Philharmonic Society of New York Private Rehearsal

Event Information

Venue(s):
Academy of Music

Conductor(s):
Carl Bergmann

Event Type:
Orchestral

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
10 October 2025

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

10 Nov 1871, 2:30 PM

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  Philharmonic Society of New York
2)
Symphony, no. 6, op. 68, F major
aka "Pastoral"
Composer(s): Beethoven
3)
Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die, Vorspiel
aka Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Die. Prelude; Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Die; Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Die. Overture; Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Die. Introduction
Composer(s): Wagner
4)
Julius Cäsar
aka Julius Caesar
Composer(s): Schumann

Citations

1)
: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 11 November 1871.

“Private Philharmonic rehearsal yesterday with Edmund Schermerhorn & Johny—the Sinfonia Pastorale was most refreshing, of course. An overture by Schumann, ‘Julius Caesar,’ seems a brazen clangorous flashy work. Wagner’s overture to ‘the Mastersingers of Nuremberg’ was long & dreary & passed all comprehension. Ureli Corelli Hill & some others of the orchestra were damning it bitterly after rehearsal. Why do Philharmonic directors make up their programmes of such incongruous material? No one who enjoyed these two overtures could possibly have appreciated Beethoven’s symphony. Anyone who appreciated that symphony must have yearned, as I did, to throw this rubbish of Wagner’s out of the window.”