Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-27

clerical labor and offered inducements for
low rates: and except in such instances
"here immediate possession meant even
tual economy it has persistently turned
It's PACK on costly specimens. unless, In
deed. they fell directly within the plan of
action
WITHIN the last six years more than
1900 items have been purchased. rang
Ing In price from % cents to several hun
dre1 dollars. In the year 19si-1W1 no less
than 1000 volumes of music and books
on music were bought and in the year
preceding the number of accessions. in
Guiding those derived through the office
OF copyright amounted to nearly $4,000
In fact, July l. 1908, there were in the
music division 4S1. 56S volumes and pieces
of music and 1000 books on music, hi
ographical. historical, theoretical and
technical Of this great number at least
a third. it is conservatively estimated,
genuinely merit preservation from the
historian standpoint.
Value of the Collection.
In collecting the music it has been borne
in mind that this is a reference. rather
than circulating library. differing wide
ly in manner of requirement from that
connected with conservatory For this
reason full scores have been given pref
erence over orchestral parts, the latter
merely being acquired when the former
w ilOt exist. special aItentlOn mas Dee0
given to the acquisition of full scores of
operas. so that now this special collection
is very comprehensive and is ranked high
Mr.. j. E. Matthew, an authority among
collectors. declares that already but one
other such collection exists-that of the
Royal Conservatory in Brusseis-and
others have said that even this does not
excel 1t. Last summer the catalogue of
this collection, printed earlier in the year.
came by chance to the notice of musical
critic of Amsterdam, who. in contempt
rary Dutch periodical, Interestingly com
mented upon it as follows:
This work would least of all serve
as mirror for f1attering the fossile
activity Of our own dear fatherland in
this particular field. Here is cata-
cause the mouth of every musician
who aims to spread his scientific hori-
zon to water. We have here 10 close
~ printed pages containing the titles
OF musical dramatic works which the
Library of Congress places at the serv-
Ice Of the investigator and the student.
Computing an average of ten titles to
each page. this would make a total of
LOO numbers. These figures do not
at first glance look so very unusual
for America, yet I would defy you to
ma In any one place here in our Am
sterdam, which enjoys such a high
reputation as musical center, and
winch, In matters musical, can look
w - opoh SNS -SSI dpiHS NC" OIh ana
wealthy Chicago, such a number of
carefully chosen operate scores, repre-
sentlng SO excellent selection from
the classics and from the works of
modern composers. The pref
ace says that special attention has been
given to opera because the peculiar
conditions in the United States seemed
to demand that a center of reference
and research be created for the student
OF opera. We see here again an ex-
n nf 40 fvn1
tional accusation against the million
gathering, practical Yankees, that they
lack all feeling for art and beauty.
Even if it cannot be denied that in the
field of dramatic music America is far
behind other nations, yet this publica-
ton shows in a manner that compels
respect that there exists a warm desire
to remedy this shortening in the ma
tional life. 1t is certainly a magnificent
collection which the great national IL
brary offers it's countrymen for study
and research
Scores of Modern Operas.