The San Francisco call., 1908-07-13

"HE circumstance U
weber's short visit to San
Francisco was made the oc-
- casion last Wednesday of an
informal outing and dinner in the
Marin county hills. His hosts were
members of the local union OF instru-
mentalists, Mr.. Weber being president
of the American federation of mu-
sicians and on tour of the west
The opportunity TO be present In the
role of rank outsider was airorGeu ,
me and was gratefully accepted. Ihe
company was of the finest, the dinner
could not be excelled and President
Weber made a speech. 1t was quite IN
formal, but most interesting. was
particularly impressed with what he
had to say concerning the artistic aims
and accomplishments of the orGanlza-
ton of which he is head and which
numbers, he told me. about $4,000 mem
bers.
I'VE are inclined" he said. over the
black coffee and under the spreading
limbs of the shady trees, Ito look upon
such organizations as the Boston SYM
phony orchestra as centers or muslcaI
culture from which radiate forces OF
power in American music; We are apt
to forget that such orchestras cannot
be of any very wide influence, because
they are grated onto our musical life.
They are not the expression so mueh
of national impulse as Of personal
one. They are, in short. sporadic and
fortuitious. This is easily to be seen,
for they are not American The mem
bers composing such organizations are
not selected from American conserva-
tories; they are imported from Ger
many. France and England few from
the latter nation. The standard Oh
excellence maintained, as in the Boston
symphony orchestra, is indeed high; 1T
is also foreignl The directors selected
in Germany are naturally imbued with
German musical traditions and are
representatives of Teuton. not Amerl-
can, taste. They travel to the ratner-
land not only to get their players, but
to get their music.
"If we are ever to have national
expression in music; il we are to grow
composers who speak a national tdfom'
If we are ever to have distinction
among the nations in the universe or
tone-we will achieve this much de-
sired end not from foreign bodies ar
tifcially kept here, but through our
own native musicians. We willingly
recognize the proficiency of, say, the
Boston symphony orchestra, whlcn is
an organization OF great excellence. 1t
is not typical; 1t is in America put not
of il, and is about as effectual in the
great work of establishing national
art as Sousa's band in Berlin or Lon
don was competent to alter time beat
ing methods and national ideals by the
vigor of Sousa's baton and his
marches"
The speaker went on to show that
the hope for nationalism in music lay
In the organization of which he is head.
He called attention to the numbers in
voIved in the work and urged that
standards be held high and proficiency
encouraged He said ne hoped to see
in every large community symphony
orchestra properly headed and selected
from the best American musicians
available. This would only be accom-
plished, he thought, when the public
had been educated. by the professional
musicians, to a high regard for the
best there is in the tone art.
1T is your duty as professional musi-
clans to take your part in the work Of
advancing the peoples appreciation for
the good in music The industrial fea-
lures of our joint endeavors," he said.
"are only a part of the work we have
to do. The larger duty concerns the
conserving of artistic principles and the
advancement OF the standards of the
times"
Those who participated in the outing
and partook of the elaborate dinner
| served were President Joseph Weber OF