The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-02
A CRITICISM OF OTHERS,
r. F. LuCcheSi and the Musical
Journals Scale Problem
Affair.
And, What Is Worse, He Cannot
Find a Paper to Publish His
Magnum Opus.

The slyest of human schemes, being but
mortal, are liable to failure This is the
story of deep-laid design for self-gloriti-
cation that came back like a boomerang
and demoralized its contriver. The de-
tails are known to only few, but the Joke
is a good one, and musicians all over the
city are laughing at the expense of GER
tain little music-teacher called r. a.
Lucchesi.
Mr.. Lucchesi is the man who devised
the before scheme, hoping
thereby to gain little cheap notoriety.
Lucchesi for nearly quarter of a century
has filled humble niche in this community
by endeavoring to train the young
idea of San Francisco in the rudiments of
the soothing art of music. During that
time he has watched the city grow up and
has never wandered afieid for new musical
inspiration. 9th er local musicians have
strayed away to New York, Paris, Berlin
and Milan and have come back with re-
ports of new compo sers, new virtuosi, new
singers and new conductors, but Lucchesi
has watched them go and watched them
come with sublime indifference. What
does man want with new musical ideas
when he has the advantage of associating
with the immature minds of adolescent
pupils?
But though Lucchesi gave out all the
music that was in his soul, by teaching
and playing and posing, the universal
fame for which he painted never became
his. In fact the goddess of local fame
proved a slippery elf and passed him
of San Francisco began to be heard of as
far off as Europe.
This invidious distinction ranked in the
soul of the ambitious music teacher, and
he tried to adjust things little by saying
splteful things of local musicians in the
pages Of weekly paper.
Some of the sings and arrows that
Lucchesi hurled at San Francisco's leading
musicians whenever they ventured into
the open and gave concert had enough
poison in them to kill any man or woman
who was not incased in armor, but in this
instance, like the audience who heard the
anathemas against the jackdaw of Rheims,
Nobody seemed one penny the worse"
The only results of the criticisms were
that brotherly love did not prevail toward
the teacher-critic.
But Lucchesi was not to be baked of
fame If he could help it. He cast his eyes
towa ard a neat little paper entitled the
California Musical Journal and deter
mined TO use it for his own ends.
To its editor, Professor T. J. Zifferer, he
unfolded a scheme which he fondly hoped
would entwine laurels round his shining
brow. Lucchesi offered to supply the
Journal with puzzle scale, to which local
and foreign musicians were to send in
constructions. Professor Zifferer accepted
this offer, and the puzzle scale was pub
lished in the Journal.
Now the name Lucchesi would have
acted like "Don't -walk-on-our-gr grass no.
tice if it had been appended to the puzzle,
but as the little music teacher was I'M
known in the proceedings a number of
prominent musicians entered gayly into
the fun of the competition and sent in
their lamentations, among them being
Xavier Sctarwenka, man who possesses
something like universal fame.
The other musicians who contributed
lamentations were: Messrs. Adelung.
plane, Eckmann, Hoffmeyer, Edgar Still
man Kelley, Lejeal. Metcalf, Pratt, Rose
valid, Joseph Roeckel, Schmidt, Sauvlet,
Schmitz and Vogt, and Nine. Coursen-
Roeckel.
Some of the contributions were pub
lished in the May number of the Journal,
In which appeared also this vague and
ominous notice: ut is not our intention
to criticize these AUTHORIZATIONS, but we
leave it to Others" Who were the Others?
None of the musicians knew, but had their
astral bodies followed their MSS. they
would have learned that Lucchesi was the
sothers."
He it was who had the task of criticizing
the lamentations. He took three weeks
to sit in Judgment, like modern Draco,
on the MSS. and, when he had concluded
his work, it was good in his own eyes. To
an impartial observer it was interesting,
not as a piece of musical criticism. but as
showing to the last degree Lucchesi's
friendship or enmity toward the Compel
itors.
When Lucchesi's magnum opus was
completed Professor Zifferer was shy about
publishing it in his Musical Journal. It
might cover Lucchesi with laurels, but how
about the Journal? So, though the criti-
cism of .'others" had been promised. it was
withheld from the readers of the Journal.
Lucchesi, however, did not sigh over this.
He was ambitious for a wider circle of
readers than the little musical magazine
commanded, and so it came to pass that
his master effort in the way of scathing
criticism was officiously placed at the dis
position OF the CALL. 1t has gone home
again with the headline rejected !"
stamped on its brow, and Lucchesi is
bordering over the problem of how he can
bring it before the eyes of the world.
Can he publish a magazine and call it
"Others?"
Can he start little paper and publish
his bitterness by the column? If he does
so, who will read?
These are questions that Lucchesi is
bordering over.
Meanwhile the meritorious musicians of
the City are jocular over the grotesque
turn of affairs and laugh at the impotent
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