Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-27
THE CRITIC TALKS
TO MUSIC LOVERS


matter, the country has ever known,
comes the annual complaint that the
American composer has not had a fair
chance In the performance Of his works
In the larger forms.
As usual the blame is thrown upon
the orchestral conductors, but, as mat
ter Of fact, all Of It does not lie there
by any manner Of means. II the
American composers works are not be =
ing performed, the basic reason back
Of It all is that the American music
supporting public does not want them.
In this, as In every other case where
upon general support. the public Is the
court Of last resort.
A NY conductor can put a compost =
"A tion on a program once and few
Of them can put It on for several sea =
sons, but no conductor, no matter how
great he may be musically nor how large
his personal following. can regularly
give compositions of which his public
does not approve. In the end the voice
Of the music loving public will make
itself heard and In no uncertain tones.
A striking case in point was the fate
Of tie symphonies Of Anton Bruckner.
He composed nine Of them and for some
reason his standing among the best
conductors Of Europe was very high. 1t
one of the most distinguished con.
trapuntists Of modern times, that his
musical ideals were lofty and his
workmanship Of the highest order. He
was recognized as all this and more
BY the greatest European conductors,
who for number Of years insisted that
the public was wrong about the com. {.
positions and that II they were heard
a sufficient number Of times they
would be ranked in the highest class.
where they (the conductors) asserted
they belonged.
Never probably has a composer re .
ceived tho same conductorial assistance
that the orchestral works Of Bruckner
orchestral directing. But what was the
ultimate result?
THE public looked at the matter in
L different light. They maintained
that musically the works were dry and
uninteresting and they simply wouldn' Z
have the Bruckner symphonies. All this
happened not very much moro than
twenty five years ago, but today the
orchestral works Of Anton Bruckner are
almost as non existent as though they
had never been composed. It was clear
case Of the public against the conduc-
tors and the result shows strongly where
the real power lies.
Perhaps the conductors were righ,
and the public was wrong, but the
writer. for one. does not believe this.
It may be true that conductors are
American composers, but II the Ameri
can public wanted them they could get
them. If the programs Of all the great
American orchestras for the last five
or six seasons were available there
would probably be larger number ol
American composers represented than
the average> musically inclined person
would think. But. whatever may be the
attitude Of the conductors, there is nc
doubt that there is no overwhelming
desire on the part Of the audiences to
hear these compositions frequently.
A s AN indication Of this, take the
"A voting for the request program OF
tho Philadelphia Orchestra for the sea :
son just closed. 1t will be remembered
that in announcing the voting privilege
and furnishing the blanks an oppor-
tunity was given to those balloting to
vote for any number in the Orchestra s
repertoire. and thus 1t was not confined
to the numbers played this season.
This placed at least twenty and prob.
ably many more American compositions
before the voters. What was the re
suit? OF the fifty symphonies voted fol-
not one was by an American composer
and of the many overtures which figured
on the list, again not one was composed
by an American.
In the miscellaneous" classification
four American numbers were voted for.
Victor Herbert's Irish Rhapsody" led
with three votes and the late Charles
Critics Clouds" received one ballot,
which was somewhat remarkable, as the
work was played only once, and that
in December, 1910. But the trouble for
those championing the cause of Ameri
can composition was that apparently
only one person remembered the suite
Der. Felix Schelling's Suite for piano
and orchestra got one vote, and there
was a single vote for Leo Ornstein s
extraordinary "In Chinese Village
work long to be remembered for
|cacophonous reasons.
TT IS not to be expected that the con =
L ductors will show any great enthusi-
asm toward American works. Do not
forget that in this respect these COM
positions are competing with the product
Of the world in the last 300 years
and the Bach Mozart Beethoven.
Brahms line offers what might be col
loQuially described as "some' com
petition. There is n tradition behind
these works which makes their success
in the hands Of thoroughly schoOled
conductor, not difficult task. And
in this connection it must also not be
forgotten that when the first really
great American composer does appear
his idiom will be almost, although again
not quite, as strange to the conductors
as 1t will be 10 the audiences.
MUSIC NOTES
Henri Scott will give a song reoita
| Monday evening. June 5, at Witherspoor
Hall for the benefit OF st. Christophers Hos
| pital for Children