New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-06
r,sIish Rendition
~ Rolla n d $
musicians of To-
day"-AutObiOg-
raphy of Lilli
Lehman.
BY H. E. KREHBIEL.


~ :, the memOry-aS a more OF
um' ,lsssure sensation Of the nina.
iSss,rrbile. musical publications ana
AeSh" -. music accumulate; and they
p9oAs ,,rrosed 10 be more enduring than
"s So "A books a book, although
~ rotbing in it, said Byron, but
De .s;,g within binders boards would
nyI"ihn e.ter entitled 10 serious atten-
80 .Ssn an evanesceut performance
u' As;rg more concrete and tangible
= 90. but even that depends.
r.sorsunately the really Valuaoie
~ an music in the annual output
- and in England Is not large COM
~ with the volumes which seem
pss-sssed 20 the infantile or the pro
ss.s;orsl mind. There IS overmuch
..mrsine of old material IN the ms.
.s.;esl field and a paucity OF original
..ssreb or original deduction; over
srsb pedsntry in the pedagoglcai'
n ~ personal equation and senti-
.r,.Iitv in the critical. The last
.I,nsbt was called up BY the last oil
~ mblications which has come from
-. ~" srsss. II is Roman ROLAND S
9iu9sians of To-day the English
+,sr.istion by Mary Blalklock, with
:" ;,troduetion By Claude Landl TO mt
!, "a he the beginning of a series to
!. ssIlsd "The Musician Bookshelf,
~ ,nbiished in New York by Henry
uo.E 20. VI. ROLAND impressed hlm-
s.N weiehtily upon the public mlndc
- Lis ponderous "Jean Christophe.
Tss thought of something from MS pen
l,,, stupendous was pleasant IN pros
n,st. hut il must be confessed that
,ssrs il much too little of substance
n natter or style in this book to
ir..ifv the claim that has been made
ior NJ. ROLAND as the hrst OF french
critics An equal number or NJ. CaINo-
esressis fugitive essays gathered TO-
sether would make equally lnterestlhs'
entertaining and instructive readlng g
This feeling is partly due, no couol'
10 the fact that N. ROLAND spends so
msnv pages in telling US what every
boeraphieal sketch and analytical pro-
Trsmme book has told us about the
COMPOSERS Of to-day ever since the
first appearance Of their works IN our
concert rooms. Of course. the essays
we're written for French consumption,
and that NAV be "a valid excuse for
their publcation in collected form. II
50. II must be said that the patrons
Of the symphonic concerts IN Paris are
less fortunately situated than those OF
Boston. New York or Chicago. There
is an Unexpectedly large amount or
superfeality in NJ. Hollands pages.
lie is entirely willing 10 follow the
tasy road Of accepting what a com
poser SAYS he intended 20 convey as
the real contents of a composition
Richard Strauss, for example waxing
eloquent from that point Of view. But
there are limits 10 the credlblhty Wnlch
ought to be given 20 programmatists
OF the Strauss stripe Herr Strauss s
own statements, for instance, are not
worth the least attention. For years
he has pursued the policy OF using an
elusive sort Of publicity bureau TO
pique the curiosity Of the public about
bus forthcoming work, its scope ana
contents. then protesting against any
statement that he intended TO be de-
linestive in any dehnitive way, and
finally, permitting an inspired inter
prefer 10 affiX the programme TO which
he, so far as We know, has never OBJ
jseted Thus with don QuiXote. "
"En Hcldenleben.p "Till Eulenspiegel
and, almost scandalously, "Sinfonla
Domestics"
It's 70 be feared that N. ROLAND has
TOO faeile a pen; that, after all, he
writes too much for the fleeting mo-
ment. To our knowledge Of Strauss ne
contributes nothing except his own
preferences; 10 our knowledge Of Ber-
AoL nothing except that the most virilc
Of french composers in the nineteenth
century has a peculiarly enthusiastic
aamrer ID him, an admirer, indeed, who
Lss done injustice 10 several of Ber-
loz's PREDECESSORS, contemporaries and
successors, BY his lack of discrimina-
non. We have not examined the orig
maj OF N. Hollands book 20 discOye r
vssiher he or the translator is respon-
hoie Tor some singular blunders re-
Fesied by even hurried reading. II
nust surely have been Miss Blackjack
sha not N. ROLAND who discovered
seelhoyen's Fourth Symphony in 6
harp Minor but which Of the two is
i'spons.ble for Bcrlioz's lies Troyens
Troy, the title Of which appears in
Vine. Lehmanns Autobiography.
4 bright exception among recent mu-
"a publications is the autobiography
an Lehman, published in the orig
- yerman m 1913 under the charac-
Sue tltle, "Nein Veg" and now Is
i'. "a English IN translation made
Anee Benedict Seligman under the
~ ny Path Through Life" and pub
ii.neo y {. p. Putnam's Sons. Opera
~ herman opera lovers especially
r. laihk THIS the most delightful OF
os.sai photographic. II is not
49, 49, mat great singer has the in
ss0al gifts and the skill 70 describe
m 81 the past and 20 tell the story
- brilliant career, revealing also
bf. a'seters that have Influenced her
h ,siS Indicating her artistic growth
cove 4s tne attention from cover "a
49,. Inc reader is taken into the
ISit.ssqae cities Of Prague. Dantzic
In,yse' Berlin, Bayreuth. Stockholm
N s~ " and salzburg, and also into
Nj iofs and other American cities
trs,., .nSt - Of local interest wa
lsss ,.4lsa from the German edition
III 'est and printed In The Tribune
,i.s. Scine corrections and amplifca-
tnda ms might have suffced TO in.
"A. IA she present publication were II
49, M1l readers memories are short
}, ma shas there was much that had tC
49,. .snorsd FOR the sake Of the loca
80; he admirers Of Nine. Leh
81 personality, and there are
n s1en IN New York, where she VA,
q. '.nS and efficiently associated Will
~ gSs,siopment Of German opera a.
80, ss'iopolitan Opera House, In thu
a. -, period, viii be more interested il
y, account Of her family history or
40 ha'ihtrs side, taken from an ole
i'm manuscript By her aunt. thar
,S.i.he general reader. II throws I
s,sght On Nine. Lehmann's partisan
skss selsr that she has 20 much 70 sal
,,@,i Ger mothers ancestry and prac
is,ssy hothing about her fathers. Thu
"a Ior this vas because her fsthel
80. eissolute man. and her mothe.
s.s .SSss.squenee was forced 70 be th'
,s =. asiiinner and the protector OF he.
| g. hllefsn. Her mother was Marie
eSl Who in i2l7 gave her hand 1,