22
MUSICAL COURIER
“imperishable master-work,” as X do certain works by Mozart, Bee thoven, Schumann, Brahms, Franck.
״ ,	.	Very truly yours,
February 6.	(Signed) O. G. Sonneck.
February 15, 1923
the production is that of Lilian Davis in the title role. And C. S. notes: “This is the big thing in London now.”
We saw the Beggar’s Opera here. Excellently it was done, too, but, to speak right out in meeting, What license Iarecki has to- come to America and *e ^ear English tunes—about forty of them— criticise Mr. Sonneck, who is one of the leading *red .us to tears. Clarence Lucas has an interesting protagonists for American music in the world, re- pr,,t״r,a1 rm	״“ ״״«■״t׳V11׳״ “A~
mains to be explained. And how he could possibly imagine that the Musical Courier would take up the cudgels in his behalf against Mr. Sonneck is more than we can understand, unless it is a part of the selfesteem that causes him to write these letters. We can
™1l arCAUntJ0r * on the sc,orc: of Iarecki’s ignor- by the Art Publication Society *of St.Loui¡' setting
IARECKI DEFENDS HIS HALO
editorial on another page entitled “An Indestructible Opera.”
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ART PUBLICATION SOCIETY STATISTICS
We have before us a sixteen page pamphlet issued
anee of America, American ideals and the world of tatítte^eíultí^wsti^oiSlnto !“ 1y fTTV For his enlightenment we give the status of music in American colleges find univer-here a list of books and articles on music by Mr. sities. The results are somewhat gratifying, and al-Sonneck from which he may see what Mr. Sonneck together astonishing and amazing in many’particu-has done for American music:	lars. A single glance at them convinces oUof the
BOOKS	׳*	■ “
1. Francis Hopkinson, the first American poet-composer, and James Lyon, patriot, preacher, psalmodist. Washington, 1905. 213 p.
„2• Bibliography of Early Secular American Music. Washington,
1905.	194 p.
3. Early Concert-Life in America. Leipsic, 1907.	338 p.
__4•, Report on The Star-Spangled Banner, Hail Columbia, America,
Yankee Doodle. Washington, 1909.	255 p.
5.	The Star-Spangled Banner. Washington, 1914.	115 p.
6.	Early Opera in America. New York, 1915.	230 p.
„/•Catalogue of first Editions of Stephen C. Foster (jointly with W. R. Whittlesey). Washington, 1915.	79 p.
8. Catalogue of first Editions of Edward MacDowell. Washington, 1917. 89 p.
ARTICLES.
fact that much missionary work is still necessary in our institutions of learning, and that, above all, standardization will be necessary by the use of some work or works that will lead to a definite method of grading and a definite unit of expectation on the part of those who take music.
The statistics have been tabulated in two main divisions as regards the A. B. degree and the B. M. degree. This is somewhat puzzling, for although we all know that A. B. stands for Bachelor of Arts (and is generally conferred upon those who know nothing about art and have never studied any of the arts!), we can only guess what B. M. means. It may mean Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Music, or Bachelor of Metallurgy.
As this pamphlet deals with music, and is issued by a firm that has published one of the leading musical textbooks, we assume that B. M. means Bachelor of Music. If this assumption is correct, then some of the facts here set forth are, as already stated, truly amazing. In most of the colleges and universities the in Zeitschrift der internationaien Musik units required for entrance for those intending to try Methods, f°r *׳hp B. M. degree are fifteen, only two or three
.6. Early American Operas. In Miscellaneous Studies In the *Hi's tory of Music, New York, 1921, p. 16-92.
7.	The first Edition of Hail Columbia. In Miscellaneous Studies, p. 180-189.
8.	Music in our Libraries. In Miscellaneous Studies, p. 287-295.
9.	The History of Music in America. A few suggestions. In Miscellaneous Studies, p. 324-344.
10.	Der deutsche Einfluss and das Musikleben Amerikas. Chapter in Das Buch der Deutschen in Amerika. Philadelphia, 1909.
11.	The Bibliography of American Music. Chapter in the Proceedings of the Bibliographical Society of America, 1906.
12.	Edward MacDowell. In Zeits< *
Gessellschaft, 1907, October, p. 1-12.
13.	The Music Division of the Library of Cong
Lbptikc o v״i/4	Tm II	J 1. AT.- .: .
ti°״ai Associa״״״,Io	~oi t£* Music T־a־h־־r־s־ Na- of which are possible for music,'and*in many cases
14.	The Music Division of the Library of Congress. In the Li- HO Unit IS allowed for music. Thus, for instance the
brary Journal, 1915, August, p. 587-589.	Tin¡™.״■*„ „r r״l_______l. i • 1	• rr	’ .
15.	Das Musikleben Amerikas vom Standpunkte der musikalischen University Ot UOlOradO, which requires fifteen Units
nftni״dnaieU1M^ItodS3Sg״i9M,TÌ3 P™rd C°”grcss °£ ״“ Inter־ Ì°r entr?nc<: but allows no single unit for music, yet
16.	The American composer and thè American Music Publisher.	graduation requires 186 Credits for the Bachelor
In the Musical Quarterly, 1923, January, p. 122-144.	TV/T,.4/ ־״.„t,• u ni:	•1 i r
N. B.—A number of other, mostly minor articles, not listed above.	lVlUSIC degree Ot which 126 are possible for muSIC.
For instance, in Music, 1901, European Fallacies and American	In Other Words the student whn entire fL¿* r»־r»ll£»rr«
Music and A Plea for Home-products, The Musician, 1903.	•	,	.	'	. bluuenT: WHO enters the College tor
O r !.r c , ,	,-	,	,r, music, who is trying for the Bachelor of Music de-
One of Mr. Sonneck s first acts when he took gree, is entered without any examination in music charge of the musical department at the Library of whatever, and without being allowed any credit for Congress was to start a collection of original Amen- music! This is true also in Wesleyan, Knox Grin-can manuscript compositions, and the first manuscript nell, Morningside, Simpson, Upper Iowa University acquired by the library was MacDowell s Indian McPherson, Wells, the Baldwin-Wallace College and Suite. The collection now numbers more than a Conservatory of Music, and many others That is thousand manuscripts by prominent American com- surely something new: to enter a conservatory of
P° aTi Vrl MStlQ bems fdded to-	music one must know everything except music ! 7
And that Mr Sonneck s attitude has been perfectly That is amazing enough, but still more amazing are consistent is shown by his article entitled Suum the conditions of graduating with a Bachelor of Cmque, which appeared m Die Musik, 1907-8, and Music degree. For here is a college which requires which contams the following passage (translation by 192 credits for this degree and allows only seventy-Theodore Baker) :	five 0f them for music. Here is another which re-
quires sixty-two credits for graduation of which only
In view of the fact that very few readers of the Musical Courier will have any idea who Iarecki is, it may be well to explain that he is a Pole who came to America a few years ago and now lives here. He won the Berkshire Chamber Music prize in 1918 with a string quartet, and this quartet was published in 1922 by the Society for the Publication of American Music. Mr. Sonneck’s remarks about the publications of this society aroused Iarecki’s ire. What else Mr. Sonneck had to say, and his reason for saying it, did not interest him, but he wants the world to know that he, at least, has written an imperishable master work. His letter to the Musical Courier, as well as a letter to Mr. Sonneck, Mr. Sonneck’s reply to him, and a letter from Mr. Sonneck to the Musical Courier, all follow.—The Editor.
To the Musical Courier:
Before me is a copy of the January number of *the Musical Quarterly, containing the article by O. G. Sonneck, The American Composer and the American Music Publisher.
Aside from the general trend of the article and the, to my mind, somewhat chaotic assortment and association of names, which I pass over as those of a librarian, I take issue specifically with the writer s sweeping assertion that “while no imperishable masterworks have come its way, the Society for the Publication of American Music has made American chamber music of artistic quality accessible, etc., etc.”
If this sentiment were put forth as an opinion there would still be the question as to whether or not that opinion were justified. But to trumpet an unsought ultimatum directed against the reputation and the future of certain works and composers is the act of an editorial highwayman; it is musical outlawry.
There shtrnld be some organized defence against the publication of generalities^ which are as unethical as they are empty. If musi-
eulogies and obloquies which would tend to obliterate that which is sincere and genuine.
A» ^.Pretty dangerous and presumptuous thing to assume the role of the Almighty in bestowing immortality or oblivion upon the work of an artist. In my military experience I have seen the destinies of many men rise and fall, therefore I would hesitate long before tempting fate with so cock-sure a prophesy as to whether or not a man’s ideas are imperishable. The great master Taneieff was more humble than Mr. Sonneck in his attitude toward the younger generation of composers, and Scriabin was equally reserved in his discussion of the contemporary Germans*
Such a bearing of sympathy and forward looking tolerance establishes a creative environment in which music always thrives. In what contrast to it are the circumstances which compel a composer to take time from his work in order to defend himself against this sort of hitting below the belt as it were. Fortunately, however, to persist in these manners of agression in the subtle and sensitive world of the creative artist, is to awake one day to find oneself a rank intruder in the realm.
•_ —	,	...	..־־ — T~ ־---------־“״ /•'— —  V״.!,.,.	a.!, uiudi- 1. The Musical Side of Our First Presidents. In Suum Cuiaue
cians and public allow such things to go unchallenged we shall have	Essays in Music, New York, 1916, p. 37-55	’
a, £«e-for-a;i contest of 2. Benjamin Franklin’s Musical Side. In Suum Cuique, p. 59-84.
3.	MacDowell versus MacDowell. A Study in First Editions and Revisions. In Suum Cuique, p. 87-103.
4.	A National Conservatory. Some pros and cons. In Suum Cuique, p. 107118־.
5.	A Survey of Music in America. In Suum Cuique, p. 121-154.
Yours very trul;
_ dy,
(Signed) Tadeusz Iarecki.
February 5.
nine are possible in music—in other words, for one unit of knowledge that the B. M. is required to have of music, he is required to have six of other subjects!
There are a few—just a few—colleges that seem to believe that music is really a life work, and when the student makes his credits for the B. M. degree he must or may make them all in music. These are Cox
And it must be most emphatically insisted upon, that Germany has no claims whatever to a monopoly of talent at the present day. Or is it claimed that Debussy, d’Indy, Faure, Dukas, Puccini, Mar-tucci, Bossi, Elgar, Delius, Holbrooke. Bantock, MacDowell, Loef-fler, Converse, Hadley, Chadwick, Parker, Stillman Kelley, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Balakirew, Stenhammaer, Sjogren, Lange-Muller, Nielson, Peterson-Berger. and many besides, who are cultivating music after their own fashion, are Germans, or quite unworthy of mention when a review is held of the German artists by the grace of God? . . . Such chauvinism is the height of intolerance. . . .”
Mr. Sonneck is a constructive and fearless critic.
To Frank Patterson, Musical Courier:
In view of what you told me about Mr. de Iarecki’s letter to the Musical Courier, I feel that self-protection justifies me and demands that I give you a copy of the gentleman’s letter to me and my answer to him.
He refers to his military experiences. Well, my civilian experiences have taught me something, too. I mean my civilian career since 1900 as a historian of music in America, from 1902-1917 as Chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, since 1915 as editor of the Musical Quarterly, and since 1917 as Director of the Publication Department of G. Schirmer, Inc. In all these capacities it has been my good fortune to be able to do something for my country and for American composers in particular. Anch’io son patriota, to paraphrase a famous saying, but I am utterly unable to see why patriotism demands that one indulge in uncritical, promiscuous praise of everything one’s compatriots do. As a true patriot I say, on the contrary, that the best is just good enough.
By the way, to repeat my remark during our conversation, the very first lecture I gave in my life was a propaganda lecture on an American subject: at the tender age of eighteen or nineteen I lectured at a German Gymnasium on “American Poetry.” That was forty-nine and a half minus eighteen years ago.
Sincerely yours,
February 7.	(Signed) O. G. Sonneck.
P. S.—Since Mr. de Iarecki has met me personally, I consider it quite a comphment> that he thinks I am youthful. Alas, my hair (or what is left of it) disagrees with him.
To O. G. Sonneck:
For a long time I have been aware of curiously arbitrary voices in the musical life of New York seeking to impose ad libitum certain verdicts and classifications of musical literature upon the intelligent American public. These gossippings have come to the surface now and then through some indiscretions committed to print.
In your article The American Composer and the American Music Publisher, which appeared in the January number of the Musical Quarterly, occurs the affirmation that, “while no imperishable master-works have come its way, the Society for the Publication of American Music has made American chamber-music of artistic quality accessible in print, etc., etc.”
Every artist and every new work has to face the opinion of the authorized critics. That seems to be an accepted and necessary evil, however doubtful the value of it. But such a sweeping statement, uncalled for, issued with highhanded assumption, not even
... -	- ---- —0-----ieu assumption, not even _ . , ...	,	.	---- -----~	~	-	__	^	~
?bpa 5onclu?j.ve iac}> and, directed against	If he believes that it will help to criticise he does not	Lollege and Conservatory, Knox College, North-
is not musical criticism, it is musical outiawryS *On my1 ow^behalf	hesitate to do so, nor does he confine his criticisms	western University, Drake University, Oberlin Col-
I protest categorically against such hollow assertions. Tt i	‘	־־ ׳
the reputation and the future of specific works and composers, this
:s not musical criticism, it is musical outlawry. On my own behalf ---- -- ______,__________ ~~ w״x.״v  - . „ ,.״״---------------------------------------------------------------
״‘uPrr°i™vi־״t8s”ir"oydSe whetheftTe wo^flTa sch״!¿ wm to an7 one ^hool or any one abuse. Nor will all the 1(ff> CoIfr College, and Yankton College. In most
the Iareckis in the world, though they may feel that the ^ie °thers the principle seems to be that to become cap fits and take personal afront at his remarks, de- ? Doctor of Natation one must learn Aviation, to tract in the least degree from the high opinion the	ea™ to one mu.st learn to fly.
musicians of America have of Mr. Sonneck and of the work he has been doing for many years in behalf of American music.	Frank Patterson.
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Now looking at the big colleges: Stanford does not give a B. M. degree but for the A. B. allows three credits out of fifteen for entrance and twelve out of 180 for graduation. The figures for the University of California are 4—15, 72—124. Yale gives ten for graduation, Notre Dame allows two in fifteen for entrance but nothing for graduation for the A.' B.
your _	... _______________ __________________
live or not. The question of a composer’s immortality is in hands of a higher Judge than you or I.
In my military experience I have seen the destinies of many men rise and fall. Therefore I would hesitate long before making so cock-sure a prophesy as to whether or not a man’s ideas are imperishable.
. The great master Taneieff was more humble than you in his attitude toward the younger Russians and Scriabin was equally reserved in discussion of the contemporary Germans.
Your impulsiveness is, to be sure, an indication of enviably youthful and robust spirits, but is it advisable to give them such audacious outlet in the world of the creative artist, composed as it is, of nervous, sensitive and subtle elements, unless one wishes to awake one day to find oneself regarded as a rank intruder in the realm?
Yours very truly,
February 4.	(Signed) Tadeusz Iarecki.
To Tadeusz de Iarecki:
I have before me your temperamental letter of February 4, 1923. It put me in a better mood than when I first reached office.
It really requires no answer and presumably you expected none. However, permit me to intrude upon your own time to the extent of saying that I have been giving thought to the problems of music
TASTE
It is peculiar how our taste and that of our British
rwf l!ifir °u cerftain, things, The Beggar’s ForTh¡ B? M?7he figures™’2—15" 100—150: pa which could not make a living here, has run	There is no allowance for music at lohns Hopkins
beyond its 1200th performance m London and that	Amherst gives no B. M. degree, but for the A B
other opera by Mr. Gay Polly produced there a degree the figures are 1—15, 3—20 At Harvard
in America and of the American composer157 ־	^tr^tfnlrUsU0^	Tf fhree־f°,Urths 0f the entil־e number of courses taken
years and have vmced my ideas on those subjects many a	time, not, .	Q nayY SUCCeSS. Our -London Correspondent	by Students Specializing־ in	music mav he	mticiV
as you presume, impulsively but after due deliberation.	writes	US:	Unique SUCCeSS attended the fir<5f ner	״A11rf,on A 4■ ,־n t*. !u & •	t? , “ / uc	I״UblC
Such a sentence as you quote from my address is the expression fnrmanrp of MirL1 וסך r • *	.	Courses. At Tufts there IS no B. M. degree. For
of a personal opinion, that is, of what I personally believe to be a	TOrmance OI iNlgel	Flayfair s production	of	Polly,	the A B degree the fio-tirec; arp	1	1^ 1Q	199	A 4-
fact, but it is not, and cannot be, the statement of a fact, like the	the Seauel	to	The	Begopr^ fWra Mr	w 11	1	g • me ngures are	1--1¿), 16----1ZZ.	At
fact that two times two makes four pr that water runs down the . ,	ne i^e^ar s upera. Mr. Lays Wellesley music credits are given for theoretical work
hill or that Wagner composed the Meistersinger. There is a slight, eighteenth Century niUSlC lias been arranged and nnHr Af	®	Udl WOl K
but obvious distinction between such things, but you evidently fail orlrLri Kxr	a 4-*	1 •	1 g ana only. At Williams there is no music. At Dartmouth
‘°־>־e it;	,	added to by Frederic Austin and is under the direc- there is no music decree h1״-for A •R 41,״
I am just as much entitled to my opinion as you are to yours.	tl0n of Eugene Cr0n<;<;en<3 ^nsrLIinrr nnA ־*- *^־ . 1ד •.סי׳״;״*• me gradua-
Your sense of humor does not appear to be highly developed, for .	.	®	. SSenS. bparklmg and VlvaClOUS tlOn allowance IS 32 in 122. Princeton has no music
otherwise you would appreciate at its full value the fact that I voted,	throughout,	at	least	fifty of the Original	melodies	Riito-prc	nffArc	r1 :.״״	,	. ,	, .
as a member of the jury, for the publication of the works that were	t-.״-.״	t •	י	,, / . . £ S	U	UUICS	Kmge1S	Otters	no music degree	but for	the A.	B.
published by the Society for the Publication of American Music. nave Deen retained, all Ot Which are SUng and played the fip'Ures are 1 1 ?1 ויו If.	M1 •״> .,״,!*;״. w
Furthermore, if I call such works “American chamber-music of ar- with an ease and snonfanietv that are no re-froeLlr,״•	r?	י“ lou. -Neither Columbia
tistic quality,” 1 consider that high praise. 1 am not, however,	,	... ,	״lat 31(3 &s refreshing nor Cornell give music degrees, but the allowances
foolish enough to consider, for instance, your own stnng-quartet an as they are delightful. The outstanding success of for the A B decree are 1	15	h
30—120. Lehigh