"You remember," said Mr. Dubbe, "that Herr Weidig, in his lecture on the
wood winds, gave a double bassoon illustration from Brahms' 'Chorale of
St. Anthony,' which you are to hear to-day. But Herr Weidig neglected to
mention the most interesting point in the illustration--that the
abysmal-toned double bassoon calls attention to the devil-possessed
swine, St. Anthony being the patron saint of swine-herds. I want you to
listen carefully to this swine motive. It is really extraordinary." Mr.
Dubbe wrote the motive on the blackboard and then played it on his
double bassoon, which, he said, is one of the very few in this country.
"The bassoon," said Mr. Dubbe, "was Beethoven's favorite instrument. I
go further than Beethoven in preferring the double bassoon. Among my
unpublished manuscripts are several compositions for this instrument,
and my concerto for two double bassoons is now in the hands of a Berlin
publisher.
"But to recur to the Brahms chorale. You should know that it makes the
second best variations in existence. The best are in the Heroic
Symphony. The third best are Dvorak's in C major."
"C. Major--that's the man who wrote 'Dorothy Vernon,'" giggled Miss Vera
Cilly.
"I am not discussing ragtime variations," said Mr. Dubbe, severely.
"Not knocking anybody," whispered Miss Gay Votte.
"Another interesting point in connection with this week's program,"
resumed Mr. Dubbe, "is the river motive in Smetana's symphonic poem,
'The Moldau.' Three flutes represent (loosely speaking; for, as I have
often told you, music cannot represent anything) the rippling of the
Moldau, a tributary of the Danube. If the composer had had a larger
river in mind he would have used nine flutes. If this composition of
Smetana's seems rather unmusical, allowance must be made for him, as the
poor man was deaf and couldn't hear how bad his own music was."
"Wasn't Beethoven deaf?" asked Miss Sara Band.
"Only his physical ears were affected," replied Mr. Dubbe. "Smetana's
soul ears were also deaf."
At the close of the lecture Miss Ellenborough gave us a surprise in the
way of raised doughnuts made in the form of a G clef. Mrs.
Gottem-Allbeat poured.