Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1892 Vol. 16 N. 8

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
Individualities of t\)%
Srade.
ABROAD.
(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)
THE MUSICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ART EXHI-
BITION—OUR CORRESPONDENT CANNOT SEE
THE '' ECCLESIASTICAL ' ' FEATURES—
WHERE WAS JEROME HOPKINS?—
SOME EXHIBITS—A MONSTER
PIANO RECITAL—SOME RE-
MARKS ON ORATORIO
—A RELIGIOUS
BALLET.
A STUDY OP CHARACTER FROM HANDWRITING.
GROB & CO. 'S MECHANICAL PIANO—THE ' ' PACK-
ARD " ORGAN IN GREAT BRITAIN—MR. AN-
DREAS HOLMSTROM IN LONDON—A
VISIT TO MURDOCH & CO.—MR.
ALEXANDER DOW—MASCAGNI
AND AMERICAN ORGANS.
STUDY IX.—P. J. HEALY.
f
HE autograph of P. J. Healy is not as
good an index to his mental qualities as the
handwriting employed in one of his sentences.
I have examined a letter of his, penned in ref-
erence to an important commercial transaction,
in which he was deeply interested, and its chi-
rography, apart from the phraseology used,
fairly glowed with character. His autograph is
well connected, fluent, vigorous and finished,
but it is the result of a studied attempt in
school days, and it is rather too artistic to be
taken as an indication of his natural and in-
stinctive methods.
Mr. Healy has great self-confidence, justified
by a very correct knowledge of his own range
of capacities, and this intelligent modesty—for
it is modesty—renders him singularly capable of
pulling with others, either as an employer, or
on a higher and more confidential plane. He
has trust and faith in his associates, and this is
due to a well-balanced mental and bodily con-
stitution, in which there is abundant vitality.
He has a singular combination of business
and social instincts. When at home he has
the power of forgetting business cares, and
is very partial to the associations of the do-
mestic circle. Mr. Healy has an inflexible
will. He is very prudent, quick to sum up
things, while cautious in moving. When he
gives his word for anything, it is always relia-
ble. He has a large measure of pride in his
nature, and is jealous of his personal honor in
all matters, and his standards of conduct and
action are lofty. Mr. Healy, like all men, has
some deficiencies in his make-up, but these
need not be discussed here.
BERLIN, September 20, 1892.
: I take pleasure in announcing,
that after October 1st, my Musical Publica-
tions will be sold in the United States by my
American Agents,
LIMBACH & WOLTER,
211 Wabash Avenue, Room 56, Chicago, 111.
Catalogues will be sent you shortly of my
publications, which consist chiefly of instruc-
tive and salon pieces, besides a number of songs
for choruses.
Correspondence, relating to my publications,
or terms for their supply, is cordially invited,
which you will please address to my agents.
Yours respectfully,
DEAR SIR
P. THELEN.
f
HE Musical and Ecclesiastical Art Exhibi-
tion, so liberally advertised in the press
for the past six or seven weeks, was formally
opened on last Tuesday, the 13th, at the Royal
Aquarium, by George Augustus Sala, the emi-
nent journalist, editor and author. Sala is a
warm patron of musical art, his mother having
been once a professional of some note. He was
therefore in touch with that side of the event,
but I have my doubts about his ecclesiastical
fitness—at least, his fitness to preside over the
opening of the exhibition from that standpoint.
The Rev. Mr. Haweis, or Mr. Jerome Hopkins,
if he happened to be at hand, should have as-
sisted in that connection.
Where the "ecclesiastical a r t " business
comes in, however, your correspondent is at a
loss to understand, while the relationship of
musical instruments, ancient and modern, to
1
' ecclesiastical a r t ' ' remains shrouded in mys-
tery. As for the exhibition, it contains much
to interest and instruct musical and ordinary
visitors. A good showing of pianos is made,
though nearly all the first-class firms appear to
have ignored the event, but the instruments ex-
hibited contain few features of originality, save
in case designs and finish. Among the reeds I
noticed a beautiful Smith-American organ (cat-
alogued the " Imperial concert organ "), which
was attracting considerable attention from visi-
tors. Mr. Hannington, the manager of the
London branch of that enterprising Boston
house, appeared to be much in evidence. He is
doing some very energetic work in the interests
of the Smith-American organ thereabouts.
I was particularly interested in the band and
orchestral instrument display, and in some of
the first inventions of Sax, and Besson, the eld-
er. There are a number of antiques also shown,
Irish and Welsh harps, bagpipes, violins, etc.,
but they amount to very little. A Zumpe
piano dated 1770 (it may be remarked that
Zumpe it was who invented the square), made
at "Princes street, Hanover Square," is on ex-
hibition, also an Italian spinet of no especial sig-
nificance ; a Shudi & Broadwood harpsichord
(1785), similar to the Carroll harpsichord re-
cently in the possession of Rohlfing & Sons,
Milwaukee, and one of the first uprights made
by Wornum, the inventer of the '' tape-check
action." The latter is represented as being
the " first oblique instrument made in Eng-
land. '' There are, furthermore, a number of
Asiatic and African instruments, pulsatile and
173
" musical "—I beg Apollo's pardon—which will
be looked at with some curiosity, if nothing more.
*
*
*
*
*
*
I shall pay another visit to the exhibition,
but have no desire to be present on the 21st,
when Mr. Gwyllan Crowe will conduct the first of
a series of'' recitals," supposed to be quite a mu-
sical event, in which sixteen grand pianos will
be played simultaneously, four hands to each.
I have nb love for sensationalism of that kind ;
it effects nothing. The American is partial to
that sort of thing, but I think the average Brit-
isher is even more so. For instance, take many
of the English musical festivals ; what do they
indicate ? England excels Europe in that spe-
cial form of artistic exuberance. It is the Sal-
vation Army in another dress. Does it follow
that England is more musical than other coun-
tries ? The masses who expend their time and
energy on monster festivals, would, methinks,
be better employed in educating themselves in
music up to the level of the German, French
and Italian masses. England is suspiciously
addicted to oratorio (it has not yet obtained a
comprehension of the smaller forms), in which
immense choruses play an important part. A
few thousand singers are trained up to a plane
of respectable mediocrity; they love to play
'' supers " to a few soloists, an eminent conduc-
tor and orchestra. These few thousand singers,
the chorus, possess vanity. Aren't they par-
ticipating in the festival, and don't their
fathers and mothers, and sisters, and brothers,
and aunts, and uncles, and cousins, up to the
thirtieth degree, consequently feel it a duty to
go and hear them singing '' with Patti '' and
all the great stars ? And, think of it! aren 't
they hobnobbing with Sir Arthur Sullivan or
some titled magnate of the baton ? Why, any-
body could run a festival under the circum-
stances ! Imagine all the relatives whose
vanity can be touched through a chorus of
3,000.
*
*
*
*
*
*
When Beethoven termed Haydn's " Creation "
'' hodge-podge,'' he felt how incongruous it was
to attempt to picture what the constructive and
trained imagination fails to grasp, even in out-
line. Human thought cannot rise to the dignity
of that conception, and, surely, music becomes
sublime clap-trap when it attempts to put itself
forward as a manifestation of the Creator, or the
creative idea ! I know people who prate about
the "uplifting of the soul " in oratorio, before
they comprehend the Ten Commandments.
'' Men make sublime asses of themselves when
they meddle with sublime things which they
cannot understand." Thus wrote Carlyle.
Meanwhile, the severely '' high-class '' musical
fellow will come along, and proceed to expend
contempt and pity on those who would wish to
limit music to the domain of common-sense.
*
*
*
*
*
*
While in this peculiar vein, I am reminded of
a certain music trade editor, the only '' I am,''
who is away up in oratorio, as he is in every-
thing relating to musical art. It would pay
some readers of T H E MUSIC TRADE REVIEW,
those who know him personally to any extent,
to track that individual to an oratorio perform-
ance at some time. A friend of mine, who saw
that individual last April at the commemorative
performance of the " Messiah," at the Carnagie
Music Hall, was deeply impressed by his beati-
fic and spiritual face on the occasion, as he sat
absorbed in introspective contemplation of the
sublime pictures of that master work. His face
must have been a beautiful and touching study !
*
*
*
*
*
*
I had the pleasure of sitting at a safe distance
from the said editor about three years ago during
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
174
a religious ballet, a divertissement given on a
grand opera night at the Metropolitan Opera
House, and I was struck by his high-bred and
scholarly expression of face. The ballet, as
remarked, was a religious or transcendental one,
in which various spiritual and beautiful maidens
represented angels and other heavenly bodies.
Cherubim, sprites and lots of other characters
were depicted, and the whole business led up to
the essential triumph of good over evil. Inci-
dentally there was considerable capering around
to Seidl's baton, indulged in by an angel of
doubtful years, during which there was vehe-
ment applause. I have frequently admired the
reverence which the Chinese bestow on the
drama, but there was just as much earnestness""
evidenced in the applause of the Caucasian
element on that occasion. The '' only American
music trade editor '' was moved to the depths of
his being. His face expressed his feelings. The
whole scene called to mind many of the allegori-
cal religious paintings of the old Italian masters,
and I could not help thinking how much better
and nobler such art makes men. But to return
again to trade matters.
*
*
*
*
*
*
The Automaton Piano Co., of New York, have
brought to the notice of American musicians
and the music trade the chief features of instru-
ments of that nature, and I believe with some
success. Grob & Co., of London, have a me-
chanical piano at the exhibition referred to in
the opening paragraph. It is largely in the
lines of the American invention which the
Automaton Piano Co. handle. The hammers
are operated by means of a sheet -of perforated
paper, the perforations of which allow the ham-
mers to connect with the roller. The instrument
is also furnished with a keyboard so that it can
be played either by manual or mechanical means.
Grob & Co. also exhibit a '' patent piano player ''
of short or extended compass which may be
easily adjusted to any instrument. The various
inventions, though not in the abstract original,
represent considerable ingenuity and intelli-
gence. Grob & Co. furthermore apply their
mechanical system to harmoniums. They have
only lately established themselves in London,
and are looking around for a New York place, if
I am correctly informed.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Wallis & Co., of 133 and 135 Euston Road,
London, are the British representatives of the
Fort Wayne Organ Co., manufacturers of the
celebrated '' Packard.'' Among British musical
instrument houses Wallis & Co. rank deservedly
high. Their connection with the trade of the
United Kingdom is a very extensive one. They
were consequently able to make the '' Packard ''
a distinct success in a comparatively small space
of time. I need not expatiate upon the tone
qualities of these fine instruments. Suffice it
for the Fort Wayne Organ Co. that they control
a large and lucrative trade in the British islands,
and their instruments are used and admired by
eminent musicians. To the excellent material
facilities which the "Packard" factory enjoys
at Fort Wayne, Ind., must be attributed the
ability of the manufacturers to compete, class
for class, and price for price, with the other in-
struments of reputable American shops in the
European field, a fact, however, which might as
well have been left unsaid.
I met Mr. Standish, secretary of Wallis & Co.,
in his office during a recent visit, and had a
short conversation with him relative to the
"Packard." Much of what transpired on the
occasion may be gleaned from the foregoing
remarks. I learned that business is opening up
exceedingly bright just now, and a very large
trade is anticipated during the coming months.
It may be pointed out, though perhaps already
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
announced in these columns, that the Empress
of Germany has honored the Fort Wayne Organ
Co., recently, by providing a " Packard " for her
private apartments. This will give the instru-
ment an undoubted status in Germany and
Austria.
*
*
*
*
*
*
In my previous remarks about the pianos now
on view at the Musical Art Exhibition at the
Royal Aquarium, I intended to refer to a "trans-
posing piano " which I examined. And that
reminds me that Mr. Andres Holmstrom, the
clever inventor of the James & Holmstrom
"transposing piano " (which is, unlike others,
a distinct success), and member of that firm, was
in London a short time ago, accompanied by his
wife. Mr. and Mrs. Holmstrom were after
"doing the continent," and I am told enjoyed
it very much. From London they ran across to
the French capital, and will, doubtless, be back
again in Gotham by the time this will be
printed.
*
*
*
*
*
*
Mr. Alexander Dow, manager of the musical
interests of Murdoch & Co., 91 and 93 Farring-
ton Road, is one of the most affable, as well as
one of the most cultured men in the London
trade. His acquaintance with literature is very
large. He also understands American journal-
ism, and knows nearly every prominent Ameri-
can journalist by repute, and he exhibits a most
intelligent knowledge of America and Ameri-
cans. Murdoch & Co. were at one time connect-
ed with publishing, and to this Mr. Dow doubt-
less owes much of his acquaintance and apparent
sympathy with most things of a literary nature.
His knowledge of the ins and outs of the music
trade is equally large and effective. The best
proof of this is furnished us in the manner in
which ^Murdoch & Co. have pushed American
instruments, apart from their general business
prosperity. They are sole agents for the Car-
penter, Farrand & Votey, and Peloubet reed-
pipe organs, which Lyon & Healy are sparing
no pains to popularize on this side, and have
done business with American firms for many
years, Mr. Dow could not obviously make
statements discriminating in favor of any one
instrument, but he assured me that all of the
above were doing well. The general business of
Murdoch & Co., he also said, was very satisfac-
tory, everything considered.
*
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*
*
*
*
Mr. Jack Haynes did not sail after all on
August 31, owing to the illness of Mrs. Haynes.
He sailed, however, on last Saturday. Mean-
while, I am told, he put the time to unexpected
advantage and scored well by it. Not only did
he do "the handsome thing " in bringing the
Newman Bros, organs to the notice of the
British-Irish trade by liberal and intelligently
conceived advertising, but he also managed to
do a little with the Starr piano.
*
*
*
*
*
*
What American organ did Signor Mascagni,
the now celebrated composer of " Cavaleria Rus-
ticana " and " L'Amico Fritz," single out for
honor at the Vienna Exhibition last Monday ?
It seems Mascagni visited the Exhibition
theatre, where he is conducting performances of
his works, on that day, the first day of his
arrival from Italy, and upon hearing the har-
monium in the orchestra he expressed his dis-
pleasure, and proceeded to the Rotunda of the
Exhibition, where he selected "an American
organ " to be used instead. Now what Ameri-
can firm received this great tribute ? That is
something worth knowing. They will be heard
from in due time, without doubt. The incident
is, however, very significant.
DANIEL
LONDON,
Sept. 17th, 1892.
White-Smith Music Publishing Co., Boston.
Voice- "Not Unto Us, O Lord," "Thou, O
Lord, Hast Been My Help," two noble sacred
songs for contralto voice, by C. P. Morrison ;
" H a r k ! 'Tis The Midnight Bell," by C. A.
White, a splendid quartet for mixed voices ; " Up
In The Moon," a pleasing honeymoon song;
"Six Modern Beau Brummells," a very lively
and catchy song and dance. Piano: "Peacock
Waltz," " Peacock Mazurka," " Peacock Schot-
tische " ; "Flemish Dance"; " Camille Daub-
ert's New American Barn Dance " ; " Up In The
Moon Waltz," all excellent dance music. Par-
lor Organ : " Heart Song," by C. C. Stearns, a
superior instrumental piece.
James Stillman, New York. Voice: "My
Dear Old Happy Home, " sweet and melodious ;
"The Old Easy Chair By The Fire," full of
feeling, well expressed; "My Home When A
Girl," or "My Home When A Boy," tender
and touching; "Send For The Wanderer,"
graceful and expressive ; " Our Noble Fire Bri-
gade, ' a noble descriptive song; "Whenever
There's A Woman In The Case," a very humor-
ous song and refrain.
Willis Woodward & Co., New York. Voice:
"The Rendezvous," (The Meeting), a waltz
serenade, words by Stella Wilson, music by C.
J. Wilson. This is one of the best of this class
of songs, the words are appropriate and the
music rich and charming. It was written ex-
expressly for Miss Bertie Crawford, the Tennes-
see nightingale, and the talented composer and
his gifted wife have produced a song worthy of
their well-known abilities.
Novello, Ewer & Co., New York. The
"Monthly Bulletin of Music" published by
this popular firm contains a pre-eminent selec-
tion of vocal and instrumental compositions.
The catalogue includes vocal pieces that are
fresh, charming and of excellent musical quality,
and the instrumental pieces are decidedly effect-
ive and desirable. Novello, Ewer & Co. are
among the foremost publishers and importers of
music in the United States, and their '' Bulletin,''
which is distributed gratis, should be in the
hands of every lover of music.
la Sottisi?.
Bright eyes gleaming in tenderest passion,
White hands gliding o'er sounding keys,
Fragrance of summer roses' sweetness
Mingling soft with the summer breeze.
Light sinks dim as the music lingers,
Hopes rise high as the fancies stray,
Heart to heart in the falling cadence,
Beating soft as it dies away.
Tell me, dearest, what means the music !
Tell me, dearest, and tell me true,
All seems gone with the last faint sound,
My heart, my being, lost in you.
Sweetest one, 'tis a dream of madness—
Strike the keys in a nobler vein ;
Love with white lips drawn tight in silence,
Life and Love—'tis a dream of pain !
—J. A. T. L.— r/ie Week.

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