Brahms Quartet

              QUARTET BRAHMS

Mr. Edward Walker



Mrs. Helen Bright-Bengel



Mrs. Frank Farnum



Mr. Lemuel W. Kilby




Concerning the Brahms Quartet
The concert was given by the Brahms Quartet of Chicago.  The ensemble work was admirable.  There were eleven songs but each one was distinct and clear.  The four singers thought and sang in absolute unison and sustained each other admirably.  The spirit of each song and the meaning was not confused and the cycle was one of the most perfect things the club has heard.

(Bloomington, Ill.)

The Brahms Quartet were the artists and pleased their hearers very much.  The first part of the program was devoted to miscellaneous numbers and the latter part to a cycle of eleven love songs by Brahms.  These numbers were most beautiful.  The members of this quartet are all artists of high rank, and those who heard the concert Friday evening enjoyed a musical treat.

(Sioux City, Iowa.)

The concert given by the Brahms Quartet was two hours of unalloyed delight.  It was an artistic triumph for both the musicians and the local public who provided an atmosphere of spontaneous appreciation.

The program taken as a whole was well balanced, satisfying, full of light and shade, responsive to emotional and intellectual needs, and embodying the modern tendency in song compositions, where pictures are created in melody and rhythm.

(Keokuk, Iowa.)

The return of the Brahms Quartet of Chicago proved the stellar attraction of the course this season along musical lines.  This quartet was heard here a couple of seasons ago and the triumph achieved by them on that occasion was duplicated last evening when they presented a program well suited to appeal to all tastes.

The Brahms Quartet is composed of artists whose services are constantly in demand and the bringing of them to Streator, giving local music lovers an opportunity to enjoy their rich gifts is a treat which none present could fail to appreciate.

(Streator, Ill.)

The Brahms Quartet is one of the distinctly original organizations of the city, as well as being wholly artistic in every detail of its work.  The ensemble formed is one of great power and perfect equality, in so far as tonal quality is concerned, and in the matter of interpretation and musicianship, leaves nothing to be desired.

(Chicago)

The Brahms Quartet furnished the program for the occasion.  The numbers were most enjoyable.  Each member of the quartet was heard in solo work and each is to be complimented on the quality of the program selections.

(Chicago)

Having just returned home after the Quartet concert at Orchestra Hall this morning, I hasten to give you my heartiest thanks for the Brahms Liebeswaltzer again and again.  They were splendidly given, and everybody liked them.

Leopold Kramer, Concert-Meister, Chicago Grand Opera Co.

It affords me genuine pleasure to say that I have had frequent opportunities to hear the Brahms Quartet.  This Quartet has attained a very high degree of perfection, and, in fact, a more evenly balanced ensemble could hardly be imagined.  I bespeak for them the recognition which their talents and achievements fully merit.

Frederick A. Stock, Conductor, Thomas Orchestra

The Brahms Quartet is composed of four soloists of the highest rank.  More beautiful specimen programs have never come to the attention of the Program Committee, and the management feels assured that a most unusual treat awaits those who go to hear the Brahms Quartet.

(Prospectus of Lincoln Chautauqua) Lincoln, Ill.




Press Comments on the Superlative Worth of the Members of the Quartet as Soloists

MRS. FRANK FARNUM, Soprano.

The recital given by Mrs. Frank Farnum was a very successful affair, the singer never having been heard to better advantage.
(Musical Leader)


Mrs. Farnum is distinguished first of all by her control of coloratura, and the voice ably exemplifies the laws of bel canto.  Mrs. Farnum's diction and enunciation in English are remarkable
(Chicago Tribune)


Mrs. Farnum possesses a voice which is well-schooled, of considerable volume, and under good control.
(Chicago Examiner)


Mrs. Farnum has a clear lyric soprano voice of the utmost flexibility and capable also of the most diverse and artistic usage.
(Music News)


Mrs. Farnum proved that she is an energetic and artistic musician by the masterful way she carried out her splendidly arranged program.
(Music News)



MRS. HELEN BRIGHT-BENGEL, Contralto.

Mrs. Bengel was the contralto soloist.  She chose a group of rose songs.  Her rose gown, her rose wreathed hair, and the unfolded charms of a queenly radiant womanhood but intensified the charm of her alluring voice, so tender, so flexible, vibrantly responsive to each subtle nuance of feeling that it seemed but expressive of her richly endowed musical temperment.
Here was heard the modern song in all its wonderful unity, here you heard the picture limned in tonal colors of ravishing beauty and grace, and here Mrs. Bengal proved her artistic refinement of values, for you felt the whole glory of the inspiration which gave it birth as she thrilled you with delicacy and fire of her art.

(Des Moines, Iowa)


A group of songs by the quartet was followed by a highly artistic rendition of a group of songs by Mrs. Bengel.  Mrs. Bengel captivated the audience with her beautiful contralto voice and charming personality.
(Springfield, Ill.)


An opportunity was afforded of hearing Mrs. Bengel.  She is possessed of a rich contralto, velvety and sympathetic.
(Omaha, Neb.)



MR. EDWARD WALKER, Tenor.

The most delightful surprise of the evening was the introduction of Edward Walker, a splendid tenor from Chicago.  Here is a singer possessed of every rudiment of a successful vocal artist, and using his every talent to its fullest advantage.  His voice is a tenor of exceptional range and beauty of quality, his registers perfectly smooth and the tones correctly placed.  His opening number from 'Adia,' Celeste Aida was given in a passionate intensity and dramatic fervor that called forth a great burst of unsuppressed enthusiasm.
Battle Creek, (Mich.) Enquirer


Mr. Walker has sung here on several occasions and has always made a most favorable impression.  He sang in his usual authoritative style, and the earnestness and sincerity of interpretation used in the rendition of his numbers convinced all hearers that the singer had a broad conception of the work assigned him.
Marion (Ind.) Leader


Mr Walker sang the tenor solo superbly, his voice never rose more easily and clearly, and his diction was so pure and his general interpretation so good as to leave nothing to be desired.
(Music News)



MR. LEMUEL W. KILBY, Bass-Baritone.
Mr. Kilby repeated the success attendant upon his last winter's recital in the same hall.  There were flashes of emotional quality and of dramatic climax which proved Mr. Kilby to be a growing artist, one who will add to fine voice usage the most telling of interpretations along every line of human thought and feeling—a singer in short, to be reckoned with.

(Recital, American Institute of Normal Methods)

Mr. Kilby lived up to his reputation as one of the best Chicago singers and each group of songs was greeted with long applause, causing him to respond with encores.

(Recital-Chicago)

Mr. Kilby is a new-comer in the local oratorio field, and it is a pleasure to record that in this his first appearance of importance he acquitted himself with distinct credit.  His voice is quite resonant and of beautiful quality, and he is evidently quite serious in his attitude of the work in hand.  Especially notable was his refined diction, an asset too often lacking in young singers.

(Concert, Evanston Musical Club.)