The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-23

mucf. What becomes Of them alf what
becomes Of all the thousands OF students
Of music ell over this country
Almost every one who Is interested In the
subject knows OF the great institutions
such ~ the New England Conservatory
the Peabody Institute, the Oberlin College
and the Cincinnati College Of Music. Now
good exchange readers In other cities
please do not conclude that this writer
means to lnslnuate that these are the only
good conservatories In the United States
They are mentioned as typical; that Il all
They arc we'll known.
But how many people are acquainted
with the work Of the music schools In SCORES
Of other Olties, such as Troy and Albany
There are two oonssrvatorieS IN Troy and
one Of them has 100 pupils. What becomes
Of them all7 Some certainly 60 abroad 10
complete their studies and expect 10 become
professionals. They hope, too, TO reach
distinction. They do not look forward to
a return 10 America with one recital fol-
lowed by q qulst subsidenoe into the drudg-
cry Of ignominious teaching Yet that Is
the sorry fate thai awaits the vast majority
Of them.
From out thOss bordes at this line Of
year hundreds emerge With tickets for
Europe. They dc across the sea to learn
all the mystery and marvel Of art which
Is held In the Gloss receptacle Of Old World
wisdom They viii sit ct the feet OF
Leschstizky or Rah. They pay their money
and they take their choice for better or for
worse. Or II they be STUDENTS Of singing,
they 20 10 throw themselves before the
thrones Of MArchesi, StookhRusen or
sbHgliA. And hsrS again II IL for better
or for wofss,
After sons yeAn OF hborious study
abroad these young aspirants for glory
return 10 their native land. They begin to
seek 70 r snEa eemsnts. They fnd these few
and elusive. They dssps rately begin 70 vol
unteer TO sing or play az benefit perform
snoes In the hope that the resultant publicity
will be Of assistance to them. They find
to their astonishment there \ not any pub
Bcity that Is Of use 10 them. benefit per-
formancea arc not seriously considered
nv the critics. Usually the newspapeH
disuniss them with . curt and bald now
paragraph
NOW the asplrunt for musical fame IL
told by her manager that the only thing to
do u 70 give . concert. She must hire
hall and do her own advertising and pay
the manager well. She IL now fortunate
n she Is q pianist, for she can give a recital
without assistance. II she is q singer
she must % any rats pay an aooompanlst'
and usually the manager viii advise bert
enRa 70 me- local nstrumentalist 10 appear
and perhaps attract q few paying auditors
for II n an open secret that almost no
ono pays To 10 10 concerts Of this SORT IL
"a quite as bad hsTe a. It u In Berlin. Tho
late Hermann Wolf, the busiest concert
manager IN Germany. wrote to me some
vearp ago to say that In the course OF that
ssAson them w0rs 10 be 500 concerts IN the
German capital He was to manage about
half Of them.
AT ths.e concerto, he said, 'the receipts
win range from rs cents to t2S. Only artists
who come highly rsoommended win get the
latter amount
Well, the tims for the young aspirant's
oonnrt arrives. Mende lssohn Hall is
hacked. The aspirant wonders how 90
many peopb ever heard OF her. She has
never seen her mana gers free ticket list.
He has promised her that she shall have an
audience and has assured her that as her
concert has been properly advertised and
announced IN the usual manner the critics
will ell be there.
OF course all her friends are there. She
has given seats 10 them. 1t may be, too,
that half dozen or 30 Of them have bought
tiokets. The reosipts may reach the proud
figure Of $50. The expenses soar Into the
hundreds. But the manager assures her
Il "a all absolutely necessary, She must
give a concert.
She appears on the stage In a highly
nervous condition and begins badly. After
her first number she IL applauded, for there
IL nothing 20 bad in music that New York
audience will not applaud Il. The applause
Riyes her confidence, and In the second
number she begins 10 disclose her true
worth.
II she u a pianist, Il ls now that the critics
begin 10 sit up and take notice. II she is q
singer, they have already found out whether
she Il acquainted with the hrst principles Of
her art or not. The hrSt eight measures Of
her first song viii tell them whether her
voice Is placed, her attack correct, and her
breathing well managed.
But they must wait and hear half dozen
songs TO ascertain whether she knows
anything more about singing. The more
knowledge she shows the longer they re-
main In their seats. The next morning the
young asplrant buys the papers and reads
In each one somsthlng Of this sort:
At Msndelssohn Hall yesterday after
noon Elaine Smltherspoon, who has been
studying With sbnglia in Paris gave a song
recital. She sang songs by Giordani,
Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Sohumann and
Brahms. Her voice IL a light and some
what thin soprano with little color. She
sings In tune and has been carefully coached
In the phrasing Of her selections, but she
showed little or no appreciation Of their
content. The most encouraging feature
Of her singing was the steadiness Of her
tones and the general evenness Of her scale,
which nevertheless has barely disoemible
break between the medium and upper
rOEistsn.'
What does an this meant Her friends
who advised her 10 90 abroad 10 study
told her that abe had a big, rich soprano
voios, which would one day AZ her for opera
and eventually for BranAhilde and Isolde.
Her teacher assured her that her registers
were psrfoctly oqualiEed and that her Oom-
mand Of style left nothing 10 be desired.
These New York critics, mere hired men,
psnny-a-linsrs, dared TO dispute her friends