Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MRS. PARKER'S SCIENCE OF IIUSIC.
TN a recent number of The Review a re-
* markable instance was put on record of
two very juvenile pupils of Mrs. Ankie
Green Parker, through whose treatment of
young minds most notable results have
been achieved. It is pre-supposed that the
children who study with her are talented,
if
REVILO LOCKE.
but one glance around will reveal hundreds
of talented children who accomplish things
which astonish people who are unable to
see how superficial and harmful these
accomplishments are. There is no dan-
ger so great as the pitfall of talent
which lays a child open to flattery
agreeable to the child was not to be
thought of in the past. But we are in a
new era, and one of the most remarkable
advances has been the treatment of the
child mind. Mrs. Parker is one of the
most earnest, as well as most successful,
in this field. Her work she pleases to call
the Science of Music, and it is not un-
wisely named, for it strikes at the bone,
sinew and soul. Whereas, talent in a child
is always desirable, it must not be sup-
posed that fine results are only to be ob-
tained from children of remarkable brill-
iancy. On the contrary, this science is so
directly aimed at the intellect that it opens
the beauties of music in a manner which
could be expected from nothing else.
Two pupils who show the remarkable
benefits of Mrs. Parker's science are, Harry
Linwood Pearce and Revilo Locke, of New
Hampshire, who is in Florida on account
of ill health. His mother was so delighted
with the manner in which Mrs. Parker
taught the children, that she decided to
have Revilo study with her, while he had
the opportunity of being in Gainsville.
He has taken piano and violin, and of
course, the science for the one year. He
plays nicely and is much interested in
composition. An example of his work
which has come under our notice, is very
creditable. He expects to make music
his life work and the ground work is such
that he may build anything upon it.
Harry Linwood Pearce is also studying pi-
ano and violin to which he is also applying
the science. His specialty is the violin.
He has gone through several of the prin-
cipal violin methods, plays several of the
Beethoven sonatas, reads anything at sight
with proper tempo and dynamics. He
plays the bravura and the most delicate
runs with equal taste and handles the bow
with dexterity. He is ardently devoted to
the study of music and he is very fond of
athletic sports. He will, however, leave
the most exciting game to work at his mu-
sic in which he shows the active, energetic,
ardent boy, alive in all pursuits.
MME. SEMBRICH'S ADVICE TO SINGERS.
ME. SEMBRICH, upon being asked
what advice she had to offer stu-
dents who wished to become really great,
said: "Let a girl who wants to learn to
sing first make of herself a good musician.
Let her learn some musical instrument
thoroughly. All women cannot take up
the violin, although for singers that is the
best instrument. The girl who begins to
study singing by acquiring a complete
musical education will have made the best
preparation possible."
"With me," she continued, "it was a
lucky thing that I learned the violin, for
it helped me more than anything else
could have done, I have also noticed that
singers who play the violin are more like-
ly to sing in tune than others. But if the
violin is out of the question a girl who
would sing had better learn the piano.
"Then comes the difficult question of
selecting the teacher who can do the most
important thing correctly; that is, place
the voice. Once that is done as much de-
M
HARRY LINWOOD PEARCE.
from the ignorant, of pleasing the parents
with something which is untrue, and of
acquiring enough to amuse itself without
much work. Therefore, it will readily be
seen that talent goes for absolutely noth-
ing, unless it be under the most rigid and
watchful care, and that this should be
pends on the pupil as on the teacher. The
teacher can do a great deal, but not every-
thing. It is when the pupil has begun to
learn singing that her talents as a musician
will come to her assistance. If she is a
good pianist or a good violinist her work
of preparation will not only be easier, but
all her practice will be more effective. As
for the roles she learns everybody knows
what my opinions on that subject are.
This is the advice that I always give—
learn the old repertoire.
"It is such music as 'La Sonnambula,'
'Lucia,' 'Linda de Chamounix' and 'II
Barbiere' that trains one to sing well.
Learn that thoroughly and let the modern
composers alone for a while. If there
was anything needed to prove the truth
of my theory one would only have to look
at Mme. Patti. She is over fifty now, and
yet she sings remarkably, and she has her
voice left still. Of what other woman can
the same thing be said? Look, too, at
Lilli Lehmann, who began her career as
a singer of the Italian music and is to-day
another great example of what that train-
ing will do. It was not until she had
learned thoroughly the Italian repertoire
that she began to sing Wagner. She and
Mme. Patti are two of the last great
singers.
"No young ones are coming up to
take their places, and the reason is that
the old music which trained the voices
best is no longer taught. Even in Italy
it is not taught to the singer. They im-
mediately begin to sing Leoncavallo or
Mascagni, which is just as bad for
their undeveloped voices as Wagner's
music.
"After a girl has learned to sing the
next important thing for her to learn is
what she should sing. Certain voices, as
so many singers seem to forget, are suited
only to certain kinds of music. One may
have a voice which would last for a long
time in singing the music suited to it. But
if it is used in singing Wagner or the dra-
matic music of the younger composers it
cannot endure. There is only a certain
quantity of it, and if it be used up in two
or three years by singing music to which
it is not suited only one thing can happen.
But singers seem to forget that with a
voice suited to only certain kinds of music
it is impossible to succeed in entirely dif-
ferent fields. That is a thing which the
singer must learn for herself."
Mme. Sembrich practices now for one
hour every day, but not continuously.
Fifteen minutes is the longest stretch
which she attempts. In dieting for the
sake of her voice she avoids only sour
things.
In order not to get stout she eats
no sweets and very little flour, but her
abstinence in this respect is for her figure
and not for her voice. When singing in
concert or opera she occasionally sips a
glass of water. She drinks a glass of
champagne or claret with her dinner and
never takes coffee. American ice-water
and iced champagnes she regards with a
terror almost equal to her deep-seated
aversion to steam heat.