MUSICAL COURIER
22
February 22, 1923
the guitar. An ingenious dentist provided a glutinous covering for the teeth, so our Eulenstein again was happy. His biography is an entertaining one.
Whenever we see the word “Jewsharp,” we recall the syllogism of John Phoenix:
“David was a Jew—Hence ‘The Harp of David’ was a Jewsharp. Question—How the deuce did he sing his Psalms and play on it at the same time?”
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We suggested that the Juilliard Foundation give a Noble piece prize to anyone who might invent a rack so constructed as to keep a piece of music on an upright piano. Well, the winner is Dr. Frank W. Low, of Buffalo, N. Y., who informs us under date of February 11: “I’ve got it. Just lay down a strip of sand paper for the lower edge of your sheet of music to rest on. You will find it practical.”
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Sidney R. Fleet, of Lowell, Mass., communicates (February 14) : “A paragraph in the New York Times last Sunday recorded the tremendous success of John McCormack at Monte Carlo in The Banker of Seville. This, of course, might well account for the financial success of the performance. Certainly for the production of fiscal opera no place is more appropriate than Monte Carlo. At any rate, it is safe to say that John got his share of the rake-off.”
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Rudolph Ganz, conductor of the St. Louis Orchestra, knows how to lighten the terrific seriousness of symphony concerts once in a while. At his February 10 and 11 seances he opened with d’Albert’s Improvisator overture, followed with Tschaikowsky’s Manfred, and ended with Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of Animals and Carpenter’s Krazy Kat. At the February 2 and 3 concerts, the purely orchestral numbers werc Schumann’s Genoveva overture, Wagner’s Liebestod, and Andrae’s Little Suite, and they were interspersed with two piano concertos, Beethoven C major and Liszt E flat, with Rudolph Ganz himself as the soloist. The original Ganz programs are creating no end of interest in St. Louis and are attracting the largest attendance the symphony concerts there ever have
In America a man’s intellectual caste distinction is determined by the kind of music his wife likes.
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Newspaper headline: “Anna Case’s Wolfhound Is Star at Dog Show.” Like diva, like dog.
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Eugene S. Bagger publishes an interesting interview with Leon Bakst in the New York World of February 18. The celebrated Russian says that architecture is the great art achievement of America because the architects have dared to be themselves and to discard Old World models. “There is a curious discrepancy,” Mr. Bagger reports Bakst as saying, “in effect, between the attitude of the American engineer toward his world and that of the American artist toward his. The American engineer has perfect self-command as well as perfect command of his material. He rules his means and his purpose. And he does not worry. He is confronted with a problem and he conceives of a solution. Some one says ‘That has never been done before.’ The American engineer answers, ‘That is one more reason why I shall do it in my own way.’ And he does. He does not fret about precedent. He does not fret about what the engineers of the Italian cinquecento or those of the French Second Empire or those of contemporary Munich would do in a similar emergency. He just loads the gun of his invention, takes aim, fires—and usually scores a bullseye.” Bakst adds that he does not see why American artists shouldn’t act precisely in the same manner. Our native musicians should take those words to heart and also Bakst’s concluding suggestions: “My advice to American artists, if I may volunteer to give it, is: Don’t study so intensely what we of the Old World are doing; don’t go abroad so much; stay at home, strike roots in the soil, immerse yourselves in the color, light, youth of your wonderful country; study indigenous American beauty, be yourselves, and you will not fail to produce a great American art.”
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Deems Taylor has returned from his tour of musical inspection in the Middle West, and the result of his researches as published in The World of last Sunday, seems to be that the music lovers of that vicinity are serious, intelligent, and discriminative, and that their orchestras rank worthily with those of the East. These discoveries were made long ago by the Musical Courier and have been brought to the attention of the entire country for years, but it ־ does no harm for The World to repeat them at this time so that New Yorkers are impressed again with the truth and realize that they are being misled when the other dailies claim everything musically worth while for New York. The World and Mr. Taylor
VARIATIONETTES
By the Editor-in-Chief
plause,” and it outraged his sense of humor deeply to have to correct the slip.
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Other authentic pen lapses, credited to the press agent, were “a graduate from the School of Art and Silence,” and “he had an invisible reputation.”
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Always welcome, thrice welcome, to new adjectives in the limited terminology of music. The New York Globe speaks of the tunes in a new musical comedy, as “the most Victrolable now before the public.”
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Beau Broadway says that if people who spend their time with books are bookworms, then those who visited the Silk Show here last week must be silkworms. And, of course, the devotees who study the tape on stock tickers must be—but you can finish the paragraph for yourself.
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Inverse mathematics: A musician who makes his mark in America is better off than one who makes a million Marks in Germany.
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A new version of an. old jest comes from the Albuquerque Morning Journal of February 5:
The young lady from Portales wanted to come here to hear Zimbalist. “It’s been so long since I heard a good zimbalist,” she said, “and I do so love to hear the zimbal.”
H
Overheard, by J. L. D., in a hurry lunchroom:
“Did ya have any music last night?”
“No, we didn’t have no music, just had singin’.”
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Sokoloff and the Cleveland Orchestra gave a concert in Guelph, Canada, recently, and during their performance the lights in the hall went out and stayed out for a considerable time. However, the leader and his men went on with the concert, and a Guelph contributor reports that “the audience didn’t mind the darkness because Sokoloff’s readings were so illuminating.”
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In the Ruhr it simply is a question between mine and thine.
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Herbert Kaufman in the American (February 17): “Monsieur Clemeneeau eats onion soup and says nothing.” Isn’t that a good time not to talk?
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From Philip Hale’s Notes and Lines in the Boston Herald (February 8) : “The New York Tribune published last Monday a passionate editorial article entitled ‘Let’s Save the Glee Club.’ ” The Tribune item should be called to the attention of a friend of ours who writes a column called “Things to Worry About.”
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The champion worrier accosted us a few hours after the news became public that Von Hoogstraaten was to succeed Stransky with the Philharmonic. The c. w. asked querulously, “How long is his contract?” and when he was told, wrinkled his brows and inquired tragically: “Whom do you think they will have after him?”
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We know the most famous accompanist in' the world. No, he is not the best accompanist, but he is the only one of the guild who has not written a song that singers put on their program when he accompanies them so that they can wave their hands graciously at him and generously make him rise to share in the applause.
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The “sweet musical note of spring” often is not paid and then the collector takes away the instrument but at least the family has had a winter’s fun out
Old Phil Hale publishes some interesting data about the jewsharp, which may serve as an answer to the correspondent from Hartford, Conn., who wrote us last week: “1 notice your paragraph about the jewsharp. Is there really such an instrument or do humorists and comedians only use the name as a subject for jokes? I never saw a socalled jewsharp.” Hale, as follows:
Messrs. Conroy and Swor are performing a double dance to jewsharp accompaniment. We have not heard this pleasing instrument for some years. Charles Eulenstein (1802-1890) was a famous virtuoso, performing in London on sixteen jewsharps with thrilling effect, and he continued to excite wonder until his teeth so pained him that he took to
“Where one person studied music a hundred years ago ten thousand study it now,” writes Ernest Newman in the London Sunday Times. True, but where the one person could easily understand ten thousand compositions of that period, oftentimes ten thousand modern music lovers cannot understand one composition of today.
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It was a terrible thing to read somewhere that the dailies now are giving up front page space to heresy instead of hooch.
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The most frightful heresy—from the English standpoint—is what Francesco Berger says in the London Monthly Musical Record when he suggests that Handel’s Messiah ought to end with the Hallelujah chorus.
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Berger voices the opinion of many of us, however, when he insists that the fashion ought to be abolished of repeating the first part of a symphony, trio, quartet, or sonata.
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Bodanzky amputates opera and Hohenzollern chops down forests, and they recall the old doggerel which might be paraphrased into:
Bodanzky cuts scores and William cuts trees,
Blue pencil and axe they wield as they please;
But scores will keep growing and trees will stay thick When both these gentlemen cut their stick.
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Another old bit is this “Musical Creed” accredited to Charles Wesley, which possesses opposing mean-
is read, column by column
A downright arrant block Is John Sebastian Bach Why have but German John Ought to be spat upon The stupidest of coons Is Bach at graceful tunes We all prepare our hate To Bach’s chromatic pate.” *
ings according to the way i or line by line:
“Handel d’ye see’s The man for me Who can write well But old Handel George is for air Beyond compare To Handel’s name Give then the fame
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Henry T. Finck gives it as his view that if the scientists of the Rockefeller Institute devoted their time to it they might isolate, the cacophonic microbes of the musical futurists and present the public with a remedy to protect their ears against those malignant and pernicious germs.
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Ursula Greville, editor of The Sackbut (London) and also a singer, is a refreshing example of the latter class. Recently Deems Taylor wrote a review of his own symphonic work, but here is Miss Greville reporting to her paper from New York:
I hated my concert at Aeolian Hall. I sang my best, though it was pretty bad, for I had a most painful cold and a good deal of pain in my back; but the other day I sang at Worcester and had a marvellous time. The Worcester people are very charming and warm-hearted, and the accompanist, Miss Bancroft,.had put in many hours of anxious work to make her part of the show a success. Curiously enough Vespers was the song the audience liked best after Shenandoah.
Miss Greville also announces that she likes America and intends to stay with us because “composers are much nicer people here than in England,” and because “for the first time since I have sung in public I feel that the work I have done to the tune of the sneers and antagonism of those who should have been the first to give me help was worth while. So is it any wonder that I, like Felix Salmond, want to live here and never return? And the audiences are marvellously responsive. I don’t believe they make as much noise: it is easy enough anywhere to get a claque. But they are quick to see the point, and they listen with an attention which is positively uncanny. I started off to say quite different things, because I’ve not mentioned Boston or Philadelphia, but by next month I shall have sung the Elijah in Toronto, which should be interesting. I’m busy learning all the women’s parts in case I’m caught napping, and people never answer letters in America, even invitations. I always knew we were cousins!”
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Absolutely, Ethelfrieda, a relative minor is not the same thing as a minor relative.
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In opera the great menace is the Bellow Peril.
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Mr. Douglas, expert and oldtime proofreader of the Musical Courier, relates that the other day a paragraph came under his pencil reading, “the audience manifested its approval by moans of hearty ap-