The San Francisco call., 1910-04-11
MUSICIANS DIVIDED
OVER MAUD ALLAN
Walter Anthony's Criticism
Launches Controversy Over
"lnterpretative" Dances
Critic Supported in Contention
That POctures Fail TO Ex=
press Spirit OF Music

ing? Is Miss Allan, "the classical
dancer sustained in her vitalized the
sis on music and motion, or is Walter
Anthony, The Calls musical critic, illu-
minating when he writes as he did in
yesterdays Call:
Beethoven's titanic expressions
are not made for posturing. Any
eHort to drag Chopins undancellke
measures from the realm of emo
bodv oh TO the medium daneer oe t1
sheer audacity; the disposition to
weigh the spiritual revelations or
the masters with the corporeal
presence of terpSichorean egot1st
is amazing effrontery.
There swings the pendulum of dis
pute in the musical world.
Anthony has valiant champion in
Hugo Mansfeldt, the famous musician
and pianist, who not only supports the
caunse of The Calls critic in this is
sue, but supports his critical ability on
general lines as being on a par with
that of Huneker, the famous New York
writer and essayist.
SEES NEW ART DEVELOPING
Arthur Weiss, Bohemian clubman,
celloist, doctor of philosophy of the
University of California and author of
an excellent thesis on esthetics, takes
the position adverse to Anthony
claiming that the finer, spiritual emo
tions may be expressed by conventional
physical motions and that Maud AL
lan's art is not only pure and beauti
ful, but is new art, a charm of ex-
preston which may be developed to
interpret music, just as the art of
speaking is developed to express the
thoughts and ideas of the human race.
Weiss is one of the musicians in Paul
Steindorf's orchestra, which has
played for Miss Allan's exhibitions.
Nathan Landsberger, the accom-
plished violinist, member of the Press
club and student of the best of music,
would draw a middle ground in his
argument, and while admitting that
music may express ideas, which might
be interpreted, insisted that there was
no conventional measure of music, and
that what musical composition might
mean, the idea it might convey at one
time, would be entirely different from
the idea that would be conveyed at any
other time and under the same or diff
ferent circumstances.
Johannes c. Raith, organist and
master. a graduate of the German con-
servatories, is another who holds firmly
with Walter Anthony that music can
not be expressed by the plastic equa-
ton of motion and that a musical COM
position has no definite, intrinsic pic
torial value.
MANSFELDT INDORSES ANTHONY
When questioned on the correctness
of Walter Anthonys views on classical
music and their physical Interpretation,
Hugo Mansfeldt said yesterday:
There is one way in which l
mlght express my opinion, and that
iSdors is TO sake on MI II An hhnt&nonys & article and
Hugo Mansfeldt." For his views
are mine And they are most Won
ony is a remarkable writer on mus
ical topics. He is better than Hun
eker, and Huneker is considered one
of the foremost of American writ
thor of a work on Chopin, but Anth-
ony has, in his rapid newspaper
work, written better and more
truly on Chopin than Huneker.
Ailan's dancing is splendid-ths
whole idea is put there-I never
read better piece of criticism. 1t
says the final word on the subject.
l agree perfectly with the tehory
advanced by Walter Anthony in
this review. Music can not be ex-
certain composition, say Mendels-
sohns Spring Song does not nee
essarily suggest spring to the. ex-
Allan could take 500 different selec-
tions, each with a buoyant note,
and. striving to interpret it, would
the same emotions as Sne
does in the Spring Song" dance
AS it appears to me, she is partic-
ularly fortunate in selecting her
music. She has chosen pieces that
are well known and beloved by the
peaple, and the people, hearing that
music, are moved-and Miss Allan
tries to make them believe that it
is her art. her skill that so moves
them.
do not deny that she has an art
her dancing is an art in itself
but do not believe that music may
be interpreted by motion. 1t is i'm
possible that it could be. The two
aartsLtnat OF music and that of
ddancisng~are da far apart and can not
Mansfeidt stated that he spoke aca-
demically on the subject, but with full
conviction Although he had not seen
Miss Allan in her dances, he was con-
vinced that music of the splendid type
of Mozart Chopin, Mendelssohn and the
other great masters could not be def
nitely expressed In term of gestures
and postures
TAKES OPPOSITE VIEW
Arthur Weiss, the cellist in Paul
Stelndorfs orchestra which has been
play1ngplaying at the Garrick theater
tkes the other view in regard to Maud
Allan's dancing. The esthetic side of
music has been subject of especial
study by Weiss and he won the high
degree of doctor of philosophy at the
University of California on a thesis
entitled The Introduction to the Phil
osophy of Art" which gained the praise
of Prof. George Howison and Prof.
Charles Mills Gayley of the university,
and which has been published in the
modern philosophy series of the Uni
versity Of California.
Concerning Miss Allan's dancing,
Weiss said:
Miss Aliens art is worth while
IT is the purest of dancing, emo
tlonal dancing. If the writer calls
dancing only the rhythmetical
movements of the body, Miss AL
ien's art is not dancing, but is
there broader definition allow
able, and l hold that there is, then
her art is dancing.
Her art consists of a combina-
ton of the conventional emotional