(*)
Aufführung der 9. Symphonie und des »Te deum« durch das Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester und den Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde unter Franz Schalk im 2. Gesellschaftskonzert der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien im Großen Musikvereinssaal (*).

 

Besprechung des gestrigen Konzerts mit dem Quintett in The Sun Nr. 97 (New York) auf S. 7 (des 2. Teils?):

"  KNEISEL QUARTET IN BRUCKNER WORK

     The second concert of the Kneisel Quartet took place last evening in Aeolian Hall. The programme comprised Anton Bruckner's string quintet in M [sic] major, Mozart's B flat quartet, opus 589 in the Koechel list, and Tschaikowsky's F major quartet, opus 22. The assisting viola player in the Bruckner work, which calls for two violas, was Louis Boestelmann [sic].

     Bruckner's music is played infrequently, chiefly because of its frankly confessed character as the product of study rather than inspiration. Yet in several of his larger creations there are movements of indisputable beauty and curiously enough these are generally slow movements. Un the development of first movement forms Bruckner's mental processes buried his themes under massive structures of labor.

     This was much the case with the quintet heard last evening for the first time in this city. It is a striking commentary in the man's art that twenty years had elapsed after his death before one of his most important compositions in the field of chamber music found its way to the local platforms.

     The slow movement of the quintet is finely felt and wrought out with beautiful expression. It is reflective and perhaps somewhat introspective, as most of this writer's music is, but it has poetic quality and a string personal note. Furthermore it technically excels the other three movements in the fluency and spontaneity of its tratment of the five instruments and in the unforced nature of its harmonic plan.

     The first movement, marked moderato, the scherzo and the final allegro are all crowded with ingenuities and mannered progressions. They make exacting demands upon the listener and reward him in a niggardly fashion. The composition was well played. It was not the fault of the artists that some of Bruckner's combinations sounded out of tune.

     The other two works on the evening's list were old friends, and certainly the Mozart must have sounded especially fresh and free to most hearers coming as it did immediately after the Bruckner work. The audience was of good size and, as is usual at these concerts, showed no hesitation about clearly marking its differing degrees of satisfaction." [keine Signatur] (**).

 

Die New York Tribune Nr. 25588 bringt eine Kritik auf S. 7:

"               CHAMBER MUSIC BY THE KNEISELS

     The Kneisel Quartet played a piece of chamber music composed by Anton Bruckner at a concert in Aeolian Hall last night. It was a quintet (the ordinary four instruments supplemented by a second viola) in F major. Not a new york, of course, for the composer has been dead several years and the quintet was written long before he died. To hear it was no doubt one of the experiences which every patron of chamber music ought to have, for the name of Bruckner is a doughty one in the history of music, albeit it is fading, like that of some of his doughtiest pupils, at a time when in the usual course of events it should be growing in lustre.

     Bruckner, as a master of the science of music and the technique of composition, looms large in the books and deserves to do so; as a contributor to the lovers of pure music his fame is less conspicuous than his name. He was essentially a church musician, and in this field most particularly an organist. It was only a short time ago that Dr. Muck related to a group of musicians how on an occasion in Vienna after the rehearsal of one of his symphonies he asked permission of Hans Richter to show his gratitude to the musicians by playing for them upon the organ. For half an hour or more he held the members of the Philharmonic Society spellbound by his improvisation on themes from the work they had been playing.

     That was the Bruckner whose colossal ability as a musician, combined with his ingenuousness as a man, made him beloved of his pupils as Cesar Franck is beloved by his disciples in France. He knew wonderfully well how to say things, but he did not often have wonderful things to say.

     In the quintet played last night there is a slow movement which soars up to near the gates of heaven as on Beethovenian wings, but that, and a bit of piquancy and grace in the trio of the playful movement, is nearly all that there is in the quintet which can be said to be a beauty that makes appeal to anybody except the musician interested in the technical intricacies of his art.

     Despite its reminiscence of a familiar Wagnerian phrase ("Nun weisst du, fragende Frau," in "Die Walküre") the movement is built on noble, deepbreathed themes, one of those "large thoughts" which figured in a story taken from the reminiscences of his publisher and printed in The Tribune six months or so ago. A group of musicians, Brahms among them, were talking about Bruckner's compositions and one of them was railing against his lack of real skill in the development of his themes.

     "But you must admit," said his publisher, "that he has large thoughts."

     Then Brahms broke the silence he had thitherto maintained. "If you had printed only his large thoughts," said he to the publisher, "you would have saved a great deal of money!"

     The Adagio of this quintet deserves a place in the Kneisel repertory; the rest of the work can easily be spared.

     Mr. Louis Bostelmann helped Mr. Kneisel and his regular associates in the performance of the quintet, which was admirably played, as were, no doubt, Mozart's Quartet in B flat (No. 589 in Köchels's catalogue) and Tschaikoffsky's Quartet in F, Op. 22, which followed. But as to the details of these performances deponent saith nothing for the best of reasons that a recorder of musical affairs can offer–he didn't hear them." (***).

 

The New York Times Nr. 21501 schreibt auf S. 7:

"            THE KNEISEL QUARTET.

     The Kneisel Quartet at their second concert last evening in Aeolian Hall brought forward a composition which, thought it is thirty-five years old, had apparently never been publicly played before in New York–Bruckner's string quintet in F. The Bruckner of the symphonies has never gained much following in New York, notwithstanding the efforts of several distinguished conductors to make propaganda for him. This quintet is more a[??]uring than the symphonies in many respects; yet it shows some of the composer's estranging characteristics. It begins with a fine and vigorous theme, with which are associated others not unworthy of it; yet before the movement has gone far, the composer has begun to labor with them in vain repetitions, mounting and descending, the het result of which is dull and dry. In this, as in the other mevements, there are fine moments in the midst of anxious and fruitless elaboration, fussy and unimportant detail. There is little succinct and rewarding development leading to a vital organism.

     In this quintet, as in many of the symphonies, Bruckner is at his best in the slow movement, which has warmth and nobility. The five instruments are treated with an effectiveness noteworthy in an composer who wrote only one chamber composition.

     The quintet was heard with deference if not with enthusiasm, in an admirable performance; and the slow movement was much applauded. There followed Mozart's quartet in B flat and Tschaikowsky's in F, neither of which is unknown to Mr. Kneisel's audiences. Mozart's keeps an inextinguishable freshness and gave great delight to the listeners. The Quartet had the assistance of Louis Bostelmann, viola, in Bruckner's Quintet." [keine Signatur] (°).

 

Eine Besprechung erscheint auch in The Evening World (New York) auf S. 14:

"Kneisels Play Bruckner Work First Time Here

THE Kneisel Quartet gave the second concert of its season at Aeolian Hall last night. There were all the familiar accessories. Absorbed attention and discriminating applause may be assumed. In a crowded house that held musicians aplenty there was also a host of people whose names are prominent in the Social Register. In the latter class [... neues Publikum, mehr Männer in Abendkleidung, im Parkett 14 Damen mit Hüten ...], a thing unprecedented in former times.

     Mr. Kneisel began his programme with a "first time in New York" performance of Anton Bruckner's quintet in F major for two violins, two violas and 'cello, in which the quartet had the assistance of Louis Bostleman's [sic] viola. It was written in 1879 and has had many performances in Germany. Mr. Bruckner, closely associated as organist with the proclamation of church music, was a prolific composer, chiefly famous for eight symphonies, the last one unfinished at his death in 1896, and only one, or two–or is it three?–presented here, which aroused much controversy among the elect without winning popular favor. The quintet, like all of Bruckner's works, is that of a thorough musician too much given to traditional development of scheme, long in construction, has[?] high lights more or less obscured by detail. It seemed to me that Mr. Kneisel and his associates gave the work a dry reading, leaving a flavor of the academic that a little broader treatment, a little more crispness and snap in playing, would have avoided. It was heard with respectful attention and rewarded with generous applause.

     Where the audience came into its own with breakings of satisfaction and pronounced joy was in the middle number, Mozart's quartet in B flat major. Scarcely less marked was its approval of Tschaikowsky's quartet in F major, with which the programme ended. The players were called out many times. [... Rauchgeruch im letzten Satz ... Feuer in der Nähe ... einige Türen versperrt ...], was accepted without excitement or confusion." (°°).

 

Vergleichsweise kurz ist die Kritik in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Nr. 337 auf S. 6:

"               KNEISELS IN NEW QUINTET.

     In the Kneisels concert last night, in Aeolian Hall, Manhattan, the number which attracted special attention was the Bruckner Quintet in F major, given for the first time in Manhattan. The assisting artist was Louis Bostelmann, violist. The quintet is somewhat heavy for a small ensemble. The structure is large in outline and there is no paucity of ideas in it. The last movement welds and binds together the whole number in a delightful manner. There is a flavor of nature in the murmuring voices of the very end of the movement, which is fine, and it is preceded by a melodic utterance which is both winning and serious. The Kneisels played, also, with their marvel of tone and expression the Mozart Quartet in B flat major and the Tchaikowsky Quartet in F major." [keine Signatur] (°°°).

 

(#)
Ankündigung der 7. Symphonie für den 8./9.12.1916 in The Cincinnati Enquirer Nr. 341 auf S. 2:

"             A NEW SYMPHONY.

     Interest in the symphony concerts, which are to be given Friday afternoon and Saturday evening of this week in Emery Auditorium, is divided between the Seventh Symphony in E major of Bruckner, and the appearance of Julia Culp, the famous lieder singer. This symphony is distinguished for its beautiful and imposing "Adagio," written by Bruckner in memory of Richard Wagner. So impressive is this music that it has been placed in the class of elegiac music with the funeral march of the "Eroica" Symphony of Beethoven and "Siegfried" music of the "Goetterdammerung." The remaining movements sustain the interest aroused by the Adagio, and the performance of the entire symphony promises to constitute one of the most important pieces of work done by the orchestra during the year.

     Julia Culp, whose popularity with the local musical public is an everincreasing one, [... Monteverdi, Brahms ...].

     The remaining orchestral numbers will be Cherubini's overture "Anacreon" and the Dvorak overture "Husitzka." The box office opens [...]." (#).

 

Das Tägliche Cincinnatier Volksblatt Nr. 293 informiert auf S. 2 nur über die Programmfolge:

"                 Symphoniekonzerte.

     Die Solistin gelegentlich der beiden Symphonie=Konzerte, die am Freitag Nachmittag und am Samstag Abends stattfinden, ist die bekannte Sängerin Julia Culp. Das von Dr. Kunwald für diese Konzerte zusammengestellte Programm ist wie folgt:

Ouverture "Anacreon" . . . . . . . Cherubini

Symphonie No. 7 in E Dur . . .  Bruckner

Arie "Il lamento d'Arianna" . .  Monteverde [sic]

Ouverture "Husitzka" . . . . . . .  Dvorak

Lieder:

[... vier Brahms-Lieder ...]

     Der Vorverkauf der Eintrittskarten findet bei der Church-Beinkamp Co, an der West Vierten Straße, statt." (##).

 

Dass auch in Amerika Straßen nach Bruckner [= Anton Bruckner?] benannt wurden, erfährt man in der Detroiter Abend-Post Nr. 18186 (Detroit, Michigan) auf S. 5:

"                Lokales.

[...]

[...]

     * Frau Anna Zeits, 30 Jahre alt und No. 248 Bruckner=Avenue wohnhaft, meldete der Polizei gestern abend, daß nachmittags ein stämmiger Neger in die Küche ihrer Wohnung trat, als sie sich allein im Hause befand und Geld verlangte. Der Farbige stürzte sich auf die Frau und würgte sie, als sie sich weigerte, seinem Verlangen nachzukommen. Frau Zeitss chrie [sic] laut um Hilfe und schreckerfüllt lief der Neger davon." (###).

[siehe die Anmerkung]

 

Etwas knapper schreibt The Detroit Free Press Nr. 70 auf S. 5:

"          CITY SIFTINGS

[...]

     MRS. ANNA ZEITS, 30 YEARS old, 248 Bruckner avenue, reported to the police that a tall Negro came into her kitchen and demanded money. When she refused, the Negro choked her. She screamed and he ran away." (a).