Mason-Thomas Chamber Music Soirée: 6th

     “Soirees of Chamber Music.—The last of these admirable entertainments takes place to-night at Dodworth’s Room. We have so often urged the claims of this character of music, and pointed out its value in molding the taste of the rising generation, that we need not dwell on the topic anew.” Gives program and lists performers.

     “The sixth and last soirée of classical chamber music was given at Dodworth’s Hall on the 25th inst. The attendance was far from numerous, possibly for the reason that the sixth soirée followed so immediately upon the fifth, thus interfering with previous engagements. That it should be so is unfortunate, for the last soirée was one of the most delightful of the series. The quartette by Schumann is one of his most effective works, fresh, melodious and full of invention, with a fluency of imagination that keeps up the interest to the close. It was admirably played, the artists being en rapport with each other in every particular.

     Schubert’s Trio for piano, in B flat, is a lovely composition, broad and varied in sentiment, melodious and full of passion and expression. The artists played this with a loving spirit, bringing out all its beautiful points, with emphasis, taste and feeling. Mr. Wm. Mason has rarely played better in public than on this occasion. We think the general effect would have been better if the cover of the piano had been raised.

     The last selection was Beethoven’s Quartette in E flat. Beethoven always receives full justice at the hands of the artists, Thomas, Mosenthal, Matzka and Bergner, and on this occasion their performance was unexceptionable. This programme had no weak or hard spot in it; on the contrary, it gave general satisfaction, for the music was such as all could feel and understand. We trust that next season the subscription last [sic] of these classical chamber soirées will be trebled. If the selections were less recondite at times, if the lighter works of the classical writers were sometimes sandwiched between the graver compositions, they would prove more generally attractive, and would surely bring in many who though lovers of the classical in art, are not deeply dyed in the wool of classical musical purism.”

     “Schumann, Schubert, and Beethoven were ably represented by Messrs. Thomas, Mosenthal, Matzka, Bergner and Mason at the last soiree of chamber music at Dodworth Hall. We were agreeably surprised to hear what a beautiful trio Schubert has left us in his ninety-ninth work in B flat. It is fantastic and whimsical, but possesses the elements of true art, especially in the andante, which breathes of soul and passion. A string quartet in E flat, opus 127, by Beethoven, was admirably given. The first part, maestoso, is unsatisfactory and vague, but the adagio and andante following are the very impersonification [sic] of pathos and tenderness. In these soirees there is little chance for the executants concealing a want of due appreciation of the composer and necessary rehearsal and practice amid the massing of an orchestra, and it is no small proof of their ability to be able to render the works they attempt in such an artistic manner. Even in the fitful and capricious scherzo the idea of the composer is faithfully carried out by them, and the phrasing of every part given with all the unity and distinctness it demands. This quartet and the orchestra of the symphony soirees have been the first to introduce in America the instrumental works of Schumann and Schubert, at a time when such an outcry was made in Europe and America against these daring but successful innovators. The present popularity of both composers is mainly due to the exertions of the artists who introduced them. Some of the violoncello passages in the trio of Schubert are worthy of Mozart or Mendelssohn. The piano part was not given with the expressive power it demanded, and in some measure formed a contrast with the violin and violoncello. There was a hardness of outline that made it disagreeably prominent and marred the effect of some of the most striking passages. In an instrumental trio or quartet the most desirable quality is the blending of the various parts and the absence of all individual predominance on the part of the instruments. The string quartets were entirely free from this, but the trio was marred by it. These soirees serve as a school of the works of the great masters, and one can form a better idea of their peculiarities there than at any symphony concert. The eleventh year has closed triumphantly for those artists, who first undertook the unwelcome and arduous task of revolutionizing music in New York. They had a hard fight against the salon music which swayed the public mind so long; but they have succeeded, and classical music is now a necessary element in every concert.”

Gives program only.