Thomas Symphony Concert: 6th

“…During the musical year which is now drawing to an end, it seems to us that he [Thomas] has laid the public under greater obligations than ever before. Winter after Winter, since he began his career, he has brought us richer treasures of art, and taught us new lessons of taste and discernment. Thanks to him, nearly all the greatest works for orchestra, both ancient and modern, are rapidly becoming familiar to us. There is no good school of composition which he has not enabled us to understand. There is [no] possible progress in the art of music with which we may not hope through him to be kept well abreast. He has so expanded our capacity for enjoyment, quickened our appreciation, and reformed our aesthetic judgment that every branch of music has felt his wholesome influence. A fresh life has been everywhere breathed into the concert-room, because we have learned, through Theodore Thomas, to demand better things than used to be foisted upon us; and if a regeneration of our operatic stage is in truth at hand, as many of hope, we may thank Theodore Thomas for it, who led us to insist upon reform, and inspired us to discriminate between true art and false. It is unquestionably to him that we owe the hearing of Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’under circumstances more favorable than most of the cities of Europe could enjoy; and the astonishing popularity of this noble music, in a community which derided the composer only two or three years ago as a charlatan or a madman, is the direct fruit of Thomas’s labors. It would not have been played in New York if Thomas had not created a demand for it. Opera managers never read public taste; they cannot afford to be our guides and teachers; they must always follow the bent of the popular fantasy.”

Includes program.

“The sixth and last of the series of symphony concerts given by Mr. Thomas this season, drew to Steinway Hall, last evening, a very numerous audience. The programme, though fine, was a little heavy. It opened, it is true, with Mozart’s E symphony, than which no more delightful work of the kind exists, but the interest of the remainder of the first part was not on a plane with that attaching to the opening number. The symphony, of the admirable clearness and freshness of which no dilettante needs any reminder, was played with unusual fullness of tone, and was loudly applauded. Then came an aria (‘O parden me, my God,’ from Bach’s ‘Passion Music,’) which, although sung with considerable sentiment by Miss Phillips, was not all effective. We were not deeply impressed by Brahms’s setting of a theme by Haydn, mainly, we must say, on account of the subject; Brahm’s orchestration, clever as it was, however, being more quaint than grateful to the ear. A melodious air by Handel, ‘Dove sei amato bene’ was sung afterward by Miss Phillips, and the first portion of the entertainment ended with a magnificent recital of the overture to Wagner’s ‘Meistersinger.’ At this stage of proceedings, the event of the evening took place. As Mr. Thomas was leaving the platform, his departure was checked by the appearance thereupon of Mr. Richard Grant White, who led the conductor once more to the front. Mr. White then said: [remarks preceding presentation of a silver casket to the conductor containing a certificate of deposit].

That Mr. Thomas was surprised at these words, and at the gift which accompanied them—a superb silver casket, containing a certificate of deposit for a very large amount—was unmistakable. He succeeded, however, in returning thanks in promising to devote his life to the prosecution of the task he had undertaken, and in assuring the audience that next season he should have a large orchestra and chorus at his disposal; but he was really overcome with astonishment and pleasure, and these emotions are not always eloquent in words. Great applause followed Mr. White’s speech and Mr. Thomas’ brief response, after which the two gentlemen retired. The second part of the concert consisted of Beethoven’s seventh symphony, a gorgeous composition, which Mr. Thomas’ forces executed with unflagging spirit and the rare precision their labors have resulted in, and the hearing of which would have sufficed to reward the most exacting spectator for his defiance of the storm and his attendance at Steinway Hall.”

“A pelting storm and general uncomfortableness, in a meteorological point of view, did not prevent the numerous admirers of Mr. Theodore Thomas from testifying last night, at Steinway Hall, their entire confidence in him as the pioneer of classical music in America. The programme consisted of [see above].

After the Wagner overture a very interesting scene took place on the stage. A gentleman, representing a number of Mr. Thomas’ admirers, came forward and presented the eminent maestro with a handsome silver casket wrought in a very artistic style, and containing in money $3,500.  It was a practical and graceful tribute to the musician. The performance was fully up to the Thomas standard, finished and thoroughly satisfactory, and the audience was correspondingly appreciative. It was a fitting close to a season of concerts that in an artistic point of view has never been surpassed in America or Europe.”

“It was a remarkable proof of the public relish for Thomas’s admirable Symphony Concerts that, in spite of the fierce storm, there should have been a fine audience at Steinway Hall when the last entertainment of the series was given last Saturday night. The following was the programme [see above].

The Mozart Symphony in E flat ranks with the Jupiter Symphony and the companion work in G minor among the crowning achievements of the composer’s life. They were all written within the space of a few weeks, and all illustrate in the most perfect manner the exquisite fancy, the fertile invention, the delicate feeling, and the rich gift of melody which constitute Mozart’s characteristic charm. With the great Beethoven series and some of the best of Haydn’s, they are recognized everywhere as the chiefest of musical classics. We have often remarked how beautifully the Thomas orchestra always plays Mozart. It does everything well, but with this delightful composer, at least in his grander works, Mr. Thomas seems to have a special sympathy. Nothing could have been finer than the boldness and vigor with which the band took up the second theme of the Andante, or the evident relish with which they went through the familiar Minuet, or the spirit and dash of the Finale; nor could we have wished for a more poetical and delicate handling of those inimitable minor graces which adorn every page of Mozart’s score. In this work the orchestra consisted entirely of Mr. Thomas’s permanent band. In the other instrumental selections it was enlarged to sixty or seventy performers. The eight Variations by Brahms, on a choral theme of Haydn’s, we noticed recently when they were first played at the Philharmonic Concert in Brooklyn. We see no reason to modify the opinion we then expressed of them, that they are ingenious, graceful, and, when taken separately, very effective, but the work as a whole is prolix. The ‘Meistersinger’ introduction is well known by this time to every amateur in New-York, but we doubt whether we have ever had so splendid an interpretation of it as Mr. Thomas gave on Saturday night. In the last portion the extraordinary interlacing harmonies were gorgeously beyond all description. A grand and beautiful performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony brought the evening to a fitting climax.

Miss Adelaide Phillipps is a true artist who has been heard too seldom of late years in New-York concert-rooms. Her first selection on this occasion, the famous ‘O Pardon me, my God’ (Erbarme dich), from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.—Mr. Listemann playing the violin obbligato—is without doubt one of the most pathetic of all contralto airs, but for some reason it did not go at all well. In the Handel song, however, Miss Phillipps touched the heart of the audience at once, and she was twice recalled after it with the greatest cordiality. The air is a familiar one, which has been made to do duty with a great variety of words, both secular and sacred. It is taken from the opera of ‘Rodelinda,’ and after that once successful work disappeared from the stage it was for a long time popular as ‘God of music, charm the charmer,’ then as ‘Hope thou source of every blessing,’ and finally as ‘Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,’ under which most inappropriate adaptation it is best known at the present day.

At the end of the first part of the concert, Mr. Thomas was made the victim of a little surprise prepared for him by a large number of his admirers. Mr. Richard Grant White came upon the stage, and in a short and very happily worded address begged his acceptance of a testimonial designed by the givers as a token of appreciation, not merely of his success in the creation of a model orchestra and his enterprise and perseverance in the establishment of the highest class of musical entertainments, but of his noble endeavors to elevate and purify the public taste. ‘From the beginning,’ said the speaker, ‘you sought not merely to fill your pocket; you undertook the more difficult and honorable task of raising the public taste to the standard of your own performances.’ This was just the thing to say, and it was gracefully and forcibly said. The case of red leather which inclosed the testimonial was then opened, and an elegant silver casket, a beautiful and ornate specimen of the workmanship of of the house of Starr & Marcus was shown, resting on a bed of blue satin. The casket contained a certificate of deposit for something over $3,500—the result of a subscription quietly started a very short time ago by certain ladies well known in society, and enthusiastically taken up by influential persons who are interested in the advancement of musical culture, which Mr. Thomas has so powerfully promoted. The value of the offering will be enhanced by the significant fact that the long list of contributors represent every class of citizens, and indicates a general agreement in doing honor to the recipient. Great pains had been taken to keep the affair a secret from Mr. Thomas; but though he was unprepared for a speech, he acknowledged the testimonial in a few appropriate words, and expressed the hope that New-York would soon have a permanent orchestra combined with a permanent chorus all the year through. The incident was altogether in good taste, and the ladies and gentlemen who devised it deserve the thanks of the whole community, not only for their grateful recognition of a man who must be regarded as a public benefactor, but for the pleasant and appropriate manner in which the whole thing was managed.”

“The last of the series of Theodore Thomas’s symphony concerts took place on Saturday evening at Steinway Hall, and in spite of the storm, which was as severe as spring rain storm well could be, it attracted an audience that quite filled the house.

The programme was as brilliant as that of any preceding concert, and was as brilliantly played, while the occasion was made more than usually interesting by the pleasant episode of a presentation to Mr. Thomas of a handsome silver casket containing a certificate of deposit of thirty-five hundred dollars. The gift was made by a large number of Mr. Thomas’s friends and admirers in recognition of his persistent and noble efforts in behalf of good music and in the development and education of popular taste. His labors in this direction have certainly been such as to entitle him to the esteem of everyone in the community who has the interests of music in this country at heart. The presentation was made during the intermission by Mr. Richard Grant White, and was done with admirable tact and much grace of manner and of words.

Such occasions are always more or less awkward, for it is not easy to tell a person to his face what a very commendable and public spirited man he is, nor can it be anything but trying for a modest man to stand up before an audience of two thousand persons and listen to the long catalogue of his virtues, but Mr. Thomas went through it bravely though naturally he hung his head somewhat after the manner of a naughty boy who is being lectured. He replied briefly and to the point, looking forward to the time when New York should have an orchestra of the maximum numbers for the best effects, supplemented by a large chorus, for twelve months in the year.

The programme of the concert was as follows [see above].

It was very pleasant to note the contrast between the quiet and lovely symphony by Mozart and Wagner’s overture. The orchestra which had [illegible] quietly through Mozart’s graceful melodies seemed suddenly to spring into life at Wagner’s word. It became earnest, vehement and powerful in every part, like some great animal a moment before dreaming quietly, but suddenly aroused and alert, with eyes flashing, and every muscle rigid with activity.

The prodigious power that Wagner infuses into his works is always a matter of wonder, and there can be no greater difference of feeling than that between the tranquility with which one listens to Mozart or a Haydn symphony, and the excitement of mind that Wagner creates. After such a composition as the ‘Meistersinger von Nurnberg’ the listener feels as though he had been seized violently by his emotional coat collar and well shaken. The orchestra is transformed—the modern brass instruments being added—the blaring tuba, the tinkling triangle, the clashing cymbals, the screaming piccolo, and the harp. Wagner expects every man to do his duty and gives every one work to do up to the full limit of his capacity, and that of his instrument. The result is a fullness of scoring that requires the closest attention if one would follow the [illegible] of parts The effect so gained are infinitely richer, grander, and more complete than any that Mozart ever dreamed of. Whether, [illegible] simply as music, there is any gain in this is quite a different question.

Miss Adelaide Phillips sang the aria from Bach’s Passion Music very [illegible], and that of Handel very well. The first piece was beyond her grasp. It required perfect intonation, and Miss Phillips was painfully out of tune from the beginning to the end. She might almost as well have sung it in a different key from that in which the orchestra played it, [final twelve lines illegible].”

“Theodore Thomas was the recipient on Saturday night of a very handsome testimonial from a number of friends who have admired his course as an orchestral conductor and promoter of musical art in this country. Richard Grant White took advantage of a pause between the pieces in the last symphony concert to approach Mr. Thomas, and, with a few kindly remarks, present him with a silver casket, in which was a certificate of deposit for $3,500, the contributions of various ladies and gentlemen of New York. Mr. Thomas expressed his thanks and alluded to the permanent orchestra and chorus which he hopes to establish in New York. The whole affair was an agreeable surprise to most of the audience, and, it is believed, to the recipient of the compliment.

Miss Adelaide Phillips was the vocalist at the Saturday concert, her rendering of an aria by Handel receiving much applause.”

“A fine performance of Mozart’s symphony in E flat was followed by Bach’s aria; ‘O pardon me, my God,’ from the Passion music, sung by Miss Adelaide Phillips, with violin obligate by Mr. Listemann. The favorite contralto sang, also, Handel’s Aria: ‘Dove sei amato bene.’ Between these vocal pieces came the variations on a theme by Haydn, (Brahms) which gave so much satisfaction when played at the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The vorspiel to ‘Die Meistersinger’ ended part first of the bill.

In the intermission, as Mr. Thomas was about to step from the stage, Mr. Richard Grant White came forward and presented an elegant casket containing a certificate of deposit for a large amount of money, a gift to Mr. Thomas, from his numerous friends and admirers in this city. Mr. Thomas, quite taken by surprise, responded very gracefully testifying to his appreciation of the valuable present, and his determination to continue in and extend his valuable service to the cause of art.

The programme ended with the seventh Symphony of Beethoven, superbly played.”