The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-15
4 TWENTIETH CENTURY SCHEME.

Our esteemed fellow citizen. Morris steinert, never lacks for the sub- stance of which sweet dreams are made, nor does he lack the enthusi- asm necessary to give them prac- tical development. His dream of a symphony orchestra, capable of inter- preting the masters, old and new. has long since become fact. New Haven yields first place only to those larger bands which live exclusively for the cultivation of their art. The name of Steinert is intimately associated with the establishment at Yale University of a department of music, second dream come to life. He has done as much If not more than any other one citizen to quicken a love of classical music on the part of this public and to elevate the taste of the man on the street for the purer article.
 That such a man should keep on a. dreaming is natural. We should sus- pect him of lost intellectual vitality should we hear that he was satisfied with the achievements already record ed. It is therefore a pleasure to learn that his emotions are still bubbling with the heat of hope, and that he has plans for the musical cultivation of New Haven every bit as attractive as the admirable plan to make of this a city beautiful He would make of us not only the conservator of the best musical taste, but he would take iis into the fields of creation and there make us. under the inspiration of high resolve, add to the musical literature of the world by the compositions which may atone depend upon local talent for expression and formulation My object" he says, 'is simply to give impulse to the establishment of an opera in our beautiful town; to es- tablish a school for teaching the dram- atic art, acting, Reclamation and sinr- ing; to start an operatic school; to train pupils for the operatic stage; to give public performances of such works as can be brought out by such talent as is furnished by such an acad- emy. Yale University can do this as her monetary means in donations coming to her enable her to defrav the expenses. Our orchestra Is the proper handmaid of such an under- taking"
 Aside from the feasibility or infeasi- bility of such pretentious plan of upbuilding, 1t is restful, to say the last, to hear of projects which have something more elevating to hold us than the coining of money. Obviously to-day MT. Steinert's suggestion is one of those delightful dreams which as children we used to know as air castles, and If 1t had been made by any other man in the community we should be inclined to bathe gently in its emotional atmosphere and pass on to more serious things, but the ways of Morris Steinert are not the ways of all men. He is what politicians call "a doer of things" Who is the man then, or the newspaper, ready to de- clare his scheme impossible of achievement? Not the editor of this newspaper; not the Journal and Cour- fer. As he says. the orchestra is a fact F'lourishing singing societies are a fact. The art of composition is not unknown to the instructors In the Yale School of Music. The art of poetry is to a distinct degree mastered in the English department of the university What more is there to do than to as- semble these sources of opera-making and inspire them with the noble task of accomplishment? Possibly our gen. ial old hero of the cello speaks in the words of prophecy, but may they not be the words of truth, to be ex- perienced later on? If this is dreaming let us dream again We shall hope to hear more from MT. Steinert at once as preparation for the first perform ance of New Haven-made and pre- scented opera.