The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-14

country. E1ddileS Wlln bfoken IlDS, liu- dies with the bacSache, fiddles with their necks dislocated, and last but not least, fiddles with broken hearts (the sound post is a hdlle's hearD and, in fact, every other ailment known to violin anatomy. There they all are, each in it's narrow bed, awaiting it's turn to go on the operating table. Have you ever witnessed an ope- ration on fiddle, especially if you are in- terested? It is most awful! Imagine some doctor opening you up without giY- ing you chloroform. Fiddles can't take chloroform. still they have souls, and any one having a soul must have feeling. After the operation is over they bandage the fiddle up, not with soft linens, as in the case of a mortal, but with hard, wood en vices, and old glue liniment, which to a person of the fiddle's delicate consti- tuition. must be very unpleasant. There is one advantage, however, which fiddles have over man in the case of an opera ton: that is, fiddle doctors never give out the bulletins "Operation successful, but the patient died" or Opened by mis- take" Also, the physicians services are all that is needed; no trained nurse to fall in love with, marry and divorce. You have doctor and trained nurse in one. Hence you make one payment and not continued instalment plan; as if you married the fair one.
 The Virtuoso.
 (Adagio Maestro)
 Just a moments reflection on the vast meaning of those two words, Dear Public
 you who go to hear the greatest of violin virtuosos and return with the much hack neyed expression: "A h eaven born genius; never took a lesson in his life, or if he did, 1t came so easy that 1t was no more than child's play There is where you sadly err. Little do you know or realize the many weary hours of prac- tice indulged in, or the black day of dis appointment which every artist encount- CTS before he is ready to reap the harvest of fame. It is that great sculptor, as well as teacher, experience, which carYes with his chisel pain, sorrow and despair, the artist from out the marble of ambi- ton. Though there is no doubt that genius is born in man. still 1t must be perfected by the unceasing labor of many years. Genius is work. It Is to be com monplace, dig and grind, and unless we are ground we can never be polished. There Is another and sweeter side to the virtuoso, and that Is his inspiration. Let us follow him to the concert hall; the orchestra is seated, their leader raps his baton for attention and all eyes are turn ed to the wing from which, in a second, the virtuoso will appear. He walks grace fully to the center of the stage and Is greeted by thunderous applause from thousands who, he knows have never. ten to one, heard him, and only applaud to be smiled at by the world at large, for their good taste and appreciation of genius. He cares naught for this, for when he begins those first notes of the great concerto, the orchestra, audience, all fade with insignificance, and framed perchance by the tapestry of some box, he sees only an angel face, which awaits him in far distant land, or, perhaps, one that in life he shall never meet again. This Is his inspiration, his audience, and. in fact his reward. The lingering sweet ness of one smile from her Is greater than all the plaudts of multitudes or laurel wreaths of fame The orchestra crashes out the grand finale passage of the concerto. The artists dream has van- ished, and now he faces again a won dering but cold audience, cold in the sense that though they shower him with | flowers still with the majority 1t is only | a veneer with which they hope to gain some social end They have not seen or | been touched as have the minority. l When I say the minority I mean those i. true music lovers scattered through the I house. No jewels or fine clothes are their share in life. Still they have seen through | music, the medium of his soul, that | vision so real to the virtuoso. The glory l of those eyes, the sweetness of that smile
 
 shared with the master musician. Music such as this ofttmes does more good and brings more comfort than all the sermons of the -tongued orators. I spoke of the flowers which riches had heaped upon him. He cares nothing for them, lest per chance mingled with those products of the hot-house he finds the flower she loves most. Some simple, wild child of nature which most likely he found in his dressing room the sender, music lover, being ashamed to place so common a bloom beside the bounty sent by wealth. This little flower finds a place over the masters heart and remains unwthered long after the others have 1anguished and died. Then you wonder, cold men of the world, whose god is money. how a virtu- oso can play so divinely Remember this when hearing the next artist, that you must not look entirely for the mastery of technical difficulties. technical trick ster does not constitute an artist. You must look for the soul in his playing. It is soul, cut and rounded, by faultless technique, which produces the sparkling gem of virtuosity.
 The Violin's Abendlied.
 Uento Con Carita.)
 An! what a beautiful part the violin plays in twilights hour. What pictures it paints! How grandly does 1t blend the colors of melody into scenes that were brightest. Oft the violinist, weary with life's burden, stumbles into his little den and reaches for his violin. He needs no light, for love guides his hand. Taking 1t from a battered case he begins to play. Here is the best and fairest of all sweet hearts. She asks nothing. and gives all, and he, Ike the tired child in its mother S arms, lays his head on her breast, and pours out the innermost secrets of his heart. He gently caresses the strings. and as the strains of "Traumerie' float out on the twilight, the angel of memory smoothes the lines of pain from his face, and bears his soul to that beautiful vale of forgetfulness where sorrow never senters, and in whose fairy realm he may dwell till the heralds of coming dawn proclaim life's conflict anew. This is the part this "kng of instruments' plays in the world drama. It is both tragedan and comedian. Tragedian, in that it de- pictE the souls tragedy; comedian, in the sense of bringing a smile of gladness to Wi haa ri of itc