The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-10

I
 the greatness of an organ and given
 their best years to its mastery, work
 constant mischief to the cause of good
 church music in this country. Women
 in many cases work for very little
 money, offering their inefficient ser vices to church committees who accept
 them without raising questions of pro-
 fessional ability. Thus the profession
 is degraded and a great art is need
 lessly kept down to a low level. 1 To what extent is this contention
 based on truth? Do women show
 greater inaptitude than men for serious
 work on the church organ? Is church
 music in this country suffering from
 excess of femininity? The writer, in commenting on the musician's state
 ment, takes exception to his sweeping assertions-exceptions which are else where sustained.
 MT. Henry M Durham, organist of a
 prominent Congregational church in Brooklfne. and a teacher in the organ department of the New England Con- servatory of Music, one who has proba- bly been responsible for the training of more church organ players than any other man in the United States, says that to charge present musical condi- tions in the churches upon women Is thoroughly unjust. There are, it is true, plenty of incompetent women players as we'll as of men who think that they can go through the paces loe the organist's position before they know anything about the organ. For the fact that such performers get work for which they are unfit church com mittees are almost always responsible Really well trained women too often find themselves in competition with teachers of piano-fairly good musi clans, 1t may be-who, seeing that the keyboard of the church organ is the same as that of a piano. and that al- most anybody can get a certain tone out of 1t, rush fin, as it were, where angels fear to tread. What church committees. and even some musicians. do not understand is that the piano habit is not the same as the organ habit at all. and that the musician who has always been in the habit of using his left hand for base notes alone tends naturally to use the left foot in the same way--a practice that is quite contrary to the best methods in organ-playing.
 Oftentimes the amatuer organist does not even regard preliminary prac- tice as necessary to the Sunday morn ing efforts. The church Is cold and unventilated on weekdays during
 
 these conditions. especially with no small boy or watermelon to assist, Is disagreeable and oftentimes danger ous. Therefore, the novice simply goes ahead on Sunday morning and does her best, which from the point of view of expert musicianship Is apt to be very bad indeed.
 In general the standard of organ playing is still rather higher in Great Britian than hero. The appointment of organists over there rests almost universally with the clergy rather than with church committee. Most ministers as part of their education have had training In music; the odds are that a church committeeman has had little or none.
 But in the midst of any conditions there is no reason, MT. Durham be- lleves on the basis of very long ex- perience with students, why the wo- men should not be regarded as capa- ble as the man of executing good church music on the church organ. Indeed she is likely to be more consci- entious in regard to hard work and yet qufee as quick to rise to the oc- casion when special brilliancy Is ex- pected.
 It Is undoubtedly true that the op- portunities for practice on the church organ are so few in most places that people undertake to play who are i'm properly prepared for the work; but such a statement applies to men as much as to women. Apparently a very easy instrument to play upon, the church organ Is in reality one requir- ing the highest degree of artistic skill. In spite of the retarding influence of the church committee system, a steady improvement Is going on from year to year. If women are at any disadvan- tage as compared with men 1t is be- cause they are particularly likely to be chosen for the less important positions in the kind of church mentioned by 3 famous Boston organist who was in vited to play up in Vermont and to whom the sexton afterward remarked | to the pedals: You see them | things. don't you? Now you know our she never disturbs them, and | always thought they was for ven- Lilation."
 Women who want to learn to play | he church organ in a really profess | ,ional way will always be for the most | part dependent upon the music schools | 'f our larger cities for instruction. In l cases some notable organ st in a smaller place takes pupils. There is even on record the case of a amous performer of not so many Tears ago in a southern twon who re- 'eived two or three students each year whom he paid for their trouble in talk ng his lessons; 1t was a pleasure to Jim, he said, to teach and a distinct rouble to them to learn. Such oppor- unities, however. are not common Practically there is in most places the difficulty of securing a hance to practice under favoring con litions. Even if the church organ can 'e used during weekdays. in nineteen ases out of twenty during the winter