The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-01
WHAT ALL MUSIC MUST Be
According to Professor Rose
:: Wald 1t is Characteristic
or Descriptive.
A TALK TO THE soRosIs CLUB
An Interesting Topic Listened tt
With a Great Deal of
Attention.

The spacious parlors in the residence of
Mrs. William J. Younger, 1414 California
street, were crowded Monday with the
members of the Sorosis Club of San Fran
cisco and their friends, who assembled to
listen to a lecture by Professor J. H. Rose
valid on Characteristic and Descriptive
Music, with illustrations on various in
strumentS.
Among those who listened to the inter
esting and instructive lecture were Mrs.
Irving NJ. Scott, Mrs William B. Carr,
Mrs. j. A. de Greayer, Mrs. f. G. Sanborn,
Mrs. George Law Smith, Mrs. J. D. Red
ding, Mrs. E. a. Belcher Mrs. J. S. Belcher,
Mrs. Q. Black, Mrs. w. L. Brown, Mrs. ].
6. Bueknall, Miss c. Callahan, Mrs. j.
Ghretien, Mrs. G. Earl, Mrs. J. NJ. Goewey,
Mrs. NJ. R. Higgins, Mrs. E. Llewellyn,
Mrs. J. Loosely, Mrs. J. L. Moody, Mrs. D..
q. J.. Murphy, Mrs. E. B. Sanborn, Mrs. ]. H.
Simpson, Mrs. Maude A. Smith, Mrs. E. B.
Stone, Mrs. A. H. Stone and Mrs William
j. Younger; William Greer Harrison, Mr..
GFeenbaum and Edgar S. Kelley.
% The lecturer said that not more than one
out of ten who listen to music pays any at
tention to the motive of the composer.
There is as much motive, the lecturer con-
tended, in a musical composition as there
is in a good novel and one that is written
for purpose, and while readers follow the
purpose of the writer of the novel, the ma
jority of those who listen to the work of a
musical composer simply listen to the air
and give it no further thought. Music, he
said, is either characteristic or descriptive;
It must be one or the other. Descriptive
music requires the air of dramatic action );
character music is understood only by
the cultured mind.
go Music, the professor said, has three fac
tors, rhythm, timbre and key, and to illus
trate the first factor he played sixteen
measures from Faust" on the violin and
then on the phiiomela, an instrument that
= belongs to the either class. After playing
selections to illustrate the other factors,
. he then explained the various classes of
instruments that go to make up an orcheS-
ira and declared that no two pieces have
the same timbre, but be the variation ever
SO slight, the timbre makes the instrument
either agreeable or disagreeable.
Mr.. a. L. Coffin sang in a most accept
able manner Are More Fair Than the
Spotless Lilies, a romanza, the introduce
ton to which was an obligato by the pro-
lessor on a viola d'amour. The romanZa
was on a chanol viola. Both of these in
struments are of the long ago, and when
exhibited TO the audience many craned
their necks to get a better view of them.
The vocalist was rewarded with loud APP
plause.
The lecturer then explained that par
t1cular instruments are chosen to render
particular music on account of their adapt
ability, as for, instance, in a serenade the
instruments are the lutte, the guitar or the
mandolin. He then described the effects
OF music on the moods of men, such as
= anger, hatred, mirth and the like. The
timbre expresses these. The timbre of the
L II Z l. Ill
give tone of merriment, but the smaller
one can. The steam whistle of the loco
motive has also its characteristic, for the
quick. sharp, shrill sound from the express
train is indicative OF danger, while the
slow blast Of the freight train is indicative
of the lazy movement OF the train itself.
He then illustrated how the whistling
OF man Is characteristic after which he
spoke in glowing terms of the violin,
which illustrates almost every music
sound, and PLAYED lew bars to show how
the sounds of thesfrst and second viollns
can be produced on one instrument. He
also gave ''Legende, by Weiniawski, in
illustration OF the possibilities of the instru-
ment he was playing on. He also gave an
exemplifcation of the major and the
minor key.
OF Franz List he said: "Liszt reached
the pinnacle of fame by showing to the
world the possibility Of his instrument,
the piano, IN a manner hitherto unknown.
He entered the realm of characteristic
and descriptive music with all his heart
and soul, as evinced by his compositions
for the salon and the church. It needed
a Schiller to translate Shakespeare's
Macbeth into German, a Bayard Taylor
to render Goethe's Faust into English,
but 1t needed a genius to understand
the. spirit and sentiment of the most
beautiful legendary and mythical poem of
IJai7,riob IaiDa thp II .Orploi
Miss Lillian Mercy, pupil of Mrs. Rose
valid, who is now assistant vocal teacher
at Mills Seminary, who has a sweet, hex-
ibIe voice, sang ''Die Lorelei," and after
ward "The Fri King" by Schubert, the
accompanist being Mrs. William j.
Younger, who acquitted herself in very
creditable manner.
After drawing attention to the fact that
the sculptor, the painter and the architect
can draw on nature for his materials, but
the composer must do his work indepen-
dent of nature. the professor gave an ac-
count ofthe effect OF music on the diseased
mind, telling how certain strains calm the
mind and others render it turbulent.
In closing he said: 'All music must be-
long to one of the two classes, characteristic
or descriptive; if not it is a combination of
sounds thrown promiscuously together
like childrens blocks thrown upon one
another. Characteristic music is an ideal
ism dependent on the sympathy, intelli-
gence and mood of the cultured listener.
while descriptive music is an open book
whose pages are written in plain language
and such unmistakable characters as to
make it ineligible, comprehensive and
acceptable to all