The sun., 1916-11-05
BY w. J.


symphony of Richard Strauss
Al tho opening concert Of the
Philharmonic Society was disappoint-
Ing. Mr.. Strauss occupied HIM
self less with disclosing his own emo
tons arouse In n mountain ascent
than in making an elaborate tone
painting OF the things lie saw. We
must admit that programme music is
rapidly becoming a difficult field for
the composer. Will Inc rcitcratc must
cal expressions Of love. rage. energetic
impulse and calm contemplation. or
shall lie cndcayur T." draw pictures of
brooks and hills. desert Sandstorms.
ocean gales or charging of cavalry
with juggling III spurs aud snOrtincs Of
stecds?
He must write of one set of things
or the other. The siircwd Nj. Strauss
has always had u leaning t. realistic
description. lie loves 10 do "a shocking
death rattle. as in Death and Trans
fguration.' or "A shrill mortal squeak
as in IT'LL Eulenspiegcl.' lie has re-
Sdicu uS WIN tue tullN INK ttW OF ilIS
domestic life. even to tho spanking "
the baby.
But he has advcntured in the Other
direction on occasion. He has ven
turned metz physical as In Also
sprach Z~arathustra." Nct he cannot
resist the temptation to give im,td-
tons. His sheep bleatcd wonderfully
in Don QuiHote,' and n that ambi-
tious composition he also introduced
us to the sweet uses of the wind mu-
chine in the modern orchestra As II
eight horns. four trumpcts. -four
trom90nss and n tuba were not wind
machines enough In the Alpine"
symphony the wind machine rcappears
n again for the purpose OF produce
ing the illusion Of an actual wind. not
n musical imitation even. And as
Mr.. Aldrich properly noted in tho
Times. cowbells were precisely int
tated by nothing else than real COW
bells.
IL such methods are TO Ice pursued
then let us have waterfalls inflated
by falling water. not by harps and pic
colos and celcstas. Let Us get real
cows to low in our meadows and real
ducks to quack in our lakes. In the
latter case, of curse. the orchestra
ton must he discreet. since tn. voice
Of the duck does not carry well and
might easily lie covered up by opulent
scoring.
Papa Hay dn worked much mischief
With his creation" limitations. hut he
was a kindly old gentleman and atoncd
for hi. v,kotny 10, q, it,. a<pl,t.- IL, ,,r,.,.
Nv composing some extremely pretty
tunes. Tho molcrns have advanced
boldly along the path ut imitation and
now they seem to he on tho furthcSt
border. Imitation cen accomplish
nothing more: W. must introduce the
thing itself. /, is an alarming situa-
ton.
For this reason the other procedure
seems the better one. Let the com
posers disclose themselves. Let them
teal with their own emotions in the
presence of the work of nature, the
story or the poem, For after all his
is what the emotional programme
composer does. albeit he ma deceive
himself into believing that in the case
Of a story or poem hc is ~embodyinE
the feelings Of The text or 'he actors
in the drama.
The truth : ihat all prpSrdinmc
music is II confession of weakness. not
in The art OF music but in the COM
poser's faith in the public TO which
he is obliged to address himself. Peo-
pie talk freely about their love for
music. but If you Rve them music
unsupported 10y II other art you find
ara fnn. az than. q at.tnr..i.v- 10
The creates, glory Of music is II.
independence. Yet this Is what The vast
majority of su-callcd 'mus.r lovers"
demand that it shall sacrifice. How
few there arc to listen to a quartet
IN r fiat minor. opus %" IN how
many 10 bedizencd opera score
filled with bad music. bad methods
and bad taste and mercilessly beloved
by bad singers
The indolcnt conccr .oer asks that
he shall be furnished with It transla-
ton of the art work which he is un-
willing to examine analyti ally for
himself. Musical beauty which is
created to hc exclusively musical
beauty and which has no message
Outsid, itself ia convey is 10 him
something intangible. Give him "A
handle which his %prehcnsiic intclli-
renco may grasp and perhaps he will
approve OF your composition. DO not
leave him hclplcssly adrift on an
ocean Of profound musical conccp-
tlons. Give him a boat, dear COM
poser, aud 500 that In" nanlc i. dis
tinctly painted on both bows.
II you viii follow this line Of
thought to its ultimate conclusion YOU
Will perceive why so many more peo-
pie enjoy opera than symphony or
even song recital. The opera Is the
greatest Of All music's confessions Of
weakness, II H. the implrest OF must
cal forms. wen Wagner, who may
'o admitted iu have kHuWn Fum'thIu"
about tn" subject, declared tiat there
must 10 n n"w "ilt work of the flu
tnre' IN which an the arts tributary