The Van Buren press., 1895-06-01
auaFnarrln AND wAoNER.


aueeNarfiN AND WAoNER.
r~nw fAsaens tAs LAssr esss
n,s.se - - psya - - chss~
His vs.es.sim fok the elAasies. W.
almost fpnAtiea1. aAd for him IL laa
word. .had. been sid In music when
CHOPIN laid down bis pen In the
eenius Of his contemporaries he had
absolutely no beiis1 The eomposi.
ttcns Of Beriioz be considered wild and
unsatisfactory; sHsener b disukee'
List Is . seompossf Nd aopiaee ~ n
respect; md - aooesa aslnDss u
Tschaikowsky. ~
,Renesntexs1z Rsbius:ein's posisscn
"a sontoer ss 6sss olsuee . eertaan
sequence of ideas would lead one to
suspect that the inevitable jealousy
commonly supposed TO exist between
.two of . trade was At the bottom OF
shi. But any such suspicion wrongs
Rubinssein. He was not man OF that
sort For four years I studied his
modes Of thought and character mi
nusely. fsaw him in many trying po-
bitions, and WAS often surprised to
find how little outside things, es-
pecially personal crosses. dissurbsd
the sereuity of his convistions, end
how free he wss from those petty
jealousies and weaknesses too often
found In the character OF artists. great
or small. ~
In his incapability to appreciate the
compositions OF his eontemporariee
Rnbinstein was absolutely sincere
The mere fact OF his acknowledging
this inApability actually shows the
honesty OF his character and convic-
tions. sineeit wss q brave thing for q
man Of his position to fly In the face OF
the acknowledged and cherished ideas
OF his contemporaries, il for no other
reason than for fear Of ridicule; and
Rubinstein4 was not q man to brave
ridicule II he could by any means hon
orably escape il. 80 -
Rubinstcin himself was sometimes
puzzled, even more than were others,
by his antipathy to the music OF his
contemporaries; and once, when dis
cussing this question, he said to me:
81 cannot understand 1t or myself I
can seemingly explain 1t only by sup
posing was born too soon or too late. ;"
The real explanation lies, however,
| in the fact that Rubinstein's genius
was essentially lyrical and subjective.
He never tried to paint the human
emotions in tone-colors. as Wagner did.
He invariably sang about them, and Of
them, without ever thinking Of Great
ing their musica, prototypes. With
him 1t was song first and song last and
song always. Therefore he differed
from Wagner, and failed to understand
him.
IT was a subject Rubinstein's init.
mate friends frequently discussed with
him, and many were the battles fought
| in the cause. On one occasion he grew
positively angry, and cried out, with
his usual impatient toss Of the head:
"You find 1t good; do not. Wagner
has sent music to the devil and to
chaos. He has been original at the ex-
pense OF true art, and all who follow
him-since not one in a Thousand will
have his cleverness-wil find them.
selves in the end only doomed to wan
der in wilderness of barrenness and
darkness. Their labors will produce
nothing that can live. As for this mo
tive business you all rave over, what ID
It? Where is its beauty? Can one call
1t art? Must singer come on the
boards with his photograph pinned on
his breast in the shape of a motivef
No, and again no. 1t is false, and su
can only regard It,"
When 1t comes to matter of opinion
emphatically expressed by great man,
all argument must cease, since Of all
things great mans rooted opinion Is
most difficult to remove; the more one
works at it, the closer it seems to stick.
This was certainly 10 In Rubinstein's
case. He disliked Wagner intensely,
and was sincere in his dislike. 1t was
a positive pain for him to see his pupils
or those who surrounded him become
Wagner enthusiasts; and enthusiasts
all who admire Wagner are bound TO
become l have many times seen him
sit at the symphony concerts In per-
picked wonder, listening to the thun-
dering applause that followed,a Wag.
ner number. He seemed unable 70
grasp the reason, and surely there was
absolutely no sham in his dislike; Il
came from his very soul. . segslS
y It must, however, be remembered
thst against Wagner the man and Wag'
ner the composer-even whom hall
Eprope was abusing him Rubinstein
never uttered = word. He was utterly
above this. He was one~of the few
artists whose personal dislikes were
limited. 1t was against Wagner the
innovator and teacher that he spoke
Alexander Macarthur, in Century.
uu.- r1ex M.u-eo