The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-24

q
/ They will never Got from thar mAGAEinsa
tho sort % matter that q conservation
nusio critic will Ask them TO Rad
lie gill invite them 10 consider the inn
portant fac, that The songs Of schubert
are worthy % careful study and uil per
hap s,lSRest 20 than the line % artistic
dsvslopment by Uh,ch th. German song
advanced from the stid uttsFAncs % the
minne=anger to the passionate sKpre~sive-
hes % Hugo Wolf or Strauss. He may
take up the ;opso 20 piano music and oder
a study - the different schools and the
difsr-nt methods % Interpretation.
The magazine. on the other hand. will
invite the reader "a burden his mind
with the opinions Of Alma Oluck On the
viciauittIdsa 20 an operAtio career or the
account - the Wat u John FOrssll 20
Edward Greg. 10 he ever made one.
Magazine editors. a. . rule. APPEAR 90
fancy that th~ir readers. 80 far - music
. Concerned. are an army 81 curious chill
dTsn without the desire Or tho power
u regard an art - an art. The only
places IN which serious saNAya on musical
subjects are printed Ars the columns Of
the newspapers. There " no reason
Why this should not 10 the cAas In the small
city Or town a. sell a. IN Boston or New
YoFk There - no editor Who cannot
spare a column a week for the earnest
discussion % nuasc.
There 10 no excuse for making this
usskly column the vehicle for the pub
licAtion ~ petty gossip about Geraldine
FArTAr and her vondruus hats. about
Fanny Bloomfield Zeislsr and her con-
Armed habits % domsstieity or tho i'm
pending changes In the choir of the First
Presbyterian Church and the approaching
picnic % the West COrnstalk Choral
Society
The simple truth 10 that there 10 today
hardly . community q more than ten
thOuaAnd persons anywhere In this
country which does not contain enough
muaso lovers % make . column q week Of
real muaio seldy worth Wills. II any
reader q this pager desires On know how
the writer Of this article knows this the
answer 10 extremely eAsy On make. He
knows 10 by his oorrenpondenoe.
This may b the time and plAne for an
apology. The musical chrOnicleT Of THE
SUN regrsts that he cannot reply % all
tho letters he receives. though he triea
very hard 60 do 90; but these letters
demonstrate one thing Ooncl,Isively. and
IL - that whsn the people In other cites
cannot get from their local newspapers
all tho musical discussion they would
like u have they rad papers printed
elsewhere. IL may be taken fOr granted
that tho eKpeTience % THE Suns musical
observer 10 the same as that of musical
vritsrs for other newspapers which treat
the subject respectfully.
IL 10 the fsrvcnt hope % the present
writer that the tune 10 not far "a when
every town will have az least one CON-
mentAtor on musical topics capable %
writing suGgsstvely. u not with Au-
thOrity, The country is unquestonably
quite ready for this. Tho interest in
musical art IL growing q a marvellous
speed. and though At present the public
appetite h. rather that % hungry man
than that u al epiour~. that At least 10 a
normal condition
II public taste is % he cultivated u a
high state the chief agent will not be
opera That u nov a. u always has
been and always will be. a disturbing sle-
msnt The best taste N % be developed.
as already noted. by the performances
~ q good orchestra. by thoas % com
petsnt chamber music organization. and
by the studies ~ a local chorus
No town IL 20 small that IL cannot have
a chorus II - not essential that this
chorus shall number 700 or I5o voices
A choir ~ fifty voices nAn do wonderful
things II fifty cannot be Obtained. then
probably twenty Eve can. and even that
number can make good music. There
il a plenty - part songs qui.s within the
range q its powers. The entire literature
- the a capslA music % the fourtssnth.
flftsenth and siXteenth Centuries IL open
~ such 4 small chorus Tho treasury Of
English glses and rounds IL waiting for
H. The French and Italian mAdrikAl.
tho Italian frotsoa and the German
tafelmusik are ready for u.
II u not imperative that q chorus shall
give The Messiah or Bach's st. Matthew
Passion or Mendslssohns Elijah" The
publishers % choral MUSIC oan furnish
CATALOGUES % hundreds % good works
written with the small choir IN view
Many 81 thess COMPOSITIONS contain
solos. bat these do not have 20 IN sung
by Nine. GAdski or NJ. Bonci The local
soprano and tenor will do. The point IN
To exotic the interest of the town not in
the singers % the solos hut in the choir
and IN tho work to - performed In
tsnss pride can bs de vsiopsd by the
siDpIs sxpedisnt OF getting up a contest
among the chorIsss of half a DOZEN towns
within easy reach OF each other Those
who have heard such contest among the
chorIsss round about scranton and
Wilkssbarrs know what can b done
Thers arc ohorisss IN that nsighborhOod
which need not hesitate To sing before
any audience IN these United States
Here ono final digreasion must 10 made
The poison Of opsra has entered the choral
vein. No music festival now seems 70
b complete without q concert prsasnta-
ton % an opera. Even 'CavaIleriA Rus
tioana" 10 thus Incorporated in a festival
scheme
There ~ no artistic reason why the
Tam bAuser- overture should no played
on a piano. Equally Ia there no artistic
reason Why an opera should bs sung In
concert form. II wO must have opera
let us have it correctly performed. not
robbed Of some Of is most potent slo-
ments Of expression. There 10 plenty %
choral music and much OF IL 10 far better
than the bulk Of opsratio music.
IL 10 q pity therefore that concert per-
forrnancea Of aida" or sPaRIar-is