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Henselt's Concerto, hackneyed in Germany but almost unknown in England, was his accompanied piece yesterday. It is the most considerable work of that curious composer, who made a great reputation as a pianist though he scarcely ever played in public, and some reputation as a composer though he never did anything more original than the pianoforte Etude
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Si oiseau j'étais, and for the most part rested satisfied with giving enfeebled reproductions of Chopin's ideas thinly disguised by arpeggio accompaniments in extended harmonies and ornamental passages in double notes. In a few points, such as the use of _martellato_ octaves and chord passages, he had a more modern technique than Chopin's; but there is no justification for his compositions except good laying out for the instrument. From beginning to end one finds him cultivating the same kind of mild and voluminous euphony. Mr. Busoni played the three movements in his customary style, solving all the technical problems that they present rather more intelligently than anyone else. His unaccompanied solos were, first, two astonishingly ingenious Preludes constructed on themes of chorales by Bach, which are treated as _canti fermi_, and accompanied by passages in florid counterpoint, having the character of an _obbligato_. The theme of the first was
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Sleepers, wake, and of the second the chorale known in this country as
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Luther's Hymn. The third piece was Liszt's seldom-heard transcription of Beethoven's
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Adelaide.
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Variations Sérieuses, Schumann's
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Etudes Symphoniques,