Musical courier 20 June 7., 19 2 3 CLEVERNESS, PREJUDICE, LEVITY AND OTHER THINGS Are we Americans bluffers? That is an important question; and another question no less important is this: Is bluff ever commendable? That depends upon what we understand by bluff. If we associate it with the poker face, or wild-cat oil stock we get in mind a certain sort of bluff that has made us notorious the world over. But is that all the bluff there is? Most certainly not, and the other kind is that which is gradually being recognized as an American attribute and decidedly a commendable one at that. When foreign artists come over here they generally have a very false idea of America. This idea is not gathered from what has been told them, but results simply from their own imagination built around something about which they have no knowledge. They think of America as a new country, a pioneer country, a wild, uncultured country, and they come to the conclusion that they have to play down to our ignorance. But these same artists soon discover that their estimate of America has left out of account one thing: American bluff. In other words, though the American does not always understand all that is offered to him in the ipay of art, he is always willing and ready to pretend that he does. As one writer had it recently in a French paper: “they may not understand modern music, but at least they are willing to listen to it, they are anxious to learn; a new impression which the European audience will close its mind to, and will whistle off the stage, the American public not only listens to but does its best to understand.” It has also been stated by artists of experience that small town audiences in America feel affronted if a singer reaches down to them by singing to them in English—just as if they couldn’t understand French and German and Italian! This is all in the nature of bluff—culture bluff. But how good it is! What a fine thing it is to set yourself up a lofty ideal and try to reach it by every means! These people (mostly women) are not lazy when it comes to culture. Far from it. From end to end of this great country our women are conducting study clubs, art clubs, music clubs, classes of all sorts, to which they give their time and their money in their effort to get culture. But there are a lot of musicians and writers who sit in the cities and scorn all this effort. They talk or write with levity and cleverness about the very things that are so serious to all this great army of aspirants that they are almost a religion to them. There are actually boosters in the music game who say they doubt the value of offering classic music to the people. And there are artists who sneer at their audiences, taking it for granted that they cannot understand real art and are more at home with ragtime and jazz. It would be impossible to make a greater mistake. America may not understand complex and complicated art works, but that is insignificant compared with our national seriousness, our moral and estimable desire for lofty ideals, spiritual artistic sustenance of the most serious nature. The man or woman in the art world who does not take America seriously is riding for a fall. Above all else we Americans are serious. America is founded upon Anglo-Saxon puritan concepts, and from the puritan Anglo-Saxon point of view good writing and good speaking (or preaching) must possess as its chief attribute straight-forward plain-speaking, honesty and simplicity. Prejudice is dangerous indeed, but cleverness and levity are far more so. There is no more powerful weapon than ridicule, and for those who are working with might and main towards an ideal to be laughed at as dreamers and, worse still, fakers, is enough, or might be enough, to deter them from further effort. Let no writer on musical subjects, or musical artist, be mistaken; the attitude of America towards music is deadly serious, and that seriousness should be taken seriously and seriously encouraged. The man who sneers is an enemy to American art! get more money and the association more work out of them—which is as it should be. -—■—®----- One hopes that the reports of the serious automobile accident to L. E. Behymer are exaggerated. The Musical Courier sends every best wish for his speedy recovery. The plucky Pacific Coast manager has had a lot to struggle against in the last few years. -------------------------<$>--- Although the Musical Courier will not publish the list of contributors to the Austro-German Relief Fund during the summer, while Theodore Spiering, the chairman, is in Europe, Mr. Spiering announces that active work will be begun in the fall, as soon as he returns, and, with the renewed support of the Musical Courier, the work will be pushed as vigorously as this year. In the Chicago letter in this issue there is an interesting statement sent out by the management of the Chicago Civic Opera. Herbert M. Johnson, deposed two years or more ago as manager of the Chicago Opera Association for reasons which still linger in the mind, comes back to the Chicago Civic Opera as “assistant to the president.” In other words, Mr. Johnson is to be manager of the opera again. What a thorough and complete feeling of satisfaction and vindication must reside within the Johnsonian breast these days. And the Musical Courier is glad to see this honest and capable man back in the position. -------------------------®---— This is the house that Jack built. First the Graz (Styria) Municipal Council decided to abandon operatic performances at the Municipal Theater next season; then, to protect their fellow artists in Graz, the Austrian and German stage unions declared a boycott on this theater; next, the Graz Council answered by giving notice to the entire company of the theater; now the principal backer of the Graz Theater is Dr. Wutte, who controls the majority of Styrian coal mines, so the Austrian Labor Federation threatens to declare a strike and to boycott Dr. Wutte’s mines unless he withdraws his notice‘to the Graz Municipal Theater company. Next! ----®----- Last summer George Blumenthal announced that he was going to bring over a German opera company to give Wagner. All the music world looked at him with a large question mark in its eye; but the company really did come over and, to the astonishment of all, after weathering a terrible series of financial storms, managed to finish the season sailing a comparatively smooth course. So the project which he has in mind now may also come to pass. It is—as related in another column—to follow the presentation of The Ring by the German company with parallel performances in English by American artists. A good many things stand in the way of the practical realization of this plan. If carried out, it would scarcely be a financial success, whatever its artistic worth. But it is a thoroughly interesting idea and one can only wish Mr. Blumenthal the best of luck. ■ - ׳ --- Camille Chevillard, conductor of the Lamoureux Orchestra, Paris, principal conductor of the Paris Opera, died there last week. His career was another instance of the triumph of mediocrity—that is, of that mediocrity which understands how to pull wires. Even when a pupil at the Conservatoire, many years ago, he was able only to get a second prize, and Heaven knows how hard it is for a pupil of any talent to avoid a first. He married the daughter of the famous conductor Lamoureux—and succeeded to the conductorship when papa-in-law died. He was never better than second-rate as a composer, nor as a conductor, either of concert or opera; but he perceived that the route of preferment in French music, if one is not a genius, is to stick close to the political leader—in other words, the Ministry of Fine Arts. So he stuck close and became a professor at the Conservatoire and finally leading conductor at the Opera. -------------------------®----- Last week’s issue gave the annual announcement of the production of the mysterious Boito opera, Nero, which—as the report also says-—is to take place the coming season at La Scala, Milan, under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. This time so much detail accompanies the story that it seems likely to be true. Nero appears to be the champion long distance opera of the world. It has five acts, but four of them will take four hours to play, so the fifth will kindly be omitted. (What a grand thought for the final act of Boito’s other opera, too!) One correspondent wrote us that Toscanini has the exclusive right to conduct the work for a number of years, so that if the Metropolitan wants to give it, A. T. would have to be summoned. Our bet is that the Metropolitan will not want to give it—under those circumstances. And—though we admit having no right to prejudge, not knowing a note of the score— we have an idea that Nero will turn out to be a very dead issue in this A. D. anyway. M 1/51 CA1 L<№ UR] IE R Weekly Review <־ ' me Worlds MUSIC Published every Thursday by the MUSICAL COURIER COMPANY, INC. ERNEST F. EILERT...............................................President WILLIAM GEPPERT............................................Vice-President ALVIN L. SCHMOEGER.......................................Sec. and Treas. 437 Fifth Avenue, S E. 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New York Thursday, June 7, 1923 No. 2252 Compositions created hurriedly die the same way. -----®----- The critics could more easily forgive the faults of others by remembering some of their own. -----——- Many artists are spending the summer and American dollars abroad. -----e--■ - In music, as well as in other walks of life, malice seldom wants a mark to shoot at. -----®----- If critics have no foresight in music at least it must be admitted that they have hindsight. -----®----- Music critics should not wait to publish their opinions in the newspapers; they ought to get right up at the concerts and heckle the performers. -----<$>--- Zoltán Kodaly, the Hungarian composer and Musical Courier correspondent at Budapest, was honored there recently by an entire program devoted to his works. -----®----- Poise is the quality that enables a singing teacher to change the subject successfully when a student asks him whether C sharp minor is a key or a composition. -----®—— As the world goes marching on toward the mil-lenium, why not seize Time by the tip of the forelock, and have opera in English before the few persons who really desire it, pass away, and stop telling the rest of the citizenry that we ought to have it ? -----®----- ’Tis a pity the Wagner heirs cannot charge a royalty for the use of the Lohengrin wedding march. This would be the month of their great profit, the list of June brides being larger than in any month since before the war. -----®----- For the ’steenth time the report comes that Siegfried Wagner is to come to this country to conduct concerts in order to raise money for the revival of Bayreuth. This time it looks as if it might be true. -----®----- The other day a New York department store bought the entire stock of machines owned by one of the large record companies, some 53,000 it is said. Suppose that they should all break loose some day by prearrangement! •-----®---— As the Musical Courier has steadily predicted since the start, a compromise has been arrived at, whereby the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will continue to live. There were concessions on both sides, as related in the story appearing on another page of this issue, and everybody appears satisfied. The men