The Washington times., 1918-07-18
FRENCH ORGANIST
TALKS ON FUTURE
OF AMERICAN MUSIC

PITTSBURGH, July 1S.-Came a let
ter from william c. Carl, saying,
Joseph Bonnet will be in your town
at 7:2o Wednesday morning and he
wants to buy your breakfast" There
is no such hour on a musicians clock
as 7:20 Elm the morning, SO we set
our Big Ben to find 1t. Very much
later we cranked up our Elizabeth
Of Michigan AMI met Mr.. Bonnet
After the egg cups had been clear
ed away and the last canteloupe seed
brushed up. Mr.. Bonnet said a great
many things about the war, and the
high standing of the American SOL
d1ers in France, but as we were all
"fed-up" with the world war we
agreed that strife among the organ
lists was fairly absorbing.
Mechanically Perfect Organs.
How do / find American organs7
Mechanically they are perfect and
tonally they are excellent There
are certain manufacturers and GER
tain organs that stand out pre-emi-
nently, but on the whole there Is a
tendency among your builders.to DIS
regard the fundamentals Of organ
tone. You are leaning too. far to-
ward fancy solo stops. 1 would
rather have one good diapason or
French reed than all the bells and
Sharps' in the world. Harp stops are
pretty, but make what the war
board calls an 'unessential industry
II q bell or harp stop takes up
the room that a diapason should
have, sacrifice the bell
"As to organ tone. there is no rea-
son why you should not have good
quality. You have the traditions
the old Roosevelt organs establish
ed them. 1t is rather unfortunate that
some of the contemporary builders
disregard this heritage. In mechani-
cal work the American organ Is Tar
superior to the French DID you
know that IL was q Frenchman VINO
invented the electric action? 1t Is
true, and yet we have no electric ac-
tions in France. have been fight-
ing for years for their installation
but with no success. French or
ganists are afraid that II will miti-
gate against their techniquS. Some
times I wish we were NOV such
conservative profession
American Organ Music.
Now, about American organ music:
There is q tremendous field for the
native composer-one that has been
barely scraped. Since 1 have been
here I have examined many compost
tions, particularly those that have
been in the larger forms, and there,
Il seems to me, is your opportunity.
THE great American weakness,
should say, was the 'Even-Sing-Ttde'
mood. a thing that Is turned out IN
vast quantities. 1t is sentimentalA
commercial and usually ridiculous.
Why do reputsble organists play those
things? And yet you know there are
certain alleged recitalists who have
built up regulations by just that sort
Of work. 1t is dreadfully wrong. II is
wrong to write them, wrong to pub
lish them, and wrong to play them St
Paul says we must be charitable-so
maybe these> small pieces fill the need
in your small towns like Tidyute.
There seems to be group OF
younger men in the East and Middle
West who are trying to do serious
work, and 1t is toward them 1 look.
They seem to have the vision
why not consider the organ at
nosphericaIIy, as a palette containing
every color, and write for II, as does
our Roger Ducasse? You know the
organ has the greatest ancient litera-
ture in the world. 1t has more than
the piano, violin or flute-while much
has been written, there are still many
new thoughts to be uttered. The organ
by no means is written out, that is,
II we get past thinking OF 1t as a solo
stop instrument and regard 1t in a
homophonic light" H. B. G.