New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-04-22

tonight. / want to give the audience some
thing 10 chew on" But never was there
mora conservative pioneer. Il do not care !"
dwell long on the subject" he once wrote 10
Mr.. UPTON. but viii say that have neither
evrnpathy nor patience with those so-cale0
musicians whose education begins and ehos
with Wagner" The remark was characteristic
He did not neglect any new music. but ne was
critical Of novelties. While he gave them He-
ouently enough the principle OF giving ms
audiences chance to keep abreast of the times
ne was. on the whole. faithful to the classical
standards which he had adopted at the outset
We get a few intimate glimpses OF his point oI
view as a musician in the introduction he wrote
for the collection of his programmes. Here
are three interesting passages from the essay
Descriptive music was written by Bach, and Il
attempted long before him even 9pl ~ ~ sen
say that il not successful until "a
innovations of Berlioz. List and Wagner were the
not understood bv BerIioz and possibly the greatest
influence Beethoven had over him was IN ms use
% tS SI P Innovation which
achieved in his 'Eroica by expression MARKS, COZ
the deepest humanity he hardly understood, ne ne
expanded his score ana tred I 10 the listener
and 10 cover up lack Of musical expression with
pramme Of music Beethovens music in the Pas
foral Symphony is easily understood by every one
is not In other words. his music and text DO not
harmonic. though his works were interesting LOT
List with his great heart and human impulses,
must have been a sklfu interpreter Of Beethoven
on the piano, but hardly with the orchestra Hls
own orchestral scores show too plainly that he
never entered into the secrets Of that world He
also looked for paths. for the same reasons as
Berlioz and succeeded in making valuable sugges-
lions, but he was never able 10 reach the helshIS
which ambitiously aspired.
Wagner understood Beethoven principally IRON
the intellectual side and adopted ana tHpandeqI
everything but also without soul. His text and
music. however blended. He made a great impres-
sion the world by his combination OF intellect
and passion, or consciousness. he touched great
in 'Siegfried's Death March. but even in this
chiefly by his intellect Wagner did not cara for
humanity. but in his later life he became Sentl-
Flower Maiden scene shows that he remained senSu-
Gus 10 the last.
It was in this thoughtful mood that Thomas
stood at the conductors desk throughout his
long musical career. and he won his due reward
OF course he had his discouragements. The
concert hall was not always filed with intelli-
gent lovers Of music There was. for example,
the gentleman who once said to him: i don't
know much about music. But, tell you what,
Mr. Thomas, the way those vlolinists turned
over the leaves all at once is one Of the most
remarkable things I've ever seen" If there
were episodes like this to move him to a rue
ful smile. there were others which he found
deeply depressing But. in the MAN, his was
a happy life He worked hard to advance the
cause of good music in America, his efforts won
cordial appreciation all over the country, and
at his death he left name which those who
cherish his beautiful art will long continue TO
honor.