The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-27
THE MUSICAL CONVENTION.
JEROME HOPKINS RETIETS THE
MEETING or TIE TELCHERs.
Observations nt the Recent Gatherings Mt the
Grand Central Painre-Mr. T. a. rrnti's
stcrropticon Lcctnrr-A Discussion of tho
work Of wouen Canporrr--A summin I'm.

Observations nj the Recent Gntheriugs nj tire
Grand Central paince-ur. =. q. rrati's
stcr-opticon Lcctur--A Disrurrion Of tho
work Of Women Compo-rr--A summInE Up
ny JrRoME noPKiSa
Great 10 pedagogy, and Tho National Music
Teachers arc properly and with proprictyl its
prophets, male and female. but with m immense
prepondcrance OF the female, who often enter
into tho teaching Of music with the earnest
and sclf.sacriticing determination which char
acterizes the dear creatures in most Of their am
bitlons-bicyclin. for xumple-althoug by no
means win equai success
There are three ways Of regarding the series OF
musical meetings that began At the Grand Cen
trail Palace las. Thursday and continued. three
sossions daily. In the end OF the week: ono IA m
humble and gullible disciple ut the feet Of pro-
fessed Gamaliels; one ms the bidsG cynic with a
keen Eye for the ludicrous in sound. sight, and
pretcnsion; and the third az a sympathetic and
generous fellow citizen who believes that any
thing like agitation In the reilms OF Art In gem
eral, and OF Music In particular, must be COM
nendable, and must tend toward that higher
civilization OF which Americans by no means
pres mt too many %exemplars.
The special apology. however. for this re-
view IL not that the convention was held
In New York nor that it Was musical.
nor that it was educational but that it
"un ituit ~ SoIHHItHthoiNo No " cHl
brace the pedagogical. musical, technical. intel
%lectual, creative, evolution ry, philosophical,
sexual. political, scctarian. commercial, ~fanCi'ul,
and scientific phases Of the art as has not before
been done here, and although II consisted in n
gre, 1t measure OF "a mob of country " school
teachers Ito parody Prot. HuZlcy's famous mot
about the parsonsL 1t nevertheless succeeded in
drawing upon 30 much frst-clnss metropolitan
virtuosity that the fom ensemble was quito
unique and is destined TO DO gratefully remem-
berei
The incoptive evening was not rcassurinR,
however. 1t was Thursday. AMI consisted OF
enc Of those semi. provincial ruptions OF cheek
and sclf-assertion which sometimes invade this
metropolis las Coxey once invaded Washingtonl,
and excited q similar style Of comment A Mr..
g. g. Pratt Of Chicago was tho hero OF tho
occasion. and his salutatory proved to DO q
nelanse OF speaking and stereopticou pictures,
with splurges OF childish piano plNying OF utter
schoolgirl swnsh," by the light OF n shaded
lamp that had to be held up to the player by an
attendant, because the whole auditorium was
darkened for the sake Of the screen. This ex.
traordinary country show was called Musical
Metcmpsychosis, or the Soul OF n Song" and the
special song OF all things to be set before an au-
dience OF professional musicians was one OF
Fosters plantation negro melodies!
The lecture part was so badly delivered as to
b entirely unintelligible to persons beyond five
rows Of seots- The doors were OPP n between the
room and the Trades Exhibition hall, where
pianos were being thumped almost continuously.
The windows wcro all wide agapc. thus admit
ting all sorts of noises from the street from
wagon wheels, car gon-s, children yelling, Sc,
addei to which there was a constant stamping
OF feet from people going to and fro at the rear.
There WINS an elaborate syllabus of the lecture
prin!ol and circulated In the h Ill, md then the
latter WIS kept dark for nearly two hours, SO
that NOBODY could read it.
Among the portraits exhibited on the screen
were those Of Chopin. Nine. Dudevant. Bach.
Handel, Beethoven. Mozart Oliver Goldsmith
playing the flute. Abraham Lincoln, and Gen.
Grant, ADD tho cheap 81 oxen commentary con-
sisted mostly Of old cyclopRdic bread and
cheese that We hive all he, ard since the days OF
DR.. Burney and Sir John Hawkins
Among other diguitiel gems OF art shown on
the 5 reen were q d ncint sailor nj a dancing
Song WAS not made very clear to my bu, olic
The general opinion OF the audience was that
queer mistake OF the Programme Comm ttee,
and was a poor finale Of a Jay SO honorHbiy %:
SIN al. but Greater New York is great.
Bat the second days proceedings atoncd for
Friday inclnded among other good things a
lecture on =" Theory o. Interpret 'tion BY Mr.. A.
J; Goodrich in the big Al itorium, IN admirable
thesis fun o original ideas; one on The b isis
O. a Music. | Touch in Plano orte Play ing by
on Woman'a Work in Muse" under The direc.
tion Of Mrs. Tn o, Sutro, who seems to have re-.
Thurber's shoulders in a certain sense; a piano
recital by Mr.. Paul It'd len OF Brooklyn; "a
atty" ,Prof. G. G. Cow. Chsirm ,pl. which In.
Guided a paper on The Place q Music in Lilera-
Curriculum v Mr. Nv. L Handprann
In IN ev, ming took place the Or nd orches-
trail Concert With great interest dispi 30 in u
shelley. a Broo Eisf or sH%RaV 'sS l " Sns s to-, T. and md
aPTpil o. the tano,s Dvorak; one movement
Fritz L~stemann oh played by MIR. Lis, smannj.
ami a few Of the I miller and eartickllnl little
FROM regener led %tonaiity. by a Russian mixed
chorus OF perhaps dfty. voices,
an critical vein, about this single days trSnsnc:
ton, Iut most o. the possible must be omitted
upon VII I iSnpnenied to he !" q ~ Oh BSs hI' es he , tench
which were new TO the public, 5 in,,Saens ever
poetic and wonderful Piano Concerto In q minor
" . miraculously played by Mr.. w. II. sher-
Since tho death of tho late John II. Cornell
probably no student OF the mathematics OF music
desery's more honor from muscle Ms tn N Mr..
a, j. Goo irieh: We have never hsn many great
io9trithms Tor their speed ,ity, and one wishs /
e m"ster sechter's, Carl Rich er's. or Cheru-
Would be hard 10 h1d a Competent master IA un..
less he were = mere pclagogn e. O. C. Muller Is
an acknowledged authority, we all n nit. and OF
the old school. but he is no origin tor. nm DR..
HI Palmer's look proves hun to be very SUI
pert ,ial In spite Of his 'ocIorate. Bat Mr..
Goodrich is one OF Pro-. Typdslrs Original
tnves,iRators n this rea III" and his coo, ~erItion
In this anniversary Was nm honor TO The Pro-
torred.
am sorry that was called away before hav-
N rks on The Bass OF "a Musical Piano
Tou'h.' VIII I l did hear Was aomirab bic, albeit
somewhat dinuse, AMI WAS not quito practical
enough 10 suit INT, as it did not INTO m us how
10 acquire that desirable feature OF pianism.
Perhaps that WAS the part o; this thcsis which |
diu not hear. j Take Issue. however, with tho
notion IhHt "a musi. al touch can lie 4cluircd by
any on 10 whom Col has denic a musical soul,
ann statistics prove the latter 10 have b en- lot
out when tho IN majority OF our Gest pi, nists were
compounded. won't write "sr, HtUs - 70
endow one OF these nonoionously and distress
insly accurate presto -%iIateurs With a per. ectly
Hh"ded sci OF graduated ynami,s without
qualifying them instinclively 10 know when aud
how, ami In which situations 10 place them
(Which only Tho poetic tcmperAIu mt can
dictate pnprompIed hV n nelngogue, Is
dynamIcs, the Cyervalnution of scales. md tho