The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-02-15
AMY FAY.

The story of Miss Fay's little book is
most interesting one, and it seems as
though her fame was to be established,
not so much in the direction where her
ambition pointed as through the publica-
ton of this book, which was originally
written with no idea whatever of publica-
ton. Miss Fay was Chicago girl, origi-
nally from the vicinity of Boston. She
early displayed extraordinary talent for
piano playing and a remarkable fondness
and understanding of music. She had as
thorough an education in music as could
be given in the Boston Conservatives, but
did not regard her education as sufficient,
and in 1869 she went to Germany. AT that
time the historian Bancroft was the United
States minister to the Prussian govern
ment, and he was an intimate friend of
some members of Miss Fay's family. She
was able to enjoy special facilities on ac-
count of his friendship.
Miss Fay remained in Germany some five
years, and in that time was brought in
professional contact with the greatest mu-
sicians of the world. That brilliant genius
Tausig gave her some of the last lessons of
his life; she saw Wagner many times, and
was one of the first to appreciate him of all
Americans; she was in Berlin at the time
of the Franco-Prussian war. That great
teacher Kullak gave her lessons, and she
was often able to meet such geniuses as
Joachim, Clara Schumann, Won Bulow
and Rubinstein. She was also one of the
private pupils of List, and saw much of
him in his professional and private life
After this training Miss Fay retYrned to
America, where she probably wot1d have
been only locally known as player of ex-
traordinary gifts had it not been for the
book. She became teacher in the Chicago
conservatory, and seldom appears as pub
lie performer. During Miss Fay's absence
she wrote letters to her friends at home,
and these letters were brimful of anec-
dotes, characteriZations of the geniuses of
the musical world, clever analyses of the
talents of these great men and women and
charming bits of description. She wrote
them for private eyes alone, but the letters
were written with such delightful SIM
! plicity of style, were so lucid and graphic,
! and so evidently the reflection of an en-
! thusiastic soul that they were passed about
| from friend to friend and were looked for
| with the greatest interest.
| When she returned member of the fam
! lily collected the letters and edited them,
| taking out such comments as were of a
! private nature purely, and they were pub
| lished in $780, The literary and musical
world recognized the book at once as a
work of extraordinary ability, uncon-
sciously exercised as it was.
The book brought her fame at once, and
it seems now to have safely passed the test
and become permanent contribution to
our literature.
1t was in 1870 that she wrote of Wagner:
"Wagner's melodies are SO heavily and in
toxicatingly sweet that they are almost
narcotic. His music eXcites a set of emo
tons that no other music does, and he is a
great original. l always feel as if would
like to swoon away when hear his COM
positions" Of Joachim she said that ''the
pathetic tones he draws from his violin go
through one like knife" Twenty years
later Miss Fay's judgment of Wagner is
that of every one, although at that time
her opinion would have been regarded as
musical heresy in America. Her descrip-
tions of List are delightful and intensely
graphic. But we might go on repeating
extracts from the work ad ibitum 1t is
so free from technical terms that any one
may read it with pleasure.
E. J. EDWARDS.