Evening star., 1925-06-24

, light; have personally studied the
scores of these masterpieces. and have
| been interested in music of all kinds
since childhood.
/ am perhaps the only person in the
| world who has played through on a
mandolin every note of every part in
BiZet's great masterpiece, Carmen"
If you do not think that something
of feat, my advice is to try it! Adapt
| ing the grand bass songs and themes
of that opera to the limited range of
the mandolin makes an interesting
Summer afternoons work.
X x X
The writer of the letter quoted
makes the mistake of not being a
psychologist. One should accept for
fact the following statement: That
no one is going to praise anything not
ordinarily praised until he has a back
ground behind him that enables him
to do so.
For instance, take a collector of
glassware. If he is genuine col
lector he Will seize upon some funny
looking old bottle and call it a gem
where the ordinary man not versed in
bottles would be afraid to make any
comment at all, and if he did so would
probably ask, What is that ugly old
thing?"
Similarly, q man not we'll read in the
worlds masterpieces of literature
would hesitate long before signing his
name to an article praising the old.
time nickel novels"
The man to whom music is not a
sort of second nature, who does not
feel as familiar with books as he does
with an old pair of shoes, is not going
to run the risk of being thought an
ign0amus.
He plays safei
X 4
L quite agree with my correspond.
ent that most people like good music.
The term, however, probably includes
more than many would be willing to
admit.
Similarly with orchestras, dance
and otherwise. There are good dance
orchestras. and they do play good
music, and they play It with a wealth
of interesting Instrumentation that
would delight the old masters.
1 wonder If NJ. Il. D. has ever
heard Hayden's "Children's Sym.
phOny"? 1t has whistles and drums
and bird calls. and even rattles that
keep Whtrring around over the top of
the musical tones in a most distress
ing manner.
There is a little child's Christmas
horn that blurts out, off key, time
and time again. For the day and
age of this composition 1t was almost
"jazzy." Yet it is art. in it's way.
Today one has to have heard dance
orchestras and dance orchestras, as
| stated in the former articles, be
fore he is in a position to appreciate
just how good some of them are.
1t is only the good dance orchestra
that wins the appreciation Of the real
music lover, as stated in the previous
| article on this subject.
X +
AS for Music with a capital NJ, that
Is a subject that the writer Of this
column has been reserving for a later
day, for, next to Books, he likes
Music best of all.
To write Of Music decently is one
of the hardest tasks in the world, as
any one knows who has ever tried
it, because it is difficult to translate
sounds, rhythm. tone. melody, har
mony. into cold type.
Much that is daily written about
Music is the greatest bunk in the
| world. as witness sentences speaking
of delicate traceries of lace pat
term" etc, a laudable striving but
almost a complete failure.
Some day l hope to tell NJ. B. D
and others a few of the things ]
know-and do not know-about Music
SO, you see, I. too, have hopes for my
! musical future,