The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-19

their deals are hish. thsy should not shut
their ears or their hearts 70 the words OF
those who, In as great spirit Of kindness
IS their friends possess. point out TO them
their shortcomings.
All these singers are hes ping up nusica
knowledge Of the most valuable kind. NO
matter how much pleasure the genera
auditor may get from going to choral con-
certs and listening to finished perform
ances Of the works Of the masters. he can
never place himself In the same relations
Of intima cy TO them that the singer OF them
GA ins. The choral singer knows his Handel
and his Be- oh from within, not merely from
without. There Is a world OF dmerence
between the two positions.
As the musical sec son sinks like the de-
ciining sun toward the horizon the army
Of students who have been kbortng ell
winter at velocity etudes or VOC lives De-
gins to turn It's eyes upon the &c st ana 70
hunger, for the heshpots OF Europe. Az
the &C me time the teachers who dwell on
the hither side Of the trea cherous Atlantic
bring forth their well tried stock OF argu-
ments to persuade the students that 1t 10
unnecessary for them to 60 to Europe to
study. Then the student once more-re-
Joins that in this country 1t Is impossible
TO get the musical atmosphere that floats
in great ms sses around the most obscure
towns In Germany.
The local teacher laughs atmosphere TO
scorn and urges that It will not suffice as q
substitute for technio when the time comes
TO appear In public. No doubt both sides
have much truth to support them. But
one thing IL beyond all question, and IT Ia
that II the oonservatories In this country
do not employ the compulsory system used
In the German music schools, there never
will be such musical atmosphere here as
there Is over there.
Technic il. indeed, absolutely essential
TO the constitution Of a performer or
singer. But 1t Is not all. Would any or
binary human being. not musician. hest
tate moment for an answer to the ques-
ton, Ought a musician to be musical''
Hardly. Neither do the musicians; yet the
bald and unbeautiful fact is that two-thirds
Of them are not. OF that two-thirds con-
siderable percentage might have been made
musical by proper training, but only tech
meal skill was impaired. A musician who
had studied in both sides Of the Atlantic
said to the writer few days ago
Some conservatories in this country
make the mistake Of not compelling their
students to take the general courses In
music. The courses are offered. to be sure,
but the students usually neglect them. In a
school OF 500 students twenty-five will take
the harmony. sight reading and history
courses, for example. In Germany they
a Lea Mt To ha aft
At the best conservatories you 60, for ex.
ample. to study piano. but you are required
also to take harmony, counterpart, theory,
orchestration, score reading, sight reading
and history Of music. You have to work
had twenty hours a week for time In the
German conservatory which / attended.
/ found it pretty hard work then. but I'm
glad now that did it,
This is the sort Of training that makes
real musical musicians. The pianist is not
a mere utterer Of notes, but has an insight
into the nature of the art which he strives
to present to Others OF all musicians. or
rather musical performers. singers most
lack sound musical training. So few Of
them have any genuine musicianship
When one hears a singer like Sembrich or
Campanari one cannot fail to discern the
benefits OF sound musical training Yet
it Is hardly likely that either of these ex-
cellent artists had as thorough training
As that above described.
Il IL true that there are schools in America
where such training can be obtained, but
there are not enough Of them yet. No one
who has not looked into the matter can
have an idea OF the enormous number OF
students Of music in this country. The
land Is literally overrun with them. What
they all hope to accomplish is beyond
speculation. Most OF them are doomed TO
a few sporadic attempts to attract the
attention Of the public and then to sink
into utter obscurity and the proeaic drudg-
cry Of teaching others and preparing them
for similar experiences.
The students who go abroad are thrust
into a world Of such work The air around
them seethes with II. When they are no.
these are numerous and open at very low
prices to the students. They saturste
themselves in musical thought. They live
and breathe music. They have music
hammered into them week in and week
out. That is why they persist in going
abroad in spite OF the undeniable excel
lence Of the technical teaching to be had
in the schools OF this country. The out
ward bound steamers will soon begin to
carry scores and even hundreds Of them,
Nearly every one hopes TO return in a few
years a Nordica, Maud Powell, a Bloom
field Zeisler OF a Victor Herbert. Alasi
1t may be urged that Mr.. Herbert is not
q musician OF presminent greatness. Well,
how many duplicates has he in this
country
Very few Victor Herberts will come
home from a foreign shore. Still fewer
will be ground out Of the piano and violin
mills Of our own native land: