Dr. Sanna Pederson, University of Oklahoma
too much music
Here are a few excerpts about Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century from the book Sergei Koussevitzky and his Epoch by Arthur Lourié (1892-1966). The author of the second biography of Koussevitzky described this book in his preface: “There was available an earlier biography of Koussevitzky by his friend Arthur Lourié. The value of … Read more
On the 25th Anniversary concert of the Berlin Philharmonic this evening, Jeanette Grumbacher-de Jong and Anton Sistermans are the soloists for the Brahms Requiem. The second concert tomorrow will have all the pomp and circumstance of a “Festgedicht” by Carl Wittkowsky, declaimed by the actress Rosa Poppe. Arthur Nikisch conducts the Brahms Symphony no. 1 … Read more
Concerts of Instrumental Music The day after the Joachim Quartet’s concert, the second violinist Karl Halir is giving a concert with his own quartet, which he founded in 1893. The three works on the program are: Haydn, Quartet in D major, op. 64Gernsheim, Quartet in a minor, op. 31Schubert, C major Quintet, with Robert Hausmann … Read more
An overabundance of opera and solo singers on stage tonight: Two extra opera events start today. The Monte Carlo Opera Company has arrived for guest appearances at the Königliche opera house. Tickets are as high as 40 marks and those attending are asked to wear formal evening dress. The first work this evening is La … Read more
Too many people are playing the piano, so women should stop (1889) In previous posts, I’ve quoted critics who saw a problem in the music world of “too much”–too many students, teachers, virtuosos; too many concerts, with too much music on the program, with pieces that were too long, too loud, too pretentious. The Berlin … Read more
In answer to the question of why there were too many concerts in Berlin (the topic of my previous post), some critics blamed the women pianists who only put on concerts in order to get “certified” as having braved Berlin before returning home to become a piano teacher. To test the validity of this theory/assumption, … Read more
Who is to blame? The complaint that there were too many concerts in Berlin was familiar even in the 1880s; in the 1890s the problem started being diagnosed. The music critic Oskar Eichberg was convinced that the number of concerts had grown so much because they were being given for advertising purposes: musicians playing in the … Read more