Music Trade Review

Issue: 1898 Vol. 26 N. 1

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
WOMEN IN flUSIC.
literature, science, poetry and music; the
The movement toward the establishment German Wagner clubs, whose object is the
of a National Federation of Women's Mu- critical study of the literary as well as the
sical Clubs is progressing in so satisfactory musical compositions of that world-re-
a manner that a temporary organization is nowned musician; the Folklore societies,
now assured. The chairman of the com- which devote as much attention to the
mittee appointed for the purpose at the last rescue and preservation of folk songs and
annual convention of the National Music folk music as they do to folk tales; kinder-
Teachers' Association, Mrs. Theodore Su- garten music leagues and church choir
tro, has just sent out an official circular an- clubs.
nouncing meetings for the permanent
The advantages of the federation will be
organization of the association on Tues- many and important. It will organize
day and Wednesday, January 25 and 26, musical sentiment throughout the United
1898, in Chicago, and inviting every mu- States, and thus create what has been
sical club to send a delegate and declaring needed for so many years, a musical world
the eligibility of all women's clubs which in the United States. By its annual meet-
have a musical department. This is im- ings and sectional meetings it will enable
portant news and reflects much credit upon the public to become better acquainted
Mrs. Sutro and her able and industrious with the leading composers, singers and
colleagues.- The admission of department musicians, and will aid those just begin-
clubs, in which one department is devoted ning a musical career who, under present
to music, is a very wise and even states- conditions, find their progress embarrassed
manlike step. It brings into the organiza- by being unknown. A national bureau
tion many of the largest and most influen- may be had which will facilitate the study
tial societies of the land. In the past two of music throughout the land, the giving of
years at least two hundred of the great concerts, the presentation of operas and
women's clubs of the country have adopted oratorios, the development of grand con-
the department system and have made certs and grand opera, and, above all, the
music a regular subject of study and work. holding of great musical festivals.
The new rule will bring in other types
and classes of organizations.
Among
these may be mentioned the Clio, which
A monument erected over the grave of
conducts throughout the season a double Tchaikovsky was unveiled at St. Peters-
course, one part being literary and the burg on the recent fourth anniversary of
other musical; the Fenelon,which is his- the composer's death. The monument,
torical, literary, artistic and musical; which includes a bust of Tchaikovsky, is
Philitscipoma, which combines philosophy, the work of the sculptor Kamensky.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SONG.
We often wonder what makes some songs
appear to wear so much longer than others.
There seems, in some instances, to be some
peculiar element of virtue which insures
at the outset a warm reception and a long
life. This is true of writers of very varied
ability. Not all of the best songs are by
those who are supposed to be the best song
writers; many of the most lasting compo-
sitions have emanated from the pens of ob-
scure writers, who have written very few.
and perhaps one only. Professional song
writers are constantly searching for this
element, this mysterious quality, unnam-
able and so fugitive, and each attempt is
an experiment launched with the same
hope, but only rarely with its realization.
No one pretends to have discovered and
become master of the secret, and yet it is
easy to see, if we examine closely the really
good songs, that some of their principal
virtues were among the least considered
elements at the time of composition.
In the first place, we often find a song
writer struggling to fit a lofty and senti-
mental song to a poem which is poetic only
in external appearance, only in its rhythm
and its rhyme. Song writers, those who
are capable of a really poetic conception
and expression through the medium of
song, should be able to discern the poetic
element wherever expressed; should be
able to know when the verses are presented
whether they are poetic or otherwise. It
is not the province of poetry to exhaustive-
ly describe any person, place, or thing.
NEELY'S NEW BOOKS.
Warrior Gap. Cloth, $1.25. First and
second edition sold in one week. Third
Edition ready December 5th.
Fort Frayne. Cloth, $1.25.
The Ailment of the Century. Cloth, $2.00.
The Shackles of Fate. Gilt top, 50c.
CAPT. CHARLES KING'S WORKS.
An Army Wife. Fully illustrated. Cloth,
$1.25.
A Garrison Tangle. Cloth, $1.25.
MAX NORDAU'S WORKS.
How Women Love. Cloth, $1.25.
The Right to Love. Cloth, $1.50.
NEELY'S PRISMATIC LIBRARY.
Noble Blood and a West Point Parallel.
Cloth, gilt top, 50c.
Trumpeter Fred. Cloth, gilt top, with
full-page illustrations, 50c.
The Comedy of Sentiment. Cloth, $1.50.
Soap Bubbles. Gilt top, 50c.
Cloth, gilt top, 5O cents each.
Just a Summer Affair. By Mary Ade-
laide Keeler.
The Haunted Hat. By Richard Knight.
Illustrated.
The Modern Prometheus. By E. Phillips
Oppenheim. Illustrated.
Smoking Flax. By Hallie Erminie Rives.
Seven Smiles and a Few Fibs. By Thomas
J. Vivian. Illustrated.
The Art Melodious. By Louis Lombard.
An Altruist. By Ouida.
The Shackles of Fate. By Max Nordau.
The Wreath of Eve. By Mrs. Arthur Giles.
Soap Bubbles. By Max Nordau.
A Bachelor of Paris. By John W. Hard-
ing. Illustrated.
Even as You and I. By Bolton Hall.
The Bachelor's Box. By T. C. DeLeon.
flontresor. By Loota.
Reveries of a Spinster. By Helen Davies.
The Honor of a Princess. By F. Kimball
Scribner.
Observations of a Bachelor. By Louis
Lombard.
Kings in Adversity. By E. S. Van Zile.
The Daughter of a Hundred nillions. By
Virginia Niles Leeds. Cloth, $1.25.
The Embassy Ball. By Virginia Rosalie
Coxe. Cloth, $1.25.
The Rascal Club. By Julius Chambers.
Fully Illustrated by J. P. Burns. Cloth,
Petronilla, the Sister.
Noble Blood and a West Point Parallel-
By Capt. King.
Trumpeter Fred. By Capt. King. Illus-
trated.
Father Stafford. By Anthony Hope.
The King in Yellow. By R. W. Chambers.
In the Quarter. By R. W. Chambers.
A Professional Lover. By Gyp.
Bijou's Courtship. By Gyp. Illustrated.
A Conspiracy of the Carbonari. By Louise
Muhlbach.
The Brown-Laurel flarriage. By Landis
Avr.
MISCELLANEOUS.
By Emma Homan
Thayer. Fully illustrated. Cloth, $1.25.
The Tragedy of Ages. By Mrs. Isabella
M. Witherspoon. Cloth, $1.50.
Cheiro's Language of the Hand. Seventh
edition ready Dec. 10th, $2.50.
The Bachelor and the Chafing Dish. By
Deshler Welsh. Illustrated. Cloth,
Songs from the Wings. By Minnie Gil-
more. Cloth, $1.25.
The Carnival of Venice and other Poems.
By Mrs. Victor Newcomb. Cloth, gilt
top, $1.25.
$1.25.
$1.00.
If We Only Knew and other Poems. By
The Hills of God. By Helen Davies, author
Neely's History of the Parliament of
Cheiro. Cloth, gilt top. 50c.
of "Reveries of a Spinster." Cloth,
Religions. Over 1,000 pages, fully il-
Through Field and Fallow. A choice
lustrated, $2.50.
$1.25.
collection of Original Poems. By Jean
Among the Dunes. By Rhone. Cloth,
Life and Sermons of David Swing. Cloth,
Hooper Page. Cloth, gilt top, $1.25.
$I.2 S .
$1.00.
True to Themselves. A Psychological
A God-Child of Washington. By Katha-
The Naiad. By George Sands. Translated
Study. By Alex. J. C. Skene,*M.D.,
rine Schuyler Baxter. Fully illustrated.
by Katherine Berry de Zerega. Cloth,
LL.D. Cloth, $1.25.
Cloth, $10.00. Edition de Luxe, $25.00.
gilt top, $1.00.
For sale everywhere, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price, by the publisher,
114 Fifth Avenue, New York.
96 Queen Street, London, Eng.
F. TENNYSON NEELY,
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
The realm of poetry is in the ideal; its lan-
MAUD L. STUDLEY.
guage is potent in that which it suggests
Perhaps one of the characteristic signs
rather than describes. For instance, in of our advancement as a musical nation,
"Annie Laurie," the beauty of the poem is is the prominent part which women are
all in the first stanza—it is beautiful of its playing in the professional and amateur
kind—it draws delightful pictures in the field.
mind of any receptive reader. It is not ex-
Amateur nusical work is no longer the
haustive in its application, but universal. bug-bear it used to be. New York society
The music very gladly weds the sentiment. boasts a number of women who can sing,
The first stanza of "Annie Laurie" is a not only songs by the most famous com-
case of perfect song writing. It ends there. posers, but also operatic arias, and even
How many people know another stanza of it, extracts from the Wagnerian music
or, of those who have read the others, care to dramas, and there are also a number of
hear more than the first ? So much for this. capital instrumentalists. Indeed at many
Now, shift the point of attack. It is of the amateur entertainments in this
not uncommon that a really fine subject, city, professionals appear, and the contrast
artistically treated, is killed when the com- between the two is not as pronounced as
poser of the music gives it a melody which one would think.
is, perhaps, half good, the other half bad,
or being good throughout, a harmonization
is given it which is remarkable only for its
poverty. Gladstone once said, "There are
a great number of people who write much
verse and some poetry." There are also
many music writers who write a great deal
of meagre worth, and some that is es-
timable. The trouble with both classes of
writers is that they write too much. This
is why we have such an endless amount of
so-called poetry printed, but which is
never read, and why nine out of ten of all
the songs which are published never sell
out the first edition, and never receive
more than one hearing anywhere.—The
Leader.
©
TECHNIQUE AND EXPRESSION.
Franklin Taylor, the well-known writer,
makes some pertinent remarks about
phrasing and expression in his latest work
entitled "Technique and Expression in
Piano Playing." The following excerpt
is interesting because it is true:
"In its fullest sense expression may be
taken to mean the power of conveying to
the listener the emotions which the music
has awakened in the performer, and the
pianist who plays most expressively is he
who is deeply impressed by the music he
plays, always provided he has at command
the means of expressing his feelings ade-
quately.
"It should never be forgotten that the
listener has not the advantage possessed
by the player of seeing the written music,
but must receive all his impressions
through the sense of hearing only, and that
his power of understanding must therefore
depend on his being able to perceive the
equal duration of the bars and the regu-
larly recurring accents at the beginning
of the bars, or of portions of them."
Now-a-days, sad to say, many teachers
consider technique the only essential in
the education of their pupils.
0
Timothee Adamowski, of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra, has had a deserved
honor bestowed upon him. He has been
invited by the London Philharmonic So-
ciety to be the soloist at its concert of June
23 next. He will play Saint-Saens 1 B minor
concerto, and the composer will conduct
the orchestra himself.
Prof. Jepson, instructor of music in the
University, who is quite enthusiastic over
the future of his pupil.
Miss Studley whose counterfeit present-
ment is presented herewith, possesses a
frank and winsome personality which has
won her a host of friends. We shall
watch Miss Studley's future with much
interest.
0
The Manuscript Society's first public
concert at Chickering Hall on the evening
of December 15th was very enjoyable.
There was an excellent program. Henry
K. Hadley's symphony made a most favor-
able impression, and he was called to the
stage several times at its conclusion. Ern-
est Lent's Rhapsodie, a quaint conceit,
the overtures, "Russia" by Platon Brounoff
and "Sardanapalus" by E. R. Kroeger,
and A. W. Forster's Aria for soprano,
"Hero and Leander," were admirably inter-
preted by the Seidl orchestra and well re-
ceived by the audience. The next public
concert takes place on the evening of
February 10th. An interesting program
is in preparation.
©
J. F. Von der Heide, the well-known
vocal instructor, sailed by the Kaiser Wil-
helm on Thursday of last week for Europe,
his special point being Italy, where he will
sojourn some time recuperating from a
serious indisposition, brought on by a too
close application to work for several years
past. He will spend the greater portion
of his time in Rome and Florence, and
will not return to New York before next
fall.
0
MAUD L. STUDLEY.
1
In society circles in all the leading
cities of the country the same activity in
musical work is noticeable. In that well-
known university center, New Haven,
Conn., there are many accomplished
musicians. One of the most youthful withal
clever is Miss Maud Studley, daughter of
Judge John P. Studley of the Court of
Common Pleas for the County of New
Haven. Miss Studley is not only a clever
pianist, who gives promise of developing
far beyond the amateur ranks, but she has
given proof of a strong vein of original-
ity and skill in musical composition which
inclines The Review to the opinion that
she will be heard from frequently as
a writer. Her first attempt at composition
entitled "The Normandie Waltzes," has
just been published by E. J. Hogben
& Co., of New Haven, and is scored for
piano and small or full orchestra. These
waltzes are very tuneful, brilliant, and
skillfully arranged; considering that Miss
Studley is only in her eighteenth year they
are more than ordinarily clever. They re-
veal the true musical temperament.
Miss Studley is at present studying in
the musical department of Yale University,
and is a most promising student. She
has dedicated her premier composition to
The Lyric Club has just been organized
in this city with Albert G. Thiers as musi-
cal director. The membership is limited
to fifty ladies and it is aimed to make the
work of the club so unique that concerts of
a given season will be made to represent a
systematic and continual study and inves-
tigation of many forms and types of musi-
cal literature heretofore neglected, inter-
spersed with selections in lighter vein.
Mrs. J. Williams Macy is president and
Mrs. Robert Hastings, secretary.
©
Signor Mascagni, besides finishing his
Japanese opera, "Iris," has started upon
a new opera, "La Commedia dell' arte,'
based upon the seventeenth-century plays
once so popular in Italy. They really were
charades. The story which Mascagni is
setting is, however, believed to be one of
love and jealousy.
©
The choir of Grace Church, Middletown,
N. Y., numbering thirty-five voices, under
the direction of Mr. Harvey Wickham,
recently rendered Dudley Buck's cantata
"The Coming of the King." The per-
formance was very successful, the princi-
pal solos being given by Miss Julia Wick-
ham, alto of Christ's Church, Greenwich,
Conn., Mrs. Harvey Wickham, soprano of
Grace Chxirch, Mrs. C. H. Sweezy, of the
(Continued on page 16.)

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