Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-05
Musical

be given Moons in Blanchard nan at d
nominal price by quintet under the
direction of Ralph Wylie. Under date
of November q the Pacific Coast Music
Review, in it's Los Angeles correspon-
dence criticised the plan in terms
which Mr.. Wylie feels are unjust, ana
ho asked permission to reply through
these columns Both the excerpt from
the Review and the reply follow.
The Los Angeles representative or
the northern journal writes:
ut takes all kinds of people to make
a world. This we'll known platitude IS
particularly striking to those who fol-
low the course of q musical season. In
order to gain publicity and make tax
a good many people are willing to thlnk
out all kinds of schemes, no matter
how visionary and impossible their
success may be. Such a scheme mas
been published in several of the Los
Angeles papers. The idea is this: An
American Violinist by the name OF
Ralph Wylie, a very good name for
the purpose. by the way, wants to give
daily chamber music concerts at the
liberal admission fee of 10 cents. win
the exception of William Edison Stro-
bridge the organization of this cham
Der music quartet includes entire
strangers to the city of Los Angeles.
"These events are to be called re-
currence of the same they cannot be
anything but rehearsals. on the part
of those in attendance they Will form
a sort of lesson in chamber music ana
ensemble playing, and as lessons they
no doubt serve their good purpose.
But why it should be possible to gam
instruction (for illustration Is the pest
kind of Instruction. for 10 cents, while
any other kind of instruction rangeA
70 FE a
clear to us. 1t would almost appear
as If the promoters of this scheme con-
sdered chamber music less valuable
than any other kind of music.
But we will suppose that this ar
rangement of nominal admission fees
is made in order to give those unable
to pay high prices an opportunity 10
hear chamber music. The question is
DO such people want to hear chamber
music? We have known of instances
where in San Francisco the prices for
regular chamber music concerts nave
been reduced, for the benefit of pupils.
to 25 cents. This reduction did not
bring any new class of people into the
chamber music hall, but 1t simply gave
those people perfectly willing TO pay
rs cents and 81 an opportunity to save
some money. The general public Is
not interested, nor win it ever be in
terested, in chamber music, as is evil
denced by reports from the Berlin sea-
son in another column, where even
the wonderful Flonzaley quartet could
not attract unusually big audiences.
1t has long been recognized as an ess
tablished fact that the public does not
care to listen to chamber music, allH
we venture to predict that 1T never
will care for this highest class Of
music, because it simply does not ap-
peal TO the muscally uneducated minc.
And it is absolutely impossible TO force
anything down anyones throat Wner
they have made up their minds that
they do not care for it.
so the series of chamber music re-
hearsals given by Mr.. Wylie and MS
associates in Los Angeles VIII slhpiy
resolve itself into a series of ensemble
lessons at 10 cents each person Whlch
will last just so long as the members
of the enterprise are willing TO re-
hearse the classics. If they peneVe
that by permitting people to attend
their rehearsals at 10 cents each they
will arouse in them sufficient interest
to make them attend regular chamber
music concerts in future at higher
nrices they are mistaken, for the ma e
iority of people attend chamber music
concerts upon compulsion, and only say
they like them, because they want 10
appear as people superior IN lnuslcal
Intelligence than they really are. way
down in their hearts they are bored
with chamber music, for tney VIII
never understand ii unless they nave
studied music from it's theoretical ana
ethical point in such a manner as TO
follow the architectural structure or
chamber music quartet. 1t is the IN
tellectual character of chamber music
quartet rather than its musical char-
acter that forms it's Distinguishing
feature. and for this reason chamber
music recitals will never become
popular feature. Chamber music Will
oniv be really successful as an intel
lacfual feast for a few splendid musi-
clans in each others private homes or
for a few select members of the mu-
sical public who are thoroughly Verseu
in musical composition. -.
Mr.. Wylie's reply is of interest both
to musicians and the laity
The platitude with which the editor
of the Pacific Coast Musical Review
opens his attack on me is well CHOSEN
The worlds need of specialists grows
greater every day. Ihe putcher' tlle
baker and the candlestick maker nave
developed into the packing house, the
biscuit trust and the craft guilds
Nothing exists that does not fill some
need. The world needs the great
modern butcher called the packing
house. in which a bewildering array OF
specialties are employed from plach-
smithing to analytical chemistry.
The mere fact that thing exists is
Droof that it is of some use in the
world. The worlds need of butchers
evidently goes beyond the art of butch-
ering domestic animals, to the butchery
of English rhetoric and common logic
This can we account for the existence
of the Pacific Coast Musical Review
and the apparent prosperity OF lts
gifted editor
This gentleman has had the temerlty
to attack a plan and an organlzatloh
of which he knows nothing. He has
shown the discourtesy of astignatlzinS
a stranger as a notoriety seeker. he
has even gone to the length of punninS
upon the strangers name. The name
is a good Celtic name, and no man VINO
heard such is likely to be swerved from
his purpose or serenity Of mind by u
writer who is puarile enough to pun IN
public. When an unreasoning person
Yields weapon against strangers VINO
are minding their own business the law
restrains him if the attack is made
with club or gun. Constitutional free
dom of the press renders it impossible
to restrain the paretic who Wellds a
pen until he blunders over the borders
of the criminal code. 1t is difficult ana
fruitless to argue with such a person.
All that can be done is to repair the
damage the wanton hawks have
worked and trust that the next out
break will present a case that is legally
actionable.
This man processes to serve the in
terests of the musical profession, and
does so by impugning the taste and
intelligence of the general public in a