Music Trade Review

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fHE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
'THE Tribune of Saturday last issued an
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enormous holiday supplement devoted
to the industries of the metropolis. The
piano trade was, of course, treated of, but
in a very perfunctory way.
Speaking of the business situation to-day
the writer of this article"says: ''The man-
ufacturers of the better grades have felt
the impulse of awakened activity. From
last summer, when the war with Spain was
concluded, there have been indisputable
signs of a real boom in all branches of
commerce.
The elections in November
tended to restrict operations in a limited
manner on account of the dread lest the
free silver forces should be victorious. But
with the results in support of the Adminis-
tration of the present Government, things
began to hum and the piano dealers are
looking ahead to prosperous and profitable
times."
'THE Military Band was the subject of a
*• lecture before the British Society of
Musicians. In beginning it, the lecturer
offered a comparison with the orchestra.
The instruments of the orchestra had been
taken from the varied resources of the mili-
tary band, Wagner and Sullivan especially
having introduced numbers of new instru-
ments really taken from the military band.
Having sketched the history of the military
band of the Seventeenth Century to Bee-
thoven's time, the lecturer spoke of the
Kent bugle, which was the first attempt at
having a set of instruments of one class,
and which was introduced by the father of
Queen Victoria.
Adolphe Sax's inven-
tion of the piston system had been the
biggest means of introducing music in a
popular form; while Wilhelm Wieprecht
had really made the military band as they
knew it at present. Having described a
ruirriber of instruments which were on ex-
hibition, Mr. Laubach stated that the ma-
terial of which an instrument was com-
posed, whether brass, wood, paper, or even
stone and lime, had very little to do with
the tone. It was the inner cell of the tube
that determined the timbre of the instru-
ment
D E R H A P S nothing can exert a more
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powerful influence on the feelings,
the sympathies of the human race, than
music. When it is appropriate it is a
great boon, but men's opinions as to what
is appropriate music vary considerably
A travelling showman recently said:
"I took out a tableau show some time
ago, and I had some queer experiences.
We always had trouble getting suitable
music, for one thing. I remember that
we struck a certain town where the music
was furnished by a seedy, freckle-faced
young man, who officiated at a wreck of
a piano.
" I asked him if he could think of music
suitable to each picture as it was displayed.
'Certainly he could, and do it impromptu.'
The performance opened. He was seated
at the piano, and he turned to look at the
first tableau. It was a representation of
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Like a flash he turned and began pounding
out There's Only One Girl in This World
for Me."
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T H E new Knabe warerooms, although not
*• yet complete, now contain forty brand
new Knabe products in grands and up-
rights. These instruments at present arc
supplementary to the regular exhibit at the
old warerooms, which will continue to be
recognized as Ferdinand Mayer's head-
quarters for some weeks to come.
The sale of Knabe instruments at the
warerooms continues unabated.
When
The Review called on Wednesday no less
than fifteen grands and uprights were
standing ready for packing—having been
sold within a week for presentation pur-
poses.
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C R N E S T ALFIERI, editor of our es-
*-^ teemed London contemporary Music,
has^. added to his goodly budget of meri-
torious musical compositions, one more, a
song, entitled " T h e Merry Cobbler,"
which is published by Alexander & Co., of
London. The melody is captivating, the
arrangement highly effective, and the
words, also by the composer, are most
creditable. There is a completeness about
all Mr. Alfieri's compositions that demon-
strates the thorough musician. It should
ensure a wide popularity for the number
under notice.
•p
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"P
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(^ ONVERSATIONAL organ recitals are
^•^ as yet a novelty, says our esteemed
contemporary, The Musician. A tour of
such recitals has recently been completed
by Frank Slade Oliver, of New York. In
his illustrations he makes use of a piano on
which he plays several times the subjects
and counter-subjects of the fugues which
he afterwards plays on the organ. The
utility of such a plan is obvious; the
thinner, more incisive tone of the piano
brings out the themes with greater sharp-
ness, and having heard them repeated in
this way the ear can more readily follow
them in the more subtle winding of the
fugue.
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P R O M a large number of opinions on the
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question of what the stage needs to-
day, we quote the following by Henry
Clay Barnabee: " T h e stage of to-day is
suffering from the intense hysteria of the
age; that restlessness and hurrying which
is fatal to artistic endeavors. I refer par-
ticularly to our native stage. There has
never been a time when plays and operas
were produced as lavishly, and to such
lengths have managers gone that really it
seems as if the public were satisfied in
this direction.
The pictorial illustration
of stage material has reached its limits, as
it appears to me, and the main fact has
been overlooked in the selection of play
and opera. The actor interprets, and it
remains for the manager to so encourage
the author that he may find time to do
better work. In fine, as soon as this les-
son is learned then will we have better en-
tertainments of all sorts, and this is what
the stage most needs. ' The play's the
thing.' "
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TT is announced that the John Church Co.
* will publish the music for Reginald De
Koven'snew opera "The Three Dragoons,"
now in rehearsal and to be produced in
New York on Jan. 30. Harry B. Smith is
the librettist.
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\ X / E do not know positively how many
violins of the Amati, or Stradivarius
make there are in circulation in this coun-
try, but there must be a mighty large
number judging from the stories we come
across in our exchanges every day regard-
ing the discoveries of instruments bearing
these names. This week for instance no
less than twelve items about the discovery
of old violins came under our notice which
appeared in newspapers in widely separated
parts of the country. It is noteworthy
too that every old Strad., Amati or Guarne-
rius discovered is worth a fabulous sum,
and so it goes. The old violin story is be-
coming almost as popular as the romance
about the ebony-hued lady who nursed
Washington.
T H E ^Bolian Co., have enjoyed an ex-
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ceptionally busy holiday trade. From
the charming little "Princess" to the mag-
nificant "Orchestrelle" the demand has prac-
tically exhausted, for a few days, the choi-
cest styles. The outlook for a big New
Year's trade is excellent. Mr. Perkins left
town on Tuesday for Old Point Comfort,
where he will remain about two weeks.
A SKED on Wednesday as to the progress
•'*• of work on the new Krakauer factory,
JiiliusKrakauer said: "We are now prepar-
ing to move the machinery. There is a
good deal to be done in the way of space
adjustment, etc., and it has to be done
very carefully. The condition of business
with us is such that there must be no delay.
Everything must be so nicely calculated
that no 'hitch' will occur to hold back
our orders, even for a single day."
Salesmen
Wanted. .
Two hustling outside piano
Salesmen Wanted to work
outside trade.
By an old
established house. A good
position for the right man.
Write with full particulars to
Hustler, care of Music Trade
Review, 3 E. 14th St., N. Y.