BOOKS.
SIR GEORGE HENSCHEL'S REMINISCENCES.* Musician have been harshly described as only less egotistic than actors, but the hierarchy of art furnishes many bright exceptions, and Sir George Heim...het is one. To begin with, he tells us more about his friends and colleagues than about him- self, and more than that, he disarms criticism by his frank admission that his very versatility may have debarred him from relieving abiding fame. But he consoles himself with the reflection that at least he has never betrayed the ideal of his art by consciously stooping to the unworthy or the common- place, and that by his efforts in founding and conducting Sym- phony Concerts he has lent impetus, " or even in some measure eontributed, to the marvellous development of Music, creative and recreative, in this beloved land." No one whose opinion is worth having can gainsay this modest claim, which leaves out of account the intense pleasure which for many years Sir George Henschel gave to lovers of good Music by his truly wonderful cervices as an interpreter of song. A new generation has grown up since the days of Henschel recitals, but they will always remain as a cherished and unforgettable memory in the minds of those who had the good fortune to attend them..
This is not a formal autobiography, but rather a series of episodes in the life of an artist. Of his early youth Sir George Henschel gives us a charming picture. He was born at Breslau in February, 1810, the son of a wool and coal merchant ; both his parents were of Polish descent without a drop of Teutonic blood in their veins. His bent for music declared itself early in favourable surroundings. Breslau was remarkably well equipped with musical societies, choral and orchestral, and an excellent Municipal Theatre with a large dramatic and operatic repertory. Young Henaehel was a treble soloist at nine, a show pianoforte pupil at twelve ; later on he took alto parts ; at sixteen he had visions of becoming a Heldstatenor, and could sing up to B and C from the chest when his voice suddenly settled down into a bass. He entered the ljeipsic Conservatorium in 1867, and in the following year sang the part of Hans Sachs at a concert performance of the Meistersinger. At Leipaic he studied the pianoforte under Moscheles—wit h admirable result s, as all who re- member his inimitable gifts as an accompanist must admit—stud singing under Goetze, the original Lehengrin at the first perform- ance at Weimar, ; the organ, theory and composition being his other studies. When only eighteen he declined the offer of small parts in opera at Dresden : it is curious to leant that his only appearance on the bomb was in his Gam opera produced at Dresden more than forty years later. Yet with all this musical activity ho makes no pretence of having been an industrious :.pprentice. Play, pastime, and conviviality occupied as large portion of hia time. A visit to Liszt at Weimar introduced him to a galaxy of stars. Ho was the first to sing to Liszt from the newly publishrd more of Di3 Walkiire, and took part with Rubinstein at a winced in Breslau in 1869. Then followed a period at the Hochschule at Berlin under Joachim. Here he supported himself by giving cheap pianoforte lessons until his talents were recognized by engagements, mainly in oratorio, first in Berlin, and after a while throughout Germany and in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Russia. Amongst his best friends were the Joachims, with whom he stayed on their holidays in Styria, and Mine. Schumann, with whom he was constantly associated in recitals at which she accompanied him in her husband's songs. In 1873 he sang in no fewer than forty-seven different towns in Germany, and in 1874 was engaged for the Lower Rhenish Festival at Cologne, a sort of a musical blue ribbon for the German oratorio singer. Here he met Brahma, end a close friendship—pure hero-worship on Henschers part— began, only ended by Brahma's death in 1897. He sang twice in 1875 at Vienna at concerts of the Society of Music Friends, then directed by Brahma, and between the two concerts fulfilled engagements in Russia, at Petrograd and Moscow, singing in the Messiah under Nicolas Rubinstein, and giving recitals in Russian. The barbaric splendour of Russian society is brought home to us in many vivid descriptions, including that of his visit to the Imperial kennels at Gatehina, for Sir George Henschel has alwaya been an observant and enterprising traveller. A Memor- able holiday with Brahma on the island of Rtigen revealed the great composer in his most human and genial moral ; in the • Stusings and Alonaries ad a Musician. GeOrge lienstha Atas.Doc. With a Portrait. 1.9ndon ; 31acmillau and tn. 1125. Oth act.) same year Sir George attended the first Bayreuth Festival, and sang in Rubinstein's Paradise Lost at Petrograd:— " "I sang the part of Lucifer, whieh suited me well. Indeed, in later years I seemed to have acquired quite a reputation for impersonating that fallen angel in some form or other. The 3Iephisto in Berlioz's Faust earns next ; then the Lucifer in Sullivan's Golden. Legend ; then Boite'a Mefistelele ; then the Satan in Stantertrs Eden ; and only two years ago my old friend Sir Alexander Mackenzie wrote to me 'I am at work on a second piece. . . . All I may say is that " Satan " (always a popular gentleman) is in it, and I only wish you would add this one to the several Lucifers it has been your lot to perform.' "
It is pleasant to think that these successive impersonations have not affected Sir George Henschers outlook on life, as revealed in these Reminiscences. Anything less diabolic could out be imagined.
The following year-1877—marked the turnink-point in Sir George Henschers career. An invitation to sing at the " Pops," the welcome he received, and the congenial atmosphere of English life decided him to make his home amongst us. This book was written and in type before the war, a fact which lendi peculiar significance to the passages in which he sets forth the reasons of his migration. He heel no filial affection for the rulers of Germany, though he loved Breslau, Silesia, the people of Germany as far as he knew it, and its art and poetry. Cast:: prejudice, Junkerdom, the obvious predominance of the military classes, the arrogance of all officials, and the contempt in which the Jews were held in Prussia inspired him with repugnance and resentment. In England Ile found tolerance, freedom, and happiness. In this context one may quote the story of his friend Bergheim, a Jew born in Jerusalem, who settled in Eng- land, and at a political electing was interrupted by a working man on the ground that he "was not an Englishman." Berg- heists retorted : "I am more of an Englishman than you are " ; and when the tumult provoked by this remark died down went on : "You could not help being an Englishman, you ame bons one. I have chosen to be an Englishman, for after having travelled all over the globe and knowing the world from one cad to another, I found there is -no better, no freer, no more beautiful land for a man to live in than England."
We have left ourselves little space to deal with the remainder of Sir George Henschers narrative, which describes his first visit to America, leading to his engagement as Director of the Boston Symphony Concerts for three seasons ; the splendid support he received from his generous patron Mr. Higginson, his orchestra and public, in face of a good deal of ungenerous Press criticiem ; the story of his founding of the London Symphony Concerts and their continuance for eleven years; and his arduous duties as Conductor of the Scottish Orchestra. It is an honour. able record of great activity and consistent devotion to high artistic aims, interspersed with many generous appreciations of colleagues and friends. Sir George Henschel has touched life at many points, amt his reminiscences are singularly free front the narrowness of the professional musician. If we have a fault to find with the book, it is that he tells us practic- ally nothing about that branch of his artist which he has been admittedly supreme, singing to his own accompaniment.
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