The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-04-08
NEW HAVEN MORNING JOURNAL SATURDAY

Impractical musicians assemble to study
orchestral works. To have attained such
| a degree of proficiency as to make q
public performance at all acceptable.
each member of the orchestra must
have studied on his own account earn
estly, and with much devotion, often at
no small personal sacrifice. Only a few
| of these men can earn their bread by
teaching. The money rewards of a
teacher of the bassoon, for Instance,
are small in New Haven. and unless
they teach each other even the violin
lists are not all likely to have their time
occupied in that way To live they
must have some other means Of sup
port, unless they are independent,
| which l regret to say is not usually the
case. In an English paper have seen
such advertisements as the following:
Wanted a good stone mason who can
play tuba and contra-bass," or a shoe
maker familiar with Eb clarionet or
tenor trombone In this country we
have no such demands for versatility,
and musicians usually have to play in
the theaters and at dances. Now this
is utilitarian music. and while it may
be well or i'll done, it may not be judg-
ed by the strictest canons of art. They
all know good from bad and, knowing
good and evil, and loving and prefer
ring the good (Which so far as my ex-
perience goes they do without excep-
tion) they have no alternative from
choosing and cultivating that which Is
not good. 1t makes musical life worth
living to these men if they can regular
ly get out of the rut of music which
is doubtful at the best into a higher,
purer atmosphere. 1t helps and en-
courages them to be artists instead of
artisans, and every new artist makes
an addition to the resources of the
community which cannot, perhaps, be
computed in dollars and cents, but
which is not less valuable than much
money.
Material prosperity is not the only
thing we ought to strive for Many
men think even that there are better
things, and that sensitive apprecia-
ton of art (by which I mean every
thing beautiful which is not nature) is
one of them. OF course art u.s. in one
sense, luxury, but the luxuries of our
fathers are our necessities, and every
such change from luxury to necessity
elevates the race appreciably. 1t be-
hooves us to make provision for our
children as we'll as for ourselves, that
when they are grown they shall have
as broad and keen desire and appre-
citation for artistic enjoyment as is
compatible with adequate attention to
their less ethereal, though less avoid
able material occupations. Thus shall
they become more complete-fine men
and women.
II think, too, that every encourage
ment ought to be given to the young
who have more or less original artistic
ideas-to express them. and how can
this be done otherwise than by con-
stantly holding the best models before
them? Not to do this when it can be
done is to neglect a duty. The enjoy
ment of music is among the highest,
the purest, the most elevating we know.
venture to think that the lack of ca
pacity for it is somewhat less common
than color blindness. The orchestra
has been for generations the vehicle of
expression for the highest musical
thoughts, which have been expressed. 1t
Is unfortunately not common to find !
enc in such a city as New Haven but (,
it will be- it must be in time A good |
beginning has been made here, and it |
would be long step backward In my 4
estimation, to allow 1t to fail of its 4
best possible development for lack of \
the necessary interest and support Our \
orchestra Is not perfect, but it is q
healthy specimen of a young member
of the family. The musicians, for rea~
sons which are fairly obvious, cannot |
support It. The university has done |
what 1t but 1t cannot do everything. |
1t is Of no use to scold people for not |
coming to concerts. They will come if |
they want to. 1t is not wise to say I
that people owe it to the orchestra to
support them. If this were true the
forgiving Of debts is beautiful Gus
tom in which the debtors are usually
quite willing to join. The demand for
is slow growth, and while it
Is yet growing, and while the orchestra
Is gradually perfecting itself (another
slow process) it needs help. The more
the help the shorter will be the period
Of development, I don't want you to
-hink that you have been inveigled in
to coming to- missionary meeting, but
want to point out that 1t is not fair
to expect an artistic undertaking of
any kind to be self-supporting in such
| community as this. Without disinter-
ested help-private generosity (both of
which have already been awarded in no
small measure as l gratefully acknowl-
,dge), it must fall to the ground.
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