Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-20

The vacation season hs in full blast. II
is now thought to be a good thing to escape
from all kinds Of work II possible. 1t is,
however, a bad time to let ones musical
endeavor wane and ones artistic impulses
cool. Now is the dangerous time for the
student. A lapse into indifference now may
cause a good amount Of hard work later,
which might as we'll be avoided.
This is a good time to develop ones own
resource. Even If the teacher has left for
a vacation or has closed his studio for a
time, that fact should not prevent the stu
dent from work. For after all, has II not
occurred to you that the teacher does not
really teach the actual you" ou, rather
he teaches you to teach yourself. He Is
a necessity. for he shows you the pitfalls.
the dangerous places, the things to avoid.
He shows you how you must direct the
thoughts Of your own brain, now you must
teach yourself to accomplish Things. by
pointing out the obstacles-and how to get
rid of them.
After all, the real art of doing anything is
knowing how to remove all Obstacles. so
hat the real principle may be free to act.
Is not the great actor, the one who has
been successful in getting rid OF the arti-
hcial mannerisms, the stilted expression and
the stereotyped formula. One who, Great
ing new characters. is. for the time being,
the actual personality whom he ceplcts,
and not M So-and-So as Richard the
Third" Is not the great singer he who is
Tristan or she who is Marguerite the
idiosyncracies Of the person singing, being
dispersed and scattered, in the towering
al onoaffnp ~ A.. --,o-oIsA-
Take 1t in practical Homework, is IL not
the housekeeper who knows how to mix
Ingredients properly, leaving out the OBJ
stacles to success, excluding over-propor-
lions of this and that, keeping the fire
bright and free and the utensils clean and
useable; is II not she, / say, who is sue
cessful in the art Of cooking?
Take the successful farmer, for example;
does he not plant his seed, keep Town tho
weeds obstacles AGAIN. and leave the
vital principle free to act? And is he not
an artist In that he has discovered the
art of leaving the life principle free to
act?
Is IT not true, then, that the real art Of
doing anything is knowing how to remove
all obstacles so that the life principle Is
left free to act2 This repetition Is inten-
tional.
This is the science of art, and art without
a science OF the art is merely an interro-
cation point, while art with the science
of 1t discovered and laid bare is the
straight, simple road, which can be trod-
den by the earnest disciple who leaves all
obstacles behind, or-as 1t was well put
hundreds OF years ago-who, casting aside
every weight. runs with patience the race
set before him."
So, to return to the self-teaching. One
must learn from a teacher how to lay
aside the weights, but he must also learn
how to lay them aside-for himself-ln-
dividually.
Now is the time. The days OF summer
are here. / would urge Upon every stu
dent who reads this column to make this
summer season one Of personal achieve
ment, of critical determination, of earn
est thought on the question, What am I
doing for my teacher?' rather than What
is my teacher doing for met" Each one
(of us who are pursuing the study Of the
great art Of music) has inherent in him
self, in herself. a tremendous potentially,
q POooADAAANSB - bAN
Timid though you may be, 1t is there.
Difndent though you may be, 1t is theirs.
Ekeptical though you may be, 1t is there.
What are you doing with it,
Are you expecting a teacher to develop
II for you? You are deceived. He cannot
do 1t. He can stand as a guidepost, with
arm outstretched, showing you the way,
but, like the g~uidepost, he cannot go with
| you. You must enter the path and walk
steadfastly, faithfully. IN the way the
budapest points out. You cannot take
the guidepost with you. You must go II
alone. But, ever and ever, as you look
back. the guidepost will still be encour-
aging you onward.
n mark you, mark you we'll, that he
who placed the guidepost there knew, of
q truth, that the destination to which II
pointed was a reality. Follow the direc-
tions Of the teacher, but don't expect him
to go with you. Go yourself. You must.
You cannot arrive at your destination
otherwise. You can never get there by
hanging around the guidepost. Move oni
An innovation has been introduced in q
church in the model city of New York,
from which we are supposed to take all
our cues for proper musical ideas. The
church Of the Baptist brethren on Lexing-
ton avenue varied the usual program by
having a whistling solo during the receiv-
ing of the ofertory. After the service the
lady who whistled was induced to give
"The Mockins Bird" whether this re-
ferred to the lady herself in regard to heT
attitude toward church worship I do no,
know. But the dispatches say the
"worshipers were entertained" There is
q little sentence which is sufficiently In
congruous, "Worshipers were enter
tanned"
Now. It might be a good idea to intro
duoe the 'F1orodora" sextet, the minister