The San Francisco call., 1904-07-24

makes the music for his father only;
that father who had helped him 50 de-
votedly TO his desire-whO had prom
ised TO his yearning boyhOod Prague
Success, paradise-''some day-some-
time; so he makes the music say that
Success. paradise - some day - soma
time" and the audience know not
where the soul of the musician is. but
he lifts them away up enraptured with
his art, and when, in cessation he let's
them down to earth again, the applause
says that the some day-some time"
sc lovingly promised and so cOercingly
called is come at last. and that the
pupil is proclaimed a master.
Now let US note the inspiration OF the
next victory of the young musician. 1t
is in Vienna. His talent is recognized;
he is expected to do fine things; his au-
d:ence is the elite of the land; his sun
has arisen; and his inspiration now is
a sun woman-one of those women,
bright, brilliant. beautiful, whom his
father had told his boyhOod dwelt far
away in splendor in splendid cities.
This is his second triumph and in il he
sees Only the sun WOnldns Q4dlnoA40-
decked, shining shouldered. brightly
smiling, and he plays for her alone
This second inspiration, absorption,
transport, wins again; and while the
world wonders whence the music came
the artist knows it Is the Countess
Alexeievna- In his diary he wrote this:
ITO touch that Russian woman's hand
I would give all but that single moment
Of my life"
So much for the good that sun wom-
en- do; now let us consider the shadow
sadness that errant genius in cOmbina-
ton with sun women casts upon it's
own and other lives. Where was the
twilight girl when the artist thrilled
delighted throngs, but saw the sun
woman only and played ror her alone?
The pillowless girl for whom the aspir-
ing youth had starved to provide bed.
pure white linen pillowed, luxuriously
clean and all her own. She Is sick now
and seems to need a pillow and a bed
more than all else. But the good God
knows that If the love once given to the
twilight girl had not left her, drawn
away by the sun woman, or II 1t would
come back before it was all too late,
then could she leave that fevered pill
low, dearly pressed even in pain with
dear memories, as certainly as If the
Son of God had said, Arise, take up
thy bed and walk" She dies maiden
pure on the pillow gift Of a genius-gift
ed boys first love. Not so the sun
woman. The artist records the death in
his diary thus: Josef told me. He
said, What are you made of?' He
thinks me hard and cold. Why, I am
as soft as a little child; II my father
should break his arm could never play
again. I am burning with fever. With
Alexeievna living, who mourns for
Ludmila dead?" Ludmila was the
name Of the twilight girl.
1t is interesting to note why the ar
tist nature came to hate this AIexe-
ievna. 1t is little bit redeeming of
deviltry. She stayed with him and
away from her husband; that did not
worry the musician nor any way dim
the dazzling Of the sun woman. She
stayed away from her dying child
through coward fear Of contagion. The
artist begs her to go, but she dares
not. The hereafter name for her in
his diary is "Hyena," and he hates
the fair thing which he had held away
from husband and child, calling the
dalliance Heaven.
Dolores Bacon does not comment on
this diary she edits; she just gives
you the diary to read. mark, and in
wardly digest. Be it imagination's
creature or study from the life of a
single character, or a composite drawn
from many she knew and knew of.
the study is good Of an artistic tenn
permanent too much mixed with good
, and evil, where the evil was willfully
let be preDonderant. to rise to mas
terry more than mediocre. He played
in gratitude for his fathers fondness,
, and made his art fine thereby; he fed
and no doubt richly nourished his
growing genius on the love Of the
twilight girls; he leapt from adoles-
cence to manhood's love and achieve
ment under the spell Of the inspira-
, ton of one of the sun women whom
his fathers words had made his boy
hood day-dream about; but his sun
woman was not wisely chosen, and so
the music ne made for her was falsely
; fine; and we find nothing in the lines,
nor between the lines, of all the diary
to intimate that he ever attempted IN
{ any measure to make his music a 1T
tie return gift to the great giver OF
2 genius. If his love story had been
t different would the story OF his art
5 have amounted to more? If he had
: held to the love of the twilight girl
r who died on the pillow which was
e his first Iove-gift, would the gods have
5 given him more genius. and made OF
n her a true sun woman7
(Henry Holt & Co.. New York;
j 81 so net.)