Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-07
The Musical World
FINE. cEc1LE cHAM1NADE will
By Genevrs Johnstone- Bishop.

AiA of 1908 and 1909, under the direc-
ton Of the John Church company.
s
The Strollers' concert quartet, which
has won a good name among local
lovers of music who have heard them,
leave Wednesday for a three weeks
trip through the northern part Of the
state, giving concerts under the direc-
ton of the Great Western Lyceum bu-
reau. Shortly after their return to Los
Angeles they will go east to Chicago.
The personnel of the quartet is Arthur
G.. Steel, Howard e. Pratt, William G.
Wells and George 7. Ewing.
-
The Courier says: "If all the aspir-
ants for future vocal honors could have
heard David Bispham at Steinway hall
no doubt some of them would today
direct their attention to other fields.
Mr.. Bispham did not sing. This was
one of the occasions when he talked.
The baritone appeared under the aus
pices of the National Association Of
Teachers in Singing. Herman Klein,
chairman of the executive board pre-
sided.
"Mr. Bispham was announced to
speak on the subject of General Prin-
ciples in the Art of Singing His es-
say, a lengthy paper, was filled with
wisdom. eloquence, humor and advice.
To those about to take up careers as
singers he quoted the laconic advice of
Punch to those about to be married,
namely, DON'T"
Here are a few extracts from Mr..
Bispham's essay:
"There seems to have been during
the last few years more than revival
of interest in the art of singing. The
interest has increased unit 1t has posi-
lively become craze. and who can tell
what 1t may lead to? A renaissance of
that branch of art prevails; there
seems to be signs of general artistic
revival in theis country, for, besides an
awakening among the other arts, such
as painting, literature and architecture,
even the drama shows signs of q reviV-
flying, while people are actually opera
mad,' and a very good thing, too, IL 1t
leads to the formation of what we most
need, national opera in our own Ian
guage, founded upon the best Of mod
ern foreign models. But to the end that
we may have opera without being
Obliged to import singers, we must en-
courage and train the voices we have
at hand and form models of our own for
future generations to look up to-ex-
amples for them to emulate. Indeed,
they are not a few already, of whom
we have great cause to be proud
women and men of American birth, and
at least partly of American training,
who. after study and work abroad,
have returned to our own stage, where
we have been proud to welcome them
with the greatest of foreign singers of
our generation.
at fear, however, that the average
young woman, who, with healthy
voice and a good ear, thinks to make
a success upon the stage, the literary
aspect of her art, If so it may be called,
counts for but little.
"Musical journals are full of adver-
tisements of singers who have made a
certain amount of success as far as 1t
goes. and from these ranks we are con-
stantly hearing of recruits to the stage,
principally in light opera, as in the
recent case of young Edward johnson,
who is making such success in New
York at this moment.
1.-THE one thing about our would-be
artists that is more striking than al
most any other besides the natural
cleverness of our own countrymen is
the lack of seriousness that many of
them make so plain that he who runs
may read. The get rich quick person
must understand that If he is ever go
ing to get rich by singing it will be
through no process of celerity.
"In Italy we are accustomed to
thinking of song as a natural gift. In
ering 1t as rather a pedantic acquire
men. In Germany, more than any,
where else in Europe. singing has
taken on an intellectual touch; while
in France, the artistry of all that is done
upon the stage is fully apparent. Here
in America, if anywhere in the world,
we should be able, as we see COM
pounded of all the other nations, to
combine the good points of them ALL
Nowhere better than in New York
have the singers before our public been
able to acquire a knowledge of the
methods of their brother and sister ar
lists from other countries. for have
we not upon the stages of our two
opera houses the representative vocal
lists OF Europe, and are not our own.
who are working there with them,
holding their ground without a shadow
of doubt? Fortunately, the stage in
this country is no bar to respectability
or social standing; therefore to us is
open the highest that the theater has
to confer, and 1t is open to gilded ones.
from whatever stratum of society-from
the lowest to the highest. The aristoc-
racy of art in this country is assured
and is respected. The only really bad
thing about the stage is the bad work
that may be heard or seen upon it. The