Tschechische Erstaufführung der 3. Symphonie durch die Tschechische Philharmonie unter Adolf Zemánek [in Prag?] (*).

 

Aus Anlass der bevorstehenden Aufführung der 5. Symphonie [am 6./7.3.1914] bringt The Inter Ocean Nr. 342 auf S. 32 (= S. 8 des Magazinteils) einen ausführlichen Artikel über Bruckner, in dem auch eine Zeitgenossin Bruckners mit ihren Beobachtungen zitiert wird:

"         Irrelevant Chat of Musicians.

ON THE resident orchestra's program for the coming week is a symphony by Anton Bruckner. The name of this little appreciated composer spells nothing but "drought"  to many, despite warm championing of his case by both Theodore Thomas and Mr. Stock. For in his more serious scores the public is disposed to find prolixity and a dry, academic mode of speech, and once that impression of a composer is current the span of a generation is barely enough to mitigate the curse. There are a few striking points in the brief Bruckner annals which may throw some light on the subject.

     Bruckner was the son of a humble family, and to the end of his days insisted on being regarded as a "working man." He was an organist of great zeal, largely self-taught in the art, though among his masters are mentioned Sechter, who was court organist in Vienna, and the theorist Kitzler. His zeal took the form of frequent organ recitals, and they were very negligee affairs, according to one who attended them regularly.

     "Bruckner used to play by the hour," says she. "Nearly every afternoon he came to the church garbed in the corduroy suit of the workingman. 'Why should I make any difference?' he demanded when asked the reason. 'Am I not a day laborer like anybody else?'

     "His programs were largely impromptu and his fame at improvising was greater than his reputation as a technician. He was as unassuming as the role he chose for himself, and it was a great joy to chat with him after the concerts. He was witty and often wittily frank. The great sorrow of his life seemed to be that his rivals would not grant him sincerity in his feeling of democrazy."

     Like everything else in Viennese musical politics, there is a reason behind this remark. Bruckner was almost exactly a contemporary of Brahms. During his days of greatest artistic development the theories of Wagner were the vital force in musical composition. Bruckner, though a symphonist in sympathies, enlisted in the cause of the "leit-motif," and attempted to apply it in larger fashion than his forerunners to the larger "absolute" forms.

     This gave the Wagnerites the chance to oppose a pronounced individuality to Brahms, whose lot it was to be the banshee lourished at Wagner and the operatic camp. It is a queer comment upon the "clique" conditions of these European music centers that neither Brahms nor Bruckner had any desire to become the vicarious battler for their respective theories and schools, and to Bruckner the situation was doubly tragic in that his nature was a nature of simplicity and candor–"a villager, even in the capital," notes one chronicler.

     But the enforced opposition to Brahms resulted in much good, however. Out of it grew the chance of performance for his symphonies and his three masses. Because of it his fame grew far beyond that of the simple "villager" he declared himself to be. In a popular sense, this fame is not as great as it appears to be among the more erudite musicians–as is also the case with the symphonies of Mahler. Conductors everywhere have been faithful to his works, however. The programs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra have contained his second, third, fourth, seventh and ninth (the "Unfinished") and the fifth is the one chosen by Mr. Stock for performance this coming week." (**).

 

Im Wochenkalender der Chicago Tribune Nr. 9 auf S. 63 (= S. 5 des 8. Teils) wird auch auf diese Konzerte verwiesen:

"            The Concert Calendar.

[...]

                     FRIDAY.

Orchestra hall–Chicago Symphony orchestra, Frederick Stock, conductor. The program will include Strauss' "Festival Prelude " (new), Bruckner's symphony No 5 in B flat, and three Wagner selections–"Siegfried in the Forest." "Träume," in the Theodore Thomas arrangement, and overture to "Rienzi." 2:15 p. m.

                 SATURDAY

[...]

Orchestra hall–Chicago Symphony orchestra. Program as above. 8:15 p. m." (***).

 

Ein Inserat in The Sun Nr. 182 (New York) auf S. 60 (= S. 8 des 6. Teils) kündigt ein Chorkonzert für den 10.3.1914 an:

"         MUSICAL ART SOCIETY

     WORKS BY Palestrina, Jasquin de Pree, Sweelinck, Bruckner, Cornelius, Brahms

Tickets [...]." (°).