Evening star., 1926-02-21

y HEN he was 90. and his ad-
n mirers began to call him a
~ genius TO his face, Iglesia
used to shake his head and
say, Yes; but it is not my
follt." This was because he had never
quite forgiven his parents for what
they had done to him.
lie had been kind and generous TO
his parents while they lived. but there
were two injuries for which they
might never expect his pardon. He
still cherished in his heart the unWar-
ranted belief that he would have
proved as great a civil engineer as he
was now a concert pianist. He was
proud of his income. and proud of his
repute; but, although these vanities
often Consoled him for the memory of
his slavish boyhood, he continued to
resent the arbitrariness with which
music had been commanded for him
and science forbidden. With all the
obsesSion of genius. he still maintained
that his parents should have offered
him his choice.
As to the lesser injury. he was far
more sensitive. When his parents had
realized that his career was merely a
matter of the calendar. they happened
TO be convinced of this principle: That
the most serious handicap 10 any
musician is TO he born American. The
Wy NdS . NSdiS olt, udIk-tNt tu, dark
haired. even rather dark of COM
plexion. He had never played in pub
lie; his talent was unheralded. So that.
very quietly, by process of law, they
had Arthur Church" translated into
Spanish And this was beyond lyle
sia's power to forgive.
AT the time of the discovery of their
sons talent. the Churches had just
moved to PENNSYLVANIA from Oregon.
q q alrnc dy-
and Pennsylvania was hardly aware
of their existence. The canny parents
delayed only long enough to have their
own names. altered, too-thereby pre-
venting the newspa pers from any later
unveiling of the subterfuge-and
sailed for Spain.
The boy learned to read Spanish, and
to write il and speak il. Presently.
he began TO think in Spanish as we'll.
and 10 put quaint accents into his ma
tive tongue. He studied and pro
eressed and was discovered. Then
they all came back to America. and
lgleSia $ parents were happy when
they died.
For nearly a score of years, then he
had lived under name he abominated.
And yet this distinction was founded
upon it. He couldn't tempt fate and
the caprice of the public by changing
back
Al 2b he began TO compose a little:
and on the day of his signing the pub
liSNar's contract for Opus s. tone
poe n in B-fat minor, he had already
received. in royalties on the seven ear
lier works, a trifie over $4,000. He
was becoming IL standard composer
as well as standard performer.
And vet said one critic 10 an
other, "he still lacks something.
Both in his playing and his writing
Something vital. And it's all that
keeps him out of the very front
rank. too"
The second critic nodded confrma-
tion.
True Hes gone ahead too
smoothly. and that's the answer. He
hasn't had any troubles, and he hasn't
been in love. He's just the least little
bit-weu, say apathetic. Give him
time
TGLESIA had been playing at a
private musical. When the last
encore was accomplished he had risen,
as usual, to stand by his hostess and
suppress his boredom while a long
train Of guests saluted him with con-
scious smiles and still more conscious
fiattery. And Iglesia hated this. He
liked flattery in print, especially II it
were direct and straightforward, said
what it had to say and got over It,
but he hated to be gushed at, or stam-
msred at, or patroniZed, and so, in
receiving strangers, he kept himself
as mentally aloof as possible.
Tonight, however, he was dragged
out Of his aloofneSS by a girl who