The San Francisco call., 1910-12-04
ANCIENT MUSIC
mid PUNK STICKS
Mrs. Penelope Duncan, Wife of
Greek Exponent, a Pupil
or Abr Di
Celestial Flutist Blinks in Won
der as He Traces Old
Time melodies"

In Chinese music Mrs. Penelope Dun
can, wife of Raymond Duncan. ex
ponent of the Greek renaissance. has
discovered the modes and phrases of
the music of the ancient Greeks. and
daily she takes lessons on the Chinese
flute, under the direction of the be-
nign Abr Di, following with nimble
notes the trills, rumbles and soueaks
of her master Each afternoon Greek
and Chinese meet at 535 Dupont street
There amid punk sticks and strange
carvings, the $500 years drop awav.
and Abr Di with. the solemn weight
of many years mods and bIinks in Won
der as he catches in the music of
Pythagoras traces of the ancient music
of ancient Cathay.
"Allee same" he says. "Bimebv-
alice samee"
"As it was in the beginning, so shall
it always be-" says Mrs. Duncan. Just
the same"
PRINCIPLES THE SAME
Her study of Chinese music is in
line with her work. She has taken up
old Gaelic music, the folk music of
garian, Greek and Russian.
And they are all governed ,by the
same principles she said. Chinese
music is the same. In fact, the Chi
nese and the ancient Greeks were the
only two of the ancient nations to
have written music. The rules which
governed them were the same, because
they were the natural ways / can
hear Chinese music and set it down
according to the ancient rules, and I
can do the same with the folk music
of Ireland, Scotland or any other ma
ton"
To the modern ear the music is ex-
crutiating. 1t is much of the type of
the table d'hote music of a Chinese
restaurant. The similarity, however,
between the folk songs of the two
nations is evident to the most un-
musical ear. To study Chinese music
Mrs. Duncan had to first familiarize
herself with the Chinese characters.
They run up and down the page in
columns from right to left, a ring
marking the spot where the player
takes breath
DI LIVES IN WONDER
Abr Di, the benign one, lives in a
wonder of placid delight. 1t has been
explained to him that the white woman
IN the strange robes is a seeker after
truth. In the intervals of the music
lesson she plays for him the music of
Pythagoras, the songs of the shepherd
as he sat on the Grecian hills in the
very long ago. And Abr Di replies
with pastoral melodies of the Cathay
which was before the great wall was
built
Outside the dim music studio the
streetcars clang raucous bells and a
modern world jostles it's noisy way
along; but in the studio with it's carv-
ings and teacups there is the serenity.
And these two, pupil and MASTER sit
ting in the dim light play on, vowing
that the notes which rang out on the
eve of Clontarf's bloody day was the
same which stirred the soul of the
soldier of Cathay, and sent him to fill
the fighting tale by the great wall to
meet the Tartar tribesmen. And that
when the killed warrior, hiding his
face in his plaid, lifted his voice in
moaning lament by Loeb Laber he
struck the same notes. caught the same
melody as that with which the Grecian
women welcomed home their dead.
"ALLEE SAMEE-BIMEBY"
Abr Di, old and calm. teaches Chi
nese music in the Chinese way He
aims at perfection. Mrs. Duncan plays
i'll trilI and Immediately a warning
hand checks her. Abr Di lahoriously
lifts the flute to his lips and plays,
and she follows again and again, re-
peating and re-repeating in horrible
monotony Satisfaction comes to Abr
Di only when the pupil is perfect, and
then he moves to the next. He plays
it and she follows, haltingly and brok-
enly and then over and over again.
"Bimeby-allee samee," says >Ahr Di
as he triIls "Allee samee-bimeby.
CTTUbr1 rY<O DTTTTAM