New-York tribune., 1909-03-21

ist conductor. composer. and littcrateur
hi, talent commanded worldwide s"coE-
nitiou
His wit alone would have made him
famous.
Fearless of friend or foe Away honest
IN his oftcutmcS ~cathIug crIgram>. II all
the bright things that he SAID had been
transferred to paper they would have
filled volumes. Even as It l.. their number
Is innumcrablo. and still to-day. though h"
died in 1894. they crop up continually m
the memoirs of musicians who knc" hIm
more or less intimately.
Although born an arISt"crat, ne was
ariently republican IN ms beliefs and
tendencies. once eNcalmIng testify, y"
politics. no diplomacy, no concessions,
above all no ariNtOCraCV. except that OF
brains and TALENT And hc meant IT.
Nothing ruHicd him more than what APP
peared To him unnecessary display. In
recital that he was glyin-. some one sent
q laurel wreath In the midst OF the pro
gram The moment he caught sight OF 1t
on its progress up the aisle, he jumped to
his feet shouting Take II out. Take It
clear outl" And they very promptly did.
After the recital some friends rcmon-
strated with him. Think of the feelings
of the person who sent it, Think of the
regard of the public
don't need the regard &. . the public,
he returned curtlv And for friends,
there Is no sense in their S"-ding wrcaths-
If they thoughtfully sent me some salt and
Npepper with them, | might have them
#served as salad as it is, they are useless.
u At another time he heard Il Young tenor,
without either voice or proper schooling,
but with wonderful assurance of manner,
attempt TO sing in concert.
To ciro Iil,n that said ynu RuIoW
drylv. "one should be at least attachG of
al embassy
But Won BuIow's antipathy to singers,
no matter what their TcnOwn, If they did
not fulfil his ideals. is Il matter of history.
He it was who said 90 A tenor is not Il man,
he is a disease.
Composers came in for their snare of his
irony as well, no matter what traditional
reverence they inspired IN others. One
night playing for some friends III private.
the piano stool was too low for com
Portable command of the key board. Turn
ing to Pohl, the critic, he said gally. Give
me something to sit on! Have you
Haydn's Seasons No. | am still too
low" he added, when handed the score.
See if you can find MendelSsohn's Spring
Song"
Five languages Won Bulow spoke flu
emily, not only commanding a great VO-
cabuIary, but coming, sometimes, express
sions of his own. An instance of this is in
letter giving his views or the knabe Pl-
amos. of which he was an enthusiastically
ardent admirer As | met with frequent
opportunities of establishing comparisons
between knahc Pianos and instruments
of rivalzing or would-rivalizing produc-
ers, | dare now add that | declare them
the absolutely best in America"
In would-rivalizing he meant to convey
his opinion of the futlity of all other et-
forts compared with the achievements
that went to make his favorite plane,
cIinching his assertion with the concise
expression of one thoroughly vcrsed in
English, not putting it as absolutely the
best, but. the absolutely best III Amer
ica, thus making his use of the word alb
solutely" yet more sweeping.
Pianists came in for their separate share
of his truth-speaking: even Anton Rubin
stein, his good friend, did not escape.
wish" he said medtatively, after con
cert in which Rubinstein struck more than
the usual number of false notes for which
he was noted, - wish that could accept
all my false notes as amiaby as he does.
D,, L., Ia-tIf,r