June 22, 1922
FRANK LA FORGE, composer, pianist and accompanist.
petting her golden voice and taking her beauty sleep, resting, gargling and vocalizing, she had no time for these things, which she had formerly thought necessities. The boys needed her and she went. This great woman discovered that when she answered a call of humanity as voiced by her boys, that her whole art remained intact, and she gave more than she ever had given before and reached all classes of her listeners, from the highest aristocrat to the humblest working man. When she sang in the camps for the ׳boys she did not give them some trash which she learned for the occasion ; no, she sang songs from Bach to MacDowell and operatic arias from all the great roles which made her famous. Usually I played the accompaniment on a little revival organ of four octaves and when I look back and think how that must mave sounded I must smile, and still the great artistic effect was there because it came from the heart. May this great artist and great woman long serve us as a model for our young aspirates. What Roosevelt was to the world of politics, Schumann Heink is to the world of music—the popular idol.
The Example Followed.
“It makes one think of that poem of Longfellow which begins:
“Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime;
And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.”
“But I really think your pupils are taking these lessons to heart, for their work is remarkably good and it would seem from the ever increasing numbers which made up the audiences at ^Aeolian Hall that the popularity of those noonday recitals is firmly established.”
“Yes, that fact has been very gratifying to Mr. Berumen and myself, for we felt that the experience was of infinite value to those who participated. The students also appear at the East Side Music Settlement, where the audiences are wonderfully discriminating and delightfully spontaneous in their judgment. The students always enjoy these appearances—quite as much I am sure as the listeners themselves. And by the way, I have noticed that the audiences as a rule have a decided preference for operatic numbers.”
And having witnessed the pleasure which a number of Mr. LaForge’s artists had given the men, when they gave a musicale at the Red Cross Club for the Disabled, the writer could readily understand how marked the success at the Settlement House must be.
“It made me very proud, too, to see with what success the LaForge Quartet met during its week at the Capitol. Perhaps you will be interested to know that it has also been engaged for appearances at the Brooklyn Strand and several theatres in Chicago.”
“And are you accompanying them?”
“No, Katheryn Kerin is doing that. She really is a very fine accompanist, you know, and I am also very proud of her.”
“But when are we going to hear you in that role again?” The Florence Easton Recital.
“If you come to the recital which Florence Easton is going to give on November 2, I will be ‘the gentleman at the piano,’ if you happen to look my way. I am anticipating that event, for Mme. Easton is another splendid artist whose worth in recital New Yorkers have not as yet been able to judge fully. And that recital is going to be a treat. Mark my words.”
How could it help but be with Easton and LaForge!
H. R. F.
Myra Hess to Play with New York Symphony
Myra Hess has been engaged as one of the soloists with the New York Symphony, Walter Damrosch conductor, on March 3 and 4, 1923, before leaving on a four weeks’ tour through California.
Grace Bradley to Sing in Schenectady
Grace Bradley has just been engaged to appear in Schenectady, N. Y., on December 9, in joint recital with the young Irish tenor, Donnell O’Brien.
Larsen Teaching Special Days
Rudolph Larsen has planned to teach on Fridays and Saturdays during the summer at his residence studio in New York City
18	MUSICAL COURIER
FRANK LA FORGE FINDS MUCH TO DISCUSS
REGARDING PROGRAMS AND PROGRAM BUILDING
Folk Songs of Mexico Interest—Three Factors for Success—Pupils Score
“It is strange how many people believe that there is nothing to building a program—that all one does is simply take a lot of songs and sing them. All too frequently, I’m afraid, that is just what does, happen. But if the subject is really studied it will be found to yield endless possibilities. Of course, the numbers may be grouped chronologically, according to languages, according to subjects, in fact there is no limit to the possibilities, but there must be a definite plan. This does not necessarily mean that it must be the plan so generally adopted in programs, but it must be definite. I find this study of program is of infinite value when it comes to the question of coaching artists for their recitals.”
“And do you do much of that?”
“Quite a little—it is something I enjoy doing very much. The experience I have had as accompanist for such splendid artists as Sembrich, Schumann Heink, Matzenauer, Alda, etc., has given me an excellent opportunity to observe many details in the question of program building.”
“Then, in your opinion, the program has very much to do with the success of the artist?”
The Three Factors For Success.
“Undoubtedly, although there are more important factors.
“ ‘How can I succeed as a singer ?’ This is a question frequently asked of musicians. Perhaps there is no better way to discover the answer than to study the lives of some of the artists who have stood before the public for many years with great success, and who still maintain their own. In other words, a ‘close-up’ of a very successful artist might reveal some secrets which would be of value to every student.
“My observations have proven to me that there are three elements which are always present as factors in the popularity of every star: Voice, personality and brains. Sometimes one of these elements is represented in very small quantity, but a nearer view will show that one of the other two elements predominates so strongly that it makes up in some measure the lack of the weaker factor. How often one hears the expression, ‘Well, I cannot understand her success with a voice like that.’ Yes, but did you ever stop to consider the personality or have you seen her brains in action ? That tells the story. Sometimes one hears a glorious voice and thinks of the injustice of fate that such a voice should not come into its own. A ‘close-up’ usually reveals the reason. One of the other ingredients is represented in too small a degree, and, therefore, the combination is spoiled. I have in mind singers whose voices are very unimportant, to say the least, but who have a great hold on the heart of the public. Personality and brains have more than made up the deficit on the vocal gift. In such cases, where the vocal medium is not of the highest caliber, there is usually a diction so perfect that the public gets the message of the song which is sung and this holds the interest and works the charm. My master, Leschetizky, said ‘everything is allowed in art except monotony.’ While the statement is rather broad, it explains many things which seem incredible in the success of those not so richly endowed by nature vocally. When the three elements are all represented in lavish degree, then occur such phenomena as a Sembrich, a Lilli Lehmann, or a Schumann Heink, whose powers will keep them in the front rank before the public as long as they live. That wonderful woman, Schumann Heink, has been the inspiration of many careers in this country as well as in Europe, and those who have been fortunate enough to have the privilege of studying her life and career are able to draw many lessons from it for the use of the young aspirant. The three attributes above mentioned are all represented so lavishly that one wonders at the prodigal hand of nature in combining in such high degree all of these invaluable qualities; and now, as she stands before her public, instead of noticing a diminution of her powers, one sees that her public is more than ever devoted to her. She hastens to assure them that she is no longer young. She does not try to hide the traces of age, but wifh a fear that you may not notice that she is already past sixty, she will tell you at once that she will soon be sixty-one. Her highest ambition is to hold her unique place in the hearts of the American soldiers for whom she worked all through the war, and since the war, which is much more important, as the stimulus of excitement is no longer present to do for our boys. It was my privilege to go as accompanist with Mme. Schumann Heink through dozens of camps where she sang for the healthy, the sick and the dying boys. In many cases, singing out of the fullness of her heart to boys who were in the last throes before death called them. Schumann Heink never refused a call to do for her boys. It mattered not what important concert she was singing the same evening, and just there a miracle was brought to light. Instead of
“But you will be ill—aren’t you ever going to take a vacation,” for Frank LaForge had just broken the news that he intended to keep his studios open all summer, just as he did last year. Truth to tell, he did not look like a fit subject for the doctor’s attentions—on the contrary, he seemed perfectly able to help keep that gentleman without a means of livelihood for many years to come—but such is the force of habit with us mortals that a vacation seems an absolute necessity. The heartiness of Mr. LaForge’s laugh added still more to the impression of splendid health arid vitality.
“Oh, yes, I really am going to have a vacation some time, but not this year. And when I do take one, it’s going to be a good long one. For one thing, I am going to Spain, for I’ve been anxious to go there for some time.”
Folk Songs in General, Mexican in Particular.
“Spain? Why Spain in particular?”
“Perhaps my interest in that country is heightened in the interesting Mexican folk songs I have been translating and arranging this year. They are most of them in the Spanish rhythm as typified in the habanera and have a spontaneous gaiety which is irresistible.”
“That’s odd. Somehow I have always thought of Mexico in somewhat the same light as I regard the Russia of today —a country of great trouble and sorrow.”
“For a number of years it has been a very unsettled country to be sure, and I am afraid that most of us think only of the peons and forget that the better class of Mexicans are very delightful people, indeed. Theirs is the joy and mirth which is indelibly associated with the Latin temperament, and their songs reflect these attributes.
“Naturally, I have been aided in the research along this subject by Mr. Berumen, himself a Mexican and very much interested in the subject. One of these songs Emma Roberts has been singing with much success, invariably being called upon to repeat it. Mme. Matzenauer also has succumbed to their charm and tells me that they never fail to please.
Programs and Program Building.
“I am likewise jery much interested in the Greek folksongs, although I have not made any translations or arrangements as I have ,in the case with the Mexican ones. They make a very interesting group on a program. And, you know, program making is one of my pet hobbies.
THE SECRETS of SVENGALI
By
J. H. DUVAL
Every student of voice would like to be a Trilby with a magician like Svengali to point the easy road to success.
There is no easy road (except in fiction) but the sure road is pointed out by Mr. Duval and divested of its mystery in this important work.
JAMES T. WHITE & CO. Publishers
70 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK
FERENC VECSEY
Hungarian Violinist
IN AMERICA
January, February, March 1923
Management: R. E. JOHNSTON, 1451 Broadway	New York