The Washington herald., 1912-10-20
Composer of The Garden of Sleep" Says Staus
and Debussy Write Only for the Orchestra,
to the Exclusion of the Human Voice,
and Have Had Deplorable
Effect on Opera.

Ing" I replied. but I've come 10 ask
you . few questions about music. u you
don't mind"
''Oh. certainly not Naturally reserve
the right not to answer. II I don't fssl
inclined"
Naturally" agreed. somewhat sur
prised. It made me think had better
put the poor dear thoroughly At ease. %
I said soothingly. in my most professional
tone:
They're not going to be anything very
dreadful in the way Of questions. you
know. nothing to bring you up in libel
case or anything of that sort. I merely
want to hear q little about the musical
outlook. and every one says you are very
much in the know
At this moment tho telephone bell
tinkled alluringly. and N. Lara looked
at me appealingly.
Gould I-would your he murmured,
but his glance said 30 much moro. It
conveyed to me that he was heartbroksn
to lose one moment Of the time We Wsrs
to be together.
Certainly: don't mind me-" I said, and
he vanished into the hall and talked very
rapidly in French.
SURROUNDED BY MUsIcIANa
rose and examined the photos. Every
one known to musical fame seemed to
be In the de Lara sitting room. There
was preponderance Of sopranos, must
confess. large. robust soprani. and little.
1.-THE ones You've heard Of most Of them,
I'm sure. and no doubt you've listened
to many of them from the other side Of
the footlights.
tried my honest best not to hear and
understand tho telephone conversation.
and hummed snatches Of The Garden
OF Sleep to distract myself.
Back came monsieur. q little distrait
and breathless.
Now. he said. with an eneourasins
glance at me. we will fire ahead. a. YOU
say in your country"
Here. dears. must interrupt N. de-
Lara and myself. to state that you
haven't any idea Of the things We arc
supposed to say in the U. s. A.. or the
way We are supposed to say them. Every
one quotes my country's speech to me.
and half the time. while wear my fixed
smile. I'm wondering in what part Of
America the expression is used, II it's
ASco at uIo away
good old friend. but it's the exception
which proves the rule.
What about music in Paris to-day!" I
asked.
ITS SICK" responded the maestro
promptly. really sick. But think music
everywhere is sick at the moment Don't
you agree with me?"
Il don't know" I stammered. It's %
disconcerting to be asked your own opin-
ion when you've come to get some ono
elses-and then that languishing glance
that seemed so sure Of my sympathy.
Most disconcerting!
How do you account sor the siclnessf'
A LACK OF HARMONY.
TO begin with. there's a misunderstand-
ing between composers and managers; !;
they don't work in harmony. Then things
are in sort Of transitory stage No one
knows exactly what is wanted. The new
school is partly responsible for this.
Strauss and Debussy, for instance. have
had deplorable effect on opera. They
have no federation or care for the human
voice. They don't write for it They
write only for the orchestra. which has
become the soul OF the drama. This, to
my mind. is a great mistake. for no in
strument can get the effect Of that which
has gone through the human keart De-
busy merely makes people speak on
notes; he might as well have comedians
in his operas instead of trained tenors and
sopranos"
What's the effect of this on sinsersr'
"A fatal one. There are few good sing
properly. Their chief task is to get over
the orchestra: the finer gradations Of tbs
human instrument are disregarded."
Does this apply to American singersr'
ITO singers all over the world"
Dear. dear. where will it end?" asked,
discouraged by such musical pessimism-