Church Music Association Concert

“Pech called this evening. The Novellos cannot get us copies of Schubert’s Mass in E-flat in time for concert 2^nd. Something must be substituted. Pech suggests Gounod’s Mass solennelle. Its Sanctus is certainly a gem. He suggests moreover that we abandon Lurline, & repeat that exquisite genial Preciosa at 1^st concert. By all means. But the question of the Mass is less clear.”  

“Pech & Cooke here awhile for an informal conference. We cannot get copies of Schubert’s Mass in season for C. M. A. concert no. 2, and agree that Mozart’s Requiem Mass is the best substitute we can find—better than that (on the whole) rather gelatinous & saccharine Gounod. Also we agree to repeat Preciosa instead of attempting Lurline, which the chorus has not time to master. Revised & corrected some of Pech’s printed matter. I have written a little introductory bosh about Haydn’s general style of work & about the color of his Mass no. 2 in particular.

Talk with Rev. Cooke afterwards, alone. Under instructions from the rector, he had conooked all the organists of the parish for this afternoon to confer about a proposed parochial school of music. All but Pech declined to come—one of them in a rather insubordinate—not to say insolent—note. They are instigated by John P. Morgan, who hates Pech because the C. M. A. has succeeded, whereas Morgan’s ‘Euterpe’ proved a failure, & its last concert broke down before it was half over—its chorus being unable to keep together.”

“Call from Ciprico, before dinner, & from Rev. Cooke thereafter. There is a mistake somewhere about C. M. A.’s right to Steinway Hall for its next concert—a complication of the most awful character.”

“Met Rev. Cooke & Pech at Steinway’s, 10 a.m. & succeeded in working out of our rather serious scrape. ‘Someone had blundered,’ but whether it was Dr. Pech or the clerk in charge of letting the hall, nobody could certainly say. So we agreed that Steinway & the C. M. A. divide the cost of buying off ‘Prof.’ Ciprico ($400.00). N. W. Steinway behaved fairly & liberally & volunteered to engage Irving Hall for the ‘readist’ at his own charges.”  

“Pech, Edmund Schermerhorn, & Jem [Gerard, Jr.] here two hours this afternoon—a C. M. A. concilium. Also Rev. Cooke.”

“This evening Edmund, Pech, & Rev. Cooke were here as a C. M. A. conciliabulum. Also a Mme. Ackermann—heretofore of Vienna & St. Petersburgh—then of Chicago—burnt out October last. She sang for us—from 'Robert' & Mozart’s no. 12, & also 'Angels ever bright & fair' from Handel’s Theodora.

The Ackermann seems a nice earnest little woman, & says that after that terrible night at Chicago, she enters into the feeling of Mozart’s Dies irae more fully than ever before. We adopted her for the next C. M. A. concert—perhaps too hastily.”

“Sent to Pech three or four foolscap pages of stuff about Mozart, to be worked into the next C. M. A. programme.”

“Pech, Edmund, & Rev. Cooke here last evening. Then set about revising Pech’s fantasia (partly in type) on the Requiem Mass, for the next C. M. A. programme. Strangely enough, he values himself on his literary, rather than his musical talent. As a musical scholar & director he is very great indeed, but as a litterateur, he is below the average newspaper critic. He is copious of words, without sense, poured out all around a subject without touching it. He writes long sentences devoid of meaning, & then looks blandly at them in type. Part of this manuscript seemed to me utter slip-slop, & on a par with the dream poetry in ‘Alice.’ I could not tell where to begin considering it, or what to do with it—so I left it to its fate.”

“Herr Johny & General Vinton reading cello duets downstairs. Cooke, Edmund Schermerhorn, Pech, & Jem R. [clearly says ‘Jem R.,’ indicating James Ruggles, but Jem Gerard, Jr. would have been more likely] here this afternoon discussing C. M. A. affairs. Was too forlorn [from the flu] to go into the parlor last night.”

“Under the above meaningless title, which would be more appropriate if applied to a Sunday school, is known the very best vocal society in New York. We say the best, because on no other musical organization do wealth and fashion bestow such unbounded liberality, and nowhere else can such eminent artists be found in a chorus. The chorus and orchestra are both large, well balanced and trained by constant rehearsals to a degree of perfection unattainable by other concert bodies, and in the conductor, Dr. James Pech, the society possesses a painstaking, accomplished and conscientious musician. Steinway Hall was crowded last night almost to suffocation, and the suggestion given on the tickets of full dress was attended to in every sense of the word. The bill was one calculated to enlist the attention and sympathy of every lover of music, as it consisted of the following grand works [see above].

The admirably written brochure by Dr. Pech, which was the bill of the evening and which contained an elaborate description and criticism of the works performed, enabled each of the audience to follow the thoughts of the composer intelligibly, is a feature in those concerts which alone would tend to make them eminently popular. The performance was very creditable, the chorus and orchestra doing their trying work bravely and with due spirit and unanimity. The soloists were [see above]. With the exception of Messrs. Leggat and Remmertz, who are deserving of much praise, a higher grade of excellence for the interpretation of such music would be desirable in the ladies and gentleman entrusted with the solo parts.”

“Toward evening it deliquesced into pouring rain, and at about 9 p.m. the ‘Lachrymosa’ of Mozart’s Requiem, at Steinway Hall, was accompanied by a vehement hailstorm chorus on the roof—much more than sotto voce—with lightning & low thunder. Concert (C. M. A.) was crowded. I knew nearly every person in the room. Policeman told me ‘with amazement & awe’ that by half past ten ‘there was nearly 500 carriages in the 14^th St., sir, & half of them was private.’ Fifteenth St. also blocked with vehicles. Struensee overture came out well & is certainly handsome. The harp passages are fresh & effective. I like it better than any other orchestral work of Meyerbeer’s. The Requiem travelled well. Mme. Ackermann-Jaworska (soprano solo) was the only feature of its performance that was fairly open to criticism. She did not sing as well as at rehearsals. The choruses were given with crispness & snap that made even those driest & most expressionless fugues interesting. The Dies Irae was as impressive & awe-ful as anything I know in music, and the Lachrymosa embodied another sentiment with almost equal power. Then that gem of a Benedictus! So pure, sad, & elegant. It oppresses me with a painful sense that it is above & beyond me—too beautiful & too spiritual for my low intelligence. Indeed I listen to the Mass, as a whole, much as a good old dog might listen to his mistress at the piano—with a dim sense of something too good for me. Fortunately, I am not in the habit of expressing my vague aspirations after The Beautiful by a series of howls.

Wallace’s Lurline delighted everybody. Nearly everybody sat it out—till after 11 p.m. Mrs. Gulager, Miss Henne, Remmertz & Leggat were repeatedly encored, but the length of the programme made encores inadmissible. Of course the little two-penny songs, in the regular ballad form, were especially applauded. But though not a note of the music is above a baby’s comprehension, & an ox & an ass could appreciate it all, & though Wallace at his best seems a dim reflection of Weber, it is all sparkling & graceful & melodic. Wallace has the divine gift of melody. Orchestration is admirable. My friend Rietzel’s flute called out an emphatic murmur of admiration.

All the family were on duty more or less. Ellie was with the chorus, though suffering from headache & barely able to sit up. Johny was sawing away with his ‘cello, & doing much better than he expected. Little Louis distributed programmes. Temple (during the entr’acte) sitting on a table in one of the rooms downstairs & dispensing lager to the Deutscher of the orchestra. All enjoyed the evening intensely. Impecunious as I am, I have much to be thankful for!

After nearly an hour’s bother vainly seeking our carriage, Ellie, General Vinton, Johny & I partook of a modest repast at Delmonico’s. We got home rather late. Johny is in high glee over his promotion to the orchestra. General Vinton & he are cronies.”

“The musical world is to be congratulated on having at last heard, in its entirety, the famous Requiem of Mozart, and the Church Music Association could not have made a better use of their resources than that of applying them to its production. It is precisely works of this small but important class, cantatas, masses, psalms, the hearing of which is essential to any real knowledge of music, and which have hitherto been in New York so unattainable. They cannot be considered as oratorios; they require too much preparation to make it worthwhile to produce them at concerts; and in churches the weakness of choirs and the exigences [sic] of the service lead to their curtailment and mutilation. The Church Music Association, therefore, enables us to fill a great gap in our musical experience. The value of the Requiem is fairly estimated in the following judicious analysis by Dr. Pech [quote of two paragraphs]. 

We reprint these observations, with which we heartily coincide, the more readily because we feel obliged to say that in his analysis of ‘Lurline’ Dr. Pech has greatly over-rated the importance of Wallace’s work, and such indiscriminating praise, issued by authority of the Church Music Association, is calculated to mislead. We have on a previous occasion expressed our surprise that a weak modern opera should be considered worthy to occupy the time of the Association. As, however, the programme for the next concert is all that the most sincere purist could desire we will not cavil, but frankly own that a good deal of ‘Lurline’ is extremely pretty, and the whole rendered enjoyable by the wonderful faculty which Wallace possessed of setting forth and tricking out his themes with a thousand sparkling accessories, which a warm and exuberant fancy was always ready to suggest. Few of his methods have the originality and the chasteness which made the lasting popularity of his well-known ‘Dream;’ but nearly all his orchestral work has that variety and inventiveness which render some of his pianoforte pieces, as, for instance, his ‘Cracovienne,’ positively unique. He was an Irishman, a Celt, and if he had not sustained greatness he cannot be denied the possession of genius, poetic feeling, and that facility of expression which seems to be inherent in the race.

It is a curious circumstance that the Church Music Association is, in apparent unconsciousness, trying for us a very important experiment, that, namely, whether operatic music can be separated from scenic display. Several years ago the great German writer on counterpoint, Dr. Marx, announced his conviction that the opera was the worst and lowest form in which music could be written, that to unite music and dramatic action was to hamper both, that in short there should be no more opera, Italian or other; and that the operas already written should be sung in concert-rooms as oratorios are. This view has lately been revived by a critic of considerable ability, and it is one with which, for obvious reasons, the stricter religious sects would be likely to agree; indeed, a certain influential American clergyman has advocated the idea in his lectures with great energy. The operas of ‘Oberon,’ ‘Preciosa,’ and now ‘Lurline’ having been thus treated, and with, undoubtedly, a fair degree of artistic success, there remain, besides, the important fragment, ‘Lorlie,’ which we are to hear shortly, many others, ancient and modern, to which we should be thankful to see this experiment applied, merely, however, as an experiment; for the abolition of the Italian opera, with all its charms and all its recollections is a thing to do which we have not yet made up our minds.

The performance on Monday night was, on the whole, satisfactory. The chorus went admirably through the Requiem, and some trifling baulks in the opera were of little moment. The tenors, who, all through the rehearsals, were miserably weak, sang with a spirit which made the balance between male and female voices less equal.

As a part singer, Mme. Janorska is an acquisition to our not too numerous body of resident vocalists. Her knowledge, readiness and power of co-operation, without any attempt to divert attention exclusively to herself are valuable qualities. As a solo singer, however, the harshness of her voice and the indistinctness of her articulation render her less acceptable. The contralto, Miss Antonia Henne, possesses a fresh and agreeable voice, and sings extremely well. Her ballad in ‘Lurline’ would have been encored had encores been possible. The voice of Mr. Leggatt is a light tenor of beautiful quality. We heard it said that it was ‘not quite enough’ for Steinway Hall, but if a voice is slightly wanting in power the remedy is, not that we should lose it from our concert-rooms, but that the orchestra should play a little more softly, and the audience listen a little more attentively. Mr. Leggatt has not caught quite the tone of the very purest models, and his voice needs practice and fluency lest it should become hard; at the same time he deserves the utmost credit for having resisted the influence of vicious fashions, and for the manly and unaffected style in which he sings. Mr. Remmertz appears to greater advantage than he did last year. The delicacy and refinement of his method is remarkable as contrasted with the power and amplitude of his voice, and he needs only greater distinctness of articulation to render his singing thoroughly agreeable.

Mrs. Gulager appeared to us to have found her true field in English opera; yet we do not share the generally-expressed regret that she could not be transferred to the boards of the Academy. Bad as Steinway Hall is, acoustically, the Academy is worse; and it is precisely when Mrs. Gulager forces her voice to its utmost that her singing is least charming, and that our apprehensions are aroused lest some day we should lose it altogether. In Lurline, difficult as the part would be for a singer less completely trained, there is nothing but what the lady can execute with ease; and the pleasure of listening to all those graceful phrases and delicate flights, soaring over chorus and orchestra, and anon gliding downward to a few tender, beautifully-uttered English words, was of no common kind.

The time in which Dr. Pech takes some movements is altogether incomprehensible to us. Poor Wallace’s pretty idea in the church style of his ‘Ave Maria’ was made quite ridiculous by the pace at which it was rushed through, and the same tendency was observable in the Requiem, the awful solemnity of the ‘Rex tremende’ being entirely destroyed. To hurry slow movements and drag quick ones, and so reduce everything to the level of a ‘service’ is an unfortunate course to take with the Requiem, which is already sufficiently grave for the taste of a mixed audience. The concert was too long, and the clever, noisy overture to ‘Struensee’ could well have been spared, serving, as it did, to make the Requiem sound dull and old-fashioned. In order to perform this overture, a band at least two-thirds larger than was needed for anything else, was engaged, and succeeded in drowning the voices of the singers and driving the tenor out of his mind by egregious mistakes in the accompaniment of his best song, after the invariable fashion of instrumentalists got together in a hurry.”