The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-01-05
ABOUT MUSICIANS.
London Spectator.


A corrCS pondent who should know his subject II
anybody alive knows it, endorses all we said a
fortnight ago about the wild whims of the great
singers and the pardon extended TO them by the
public, but asks to explain why the great
instrumentaliss are different from their rivals
The very greatest instrumentaists, he intimates-
Justly, far more limited knowledge
extends-are, as rule, distinctly able men and
women people with minds, whose converse has
charms who sane in all their acts and thoughts
and who are just capable of self restraint as
other Prospecting people They keep their
engagements they not mad about their places
on bill posters, and if they sometimes grow faddy
about the quality of their instruments, they are no
more given TO wild luxury, to flying kites in
the Streets as Mr.. Mapleson reports of Signor
Ginglini, than other professional men and women
who have achieved success. 1t cannot be that
devotion TO music on the part of the singers is the
cause of the difference, for the instrumentasts are
just devoted TO their art and occupy about eight
times much OF their lives in cutivaing it. Then
what is the cause?
Weshould say there are three reasons of accumu-
lative force. One is that the greatest singer is
almost always great actor or actress also, and
shares in that of the unreality of things
and especially of the unrealty of apparent conduct
which habitual acting almost necessarily begets
Plenty of actors and actresses are good men and
women; but it is impossible to be another person
often a somewhat bad person, and always an
exaggerated person for hours of every day, and
"
That admirable actress, Mrs. Boucicault, used to
say, at least it reported that st one time
she felt as if she could not tell whether she was
Mrs. Boucicault acting the Colleen Ba,cn-in the
the best meodrama ever written yet-or the
Colleen Bdtcn acting Mrs. Boucicault; and just so
far as that was true must the atmosphere of reality
have pressed lightly on her. Every great singer
or songsfress must be more less under that
infuence-Jenny Lind, sanest and soundest of them
all, lattery avoided Opera-and to it is added an
nefr ali ITO hor for
their bread than great singers. The latter are a
rule carefully trained-though Mr.. Mapleson tells
story OF one, stupid man, with a magical gift,
who said sincerely and not joke, that he would
learn music as soon as he had done earning money
but when they are once fully appreciated, they
dare not work too hard. They might strain their
Threats, and the health of their throats-which
curiOusly enough, are with some of them as sound
as leather "found in the pit when the tanner died.
and with others as delicate as babies dgestions-is
worth hundreds of pounds hour They live
lives of involuntary Incidence broken by perform
ances which require long attendance, but actual
effort only for portions of two hours each day
The instrumentalsts on the contrary, work every
day and all their lives, work like students or
professionals, at what, even when they enjoy we'll
as feel their art-a point upon which no two are
quite alke-is most fatiguing and occasionally even
exhausting labor. Work of that sort takes the
nonsense out of all women and most men-has
that is, the effect of continuous and severe train
ing in personal self restraint. Your fingers may
ache, and your head be racked and your nerves go
to fiddle strings with the strain; but you must go
on practicing, or be pronounced by some critic
"falliDg away from perfect FORM" which means
twenty pounds less a night on the expiration of
your contract. There is no cure for whims like
the treadmil especially if the sufferer it going
for himself.
The third and greatest reason for the difference
In character betwt en- singers and lnstrumentaists
is, we take 1t, this: All artists pleasers of the
public who conscious that their power, or their
popularity, or their means of earning fortunes
depends mainly on 1oift tend To remain childisb