St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-08-07

TROUBLES OF THE BORED DIRECTOR
AND THE YOUNG ASPIRANTS.

AND THE YOUNG ASPIRANTS.
A nervous young man sat uneaSily
on the high bench of IL decorated organ
in fashionable Fifth-avenue church
one day recently. His foot was planted
squarely and immOvably on the loud
pedal, and his fingers wandered aim
lessly over the three banks of keys,
producing strange sounds which it
would have been gross flattery to call
music. The heavy bass notes ratified
the stained glass windows in their
castings, and the shrill tones of the
melodies he was imprOvising almost
started the dust from the cushions.
"What do you call that ?" sharply
queried IL thin gentleman who was i'm
patiently pacing up and down the
chancel.
THAT is an imprOvision of my own,"
replied the youth, with evident pride,
as he resumed the shrill tune.
"Well, that is enough of that" in
terrupted the gentleman. "Now let
me hear you play some one else's com
position. Here try this fugue of Bach.
Let me hear you play that. There.
No, no. You haven't the time at all
That's fugue. Didn't ever play Il
fugue before ?r
''NO, sir. | have tried them at school,
but couldn't play them very well on
Il piano.
''On piano? Didn't you ever play
IN organ p
"Not since left home, sir. | have
been taking piano lessons ever since
| came to New York, and really, sir, |
can play quite nicely on that instru-
singing great deal, and they thought
| ought to he able to play an organ
we'll, so | applied for this vacancy"
"Well, my young friend, ! am afraid
you will need considerable practice on
the organ before You can ever hope to
fill Il church position. Playing IL church
organ is as different from playing il
piano as singing i'll Il choir is from sing
ing in II grand opera. The trouble
with most young players is they think
because they can drum IL little on the
piano they are tit to he good organists
The position of organist is IL peculiar
one. | don't know anything i'll music
more difficult to fill. The organ is !;
combination of all the instruments il
an orchestra. The full effects of III
opera score can be produced by gOot
| performer on an organ. The player
in order to do this, must be Il thorough
musician, which-yOu will pardon III,
for speaking plainly-you are not. II,
must not only he skilled performer
but IA thorough theorist. He must un
derstand composition. He must b,
able to appreciate the authors idea
in order to correctly interpret them
The knowledge of the stops itself II
intricate and calls into play the skill
of director. He must make combina
tions of the various Instruments so IL
to produce certain effects. And thi
cannot be learned on IL piano any NOR,
than on the base drum. The pedal
have to he mastered, so the feet of tin
player will find the right keys an,
make the required runs with all TIN
skill and agility of the fingers. YOu
see, my friend, there is a good deal 70
YOU to learn about an organ which tn
piano player hardly dreams of.
''After you have acquired prof
cheney on this instrument" he con
tinued, "yOu will be able to comman
good salary. Ordinary organists,
is true, only get from $50 to $500
year salary, but they have the privi
lege of giving lessons on their instru
ments and of playing at funerals an
weddings, which ought to more tina
double their pay. Then, when yo
have acquired reputation as IA fin
player, you can get almost any pa
you choose. Samuel Z. Warren, I
Grace Church, probably is the bes
paid Orgauist i'll America. | have hear
that his salary is about $25OO, and hi
lessons and perquisites give him a fin
income. But he is thorough mus
clan, and his compositions rank anon
the first i'll this country for churc
choirs. George William Warren, {
st. ThOmas's Church, receives almO,
as good a salary. Among the otht
: great players are George Washbm
Morgan, whose pedal playing is eel,
brated all over America; Frederic
Archer, Bruno Klein, of st. Franci
Navier's Church John White, fOrme
ly of the same church, who is now
Europe studying; DR.. Pecher, of 5
Patrick's Cathedral Miss August
Lowell, of the Church of the Incarn;
tion, and Mrs. Christopher, of ii
Broadway Tabernacle. These, | b
lieve, are the most celebrated playe
in this city, and Miss DOwell
one of the most noted lady playe
in this country. All of these organis
make handsome incomes out of the
organ playing and lessons. But Il
afraid am discOuraging you from ia
ing any more lessons. You musI
give it up yet. With study and pers
verance you ought to get positi'
after year or so of practice"
+ As the youth slid OFT the bench al
rolled up his music, another youI
man who had come i'll during the latt
part of the directors lecture stepp
behind the chancel rail and pr
ceeded to divest himself of a satch
which he carried slung over his shOul
- er like a soldiers canteen. ''Am
time r. he asked the director, as
it. moved toward the organ bench.
an an ''ln plenty of time, Mr.. JONES'" l