MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1663, 1 February 1913, Page 9

MUSIC.

TBr Tkeblk Clef.l

Brahms's German Requiem. The "German Requiem" of , Brahms, which is now under rehearsal by the Sydney Philharmonic Society, is undoubtedly one of the noblest things in sacred music. Its .title does not' signify, as docs the similarly named works of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi, and other 1 writers, that it is a setting of the Roman I Catholic ritual for tho dead. This re- • quiem-i-written by Brahms in memory 'of his mother—has for text suitablo Biblical passages .bearing upon the subject in hand. It thus opens up to tho I use of other communions a wonderful example of that, music for the dead in j which the Roman Catholic Church is so ! singularly rich. A notable performance j of it is given every year in St. Paul's • Cathedral by augmented choir and orchestra. The famous Temple Church choir gives at appropriate seasons a beautiful performance of it, and it is in' frei quent production at other churches where the calibre of the choir is equal to its undoubted difficulties. In Australia it was first sung at St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, and, shortly afterwards, its production.in-Sydney, with orchestra, at St. James's Church, aroused such wide interest that room could not be found for hundreds of people who had come to hear it. Sombre, austere, grief-stricken music, for the most part, and always impressive, it rises to heights of grandeur 1 wherever tho text proclaims the larger hope of the Christian faith. Evidently a labour of love, Brahms seems to " have brought to it some of the finest inspiration of his genius, as, for example, in tho lovely song fo'f soprano solo. "Ye now thatare sorrowful." It is. necessary, indeed, to go back to the treasure-house of Bach, and Mozart, 'and Handel, to find similar exalted expression of a sacred text. - j ■ ~ ! Mr. Ethelbert Hales, the American actor, anil son of Mrs. W. H. Hales, of i Oriental Bay, Wellington, recently took ! advantngo of a wetk's holiday to hear some of the grand operas at the Metropolitan Opera House, New' York. Ho heard Caruso in "Aida," "Bohome," and "I Pagliacci," and states, that the plump ; Italian is singing even liioro artistically ! than ever, and when'the occasion dcI mantled it, with all his old power and j wealth- of tone. This news is interesting, comim: from Mr. Hales, who lias heard him before and after the operation , to thi> tenor's throati