Organ Recital: 6th

“Mr. S. P. Warren gave the sixth of his ‘Organ Recitals’ yesterday afternoon, at Association Hall, assisted by Miss Maria Brainerd, soprano. The programme included choice selections from Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Thiel. As all these ‘Recitals’ have been thoroughly enjoyable for all lovers of really good music, we are glad to note that the one yesterday afternoon was no exception and are only sorry to notice that the last ‘Recital’ occurs next Wednesday afternoon. Where ‘popular’ concerts have become synonymous with an inferior kind of music, it is a compliment to Mr. Warren to call his concerts ‘unpopular.’ If he errs in confining himself too closely to the classic school of composers, his error is certainly a pardonable one, and the so-called mistake of confirming the organ to the interpretation of the grand harmonies of the old masters, is a mistake denoting musical wisdom far superior to that of those organists who attempt to convert the noble instrument into a brass band. The rendering of operatic selections and airs from Offenbach to the delight of a mixed audience is a poor tribute to their musical taste, and it is no mark of skill on the part of the organist. Sound is by no means music, though the delusion may be ‘popular’ in the fullest sense of the word.”