222 



The Review of Reviews. 



MUSIC AND ART. 



THE RISING STAR OF MUSIC. 



In the Edinburgh Review Mrs. Rosa Nevvmarch 

 ttrongly protests against what she calls Chauvinism in 

 music, the endeavour to imprison music in the gyves 

 of nationalism. She says : — 



Only in the Finnish school, the latest comer in the world of 

 music, which is in some measure a link between Scandinavian 

 .and Slavonic music, can we discern a musical star of greater 

 magnitude. The Danes, the .Swedes, and Norwegians express 

 themselves chiefly in their respective dialects ; but the Finns 

 .already show in the changes of style noticeable in the music of 

 their leader, Jean Sibelius, a tendency to a less exclusive and 

 naive reiteration of national sentiments. Comparing the later 

 with the earlier works of this complex and interesting composer, 

 •we note a tendency to increased subjectivity ; to the substitu- 

 tion of personal utterance — always delicately restrained — for 

 the more epic and pictorial art of his early symphonic works, 

 which were based on episodes from the Finnish "Kalevala" 

 and kindred subjects. His disciples, too, are following on the 

 same lines with even a stronger bent towards abstract music. 



A long and careful study of the works of Sibelius points to 

 the conclusion that the Finns may possibly lead the way to a 

 miore chastened and sober taste in the art of music. Already 

 ■xve are accustomed to hear Sibelius described by the full- 

 Wooded realists of the day as reactionary. But reaction is 

 •often progress in disguise. Sibelius has reserved to himself the 

 right of using the older classical forms as well as those of the 

 symphonic poem. He has ideas which could not always be 

 suitably adapted to the latter, and a sense of form such as one 

 would expect to find in a man to whom sculpture makes a 

 greater appeal than painting. Noting his tendency to shed 

 much of the extravagant luxury of means employed by con- 

 temporary composers ; his omission of much that is superfluous, 

 or merely reiterative ; his restraint in the matter of tempera- 

 mental explosions, and his dislike of violent and noisy orches- 

 tration ; his choice of themes which are not mere flashlights, 

 but sufficiently sustained and luminous to be the guiding stars 

 of his movements ; and his susceptibility to the undertones of 

 nature — we are jusiiiied in feeling that .Sibelius is no reactionary, 

 but that perhaps on the contrary he has stepped ahead out of 

 the dust and din of the blatant and motley pageantry which at 

 the present moment occupies the high-road of musical progress. 



A GREAT ORCHESTRAL 

 CONDUCTOR. 



The biographical article in the Musical Times for 

 July is one of unusual interest, being concerned with 

 Willem Mengclberg, to whom Strauss dedicated his 

 ■" Ein Heldenlcbcn," and who is looked upon as one 

 of the greatest interpreters of this work. Mr. Alfred 

 Kalisch tells us that the Dutch condtictor first appeared 

 in London in 1903, and his .second visit occurred during 

 the present season, the reason for the long interval 

 being that Mengclberg was receiving much better fees 

 on the Continent, and he saw no reason for accepting 

 the British offers. The majority of Englishmen are 

 apt to think England the best paymaster for music in 

 Europe, whereas the truth is that Mengclberg, like 

 Madame Tetrazzini, only agreed to come to London 

 for much smaller fees than he is paid abroad because 

 he chanced to be free at the time. Mengclberg was 



born at Utrecht in 1871. His father is well known 

 as an authority on Gothic architecture and sculpture, 

 and he has taken a prominent part in the restoration 

 of Cologne Cathedral. The musician Mengelberg 

 received most of his musical training at Cologne, and 

 his original intention was to become a pianist. Since 

 1895 he has been conductor of the Concertgebouw 

 Orchestra of Amsterdam. In addition, he is conductor 

 of the Toonkunst, of Amsterdam, and five or si.x years 

 ago he was chosen to one of the most important 

 positions in Germany — that of conductor of the 

 Museum Concerts and the St. Cecilia Concerts of 

 Frankfort. He is an enthusiastic lover of art, and 

 experts are glad to consult him on disputed questions 

 in connection with the Dutch painters. Madame 

 Mengelberg is a most competent business manager. 

 She is nearly as great an authority on matters of art 

 as her husband, and, like him, is an accomplished 

 linguist. 



FROM CUTLER TO CHOIR- 

 MASTER. 



The World's Work for July contains a short article 

 by Mr. Rutland Boughton, on Dr. Henry Coward, the 

 conductor of the Sheffield Choir, who has taken his 

 singers to Germany, France, America, and many British 

 Colonies. His latest success was the visit to Paris 

 last Whitsuntide. Born in 1849, he was toiling at a 

 cutler's bench at the age of nine, and at the age of 

 twenty-three he was a schoolmaster. Every mom.ent 

 of his .spare time was devoted first to the study of 

 tonic sol-fa notation, and then to the study of harmony 

 and counterpoint. He ne.xt formed a choral class, 

 and from that germ grew the far-famed Sheffield Choir. 

 No sooner had he achieved recognition as a qualified 

 musician, his compositions being accepted by the 

 Triennial Festivals, than a new force came into English 

 music, and the style of Elgar and Bantock revolu- 

 tionised the whole method of writing for choruses. 

 Dr. Coward laid aside his composition, and having 

 already renounced the old conventional style of choral 

 singing, he appealed to the dramatic sense of his 

 singers and brought about startling effects of choral 

 interpretation — not carefully-calculated effects, hut 

 efl'ects is.suing straight from the humanity of the 

 music, and having the rugged natural impulse of a 

 living thing. 



TWO MITSICAL CENTENARIES. 



The cententiries of 191 2 include the anniversaries of 

 birth of John HuUah and of William Vincent Wallace, 

 two British musicians born in 1812. Hullah will be 

 retnembered for his enthusiasm in connection with 

 the spread of popular instruction in sight-singing, 

 and Wallace, who was an Irishman, was the composer 

 of " Maritana " and other operas. In the July 



