The Washington times., 1920-01-04
~ LAsZLO SCHWARTZ.

Somehow or other It's a sort OF ac-
cepted diagnosis that the Lord does
not endow tenors. sopranos. and fid-
ilers with great brains as well as
with great talent. These members
of the musical family are always
looked to as the "flighty." supertem-
peramental representatives OF the
tuneful tribes.
There is much truth in this: never
| theless, the person who FIRST passed
that story around should have left
ample room for exceptions. For In
stance. among the violinists he should
have made reservation for such a
splendid exception as Albert Spalding.
Early Career Hard.
Here Is a young man who started
out on the steep and rocky path OF
an artistic career, with the handicap
IF having wealth inflicted upon nirn.
While that great fortune may have
proved a convenience in many ways.
it also increased Albert Spalding's
battles for success. Folks said:
How can an artist move you TO
! tears unless he has suffered and hum
gered-unless he has gone through the
hfty-seven gyrattons OF privationsa
Spalding had to get busy and prove
| that a man who doesn't have to worry
about his three meals per diem, about
| his rent, etc, can also sway thous-
sands with the soulful message OF
his violin. He accomplished that, but
| he didn't stop there. His next task
was to prove that even as rich
man he took his art very. very seri-
| ously. So he composed, and by Jupi-
ter he did that well, too! In addi-
| tion to all this upsetting of theories
a,,ipapt artist prOCpeded
| to show that even wealth and musical
genius could not prevent him from
| developing a splendid general culture.
Question Hits Mark.
No man who comes face to race
| with this American artist can fall to
be impressed by the fact that 1t
| is possible to be a great violinist
and a solid thinker at the same time.
There Is nothing fiighty or compus-
| tible about Spalding's logio He
throws his mental hooks into ms
subject and holds on with grip that
| yields all available Information on
that particular topic. Here is how
| it's done:
Said 1: 'Mr. Spalding, do you be-
lieve that the dominating influence
of women musicians and music lovers
has a beneficial or a detrimental ef-
| feet on Americas musical develop
ment?"
| For a moment or so, there came no
| reply The jovial smile lowering
about his mouth, however, indicated
that the question had hit the mark.
| That's a very delicate subject to
| diagnose" replied the violinist. you
see, cne must be careful in drawing
| the dividing line where the overwhelm-
| &c. srasy Inf
| beneficial and begins to be detri-
.lcntal."
Then he paced up and down in his
elegantly furnished apartment, and
after weighing his words continued:
Comment On Influence.
"well--to be frank, it is impossible
| to draw a straight line, dividing the
merits and demerits of the ultra
feminine influence, for in this case, as
| in almost all other cases of life, good
and bad are very closely inter-rela-
| ted.
| "For instance, there is no doubt
| about IT but that the overwhelming
| feminine influence has proven detri-
| mental in so far as IL has nodded mu-
| steal ideals too narrowly within the
border lines of sentimentalism lines
not sufficiently broad to take In all
| phases Oh llIe, ITOm lTOllChiuB
| to the grimmest tragedy. As a result
we find sickeningly saccharined types
| OF sentimental popular songs, per-
petuating their hold on the people.
"The publishers keenly sense the
result of this Overwhelmingly femin-
! inc influence on Americas musical
| life, and they know very well that II
is the sentimental kind of a tune
that pleases the ladies best: so they
publish what the public demands
| AS a result Of this practical fore
| sightedness, the American popular
song interprets only n most hopeless
| " limited phase of life. The lyric
subjects OF these songs are poverty
| stricken when compared even to the
folksong literature of any continen-
tai musical country.
| "Nor Is tho worst feature OF this
well-nigh monopolistio feminine in
fluenco, for. even more evident II Its