MU S I С AL С О URI ER
16
RETAINING THE “ORIGINAL SPIRIT”
By William A. C. Zerffi
pany, and on January 19 the former private Chamlee again sang for his chaplain. The concert took place in the Rev. Mr. Howard’s church and Mr. Chamlee gave it in conjunction with his wife, Ruth Miller, the former Musetta of the Metropolitan Opera Company. When Mr. Chamlee sang in Morristown it was the first time that his former chaplain heard him since the days when our army was forcing the Argonne. The auditorium was filled to capacity and Mr. Chamlee was praised highly for his voice and style. Miss Miller also was enthusiastically received.
DRESDEN SWAMPED WITH RECITALS
Four Americans Appear
Dresden, December 19.—It appears as if all the artists, both visiting and local, are madly trying to be heard before the holiday season begins. The public seems to lose interest in musical affairs about the middle of December, owing to their holiday preparations, when they usually find other needs for their money than concerts. Then again, after the holidays, they are rather slow in resuming their attendance at concerts for the simple reason that a little time is needed for financial recuperation. Artists sense these traits of the public almost intuitively and naturally arrange their concerts so as to avoid unfavorable dates. The result is that recently we have been literally swamped with concerts.
More Americans Among Those Heard.
In this mass of concerts, America was also represented by pianists, vocalists and violinists. Henry Deering, a pianist of unusual technical as well as spiritual attainment, has just won unstinted praise from press and public in his recital, which included among other numbers the Brahms-Handel Variations. Then came Charles Albert Case, tenor, who has a sympathetic voice and a pleasing personality. His technical and. interpretative qualities were displayed in Donaudy’s Quandro te renedro; the Love Song from the Walkiire and lieder by Schumann.
Arthur Hartmann in his second recital again proved that he is a musician of superior attainments. In the G minor solo sonata by Bach, his deep regard for the architectural structure of the work was most convincing. Florizel von Reuter, another American violinist, who has spent most of his life here in Germany, demonstrated his violinistic skill and his big tone—too big almost for the small hall of the Kiinstlerhaus—in his recital devoted to works by Bach, Mozart and Paganini. Besides these four, Dresden has also heard and enjoyed Marcella Kraft and Harriet van Emden, singers; Jenny Skolnik, Sylvia Lent, Rudolf Polk and Max Rosen, violinists, and Harold Henry, pianist, all from America.
Rosalie Miller Scores.
The well known American soprano, Rosalie Miller, had such a great success in her recital here that she was immediately engaged for a big concert in the Exhibition Hall on the same program with Eva von der Osten, Carl Perron, Franz Wagner and others. It is also reported that she will soon appear as a guest in the State Opera. A. Ingman.
Recent Activities of Milan Lusk
The engagements in the West of Milan Lusk, Bohemian violinist, ended with his appearance on January S, before the Chicago Musical Club, at Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building, Chicago. His playing called forth many recalls, besides responding with several encores.
Recently the young violinist has been the recipient of several flattering encomiums. On Christmas he received congratulations ׳from his former teacher, the great Sevcik in Prague, who wished him still greater triumphs for 1923. Morgan Eastman, musical director of the Radio station KYW in Chicago, paid the following tribute to Lusk’s playing in a letter under date December 14. 1922:
It gives me great pleasure to inform you of the hundreds of requests that we received after one of your concerts on the radio, asking for repetition of the different numbers you have played. It should be gratifying to you to know that these requests come from all over the United States, and I can personally recommend your work as that of a sincere artist. Best wishes for your continued success.
Mr. Lusk left for . New York on January 6 to fill many important engagements in the East, besides making additional phonograph records.
The Coulter Concert Bureau of Chicago has just secured this artist who will appear next season under its management.
Bacheller Pupil Scores Big Success
Sara Fuller, coloratura soprano, appeared in a joint recital at Aeolian Hall on January 23, when she scored a unique success. Her program numbers were: Ave Maria (Cherubini),• Caro Mio Bene (Handel), Le Bonheur est chose legere (Saint-Saëns), II Re Pastore (Mozart), Rose Softly Blooming (Spohr), Crying of Water (Campbell-Tipton), and an aria from Linda Di Chamounix (Donizetti).
Miss Fuller, who has studied with the well known New York vocal teacher, Mrs. W. E. Bacheller, for a number of years, created an excellent impression. She possesses a well trained voice of unusually fine quality, and won her hearers by her charming delivery. Her ”florid work in particular won sincere approval.
That concert and operatic performances are attended only by a very small proportion of the people in the large cities in America is a well known fact, and the same is true of England. Surely there must be a very good reason why. English-speaking people seem to lack interest and appreciation of good music. Does this not point to the fact that the majority of people unacquainted with foreign languages find little pleasure in attending musical events which are unintelligible to them? Despite the printing of English translations of the foreign texts which are used at song recitals, and the use of books containing both foreign and English words at the opera, these are_at best pitiful makeshifts, and in no way compensate for the failure to make use of an English text. It is not enough to know that around a certain time, certain sentiments are being uttered, the actual words are not used, and no matter what arguments may be offered, a foreign text remains a text foreign in spirit.
Let it be well remembered that songs are poems set to music, and. that it is the poem which inspired the music. If the words of the poem are not understood, the intentions of the poet as well as those of the composer are frustrated. Since the music has been composed to give added eloquence to the poem, if this latter is unintelligible, the whole purpose of the song ceases to exist.
Kansas City Conservatory Orchestra Debut a Success
The Kansas City Conservatory gave its first concert before an enthusiastic audience which filled Ivanhoe Temple, January 14. This orchestra was inaugurated and is conducted by Arnold Volpe, the new director of the Conserva-
1“Her voice is of pure and lovely quality, this natural gift being enhanced by an admirable vocal method. She is keenly sensitive to every interpretative demand and her English diction is music itself. And, last but not least, the singer’s beauty was no insignificant factor in the evening’s pleasure.”
The Buffalo News (N. Y.) said the above about May Peterson, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera ^ Co.
Concert Direction; MUSIC LEAGUE OF AMERICA
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After June 1, 1923, under the management of Haensel & Jones Mason & Hamlin Piano Used	Aeolian-Vocalxon Records
tory, who has enlarged the activities of this institution to such an extent that it promises to be one of the greatest factors in the musical development of the Southwest. The orchestra was organized for the purpose of providing ensemble experience for instrumental students so that they might take their places in American orchestras along with European trained musicians.
The concert demonstrated to a marked degree how much can be done with students and amateurs by a competent conductor. Mr. Volpe is a firm handed disciplinarian, and with thorough musicianship and artistic understanding he brings the most and best out of his players. The program was wisely built around the capacities of the new body. It opened with the Bach-Aber prelude, choral and fugue and included Haydn’s symphony No. 2, D major; Andante Can-tabile for string orchestra (Tschaikowsky), and Massenet’s suite, Scenes Pittoresques. Albert Rosenthal played the cello solo in one of the numbers of the suite with telling effect. The obligato for pizzicato strings in the Andante Cantabile was brought out with beauty and fine tonal volume. This number was by far the best thing the orchestra did. The symphony gave the string body excellent opportunity for delicate effects, which were well utilized.
Mrs. Laurence Dickey, mezzo soprano, scored a success in the aria, Printemps qui Commence, from Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saëns). Her voice is decidedly pleasing and was used with musical feeling.
Chamlee Sings for Former Chaplain
Mario Chamlee was once a soldier in the 77th Division of the A. E. F. In those days his chaplain was the Rev. James M. Howard, and Private Chamlee more than once sang at entertainments organized by Chaplain Howard in the camps. Mr. Howard is now pastor of the South Street Presbyterian Church of Morristown, N. J., and Mr. Chamlee is one of the chief tenors of the Metropolitan Opera Com-
The doctrine of retaining the original spirit of a song or opera by singing it in the language in which it was written, has been both preached and practised with such success that it may be said to have become deeply rooted in our musical lite. It forms the chief argument which is offered whenever the question of the advisability of giving opera in English arises, or the suggestion made that song recitals might be more interesting it the songs were sung in a language which was understood by the whole audience and not only by a few so-called connoisseurs. In spite of the fact that much of the nonsense about the unsingable character of the English language has been dispelled, recital programs still consist of songs, four fifths of which are unintelligible to the majority of the.listeners, and opera is almost invariably given in a foreign language.
In the writer’s opinion the question of singing in the vernacular is one the importance of which is very generally underrated, and the persistent use of foreign languages in concert and opera is depriving the public in general from the enjoyment of a form of entertainment which constitutes a highly popular type of amusement in countries where the language barrier does not exist.
That the “original spirit” of a song or aria is contained in the words of the text is a fact which can hardly be questioned, and it may further be argued that the comprehension of this spirit depends upon a clear understanding of the actual words the author has employed to make his meaning clear. Ignorance of the language in which a poem is written constitutes, therefore, an unsurmountable obstacle, and a slight acquaintance with the language would barely serve to give more than an inkling of the author’s meaning. Taking these facts into consideration it is astounding to hear people with the merest smattering of a language at their command complain that the beauty of a poem is lost when translated. Can it possibly be argued that the deep significance of Hans Sachs’ utterings can be fully grasped by one who has barely sufficient knowledge of German to understand a simple folk song?
The writer cannot help feeling that musicians and writers upon musical subjects, when approached in regard to the subject of translations, succumb to the temptation to view the matter from too personal a standpoint. Obviously to one who has studied song literature in the original languages, translations will make- little appeal, but to those who have not, untranslated songs are literally songs without words, and a song without words is not a song at all.
Laying aside all questions of beauty as far as they concern the different languages, and which are, after all, largely a matter of personal taste, a word when disassociated from its meaning becomes nothing more than sound. Since in a general sense all nations make use of practically the identical vocal sounds, namely vowels and consonants, in order to communicate with one another, the fundamental difference between langauge lies in the fact that the same sounds have not been chosen to describe the identical objects or to express the identical sentiments. The sound itself has no inherent powers of expression, and only becomes of value when associated with the meaning which has been attached to it. For example, the emotion expressed by the words "I love you” in English is voiced in other languages by decidedly different sounds, such as “Je t’aime,” “Io t’amo,” “Ich liebe Dicli.” Is it not natural that each individual who expresses his feelings by the use of these different sounds will be liable to feel that the words he employs are vastly more descriptive and eloquent than those chbsen by the others? Even if the meaning of the words of other languages is known, unless this is backed by long association and frequent use, it is hopeless to expect that they will be as pregnant with meaning^ as those which serve as a constant means of communication.
Americans have been censured for a lack of artistic feeling when they have the temerity (or shall we say honesty?) to declare that they do not enjoy hearing people sing in a language which has no meaning to them and refuse to attend operatic performances. The fact that Italians attend the opera with as much enjoyment as Americans attend a vaudeville performance has been made much of, but would the Italians evince the same devotion to opera if the performances in Italy were given in Russian? Take a lover of French songs or German lieder to a recital of songs in Russian or Norw׳egian and see if the original spirit manifests itself so clearly as when the songs are sung in a language which he really understands. The writer has many times heard Grieg songs sung in German without protest being, made that the original spirit was destroyed, yet attempt the same thing in English and immediately objections are raised. It is unfortunately only too true that many English translations of songs are hopelessly inadequate, but once the demand for good translations is felt they will speedily appear. What possible incentive is there to make effective translations when the demand is practically nil? It can hardly be advanced that German is an -easy language for the singer, and yet we do not find that the Germans waste time complaining about the difficulties of their language. Opera is popular in Germany, but not opera sung in languages foreign to the Germans, and the writer has witnessed many excellent performances of operas such as Traviata, Rigoletto, Pagliacci, which are popularly supposed to be impossible of translation, sung in German and thoroughly enjoyed by the audiences despite possible loss of original spirit in translation.
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