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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
356
ITS INFLUENCE AS AN EDUOATOB.
AUTOMATIC AND MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS—
CONFOUNDING THE vEOLIAN WITH AUTO-
MATA—THE MANIPULATOR OF THE
^OLIAN COMPARED WITH A CON-
DUCTOR—THE MEDIOCRITY OF
AMATEUR MUSICAL PER-
FORMERS—WHAT THE
iBOLIAN EFFFXTS.
K. C. STANTON'S REMARKABLE ENDORSEMENT.
*^NSTRUMENTS capable of producing music
^
automatically, or through combined me-
chanical and manual means such as the organ-
ette, seem to be regarded with prejudice by a
certain class of musical critics and the musical
public. That prejudice is applied without dis-
crimination or justice. This article meantime
deals with the iEolian, an instrument which
while it resembles the organette in the employ-
ment of perforated paper sheets, is incomparably
unique and original and differs in its musical pos-
sibilities from the latter. The iEolian has, in our
opinion, suffered very much through being de-
scribed as an " automatic instrument.'' Not-
withstanding that musical automata, such as
improved musical boxes, are capable of very
fine effects, the J3olian is entirely distinct in
its principles from that class. While it not
merely admits of that perfect mechanical exe-
cution in fugal and contrapuntal movements
and phrasing, which can be obtained only by
the best instrumentalists, it also gives the
executant or manipulator every facility for im-
pressing on the music produced the stamp of
individuality and personal attention, which a
conductor of an orchestra possesses. Hyper-
critics who attempt to belittle or thoughtlessly
confound the ^olian with automata or organ-
ettes, should examine and try to understand the
instrument before becoming its judges.
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An examination of the v93olian and a con-
sideration of its intrinsic constructive feat-
ures, apart from the hearty and remarkable en-
dorsement it has received from the highest in
the ranks of music, will immediately impress
one with a sense of its wonderful range of pos-
sibilites in the performance of music. Those
who read about it superficially, or those who ex-
amine it superficially, fail to comprehend its
importance. As a medium for manifesting to
the world the inspirations of the great master
minds, and for giving forth the elements of re-
finement and pleasure which lie hidden in musi-
cal works, it is capable of doing much good,
educationally. There is a strange element of
mysticism in music anyway. We hold in our
hands a printed copy of a classic which came
from the genius of a Mozart or a Beethoven, dead
and gone. The interpreter, a Rubinstein, a D 'Al-
bert or a Von Biilow, gifted with another spec-
ial genius, that of interpretation, sits before the
piano and manifests the spirit which was im-
prisoned in the scroll by the mind that created
it originally, and we feel ourselves brought into
touch with emotions of curious pleasure, wonder
and delight which the works of genius reflect. We
can only hear the better class of music in all the
forms, from the dance form up to the symphony,
performed artistically in public by individuals
specially gifted and cultivated, or by bands and
orchestral organizations trained for the purpose.
An instrument which can be placed in every
home, which can be purchased for a reasonable
figure, and upon which the rarest inspirations
of all the best composers and all the best works
in the different forms can be performed, in a
manner approaching an orchestra in effect, is in-
deed a boon and a reality worth emphasizing
and holding up to the respectful and serious at-
tention of readers.
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A very large proportion of persons possessing
organs or pianos utterly fail to interpret works
as they were conceived and written by the com-
posers. Though they succeed to an extent, they
are incapable of attaining the same artistic re-
sults as satisfactorily as professional musicians,
for obvious reasons. As for the very higher
order of instrumental music only a very small
section of musicians possess the capacity for
performing it with congruity and justice to the
score and the composer's ideals. That is owing
to the lack of manual and digital dexterity
largely, not so much to the faculty of intelligent
appreciation or comprehension of the score or
the composer's meaning. The JEolian removes
all these difficulties. It brushes from our path
the material difficulties which prevent us from
communing in the privacy of our homes with the
great masters, and every noted musical work of
genius. A conductor emphasizes phrasing,
guides and unites the ensemble of his band or
orchestra in keeping with the purpose of the
composer, using the musicians as mechanical
means to that artistic end. The individuality
of each performer is absolutely lost in the indi-
viduality of the ensemble which the conductor
moulds and colors, according to his own concep-
tion of the composer's meaning, or his own per-
sonal interpretation of the supposed work. The
sEolian gives one the same facilities.
The sEolian and its remarkable powers
are rapidly becoming recognized by the most
eminent musicians, composers and conductors
in America and abroad, but its character and
possibilities as an educational factor in American
music remain to be strongly commended.
Through the perforated music sheet, which re-
presents a compass of tones and a power of exe-
cution clean cut and more perfect than human
fingers can command, and in the various agencies
for producing beautiful combinations of timbre
and nuances which the ^5$olian contains, the
manipulator or executant is placed in posses-
sion of mechanical facilities equal to a goodly
sized orchestra.
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It would be superflous to go into dissertation
upon the elevating influence of music. Really,
artistic music cannot be heard outside of the
professional sphere as a rule. That is an indis-
putable assertion. Amateur performances on
the piano or organ, while in a measure effective
and elevating in home life, still remain amateur
performances. What shall we say now to an in-
strument such as the j£Lolian, which brings into
the domestic sphere the very essence of divine
art ; which brings artistic representations of the
classics into the homes of all who possess that
instrument! As an educational factor, its power
is certainly far reaching and potent for good. I
think that Edmund C. Stanton furnishes the
most eloquent tribute to the value of the sEolian
in this respect. Under date of October 23, 1890,
he says: " I take this opportunity of saying
that I consider the iEolian the greatest musical
educator I have yet known. I find in my own
case that my children, young as they are, al-
ready develop good taste in the selections they
take, and the ease and facility with which the
instrument is played, will, I am confident, edu-
cate the musical taste of the general public to a
very high degree, since it enables them to be-
come, without previous musical training on any
instrument, early familiar with the works of the
great composers.''
White-Smith Music Publishing Co., Boston
Voice : '' Nearer My God To Thee,'' sacred song,
and quartet by C. A. White (posthumous), the
music beautifully expresses the sentiment of the
words ; '' Ave Maria,'' by John Wiegand, Latin
and English text, an admirable sacred composi-
tion ; '' The Devout Lover,'' words by Walter
Herries Pollock, music by Maude Valerie White,
words and music concordant in grace and ex-
pression. Piano : " Mardi Gras March," by D.
L. White, spirited and brilliant; "My Treasure,"
gavotte elegante, delicate and pleasing ; " Heim-
kehr (Home Again) Waltzes," by Eben H.
Bailey, decidedly original and attractive.
Oliver Ditson Company, Boston. Voice:
"The Midnight Song," words by R. M. Offord,
music by A. F. Loud, a fine solo for Christmas;
"Gone Before," by W. W. Gilchrist; " A
Valentine," by Marie A. Molineaux; "Made-
line," and "Dearer Than Life," by John W.
Hinds ; " At Parting,'' and '' Bird of Twilight,''
by Paul Loring ; "When I Wander In The
Evening," " I Held Thee Tightly Clasped,"
"There Was An Ancient Monarch," "When
The Day-Star's Course is Run," translations
from German poets by Jas. D. B. Gribble and
Sidney Whitman, musical settings by John Car-
ver Alden ; '' Will You Walk Around The Block
with Me ?" by John W. Hinds ; "Pretty Nellie
Dolan," words by C. B. Perkins, music by
Harry J. Ballou ; the above songs are of excel-
lent and attractively varied quality. Piano :
'' Euterpe Mazurka,'' by Homer N. Bartlett; " A
Dream Of Haydn Minuet,'' by Gustav Stolpe ;
" Cherished Hopes Romanza, " by E. S. Phelps ;
all good.
Piano action, No. 486,096, F. Engelhardt.
Piano key coupler, No. 486,317, P. Wuest, Jr.
Veneer cutting machine, No. 486,152, J. B.
Wilson.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.—Alexander Gylfe,
South Bend, Washington. This is an instru-
ment of the violin and guitar class, with a
central sounding board having a transverse
strengthening rib and sounding holes, while
there are sounding ports between the board and
the belly and back of the instrument. By plac-
ing such a sounding board in the body of the
instrument, it is designed to greatly increase
the sound, at the same time making it sweeter
and softer.—Scientific American.
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