Mason-Thomas Chamber Music Soirée: 2nd

“The past week was one of unusual musical interest. Two of the best regular concerts of the season were given in it, viz.: the second of the Chamber Music series, (Mason & Thomas)….Messrs. Mason & Thomas’ second soirée of chamber music (these gentlemen, by-the-way, with a modesty that is as refreshing as it is embarrassing, have made their entertainment anonymous, but we cling to the well-remembered names for convenience sake) took place at Dodworth’s on Tuesday. The gem of the programme was Schumann’s sonata for piano and violin, (opus 105,) a work so thoroughly melodious and delightful that the three movements of which it is composed left the audience anxious for more. It was admirably interpreted by Mr. Wm. Mason and Mr. Theodore Thomas. Haydn’s Quartette in B flat major did not satisfy our expectations, either in the matters of selection or execution. The best attention of the party had evidently been bestowed upon Beethoven’s quartette in E flat major, opus 127, one of the late works of the composer, and but now coming into profession acceptance. It is lengthy and difficult, but was rendered acceptable by the fine playing of the executants. The work itself contains many passages of great beauty, and is surcharged with those episodical revelations of the subject that are to be found in all Beethoven’s compositions. In his earlier works these episodes display the affluence of a rich and irrepressible fancy, whilst here the desire for adventure assumes a more hardy form, and is undertaken mainly to prove the independence of the various instruments. The old theory of a Quartette was that in a given form it discussed a musical subject in a purely conversational manner, the thread of the discourse being taken up by the various instruments, and sometimes leading to a warm altercation before the matter was settled. It seems to us that the discussion in the last Quartettes of Beethoven (there are four or five of them, we forget the precise number), frequently borders on the garrulous.”