27
MUSICAL COURIER
March 15, 1923
CAHIER
America’s Contralto of Internationa/ Fame
© Mishkin
American Opinions
The verdict of Europe is right— N. Y. Commercial
Simply overwhelming—James H. Rogers.
A Woman of Magnetism—
Deems Taylor
She sang gorgeously—
New York Sun
She was superb—
Katherine Spaeth
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' Edvard Grieg said:
Mme. Cahier is the greatest artist I have heard in my long life, because she is able to do everything.
Artur Nikisch called her: The great, incomparable artist.
Camille Saint-Saëns said:
Mme. Cahier is a very, very great'artist-with a golden voice.
In America Entire Season 1923-24
Private address, 132 West 58th Street, New York City
Circle 8827
Personal Representative:
ONA B. TALBOT
916 Hume Mansur Building Indianapolis, Ind.
BALDWIN PIANO USED
The favored instruments of the temple are flutes or clarinets, trumpets, bagpipes, cymbals, and ever and always the drum. The drummer is the most important of the musicians for he it is who sets the rhythm. He is the conductor, and keeps time with his body which, when excited by the increased velocity of his tempo, seems to have convulsions as he jerks, sways, and otherwise moves his anatomy in forms of rhythm unknown to even a Negro jazz trappist!
The vocalists are trained in the tonal mysteries of the thirty-six ragas, and many raginis (the female musical mode) and to embellish and embroider their songs in an infinite number of styles not put down in any book. Their chief charm lies in the fact that they are extemporaneous . . . the quality of endurance, and variety of the song depending on the talent of the singer.
Their songs in the temple are devoted to stories of the gods and goddesses. The Vedic hymns, Upanishads, Bha-gavat Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc., forming most of the sources as sacred books of the Hindus. The gods were the first patrons of music, and they are accredited with inventing, not only the Raga material, but also the various musical instruments.
An outstanding characteristic of an Indian musician is his ability to adhere to strict forms of rhythm; in this they are methodical and faithful to tempo. There are a great variety of drum-rhythms and cross rhythms whose intricacies would bewilder the player less gifted naturally with the talent for learning and interpreting these complex forms of musical expression. The “lure jf the little drum” is a very real thing as I am sure you would agree if you had
DESERTED COUNTRY SHRINES TO SIVA
heard its throbbing beat pulsing through the moonlit night of old India, on the burning plains from the edge of a wild jungle, or in the snow-crowned fastnesses of the Himalaya Mountains. It seems to be the real language of these people ... a language of immemorial antiquity, yet young with the eternal youth of the primitive and the natural.
been engaged as second soprano in the choir of The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. Claire Lampman, contralto, soloist at the First Presbyterian Church, Hempstead, and. Temple Israel, Jamaica, has been active in concert, having appeared for the Fortnightly Club (Rockville Center), Brooklyn Institute, Chapin Home, Jamaica), Central Y. M. C. A. (Westbury, L. I.) ; Miss Lampman is also making records for the Pathe and Vocal ion companies.
Forrest Lamont, tenor of the Chicago Civic Opera Company, has had a very active season. Mr. Lamont appeared successfully in Parsifal and Walkure new roles, and received unanimous acclaim from the critics of Chicago, Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh. He also appeared successfully in Jewels of the Madonna with Raisa, Rigoletto with Galli-curci, Lucia with Florence Macbeth, Pagliacci with Muzio, Butterfly with Mason, and several others of his repertory. Mr. Lamont’s entire vocal work has been done with Mr. Cornell.
Charles Stuart West, baritone, who came from Savannah, Ga., to spend the winter in study with Mr. Cornell, has been engaged for the choir of the Church of the Resurrection. Genevieve Garrette, soprano, has been engaged to assist Adelaide Campbell, head of the vocal department, Hollins College, Va., and is to give a recital on March 27.
Keener Scores Again at Academy of Music
Following her appearance with the Apollo Club at its second concert of the season at the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, on February 20, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle commented as follows on Suzanne Keener’s singing:
Suzanne Keener, soprano of the Metropolitan Opera Company, was the vocal soloist, and she scored an immediate triumph in h״r first number, the aria Ah! Fors e Lui! from Verdi's Traviata. Miss Keener is one of the younger members of the Metropolitan, and her career lies before her. She negotiated the coloratura passages of the difficult aria with fine skill, but perhaps the most pleasing feature of her singing was the rare quality of her voice. Added to the purity of tone were an engaging presence and ability to act, and in both dramatic and lyric songs she put her soul into the music. Her lighter numbers included Bobolink and Chicadee, by her accompanist, Vito Carnavali, and responding to the applause with which this piece was received, she gracefully shook the hand of the composer. The Nightingale and the Rose, by Saint-Saëns, and There Are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden, by Liza Lehmann, called forth two encores.
M. Witmark & Sons Sell Building
The music publishing firm of M. Witmark & Sons has sold the Witmark building, at 144-146 West 37th Street, which it has occupied for over twenty years. It is said that a splendid deal was consummated; it is also understood that, since the surrounding district has been bought by many big concerns of the garment trade, Witmarks have been approached numerous times during the last four years regarding a sale.
M. Witmark & Sons’ new offices will be on the fifth and sixth floors of the new building at 1650 Broadway. This firm for years has maintained an up town office which handled its professional department. It is understood that the new quarters will be attractively equipped and every care taken for the convenience of patrons.
Bender to Sing Dichterliebe
Paul Bender, who will give his second song recital in Carnegie Hall on Tuesday evening, March 20, will include in his program two Handel numbers, a group of songs in English, The Dichterliebe by gchumarm, and a miscellaneous group of songs in German.
Above all they are dressed in rich garments, much jewelry, and well versed in the graces and guiles of the feminine gender. Time was here in India when respectable women were not allowed to sing or dance or cultivate their brains particularly, because these dancing girls had cornered the market in that respect, but more recent years have seen a
KALI TEMPLE SIArA SHRINES
marked improvement in the enlightenment and education of the Hindu women.
The nautch-dancers that I have seen have been surprisingly well clothed. No ballet lamp-shade effect about the costumes of these girls. In fact, the full, long skirts are sometimes so heavily embroidered as to almost impede progress, and they usually further swathe their bodies in yards of veils. Their feet are, of course, bare, henna-painted, and they wear silver anklets, sometimes with bells on them. One must admit the slow grace of their rhythmic movements, when the dance progresses by gradual development, starting with one hand and finally ending in a muscular evolution and revolution that seem to permeate the dancer’s entire being. And, strange to say, we are impressed with a sense of flowing euphony, of fluent lyrical, rhythmical movement, pulsating naturally and emanating from some inner source of understanding. Again I must say that a good Indian dancer must be seen to be appreciated.
Temple Musicians
Temple musicians _ are divided into two groups, instrumentalists and vocalists. Their offices are the same . . . to perform for the daily temple services to accompany the dancers; to play for religious -festivals or special ceremonial occasions.
In the largest and most famous temples, such as the Tagannath at Puri, the Melkota at Mysore, the Tirupati in the Carnatic District, the Velayuda at Palni or the Rame-swaram at Cape Comorin, there are large bands of trained temple musicians whose calling is hereditary.
A. Y. Cornell Pupils Active
A. Y. Cornell’s pupils in various cities are doing interesting things this season. Following is a report of some recent engagements :
Earl C. Waldo, basso, formerly of Meadville, Pa., has been engaged as soloist in the quartet at Old South Church, Morristown, N. J. ; Mr. Waldo is to do some incidental solo work at a coming Friends of Music concert. Louise Beamon-Halfner, contralto, has been engaged as contralto soloist in the new quartet at the First Baptist Church, Troy, and has had many concert and club engagements in the capital city. Elizabeth Reohr, soprano, has been engaged as soloist at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Albany, and recently sang a solo part in the concert of the Albany Woman’s Choral Club concert, under the direction of Elmer Tidmarsh. Grace Beaumont, soprano, has been engaged as
© Underwood & Underzvood.
A. Y. CORNELL
soloist at Lansingburgh, M. E. Church, Troy, N. Y., and was soloist on a program given by the Woman’s Club of Watervliet, N. Y. John C. Danurand, tenor, resigned his position as soloist at Trinity M. E. Church, Albany, to accept the tenor solo position in the quartet at the First Baptist Church, Troy, N. Y.; he has also been engaged as soloist in Temple Troy, New York.
Edith Whitaker Macalpine, soprano, has accepted the solo soprano position at Memorial Church, Springfield, Mass.; she has just returned from a series of successful concerts in Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ontario, Canada. Frederick Wade, tenor, has been engaged as soloist at Trinity M. E. Church, Springfield, Mass., and Harvey Lindsledt, in a like capacity at the Church of The Comforter, Hartford, Conn. Berta Jobes, soprano, has been engaged as solo soprano in the choir of the Church of the Messiah, Brooklyn, George A. Wilson, organist and choir director. George Bernard, tenor, has been engaged for the responsible position of tenor soloist in St. Matthews P. E. Church, New York, Maurice Rumsey, organist. Vera Haas, soprano, has