Evening star., 1923-12-09
Jewish Master Pinnists.

Tho late James Huneker. the en-
inent American critic. pointed out
that Chopin, Liszt and Won BuIow
were the only Christian masters OF
the keyboard; all the rest, past and
present, were Jews. However this
may be statistically, it must certainly
be admitted to be strange fact that
tho Jews. furnishing only per cent
of the worlds population. number
among them some of the greatest
master pianists.
Anton fubinStsin. who was ono OF
the greatest musical geniuses Of the
last century, and whom many regard
as one of tho Erea test pianiStS Of ell
time. was the first in a long series of
Jewish musical geniuses who have
shed glory upon the Jewish race.
Raphael Joseffy. whose playing was
compared TO "a lonely mist that en-
Velopes the mountain at dusk was
another master of the keyboard art.
Since then the list of the Jewish
musical notables has been heightened,
reaching down to Vladimir de Pach-
Rosenthal, Myra Hess. Levltzky.
Godowsky probably the greatest of
the latt er-day Jewish master pianists,
a and nd host hssn OF Others While it has
as a race have been we'll repre-
sented in many arts. yet the fact that
they are supreme in at least two arts,
that of the violin and the piano, will
people.
But while Jews take pride in thus
having furnished the world with
some of its greatest music masters,
these master players cannot be said
TO be Jewish in the same sense as
Wagner was German or Tschaikowsky
Russian. They do not reflect the
genius or aspirations of their people.
They do not interpret the tragedy
and pathos of the Jewish people in
the same sense as it is done by the
great creative artists of other ma
tions While, therefore, there are
Jewish musicians, there is no Jewish
music in the same sense as there is
German, French, Italian and Russian
music.
But this is not so much the fault
of the Jewish musicians as il is the
fault Of the peculiar circumstance
under which the Jews have been liV-
ing. Without a Jewish environment,
without a creative Jewish atnos-
phere, there was lacking that racial
tone and color necessary for the cre-
alton of distinctly national music
Jewish Immunity to Disease.
The comparative immunity of Jews
to certain diseases, notably tubercu-
losis, has long since baffled some of
the greatest scientists of the day.
respector or persons or favorable
economic conditions. is known to pass
by the doors of Jews living in the
most congested neighborhoods. De-
spite unfavorable surroundings and
sanitary conditions the ghetto dwell
ers are known to suffer less and die
less from ravages of the white plague
than the dwellers Of the choicest 10
cations. This is evidently one Of the
divine compensations Of the Jew for
his poverty and suffering.
Many explanations of this curious
phenomena have been offered. It was
thought that the Jewish dietary laws
which call for a careful inspection
Of animals after ritual slaughter, had
something to do with 1t, and so they
may. The Jewish dietary laws have
saved the Jews from many a disease
which is known to have reaped it's
thousands among the gentle peoples
during the middle ages. The racial
hardihoodness and resistance Of the
Jew to disease was another explana-
ton that was offered of this curious
fact.
The latest solution Of this battling
fact Is given by Dr. soa:nisi NJ; Fiishberg. an
authority on Jewish race psychology.
According to him, the explanation Of
the comparative Immunity Of Jews to
been city dwellers. Because the Jews
have lived in cities for SO long q
time and become severely exposed to
infections Of all sorts they have sc-
quired an immunity which ts not
shared by other peoples who have
only recently migrated from the coun-
try to the cities, despite the popular
fallacy to the contrary.
If this should be SO, then the ghetto
and the host of laws which deprived
the Jews of the country and crowded
them into the cities. instead Of being
a curse. proved a blessing to the
Jewish people. Nor is this the first
time that the very instruments which
had been devised for the destruction
of the Jew proved his salvation. The
theory Of DIR. Fishberg may or may
not be true, but it will certainly have
the effect Of confirming an old tradi-
tion that the Jews live under the
laws of a special providence.