highest order, but a dramatist, nevertheless, such an one as uses the nerves of the public for harp-strings. Meyerbeer was another, and the dearth of good singers is largely owing to the fact that the masterpieces of these men make so great a requisition on mere vocal power that to have many great singers is out of the question. It is voice, voice, voice that is needed, whereas in the olden time it was art. It was the eager hunt for phenomenal voices for the last twenty- five years that speeded on the decadence of beautiful singing, so that the change in taste is really responsible for what the lovers of Italian opera charge to a mysterious interruption in the pro- duction of fine singers. The effect has been twofold : unfinished singers have been precipitated on the stage and finished singers, appreciating their superiority, have steadily increased their de- mands, until to engage them means either an otherwise cheap and wretched company or ruin to the manager. This is the case at present in Europe and America. A revulsion against Italian sweets may induce the public to put up with inferior singing for a time, as it unquestionably has done in Germany; but this will not last, for it is dawning on the minds of the admirers of even Wagner's rugged and sometimes uncouth vocal style, that good vocalization cannot be dispensed with in the lyric drama. So soon as this is generally recognized we can expect to see the old thoroughness in vocal training gradually return. Then, in time, good ensembles will be possible, and will be had even in Italian opera, which will not utterly die until the public adopt a nobler attitude toward music than they occupy toward literature and the drama. So long as diversion is sought and nothing else we cannot expect Wagner's music-dramas, with their lofty appeals to an art-feeling like that which once inspired Greece, to crowd Italian opera into its grave, the less since Verdi and his followers have begun to pay tribute to the loftier dramatic spirit inspired by Gluck, Beethoven, Weber, and Wagner. "Otello"is a revelation which no serious thinker dare treat with indifference. Admiration for the greater part of the third act and all of the fourth grow with every hearing. However opinions may differ as to the intrinsic value of his music Verdi is entitled to the world's respect. There have been few composers whose careers have shown such steady and consistent growth from (164) RETROSPECT old-fashioned conventions to lofty ideals as is exemplified in his act- ive art-life. Rossini excepted, there has been no Italian composer who has taken so gigantic a stride as lies between " Oberto, Conte di Bonifazio" and " Otello." It is known that the composer kept the score of ' ' Otello " in his desk almost long enough to fulfill the Horatian adage, " Nonumque prematur in annum," in order that he might exercise self-criticism and become convinced that it would not lessen his fame. It will not. The interest of music lovers of all creeds and shades of artistic belief ought to go out toward such a work. ///. Concerts. There were many gratifying features in the concert season, but also some that were grievous. Mr. Thomas's concerts in Steinway Hall, to which we owed the introduction of the overwhelming majority of the new orchestral compositions which were brought forward, were not successful financially. Neither did the American Concerts, which Mr. Van der Stucken gave in Chickering Hall, pay expenses. In fact, the concert enterprises which resulted profit- ably, might be counted on the fingers of one hand. The plethora of music doubtless had much to do with this unfortunate state of affairs, but some of the blame is chargeable against the fickleness of the public and their ostrich-appetite for sensations. In this lies the greatest obstacle to stability and the things which stability makes possible. The interest in the lad Josef Hofmann early got beyond the phase which is defensible on art-grounds, and degenerated into a craze so silly and irrational that a sordid father and grasping managers did not hesitate to encourage it with mountebank tricks. The story of this prodigy is full of suggestiveness. His musical gifts are unquestioned, though it has seemed of late as if what was untruthfully said of Mozart in his sixteenth year might truthfully be said of him : ' ' He is one further instance of early fruit being more extraordinary than excellent." If the art does not profit from nature's endowment of him in the degree which his performances had led many judicious admirers to believe, the fault will be not far to seek. His father and Mr. Abbey brought him here protesting that the exhibition of his talents was a measure of necessity, the object being to secure money to pay for his musical education. (165) RETROSPECT Before he left London, assurances were given that every effort would be made to foster his talent, and that after a season of five months, in which he was to give eighty concerts, and receive $25,000 and expenses, he would be taken home to his stud- ies. These assurances and protestations were doubtless honestly meant, but at the time they were given neither Mr. Abbey nor his agents knew that the boy would be called on to uphold all of the manager's New York enterprises and would disclose the ability to do it. In continental Europe musical prodi- gies are not so rare as here, and the attitude of critics, musicians, and public towards them is that which is best calculated to husband and develop their precocious powers. In Germany, Austria and France the boy was not worth $150 a concert to his manager. In England the love for sensation and the impulsive female heart worked a change ; and the warmth of the approval of the Ameri- can newspaper press, the downright merit of the lad, and a flood of gratuitous advertising combined with the same qualities on the part of our public which made the English success to transform the precocious boy into one of the biggest money-makers in the musical profession. To the cupidity aroused by this discovery the lad was sacrificed. Four or five concerts a week were given, dis- tributed between New York, Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and, regardless of promises, new contracts were made here and in England, for seasons to begin immediately on the expiration of the first contract. In one sense the treatment of the boy was of no concern to the public, but a matter between his father and his father's conscience. When charlatanry and fraud entered into his concerts, however, a different question was raised. And these elements were drawn in when the boy was paraded as composer for orchestra, and conductor. Finally, when the absurd excitement was at its height, the boy's father suddenly withdrew him on the plea that his health had become impaired. This was on February ipth, and a month later the elder Hofmann, having successfully evaded Mr. Abbey's efforts to get an indemnity for breach of contract, returned with his family to Europe, leaving the conviction in the minds of the American people that one of several offers made by wealthy men to pay for the boy's edu- cation, provided he ceased giving public performances, had secretly (166) RETROSPECT been accepted. Thus fittingly ended the most sensational chapter in the story of the concert season of 1887-1888. Mr. Thomas's Symphony and Popular Concerts benefited greatly from that gentleman's withdrawal from the National Opera Com- pany, but not in so marked a degree as the concerts of the Philhar- monic Society. These concerts in the previous season lost much of their prestige with the public ; but this season they were brought back to their old dignity and excellence by the fact that Mr. Thomas and the musicians of his band were able to give proper time and care to them. German musical pedagogy has of late years devoted con- siderable attention to marks of expression and especially to phrasing. New thoughts have been advanced on the subject, and some of those thoughts Mr. Thomas applied to his symphonic readings. The principles which are supposed to underlie this reform are set forth in a book whose title is scarcely more difficult of comprehension to one unfamiliar with German and Greek than its contents to a German scholar. Here it is in all its ponderosity : ' ' Musikalische Dynamik und Agogik. Lehrbuch der Musika- lischen Phrasirung auf Grund einer Revision der Lehre von der Musikalischen Metrik und Rhythmik, von Dr. Hugo Riemann." The features of Mr. Thomas's readings, which attracted critical at- tention, were the results of changes in the phrasing of the standard symphonies. Some of them proved thoroughly admirable, but there were others which I found it impossible either to commend or to explain. Nothing that Mr. Thomas did, however, was quite so revolutionary as Herr Seidl's perverted reading of Beethoven's eighth symphony, which I have discussed at the proper place. IV. Novelties. The list of novelties brought forward in concert-room and opera house was larger even than that of the phenomenally active season of 1885-1886. In the following tables I have included only such works of reasonable magnitude as were given in accordance with the composer's prescriptions; that is to say, I have omitted all choral works which were not given with orchestral accompaniment : (167) RETROSPECT fc O en < W en w O fa f* g fa I I 1 c a . (3 s c 'S a 4) i C 4J o c 4) rt rt O c u t) O H O ^ -s " e ^2 cs en rt o5 en 3 7. S rt ^j 3 ^: en CONDU O K V ^3 Van der olf Now u cS 4) g f 4> | ffi cj S II ^ P s o 3 > ~ 4) > ^ 3 C o ' C t C ^ 2 '3 w en ~ 1 > < . 13 fa < fa S ^ fa > *^ j^ ^^ c fa fa < CJ < c < fa 4) tfl s 41 V 41 i 3 O 3 C 3 C . o , V K = ~ s fi cj rt rt rt rt u o 0> 4) ^- 4) JJ .- 41 i H-( 2 r s? O . S-, ffi c tx E 5 c M hn *o -2 rt ^ 4> rt Q -" = ' * ftf fi rt d O\ rn ^. m vn ^o o> m W N m C4 "" " N N N (S "" " N ro Q O 'C > a, tf ' S, a, * e O c > C d "C >' a, o rt' "' ^ < fc < fa A ^ ^ fc -i < Z >->o C p e ZL. rt 4) u "S = rn '- 1 +j- -^ V .e JD o "u c . rt ec * taO C TITLE. 'o o Q Intermezzo from T The Begum . . g g s J PQ .-) . S ^ O 4) !/ C 3 JJ Q en Ave Maria . . . Zwei Altslavische 1 Psalm CXXXVII Das Gewitter . . Der Trompeter von _3 "c" U c 5 Pastorale .... Ferdinand Cortez V _o ^C f^ Die Gotterdammeru Du Schone Maid . J *c c COMPOSER. T3 V _4) 13 CJ Cowen, F. H. . . DeKoven, Reginal Gernsheim, F. . , Herman, Reinhold "o ^ -> v ex u>i/ico > o y ' -' y u >t) o > '? '5 00 N d. c o fa ^ JS 3 -2^03- .S .S 2 6 .a u *>-C r-^T-rrhtnS ., o 8 r o t: .-j'5 - I I f 1 1 (169) RETROSPECT CJ c c ^ . c t/3 t/1 in in to in in in in If tn W3 4) in 4) O rt ^ 4* rt rt rt rt rt rt rt rt O rt 4* rt 4* 04 O * IM e U CJ 3 o o O O o o O I a w O U 2 {j 43 cn cn 43 43 43 43 43 43 43 43 rt ^3 CO 43 CO * Q H H H E- H H H H H H Q E- 1 !-, H b "3 Q i> w 41 4) 41 4) 4> 41 V 41 4) D W 41 t 4) ~ ' *} 'S Z |1 C C rt rt O O O S -c -c r2 ,2 _C ^ ^ 1 cn c _ > 2 ^* ^* 41 41 41 o O 4> W 41 r-* 4> 4Z *""* 43 43 43 43 43 i-G rC 43 43 43 . 43 . c H fa fa H H H H H H E- 1 H E- 1 "* fa H fa < C . 5 ,> u 41 u . c U C ^ 41 o O H o 41 41 'o 4) U r 4) 41 4) ** 4> 4> 4) 5 cj . _^ ^^ 41 O 41 O 41 41 4) ! O 41 > S S t^ S S > ^ S >, C ,, C/5 u - < s ~* t-i rt 3 "- u t. O u 1-1 u ^* 4) rt 4) - CJ >, < CJ c rt 43 _rt _rt 43 ^rt rt 43 rt 'G ^ cj rt *""* n g u o o "s cn a. 0. 43 b p. 3 3 a, D, a, "3 ^ s o -"s OH 43 Q, CO 43 o 2 "^ o d_t ^"^ O H C O O O ft* ^0 p. CJ 5" r C- 53 o c 13 'S PH cn PM C C C S O in *J rt r/i ^ in in t/) in in O >> rt m itf ^ 43 rt t. o rt . rt rt rt rt ^ CJ c3 c ^/^ ij 11 O E 11 !> S r" o o o 43 43 o o 43 43 11 S 43 11 11 2 "3 41 '5 cn*H CJ < 3 ^ H E- 1 E- 1 r- 1 E- 1 H PQ H co^M < H H cn vO ^ ro "- CO N IN oo t^* "^r ^T M CT\ N w 43 43 H CJ Q I' 8 ' ; t > 5 II SJ fa Jz; 's- u O. 4) < Q s s fa Q O fc 11 J'-s ^ fa Si il 15 *S o i . . a Q ' 43 4. g *j" tj bfi 4) 12 >-> 'O r 'O 45 ^C o" 3 "3 _o" * vQ > KH "rt 2 i ^ G ^3 PQ cn ^2 t>. c - t i TITLE. n and Sere 2 Roi d' Ys 4) 1 6 41 Strife and r violence in ^ -a e "c 1 S , op. 132 . hiimliche o. 2, for 'c< iebesnacht a\ 'C . "3 'S. s F minor, ' Fantasia, _o | fa ^ . O 'e? 4) g .2 p-J 'in .H S >> PQ cn It: o 3 '? E 73 ^ C C O rt CJ fa < cn cn 1 S cn S 41 /~, 1*^ 41 e T3 J n & a* 4= w 41 COMPOSER. Lalo, Edouard . Lalo, Edouard . Massenet, Jules McDowell, E. A. Praeger, Ferdinan Raff, Joachim . Rauchenecker, G. Reinecke, Karl Rheinberger, Jose Rietzel, J. C. . Rubinstein, Antoi Scharwenka, Phili Scharwenka, Phili Shelley, Harry R' Smetana, Friedric Stanford, C. Vill: Strauss, Richard Strong, G. Tempi Tschalkowsky, P. Urspruch, Anton Wagner, Richard o -o " co .2 (170) RETROSPECT V. American Composition. A series of American concerts, given early in the season by Mr. Van der Stucken, flattered national pride by discovering that we have several composers of native birth who have contributed works of real dignity and beauty to the repertory of the music- room, concert-hall, and church. Elsewhere I have permitted Mr. Van der Stucken to set forth his purposes in giving these con- certs, and in the proper place I have discussed the merit of a few of the compositions brought forward. I have the disposition, but not the time nor the space, to continue the discussion. There was no want of encouragement to American composers, of native or European birth, in the season. In fact, there were times when it seemed as if the promoters of the ' 'American movement " would be obliged to "whistle down brakes" for the good of the cause. The results disclosed by the season's activity in this department were full of promise for the future. Paraphrasing Grillparzer's epi- taph on Schubert, it might be said of the season that in respect of American music it brought forth ' ' a rare treasure, but yet more brilliant hopes." To some arguments that have been urged against the possibility of an American school of music, I would like to add a few considerations. Is America too young to produce such a school ? I have heard this asserted by critics who are so utterly at sea in their history that they persistently speak of this country as being only a century old. Now it is only the political history of the United States that is com- passed by a century. America is older than the Declaration of Independence, and the development of a national character, which it is correctly assumed must be a condition precedent for a national art, has been going on a very long time indeed. If there had not been such a development, and one of tremendous magnitude, too, there never would have been any American history in the sense that some narrow-minded writers conceive it. These writers should devote some of their energy to reading up pre-revolutionary his- tory. They should study the different mental, moral, and physical types which this country has produced before they deny to the American people, as they exist now, the capacity to originate a characteristic school in art. I am not saying that such a school RETROSPECT exists, let this be understood, but only contending that it may exist, and that before, as a political people, we have passed through as many centuries of local history as the Germans, Italians, or French. The history of the Old World's nations is a part of our history, and the differences in the schools of art in Europe are not so much aboriginal as they are the products of environment. The Franks who became Frenchmen were once closely related to the Franks who became Germans, or rather remained Germans, because they rebelled against Roman influences, and withdrew into their original forest homes. The English Puritan and the French Huguenot of the early colonial days became the patriotic Americans of the Revolution; and if they were not strongly marked types I can find none such in the history of civilizations. Have not the west- ern prairies developed types? Is not the temptation strong to say that the most thoroughly American man in our broad country to-day is the man of the Mississippi Valley, upon whom the territorial environment and our own peculiar social and political institutions work much more forcibly and directly than upon the inhabitants of the Atlantic Coast, who are subject at all times to European influences? The effect of the fusion of many peoples into one in the work of nationalization I will not stop to discuss. But nations do not wait until they are unalterably fixed in character before they pro- duce national schools. If they did, national schools would never exist. The Englishman of Chaucer's time is not the Englishman of Tennyson's, any more than the American of to-day is the American of the days of Salem witchcraft. The law of the world is progress. Nor is it wise to put back the dawn of an American school by dogmatically declaring, as I have heard, that the music of a "school" must contain some element that is its exclusive prop- erty, or an " aesthetical principle drawn from the language of the country," or a "clear and unmistakable reflex of national character- istics." These -phrases sound well, and there is just enough truth in them to make them plausible and dangerous. In the highest instance I might even accept them as conclusive; but if we were to enforce them strictly in an estimate of the music of the civilized world we would have to reorganize musical history. Many of RETROSPECT the ''schools" in which we have fondly believed would have to go into the limbo of myths to keep Homer and William Tell com- pany. What was Dutch in the Netherland school of contrapunt- ists? What was Neapolitan or Florentine or Roman in the schools which had their origin in Naples, Florence, and Rome? What does the music of Tschaikowsky (who, I take it, is the best repre- sentative of the Russian school) contain that no other nation shares in ? What ' ' new sesthetical principle derived from the language of the country" was brought to light by the Romantic School of Germany ? In what respect was Gluck more German than he was French or Italian ? Was Mozart any the less a German because he wrote for Italian librettos and Italian singers ? Are not Gluck and Mozart worthy of being ranked with the founders of schools ? Can the aesthetical principle of Wagner (not his appli- cation of it, mind,) be said to be derived from the German lan- guage ? Go to ! We must not juggle with sounding phrases. Schools are the products of imitation. They are begotten by creative artists of strong individuality and conceived out of the desire to achieve success by emulating the methods of the strongly individual creative artist who has hit the taste of the people. In other words, they come into existence because younger com- posers who have something to say strive to say it in a way in which somebody who succeeded gave expression to his ideas. The success of the somebody in turn came from the fact that his mode of expression was "racy" of the people to whom he belonged. I do not see why Handel should not be set down as an English composer. He was a cosmopolite in his education, but when he wrote operas in Germany and Italy he did not achieve a hundredth part of the success which he won later in London when he invented a form of entertainment peculiarly adapted to the taste of the English people. Handel is one of the great lights of music almost wholly as he presents himself in his oratorios; and his oratorios are English, though I cannot dis- cover in them the "aesthetical principle derived from the lan- guage of the country." Rhythms and melodic intervals are derived from the characteristic music, the folk-tunes, of a people. But rhythms and melodic intervals are not the only factors or elements in national schools of music. The Neapolitan school RETROSPECT of opera writers were once addicted to the use of the "Scotch snap," and the same rhythmical figure is a marked feature of Magyar music; but the essence of the Neapolitan and Hungarian schools does not lie in the ' ' Scotch snap " surely. We are not hoping for an American school in a day or even in a decade. But some day the strong, successful writer will come and the school will quickly follow. (174) INDEX PAGE. Abt, Franz, " Evening," 54 " Twilight," 29 Adam, Adolphe, " Postilion de Lon- jumeau," . . 12, 16, 26, 27, 33, 42, 44, 51 Agarew, Caprice, 139 Agramonte, Emilio, Concert of, . . . . 129 Alard, " Souvenir des Alpes," . . . .102 Alkan, C. V.(alne) Andante, A major, 85 " " Prieres, op. 64, Nos. 1, 2, and 4 50, 51, 59 Alvars, Parish, " Fairies' Dance," . . 133 Ambrose, R. S. " One Sweetly Solemn Thought," 103 American Composers 171 " Concerts, . 29, 31, 33, 36, 40, 165 " Opera Subjects, 74 Anderson, E. N.," Wind of Evening,". 141 Anderton, Thomas, " Norman Baron,"100 Andre, "Bildniss der Mutter," .... 107 Anschiitz, Karl 9, 63 Ansorge, Conrad, Recitals of, . 80, 84, 101 " Sonata, F minor, 101 Apollo Club, Concerts of . . 49, 104, 140 Appoloni, " L'Ebolo," 106 Arcadelt, " Ave Maria," Ill Arion, Mannergesangverein, Concerts of 6,61,143 " Description of New Hall, ... 9 " History of, 6 Arne, T. A., Fugue, D minor 51 Ashton, Algernon, Interlude, 56 Astholz, "Hunters' Joy," 113 Auber, " Fra Diavolo," 111,113 " Overture, " La Muette," ... 30 " " "LeChevalde Bronze," 113 Bach, J. S., Canzona, D minor, . . . . 6, 98 " Bourees 140, 142 " Chaconne for violin solo, . . 32, 130 " " (arranged for orchestra) " Choral Prelude,"ChristunscrIIerr," 81 " " " "Bin* feste Burg," 103 " " "O Menschbeweiu'," 110 PAGE. Bach, Choral Prelude, " Schmiicke dich," 129 " " " " Christ lag in To- desbanden," . . 133 " Concerto, G major, for strings, . 108 " " G major 140 " in G (Vivaldi's) . . . 129 " Fantasia in G 129 " " and Fugue, A minor, . 59, 81 " " " " G minor, . . 106 " Fugue, (St. Ann's) 43 " " G minor, 56 " " D minor, 79 " B minor, 123, 138 " Gavotte 142 " Gigue, 72, 109 " Passacaglia, with Fugue, C minor, 129 " Pastorale 73 " Prelude, A minor 50 " " B minor, 112 " " and Fugue, G major, . 1 " " " " A minor, . 4, 85 " " " " D minor, 12, 125 " " " " E minor, 14, 111 " " " " C minor, . . 28 " E-flat, ... 135 " B-flat, ... 128 " " " " C major, . . 130 " " " " G minor, . . 138 " Sarabande, from Suite for 'cello,. 81 " Sicilienne 142 " "St. Matthew Passion," . . . . 124 " Suite, No. 3, D major 82, 103 ' ' Symphony from Christmas Oratorio, 60 " Toccatas, 107, 129, 140 " Toccata and Fugue, D minor, 29, 32 " Trio Sonata, No. 4, 129 " No. 6 101 ' ' Variations on ' ' Christ der Du bist, ' ' 129 Bach-Bachrich, Prelude, Adagio and Gavotte 57 Bach-Best, Bourree from 'Cello Sonata, 96 " " Minuet, 54 (175) INDEX PAGE. Bach-Best, Adagio and Fugue from a Violin Sonata 141 Bach-Esser, Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, 43 Bach-Gounod, "Ave Maria" . . 54, 61, 130 Bach-Hellmesberger, Fiigue, A minor, 53,85 Bach-Liszt, Prelude and Fugue, A mi- nor, 62 Bache, F. E., Andante and Allegro, . 116 Baermann, Carl, Concerto for clarinet, 69 Balfe, " Bohemian Girl," . 98, 102, 103, 112 " "Excelsior," 139 Banks' Glee Club Concerts, . . 54, 113, 149 Banner, Michael, Concert of, .... 130 Bargiel, Woldemar, "Intermezzo," 28, 54, 169 " " Marcia Fantastica," .... 6 " Overture, " Prometheus," . . 107 Barnby, Joseph, Andantino, 1 " Lullaby 49 "Rebekkah," 58 " Vesper Music, 54 Bazzini, Quartet, op. 75, .... 37, 97 Beck, Johann, Sextet, D minor, . 36, 169 Becker, Albert, Fantasia and Fugue, . 110 "Song of the Winds," .... 59 " "Springtide," 100 Beethoven, "Ah! Perfido!" 140 " Concerto for pianoforte No. 1, 44, 52, 72, 111 " Concerto for pianoforte No. 3, 50, 55, 70, 104 Concerto for pianoforte No. 4, 104 " " No. 5, 60, 124, 125, 126 " Violin, ... 80 Fantasia for pianoforte and Chorus, 33 " Fidelio," 13, 44, 71, 72, 85, 127, 149, 159 " Fugue, op. 133, 134 " Overture, "Egmont,"!, 103, 105 " " "Prometheus,"3, 102 " " "Coriolan," . . 16 " " Leonore " No. 1, 28,60 " No. 2, 56, 60 " No. 3, 60, 109 " " " Konig Stephan," 87 Quartet, op. 59, No. 3, . . .124 op. 135, 104 " Sonata, op. 10, No. 3, . . 62, 140 PAGE. Beethoven, Sonata, op. 13, 83, % op. 14, No. 2, ... 84 " op. 26, 130 op. 27, No. 2, 62, 83, 106 " " op. 28, 128 op. 31, No. 2, . . 50, 80 " op. 53, 62 op. 57 108 " " op. 81, 83 " " op. 109, 80, 83 op. 110, 83 ' ' pianoforte and violin , op 47, 5, 82 Symphony No. 1, ... 60, 100 No. 2, 57 No. 3, 108 No. 5, .... 14, 32 " " No. 6 149 No. 7, . 16, 60, 113 No. 8, . . .128,135 " Thirty-two variations, C mi- nor 5 Trio, op. 1, No. 3, 32 " op. 97 124 Variations, op. 35 84 Metronome marks on his Symphonies 136 Beethoven-Best Adagio, Fourth Sym- phony, 12 " Andante from op. 12, 96 " " Military March, ... 101 " Andante and Varia- tions 141 Beethoven String Quartet, Concerts of, 43, 81, 124 "Begum," 34, 168 Bellini, Duet from " I Puritani," . 27, 107 " "Quilavoce," 106,107 " "Son vergin vezrosa," .... 97 Bendel,"Ah! How oft my soul is moved," 141 " "Heart-throbs," UO "Prayer," 125 Bergmann, Karl 9, 63 Berlioz and Spontini 78 " " Le Spectre de la Rose," . . . 110 " Overture, " Le Corsair,". . . 43 " " Carnaval Romain,"44 " "King Lear," . . . 113 " " Rakoczy " March, ... 28, 42, 72 " Symphony, " Harold en Italie," 80 " " ' Romeo et Juliette," 37, 73, 110 Berner-Hesse, " Das Kindleinwiegen," 60 (I 7 6) INDEX PAGE. Bernicat and Mcssager, " Victor, the Bluestocking," 104,112,113 Best, W. T., Fantasia, E-flat 128 " Fantasia on Christmas Carols . . 60 " Pastorale 79 Beviguani, " La Fioraia," 83 Bird, Arthur, Gavotte, 1 " Scherzo from Symphony in A, . 31 Bird, H. R., Processional Wedding March 28 Bizet, " Carmen, "86, 96, 97, 100, 101, 103, 129 " "Les Pecheurs des Perles," ex- cerpts from 27, 28, 30 " Minuet 29 " Toreador Song ("Carmen"), - 50 Boccherini, Minuet, 110, 142 Boehm, " Souvenir des Alpes," . ... 82 Boely, A. P. F., Andante in G minor, 1 " Fantasia in G 124 Botel, Heiurich, 3 "Bohemian Girl," . . . 98,102,103,112 Bohm, Carl, Cavatina and Gavotte, . . 58 " "Dein," 109 Boildieu, " La Dame Blanche," . . 44, 49 Boito as a librettist, 146 Bonalt, Octave, Meditation Religieuse, 135 Borodin, "Serenata a 1'Espagnola," 97 Boston Symphony Society, 57. 58, 80, 105, 131 Bradsky, " Thou art my all," 4, 87, 106, 124 Brahms, Capriccio, B minor, 141 " " Heimweh," 6 " Hungarian Dances, . 81, 100, 124 " "Junge Lieder," 5 "Lullaby," 51 " "Minnelied," 5 " Quartet, op. 51, No. 2 81 " Symphony No. 2, 56 No. 3 60, 131 No. 4 86 " Variations, op. 21 101 " "Von ewiger Liebe," 5 " " Wie bist du meine Konigin," 72 Brahms-Joachim, Hungarian Dances, 110 Brambach, G. J., "Summer Night," . 53 Brandeis. F., "Danse Heroique," . . . 123 Brandt, Marianne, performance of "Fidelio," 127 Bristow, Geo. F. "Soldiers' chorus," . 54 " Six pieces for Organ 105 Brooklyn Philharmonic Society, Concerts of, 29, 54, 60, 85, 102, 110, 111, 116, 128, 142 Bruch, Max, Air from " Achilleus," 57, 83, 110 PAGE. Brnch, Concerto for violin, No. 1, . 1, 6, 13 " No. 2, . . .128 " "Normannenzug," .... 61.143 " "Media Vita," 149,150 Bruckler, H.," Lieder des jung Werners," 5 Bruckner, Anton, Symphony No. 4, "Romantic," 126,169 Biichler, F., "Treachery," 49 Buck, Dudley, "At Evening," .... 125 " " Hark the Trumpet," 104 " Impromptu Pastorale 59 " " King Olaf's Christmas," ... 49 " " Merry Brown Thrush," .129,130 " "On the Sea," 55,140 " Triumphal March 33 " "Twilight," 102 " Variations on a Scotch Air, . . 138 " " on Star Spangled Banner, 43 Bungert, August, " Auf der Wartburg," 113, 169 Burr, Willard, " Love Song," 36 Buxtehude, D., Prelude and Fugue, . 54 " Toccata and Fugue, ... 112 Caldicott, A. J., " Little Jack Homer," 54 Calkin, J. B., Allegretto, op. 62 .... 4 " Marche Religieuse, op. 61, ... 4 Camp, J. S., " The Sea Hath its Pearls," 51 Campanini Concerts, 27, 28, 30, 106, 107, 131 " Opera Company, . . . 107, 162 Capocci, Allegretto, C major, . 4, 73, 107 " Cantabile in C, 81 " Gran Coro Trionfale 43 " Melodia in D, 107 " Offertorio in C 98 " Preghiera, 4 " Prelude and Fugue, D minor, 116 " Sonata, G minor 29 Caracciolo, " Unless," 110 " Carmen," . . 86, 96, 97, 100, 101. 103, 129 Carnall, Arthur, " Melody," 112 Carri Brothers, Concerts of, 35, 58, 83, 110, 140 Cam H., "Chanson sans paroles," . . 140 " " Le Temps qui s' en vole," . . 140 " "Une Fleur Priutanniere," . .140 Chadwick, G.W., Overture," Melpomene," 143, 169 " Quartet, D major, ... 36, 169 " " She loves me," 33 " " Sweet Wind that blows," . 33 Cherubini, " Ave Maria," Ill " Overture, " Auacreou," . . 139 Chopin, Ballades, 96, 109, 130 (177) INDEX PAGE, Chopin, Andante Spianato and Polonaise, 33 " Barcarolle, % " Berceuse, . . . . 5, 96, 102, 104, 108 " Concerto in E minor, 16, 62, 97, 142 " " in F minor, 1 " Etude, op. 10, No. 8 141 " Impromptu, F-sharp, ... 50, 96 " " Lithauisches Lied," .... 109 " Marche Funebre 5 " Mazurkas 57, 71, 85 " Nocturnes, 5, 30, 44, 50, 55, 57, 62, 71, 80, 84, 96, 105, 111, 123, 138, 141 " Polonaises, 13, 29, 50, 58, 62, 84, 96, 105, 111 " Preludes 62, 101 " Scherzi 13, 29, 96, 108, 139 " Sonata, B-flat minor, 96 " Variations Brillante, % Waltzes, 29, 44, 52, 57, 62, 71, 85, 96, 102, 108, 141 Chopin-Liszt," Chant Polonais," . . 58, 80 Chopin-Sarasate, Nocturne, 53, 83 Chopin-Thomas, Funeral March, 53, 54, 108, 149 Chopin- Viardot, Mazurka, 97, 106, 107, 149 Chopin- Vogrich," Ring out, wild bells," 51 Chopin- Voyer, Polonaise, 106 Chopin-Wilhelmj, Nocturne 4 Clarke, Hamilton, Minuet 84 " Pastoral in F, 110 Cooper, J. T., Sonata Ecclesia 51 Corelli, Pastorale 130 Couperin-Best, Rondo Passacaille, . . 81 Co wen, F. H., Intermezzo from " Sleep- ing Beauty," 143, 168 Cowen, Symphony No. 5, in F, . . 113, 169 " " The Better Land," 130 Cui, Cesar, Petite Marche 43 D' Albert, Eugene, Symphony No.l, 43, 169 " " Maiden and Butterfly, ". . 58 Damrosch, Dr. Leopold, 9 Air from " Sulamith," . 53, 113 " Siegfried's Sword," ... 43 Damrosch, Symphony Society's Concerts, 53, 72, 100 Dargomijsky, " Cosatschoque," .... 69 Davidoff, Introduction and Polonaise, 32,102 Dayas, W. H., Polonaise 33 De Beriot, Concertos 4, 13, 106 " "Scene de Ballet," 107 Decker, "The Jolly Old Crow," . . . . 149 PAGE. De Koveu, R., " The Begum," . . . 34, 168 De Lange, S., Andante, C minor, ... 31 " Organ Sonata, No. 5, .... 12 De Lara," The Garden of Sleep," ... 104 Delibes, " Cadiz Maidens," 87 " Selections from "Sylvia," . 62, 139 " "Thou Great, Mighty Sea," . 140 D'Ernesti, T., Introduction and An- dante, Religioso 105 Deshayes, Henri, Allegretto 56, 108 " Andante Religioso 123 " "Communion," 96,138 " Grand Choeur et Priere, . . 28 " March. D major, 107 " Marche Triomphale, .... 12 " " Meditation," 128 " Pastorale, op. 5, 1 " " Romance Sans Paroles," . 138 " Scherzo in F 59 DeSwert, Gavotte, 59 Dewey, F., Mazurka 33 Dienel, Otto, Adagio, op. 31, No. 1, . . 14 " Andante espressivo, 107 " Concert Piece, D minor, ... % " "Echo Audante," 81 " Funeral March, 6, 125 Di Murska, lima, Concert of, 70 "Don Giovanni," 72,117 Donizetti, Air from " La Favorita," . 84 " " " " Lucrezia Borgia," 85,% " " Chi mi frena," (" Lucia,") 30 " "Daughter of the Regiment," 82, 87, 98, 100, 103 " Duet from " La Favorita," 31, 38, 42, 105, 106 " L'Elisir d'Amore," . . 42, 112 " " O mio Feruaiido," . ... 57 " Rondo from " Lucia," . . . 30 " "Spirtogentil," . . . .27,52 " "Sulla tomba," .... 106, 107 Doppler, F., Nocturne, 140 "Dorothy," 14,60,149,168 Douillet, P., Concert of 29 Dregert, A., "Spanisches Stiindchen," 143 Driffield, " Come Follow Me," . . . . 102 Dubois, Th., Cantilene Nuptiale, . . . 60 Fantasia in E 81 " " March des Rois Mages," . 80, 81 OfFertoire, E-flat 103 in E 31 " Toccata in G, 31, 130 Dupont, A.,"Angelus," op. 16, No. 2, . 60 (178) INDEX PAGE. Dupont-Westbrook, Gavotte, G minor, 12 Dvorak, Overture, " Hositzka," . .14,29 " " Quis est Homo," ... . .129 " Slavonic Dances, op. 72, 28, 54, 61, 169 " Symphony No. 1 125 No. 2, 80 " Terzetto, violins and viola, 60, 169 Eckert, " Echo " song 97 Eichenkranz, Concert 139 Eisfeldt, Th.," On the Seashore," ... 140 "Elijah," Ill Engelsberg, " Die Muttersprache," . . 82 " On upper Langbathsea, . 140 " Entfilhrung aus dem Serail," .... 135 " Erminie," 82 Ernst, " Airs Hongrois," 1, 5, 140 " Fantasia, "II Pirata," . . . . 110 " " Othello," 83 "Euryanthe," 2, 42, 57, 62, 70, 79, 85, 97, 152, 153 Evans, Frederick S., Concert of, . . . 123 " Faust," ... 56, 58, 107, 135, 138, 152, 153 Federlein, G., " My Soul is Dark," . . 52 " Waltz Song, 149 " Ferdinand Cortez," . . . . 73, 80, 81, 168 "Fidelio," 13, 44, 71, 72, 85, 127, 150, 152, 153, 159 Fink, C., Sonata, E-flat, op. 6, ... 59, 111 Fischer, Emil, as Hagen, 94 Fittig, " O, Diarnle tief drunt im Thai," 82 Fleming, ''Integer vitse," 104 " Fleur de The," 129 Floersheim, Otto, " Elevation," ... 55 " Nocturne 139 " Novelette, 101 " " O Linger Yet," 139 " Scherzo 61, 169 Florio.Caryl, Concert of his Compositions, 131 Flotow, " M'appari," 28, 42 "Martha," ..5,12,44,84,85,97 " "Stradella," 31 Foeppl, C. A., "La Garde," 113 Foote, Arthur, " Farewell of Hiawatha," 54 " " Milkmaid's Song," 36 " Overture, "In the Mountains," 31 " Fra Diavolo," Ill, 113 Franchetta, Alberto, Preludio, " Asrael," 86,169 Franck, C6sar, Cautabile 28, 73 " Fantasia in A 54 PAGE. Franck, Cesar, Finale, B-flat 51 " Pastorale in E, 125 " " Piece Heroique," . . . .43,101 " Francois, les Bas Bleus," . . 104, 112, 113 Franz, R., "Abschied," 141 " " Ave Maria," 56 " "Bitte," 32 " " Er ist gekommen," .... 141 " "Lied," 106 " " The Thornbush," 109 " " Through the Valley," . . . . 109 " Freischutz," 9, 43, 53, 57, 72, 99 Frescobaldi, Fugue, E minor, .... 50 Frost, C. J., Larghetto 1, 84 " Variations on ' ' Hark the Herald Angels," 98 Fumagalli, Sonata in D 31 Gade, Trio, op. 42 110 Garrett, G. M., Postlude 79 Gastoldon, " Melody," 70 German Hospital, Concert for 82 Germans and Music 6 German Opera versus Italian, . . . 154, 162 Gernsheim, F.," Das Grab im Busento," 6,168 " Sextet, op. 53 72, 169 "Salamis," 61 Gerster, Etelka, 42 Gevaert, "Saul's Prophetengesang," . 6 Gigout, Eugene, Andante and Alle- gretto in A minor, .... 110 " Andante Sostenuto, A major, . 98 " Largo, D minor 130 " Prelude and Fugue, B minor, 125 Gilchrist, W. W.," Drinking Song," . 51 " " Festival " Magnificat, . . 33 Gleason, F. G., Arioso froin"Montezuma," 31 " Prelude to " Otho Visconti," 69, 103, 169 Glinka, Air from " A Life for the Czar," 28 " " Komarinskaja," 56 " " Noble Chief," 100 Gluck, Air from " Armede," 131 " Ballet 51 "Che faro," 29,42,101 Godard, B.,"Au Matin," 35 ' ' Canzonetta, Minuet and Serenade, 51 " " Go Not, Happy Day," ... 102 " " Le Retour de Prin temps," .102 Mazurka, 32, 35 Godefroid, F.," Gouttes de Rosee," . . 123 (179) INDEX PAGE. Go tterdam m eru ng, 80, 87, 97, 103, 107, 108, 110, 126, 152, 153, 168 Goldbeck, R., " Cricket," 5 " " Dream Bells," 49 " " Dreaming by the Brook," 4 " " Memories," 5 " " Three Fishers," 105 " " Tourbillon," 4 Goldner-Allen, Andante from Suite, op. 40 105 " " Suite, op. 39 102 Goldmark, K., Overture," Sakuntala," 55, 98, 111, 112 " "Queen of Sheba," . . .134 Suite, op. 11, 103 " Symphony, " Landliche Hoehzeit," 104, 125, 133, 142 " Trio, op. 4, 83 Gomez, Aria from " II Guarany," . 42, 71 " Overture " . . 104 Gottschalk, "Dernier Amour," . ... 5 " " LeBananier," 50 " Tarantella 106 " "Tremolo," . . 102, 108 Gounod, "Ah ! col nibbio," 110 " "Ave Maria," 61, 130 " "By Babylon's Wave," 139, 141 " "Faust," 56, 58, 107, 135, 138, 152, 153 " Festival March 27 " "Le parlate d'amor," . , . . 52 " Marche et Cortege from " La Heine de Saba," 101 " " O Salutaris," 141 " " Ou voulez vous aller ? " . . 36 " " Plus grand dans son obscu- riteV' from "La Reine de Saba," . . . .37,104,113,141 " " Quandoa telieta," . . . . 104 " Romanza from " Cinq Mars," 107 " " Salve dimora," . 27, 28, 106, 139 " " Spring Song," 4 " "The Worker," 129 Gounod-Liszt, Waltz from " Faust," . 55 Gounod-Martin, excerpts from "The Redemption," 133 Gounod Vocal Society Concerts, . . 61, 141 Gouvy," Swedish Dance,," 140 Graben-Hoffmann, " Schonster Engel," 82, 130 Graedener, " Capriccio," 28 " Lustspiel Ouverttire." 69, 169 Grammann, "Blissful Joy," 109 PAGE. Grammann, " Das erste Lied," ... 139 Gregh, "Deh vieni alia flnestra," . . 28 Greiuer, H., Conductor 9 Grieg, "Aus Holberg's Zeit," . . . . 13, 50 " Berceuse, 142 " Concerto for pianoforte, . . 130, 135 " " Der Schwan," 55 " " Erstes Begegnen." 55 " " Es war einmal ein Konig," . 73 " " Herzwunden," 103 " " Ich liebe Dich," ... 55, 124, 140 " " Im Friihling," . . 61, 87, 100, 103 " Quartet, op. 27 43, 55, 59, 97 " Sonata for pianoforte and violin, 4 " "The Old Song," 57 Grieg- Allen, " Piece Symphonique," . 135 Grieg-Mees, "Folklife," op. 19, . . . 123 Guilmant, Air and Variations 61 " Allegretto, B minor, .... 98 " Allegro, F-sharp minor . . 128 " " Anthem," op. 33, No. 1, . 85 " Andante in G, 116 " Cantilene Pastorale 103 " Canzona, op. 40, No. 2, ... 1 " Fugue in D, op. 25, ... 27, 130 " Grand Choeur, D major, . 123 " Marche Triomphale, E-flat, 4 " Offertory on Christmas Hymns, 60, 73, 79 " Scherzo, op. 16, No. 4, ... 85 Sonata for organ No. 3, 107, 112 " No. 4, . . 32 Guiraud, Ernest, " Carnival," ... 40, 169 Halevy, " La Juive," . 54, 57, 60, 83, 152, 153 Hall, Walter J., Concert of, ...... 32 Handel, "Awake! Saturnia," . . 102, 104 " Fugue, E minor, 124 " Largo in G 125, 142 "Messiah," . . 70, 73, 80, 113, 149 " Prelude and Fugue, E minor, 31 " " Return, O God of Hosts." . Ill " " Sound an Alarm," 107 " Variations (" Harmonious Black- smith"), 55, 109 Handel-Best, Larghetto from twelfth concerto 125 " " Overture, "Saul,". . .105 Handel-Lux, Three pieces from " The Messiah," 80 Hartmann, Emil, Overture, "The Vi- kings," 116, 122 Hartmann, V 9 Harwood, Basil, Andante in D 124 Hasse, " Ritorne rai fra poco," .... 35 (180) INDEX PAGE. Hatton, J. L., "The Enchantress," . . 51 Hauptmaun, M., " Gretchen," . ... 49 Hauser, Rhapsodic Hongroise, . . 27, 106 Hawley, C. B., " Ah ! 'tis a Dream," . . 51 Haydn, As a writer of programme music, 137 " Quartet, D major, op. 64, . . 103 " "Rolling in Foaming Billows," 108, 150 " Symphony in C, "L'Ours," . 135 " " " E-flat, . . . 37,110 " Variations in F minor .... 80 " " " Emperor," ... 109 Haydn-Best, Adagio from fourth sym- phony 50 " " Adagio from symphony in G, 59 " " Allegretto in D, 84 " " " Insanse," motet,. . . .133 Henrion, "Le Muletier de Tarragone," 124, 142 Henselt, "Ave Maria," 12, 32 " Concerto for pianoforte, . . 60 " Etude, op. 2, No. 2, 130 " " "Eroica," 83 " Scherzo, 113 " Trio, A minor, 58 Herbert, V., Concerto for violoncello, 56, 169 Herman, Reinhold L., " Song to May, "109 " Scenes from " Launcelot," 150, 168 Hesse, Adolph, Prelude and Fugue, C minor, 141 " Theme and Variations Ill " Toccata, A-flat 124 Higgs, H. M., Offertory, D minor, ... 50 " Pastorale , .... 27 Hiles, Henry, Festival March in C, . . 31 Hiller, F., " O world, thou art," ... 113 " "The Larks," 54 Hlavac, " Chopin Suite," 123,169 Hoeh, Louise, Concert of, 109 Hofmann, H.," Clerici beati sunt," 97, 129 "Expectation," 141 " Sextet, op. 65, 124 " Summer Nights," .... 59 Hofmann-Shelley, " Russian Romance," 32 Hofmann, Josef, Concerts of, 44, 50. 52, 55, 57, 58, 62, 70, 71, 72, 83, 85, 96, 101, 104, 109, 111, 165. " Barcarolle, 101 " Berceuse, 44, 84, 109 " " Les larmes," 62, 101 PAGE. Hofmann, Josef, Mazurka 52 " " Polonaise Americaiue," . 85 " Romance 52 " Serenade 84 " Souvenir, 52 " " The Devil's Mill," . 70, 84, 109 " Waltz 44, 52, 72, 84, 105 Hopkins, E. J., Allegro Modera to in A, 54 " SicilianoinG . . 135 Huber, Hans, Fantasia, C minor, . . 112 " " Romischer Carnaval," . .56,169 Hummel, Concerto, A minor, .... 102 Huss, Henry Holdeu, "Ave Maria," 142, 168 " Rhapsody for pianoforte and orchestra, 29, 169 Irish Music, Concerts of 128 " " Spirit of 98 Isenmann, " Gut' Nacht, ihr Blumen," 82 Italian versus German Opera, 162 Jadassohn, Andante, 140 " Trio in C minor, 36 Jensen, "Bridal Song," 112 " " Friihlingslied," 72 " "Murmuring Zephyrs," . . .129 Joachim, Romance 107 " Scene from " Demetrius," . 143 Jiingst, Hugo, " Parting," 53 " Zwei Altslavische Lieder, 143, 168 Kalkbrenner, Pianoforte Duo 57 Kelley, Edgar S.," Chinese Love Song," 83 " "In the Garden," 83 " " Love and Sleep," 109 " "Love's Fillet," 109 " " My Silent Song," 109 " "Royal Gaelic March," . ... 31 " Scherzo, . . 33 Kiel, F., "Humoreske," 102,109 Kienzl, "German Shepherds," .... 59 King, Oliver, "Israfel," 97 Kjerulf, " Sing, Sing," 36 Klahre, Edwin, Concerts of 50, 130 Klein, Bruno Oscar, " Dialogue," . . . 6 " "Hochzeitskliinge," . . .142,169 " " Liebeslied," 142, 169 " " O du meine liebliche Liebe," 49 Klindworth, Karl, Recitals of, . 83, 96, 100 Kneisel Quartet, Concert of, 108 Koschat, " Forsaken," 149 Krebs, J. L., Prelude, A minor, . . . 124 " Prelude and Fugue in C, ... 27 Kremser, Altniederlandisch.es Lied, . 82 Kretschmer, Coronation March, . . 57, 71 (181) INDEX TACK. Kreutzer, C.,"Schafer'sSonntagslied," 82 " Waldeslied," 6 Krug, Arnold, Intermezzo, ..... 105 " Serenade, Sextet, . . . 87, -r.i. K.'.> " Symphonic Prologue " Othello," 82, 108, 131 Kuehmstedt, " Fantasia Eroica," ... 105 Kullak, Th., Pastorale in F 123 Lachner, " Mondscheinnacht," ... 139 Lacomb, P., "The MimiiiK" 52 " La Dame Blanche," 44,49 " La Figlia del Reggimento," 82, 87, 98, 100, 103 " La Jtlive," .... 54, 57, 60, 83, 152, 153 Lalo, Edouard, Overture, "Le Roi d'Ys," 81, 170 " Excerpts from " Namouna," 43, 170 Lassen, " All Souls' Day," 58 " " Die helle Sonne," 102 " "Ich denke Dein," 43 " " Sommer- Abend," . . . . 33, 124 " "Thine Eyes, so Blue," . . . 49 " " Wfiin dor Kriihliug," ... 37 " "Wohin?" 43 Laub, Polonaise, 3, 83 Lawtou, Mr. and Mrs.W. H., Concert of, 105 Le Clair, Josephine, Concert of .... 138 Lecocq, " Madelon," (" La petite Made- moiselle,") 52 " " Pearl of Pekin," (" Fleur de The,") 128 Lehmann, Lilli, as Bninnhilde '.>;; Leiter, J., " Drinking Song," 53 "L'Elisird'Amore," 42,112 Lemaigre, Andantino, A-flat, Ill " Cantabile, B-flat 6 " Elegie, C minor, 14 " Prelude, C minor 6 Lemmens, Souatc Pascale, 85 " " I'ontitieale, .... 56 Lenz, " Landsknccht's Morgenlied," . 53 " "Schnsucht," 53 Leonard, " Souvenir de Haydn," . . . 54 Lessmann, O.," Du rothe Rose,". .139 Liebe, L., "Das Heldengrab," ... 33 " " In the Night," 49 " " Krieger's Nachtwache,"139 Liederkranz Concerts 7, S3, 99, 150 Liszt, "Annecs de Pelerinage," .... 100 " Ballades 13,100,139 " " Can tique d' Amour," 5 " Concerto No. 1 61, 73 Liszt, Concerto No. 2 61 " "Die drei Zigeuuer," 143 " " Dreams of Love," 50 " Etudes 13, 50, 100 " " Evocation & la Chapelle Sixtine," 133 " Fantasia, " Les Huguenots," . 101 " Fantasie Hongroise, 133 " "Faust" Symphony, 140 " "Fest-Kliinge," 33 " "Galop Chromatique," . . . 62 " " Glocken des Strassburger Miiu- sters," 33 " " Gondoliera," 109, 110 " "Harmonies du Soir," 101 " Hungarian Rhapsodies, . 4, 28, 32, 36, 49, 53, 54, 56, 69, 80, 84, 97, 99, 100, 108, 110, 113, 116, 123, 133, 141 " " Illustration xur Afrikanerin," 130 " " Le Rossignol," 5, 130 " "Lea Preludes," 43,85,100 " " Litanei," 43 " " Mignon," 29, 140 " "O Salutaris," 113 " Polonaise No. 2, 30, 42, 81, 84, 100, 102, 104, 125, 140 " Psalm CXXXVII 113, 168 " Sonata, B minor, 100 " "Tanz in der Dorfschenke," . 53 " "Tasso," 86 " "Thou'rt like a flower,". . . 48 " Valse Impromptu 100 " Variations on Bach's" Crucifixus," 133 Litolff, "Concerto Symphonique," 14, 100 Lloyd, Charles A.," Lougbeard's Saga," 53 "Lohengrin," 49, 50, 63, 70, 86, 99, 103, 109, 138, 152, 153 Lortzing, Air from " Undine," .... 82 Ludwig, William, Concerts of 128 Lysberg, Fantasia on " Don Giovanni, "72 Macfarreu, G. A., " Religious March," 84 " "The Hunter's Joy,". . .149 " "You Spotted Sinikos." . .142 Mackenzie, A. C., " Come, Sisters, Come," 100 I'Vstival March 82 Macy, J.C.," The Chimes," 59 "Madelon," 52 Mair, Franz, " Like the Woodland Rose," 51. 102 " " Suomi's Song," 108 "Manfred, "Schumann's Music to, 1 (182) INDEX PA<;E. Manzocchi, Duo from " I Pcscatori," . 28 Marchetti, "Senon volcvi." 102 Mareu/io, "Sec where the rapid," . . 49 Marie Klisabeth, " Wk-genlied," . . . 81 Marsh. "The Lord is My Light," . . . 130 " Martha," 5, 12, 44, 84, 85, 97 Mason, W. II., Scherzo 33 Massenet, "At Kvening," . . . . 138, 111 " "II est donx," 37 " Le Cid, " Ballet from, 6, 97, 170 " " Air from .... 129 " " Marche Heroique," - . 85, 111 " "Ocastaflor," 27 " Overture, " Phedre," .... 71 " Scenes Pittoresques, .... 101 " "Si tu veux, Miguonne," . . 53 Mattoon, E. 8., Tarantelle 33 Mawsou, Lucie E., Concert of 140 McDowell, K. A., " Hamlet," ... 29, 170 " " My .lean," 129 McGuckin, Barton, Concerts of 128 " MeistersiiiKcr," 13, 29, 53, 57, 71, 113, 117, 130, 150, 152, 153 Mellon, A.," Crowned with the Clusters," 55 Mendelssohn, Capriccio, B minor, 50, 103, 105 " " Cheerful Wanderer," 54, 109, 140 " Concerto, Q minor, 85, 96, 102, 109 " " for violin, . . . 3, 86 " " Klijah," Ill " FrUhlingslied," . . %, ill " " If with all your hearts," 57 "Jerusalem," 103 " " Lark's Bong," 100 " " Lift thine Eyes," ... 28 " March from " Athalie," .125 Meditation VI, 1 108 " " Morning Prayer," . . .100 " Nocturne 14 " " CEdipus," Scene from, . 149 " "O Know ye Not," ... 60 " "O Lord, have Mercy," . 60 " Organ Sonata No. 2, ... 4 " No. 4, ... 125 " " No. 6, ... 14 " Overture, "Midsummer- night's Dream, "41, 12!! " " " Fingal's Cave," 53, 56, 101, 102 " " " Melusine," . 80 " "Parting Song," 49 PAGE. Mendelssohn, "Poet's Heart," . . . . 106 " Psalm XI, II 62, 129 Quartet, op. :i 109 " Quintet, op. 7 \\-> Romance, op. 101), B, . . . 106 " K lo lirilhuitc, . . . 55, 59 " Capriccioso, 55, 70, 84, 105, 106 " Scherzo from " Midsum- mernight's Dream," . 43 " Spinning Song," 52, 70, 96, 108, 111 " "Spring," V, 6 108 " " Summer Song," .... 54 " Trio, C minor, 104 " Walpurgis Night," ... 141 " " Wedding March," ... 14 Mendelssohn-Cooper, Adagio from Octet, 27 Mendelssohn-Liszt,"On Wings of Song," 4 Mendelssohn- Warren, " Es 1st in den Waldgesungen," 14 Mendelssohn Glee Club Concerts, 63, 108, 149 Mercadante, " Ah! B' eestiuto." . . . 106 " Air from " II Bravo," . 61, 149 " " Soave iminagine," . . . 129 Merkel, Andante, op. 122, 4 " Christinas March 79 " Easter March, 138 " Introduction and Fugue, ... 96 " Overture, C minor 81 " Sonata, G minor 54 " " D minor 30, 112 " " No. 6, op. 137 133 No. 3 102 " Messiah," 70, 73, 80, 113 Metropolitan Opera Season, . . .151,153 Meyerbeer, Air from " Dinorah," . . 62 " Ballad from " L'Africaine, "71 " Cavatiuafrom " Robert," . 105 " " " "L'Africaine," 61 " Coronation March, .... 96 " " Fackeltanz," 70 " " Fauciulle che il core," . 107 " " Les Huguenots," 55, 57, 58, 60, 61 " " Nobil Signer," 30 " Overture "Struensee," . . 83 " " Prophet," 31, 42, 128, 129, 152, 15S " " Schiller March," . . . . 109 " " Sei vendicata assai," . .106 INDEX PAGE. Meyer-Hellmund, ' Gestandniss," . . 130 " " Love," . . 55, 102, 104 " " Madchenlied," .149 " "Maiden with the lips so rosy," . 48, 97 " Nocturne, op. 28, . . 58 " " The Daily Question," 62, 139 " " Zauberlied," ("Magic- Song,") .107,113,124 Mockridge, Whitney, Concert of ... 139 Mohr, Hermann, " Das Gewitter," 99, 168 " " To the Genius of Music," . . 105 Moor, Emanuel, Concert of 62 " "Consolation," 62 " "Desire," 62 " Hungarian Dances 62 " Nocturne, D major 62 " Suite No. 2 62 " "To the Wind," 62 " "To Zuleikah," 62 Morandi, G., " Horn " Overture, ... 1 Morley, Thos. " My Bonny Lass," ... 100 Moszkowski, Barcarolle, 4 " Serenata, ... 32, 36, 101, 110 " Suite No. 1, .... 81, 116, 125 " " Und wiissten die Blumen," 124 Mozart, Air from " Constanze und Bel- mont," (" Die Entfuhrung,") 87 " Cavatina from "The Magic Flute," 42, 131 " Concerto in D minor, . . 52, 57, 71 " " Dies Bildniss ist bezaubernd schon," 131 " " Dalla sua pace," 43 " "Don Giovanni," 117 " " Entfuhrung aus dem Serail," 135 " " I domeneo," Ballet from, . . 14 " "E Susanna non vien," ... 37 "Madamina," 28,42,107 " " Le Nozze di Figaro," . . . .149 " " Non pill andrai," 28, 52, 59, 109 " "Quisdegno," 107 " Requiem 50 " Rondo, A minor 71 " Sonata for two pianofortes, . 71 " Symphony in G minor 104 " " Voi che sapete," 28 Mozart-Best. Andante, 116 Murio-Celli, " A Father's Love," ... 55 " " 'Mid Starry Deeps," . .106 Musurgia, Concerts of, 51, 105 PAGK. Nardini, Larghetto, 139 " Sonata for pianoforte and violin, 83 " Nero," 134, 138 Nessler, " Trompeter von Sakkingen," 32, 38, 43, 51, 52, 61, 69, 82, 152, 153, 168 Nessler, Wedding March, 105 Neuendorff, A 63 " Scherzo, 105 New York String Quartet, Concerts of 55, 103, 112 Nicholl, H.W., Romance 105,111 Nicode, J. L., Symphonic Variations, . 150 Nicolai, Overture, " Merry Wives," . . 85 Niemann, Albert, as Siegfried, . . . 94, 95 Niemaun, R., Minuet, 83 Novelties, 167 Oakeley, H. S., Andante in D 102 Oelschlager, " Sea and Heart," . . . .105 Oratorio Society, Concerts of . .50, 70, 124 Orpheus Glee Club, Concerts of . .55, 102 Osgood, Geo., " Found," 59,149 "Otello," 101,105,143,165,168 Otto, " A Summer Landscape," .... 102 Ouseley, F. A. G., Overture," Hagar," 125 Paganini, Concerto No. 1, 35, 140 " Variations, " Mose," . . 27, 28 " " Witches' Dance," .... 140 Paganini-Liszt, Caprices, 84 " " " La Campanella," 29, 50, 82, 101, 108 Paganini-Schumann, Etude 59 Paine, J. K., Sonata, pianoforte and violin 36 " "Spring." Symphony 29 " "Tempest," 37,110 Paradies, P. D., Aria in E, 112 Parker, H. W., " King Trojan," . . 40, 168 Parker, "Jerusalem," 149 Parry, C. H. H.," Blest pair of Sirens," 48 Paul ton and Jakobowski, " Erminie," 82 " Pearl of Pekin," 128 Pearson, W. W.," Three Doughtie Men," 49,100 Perry, Edward B., " Loreley," .... 33 " Petite Mademoiselle, La, " . . . . 52 Phelps, E. H.," The Haunted Stream," 55 Philharmonic Society, New York, Con- certs of 32, 56, 82, 108, 125, 149 Philharmonic Society, Brooklyn, Con- certs of, 29, 54, 60, 85, 102, 110, 111, 116, 128 Philharmonic Club, Concerts of 37, 72, 104, 124 Pinsuti," Now the Concert is all over," 139 (184) INDEX PAGE. Pirani, Gavotte," 50, 70 Pitch, Sense of 45 Piutti, Carl, " Orgel Hymne," .... 113 Pohl, R. " Das Nordlicht," 150 Ponchielli, "Cielo e mar," 30 " Voce di donna," .... 27 " Postilion de Lonjumeau," 12, 16, 26, 27, 33, 42, 44, 51 Praeger, F. " Life, Love, Strife, Victory," 142, 170 Pratt, Silas G. " Reverie," 31 Prodigies in Music 44 "Prophete,". . . .31,42,128,129,152,153 Proxy Marriage in " Gotterdammerung," 93 Prudent, " Dance of the Fairies," . . 106 " "Les Naiades," 108 "Queen of Sheba," 134 Raboch.W. A., Concert of 106 Raff, " Am Loreley Fels," 13,50 " Cavatina, 4, 106 " Concerto for 'cello, op. 193, . 128, 170 " "Ever with Thee," 55,104 " " Good Night from the Rhine," . 48 " Quartet, op. 192, No. 2, ... 124, 142 " Serenade 97 " "Spinning Song," 106 " Symphony, "1m \Valde," . .61,105 Ragnarok, Ethical conception of, ... 95 Rakowski, Hungarian Serenade, ... 107 Rameau, Variations, 44, 101 Randegger, "Silver Christmas Bells," 100 " Trio, "I Naviganti," ... 97 Rauchenecker, C., Quartet, C minor, 112, 170 Ravina, Etude, 52, 55, 72, 105 Reichardt, "Love's Request,". ... 71 Reichel.F.," Under All theTreetops," 142 Reinecke, Gavotte 6 Impromptu, op. 66 109 " Manfred " music, . . .61,84 Variations, " Ein' feste Burg," 28, 170 Rheinberger, "Autumn Song," .... 109 ' Fantasia, op. 79, .... 130 " "Fantasia Sonata," . . 50 " " Jagdmorgen," . . . .150 " Organ Sonata No. 1, . . 27 " " " No. 4, . . 81 " " " No. 5, . . 110 " " " No. 6, . . 124 " " No. 11, . 135 " " " G major, op. 88, 103 PAGE. Rheinberger, Sonata Pastorale, . . . 1, 81 " " St. John's Eve, . . 102, 104 " Passacaglia 142, 170 " "The Wayside Brook," 138, 141 " Toccatina, 141 " " Verfallene Muhle," . 143 Rhodes, Sedohr, Concert of, 97 Ricci, Terzetto from " Crispino," 28, 30, 106. 107 Riedl, " Jetzt ist er hinaus," 33 " " Wie stolz und stattlich," . . . 33 Ries, Franz," Du bist die Herrliehste," 141 " "Es muss was wunderbares sein," 51 " Suite, op. 26 35, 106, 140 Rietzel, H., " I Saw Thee Weep," . . . 36 Rietzel, J. C., " Volksthumliche Suite," 69, 102, 170 " Ring of the Niblung," 100, 157 Ritter, A. G., Sonata, E minor, .... 138 Ritter, F. L 9 Roeder, "Love's Dream," 62,139 " " Mary Magdalen," .... 62, 129 " "Spanish Serenade," 129 Rossini, "Ah quel giorno !" 27 " "Bel raggio," 54 " Buffo air, "Cenerentola," 27, 106 " " Inflammatus," 129 " " Largo al factotum," . . .107 " Overture, "William Tell," . . 58 " Terzetto," Italian! in Algieri," 28,30 " "Una voce poco fa," .... 42 Rossini-Paganini, "Di tanti palpiti," 36 Rotoli, "Bella biondina," 106 " " La mia bandiera," 96 Rubinstein, Air from " Der Damon," 128,129 " Bal Costume," . . .73,142 " Barcarolles, . 50, 84, 108, 130, 141 " Concerto for violin, .... 32 " " D minor, for pianoforte, 98,100 " " for 'cello No. 2, . 108, 170 " " Die Lerche," 59 " "Dubistwie eine Blume," 59 " E dunque ver? " . . 129, 139 " " Kammenoi-Ostrow " No. 22, 13,50 " "La Russie," 80, 86 " Melodie," 109 " " Morgenlied," 106 " " Nero," 134, 138 " Quartet, op. 66 55 INDEX PAGE. Rubinstein, Quartet, op. 17, 141 " " op. 90, No. 2, . . 81 Quintet, op. 99 125 " Romances for pianoforte, 50, 85, 109, 128, 130 " Romance for violin, .... 5 " Sonata for pianoforte and 'cello, 112 " "Song of the Birds," ... 141 " "Sweetly Sang the Bird," 59 " Symphony No. 6 83 " "The Lotus Flower," ... 59 " "The Water Nymph," . . 59 " " Thou art like unto a flower," 4 " Toccata 59, 101 " Trio, B-flat, op. 52 108 " " No. 1, op. 15, 140 Rubinstein Club, Concerts of ... 59, 141 Russell, L. A., Pastoral, 29,168 Rust, F. W., Sonata for violin . . 104, 140 Saint-Saens, Adagio. Second Symphony, 98 " Air from " Samson and Delilah," 141 " Ballet Music from " Henri VIII," 43 " Barcarolle, 73 " " Benediction Nuptiale," . . 27,81 " Concerto, G minor, 87, 124 " Concertstiick for violin 50 " "Danse Macabre," 105 " "Elevation," E major 1 " " Le Rouet d'Omphale," . . 53,98 " " Marche Heroique," ..... 69 " "Phaeton," 44,130 " "Reverie du Soir," 72 " " Rhapsodie d'Auvergne," ... 32 " Rhapsody No. 1 on Breton Melodies, 14 " Symphony No. 3, C minor, . . . 134 " Tarantelle for flute and clarinet, 103, 116 Saint-Saens-Guilmant, Prelude, " Le Deluge," 124 Salom, Grand Choeur, A 4 " March, B-flat 56 " " Melodie," C major 85 " Offertory, D-flat, 112 " op. 8 128 ' Sonata, C minor 105 Santley, " Only to Love," 130 Sapio, R., " Vieni sua 1'onda," . . 58, 85 Sarasate, " Faust " Fantasia, ... 57, 139 " " Serenade Andalouse," . . 4, 6 " "Zapateada," 1,53 PAGE. Sarasate, " Zigeunerweisen," . 28,52,100 Scarlatti, Allegro Vivace 29 ' "O cessata di piagarmi," . . 133 Pastorale 29, 52, 72, 109 " Sonata, D minor 141 Schamann, Anton, " Rovers," .... 53 Scharwenka, P., " Arkadische Suite," 97, 170 " " Liebesnacht," 56, 86, 116, 170 " X., Concerto No. 1, . . 87, 123 " Sonata, pianoforte and violin, 58 Schlesinger, S. B., Melody, 105 Schmidt, Gustav, " Carmosenella," . . 33 Schneider, J., Fantasia and Fugue, C minor, 84 Schnell, "In Springtime," 139 Schotte, Armin, Overture on American Airs 82 Schreiber, L., "Souvenir de West," . 113 Schubert, " Abschied," 109 " " Am Meer," 5, 82, 124 " Aufenthalt," 13, 124 " "Cradle Song," 109 " " Der Neugierige," 13 " "Der Tod und das Madchen," 124 " " Der Wanderer," 53, 86, 108, 129 " " Friihlingsglaube," .... 5 " "Fruhlingsnacht," 124 " Funeral March, C minor, . . 133 " " God in Nature," 141 " " Gretchen am Spinurade," 149 " " Gruppe aus dem Tartarus," 14 " " Hedge Roses," 140 " "Im Abendroth," 124 " " Im Freien," 72 " " Impromptu," G major, 80, 82 " " Kennst du das Land?" . 43 " " Nachtstuck," 109 " Quartet, D minor, 43, 69, 108, 124 " Quintet, op. 114 72 "Sehnsucht," .109 " "Standchen," 13,56 " Symphony in C, . . . 29, 53, 80 " " B minor, . . 53, 125 " The Trout," 140 " "The Young Nun," ... 57 "Ungeduld,". . . . 13,56,124 Schubert-Best, Adagio in C, 32 " " Andantino, 32 " " Entr'acte " Rosamuude," 32 Schubert-Heller, " Die Forelle," ... 83 (186) INDEX PAGE. Schubert-Joachim, Duo Sonata, op. 140, 81 Schubert-Liszt," Du bist die Rub.'," 48, 87, 101 " " Funeral March 57 " " " Great is Jehovah," . .113 " " " Wanderer " Fantasia, 139 " " Erdmannsdorfer, Diver- tissement a la Hougroise, 83, 102, 133 Schubert-Tausig, Marche Militaire, . 55 Schultz, Edwin, "Das Herz am Rhein," 139 " "Forest Harps," . . . 49, 53, 149 Schumann, "Albumblatter," 29 " "Arabesque," op. 18, ... 84 "Carneval," 130 " Concerto, A minor, ... 80, 113 " " for violoncello, . . 105 " " Die alteu bosen Lieder," . 13 " " Die beiden Grenadiere," 14 " " Du bist wie eine Blume," 53 " " Er, der Herrlichste von Al- len," 32 " "Friihlingsnacht," .... 6 " "Gypsy Life," 149 " "Ich grolle uicht," . . .140 " "Ich kann's nicht fassen," 56 " " Im wunderschouen Monat Mai," ... 13 " "In der Fremde," .... 6 " " Manfred," Music to, 123,125 " " Mit Myrthen und Rosen, "140 " " Monduacht," 56 " Overture, " Bride of Messina," 61 " Overture, Scherzo and Finale, 134 " Quartet, op. 47, 37, 81 " op. 41, No. 1, . . 103 " op. 41, No. 3, . . .108 " Romance, op. 28 140 "Rovers," 149 " Scenes from " Faust," . . 50, 99 " Sonata, F-sharp minor, . . 55 " Sonata, pianoforte and violin, 110 " " Sonnenschein," 32 " " Sonntag am Rhein, . . . 6, 13 " Symphony No. 3, " Rhenish," 85, 108 " " No. 4, D minor, 82, 98 " "Tragodie," 5 " Variations for two pianofortes, 101 PAGE. Schumann, "Vogelals Prophet," . 6, 59, 87 " " Waldesgesprach," . 6, 83, 140 " " Wanderlied," 13 " "Water Sprite," 141 " "Widmung," 83 Schumann-Best, Tempo di Minuetto . 73 Schumann-Reinecke, "Bilder aus Os- ten," 103 Seeling, Hans, "Gnomentanz," . . . 83 Seidl, Anton, Concerts of. ... 117,126,135 " Conducting of " Gotterdammer- ung," 94 ' " of Beethoven's Eighth Symphony, 136 " Letter on Wagner's Symphony,117 Selby, B. Luard, " Reverie," .... 4, 130 Sgambati, Gavotte 32 " Minuetto, op. 18, 58 Shelley, H.R., "Christmas," 60 " " Dance of Egyptian Maidens," 29 " Grand Sonata for strings, . 116, 170 " "Resurrection," 125 " Serenade, A minor, 138 " "Twilight Picture," 14 Sherwood, E. H., "When I Dream of Thee," 36 Sherwood, W. H.," Idy lie," 113 " " Medea," 33 " Siegfried," . 17, 27, 29, 32, 51, 59, 69, 80, 81, 101, 105, 111, 142, 152, 153, 168 Siegfried, Description of in Eddas, . . 95 Silas, E., Sonata in F 96 " Singing, Decadence of, .... 164 Sjogren, E., Fantasia, op. 15, No 1, . . 50 Smart, Henry, Andante grazioso, . 96, 125 " Postlude, E-flat 12 " " The Water Nymph," 49 Smetana, F.," Eine Lustspiel Ouverture," 28, 98, 170 Smith, Gerrit, Organ Recitals of, .1, 4, 6, 14, 28, 32, 43, 51, 56, 60, 79, 81, 85, 98, 103, 107, 111, 112, 123, 125, 128, 130, 138 Smith, Wilson G., Gavotte 33 Spark, Wm., Variations, " Jerusalem, the golden," 123 Spohr, Adagio, A-flat, 6 Spohr-Best, Adagio Ninth Concerto, . 130 " " Andantino, 134 " " Larghetto from Symphony No. 1, 31 " Psalm CXXX 110 Spontini as Conductor 76 " and Wagner 76, 78 " and Berlioz 78 INDEX PAGE. Spontini, " Ferdinand Cortez," 73, 80, 81, 168 Staeger," The Dream King and his Love," 149 Stanford, C.V., Irish Symphony, 72, 98, 170 Stephenson and Cellier, " Dorothy," 14, 60, 149, 168 Stewart, R. P., Concerto Fantasia, . . 81 Storch, A. M., " Nachtzauber," .... 143 "Stradella," 31 Strauss, "Artists' Life," 28 " " Wine, Women, and Song," . 54 Strauss, Richard, "Italy," . 128,129,170 Strelezki, A., "Dreams,". . . . 129,130 Strong, G. Templeton, Symphony No. 1, 40,170 Sturm, "Der Lenz ist da," 143 " " Der Ritt in's Waldgeheg," 61, 82 " "Twitter, twitter," 59 St. Verroulst, Oboe solo, 133 Sucher, J., "Das Waldfraulein," ... 99 " "Visions," 59 " " Wonneverkiindigung," . .140 Svendsen, Quartet, op. 1 72 " Romance for violin, . . 72, 111 " "Serenade Venetienne," . 58 Sweelinck, J. P., Fantasia, 133 Symphony Society Concerts, 14, 43, 60, 80, 98, 113 " Tannhauser," 9, 16, 28, 32, 52, 59, 61, 63, 69, 83, 102, 123, 125, 126, 130, 138, 139, 142, 150, 152, 153. Taubert, W., "Der Landsknecht," . .139 Tausig, " Halka" Fantasia 80 " Waltz Caprice 110 Temple, Hope, "An Old Garden," 53, 129, 130 Thalberg, Etude, A minor, . . . 106, 108 " Fantasia, " La Muette," 102, 106 " " " Sonnambula," . 102 Thayer, Arthur W., "Heinz von Stein," 104, 140 " " Sea Greeting," 140 Thayer, Eugene, Fugue, A minor, . . 33 Them, C., "Genius cocci," 139 Thiele, E., Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue 106 " Concert Piece, C minor, .... 27 " " " E-flat, 116 " Danse Caracteristique, .... 97 " Theme and Variations, A-flat, . 54 Thomas, A. Goring, "A Summer Night," 138 " " The Fire Worshippers," . . 33 PAGE. Thomas, A. Goring," Wind in the Trees," 53 Thomas, Ambroise, " Dirge," Ill " Excerpts from " Mignon," 27, 52, 55, 58, 72, 82, 100, 107, 109 " Overture, " Le Songe d' une Nuit d' et<," 70 Thomas-Benedict, Duo Ill Thomas, G. A., Fantasia, "Ein' feste Burg," 125 Thomas, J., "Autumn " for harp, . 42, 59 Thomas, Theodore, his Symphony Con- certs, 16, 37, 53, 61, 83, 86, 104, 108, 113, 128, 134, 140. " Young People's Matinees, 28, 43, 56, 69, 81, 97, 103, 122, 125, 130, 133, 142. " his Symphony Readings, . . 167 Tinel, Edgar, Sonata, G minor, .... 73 Toulmin, Fantasia, " Uu Ballo," ... 141 Tours, B., Allegro, D major 123 " "Angel at the Window," . . . 107 " "Pilgrims' Lane," 56 " Postlude in D, 102 " " The three Singers,". . . . 100 "Tristan und Isolde," 12, 16, 34, 72, 131, 152, 153 " Trompeter von Siikkingen," 32, 38, 43, 51, 52, 61, 69, 82, 152, 153, 168 " Trovatore," 3, 4, 5, 32, 37, 44 Tscha'ikowsky, Andante Cantabile, . . 29 " Concerto for pianoforte, op. 23, 82 " " " violin, ... .135 " "Marche Slave," .... 54, 133 " " Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt," 139 " Serenade for strings, ... 53 Suite, " Mozartiana," . 103, 170 " Trio, op. 50, 43 Tua, Teresina, Concerts of, . 3, 4, 5, 13, 33 Ulrich, Hugo, Symphonie Triomphale,124 Urspruch, A., " German Dances," . 3, 170 Van Bree, " Rise and break the chains," 113 Van der Stucken, Concerts of American music, 29, 31, 33, 36, 40, 165, 171 " " Early Love," . . . .33,58 " " Ein Sangerfestzug," . 6 " " Moonlight," 33 " Music to "The Tempest," 87, 143 Van de Water, B., "Sunset," 55 (188) INDEX PAGE. Van Krieken, G. B., Praludium " Ero- ica," 141 Veit, Trio, 107 Verdi, "Ah! si, ben mio," 30 " Aria from " Traviata," 57 " " " "Simone Boccanegra," 31, 106 " as Dramatist 163 ' ' Bolero from ' ' I Vespri Sicilian!, ' ' 42 " "Caro nome," 30, 97 " " Celeste A'ida," 139 " " Ella giainrnai m'am&," ... 27 " "Eri tu," 42 " Finale from "Ernani," .... 27 " "II balen," 42 " "O don fatale," 55 " " Otello," . . . 101, 105, 143, 165, 168 " Overture, " Aroldo," 27 " Prelude to "Traviata,". ... 27 " Quartet from " Rigoletto," . . 31 " Romance from "Don Carlos," . 70 " " " "Ernani," ... Ill " " Ritorna vincitor," 139 " " Si la stauchezza," 27,107 " " Trovatore," . . . 3, 4, 5, 32, 37, 44 " Victor, the Bluestocking," . 104, 112, 113 Vieuitemps, Adagio and Rondo, . . . 149 " " Air Varie," .... 4, 13, 54 " Allegro, 28 " Ballade and Polonaise, 5, 6, 13, 150 " Concerto in E, 27 " Fantasia Appassionata, . 30 " " Caprice, 5, 62, 100, 109 " Introduction and Rondo, 85 Vilbac, Renaud de, Andante Cantabile, 85 " Marche Triomphale, 85 Viotti, Concerto, A minor, 130 Vocal Union, Concert of, 48, 100 Volckmar, W., "Fest Sonata," .... 43 Volkmann, Andante religioso 59 " "I press her eyelids," . . .109 " Overture, " Richard III," . 130 " "Sappho," 6 " Serenade No. 2, . . 61, 102, 125 Von Weinzierl, " Drinking Song," . .106 " "Du schone Maid," 6, 105, 168 Vorhis, Arthur, Concert of 87 Voyer, Marcel, Concerts of, . 102, 106, 108 Wagner, Oscar, Sonata for organ, . . 6 Wagner, R., "Albumblatt," .... 107 " and American people, .... 160 " as conductor 77, 121 PAGE. Wagner, R., Death March in "Gotter- dammerung," 91 " Dich theure Halle," 50 " "Eine Faust Ouvertiire,"32, 53, 85 " Excisions from his dramas, . 87 " First of his operas in America, 9 " Gluckand, 76 " "Gotterdammerung," 80, 87,97, 103, 107, 108, 110, 126, 152, 153, 168. " His interest in his youthful works 117 " " Huldigungsmarsch," . . 43, 62 " "Kaisermarsch," ..... 16 " Last time he conducted, . . .121 " "Liebesmahl der Apostel," . 118 " " Lohengrin," 49, 56, 63, 70, 86, 99, 103, 109, 137, 152, 153 " " Meistersinger," 13, 29, 53, 57, 71, 113, 117, 130, 152, 153 " Norn scene not dramatic, . . 89 " Overture, C major 118 " Polonia," .... 118 "Britannia," . . 118 " " Parsifal " prelude, . . . 117, 133 " Prize Song 51, 71 " " Rienzi," finale, Act I., . . . 51 " " overture . . 50, 96, 133 " "Rheingold," Scene from,. 73 " " Ring of the Niblung," 100, 157, 160 " "Siegfried," 17, 27,29, 32, 51, 59, 69, 80, 81, 101, 105, 111, 142, 152, 153, 168. "Siegfried Idyl," . . 125, 130, 142 " Spontini and 76, 78 " Sym phony in C 117,170 " "Tannhiiuser," 9, 16, 28, 32, 52, 59, 61, 63, 69, 83, 102, 123, 125, 126, 134, 150, 152, 153. " "Triiume," 43 " " Tristan und Isolde," 12, 16, 34, 72, 131 " Verdi and 145 " "Walkure," 27, 53, 57, 61, 63,84, 85, 100, 104, 152, 153. " Weber and 76 Wagner-Brassin, "Magic Fire Scene," 49 Wagner-Liszt, "Spinning Song," 6, 29, 110 Wagner-Richter, Fragments from " Sieg- fried " and " Gotterdammerung," . 80 Wagner- Warren, Overture" Tannhiiuser," 59 (l8 9 ) INDEX PACK. "Walkiire," 27, 53, 57, 61, 63, 84, 85, 100, 104, 152, 153. Wallace, W.V., " Corin f or Cleora dying," 48 " Cracovienne, 52 " " Maritana," extracts from, 54,128 Walter, Carl, Rondo, B minor, .... 62 Warren, Samuel P., Organ Recitals of, 12, 27, 31, 50, 54, 59, 73, 81, 84, 96, 101, 105, 110, 112, 116, 124, 125, 129, 133. 135, 141. "Fair Daffodils," 33 Weber, " Cantatella," 113 " " Concertstuck," 58,62,84 " Concerto for two pianofortes, . 83 " "Euryanthe," 2, 42, 57, 62, 70, 79, 85, 97, 152, 153 " " Freischutz," . .9,43,53,57,72,99 " " Invitation a la Valse," 29, 69, 70, 96, 103, 130 " " Jubel " overture 52 " " Oberon," overture, . 43, 50, 54, 73 " "Ocean, thou mighty monster," 113 " Sonata No. 1 106 " No. 3 108 Weber-Berlioz, "Invitation a la Valse," 69, 70 Weber-Liszt, Polonaise, 3, 44, 52, 53, 57, 101, 111 PAGE. Weber-Tausig, " Invitation & la Valse," 29, 130 Weinwurm, "Sunday Morning," . . . 108 Wely, Lefebure, "Communion,". . .111 Wesley, S. S., "Air for Hols worthy Church Bells," 130 West, J. E., " Love and Summer," . . 48 " Postlude, E-flat 98 " " Sketch," 6, 107 Whiting, Arthur, Concerto, D minor, . 31 Whiting, George E., Air, " Tale of the Viking,'' 29 Widor, C. M., Organ Symphony No. 2, 84 No. 5, 141 " " " No. 6, 51 Wieniawski, H., "Airs Russes," . . . 149 " Concerto No. 2 42 " "Faust" Fantasia, . .5,13 " " Legende," 1 Mazurka, 4, 31, 83 "Polish Airs," 107 " Polonaise No. 2 58 " "Souvenir de Moscou," 3, 13, 53, 129 Witt, "The Tear," 55 " "O Thou who art," 105 Wolfrum, P., Sonata, B-flat minor, . . 116 Wood, W. G., Postlude in D 103 Zarcycki, Mazourka, . . 4, 5, 13, 72, 111, 130 Zehngraf, "Suabian Folksong." . . . 108 Zoelliier, " Young Siegfried," 143 ( 190) NOTES CULTIVATION OF CHORAL Music ORATORIO SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, H. E. KREHBIEL. An elegantly printed bpok, discussing the rise and progress of Sing- ing Societies in Europe and this country, the influence of religion upon music, the composition of the choirs of Bach and Handel, and the great amateur choruses of to-day. IN AN APPENDIX, All the Programmes of the Oratorio Society of New York. PUBLISHED BY E. SCHUBERTH & CO. UNION SQUARE, N. Y. PRICE, POSTPAID, ONE DOLLAR. 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Ritter, 50c. (TO BE CONTINUBD.) Any of the adcrve may be had, strongly bound in boards, price 25 cents each, extra, LISTS AND CATALOGUES, POST-FREE. ASK FOR NOVELLO'S EDITIONS. NOVELLO, EWER & CO., 21 EAST SEVENTEENTH STREET, - NEW YORK. REVIEW OF THE NEW YORK MUSICAL SEASON CONTAINING PROGRAMMES OF NOTEWORTHY OCCURRENCES, WITH NUMEROUS CRITICISMS, H. E. KREHBIEL. Volume I, 1885-1886. Volume II, 1886-1887. Volume III, 1887-1888. NEW YORK AND LONDON: NOVELLO, EWER & Co, PRESS NOTICES. Mr. Krehbiel is a musical critic of very high rank, not only among American writers on music, but as compared with critics of European celebrity. The introduction prepares us for a pleasure of no ordinary kind ; it is written, not in American, but in English of almost unimpeachable purity . . . and with a degree of literary style for which we were scarcely prepared. If all English critics would get this book and attempt to imitate the writer's fearless honesty, impartiality, and, more than all, his power of forming an opinion, English musical criticism would be a different thing from what it is at present. London Musical World. Vom Verfasser dieser Rundschau, Herrn Krehbiel, weiss ich nicht zu sagen. ob er ein Deutscher oder ein eingeborener Amerikaner ist ; sein Name war mir bisher unbekannt, sein Buch kam mir aus zweiter Hand zu. Aber seine Besprechungen habe ich mit grossem Vergniigen gelesen ; sie lassen iiberall den musika isch griindlich gebildeten und einsichtsvollen Beurtheiler erkennen ; man begegnet fast auf jeder Seite richtigster durchdachter Auf- fassung und gliicklichen Einfallen. Er steht ganz auf dem Boden der neuen Anschauungen, behalt jedoch immer die allgemeinen Kunstgesetze im Auge. Seine Besprechungen bezeugen gleichzeitig seine griindlichen Kenntnisse wie seine Verdienste um den Sieg deutscher Music in New York. Prof. Ehrlich in the Tageblait, Berlin. It would not be opportune on this occasion, even if it were possible, to deal with Mr. Krehbiel's criticisms. Dissenting from them as we do in cer- tain matters, they are unquestionably the product of remarkable independ- ence and insight. His criticism of Mme. Patti's Carmen is positively refresh- ing, and his remarks (pp. 201-204) on Beethoven's belief in the metronome, in connection with Herr Seidl's interpretation of the symphonies, show that a conservative antagonism to mere lawlessness is quite compatible with an intense faith in the advanced school of composers and interpreters. It is, therefore, from no lack of appreciation of the critic's learning and judg- ment that attention is primarily directed to the merits of this book as a compilation rather than to the literary and critical qualities of his commen- tary. The Saturday Review, London. His writing is distinguished throughout by rare acumen, and, though his sympathies may lie in a modern direction, he speaks with enthusiasm of older master-pieces, and his criticism of Wagner's works, though properly appreciative, is no less just and discriminating. The Athentzum, London. Indeed, the articles extracted from the New York Tribime cannot be read without much profit. Their author has a clear way of looking at things, and is very far from a blind partisan. Musical Times, London. There can be no doubt that with such a censor and guide as the author of this book the art should make good and substantial advance, for his judgment is accurate, his expressions are fearless, his pen is powerful, and the basis of his knowledge well founded and firm. The Morning Post, London. 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It contains so much statistical infor- mation and is so saturated, so to speak, with the intense musical enthusiasm of the author, that small critics can have high living for some time and have a good deal of ready-made capital ; and, in fact, our only severe criticism of Mr. Krehbiel's book is that he takes the public too much into his confidence. One could easily read between the lines and obtain a pretty accurate idea of the author's ideas upon almost any subject. The Musical Courier, New York. Mr. Krehbiel will probably remain the leading historian and critic of musical evolution in the United States. New Orleans Times- Democrat. Any one of these Volumes will be sent, post free, to any address, on receipt of two dollars. NOVELLO, EWER & CO., 21 East Seventeenth St., New York. THE LIBRARY 'UNIVERSITY C' ? 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