The San Francisco call., 1904-03-06

II was impossible not to suspect Mr..
Bauer from the first-of being a great
man. A great pianist was prepared to
fnd the great man is another story.
BY the grace OF the pianist's local man.
ager Mr.. Bauer consented to chat with
me on Tuesday afternoon last in MS
rooms at the Princeton. 1t took the in
terviewer-no miracle-iust two min
utes 70 fnd him out. The very fashion
If his posing. standing in" TO help
with the possible shifting Of a piano
taking this and that attitude with ut
most simplicity and directness, Of his
quaint advice TO the camera man
against a profile. gave Mr.. Bauer CON-
pietely away. Later moments con-
frmed the diagnosis. and mine is the
fault II he does not so appear here
There are times when-say Pierpont
MOrgan's berth, or any other-has at
fractions for the interviewer. Such
moments as Mr.. Bauer granted me on
Tuesday last are not Of them. For,
look you, reverence is a rare and gra-
cious privilege. The mighty little folk
Of the earth-God bless us-are forever
persuading 10 the uselessness OF things
the droll. pitiable, stupendous nttleness
Cf ones kind. But 10, behold the
prophet. the spire on the horizon. the
lifted eye and life gathers meaning even
unto a god,
I'm sure I did not mean TO cast Mr..
Bauer as a spire. Doubtless. too. no
one VIII be more amused thereat than
this grace Of genius. But so he looms
UP 10 me, on the somewhat Dutch hori-
z0n q our late music.
The Photographic maneuvers gave
me valued opportunity to take in Mr..
Bauer's charac cteristic outside. Natur-
ally one made first for his hairi There
is much OF il. curled like Bacchus'. and
cOlOred like summed bronze. II fits ad-
mirably a face consistently merry out
side OF camera limits, eyes dron and
brOwn-that disappear in the frequent
smile. the sensuOus under lip. The
other Bauer is no less evident in the
firm chin. broad, thinkers brow, the
Nap0leonic nose 1 was later 10 hear
The square. delicate fingers on the keys.
by which they We're lying, and for the
rest Mr.. Bauer is neither short nor
tall. but generously and sturdily filed
IL and radiantly wholesome Of person
alty. He left the piano stool for a
sUmptuously cushioned rocker when the
artist left US and asked the fitting
cigarette.
"Of course" I began, I want TO
know most how you came to desert the
violin for the piano, Mr.. Bauer?"
The pianist. il is we'll known, was a
WOnder-child violinist. and until ten
years ago was known by his hddling-
III is a long story" the pianist pre-
faced. can you really stand it?
Think first"
I'm very sure can" I laughed.
He asked then. Does il really seem
very strange 10 yOu2'
Deserving the violin for the piano?
Yes" I replied. II is 10 be remem-
bered that I had not then heard the
orchestral pianism Of Mr.. Bauer.
But Why"
But. monsieur, you interview me-
oh. OF course. because Of the greater
responsiveness Of the violin. its near
ness 10 the voice. because there is so
much less between one and the music
with the violin"
There is more than mere perfection
Of tone involved Mr.. Bauer leaned
forward 10 emphasize. With the vio-
lin one has 10 deal mostly with single
line. Harmony. for the single player,
is lacking. The effects are necessarily
limited. Then look at the repertoire.
What have you2 Look at the cOncer-
ros fine as they are, Mendelssohn,
Max Bruch. Beethoven, how many are
there? And the sonatas. There's
Bach, Beethoven, and after them
what2 Mostly inferior stuff There
IS something that cries out for more
after a time"
I gasped a little as I looked at this
new Alexander. 50 charmingly simple
in his imperial ambition. and queried.
so it is the larger world of the piano
that appealed"
Exactly" he nodded "A lifetime
is not long enough TO know it. Of
course. the violin does come closer to
the voice-the ideal music. And the
string quartet comes nearer perfection
than any other instrumental music.
But I've done all that. I suppose L
could sit and play any of the quar-
tets by heart even now-the notes,
you know" Mr.. Bauer announced
this with quite the air Of pride L
should assume in claiming that 1
could read the morning paper.
But YOU are glad that you can play
them %
"Ah, yes" he said heartily. Isn't
there yet another world unexploited,
Mr. Bauer? Your vibrant barytone
suggests IL. 1T means so much 10
ones understanding of the piano
one musical understandings one be-
gins 10 think or should begin to
think all music from the vocal basis.
The violin comes next. A knowledge
Of their limitations-th voice and
violin tribe-seems indispensable to
the arist There Is something dry.
abort piano Dlaging that is
nel GROUNDED. The breath of life
not ~ s-the saving human imper-
fecuon.
It IS The phrass. isn't it?"
Precisely. actusny The breath, the
sustrolo end Eownstroke Of the bow.
rsaft1re Goes the trlclz Tor yDu with the
voice. the vlo-a is - made. but with
Fl 5ry. mechanic ~sfn.ent like the
-r---.. r-.r -. esrv.,,r.- IL