The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-08
Society.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2s1

acquire capital enough TO enable MIN TO
devote his whole time to art, instead of
having to conduct.
Remember he was born with a wealthy
grandfather and has been used TO COM
Portable, even luxurious, surroundings
since childhood
This is no more his fault than it IS
the fault of others That their grand
Gathers were poor or worthless.
IT is all very well to hold up ones
hands in horror because Strauss was paid
$3.50 for the Domestic symphony and say
ehat Beethoven got paltry 500 for
great symphony, or to simulate noble
Indignation because Sa-ome brings in so
many hundreds year.
Those who pay the money are not the
losers and do not complain.
Resides, all the unholy profits of the
Domestic symphony and Salome conf
bined will probably never amount to
one-tenth part of the profits of the
merry Widow" waltz.
One of the favorite weapons used
against Strauss is that once in America
be conducted a concert in a room over
Store In the afternoon while the ordinary
business of the esta adjustment went on
downstairs.
Prostitution of art was the politest
thing they said about it.
He said the room had excellent acoustic
properties; that no trace of business was
apparent; that one of the best orches-
tras in the states was at his disposal,
and that moreover. when once upon a
time an eminent actress was taken to
task for appearing in 4 nippodrome' she
answered: Where I appear Is hrst-
class theatre
In his work Strauss is fastdiously
methodical and his writing table is a
model of neatness which would put TO
shame the most precise of business men
All his manuscripts and sketch books
he
scrupulous care. His wife once said
to Mr. Ernest Newman: You may say
what you like about Richards music. but
IL you do not praise his handwriting he
will be cross with you
His usual plan is to compose In sum
mer (hot weather and sunshine stimu-
late his genius).
Formerly his house was at Vanguard
stein, Now he has new house near
Garmisch. so solitary that he whimsical
~ said building operations were inter1ered
with by the chamois which came to IN
spsct the sight.
His method is to GLOW himself a COM
plete rest of a few weeks and then begin
his regular work.
He retires every day after breakfast
to g. GUNNER house where he remains all
morning. undsturbed even by kilograms
and urgent messages. He exercises all
afternoon.
pletes the scoring
Every evening when he is not conduct
ing at the opera he works from until
about l o'clock, and gets through vast
amount of work
Strauss, though not a society man. Is
q good fellow. And his home is the
gathering place for artists and philoso-
phern, He Is the best skate player in
Germany. Strauss is -eminently a
modern.
The pictures on his walls are works of
uving artists The poems he illustrates
are works of living poets, and he was
an imprisoned friend of Elgar before
England had learned to love, and he
was proud of the Dream of Gerontus.
Though Dr. Strauss and the German
Emperor are fast friends Intellectually
and artstically they can never agree.
After a performance of opera of
Cluck the Emperor delights to ask
Strauss: do you not think such music
vastly superior to modern musical
lrama?'
Strauss has an extraordinary power to
keep cool and calm when everybody else
is on tenter-hooks.
1t is remarkable to see him in the ar
lists room at a concert sitting down
talking about things in general when
some work of his own has thrown large
audience into a ferment or excitement
On such occasions he often finds an
outlet to his setality by working stead
fly through the large pile of auto
graph albums which usually await
him
Strauss is only As years old and it
seems he has not yet reached his prime.
Each one of his works seems to in
habit new mental world and to
create a new musical style. One thing
Is certain: He has put into music a
greater energy. greater stress of emo
tor Of
Ing than other composers
His style is marked with no con-
stantly recurring mannerisms, such as
We meet with in the works of other
men. The phase repetitions of Tschai-
kowsky for example; the arpeggia- born
melodies of Brahms; the two bar limp
of Greig; or the slavery of Debussey
to certain fayorite harmonic combina-
lions.
Strauss melodies and harmonics are
oAdlessly new.
There is a Strauss manner in or
chestration, but there is no Strauss
manner in melody or harmoy. Nothing
that can be initiated But his orches-
#, alton Is uaring as it is success
ful. 1t is a marvellous storehouse of
new and wonderful effects of tone
color. What will be the ultimate re-
suit of Strauss innovations, It is
hard to say. His appetite for increased
wood wind horns, brass, for new in
etruments, such as the heckleph one that
* used in Salome and for older iii
strumcnts, such as the saxophone, seems
to grow with what it feeds upon.
The only hope of salvation for MI
sic and for our ears is that the ma
terlal consideration of expense will do
something at least to check this
hemorrhage of notes.
II Strauss leaves us nothing but GER
tsin purely mechanical improvements
in orch estral technics. His life will be
of infinite value. When dramatic crit
les accuse a new author Of immortality
we may be sure that all-he has really
done is to be deeply moved by GER
tain sad aspects of human nature and
human life.
When composers like Wagner and
Struass are accused of outra cling hui
,nanity in their music we may be sure
IL is only because they have felt more
the sting or sweetness of human life
than their forerunners did. and have
tried to express it all in their music
All recent attempts at progress in
music have been in the direction of
more definite expression. Strauss may
be only an advance agent toward thai
tlissful epoch in which bearers will
display as much imagination as com
posers-that transcendent condition In
which genius will understand genius
Every man will be his own eritic. Then
the millennium will have come.
LUNCHEON AT COUNTRY CLUB
A luncheon party at the Country club
yesterday included the members of the