The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-18
A LOCAL PIANISTt
Miss Elsner's on MusiCa
Technique.
Teacher VINO introduces Anato-
my, Phys oiogy and Psychology
Lotto Her Lessons.

The Cincinnati rsbuDe contains tht
following article q interest 10 the
friends Of Miss Jennie Elsner. the ac-
compiished teacher OF music Of this
city:
cincinnati has. among her many dis
tinguished followers OF the art Of Or
pheus and Apollo, number Of bril-
liant women as we'll as famous men
Among the former is Miss Jennie Els
ner, who is what may be termed III al
sincerity a self-made woman Miss
Elsner has spent the summer in Chi
cago pursuing one of her long-cher-
! ished dreams-the study of piano tech
nique from a scientific standpoint She
has embodied some of her observations
while in pursuit IF this thought in a
! letter to the Commercial Tribune
which follows:
Science in every department has
| made strides difficult to contemplate
The unconscious desire OF man to make
better use OF his short earthly career
spurs him on, and the result is that an
uncomfortable quantity OF mechanical
| apparati have been devised to assist
manual labor, enabling even the ordi-
nary labOrer to lit himself out of the
slough Of mental and physical slavery.
Nearly every form Of activity has been
altered by these inventions, the various
stages being represented in their nat
ural relation to each other, until realms
of the most transcendent beauty are
reached, TO which the ordinary five
senses tas it seems TO me) give no COM
plete solution.
But few scientific men whose ma
lures were attuned to these spheres of
finer vibration have succeeded in
bringing to our intellectual recognition
facts that, when once COmprehended,
make life worth the living, even if So
called fate seemed against one
These great discoveries are based on
simple facts in nature, and were met
on this grOund-but It took great minds
to perceive the workings in natures
subtle workshop and make it subserv-
lent 10 mans requirements. The va
riOus results in electricity have become
public property, and the words al gon'
and ether, although representing
Al large, are household words i'll the
homes Of the scientifically educated
they forming a leading factor in the
sUbtler sciences. The demand for orig
inal research is tremendous and we'll
equipped, carefully trained minds are
necessary TO meet these reQuiTemnts
The great educational problem OF
the day is how to accomplish the great
s~r,- rs I,
penditure of vital force, and make in
dependent thinkers. The kindargaIt-
neT, or those to whom the care OF early
chilhoOd is entrusted, incurs a tremen-
GOus responsibility, which our peda-
gogues are constantly trying to lessen
by deVising new ways and means by
which the advantages, both mental and
physical, Of the child will be increased
and Yain experimenting lessened. /
have had opportunity of Observing va
riOus modes Of early education, and the
simplest, viz, to play upon the imagi-
nation Of the child, arousing the desire
to demonstrate on the objective plane
the various mental pictures, seems the
most natural and satisfactory process,
laying q practical foundation fer later
work
every other department in primary ed
ucation is graspad with more avidity
by the child than the musical one, the
latter predominating only in isolated
cases. Why this should be is not quite
clear It'd me, unless it is the natural ele-
melt Of analysis in the child mind,
which finds a too limited field in music,
as It Is usually taught. The day does
not seem far hence when music will re-
ceiVe its just scientific handing at the
hands of all earnest students, fOG the
world is awakening to the fact chat
music in more than one way is a factor
in modern education, and any method
or system that promises to lessen the
of vital force in the ac-
Quirement CT the art is certainly WOr-
thy Of our careful and unprecedented in
The utility Of music has been dem
Cnstrated by various authOrities-a
concise article appearing in the Forum
for Nay, 1898, by Thomas 7. Fink, in
which he gives very clever picture o.
its possibilities in this respect-but |
this is not the limit. by far
The bearing of music in its highest
sense on character means a vast deal
more than is apparent to most OF US, !
and to those who make of music life
work it is of vital importance that II
should occupy respected place among
other forms Of true education and con
tribute its share in the uplifting OF
man. This it will best accomplish
when used consciously as a factor Tor
this object.
ITO be a musician in this age, il is
said, is synonymous with being called
q rogue and kndve.
Those who hold the Darwinian the
DRY that the amatory feelings are at
the base OF all others have seemingly
ample opportunity of verifying TINS
statement, for the poor, unsuspectIng
musical performer unconsciOusly caters
20 the emotional nature only.
TOO often most OF his youth mas
been consumed in acquiring the me
chanical skill OF his branch in music,
leaving little or no time for invesISa-
ton in other lines OF thought ana re-
search, which might have brought odt
the influence Of intellect on character
and its close relationship with art,