The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-06
MUSICIANS In
ST. LOUIS ARE BUSY JUST NOW.

adopt an art as a profession makes IL
mechanical, and will spoil his ideal He
sees no reason to make II a business to
play and as he has means to graufy MS
love for music he intends to remain an
amateur; perhaps. ultimately to become
one Of the Schiele-Garesche "amators-
Miss Marie S-aussenthaler, the first vio-
lin in the st. Louis Amateur Orchestra.
whose technique Is so striking as to at
tract attention. studied in Paris. Berlin
and Munich for several years. She Is
quite young. loves music ardently and can
indulge her fondness without entering the
professional field. Mr.. o. Schraubstadter.
the first cello, returned from Paris about
three months ago. where he studied under
one of the masters. He is in business and
has a very absorbing avocation. but he
does not allow It to interfere with his
music. As a soioist he is much in de-
mand at private musicals on the South
Side.
Even the casual amateur when he is In
the audience does not think much about
the fellow behind the tympani in the
orchestra. People are prone to consider
the drummer Incidental. To the people
who are fond of IL, but do not know very
HluCu dDOuL uluSlCp hc - NhAJ
a very amusing person. who does funny
things with his dexterous fingers. There
are people who go to hear a large orches-
ira and afterwards talk about the bustling
drummers. That is probably one reason
why there are SO very few amateur
tympani musicians. The leaders Of anna
teur orchestras say that as soon as a
good amateur gets just the merest shred
of a reputation he is hawked by some
eagle-eyed ~bandma 5ter. and then his met
amorphosis into the professional is COM
piete. There are several amateur tympan-
lists In st. Louis who are considered genu-
Inc musicians. James s. McConathy and
August L~angenohl are In the st. Louis
Amateur Orchestra and George Hoffmann
is with the Mendelssohn Musical Society.
Carl Sessinghaus OF North ST. Louis Is
the only one unattached and that Is be-
cause he Is married. These gentlemen have
a regular habit Of visiting the Castle
Square Opera productions every time there
is a grand opera on the stage. Then they
sit in the front row at the extreme right
end and attentively watch the foreign-look-
ing young man who handles the drum
sticks In Director L~eisegans's orchestra.
The qualifications a tympanist must have
are numerous. he must thorOugh Iy under
stand music and generally ne can play the
piano. Like the leader. his ear is wonder
fully acute and his sense OF tempo Is ex-
quisite. Suppleness Of wrist and waist
has he like a fencer. for. the variations OF
the music cause him to twist and bob
among the cymoals and drums like a jack
in the box fax Tor instance. the Tower
scene in III 1rovatore-" In some parts Of
the act when the atmosphere Is pregnant
with ominous premonitions the effective
ness OF IL depends almost entirely upon
the tympani. TIT man in Director Leise-
gangs orchestra attuned his kettle drums
at least five times In the twenty minutes
of the scene. IL requires almost marvel
Gus rapdiity and acculeness. Much OF
Wagner 5 weird storm music Is wholly de-
pendent on the tympanist for the grand eff
fects. Indeed. Wasnerian music presents
for the entire gamut Of the
tympanists art.
The Smith Academy Mandolin Club will
its friends at the Y. NJ c. A.
Hall on Grand and Franklin avenues on
January IS. with a concert. They have
all the alumni. who have any
voice or instrumental ability. with the re-
suit that Messrs. Lakeland. Birge. Sim
mons. Richards. Thompson and Morgan
will do stunts" The programme will -
entirely musical.