Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-20
Weekly Comment on Things
Musical in Discriminating
Philadelphia


ployed will probably not prove fatal,
but protracted contact with it is apt
to make the American recipient rather
tired
Briefly, NJ. Saint Saens's attitude is
that modern German music, especially
that of Wagner, should be excluded
for two reasons. First, because it will
tend again to fasten the shackles of
German musical domination upon
the world; and, secondly, because this
domination" leads to the suppression
of native talent. He cites the case of
France after the War of 1870, and as
serts that the suppression of German
music at that time led to the great
advancement of French music. He also
gives a list of works. including com
positions of Bizet, Lalo and himself
among others, the creation of when
he attributes solely to the bat then
placed upon German music and the con-
seauent "chance" afforded ths French
composers.
NT SAINT SAENS'S list of French
1f1. works, inspired by the exclusion
of German music after the war, is not
very convincing in the merit OF the
works named, and because there is
nothing to show that these compositions
would not have been written anyway,
as the musicians he names were nll
recognized composers at that time. lie
cites Bizet's Ia Patrie,' work
which hardly sheds any special luster
on the name of the composer, while his
brought out until five years later. He
also mentions Labs "Rhapsodie Norve-
4gienne" and the "Symphony ESpa =
gnol." although the first of these was
not composed until twelve years after
the war, and his greatest work, the
opera "I.e Roi d'Ns' until eighteen
years later. OF his own, NJ. Saint
Saens gives the "Danse Macabre' and
THE Wheel Of Omphale," but samson
et Dalila," easily his best compost
ton, had been virtually completed be
fore the war broke out, and the best
scene in it, the second act. was entirely
completed and had been privately given.
If there really was, as NJ. Saint
Saens sags, a great stride forward in
French music after the War of 1870, il
least, t. the suffering of the country
during the conflict and Immediately
after. Mot that the war was a good
thing for either country, but it is un-
uuestio1ably true that great national
suffering almost invariably has its re-
ry,atton in highly stimulated, if not al.
ways advanced. art forms, and there car
be no question that France. in the last
fifty years, has taken n higher posi-
ton than she ever had before, not only
in music, but in all forms of art, witt
the possible exception of literature.
TFITHE argument holds good that th'
l. exclusion of the music of one natioi
will help the native composer, ther
why not carry out the idea to its logica
conclusion and exclude the music OF
every foreign nation? That, probably
is not in accord with the French idea
which, evidently, is to create a propa
ganda for their own music in this
country. Personally, the writer nevel
could understand how the refusal t
hear good music, no matter what the
country of it's origin, could help com
poser, although it is said that Debuss!
foi many years never would hear any
\ music but his own. claiming that to dc
4 so would destroy his musical individ
uality.
1t is undoubtedly true that in th'
past and, indeed, at present there are
musicians, some of them in high place.
in this country, who have deliberately
sighted American works. These com
positions, it is true, are found otter
enough on the programs of important
concerts, but when they are the per
formances show them to be insufficient!
/ rehearsed or carelessly interpreted.
But there is little evidence that this
has been done IN the interests of Ger
man music. For example, the write
has yet to hear a performance of tn,
Cesar Franck symphony, Debussy''
les'L 'Aprcs Midi dun Faune" or Saint
Saens's own "Danse Macabre' which
did not show careful rehearsal and sin
cerity in Interpretation. Clearly, tn,
reason for this cavalier treatment o.
American works is that the conductor
or soloist did not like them and put
them on the program for some reason
other than that of pure musical merit
- -
TIOWEVER, be this as 1t may, tn
IL arguments advanced by NJ. Saint
Saens scarcely hold good in the cas-,
of the United States, because there il
not now and never has been musica
domination by any one nation. And
Furthermore, in view of the liberality
of Judgment and the catholicity of tast,
of American audiences, there never
will be.
This was clearly shown by that uniau
and naive piece of musical propa
ganda. the tour of the Paris Conserva
toire Orchestra last spring. To thei
own surprise, they found vastl!
greater extent of musical knowledg
than they had any idea existed here
and they introduced to us no Frencl
music of merit with which America
audiences were not thoroughly familiar
They also revealed the fact that tn
most famous orchestra of France was N,
better than the best American orches
tras, if indeed it was as good. And tn
same thing may be said of any orchestrl
in Germany or Italy. Nevertheless
they were accorded the warm reception
that their merits warranted whereve
they played, more consistently cordia
one, incidentally, than was given eithe
Mascagni or Leoncsvallo on the occa
sion OF their American tours.
The writer recalls conversation wit
some of the members of the Conserva
toire Orchestra while the organizatio