51
M 11 SIC AI, CÖU1U EÑ
March 15, 1923
Swiniord’s Singing a Refreshing Experience
Jerome Swinford sang at the Newark Festival last May and was at once engaged for a recital in January in that city, again scoring such a success that he returned on March 7 as soloist with the Newark Lyric Club. Following his second appearance, the Newark News commented as follows :
Since Mr. Swinford was heard in the Newark Music Festival last May he has grown in artistic stature. Possibly that impression was due to the smaller auditorium being more favorable to an appreciation of the refinements of his vocalization and interpretations. He produced tones so smooth and mellow and so fully communicated the spirit in the lyrics he essayed, that his singing was a refreshing experience for his hearers.
lie has gained a confidence in his bearing before an audience that, coupled with his intelligence in using his vocal equipment and the technic of his art, obtains gratifying results. His command of legato and sense of style enabled him to give a really noble interpretation of Beethoven’s Adoration of Nature.
It would seem that Mr. Swinford is quite a “repeater^” for on April 17 he is booked for his fourth recital in Providence within two seasons. He will be on tour in the South for three weeks in March, and in April he will tour the Middle West, closing in Buffalo with the Rubinstein Club on April 30. Mr. Swinford recently gave a recital for the Montclair. Music Club, and he also was heard in New Haven. He is engaged for a recital at New York University on the Artist Course.
The Sikes Studio at Montreat
Among the busy teachers of the South is May Lipscomb Sikes, formerly of Richmond, Va., whose new studios are at Montreat, N. C. Mrs. Sikes studied piano with Emil Liebling in Chicago, Frederick Chopin Hahr in Richmond, Va., Ruth Harding in Richmond, Va.; organ with Ernest Cosby, A. A. G. O. in Richmond; harmony with Mr. Cosby and William G. Paynter of Chicago; voice at Catawba College, N. C. She is a member of the American Guild of Organists. Mrs. Sikes, who numbers among her pupils students from China, England, Texas, North and South Carolina, Florida, Illinois, New York and Canada, is assisted by her young pupil-daughters, Margaret Lipscomb and Ruth Wiley Sikes. The Charlotte (N. C.) Observer spoke of her as “one of the best musicians in the South and possesses a charming personality. Her daughters are charmingly talented and attractive young girls.”
Lillian Raymond Aub’s Pupils in Recital
A program of merit was given by pupils of Lillian Raymond Aub, pianist and teacher, on February 17, at her studio. Those participating were Marianne Lamps¡, Beatrice Lescar-boura, Mathilde Scommodau, John Lamps¡, Gertrude Finkel-stein, Edith Alpert, Mildred Alpert, Georgette Lamps!, Harry Harlem and Maxwell Meyer. The program comprised numbers by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Rubinstein, Chopin, Grieg and others. Especially worthy of note were the Liszt numbers—the Liebestraum and etudes in C major and D minor—admirably played by Miss Lescarboura, and the Chopin mazurka in B minor and scherzo in B minor musically rendered by Marianne Lamps¡, a girl of fourteen years. Miss Scommodau and Harry Harlem also showed unusual talent.
Edna Bishop Daniel Artists in Concert
Ruth Peter, a talented pupil of Edna Bishop Daniel, sang at the Lenten concert held at Keith’s Theater, Washington, D. C., March 2, for the benefit of the children of the Near East. She sang Handel’s Angels Ever Bright and Fair.
Cleo Scanland, contralto, also an Edna Bishop Daniel artist, will sing on March 21 for the Woman’s City Club (Washington). On February 21 Miss Scanland was scheduled to appear at a concert given by the Washington Choral Society at the Mt. Vernon Methodist Church. Mrs. Daniel is becoming well known as an “exponent of the common sense system of voice placement and tone production used by true voice culturists and real artists of all nations.”
Frieda Klink Has Busy Season
Frieda Klink, contralto, appeared in concert at the Art Museum in Worcester, Mass., singing a program which included songs by Henschel, Baniock, Griffes, Huerter, Speaks, Beach, Hageman, Purcell and Deems Taylor. Arthur J. Bassett, president of the Worcester Festival, played the accompaniments. Miss Klink has also been engaged for the Worcester Festival in May. She'will sing the contralto role in Mendelssohn’s Walpurgis Night, and also in concert with the orchestra. Miss Klink sang for the Woman’s Club of Glens Falls on March 8. March 22 there will be a song recital at Columbia University.
Marion Ball Sings at Musicale
Marion Ball gave pleasure in two groups of songs when she appeared as soloist before the Knickerbocker Story Tellers’ Club at the home of Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Watton. Her numbers included Old English and Italian songs, French bergerettes and songs by David, Kramer and Needham. Miss Ball, who has a fine dramatic soprano voice, sang with artistic intelligence. Agnes Brennan, with whom she has coached in song interpretation, accompanied in her usual charming manner. Miss Ball is also a piano student at the Brennan studio.
Marie Stone Langston Active
Marie Stone Langston, as usual, is having a very busy season giving song recitals and appearing in concert. Some of her January, February and March engagements were as follows: January 11, West Chester, Pa.; 16, Hazelton, Pa.;
17,	Shenandoah, Pa.; 21, Noble, Pa.; 25, Frankford, Pa.; February 7, 12, 13, 14, Philadelphia, Pa.; 15, Camden, N. J.;
18,	Noble, Pa.; 20, Elkins, W. Va.; 25, Noble, Pa.; March 3, Lawrenceville, Pa.; 4, Wilmington, Del.; 5, Pottstown, Pa.; 6, Kenneth, Pa.; 7, Germantown, Pa.
Vreeland with Mendelssohn Glee Club
At the Mendelssohn Glee Club’s second concert of the season Jeannette Vreeland, soprano, was one of the guest soloists. Miss Vreeland sang Vissi d’Arte from Tosca, followed by an encore. The Romaika, by Rosalind Park. The soprano was heard with the Summit Glee Club (New Jersey) on March 9, under the direction of Dr. Arthur Woodruff. This booking was a re-engagement, her second appearance with, the club in less than a year.
making their lives happier. He told them not to devote all their energies to jazz.
The fact that so many schools and other educational institutions are asking Mr. Goldman to speak is a great tribute to his popularity and personality, and is another evidence of what his concerts have meant to the people. Mr. Goldman’s march song, The Chimes of Liberty, is being sung in most of the New York schools, as well as in many other schools throughout the country.
Hess Institutes “Concerto Day” for Students
An interesting idea comes again from the studios of Hans Hess, well known cellist, located in the Fine Arts Building, Chicago. Mr. Hess has instituted what he calls “Concerto Day” on a certain Wednesday of each month, when some dozen or more advanced students come, each prepared with some cello concerto to be played before his fellow students and teacher. The day is thus given over to work as a concerto class, the playing of each student and the comments and ׳ criticisms of the instructor being observed and noted by each member of the class as a whole.
The advantages of the working out of such an idea are obvious. The more intimate acquaintance with the master works for the cello thus gained through the inevitable variety of interpretations given them can hardly be acquired in any other way. The opportunity for comparing different styles of playing and the means of obtaining certain effects is an education in itself. It is ־ noteworthy also that a student sitting by and observing the work of the teacher with another student is almost always able to make a better application to himself of a point being developed by the teacher with the other student than he can in his own lesson. The quality of this attention is in some way different; he seems less self-conscious and more receptive.
Mr. Hess has long appreciated the value of this principle and has applied it in his class work for a great many years, encouraging his students to be present and observe the process of lessons of other students whenever possible. The gradual development of this idea into the “Concerto Day” may be said to be the master stroke of his teaching genius. The works played at the January class meeting were the Dvorak concerto, played by Ethel Murray; Schumann concerto, played by Ann Slack;. Haydn concerto, by Genevieve Brown; Saint-Saëns’ concerto, by Goldie Gross; Romberg D major, No. 2, concerto, by Lillian Rehberg, and the Romberg E minor, No. 4, by Carla Pauli.
Kochanski Sails for Europe
Paul Kochanski, the Polish violinist, sailed on March 7 on the steamship Paris for a tour of thirty concerts in Spain and Portugal, beginning at Madrid with a recital on March 17. The tour will include all the important cities of Spain and Portugal. ' Mr. Kochanski has been invited to play before the King and Queen of Spain and has also accepted an invitation from the Madrid Conservatory to play upon the famous Stradivarius of Sarasate.
Paris will hear the Polish violinist in the Revue Musicale on May 12, when he will perform works of modern composers, including־ the Bloch sonata and other compositions by Szymanowski and Villa Lobas, the Brazilian. After other Paris appearances Mr. Kochanski will be heard in London. He is also invited to Seville for the Easter holiday, where he will give two concerts in the Seville “Feria.”
George Engles, Mr. Kochanski’s American manager, states that in September the violinist has engagements in Mexico, returning to the United States in early October to inaugurate his fourth American visit with two recitals in New York.
Mrs. Irvine Arranges European Travel Class
Mrs. J. Harrison-Irvine, vocal coach and pianist of New York, is arranging a European travel class for the summer months of 1923. The plan is to sail from New York on June 23 on the S. S. Majestic. The itinerary includes visits to England—London, environs, and Shakespeare country; Holland—via North Sea to Amsterdam, canal trips, The Hague, Deft and Schevenigen; Belgium—Antwerp, to Brussels, Luxembourg, Verdun, Nancy and Strassburg; Switzerland—Bale to Lucerne, through the Alps to the Italian Lakes, Como, Cernobbio, Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, with motor drive to Amalfi, Sorronto, Capri, Pompeii, Genoa, Italian Riviera to French Riviera, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Nice and Marseilles; Spain—Barcelona, Monte Tibidabo, Montsserat, Madrid, Escorial, Granada, Algeciras, Gibraltar, by motor to Cadiz, Sevillia and San Sebastian; France—Biarritz, Bordeaux and Paris for ten days. September 8 is the date set for sailing home on the S. S. France, arriving in New York on September 15. Further information can be secured from Mrs. Irvine at her studios, 1013 Carnegie Hall, New York.
Southern Triumph for Meluis
Mme. Luella Meluis, coloratura soprano, has just returned from a visit to her mother, Mrs. Chilson, and her brother, Dr. H. L. Chilson, who live in Bradentown, Fla. While there Mme. Meluis sang in concert for the benefit of the Parish Fund of the Christ Episcopal Church, the concert being given at the Woman’s Club, which was crowded to the doors.
Besides thanking Mme. Meluis in the name of Bradentown for offering her services in a worthy cause, the critic of the Evening Herald said: “She sang in several languages Monday night, but always in the language of music one understands because it is melody supreme. Her voice has wonderful range, clarity, and sweetness, while the singer herself has grace and charm of person and manner that wins.” The editor stepped in himself by adding in his own columns: “Meluis came here and conquered by her sweet voice.”
Mme. Meluis will give her Adelina Patti Concert in Symphony Hall, Boston, on April 29.
England Hears Women’s Orchestra Via Radio
The Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Philadelphia, J. W. F. Leman conductor, played twice recently for the Gim-bel Radio station in Philadelphia, and as a result received over three hundred complimentary letters from radio enthusiasts from all over the United States. One letter was received from Henry Field, who sat in his home, Bag-grave Hall, in Leicestershire, England, and heard the music very distinctly.
Letters from
MUSICAL COURIER READERS
A Believer in Coué
To the Musical Courier :
In reply to your editorial on Coué, in the Musical Courier of February 1, 1923, permit me to say that your conception of the Coué method is entirely erroneous. You say that your treatment of the Coué type of psychology has always been negative; how is that ? Did you not give when you wrote your editorials; endeavored, as you said, courage, and persuaded certain discouraged ones that their discouragement was groundless, etc.? Did you not give them plain suggestion which, when your readers have read your editorials, transformed itself into autosuggestion in their minds, by believing in your editorials so in return they started to believe in themselves and not fool themselves?
There is not the slightest idea in the Coué method of conscious autosuggestion to fool oneself. You have the wrong end of his idea, which is, that you have in yourself a power which is very little used by anyone, except by doctors, who know well the value of suggestion and induced suggestion on a patient, and it was never the aim of Dr. Coué to eliminate the medical profession, but rather to help it. You will get results, tangible results, if you use his method within reason, which means that you cannot expect the impossible and if an artist is mediocre in his line he will remain mediocre. What he had in mind when he said that the artist might be benefitted by his method, is that he could control a bad attack of stage fright, and not to better his voice or his technic in whatever line of music he might be. That singer you refer to as having had a chronic throat trouble and trying to cure himself or herself in the way you mention, certainly was a fool. Not having had the proper method of Dr. Coué, nor the faith in it, he certainly could not be cured. And in another part of Dr. Coué’s treatise does he not say that by any means if you have confidence in your doctor to go to him, and have the best advice he could give you? Verify, Dear Sir, there are many kinds of fools, and certainly those people who are weak minded should leave good things alone.
I am pleased to notice that you give credit to Dr. Coué, that there is some truth in the things he preaches, but pray do not attach his name with “all his ilk,” for Coué and his method are by themselves a great power not yet understood by most of the general public, but indorsed by many members of the medical profession and scientists the world over, and they are not to be compared with anything which “all his ilk” have been trying to accomplish, and if these people have a few cures to their credit, it is nothing to compare with the thousands upon thousands of cures (permanent) which he has accomplished within thirty years of practice.
Now why not go the whole hog as you so picturesquely wrote? What is the use carrying with us our doubts, which doubts are and have always been in our way? You are well aware that as long as we have these doubts in our mind there is no satisfaction, nor results accomplished. Now if you cast these doubts aside, and think that_ you can get the better of them, would it not be worth while to go the whole hog, and cure yourself of imperfection within reason? And as regards going the whole hog, try it on yourself! You will be surprised, and wonder why you did not do it before, because the benefits are great and everlasting and you will be glad how easy it is to know yourself. Day by day in every way better and better.
Yours very truly,
(Signed) John Breitner, Disciple of Dr. Coué.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
[We have done our best to edit this letter so as to make it comprehensible, but it still leaves much to be desired. No doubt the writer is depending upon Couéism for his knowledge of syntax. He will do better to put his faith in a good school grammar.—The Editor.]
Barbara Maurel’s Continued Successes
Barbara Maurel, mezzo soprano, has been meeting with undisputed success wherever she has appeared in her present tour through the Middle West. At the Auditorium in Omaha she appeared before an audience of nearly five thousand people and her success may be judged by a notice which appeared in the Omaha World-Herald, February 17, written by August M. Borglum:
Miss Maurel is not only an excellent singer, but a true artist, who visualizes clearly everything that she sings and feels it as well. Her voice is musical and even and her lovely tones are always shaded so as to really convey the meaning of the words of her songs. Temperament, controlled by taste, and an excellent diction make her interpretations very delightful.
A judicious and varied choice of lovely numbers made the program interesting throughout. Opening with the classic Lung¡ dal Caro Bene by Secchi, Miss Maurel showed herself the possessor of a beautiful legato. Nuit d’Etoiles by Debussy was sung with a deep poetic feeling and artistic refinement.
The Russian group was well chosen, presenting three numbers of totally different color in which the artist showed her charming versatility. Miss Maurel came out with honors especially in the Habanera of Carmen, by Bizet, in which she showed vivacity, wit and passion.
The tender lullaby, Song of the Chimes, by Warrell; Vale, by Kennedy Russell, and Ship of My Delight, by Phillips, proved as many successes. Several encores were graciously added by request—By the Waters of Minnetonka, by Lieurance; The Sky-Blue Water, by Cad-man; Her Dream, by Wallace, and others.
The audience was large and most appreciative, recalling the artist two and three times after some of the numbers. These concerts do certainly reflect credit on the efforts of the business and professional women of the Chamber of Commerce.
Bandmaster Goldman Speaks to Graduates
Edwin Franko Goldman, the bandmaster now back from a vacation in Florida, has been the guest of honor at no less than a dozen banquets and other important functions during the past few weeks, and on each occasion he has made an address. Mr. Goldman has for many years spoken successfully through the medium of his baton, but he is now in great demand as an orator, and it is said that he is capable of holding the attention of his audience with his speeches—almost as well as he does with his stick.
Recently he addressed the graduates of Public School No. 93. He advised the young ladies to try to become familiar with the music of the masters, and assured them that a knowledge of such music would do much toward