The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
From the New York Times.

 Np1 is the gracious manner of Eu kI pean courtesy, when l met him, and shook hands with cordial grip. The one hand he extended is heav- fly insured, even to the finger tips, but he takes chances in the world like the rest of us.
 He spoke excellent English without trace of any foreign accent and his voice was that of a cultured, highly sensitive, intelligent man.
 Modern music-that is quite a subject" he said slowly, and he picked up bit of paper on the table and twirled 1t into nutelike shape. Strauss, Richard Straass, l consider is one of the great composers. He writes music"
 He offered me, with much ceremony, Russian cigarette from his case, very mild, uneventful puff, and lighted one himself.
 And there is no one else but Strauss?'
 Yes in America you have Parker and Hadley, both composers and musicians.
 But modern music has done nothing since the Wagner dramas?"
 Nothing, excepting to show some tall ent. In Italy Puccini has accomplished something, in Germany Strauss has done much" And in France?'
 French composers are talented, clever, but without poetic invention; they lack the basic intention of music, which is not | merely descriptive I do not mean to say by that that disprove of descriptive music There is much of 1t in Beethoven. But there are trivial descriptions of trivial matters"
 What modern music lacked was the poetic theme, he said, worked out devot- edly, patiently by processes of time and musical respect. One sensed the inef- ficiency of musical taste in theatres as M. Paderewskl touched the points in music that avail in concert
 q am sure the public that go to my concerts are made up of people who do not go to the theatre" he said Tt Is the same in England. There is class there that attends concerts for music and the atres for something else. I think 1t may be a religious sympathy that exists be- tween music and sacred things in nature Oratorio concerts, for instance, are very much on the increase, and the Saxon temperament, you know, does not confuse its religion with the theatre.
 T remember during one of my first tours through the west" he went on, when I was not so well known as l am now, l expected to find a very unappre- ciative audience, and I was so surprised when l say that two-thirds of the people had the music of my programme in front of them, and they were following it. In this country there is an enormous activ- ity in musical education, and l imagine most of my concerts are attended by stu dents"
 You think the ear for classical music
 is destroyed by modern music?" You can never destroy that. Music Is music, wherever you hear it. Offen- bach. for instance, is delightful in his way. as classical as any composer. Be- cause it is tuneful, or gay, or light does not mean that it is not good music.''
 But the public is overwhelmed with trivial tunes, popular songs, for instance"
 Let them listen to Brahms. He was musician who wrote charming songs Yes and so did Rubenstein but he is out of | fashion now" he added respectfully. "Ru- benstein's songs are charming, tender, l poetic, but they are forgotten. You see, | q composer survives by the character of | his standard works, and Rubensten was 1, careless about their execution. He was impatient with their complexion, seeming ! ly, and his orchestration was frequently | careless. But 1t is a pity, because his songs are beautiful"
 mentioned Berlioz as representing the l philosophlc theme.
 "Berlioz had talent, and wrote music, but he was not great musician" said NJ. 1 Paderewski
 | There were only two Italian composers whose music M. Paderewsld had ever used in his programme. l T had hoped to have my new syni- phony ready to play this year." he said, by way of illustrating the mood of com posers, but my tour interfered with my plans. l had everything done but the last movement. To compose. you must give I up everything else; you must shut your | self up and away from everything | With a continent stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific waiting to hear | him. 1t was necessary to defer the com | pletion of his symphony. Since the prod l uct of modern composers was all but nil l in Italy. Germany and France. I asked l him what was being done in Russia for | modern music.
 Have you ever noticed what a same | ness there is in all Russian music?' he | ssid. Tt is all in one key, and the | nnales are nearly always alike. They | have but one rhythm in their dances, one dance to write for Doubtless the polit-