The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-08-15

continue studying. The present direc.
tor Of Americas largest music schools had
early experience Of an amateur character
In nearby city OF New England In writ
Ing songs and adnces for his high school
mates followed by course at the New
England Conservatory where Dudley
Buck and Eugene Thayer we're then i'm
portant personages. In those days 1t
was still considered necessary TO com.
plete ones musical education abroad;
but Mr.. Chadwick without undergoing
the risk that some young Americans have
taken Of entering upon European
course insuhiciently provided with funds,
first went into an insurance Office where
he served for a time ~ clerk, and later
taught In college at Oliver, Michigan,
where by giving lessons on the organ
and piano and by living most frugalIy,
he managed to save enough TO allow him
to continue his studies at Leipzig In a
modest degree Of comfort. lie thua
lost two or thre years from his period
Of preparation, but he took no chances
with bis health.
And that Ii all that Nj. Ohadwick
meant In suggesting that students who
wish 10 make profession Of music had
generally best look ahead to see how
long their money will last. While a
few important musicians have fought
their way to success through the great.
est hardships, majority have either
been provided at the outset with means
for their study, or have adopted the sen
sible plan Of first earning their money
and then deyoting their whole time to
their education. Classic instances, to
be sure, there arc Of young men or young
women who won out In the face Of dis.
tressing adyersity, Ole Bull, the vic.
linist, for example went to the Paris
Conseryatoire with very little money.
His funds soon gave out with the result
that the young Norwegian, according to
one story, tried 10 commit suicide by
jumping into the Seine; according to an.
other, be was nursed through serious
illness, due to lack Of food. by Partisan
woman whose daughter he afterward
married. Again Hector Berlioz, trained
as a physician, had his allowance cut
of by an irate father when he decided
to study music. Berlioz throughout
his period Of study maintained himself
precariously as a chorus singer at
minor theatre. Those who criticize his
music most harshly say that IL bears
in It's technical deficiencies traces OF the
struggles which the youth underwent.
Antonin Dvorak, another promising mu.
sioian who has never had quite the tech.
meal equipment needed for carrying out
his magnificent ideas, was the son Of
bohemian butcher whose scanty means
did not allow giving his son even the
slight pittance that a musical student
in an Austrian city required. Dvorak
for several years lived on a ludierously
small salary as player Of the viola in
u town band, and arrived at comfortable
circumstances only as he approached
middle age, For the most part, how.
ever, be great musician had a good
start
That Is right and proper, for, general.
ly speaking, II is much harder for mu-
steal student to earn his way entirely
than for student in one of our col.
leges to do so. No other study makes
such demands OF the emotions and ner-
yous vitality Only the exceptionally
strong can stand the combined strain
OF severe study Of music and Of working
for u livelihood. The individual Of na.
tnral musical talent, furthermore, is apt
to be of somewhat peculiar temperament,
qnieter, less of mixer" less athletic,
less alert to the ordinary business Of
the world than the average person is
In our larger cities there are, of course,
opportunities for music students to earn
their way in whole or in part, Many
young men and young women at the New
England Conservatory, for example, Sc
cure positions as regular or substitute
singers or organists at churches in the
city or the nearby suburbs, When
summer comes around there are jobs in
the orchestras OF hotels and restaurants
at the seaside and mountain resorts,
These, in addition to the ordinary chan
ces open to all classes of students, en-.
able good many young people to help
themselves in attaining the much de-