The Washington herald., 1920-07-11
PLEA MADE FOR
ARTOF MUSIC
Interview With M. Philips
Who Talks on Music
In America.

In upper Seventh street Is a music
st ore kent by Mr.. NJ. Philips. He Is
a man deepiy concerned in the ad-
vancement of music for the Ameri-
can people. His writings on musicai
subjects have been pubiisneo IN
numerous periodicals ana are
ways in demand. The other morn
ing, in conversation with the Mus,-
cal Editor of The Herald. MT. Fnii-
fps said:
"The day has como when we snail
comprehend. in the hustle or lie Oh
this topsy-turvey system OF the Day
the function of intelligence-the IN
telligence that Hdilds up civiliza-
ton. When we look into the history
of the Greeks, the Romans, ana
ether nations and peoples. We nnd
treasures of that noble work that
still guides us in the thirst for
knowledge and wisdom.
"As in the past. continued Mr.
Philips, I'VE are overlooking the In
spiration which music brings to US,
no matter IL in distress or in happi-
ness. We borrow all this from
abroad. The Teutonic and Oriental
music, has interested, to. a certain
extent, only a minority Of our peo-
pie. We could be carried no further
than to forgetfulness of our music
by describing nature to us and
sceneries that are far away from
our vision, and are of strange peoples
and nations. Thus we forget the
beauty of our own. All the desire
of art will come closer as we be-
come attuned to the rhythm In the
harmony of our own life. There is
no other expression of rhythm than
music"
Mr.. Philips mentioned several
compositions that illustrated his
thought along this line, and spoke
of that old favorite, Listen to the
Mocking Bird" regarding which he
said:
What can be more beautiful than
the sounds of the birds we see. the
flowers, the trees in their natural
colors bending their 1eafy heads to
the breezes of the wind. We hear
their solemn whisper under the blue
sky in accompaniment with the
mocking bird. You become a child
of nature; you wish TO run; to climb
to the tops of trees in search of that
initiate IL. In our maturer years
our daily toll we think all about
this We see this beauty of our own
with much brighter colors, and with
more expression than ever before.
I'm the hours of vision the music
will give the power to the imagina-
tion and will bring us back to the
reality Of things of the past. Ny
Old Kentucky Home that genuine
American song presents a longing
for the old days gone blythe days
of simplicity. of devotion. of the
struggles for freedom. We see in
the vision the prairies. the corn
fields with their golden heads
stretching in the distance like a
webbing of natural richness in color.
We see the country roads trodden
by the mules-a scene impossible
today in the crowded cities. And
again it awakens in US the desire to
be with nature.
Now has come the time when the
national spirit will not be merely
stirred by a football or baseball
game. We see the spiritual rays of
a more intelligent America. With
more pride we look into a deeper
life. with music in poetry that will
lead us towards our mentality. We
divulge in minor things-of prize
fighting and other unworthy acts
of brutality" stated Mr.. Philips
"and let go the real beauty of our
nation. Our painters and sculptors
have been forgotten The sceneries
of nature that have been drawn by
our own artists, and the songs that
have been sung by our own poets
have been put away on the dusty
shelves of forgetfulness.
We are hunting for princes,
lords dukes and many other in
dulgences except the fundamentals
and essentials for our new genera
tions as a survival of the fittest.
But the horizon is getting clearer and
brighter; the air more refreshing:
the winds and birds are singing"
Mr.. Philips is a great admirer of
Longfellow. AS the visitor was
about to leave, Mr.. Philips added, as
a sort of benediction on his ex-
preston of his thoughts of music,
the following lines from that poet:
And the night shall be filled with
music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away"