Music Trade Review
Issue: 1899 Vol. 29 N. 23 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
powerful agencies for the spread of relig-
ion and suggesting that sacred Sunday
symphony concerts be held in the churches.
He has received replies favoring the plan
from some of the best-known religious
teachers of the city and it is probable that
some concerts will be given.
'""FHERE has been much discussion anent
* the wisdom of Maurice Grau's plan
this season in having his Opera Company
make an extended Western tour ptevious
to its appearance in this city. Most of the
prominent singers have been unable to
withstand the sudden changes of temper-
ature in the West and have been nursing
colds and other ills. The stockholders and
subscribers are not looking forward joyfully
to listening to the invalid story and con-
sider that it was unwise to jeopardize the
season of opera in this city which is, after
all, the most liberally patronized and the
surest source of income, by undertaking a
long road tour that is open to great perils.
The daily press have contained innu-
merable stories of the non-appearance,
owing to illness, of leading artists in the
various cities visited. The prospect of such
a thing occurring in this city is not pleasant
and comes particularly hard on those of
moderate means who have to pay a good
sum of money to hear a certain artist and
find on entering that "owing to illness" her
place has been taken by Mme.
. Mean-
while let us hope for the best.
*
LARA BUTT has been, by all odds, the
most interesting figure on the con-
cert platform since the season opened. Her
voice is a contralto, ranging from C in the
bass clef to high A in the treble. In qual-
ity it is distinct, full and resonant and
moves one by its richness and power. Al-
though this season chronicles the first ap-
pearance of Miss Butt in this country she
has been before the public for nine years
and has sung at most of the prominent
musical festivals in England where she is
a great favorite. Her artistic skill is great,
and her intellectual appreciation of the
high class of music to which she has de-
voted herself is true and thorough. Her
recitals on Tuesday night and Saturday
afternoon of last week were the occasions
of the warmest demonstrations of appre-
ciation of her abilities by audiences com-
posed of New York's elite. Her farewell
takes place at the Metropolitan Opera
House to-morrow evening. She sails for
England December 9th, to participate in
various Christmas performances of the
"Messiah."
During her present tour she has been
under the management of Henry Wolf-
sohn, and it is safe to predict that this
astute manager will secure her for a longer
period next season. She is an artist whom
all will enjoying hearing again.
of great interest to scholars
A SCHEME
in music the world over is in progress
in the music-room of the British Museum
library. Now that the great printed gen-
eral catalogue is nearly finished, the au-
thorities have decided to prepare for publi-
cation a series of monographs on the great
composers, based on the material relating
to their works in the library and other de-
partments. The series will extend to
twenty-five volumes, those now in prepara-
tion being on Wagner and Beethoven.
*
T H E R E has been a remarkable develop-
'
ment in musical taste and musical ap-
preciation in this country within a compar-
itively recent date. Meanwhile an apti-
tude for music is not enough; an "ear for
MJSS CLARA
BUTT.
music" is not enough. There must be the
power of feeling music, of thinking in it.
It is just here that the average student is
so disappointing. There is technical skill,
which must be taken for granted in a modern
artist, but there is no warmth of conception
—nothing to show that the student really
feels the music; and it is absurd to
suppose that when the poetic musical tem-
perament is lacking, an interpretation will
have the power of charming an audience.
The fact is that a talent for any of the arts
does not pre-suppose a capability of rising
to distinction in them. A singer may have
a fine voice, but of what avail is it if she
have no sense of musical expression? There
have been cases, it is true, of singers who
have risen to the top simply because of
their fine voices, just as there are examples
of pianists who have ma^f a name by their
exceptional digital powers; but such cases
are exceptions to the rule, and not one in
five thousand students has any chance of
achieving a reputation by technic alone.
And yet it is generally a technical aptitude
that leads to the profession of music being
chosen as a means of earning a livelihood
just as a talent for drawing is popularly
supposed to be sufficient grounds for the
painter's career. The schools are full of
these technically talented young people.
Medals have been gained, and the highest
certificates awarded; but the world hears
no more of these successful students unless
they have real musical feeling.
ANOTHER point—until a community
c a n learn to estimate music on its
own account, and not with reference to
certain favored
names, will any
genuine musical at-
mosphere be created.
At present there is
scarcely any limit to
the hollow pretense
and affectation in the
musical field. As the
C h i c a g o Times-
Herald w e l l s a y s :
H u n d r e d s whose
only desire is to
follow a fashionable
tad, copy the airs
and manners of musi-
cal connoisseurs, and
assume an interest
in the classic music
forms w h i c h they
are far from feeling.
Severe music of the
classic and scientific
school they neither
understand nor en-
joy, and yet, with
an affectation which
is most absurd, they
refuse to endorse any
other. Greater hon-
esty a n d a m o r e
catholic spirit could
not fail, therefore,
to broaden any mu-
sical field in a most
desirable m a n n e r .
There is plenty of ''good .music by the
best composers, which will serve to inspire
and educate those who have not advanced
to the point of appreciating abstract forms
and the more elaborate symphonies and
music dramas, and such music deserves
encouragement.
**•
HP HE Boston Symphony Orchestra ehang-
* ed the aspect of Carnegie Hall at its
last concerts in this city by using on the
stage an interior scene which had the ad-
vantage of increasing the effectiveness of
the orchestra's playing, even if it did not
add much to the usual condition of the stage
in the hall. There is no reason why a more
tasteful and decorative interior could not
have been selected and the artistic side of
the matter looked after with some greater
care. But there seems to be some circum-
stance unfavorable to the proper appearance
of the stage at Carnegie Hall. Sometimes a
short curtain is hung from the top of the
arch and when this happens the drapery is
adjusted in so awkward a fashion as to be a
constant irritation to the"eye. When it is
not in use some other feature of the stag^
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
powerful agencies for the spread of relig-
ion and suggesting that sacred Sunday
symphony concerts be held in the churches.
He has received replies favoring the plan
from some of the best-known religious
teachers of the city and it is probable that
some concerts will be given.
'""FHERE has been much discussion anent
* the wisdom of Maurice Grau's plan
this season in having his Opera Company
make an extended Western tour ptevious
to its appearance in this city. Most of the
prominent singers have been unable to
withstand the sudden changes of temper-
ature in the West and have been nursing
colds and other ills. The stockholders and
subscribers are not looking forward joyfully
to listening to the invalid story and con-
sider that it was unwise to jeopardize the
season of opera in this city which is, after
all, the most liberally patronized and the
surest source of income, by undertaking a
long road tour that is open to great perils.
The daily press have contained innu-
merable stories of the non-appearance,
owing to illness, of leading artists in the
various cities visited. The prospect of such
a thing occurring in this city is not pleasant
and comes particularly hard on those of
moderate means who have to pay a good
sum of money to hear a certain artist and
find on entering that "owing to illness" her
place has been taken by Mme.
. Mean-
while let us hope for the best.
*
LARA BUTT has been, by all odds, the
most interesting figure on the con-
cert platform since the season opened. Her
voice is a contralto, ranging from C in the
bass clef to high A in the treble. In qual-
ity it is distinct, full and resonant and
moves one by its richness and power. Al-
though this season chronicles the first ap-
pearance of Miss Butt in this country she
has been before the public for nine years
and has sung at most of the prominent
musical festivals in England where she is
a great favorite. Her artistic skill is great,
and her intellectual appreciation of the
high class of music to which she has de-
voted herself is true and thorough. Her
recitals on Tuesday night and Saturday
afternoon of last week were the occasions
of the warmest demonstrations of appre-
ciation of her abilities by audiences com-
posed of New York's elite. Her farewell
takes place at the Metropolitan Opera
House to-morrow evening. She sails for
England December 9th, to participate in
various Christmas performances of the
"Messiah."
During her present tour she has been
under the management of Henry Wolf-
sohn, and it is safe to predict that this
astute manager will secure her for a longer
period next season. She is an artist whom
all will enjoying hearing again.
of great interest to scholars
A SCHEME
in music the world over is in progress
in the music-room of the British Museum
library. Now that the great printed gen-
eral catalogue is nearly finished, the au-
thorities have decided to prepare for publi-
cation a series of monographs on the great
composers, based on the material relating
to their works in the library and other de-
partments. The series will extend to
twenty-five volumes, those now in prepara-
tion being on Wagner and Beethoven.
*
T H E R E has been a remarkable develop-
'
ment in musical taste and musical ap-
preciation in this country within a compar-
itively recent date. Meanwhile an apti-
tude for music is not enough; an "ear for
MJSS CLARA
BUTT.
music" is not enough. There must be the
power of feeling music, of thinking in it.
It is just here that the average student is
so disappointing. There is technical skill,
which must be taken for granted in a modern
artist, but there is no warmth of conception
—nothing to show that the student really
feels the music; and it is absurd to
suppose that when the poetic musical tem-
perament is lacking, an interpretation will
have the power of charming an audience.
The fact is that a talent for any of the arts
does not pre-suppose a capability of rising
to distinction in them. A singer may have
a fine voice, but of what avail is it if she
have no sense of musical expression? There
have been cases, it is true, of singers who
have risen to the top simply because of
their fine voices, just as there are examples
of pianists who have ma^f a name by their
exceptional digital powers; but such cases
are exceptions to the rule, and not one in
five thousand students has any chance of
achieving a reputation by technic alone.
And yet it is generally a technical aptitude
that leads to the profession of music being
chosen as a means of earning a livelihood
just as a talent for drawing is popularly
supposed to be sufficient grounds for the
painter's career. The schools are full of
these technically talented young people.
Medals have been gained, and the highest
certificates awarded; but the world hears
no more of these successful students unless
they have real musical feeling.
ANOTHER point—until a community
c a n learn to estimate music on its
own account, and not with reference to
certain favored
names, will any
genuine musical at-
mosphere be created.
At present there is
scarcely any limit to
the hollow pretense
and affectation in the
musical field. As the
C h i c a g o Times-
Herald w e l l s a y s :
H u n d r e d s whose
only desire is to
follow a fashionable
tad, copy the airs
and manners of musi-
cal connoisseurs, and
assume an interest
in the classic music
forms w h i c h they
are far from feeling.
Severe music of the
classic and scientific
school they neither
understand nor en-
joy, and yet, with
an affectation which
is most absurd, they
refuse to endorse any
other. Greater hon-
esty a n d a m o r e
catholic spirit could
not fail, therefore,
to broaden any mu-
sical field in a most
desirable m a n n e r .
There is plenty of ''good .music by the
best composers, which will serve to inspire
and educate those who have not advanced
to the point of appreciating abstract forms
and the more elaborate symphonies and
music dramas, and such music deserves
encouragement.
**•
HP HE Boston Symphony Orchestra ehang-
* ed the aspect of Carnegie Hall at its
last concerts in this city by using on the
stage an interior scene which had the ad-
vantage of increasing the effectiveness of
the orchestra's playing, even if it did not
add much to the usual condition of the stage
in the hall. There is no reason why a more
tasteful and decorative interior could not
have been selected and the artistic side of
the matter looked after with some greater
care. But there seems to be some circum-
stance unfavorable to the proper appearance
of the stage at Carnegie Hall. Sometimes a
short curtain is hung from the top of the
arch and when this happens the drapery is
adjusted in so awkward a fashion as to be a
constant irritation to the"eye. When it is
not in use some other feature of the stag^
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