Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1900 Vol. 31 N. 9

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
quent utterances upon singing and out-
door music. He once stated before an
assembly of country folk that at one time
he thought the musical faculty was pos-
sessed by the few, but experience had
taught him that it had been only denied
to the few and that almost every man,
woman and child could learn to sing.
Gladstone was undeniably fond of music,
though his tastes were catholic. He had a
magnificent speaking voice, as we all
know, and it is said that his singing voice
was cultivated and delightful. Gladstone's
interest in music remained to the end of
life, and its enjoyment was a continual
afternoon recreation. His observation on
the might of music deserves to be remem-
bered. He said:
" They who think music ranks amongst
the trifles of existence are in gross error;
because from the beginning of the world
down to the present time it has been one of
the most forcible instruments both for
training, for arousing, and for governing
the mind of man. There was a time when
letters and civilization had but begun to
dawn upon the world. In that day music
was not unknown; on the contrary, it was
so far from being a mere servant and hand-
maid of common and light amusement
that the great and noble art of poetry was
essentially wedded to that of music, so that
there was no poet who was not a musician;
there was no verse spoken in the early ages
of the world but that music was adapted as
its vehicle, showing thereby the universal
consciousness that in that way the straight-
est and most effectual road would be found
to the heart and affections of men."
A PORTRAIT of that Russian wizard
-** of the keyboard, Ossip Gabrilowitsch,
who will visit this country in November,
illumines our front page this month. Al-
though quite a young man, this artist has,
by force of his ability and his remarkable
talents, won his way into the very front
rank of contemporary piano virtuosi. The
tributes paid Gabrilowitsch by the leading
European critics are of such a flattering
character as to lead one to expect that this
artist will prove the sensation of the musi-
cal season. He possesses a magnetic per-
sonality and is both handsome and modest
—a rare combination. His intense Slavic
nature, backed by a prodigious technic, en-
ables him to accomplish musical feats far
beyond his years; nevertheless, it is as a
musical, and not as a mere "technical " art-
ist, that he makes his strongest appeal.
While he reads Bach, Beethoven, Schu-
mann, Chopin to perfection, yet as a Rubin-
stein interpreter, Oscar Bie, the well-
known German critic, considers him un-
equalled.
five pieces being German. For the Expo-
sition it was therefore proposed to have
ten orchestral concerts of French music
alone. A committee of twenty composers
was appointed to make up the programs,
the result being endless quarrels and no
gain to the cause of French music.
M E W YORK is not the only city where
*• ^ it is difficult for orchestral organiza-
tions to thrive. In London the Philhar-
monic Society's season has been such a
failure from a financial viewpoint that an
assessment of ten per cent.|has had to be
MISS AUGUSTA COTTLOW.
country and will make her re-appearance
here at the coming Worcester Festival,
when she will play the Tschaikowski Con-
certo in B flat minor.
j*
HTHE character of the music in the ma-
jority of our churches has been the
subject for frequent discussion. There
has always been predominant in this es-
pecial field a narrow feeling which has
hindered any improvement along essential
lines. As a writer in Harper's says:
"The bigotry which has piously shut the
best music out of the church is a survival
of t h a t asceticism
which nipped like a
killing frost everything
vernal in the religious
life. But as the rigors
of bigotry have softened
in the growing warmth
of general enlighten-
ment, and the love and
culture of music have
steadily advanced, the
church has quietly
dropped its old methods
and has unconsciously
taken on the new, until
to-day it may be truth-
fully said that the best
music of the world is
laid under tribute for
church services. Even
the wicked music of the
heels is sometimes so
judiciously 'slowed up'
and subdued in color,
and punctuated with
solemn pauses, that
staid deacons, decor-
ously, innocently, pace
to their pews to strains
from an opera."
In the Roman Cath-
olic Church music of
a decided florid and
operatic character has
long been used and
has added considerably
to the attractiveness of its service. Mean-
while there is to-day a strong movement
among the authorities in that church to
curb this tendency toward operatic effects,
aud make it more devotional and more in
keeping with the Palestrina ideal. There
is a gratifying tendency, however, in our
larger cities and in churches of all persua-
sions to improve the standard of the music,
and this is very pleasing to all who have
the advancement of music at heart. Good
music, whether in church or school, in op-
era house or theatre, has a tendency to ed-
ucate the ear and stimulate a desire for a
higher standard of musical effort in public
affairs and in the home.
levied on the guarantors. In this con-
nection it has been brought out that most
of the soloists either appeared for nothing
during the season or for very small fees.
It seems that MM. Paderewski and Rosen-
thai were the only performers who drew
large audiences and under the circumstan-
ces it might be suggested that the New
York plan of engaging attractive artists
and paying them their full fees would
prove more profitable in the end. An en-
terprising "know-all" says that part of the
society's deficit this year is due to the pur-
chase of a diamond ornament as a wedding
''THERE have been many musical per- present for Clara Butt Well, well; this
* formances in Paris since the opening is dreadful!
of the Exposition, but none of internation-
al importance, while the tropical heat iyi ISS AUGUSTA COTTLOW,an Amer-
which has prevailed, and the fact that most * * * ican girl, will be one of the conspic-
of the concerts are given in the afternoon, uous pianists before the public this season.
from three to five o'clock, have tended to She was heard here some years ago, with
diminish the audiences. In ordinary times Anton Seidl at his concerts in Lenox Ly-
the Paris concert programs are made up ceum, after which she went abroad to
chiefly of foreign music, three out of every I study. She has just returned to this
D U D O L P H ARONSON is returning
*^ from Europe on board the steamship
Ems. His tour through Europe has been
a very quick and very successful one. He
has settled all the arrangements for the
Strauss tournee and the successful Ameri-
can composers have been selected. Herr
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Strauss is looking forward to his visit with
delight and a certainty of success. Mr.
Aronson has also acquired the scenery mod-
els and costume designs for Johann Strauss's
"Wiener Blut " all ready for its production
in the fall. The engagements actually
signed are Miss Amelia Stone and Miss
Belle Parker, and those in prospective are
Miss Rosa Glosz, Miss Arlie Arlington and
Miss Elsa Martens. The leaders of the
chorus will also be brought from Germany.
Finally, Mr. Aronson has engaged Jan Ku-
belik, the young violinist, to make a tour
of America. He is known as the "Young
Paganini," and he has created a furore in
London this season.
They are familiar with most all of
the standard operas of the Italian and
French schools. The Santa Maria Band,
Sen. Sireacco, does considerable play-
ing here for fetes and funerals. They
are long on funerals; and as they pass our
quarters, we get the full benefit of it.
They do not keep step when they march,
or make any pretentions to alignment,
jit
'"THE following, taken from the Cleve-
* land Plain Dealer, isn't bad:
"The scoundrelly impudence of these
moneyed men is positively brutal. You
know I live next door to a plutocrat. Last
spring he tried to buy me out. Actually
offered me more than my place was worth.
Wanted to get rid of me. But I wouldn't
sell. No, sir. Then what do you suppose
he did? Sent over and said he'd give me
$ i o a week if I'd stop my daughter's sing-
ing lessons."
"No ? What did you do?"
"I took the scoundrel's money. I didn't
like the singing any better than he did."
• « *
A LADY baritone, in the person of Miss
** Fannye Connelly, has been discovered
by Manager Chas. L. Young. She is said
to be a beautiful girl and the possesser of
a wonderful voice. To look at her, one
would think she was a soprano, but to hear
her sing and not see her, Mr. Young states,
you would declare it was a man's voice.
Miss Connelly is to be brought out in
America shortly under Mr. Young's man-
agement, he having made a five years
contract with her. The announcement of
her first American appearance will shortly
be made through the columns of The Re-
view. Mr. Young predicts a great success
for this young lady, and has already re-
fused offers from the principal vaudeville
houses which seem determined to secure her
as a special card. Mr. Young would not
state where he intended to place Miss Con-
nelly, but it is safe to say she will head a
combination of her own and tour America
shortly. Possibly she will appear in Paris
and London prior to her tour here.
fellow citizens, the Filipinos, are
very musical. This is the universal
opinion of all who have visited our new
possessions. They play all the standard
American melodies, having a peculiar lik-
ing for "After the Ball," "Only One Girl,"
and other compositions of that character.
"Where and how they learned them I do
not know," says I. J. Masten, Bandsman
in the U. S. Army, in a recent communi-
cation to the American Musician, "for on
this Island we are the first Americans.
The Spanish regimental band was entirely
made up of natives. The bandmaster,
Agapito Figueroa, is a very good cornet
player, composer and director, a graduate
of the Manila Conservatory, and as the
word goes, he 'muc/ia sabie musico.'
MISS FANNYE CONNOLLY.
but walk up the street 'any old way,'
some with an umbrella over their heads,
and any one is liable at any time to stop to
speak to a friend or light a cigarette.
They carry the coffin on their shoulders
ahead of the band. I have never been
able to make out where the mourners are;
for none of them that accompany the pro-
cession look or act like we have been
accustomed to. If it is a child, they play
something lively—a march or polka;
jerky, and all effects are much exagger-
ated. When the full band is engaged,
they have a very good instrumentation—
clarionet, horns, saxaphone, etc. Their
instruments are not of the very best by any
means.
"Many of the Senoritas play very well
on a rather primitive harp which is limited
to one key; but has a very sweet tone.
The Morros know nothing about our sys-
tem of music. I attended a Tarn Tarn re-
cital a short time since at the 'Casa' of
Pahcoodah, brother of Datah Mandi; and
a very good friend of mine. Mrs. Pahcoo-
dah was the star Tarn Tam virtuoso. Her
instrument, or instruments rather, consist-
ed of nine tam tarns about six inches in di-
ameter and suspended on a frame (a la
Xylophone) and played the same by two
sticks. The tam tams are tuned by divid-
ing the octave into nine instead of twelve
degrees, and they are made in China and
tuned to suit the Oriental ear. The inter-
vals do not suit our idea of time for bass.
An able-bodied Morro thumped alternately
on three Bull Tam Tams tuned approxi-
mately on E, C flat and A, the small
ones being nearer the scale of E flat than
any other. Two caressed long drums
(snake skin heads) with the fiat of their left
hand and the stick in the right. It does
sound horrible at first, but after one gets
onto their curves a little, there is a well
denned melody and rhyme to burn; rag
time, syncopated and other outlandish ac-
centuations. I have written some of the
melodies but one cannot fit them to our
scale satisfactorily. The Tam Tams are
the grand piano of Morro aristocrats, and
no well regulated cast is with a full set.
The tone is a good compromise between
the clash of cymbals and a good bell. I
have changed my opinion of the natives
since my last letter and I think better of
both Morros and Filipinos as I have become
better acquainted with them."
American artist who is mak-
A YOUNG
ing steady progress in the musical
MISS GOLDBERG.
and the older or more important the
departed was, the slower the tempo,
until they get down to funeral tempo.
They use no music when they play, but
have everything memorized (long selec-
tions, sets of waltzes, etc.) before they play
it in public. In many ways they play ex-
cellently; their style, however, is very
world is Miss Goldberg, soprano, whose
portrait appears on this page. Her debut
took place in the Cincinnati Music Hall
with the United Singers. At this concert,
composed of a grand chorus of some six
hundred male voices, she enjoyed the dis-
tinction of being the only soloist. The
local critics were most complimentary in
their estimates of her abilities and predicted
for her a brilliant future. Miss Goldberg
is a Philadelphian by birth, but her talents
were developed in the musical atmosphere
of Cincinnati, O. She has studied under
leading vocal teachers and possesses a rich,
dramatic, at the same time brilliant, soprano
voice. Her register is extensive and she
excels in the art of expression and inter-
pretation.
'"THE semi-centennial of the first per-
*• formance of Lohengrin was honored
by the Kaltenborn Orchestra on Tuesday
night by a special program at the St.
Nicholas Garden, which included selec-
tions from that famous opera. "Lohen-
grin," probably now the most popular of
all the Wagner operas, so far as the ntim-

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