Litchfield enquirer., 1876-08-24
combination In Music.

-Aa4 .fr~ s
 The reed organ and the piano are the American musical instruments: very good instruments, especially the former i; but solitary in their nature. Delightful music has been written for two pianos which is of slight practical use except in conservatories, because pianos never "vis- it." There is also some interesting music for piano and reed organ, but those instru' ments are not combined without Special effort, and special care in keeping them tuned together. Practically. therefore, these instruments refuse to combine with other instruments of their kind. Hence pianists are in the main solitary race of musicians, only playing four hand pieces. together, now and then; making far in. ferior music to what one would make separately. In this way they experience in some slight degree the pleasure of mu- sical companionship, though the heavy banging of their basses and intellectual humping of their trebles is not very in- teresting to listeners.
 Owing to this prevalence of "keyed" in- struments, every American village is full of musicians of some value separately, but with no capacity for combination. Con- sidered as individuals, each may be suc- cess, but socially they are failure. For all purposes of musical combination, one pianist is all a village needs; and the twenty others we usually have are super Auous. It is its capacity for combination that is the chief merit of the orchestral instrument. Twenty good pianists, as a body. are of no more use than one. Twen- ty good performers on solo instruments. as 6 body. are an orchestra. Yet, so little is the orchestral instrument cultivated among us, that we hear that there is not e single American in Thomas great band. It is doubtful whether there is single good oboist or bassoon- player of American birth in New York; and in our smaller cities all the orchestral players are Ger mans, except few vlolinists, more flute and cornet players, and an occasional clar- inet. For one American who attaches him. self to the violin, ten coquet with the flute or cornet. Indeed, the fute'is a sort of beauty among instruments that attracts crowds of novices, but the shallow sweet ness of whose tone soon palls on the per former. The cornet IS a very fine, bril- liant instrument; so recently perfected, however, that little frst-class music has been written for it. and so limited in com pass and difficult of smooth and rapid ex- ecution, that few amateurs ever excel upon it. Moreover these wind instruments are not so easy of combination as the strings. Two comets and two flutes are enough for an orchestra, while there are never too many violins. ....
 The real heart of this matter lies in the question whether the American race. has the musical taste, the artistic neatness, and above all. the immeasurable patience necessary for the mastery of the stringed instrument. These constitute three quar. ters of every we'll balanced orchestra, and have musical literature of their own oi great extent and marvellous beauty,-the work of the two centuries which have pro. duced all of our music that is of much practical value In fact the stringed in strument is the only constant quantity ir the history of music. Two centuries ago it was as perfect as to-day. and while the piano has been developed from the harp siehord, and the wind instruments have at tained perfection unkpown even in Bee thOvenis time. the quartet of strings has remained unaltered. Consequently there Is literally no end to the good music fo, these instruments that has accumulated during their long supremacy. Haydn left over eighty string quartets. Mozart. Bee. khOven, Msndelssohn, and the other great eOmp0sers. wrote some of their finest music for strings alone. or for piano and strings. Indeed. the violinist has library of good music Hithin reach compared with whicl all that has been written for the other or chestFal instruments is inferior to e la r k4G1s@utc OcSKcos Oub Wu1l0 bu0 1uStIu msnt of the violin kind is of supreme i'm poVtaace in the orchestra. and possessel such . wonderful literature of it's own. i, is very unattractive to the beginner There is an apparent inferiority of tone te that of the flute and cornet that mis leads myriads. Its thin. reedy quality as full of fun as it is of pathos, combin ing brilliancY, smoothness, and com pass unknONn to any other orchestral in stEument with every possible variety O musical expression-has nothing but al OdiOus squeak in its treble and an insuf ferable scrape in its bass, for the novice Years of drudgery are before him, during which he despises himself and is hated O his own family, and fights his way to som, cert OG recognition against such opposi tiOn as only the sincerest love of grea srt can overcome.
 All this is before the adult who attempts . stringed instrument; and even witl years of patient practice, his fingers fai of the due suppleneas. and his bow neve esemE as alive as the hand that holds it and his music is the language of on
 speaking foreign tongue. as compared with the playing of one who learns il