The Oxford Magazine, vol. 25, no. 8, (December 5, 1906), p. 135.
MUSIC OF THE WEEK
THERE was the usual crowded and enthusiastic audience to welcome the Joachim Quartet at the Public Classical Concert on Thursday afternoon: the programme consisted of three string quartets, Mozart in D minor, Brahms in B flat, and Beethoven in C minor. Professor Wirth being still unable to play owing to eye-trouble, Herr Karl Klingler has been making his first visit to England, and, much younger than his famous colleagues though he is, he proves himself in every way worthy of the honour: the great viola passages in the Brahms quartet were played with quite superb breadth and insight, and throughout all the works his splendid tone and exceptional musicianship were very noticeable. Professors Halir and Hausmann were as wonderful as ever; and the passage of time leaves no trace on all the essential things in Dr. Joachim’s playing, nor is there any change in the extraordinary perfection of ensemble with which his colleagues reproduce every tinge of his moods. All his many long years of intimate love of the great music have resulted now in a style of extraordinarily ripe and mellow beauty: there is a lifetime of thought and reverence behind every note he plays, and at the age of seventy-five he can still teach us the last word in the art of interpretation. And yet there is nothing in the least degree stereotyped about his conceptions: absolutely faithful as they have always been, they are yet creative, and have varied, and still vary, to a considerable extent. On Thursday he was in a, on the whole, somewhat specially quiet and meditative vein: when we next hear him again, he might very possibly, in the same works, reveal to us different but equally great treasures from his inexhaustible store.
