Music Trade Review

J U LY
28, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
5
The Player and Music Advancement
Why Does the Player-Piano Remain so Far Out of tl}.e Race"When the Means for This Achievement Are
Being Considered-Rank and File of Musicians Still Have to Be Won Over to the Artistic
Capabilities of This Instrument- A Task Distinctly That 01 the Trade
No on e will be inclined to doubt the earne s t­
ness a nd th e devotion whi c h characteri ze th e
individu a ls and the or ga ni zation s engage d in
the momentous w ork of a dvancin g the int e r es t s
of mu s ic in thi s countr y. Th ~ ta s k of bringing
before the multi-ra c ial, multi-chrom atic popula­
tion s of the Unit e d States th e bea uti es of musi­
cal art in a m a nner calculated to produce a
favorabl e r es po nse is not th e easiest ta s k j'n
the world, i'n s pite of tw o ob vious facts which
ou g ht not to be negle c t e d in any di s cu ss ion .
O n e is that the ve ry va riolfsness of th e peoples
w hich make up the American popul a ti o n im­
pli es a vast vari e t y of native mu s ica l cultures
d e r iv ed from E uropean s to c k s of e ve ry kind,
The oth e r is t hat music is pr e-em in e ntly the art
of the prese nt a ge,
That is to say, there is undol1btedly in thi s
country e nou g h mu sical t e ndency, if th e te rm
m ay be used, to m a ke t hi s the mo s t fruitful of
a ll mu sical nation s a t thi s present tim e. Ye t we
kn ow that we ha\' e Il othin g o f the sort. On th e other
hand , it is an und o ubted fact that th e a rt of music
is by all odd s th e characteri stic a rt o f the present
age, th e o ne a rt which is s howing signs of
g rowth a nd healthy acti vit y, th o ug h undoubt­
edl y a ffli ct ed w ith a multitude of growin g pa in s
and m a ny of the di s tem pers common to ill­
re g ul a ted immaturity , M·usic, in short, is the
mod e rn a rt par exce ll e nce ,
Where Is the Player-piano
Now, in face of these undoubt e d facts, which
a ny musi cia n or informed mu s ic-lo ver knows to
be incontes table, wh y is it th a t the player-pi a no
r e m a in s so far out of th e ra ce when m ean s for
mu sic advancement a r e ca nvassed ? The only
im m edi a tely obviou s an s wer would b e that the
j ea lou s ies or the narro w -minded polic ie s of the
music industri es prevent effectu a lly any co­
operation be tween them and tho se who ar e
w orkin g for th e general ad van ce ment of mu si­
ca l ta s t e, Yet, su ch a n a ns wer, plausibl e
as it certainly is a nd q ac k ed up b y a var ie ty
of e vid e nce, never t he less is negati ve d b y the
ve r y fa ct of the e x ist enc e of the Bureau for
th e Ad vancem e nt of Mu s ic , o r gani ze d and con­
trolled by th e :Music Indu s trie s C hamber of
Commerce,
What, th e n, is the troubl e? S urely it will
be con ced ed that e ver y body would be va s tly
b e ne fit ed if the pla yer-piano's ver y g reat and
almo s t unexplored po ss ibilities as a mu sic a l edu­
ca tor could be put to good and prac tica l use.
Why does not th e tr a de work e nthu sia s ticall y
for somethin g whi c h so ver y pl a inly would be
to the advanta ge of every m a ke r and ev e r y
seller of pn e umatic musi cal in s t r uments?
Unh a p pily the question is not so s impl e as
mi g ht fir s t appear. Inde ed, question s of th e
sort a re commonl y much less simpl e than is
at fir s t ima g in ed, in fact, for inv est ig ation
us ually reveal s a ll sorts of pr ev iou s ly unsus­
pected ac cessor y circumstances whi ch have a
vital bearin g on the result So m e of these it
is nec es sa ry to enumerate,
Biggest Musicians Always Friendly
I n th e course of an able paper rea d t wo
m o n t h s ago before th e annual convention of the
Briti s h Illu s ic indu s tries, Sidn ey Grew, an emi­
ne nt Englis h mu s ic ian who ha s lon g been known
for his extra ordinarily mast e rful understandin g
of th e play e r-piano, point ed ou t that the play e r­
piano, eve n in its earli est and crude s t d a y s,
alw ays ha d the support o f the most emine nt
Illu s ician s, Oppositi o n to it has alwa y s come
from the second and third-rate follow e rs of the
g reat arti s t s, Thi s is, of cour se, t rue, and it
has happen ed th a t way because th e really bi g
men hav e a lwa ys been big enou g h to see what
the player-pian o r eally has carri ed within e ve n
its least d eve lo p ed body, To",d ay, w ith the va s t
improv e m ent s whi ch have. bee n ma>de· and with
the ne w a rt of r e produ c in g r ec'orded int e rpr e ta ­
tion s, this advocacy r es t s on even s tron ge r
g r o und s. Why, th e n, is there so lit l le in thc
way of influence u po n ge ncral publi c mu s ical
culture that we ca n directl y tra ce to th e pia ye r­
pi a no?
One sa ys " directly" tra ce, fo r it would b e
absurd to d e n y the va s t influ e n ce w ie lded sil e ntl y
in thou sa nd s of home s b y the player-piano, a n
inAu e nc e not in the leas t less powerful for its
indir ec tion , The r efe re nce is rath e r to con­
sc io u s, public u se o·f the player-pi a no as a n
age nt in the publ ic a dvancement o j mu sic. That
u se is distr ess in g ly infrequent. VVh y?
Why We Are Out in the Cold
The re ar e seve ral reason s. If the se caIi be
even in pa rt fairly en visage d, we Illa y at leas t
be abl e to s ee our probl em as it is, whi c h g ives
us, a n y ho w , a stand po int from which to con­
sid e r th e future, Th e commercial n ee ds o f the
pl a yer industr y in c lude, be yond a ny d oubt, the
a ss ent and co- o pe ra tion of all who work for
mu s ic adv a nce m e nt among th e people, It is
w e ll ther efo re to realize som e of the reason s
for th e fl o n- e xistence o f thi s co -operation,
Th e a ttitude of the ra nk a nd file of mu s ician s
It is based upon mi s­
has bee n mentioned,
und e r s tandin g and fea r, in about equa l propor­
ti o ns, The pl ay er-pi a no is di s lik ed by the musi­
cal rank and fil e because they con s id e r that its
u.se amon g th e mu sically nnin s tru c t ed renders
music hideous, promot es indiffe r e nce to mu sic
stud y and ac tually hind e r s th e progress of mu si­
cal cultur e? That, without doubt, is a fair s ta te ­
ment o f the position fr o m the point of v iew
of this considerable g roup,
These peopl e oug ht to , be, and w ill finally_
ha ve to be, won ove r. To win th em over the
trade must m a ke up its mind to ceas e from
ignorin g th em, to admit th a t th ey have a ri g ht
LEHMAN PIANO CO. BURNED OUT
Shattinger Co. and Artophone Corp, Also Dam­
aged to the Extent of Between $200,000 and
$225,000 by Fire on July 19
ST. LO UIS, ;'[0" July 23.- Th e most disa stro us
fire whi c h S f. Louis pi a no row has e ve r ex­
peri e n ce d did between $200,000 and $22 5,000
d a m age T hur sda y ni g h t to the L e hm a n P iano
Co " the Shattin gc r Pi a no & Mu s ic Co , a nd the
A rtophone Corp , at 1101 and 11 03 O li ve street.
The fire, whi c h is s upposed t o" ha ve s tarted
in the base m e nt pither of th e Le hman or Shat­
tinger s tor e, s hot up th e el eva tor shafts to th e
fifth Aoor , The Aame ~ we r e di s covered a t 9 :50
j), 111 " comin g from th e fi f th floor window s, Th e
fir e ha d gained s uc h h ea dwa y and offe r ed s uch
s tubborn resi s tan ~e t ha t a gen e ra l a la rm was
necessary, callin g out thirty-si x compa nies,
Both es tabli s hm e nts were com p le te ly g utted.
The Lehm a n Co" oc c up yin g a ll of 1101 , w ith
150 pianos a nd a lar ge numb e r of ta·lkin g m a ­
chine s in s tock, suffered th e g reatest lo ss , P hil
L e hm a n, pres ident of the company, es timatin g
it at $100,000 to $125 ,000, The loss of t h e Shat­
t in ge r Co" which o cc upied two Aoor s and part
of the bas em e n t of 1103, w as es timated at
$50,000, by O liv e r S hattin g er, pr es ident of the
compan y, in cluding a lar ge s toc k of sheet mu sic
and d a m age to plates, O ri g in a l copies of num e r­
ou s pi eces of mu sic w e r e d es troyed and it w as
said m a ny of th e m co uld not be repla ce d, The
.\rtophone Corp, o cc upied the upp e r floors and
pa rt of the base m e nt. The loss on 300 phono­
to their point of v ie w and to con ce d e further
th a t thcir inAu e nce is far from be in g n eg ligible,
That simply m ean s that the tr a de will have to
put it s Cown se llin g method s upon a higher level
of intelli ge nc e, Surel y, w ith the reproducin g
piano to fall back upon , thi s s hould not be so
very diffi c ult. What lllu sic ian can pos s ibl y b e
a n e ne my of the reprodu c tion of individuality? It
is just this individua lity on which th e mu sicians
la y s nch stres s ' T ru c, the idea of individuality
lTla y be , and commonl y is, va s tl y o verdone, to
the detrim e nt of the best int e r es ts of mu s ical
art; but th at it exists lIlu s t neith e r be for gott e n
nor ig no r ed,
It com es all to thi s, th a t after twenty ye ar s
we ha ve got scarcely a nywhere with th e player­
pi a no, considered as a musical in s trum e nt pure
a nd simple, Th e pedal-played kind is s till sold
on the "child can play it" plea. The repro­
ducin g piano is handed out w ith th e bare s tate­
ment that it is a reproducin g pi a no, And there
you ar e ! Ho w in the circ um s tances the mu s ica l
intelli ge n ce of the country is to be enlis t ed on
th e s id e of the pla ye r-piano an yone who wills
ma y as k; but one m ay be -permitted to doubt
th e pos sibility of a sa ti s factory a nswe r.
All sorts of s ugges tions are be in g made by
expert a uth o rit y to Ih'e e nd of increasing the
sale of pl aye r-pianos, A hu m ble addition is
herewith oITe red, It is d e pr ecatingly pointed
o ut th a t one immediate w a y to that end would
be fo und by workin g w ith those who mor e than
a n y o thers are pullin g the America n people in
t o uc h w ith musi cal c ulture, Most of th es e per­
son s and or ga ni za tion s al"e to b e found within
the rank s o f th e musical profess ion or of mu si­
cal amat e urdom , Every oth e r so rt of mu s ical
work is in co-operation with them, The pla yer ­
piano is out in the cold, Surely it is time to
ta ke s t e ps to work in with the others in s t ea d of
con s tantly allowin g th e m to think tha t w e wish
d elib e rately fir s t t o antagonize a nd th e n to
s up e rsede th em,
graphs and 3,000 to 4,000 rec ord s a nd sup p li es
was es timat ed by 1- G, Kra mer, secretar y, a t
$45,000, Al1 three firm s a r e protected by insur­
ance,
The Lehman Co, established temporar y quar­
t e r s :I t 1105 Olive s treet and th e Shattinger
a nd Artophone companies at 1213 Pine street.
Merchandis in g of all thre e companies was sus­
pended te mporarily, but pla ns are being m ade
for r es u m in g business a s s oon a s possible in
te mpor a ry quarter s pe ndin g restoration of th e
buildin g, which y;ill r equire sixty to nin e t y d a ys,
acco rdin g to prese nt indications.
PETERSBURG MUSIC STORE, INC.
PETERSnUI!(;, VA" July 24,- -P ape rs of incorpo ra­
tion -for th e Peter s bur g Mu sic Store, Inc., ha ve
ju s t bee n filed her e, a ssig ning a ma x imum ca pi­
t a l o f $50,000 and a 1llinimum capital of $5,000,
Th e officers of th e company ar e Geor ge R
Carter, pr es id e nt; 1- K, Fletch e r, sec r e tary, and
V N, DeLu ca, vice-presid e nt. Th e concern is
licensed to dea l in and manufac ture musical in­
s trument s and s upplie s a nd conduct a gen e ra l
bu sin ess in musi c.
ORGANOPHON CO. CHARTERED
The Orga no p ho n Co" In c., has just filed 111­
corporation pap e rs in the S ta te of New Yo rk
and will lo cat e in Brooklyn . C E, Dirhan, 153
Ea g le s tr ee t, is headin g th e e nt e rpri se, which is
ca pit a li ze d at $100,000: The concern will m a nu­
fac tur e organophon s,