Contemporary American Composers: Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present; Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and; Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an; Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and; CompositionsHughes, Rupert
History
Contemporary American Composers: Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present; Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and; Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an; Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and; Compositions
Hughes, Rupert
Composers -- United States -- Biography; Music -- United States -- History and criticism
In larger forms, Mr. Foerster is even more successful. Opus 10 is a
Character-piece for full orchestra, based on Karl Schaefer's poem,
"Thusnelda." It is short but vigorous, and well unified. Opus 15 is a
Fantasie for violin and piano, the piano having really the better of
it. The treatment is very original, and the strong idea well
preserved. Opus 21 is a Quartette for violin, viola, 'cello, and
piano. The first movement begins solemnly, but breaks into an
appassionato. All four instruments have an equal voice in the parley,
and all the outbursts are emotional rather than contrapuntal. A climax
of tremendous power is attained. The second movement omits the piano
for a beautiful adagio. The third is an hilarious allegro, and the
finale is an even gayer presto, with movements of sudden sobriety,
suddenly swept away. Foerster calls this Quartette "far inferior" to a
second one, opus 40. This, however, I have not seen; but I do not
hesitate to call opus 21 a masterly work.
Opus 24 is an "Albumblatt" for 'cello and piano. It is a wonderwork
of feeling and deep richness of harmony, of absolute sincerity and
inspiration. Opus 29 is a Trio for violin, 'cello, and piano. The
three begin in unison, andante, whence the 'cello breaks away,
followed soon by the others, into the joviality of a drinking bout.
There is a military moment, a lyric of more seriousness, and a finish
agitato. The second movement is a larghetto highly embroidered. The
third movement is a vivace with the spirit of a Beethoven presto.
Opus 36 is a suite for violin and piano, beginning with a most
engaging and most skilful Novelette.
In MS. are: an elaborate ballad, "Hero and Leander," which, in spite
of an unworthy postlude and certain "Tristan und Isolde" memories, is
ardent and vivid with passion; "Verzweifelung," which is bitter and
wild with despair; a suite for piano (op. 46) containing a waltz as
ingenious as it is captivating; and a finale called "Homage to
Brahms." This is a remarkably clever piece of writing, which, while it
lacks the Brahmsian trade-mark of thirds in the bass, has much of that
composer's best manner, less in his tricks of speech than in his
tireless development and his substitution of monumental thematicism
for lyric emotion. In MS. is also a prelude to Goethe's "Faust" for
full orchestra. It has very definite leading motives, which include
"Faust's Meditations," "Visions of Margarethe," "Evil" and "Love"
(almost inversions of each other), "Mephistopheles," and the like. The
strife of these elements is managed with great cleverness, ending
beatifically with the motive of Gretchen dying away in the wood-wind.
An orchestral score that has been published is the Dedication March
for Carnegie Hall in Pittsburg. It begins with a long fanfare of horns
heard behind the scenes. Suddenly enters a jubilant theme beginning
with Andrew Carnegie's initials, a worthy tribute to one to whom
American music owes much.
_Charles Crozat Converse._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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