THE BEETHOVEN QUARTET SOCIETY.
Our musical readers, in London at least, scarcely require to be told that this Society was formed, six or seven years ago, by the late Mr. Alsager, an amateur whose ardent love of music was based upon a highly cultivated taste. For many years he was in the habit of entertaining his musical Mends with performances of the chamber instrumental compositions of the greatest masters, executed by the most consummate artists in London; and those elegant reunions will long be matter of pleasing and melancholy remembrance to those who shared in their enjoyment. Out of them grew the Beethoven Quartet Society; Mr. Alsager conceiving the idea of doing honour to the memory of the great object of his admiration by affording to a larger circle than could conveniently be assembled at a private party an opportunity of becoming acquainted with masterpieces whose beauty is only equalled by their difficulty, through the medium of a complete and careful performance. Moderate terms of subscription were fixed upon, to remunerate the artists employed, defray the expense of the room, &c. The general management was vested in a Committee; and the musical superintendence intrusted to M. Rousselot, a fine violoncellist and accomplished general musician. "Honour to Beethoven" was assumed as the device of the Society; and their proceedings have made good their motto. Their meetings have been attended by it numerous and distinguished circle of amateurs, of whom the fair sex form a large portion. On the lamented death of Mr. Alsager, who personally took the most active share in the management, its chief weight has devolved upon M. Rousselot; whose judicious arrangements and prudent conduct have prevented any interruption to the progressive career of the Society. The season just terminated has been the most successful and brilliant. The concluding meeting, on Monday last, was crowded with the elite of our musical circles.
The " executants " have always been of the highest class. The first and second violins have been Sivori, Vieuxtemps, Joachim, Molique, Samand others of like calibre. On one occasion the first violin was taken
by Spohr. The viola and violoncello have constantly been Will and Rensselot; and no finer quartet-players exist in any country. The performers have prepared themselves by an amount of private study and rehearsal bestowed only by men engaged in labour they delight in, and inspired by real love of art. For some time after the formation of the Society, they confined themselves to the quartets of Beethoven; but during the last two seasons, quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Mendelssohn have been introgueed, though the works of Beethoven furnish the chief part of every programme. Additional variety is thus obtained, quite consistently with the object of the Society; for further honour is done to Beethoven by the comparison of his marvellous productions with those of the most illustrious of his predecessors. The Society have certainly solved the gua3stio vezata respecting the character of Beethoven's latest quartets, especially those known as posthumous." The eccentricity, obscurity, caprices of a disordered imagination, and crudities arising from deafness, laid to the charge of those compositions by musicians of weight and authority, are found to have existed only in the erroneous impressions of the hearers, arising partly from imperfect execution, and partly from the difficulty of comprehending a style so remarkable for novelty, depth, and boldness. Played at these meetings, with the utmost precision, the nicest attention to every delicacy of meaning and expression and the fire and feeling of true artists, the posthumous quartets are now listened to with the utmost delight, and unanimously admitted to transcend all other works of their class.
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