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MUSICAL COURIER
March 16, 1. 9 2 2
the attendance at the school is the fact that these children have the leisure of poverty, being too poor to indulge much in other pleasures and distractions.
Now, haying read so far, what does the reader think? Has America musical atmosphere? Is it necessary to go abroad to get it? Have these questions been answered at all?
And, what is musical atmosphere, anyway?
F. P.
Schelling Twice with Philharmonic
Ernest Schelling was the soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg, conductor, in Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, March 12, and he will appear with the same organization at the Metropolitan Opera House on Tuesday evening, March 21. On both occasions he is playing his own “Suite Fantastique.”
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the composer, and when one is able to grow up within a stone’s throw of a house where Beethoven or some other great classic master lived that, in itself, was a sort of atmosphere. He also blamed the teacher as much as the pupil in America for the frequent lack of a balanced education.
Walter Damrosch spoke of the shallow attitude on the part of students who want to specialize on a single instrument to the exclusion of all general musical learning. He acknowledged the great strides of America, with its twelve symphony orchestras, but called attention to the fact that Germany had 130 opera houses and Italy 160, all of them constantly active. Furthermore, he said, in Europe musical education has sprung from the people upwards, in America from the classes downward. In Europe the proletariat enjoys music, in America they simply care nothing about it.
Franklin Rawlins, founder and conductor of the American Orchestral _ Society•, said commercialism was the grea’t drawback in America. The question, “How much can I make?” was too often asked. But, on the other hand, it is a very pertinent question, for even graduates from the studios of great teachers are often at a loss what to do, as there is little opportunity for unroutined orchestra players. There should be, he said, routine post-graduate schools. He quoted a remark of Albert Coates, the English conductor, that “there was not a single foreigner in the orchestras of England. He ended his address by the plea to “give the young people a vision and give them a goal.”
T. Tertius Noble spoke of church music and deplored the low and degraded taste of the people. Benedict Fitzgerald, representing the Pius X College of Liturgical Music, believes that we have atmosphere in America and said that “the Catholic chant is the common heritage of all nationalities.” Mrs. Sarah Robinson Duff told of the present lack of musical atmosphere in France. Mrs. Edgar Stillman Kelly told of the opportunities to do good by founding musical fellowships in various collges such as that enjoyed by Mr. Kelly at Oxford. The plan consists simply of declaring one additional professor’s salary of which the musician becomes the beneficiary. He resides in the college, but is not permitted to teach.
Charles Cooper, speaking for the MacDowell Club, said that there was an idealism in this country, as demonstrated by our acts during the war, the arms conference, and many similar circumstances, and that this was sure to lead to a great art in time. He read a passage from Romain Rolland which said, in part, that there was too much music in Germany. John C. Freund followed with an impassioned address in a spirit of high patriotism and belief in this country. He blamed the public at large and parents in particular for much of the slowness of American musical advance, and cited several cases of parents saying that they would rather see their children dead than to see them musicians. He said the art spirit was everywhere crushed in America—the musician, instead of being honored, was a pariah. We have not yet had the courage of our convictions As to German opera, was it not Richard Strauss who urged the smaller opera houses to form combinations so that they might have a little good opera. In America we have not stood up for our own. We always take it for granted that everything in Europe is better than everything in America. How do we know we have no composers since we have never given them a fair chance? This craze for everything foreign rendered advance impossible. The solution and our salvation would be the devotion and idealism of the American woman.
Kelton Muzzy, of the Brooklyn Music School Settlement, said that one thing the school demanded was work. Students could only stay if they worked. As to nationality, twenty-four per cent, of the students are American born of American parentage, thirty-nine per cent, of foreign parentage, nineteen per cent, with one foreign born parent, eighteen per cent, foreign born. He says that one reason for
“WHAT IS MUSICAL ATMOSPHERE?”
At Open Music Forum Meeting Various Musicians Express Their Views—“Has America Musical Atmosphere or Must Our Students Seek It Abroad?”
On February 28 there was announced to be held an Open Music Forum at the Fifty-eighth street branch of the New York Public Library, the subject for discussion being, “Has America Musical Atmosphere or Must Our Students Seek It Abroad?” Dr. Eugene A. Noble, trustee of the Juilliard Musical Foundation, was the chairman. Although it was understood that there should be a general discussion of this interesting and vital subject, so many speakers were invited that there was no time for any remarks or questions by anyone else. This was, perhaps, just as well. For how can one hope to get at, the truth, or any portion of the truth, of a subject where prejudices lie in wait on every hand to catch the unwary, and where everybody (pretty near) is afraid, or too diplomatic, to speak his mind for fear of hurting the feelings, or coming in conflict with the prejudices of somebody else? How is it possible to discuss Americanism, or any form of Americanism, in a gathering of people many of whom are likely to be either foreign born or of foreign extraction?
There were many interesting addresses at this meeting— and, at the end, it is doubtful if any interested party could have said whether the question was answered in the affirmative or in the negative. Dr. Noble, taking the chair, made a short introductory address in the course of which he requested the speakers to organize carefully their prejudices and express them with entire frankness. He further said that in America industrial organization had so far taken our life to the exclusion of the arts, and that musical atmosphere requires the privilege of leisure (to which statement this reviewer instantly registered a mental objection, for the musician who makes atmosphere abroad is just as poor, has to work just as hard and has just as little leisure as his American brother). However, Dr. Noble thinks that, our commercial organization having been completed, conditions are favorable to this other thing.
Some letters were then read from persons who had been invited to speak but were unable to attend the meeting qn account of other occupations. The first of these was from Yvette Guilbert who, speaking with her accustomed charming frankness, said: “What a futile discussion! Of course America has no musical atmosphere,” and advised American students to go abroad to find it. “We cannot get along in art without atmosphere,” she wrote—and that, no doubt, is true. Henry T. Finck wrote that no country has any atmosphere and added rather pessimistic remarks as to second-rate artists, the phonograph, etc.
Percy Grainger, on the other hand, wrote that “America has as much atmosphere as any country in the world"— and what are you to do with these conflicting opinions of experts? David Stanley Smith wrote that “If there is a deficiency in musical atmosphere in America it is more apparent than real. One of the principal drawbacks to the advance of music in America is lack of faith in ourselves.” Of course it is!
J. Lawrence Erb was the first speaker and his opening question was, “What is musical atmosphere?” His answer to it was, “Atmosphere is a condition favorable to musical development.” He then went on to point out the fact that we had the best orchestras in the world, the best concerts, the best of nearly everything musical, and terminated his remarks by saying that it was to the credit of American composers that they had so far refrained from turning out the kind of music that is now being turned out in Europe . . . Which, of course, is perfect nonsense, for Europe may justly be proud of its Strauss, its Puccini, its Ravel, its Rachmaninoff, its Rimsky-Korsakoff, its Sibelius, to name only a few great living Europeans who come to mind on the moment—and it was atmosphere, or something we have not as yet in America, that turned out these men. Why try to get away from it with platitudes?
George Peabody, of Baltimore, being unable to come, sent as his representative Frank Bibb, who said that great music must have great ancestors and the best we could do at present in America was to try to be the best little ancestors. He outlined the fine work being done by the conservatories in America and advised us to get behind the wheel and push. Cultivate the art-impulse, so manifestly lacking in most students 1 We must, first of all, create this art-impulse. Too many people, he. added, now go to concerts merely to see some great personality, knowing and caring nothing about the art. Also, he said, we should have opera in our conservatories so that singers would not have to go to Europe to get the routine.
Dr. Noble, before introducing the next speaker, added some reflections of his own, saying that the American student is not a serious person and will not work hard. He said the difficulty was the American home, and he advised a reading of “Training the Parent,” by Abbot.
Charles Seger, who then spoke, came as representative of Frank Damrosch. He said that the American student before going abroad should, at least, be prepared to receive what Europe has to give. He said, too, that in Europe there was just now, too much music and musical atmosphere that was certainly not good, and that we had a tendency to borrow too much of that kind already without going out of our way to seek it. Musical atmosphere, he continued, depends upon
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Any Dunning Teacher will tell you.
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