The herald., 1897-04-19

| morning the orchestra and chorus
worked together for the first time, In
preparation for the Fiesta concert. The
| amount accomplished In so short a time
| by players and singers is astonishing,
when it is remembered that both the in
strumentaliets and vocalists are not ac-
customed to playing together. The pres
ent accomplishment therefore, Is all the
more. praiseworthy both to the musi-
clans, vocal and instrumental, who have
certainly worked earnestly and con-
scientiously, and to the conductor, l.. f.
Gottschalk, whose untiring, energetic eff
| forts to drill his people, his impertur-
able good nature, and the force of his
magnetism are to be especially COM
mended. From the indications of Fri
days rehearsal, the Fiesta concert this
year will surpaes all the others in gen.
eral excellence. The program is attract
| i've and within the understanding and
enjoyment of all, and is as follows: "'97
Fiesta March" dedicated to the queen
by l.. F. Gottschalk), orchestra; Hail,
Noble Queen (Sullivan), chorus
''Fackeltanz" (Meyerbeer) orchestra;
aria from Der Freischutz" (Weber),
| Mime. Genevra Johnstone- Bishop;
GLORY and Love" (Gounod), chorus and
orchestra; 1.-THE Boundless Desert"
| (Gottschalks), DR.. Ludwig Semler;
What From Vengeance" DonizettD,
| sextet and chorus; piano solos, (a)
SPINNING Wheel" (Chaminade), (b)
"Etude" (Rubenstein), Miss Nelly Cook;
| "Angus Mcdonald" (RoeckeD, Mrs ].
s. Owens; "The Marvellous Work" (from
Haydn's "Creation"), Nine. Johnstone-
Bishop and chorus; "The Funeral March
of a Marionette" (Gounod). orchestra;
Bright as Ray" Qrom Strauss
"Queen's Lace Handkerchief'O chorus;
aria from lie Cid" (MasseneD, Nine.
Johnstone- Bishop; Star Spangled Ban
ner'' (Key), chorus and orchestra.
A testimonial concert will be given
| Monday evening in Simpson tabernacle
| for the benefit of Kathel Kerr. A num-
| ber of well-known artists will con-
tribute
movement so general and concerted
that 1t might almost be termed cpl
demic has been raging through the
east and in Europe this past season,
whereby the great listening public has
been instructed in the field of music.
Men and women, musicians, critics,
and music-loving laymen. all have been
talking, lecturing. and explaining mu-
sic to audiences large and small. The
history of music, in general, its signil1-
canoe, and its various forms, as an art
or science, or both; composers and their
work. schools of music; the differences
in the various nationalities; modern mu-
sic and ancient music; classical music,
whether ancient or modern; in the con-
crete and in the abstract; with illustra-
tion and without; the battle against ig-
norance. has been waged, and the end is
not yet.
1t is contended, and truthfully, that of
the enormous number of music students
too many are learning the technique of
some one instrument and that Is all;
that too few teachers insist on general
knowledge of the essence or spirit of
music, or give instruction that Will be
productive of such knowledge; and as
for the mass of people who go to con-
certs because they think they love
music, the majority go either because
some soloist is advertised whom they
want or feel the necessity to hear, or be-
cause it is the fashion, or. having gone,
they sit and listen to the greatest mas
terpieces God-inspired musicians have
spent months and years in composing,
as they would sit and have their backs
rubbed-(a3 Mr.. Apthorp of the Bos-
ton Transcript gracefully puts it)-be-
cause 1t feels good"
1t seems not to be confined to any one
locality, this lack of appreciation of
| what the great and good in music really
Is, but a widespread apathy that mod
ern thought and progress are striving
to combat and overcome. Even the col
leges are taking it up, and since the first
of the year the faculty of Columbia uni
versity have hired the best mep they
could get to give lectures in various
branches of the subject.
Mr.. Henry 7. Finck, the we'll known
authority and critic, gave the eighth
lecture in the series which dealt with
1.-THE Utility OF Music" and there fol-
low excerpts from a repor. of it that
appeared in the Musical Age:
"Mr Henry T. Finck's lecture was
among the most enjoyable of this course
His subject ''The Utility of Music" is
a large one, and in it he endeavored' to
stimulate and convert the Philistine VIII,
thinks of music only as pleasant past
time, to bring out the higher office of this
divine art, and to point out its uses all
over the globe, Industrial, social, reli-
gious and moral; in short, its utter me-
cessity to mankind-fronl the cradle to
the battlefield, through many interme-
diary stages.
"Mr. Finck mentioned, the interesting
fact that In our United States army
there are as many as sixty different
trumpet signals. He also spoke Of how
the Hebrews of old sang to promote in
dustry and tighten their labor, and how
the primitive races of today use music
for the same end.
1.-The sign language of the drum
among the savages is of great interest.
This instrument, which after childhood
we are won't to consider most unmusical
boisterops, almost barbarous-thanks
to the efforts of the patriotic, soldierly
tion of these tribes becomes perfect in
terpreter. A curious fact about the
Chinese is the noise they make with
gongs during an eclipse to frighten away
the demon who obscures the sun.
THE bells and chimes are now be-
coming obsolete in this country. Why
not adopt another manner of calling
worshipers-similar to that in Stuttgart
where four times during the day four
trombones are heard from a high station
in inspiringly beautiful chorals? To
hlention all the interesting facts brought
out by Mr.. Finck would require more
space than can be allotted to this article.
His salient point, however, was to en-
phasize the great utility of this noble
art and the immense field it covers.
"The speaker calls it an antidote to
vulgarity and crime. Its medicinal ef-
feet, he said, is more potent than pre-
scriptions or patent medicines in sooth-
ing and healing the troubled mind and
nerves. All lovers of music surely Join
Mr.. Finck in his closing thought-that
though music has attained wonderful de-
velopment of late years, we must still
hope that 1t may ultimately reach the
hearts of those who cannot yet fully ap-
preciate it's accents or discover the deep