Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-22
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS
Weekly Comment on Things Musi.
cal in Discriminating
philadelphia,
THE large number of Americas

first rank. Certainly we must devoion
our singers with their thorough knowl.
edge of what can be done oppraticoliy
before our composers can write in ,bo
distinctively American manner in which
our best singers sing. Instrumentelv
the reverse Is the case ; the instrumental
player develops after the manner ~
the compositions which are written for
him to play. Had violin composers for
example, followed the style and tho
technical limitations of Corelli. who
never wrote above the third position
there would be no violinists today cara
BILE Of playing in the higher positions
This matter of positions, however
forms only sma II part of the df
culties of violin playing. The six solo
sonatas of Sebastian Bach rarely, If
ever, go above the fourth position. vct
they are the last of the great solo works
to be studied, coming after the Paganin
caprices. which often go far above the
nine commonly accepted positions
However, their immense difbcTit" l.
musical bs well as technical.
pUT to return to the American opprs
- singer. For years the singers of
our own country have been taking moro
and more conspicuous positions among
the worlds operate singers. Tho ana
tation, "A prophet is not without
honor save in his own country" I'm,
never had a more striking exemplifCo
tion than In the case of the American
opera singer.
For years before they were accented
as fit to appear before the American
public our Singers have been maxine
enviable regulations abroad. even in
such operate centers as Rome and
Milan, the latter generally accepted as
the Valhalla of operate art. Ocro.
sionally we had a star of the first
magnitude, such as Eames or Nordica,
but they were the exception. Never.
theless, in their day they ranked with
any operate singers of the world
Now, however, there is large num-
Der of perfectly capable singers Of
American birth appearing on the oppr.
attic horizon, and the happy part of il
is that they are coming TO be accepted
here at the estimate which they have
received abroad. The female opera r.
singer in this country is still more
efficient than the male" to paraphraso
a famous British cousin. but NOTABLY
in dramatic power. Probably the two
most famous singers of American birth
now before the operate public arc
Geraldine Farrar and Mary Garden,
both of whom are more gifted in his
trionic qualities and in personality than
In voice. In dramatic ability there is
no American male singer who can como
anywhere near these two.
PACK of this obvious fact lies an
- other truth which is not often al.
mitted, but which has played an impor
tant part in the relatively slow dcvCI
opment OF the male American musician,
both vocal and instrumentalist. Til"
average American business man has
ever felt, and still feels to consider,
able extent, species of contempt or at
best an amused tolerance, for the man
who follows any of the fine arts as hi,
life work and of these the feclin.
against the musician is the greatest,
with probably the artist next and the
writer third.
In this day of awakening art in thr
United States, it is'noetless to ron'
out the fallacy of such a state Of
| thought, for the American people nr"
rapidly, coming to realize that II re-.
fleets heavily upon the maa who holds
such views and not at all upon the one.
about which they are held. Some Of
the worlds most luminous minds haze
made music their life work. even when.
as in the case of Mcndclssohn the
career of q banker was open to him.
with every possible assurance that he
would some day be 1t the bead Of one
of the great banking systewa of Europe,
In this connection IL is Interesting to
think for moment how ,nauy persons
in the world would have known the
name of Felix Mendelssohn today had
he elected to follow a financial career,
compared with the number who know
and love his musical compositions.
This furnishes rather interesting
depression. The grandfather of MendelS-
sohn. the composer, was Moses Men.
delssohn, the philosopher The son Of
the philosopher and the father of the
composer was Abraham Mendelssohn,
the greatest fnancier of his name.
favorite saying of Abraham's was
Formerly I was the son of my father
now | am the father of my son. Thus
! in three generations thu wisdom OF the
philosopher and the glory of the com.
poser overshadowed the astuteness OF
the financier.
DUT, again to return: This attitude
ID of the average American. i'll
founded as it was, had had an appre,
ciable bad effect upon the development
of the fine arts among American men
who had natural inclination in that
direction. This state of things is hap
pily passing and the day is rapidly ap'
proaching when the American man VINO
follows art will receive the appreria
ton and understanding which Is III"
due. -,
1t may be that to certain extent
this changed attitude has had som" IN.
1ucnce upon the development "l our our
male operatic singers. To b" sure wv
man who feels that he has mission,
artistic or otherwise. VIII not .r
swerved from it by what Others i!n'
feel about him or his wor (; ont uhI",
tunately America thus far mas pn"h
duced few artistic tcmpPramcntS ol sui, sI"
stern fiber. The real artist is naturan' n,it,
retiring, no matter what his natiohu!.,i'
and Americans are peculiarly suS''P,
Bile TO what the other fellow thillhS ,no,
sensitive, in fact, that frequent, mnr W
imagine things that the other lc'''"
isn't thinking at all t. ,hot tho
However, the great point Is 'hn, A.
American operate singer mas conn.,
last into his land especially her noat "ma
II is important in that IL Is in
victory over foreign prejudice ,"n' rho
this country. however, o han on.
Mctropolitan Opera Go. should ~, ,'rc,yo
gagged eight Americans out I" .thcr.,
new singers. with two ot tnF fn w" In
the tenor and the baritone, lr"mt; "ommt;stir
scala, is something ike an
battle Of Rnnker HUI.