New-York tribune., 1875-02-15

piled. and it will not be deemed impertinent
il we point out some particulars in which the
project is radically faulty. Money and fine
building will not do everything. IL Will DO
easy enough to erect an imposing STRUCTURE
on Fourth and Madison Avenues, with class
rooms, stage, scenery, audience hall, ana every
thing else complete and beautiful; but WIN
out the directing impulse OF master inteih-
eence this monument of liberality will remain
worse than useless. Our unknown benefactor
limits his enterprise to providing the materiai
ediiice of the College; we ere not told how IL
is to be provided with q soul, and that OF
course is tho really important point. Inc
"best teachers in the w0rldn will not graVi-
tate to such an institution by any natural law
of attraction, and if the management should
fall into incompetent hands, the great Amer
can Conservatory would be the cause OF incai-
culable mischief 1t is interesting to know
that the building will be 300 feet long by 2OO
feet wide; but we care less about the dimeD-
sons of the theater than the capacity OF the
director.
The plan of sustaining the College by the
proceeds of public performances given by the
students would probably not have occurred TO
practical musician, or to cOnnosseur VINO
knows what the condition OF music IN this
country really is. The exhibitions OF Still
dents, however interesting they may be as
indications of progress and promises OF excel
lence, can have Of course but moderate
positive value. Even an eminent teacher can
not ALWAYS make an eminent pupil, and it is
great mistake to suppose that b ecause an in
stitutIon is well directed and well equipped 1t
will therefore possess within itself the very
/" best talent in the world for public enter
"tainmentsn There are thousands or young
persons studying hard in the best conservato-
ries of Europe; how many of them Will win
fame or even temporary popularity when they
90 into the worldl There are not score OF
great musicians in all Europe. If our Ameri-
can Conservatory had five hundred ad-
vanced pupils, the chances are that among
them all it could not cast an opera
half as well as the cheap company
which Mr.. Strakosch has just disbanded after
a season of disaster. The proceeds of its en-
tertainments would probably not pay for the
gas and taxes it is almost certain they would
not pay for the best tuition in the world
Nor indeed is it desirable that such perform
arees should be popular Medocrity is the
! curse of American art. We bore SO long with
tolerable singers, players, and composers that
our audiences learned to accept false stand
ards of proficiency and false rules OF taste
our students satisfied themselves with hasty
lessons; the budding prima donna bounds
upon the stage before she can sing her scales !;
the young pianist leaves her exercises half
finished, and steps into the glare Of the con-
II. &c foutts
her hand, and an usher waiting with the
| inevitable floral tribute" to reward the weak
and ragged performance. The consequences
of our easy good nature are disastrous. Music
cannot flourish under .such conditions. When
| it has no SOUL it can have no hold upon the
popular heart and no influence upon general
culture.
| The chief merit of Theodore Thomas is that
he has fought such a sturdy fight against the
great American demon of Mediocrity. lie saw
long ago that the only way to strengthen art
in this country was to rev0lutlonlze the
popular concert" and set before the masses
what had never been offered them hitherto
the most serious compositions Of the greatest
masters, executed with absolute technical ex-
cellence. Everybody knows the result OF his
experiment. Musical appreciation was devel-
oped where few expected to find it. Art leaped
forward into new life In one branch of music
the new world almost overlook the old. And
it is not only symphonic music which felt the
impulse of Thomas's strong hand, but the
aesthetic tone impaired by tho performance of
his orchestra affected the attitude of the pub
lie toward the opera, the miscellaneous con-
cert, and every other form of musical enter
tainment We are at the opening of o new
era in art our audiences arc just learning to
exact the best; our performers are beginning
to realize that they must strive for it. In this
critical stage of our progress it would be
great benefit alike to the public and to young
artists if every "pretty good" concert could
be strictly prohibited and every tolerable"
opera company driven out of the country. An
attempt to support great musical institute
by the display of unripe talent would be in
furious to art and runOus to the College.