Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
434
^S* EVERAL, correspondents object to the state-
«^ ment, certainly lightly enough made, that
musicians either die young or become unlivable.
The statement was made from medical statistics,
to which attention has been generally called,
and for the purpose, in view of city architecture
with its thin party walls, of discouraging music
as a common pursuit. For Berlioz should have
read Mozart, and to these was hastily added
Wagner, whose death when it occurred was so
unexpected, and the misery of his life, as more
recently revealed by his letters, still more fresh
in the memory. But to Chopin and Mendels-
sohn may be added Mozart and Bellini, who all
died under 40, and Schumann, who died at 46.
Of these Chopin was melancholy to the point of
insanity, seeing visions and dreaming dreams,
and Schumann, after endeavoring to commit
suicide, was placed in an insane asylum, where
after two years he died.
One correspondent goes further to state that
music which ennobles the soul cannot deterior-
ate the body. Along with highly developed
mental faculties, along with talent and genius
of the highest order, go sound constitutions and
healthy body. The history of musicians does
not seem to bear the theory out. Handel, al-
though he lived to old age, was epileptic.
Epilepsy has proved a common disease among
musicians. Hoffman, Pergolese, Paganini, were
epileptics. Malebran relates that when she
heard a symphony of Beethoven's she fell
into convulsions and had to be carried from the
place. Mozart was subject to such nervous
tremors that in carving meat he used to cut his
fingers. Berlioz said that music threw him into
nervous states accompanied by violent palpita-
tions of the heart that sometimes ended in com-
plete unconsciousness. Rossini had unaccount-
able terrors about traveling by rail, and at the
sight of cars fell down in a faint. When ques-
tioned about it he said : " If I were not that
sort of a man I could not have written the
1
Barber of Seville.' " Donizetti was subject to
the most violent rages, and once, after having
terribly beaten his wife, sat down and wrote one
of his most beautiful melodies. Beethoven was
subject to such mental aberrations that he would
leave his coat and hat in the woods and wander
about without them. Thus he was once arrested
as a tramp and put in jail. Gluck's loss of bal-
ance was accompanied by intoxication. Hoff-
man lived in exhaustive ecstasies. Von Bulow's
eccentricities are to-day well known. Sir
Arthur Sullivan, even according to his neigh-
bors, is occasionally seized with the whim of
lighting his house from garret to cellar, and, as
if in the midst of a fete, seating himself at the
piano. And what musician was it who used to
put on his best clothes when he went to com*
pose?
The irascibility, extreme nervousness and ex-
cessive vanity of these men of genius which un-
fitted them for domestic life, Prof. I,ombroso,
the latest writer on these subjects, regards as
among those tendencies toward insanity which
alienists have noted. These are twenty-seven
in number, some of which relate to physical
characteristics. The possession of seven of
these sends a man to the madhouse. Five and
six of these in combination are not unusual
among musicians. This, Prof. I^ombroso ex-
plains, is because music is allied primarily with
the emotions. Of all the arts it is the most sub-
jective. The painter, the poet, draws upon the ex-
Used Exclusiyely in Seidl,
Thomas and Gilmore Concerts
at Madison Square Garden,
New York.
ternal world. The musician feeds upon himself.
Beethoven used to take his piano into the wood
to try to catch the sound of the fluttering of the
leaves. But every one will agree that the best
attempts to render the outer world are but barely
suggestive. The musician has but scanty
draughts from that beautiful fount of nature in
which the other arts may drink so deep.
However, there is nothing in the above that
need prevent lesser composers from continuing
their work in perfect safety. Extreme sensitive-
ness to music, whether in the composer, per-
former or the hearer, produces effects not unlike
those of liquor. These may take the form of
exultation, species of ecstacy, or of depression,
accompanied by suffering and tears. Both of
these conditions are followed by nervous ex-
haustion. The thoughts of music, the desire
for music sometimes produces the keenest suffer-
ing. A man actively engaged on the Board of
THE WONDERFUL
A. B. CHASE
Trade once confessed that his love of music was
a torture of which he would gladly get rid. His
days were days of torment, and that frequently
he could scarcely control himself during business
hours, so impatient he was to get home to his
piano. Herbert Spencer has called attention to
the relation of music to the emotions. Musical
excitement causes muscular action such as is
caused by the emotions. The act of singing
exaggerates all the signs of the natural emotions,
the expanding breast, the uplifted eyes, the
tremor of the voice.
Women, it has been observed, have not proved
great musicians. It might be inferentially con-
cluded from Prof. Lombroso's statements that it
is because they have too healthy, well balanced
natures. One need not take, however, what
might seem an unfair advantage of the situation.
The emotional natures with which women are
credited certainly do not take this form. Every
one must have seen, moreover, how much leiS
attention is paid to the study of music by women
than formerly. Attention has been called to
the fact that whereas the piano was once a part
of every girl's education, now unless a girl
shows exceptional taste for music, if begun it
is soon abandoned for some more congenial pur-
suit. This relinquishment seems to date from
the advent of woman into affairs and her ad-
mission into what is known as the higher educa-
tion. It can be readily foreseen that the giving
up of music, which appeals so exclusively to
the emotions, and in supplying its place with
studies that appeal exclusively to the intellect,
will, in time, react on the physiological struc-
ture of the brain cells, if all that the scientific
men say be true. In that case the woman of
the future may be expected to differ essentially
from the woman of the past.—New York Evening
Sun.
PIANOS.
1. Wonderful in Tone quality.
^
Rich, deep, bell like and pure.
2. Wonderful in strength of frame.
Strongest possible combination of woods glued
and bolted together.
3. Wonderful in improving by age and use.
Pianos sold five years ago are said to be better
in tone than when they were sold.
i. Wonderful in selling qualities.
Tone, action, style, finish, patented improve-
ments all taking.
5. Wonderful in popularity.
Even our strongest competitors all praise them.
6. Wonderful in phenomenal success.
Only 5 years since the first A. B. CHASE
pianos were made, and now they are taking
the lead everywhere.
7. Wonderful in character of its agents.
The very best men in the trade seek the agency
for these instruments. No others need apply.
For terms and territory, address:
THE A. B. CHASE CO.,
NORWALK, OHIO.
Herrmann's Theatre. '' The Army Surgeon."
" If I Were You." Marion Manola. John
Mason. The first-named piece, " T h e Army
Surgeon," is a cleverly written and excellent
curtain raiser, in which the principal characters
are well sustained by Adeline Stanhope and the
author, Stanislaus Stange. " I f I Were You "
is a musical comedy that was presented for the
first time in New York this week. It contains
well devised situations, is very attractive and
gives promise of becoming a favorite. Miss
Manola acted and sang in her usual delightful
manner, Mr. Mason's impersonation of a crafty
lover was masterly and finished, and the entire
caste was of a high order of excellence.
"The Mulligan Guards' Ball " is being con-
tinued at Harrigan 's Theatre, '' A Trip To
Chinatown " at the Madison Square, " A So-
ciety Fad " at the Bijou, "The Black Crook"
at the Academy, " A Gilded Fool " at the Fifth
Avenue, '' The Masked Ball'' at the Standard
and "Aristocracy " at Palmers. " The County
Fair " is nearing the end of its stay at Proctor's,
the last repetitions of " The Ensign " are being
given at the Fourteenth Street Theatre and
those of " Therese " at the Union Square.
130 Fifth Avenue, earner 18th Street, New York.
BOSTON,
N E W YORK,
CHICAGO.