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THE
ffUJIC TRADE
V O L XXXVI. N o . 10.
Published Eyery Saturday by Edward Uman Bill at l Midison Aienae, New York, Mar. 7,1903,
PROF. PARKER ON HYMN TUNES.
olic congregations still cling to the florid
p v I S C U S S I N G the engagement of Prof. masses and might possibly resent the intro-
*-^ Horatio Parker of Yale as organist duction of the Gregorian tones as strongly
of the Fifth Avenue Collegiate Church, Gar- as did the late Lord Bishop Wilberforce,
rett B. Stubbs in a communication to The who declared that he never heard one with-
Sun says: It is interesting to recall his pro- out wanting to lie down on his stomach and
nunciamento given in the course of an ad- howl! But New York has long regarded
dress before the Episcopal Club of Massa- with pride the musical ability of the chancel
chusetts early in 1899. Prof. Parker's paper choristers in St. Paul's, Fifty-ninth street and
attracted wide attention, not only in our Columbus avenue. Prof. Edmund Hurley,
American papers but the British press had who is organist there, admits of no musical
something to pass upon it by way of com- settings for the mass proper save the Gre-
ment.
gorian compositions, and the English hym-
The distinguished Yale professor took the nary is almost entirely the fruit of the late
ground that the Episcopal Hymnal is "a pain- Father Alfred Young's labors in the field of
ful exhibition of vulgarity tempered by in- church music.
competency." Another Anglican chant, he
In Prof. Parker's address, hinted at early
added, is "a musical trilobite, scarcely to be in this communication, he found much to
distinguished from a vegetable." He gave condemn. He passed over the Gregorian
it as his opinion that the best hymn tunes system. Will it go down when he discusses
came from Germany—a statement to which the music of our clay in New York ?
editorial writers in the Connecticut valley
MELBA'S AUSTRALIAN SUCCESS.
took prompt exception—and the worst hymn
tunes crop up in America! The New Eng- JVA ME. MELBA has reason to doubt the
land village choir quartet and the Moody ' * old saw that "a prophet hath honor
and Sankey tunes—these are the engines of save in his own country," for she has com-
war, Prof. Parker thought, that have done pleted her concert tour in her dear native
infinite harm to religion. And I ought to land, Australia, and has reason to be well
add that he deprecated the disuse of the old- satisfied with the results of her patriotic visit
fashioned minor tunes and the widespread to the antipodes. She gave thirty-five per-
vogue of what the then lecturer styled "the formances, and is estimated to have made
mawkishness and platitudes of modern hym- about $150,000. Nine concerts in Sydney
and Melbourne brought her more than $100,-
nology."
000.
This is indeed a timely recollection, be-
Ji
cause Prof. Parker is coming to New York
WILL WAGNER BRIDGE THE PAST?
at a time when agencies for promoting the
T H E racial barriers which have so long
spiritual welfare of our young men (univer-
divided Teuton and Gaul may be over-
sity associations as well) are arranging big
thrown by the art of music. We note that
"men's meetings" on Sunday afternoons, and
numerous French composers and musical
one of the great enjoyments of the gatherings
people generally have accepted with enthu-
is the singing in unison of favorite old hymns.
siasm the invitations sent to them to attend
I know this to be a fact, because I have sat
the fetes which are to be organized next
in the audience and heard the opinions and
October in Berlin on the occasion of the un-
expressions of the men.
veiling of Richard Wagner's monument.
"Lead, Kindly Light," as set to music by Among the notable persons of the French
the whole-souled J. B. Dykes; Bishop musical world who have already replied to
Heber's Sanctus, also by Dykes, and the the invitations are M. Massenet, M. Victorien
Baring-Gould-Sir Arthur Sullivan "Onward. de Joncieres (who calls himself one of the
Christian Soldiers," all come under the ban first Wagnerians,) M. Ernest Reyer, M.
determined by Prof. Parker of Yale. But Andre Messager, M. Gustave Charpentier,
there is a ray of hope. The condemnation M. Camille Erlanger and M. Victor Maurel.
of the chant was qualified, for it was the Senor Sarasate, the violinist, who lives in
Anglican chant that was put in the trilobite Paris, has also received an invitation to Ber-
category. The disposition of the Roman, or lin, and has accepted it.
more accurately, Gregorian chant, remains
to be seen. Prof. Parker has been quite ob-
Nothwithstanding the fact that Vincent
serving heretofore, and may we not expect DTndy is regarded among those who form
Notanda when he comes into the great bor- the "young French school/' he will be fifty-
ough of Manhattan ? To be sure, some Cath- two March 27.
$3.00 PER YEAR
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS
PHILHARMONIC REJECTS OFFER.
T ^ H E special committee appointed by the
members of the Philharmonic Society
to make a decision in the matter of the offer
of a guarantee fund for the next four years,
met at the Aschenbroedel Verein, East Eigh-
ty-sixth street, Saturday last. The full com-
mittee consisting of Richard Arnold, Gus-
tav Dannreuther, Louis Schmidt, Aug. Roeb-
belen and Felix F. Feifels, was present.
After a full discussion of the proposition it
was declined, and notice of the declination
was sent to the committee of subscribers to
the guarantee fund, of which Samuel Unter-
meyer, now on his way to Europe, is the
chairman.
The resolution which formulates the re-
fusal bases it upon the ground that the ac-
ceptance of the proposition, with the changes
in the government of the Philharmonic Soci-
ety, which were coincidentally necessary and
demanded by the guarantors would destroy
the character of the organization, wipe away
its fundamental principles of co-operative ex-
istence and self-government and imperil its
future by the introduction of a divided re-
sponsibility in its management.
The guarantee fund scheme was to make
the Philharmonic the "permanent orchestra"
of New York, to improve its personnel, to
increase its activity and to enlarge its sphere
of action. Walter Damrosch took the lead
in the matter and the list of subscribers in-
cluded many men and women of wealth and
standing in the musical world.
Among the members of the society the ac-
tion of the committee did not meet with
universal approval. There have been two
factions. The one that carried the day con-
sisted of the older men who did not care to
have old conditions changed. Walter Dam-
rosch, interviewed relative to the action of the
society said he was very sorrv that the Phil-
harmonic had seen fit to decline the guaran-
tee fund proposition. He had no doubt that
the committee had acted from motives which
in their judgment were for the best interests
of the society. He was satisfied that they
had made a big mistake and that they had
missed an opportunity to make the Philhar-
monic the representative orchestra of New
York.
A Missouri editor is resp^Si' n ?^ ior the
following. He asserts that at a recent church
meeting in his town the master of the cere-
monies made the following announcement:
"Miss Bates will sing 'Oh, that I had an
angel's wings, that I might rise and fly,' ac-
companied, by the minister."