Music Trade Review

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THE
VOL. XLII. No. 5.
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 1 Madison Ave., New York, Feb. 3, 1906.
HAMMERSTEIN'S OPERA PLANS.
Enthuses Over His Latest Move in the Checker-
Board—Real Grand Opera at Prices That
Will Merit Public Support.
world can look back and say it was Oscar Ham-
merstein alone, unbacked by millions, who start-
ed the real movement for grand opera in Amer-
ica. Isn't that worth risking your last dollar,
the final years of your life for?"
Seated in his long rectangular office under the
COPYRIGHT IN GERMANY.
eaves of the Victoria Theater the other day, op-
posite a window through which his glance could
Still Fighting in Germany and France Over
travel to at least four playhouses he had erected,
the Copyright on "Carmen"—Difference in
Oscar Hammerstein outlined his plans for the
Protection in the Two Countries.
last great work of a long and busy career in a
talk with Anna Steese Richardson, of the Sun-
In Germany and France the fight over "Oar-
day World:
men" still continues. In the former country
"When I announced that I would open this operas are protected by copyright only thirty
new theater as a grand opera house and give years after the composer's death, and as Bizet
opera on a scale such as New York had never died in 1875, some German managers have de-
known before—well, some folks laughed, and clared their intention of paying no more royalties
you can tell them that this little man before you to Bizet's widow, who is now a Mme. Strauss,
—all alone, unrestricted, unhampered by part- having married a lawyer of that name. Mme.
ners, advisers or stockholders—is going to do it. Strauss has threatened to bring suit on the
I won't have my plans ruined by interfering ground that "Carmen" will not be free till thirty
stockholders. All I asked was subscriptions to years after the death of the librettist, Halevy.
Strictly speaking, however, only the libretto is
my fifty boxes, and"—just a chuckle, but it said
now legally protected in Germany, but as no one
as plainly as words—"I've got 'em."
On his desk lay a map of the musical world, could make "Carmen" pay with a different libretto
not arranged according to countries, with cities, the royalties are assured for the present. France
mountains and rivers marked thereon, but col- is more just to composers than Germany; she
umn after column of names, French, German, protects their works fifty years after their death
Italian, Spanish, Hungarian opera singers the for the benefit of the heirs.
world over.
Thirty years of copyright, after all, is better
"That is my field of labor," he said, patting than none at all, as in days of Mozart. When
that composer (who died of overwork) had com-
the list aftectionately.
"Your millionaire a dozen times over dies and pleted his opera, "The Elopement from the
leaves money for a hospital, an art gallery, a col- Harem," he was obliged to arrange it, in a few
lege, but who gives to music? Not a millionaire. days, for military band to prevent others from
And that is what I want to do—leave New York getting ahead of him, for there was no protection
a legacy of a well-built, perfectly-equipped, self- for products of the mind. At that time Mozart
supporting opera house, home of music, an edu- wrote to his father: "You would hardly believe
cator of musical taste—at theater prices. You how difficult it is to arrange such a work for a
"an't make money giving grand opera at Cri- band in such a way as to adapt it to.the wind in-
terion or Belasco Theater prices—but you can do struments without sacrificing its peculiarities."
something better worth while. You can start a
movement toward educating the musical taste of
JOSEF HOFMANN NOT COMING.
the masses."
"Will you establish the same standard which His Social Visit to America Postponed Because
obtains at the Metropolitan Opera House to-day?"
of Business.
Talk about the proverbial red rag before a bull,
Word has been received in this city that Josef
a cigar spark in an open gasoline can, an auto-
mobile whose chauffeur has lost control of the Hofmann wih not visit America this winter, as he
brake! Rolled into one their results could not had promised. This visit was not to be a profes-
equal what followed in the next three seconds. sional one, but of a social nature. He had been
When the air had cleared Mr. Hammerstein's invited by several society friends of himself and
wife to be a member of some house parties, and
voice resumed:
"By inclination, by education, by experience, I to give an opportunity for other entertainments
have reached the point where I believe I can cope that were impossible at the time*, of his marriage.
with the grand opera problem alone. I have for- Mr. Hofmann has been busy this season in Paris
gotten more about grand opera than Herr Direc- and elsewhere, and recently an offer was made
tor Conried ever knew. I—I—Where do the for a Continental tour that would take him from
great foreign singers come from? From the Sweden to Italy. It may be that America will
chorus! What chance has the American singer not see him until he again comes for his concert
to rise under existing conditions? None. New tour, season after next.
York alone boasts of a regular home, a regular
$5,000 FOR A SCHOLARSHIP.
season for grand opera. Well, the day will come
when Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St.
Five thousand dollars has been given by a
Louis—all the large cities will have a permanent friend to the Institute of Musical Art, of which
home of opera. Perhaps the Government will en- Frank Damrosch is director. This sum is to be
dow these institutions. Perhaps rich men will known as the James Loeb Scholarship Fund. Be-
turn from colleges, universities, libraries and art ginning next October the income from it will be
galleries long enough to give the public musical applied toward scholarships at the Institute. Ap-
opportunities, and when that day comes the plications will not be received at present.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
MUSIC BYj\MERICANS.
The Work of Native Composers to be Heard
at Three Concerts.
The American composer has found another
champion. The New Music Society of America
has just been formed to advance his interests.
For this purpose three concerts will be given at
Carnegie Hall, and the programmes will be made
up of American music.
Modest Altschuler, who conducts the Russian
Symphony Orchestra, has placed himself and his
players at the service of the society. The first
concert will be given on February 19, and the
others will follow on March 10 and April 2. On
the programme at the first concert will be Mac-
Dowell's "Indian Suite," opus 48, which has been
so rarely performed that it is practically new.
Vasili Safonoff, who will remain in this coun-
try after finishing his engagements with the
Philharmonic Society, has expressed great inter-
est in the new organization. He is honorary chair-
man of its score committee, which passes on the
works submitted, and has expressed his intention
of playing at his concerts in the Imperial Con-
servatory of Music at Moscow some of the best
of the American music submitted for perfor-
mance.
Lawrence Gilman, of 227 Bast Seventy-second
street, is the chairman of the score committee,
and to him composers should send their works.
METHODS OF CONDUCTORS.
Should They Lead Without Looking at the
Scores—What Leading Conductors Say in
This Connection.
Should orchestral conductors lead without look-
ing at the scores? This question was put by the
Revue Musicale to a number of conductors. Wein-
gartner replied that he did not think it necessary
to discard the score, as the performance might
be equally good if the conductor used it. He
himself never deliberately memorizes a score, con-
sidering it inartistic and absurd to overburden
the memory, but if he happens to remember the
score naturally, he occasionally dispenses with it.
Henry Wood's opinion coincides with Weingart-
ner's. Chevillard finds an advantage in conduct-
ing from memory in this, that it enables the
leader to keep his eyes fixed on all the players;
and Vincent d'Indy declares that.it is the noblest
function of a conductor to regulate the musicians
by movements of the eyes. Anton Seidl once
noted that Hans Richter sometimes conducted
with his eyes; and Seidl owed much of his power
to the fear his men had of his all-seeing eyes,
which instantly signaled and punished the slight-
est error or carelessness.
Edvard Grieg, the distinguished Norwegian
composer and pianist, has accepted an engage-
ment offered to him by the directors of the
Queen's Hall Orchestra, London, and on May 17
he will conduct an orchestral concert of his own
compositions, the Queen's Hall band being under
his charge, and on May 24 he will take part as
pianist in a chamber concert entirely devoted to
his works. Will he ever visit the United States?
A. question truly that is often asked.