Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-15

RI1NCkt5fakC VA pCOBN
in the United States a
this time of year! Elsewhere IL
the world Woodworking folk en-
JOY their holidays" bat in thi
country even the people of tn,
So-called leisure class, who tax,
frequent holidays" and week enc
trips, look upon one recreationa
episode designated as a vacation
with an entirely different atti.
tude A vacation may mean one
of the popular trips abroad; il
may mean trout fishing in noun
tain streams; it may be solved BY
an automobile tour to become &C
ouainted with parts of our own
country not visited before by
some of us. There are many more
individual possibilities of reading
rest and recreation into that word
vacation.
To a musician. a vacation is not
necessarily MUSCLES. A real
musician is a musician because
he loves music more than any
thing else. He certainly learns
early in life. whether he develops
a career or merely remains de-
voted amateur. that he cannot
expect his interests in music to
be very remunerative financially.
Only the few with the highest
percentage of combination of
talent. personality. perseverance,
and a good publicity agent can
hope to make fortunes in music
These latter have to take time by
the forelock very literally and, as
q result. their vacations are spent
In filling festival and other Sum-
mer engagements in scenes diff
ferent from those where they per-
form in the Winter seasons. Even
the prima donnas such as Rosa
PonSelle. however fascinating
their Summer homes settings.
must spend more hours daily in
practicing and rehearSing and
thinking out" their roles for the
next season during vacation"
than the Government clerks
spend regularly daily in their
Offices. A responsible creative
artist has an ail-day and all
night Job and knows no such
thing as a real vacation.
lust AS the amateur fisherman
J is liable to get much more real
JOY from engaging in that occu-
patton than the man who catches
fish in rushing streams to sell in
the market. so the amateur must
clan is in position to achieve
simple and satisfying pleasure
from his musical talents In much
greater proportion than he who
performs for packed auditorium
at 81 a head.
One of the young violiniStS of
first rank who played in Wash
ington during the past Winter.
Jascl1a Heifetz, confessed to the
writer in the course of an inter-
view that he often had to men
tally close his eyes to the un-
appreciative or unSympathetic
members in the first few rows of
a concert audience in order that
he might not be discouraged and
do Justice to the music he was
playing. On the other hand, re-
sponsive audiences were truly
inspiring.
When. on July 4, the writer
slipped In to hear a few numbers
in the annual convention held by
the mountaineer fiddlers In
WayneSville, N. c.. the attitude of
these sturdy amateurs and their
keenly alive audience certainly
created a very different atmoS-
phere from that of Mr.. Heifetz
and his audience in the Washing
ton program.
The mountain folk had come
from miles around-llot in quaint
conveyaaces, but in efiicient auto
mobiles. They wore generally in
conspicuous modern clothes, but
they wore them in a way that was
their own. 1t was by their accent
and the wide variations in their
mastery of the succulent art OF
chewing gum that they were
easily located. There were few
city folks urriners"-there, and
those who were present were
obviously out to see show. The
mountain folks blue eyes. start
Iingly blue in the weather hard
ened Drowned faces, held the
wrinkles that indicate alert
minds, unsullied by the dregs OF
sophistication, possessing shrewd
sense of humor.
The old courthouse with its
yellow wooden benches in the
large. slanting- fioored room,
reached after scrambling blindly
through a pitch dark hall and
stairway from the first floor, was
more than half filled. Down
front" the fiddlers tuned up"
They were young, middle aged
and of ruddy-faced silver haired
age: all men with but one excep-
ton. She" was general accom-
PIANIST, using a banjo for the pur-
pose and giving rhythmic re-
sponSes from the top OF her care
fully slicked pompadour TO the
tip of her shining patent leather
toe TO the lit of the simple folk
tunes of the mountaineers. Her
dress was Powered muslin and,
somehow. while not OF eccentric
cut. seemed TO be Of another
world than the dresses one sees In
shop windows and hanging on
racks in department stores. Also
she. obviously highly efficient
person in everything she did
played the violin and played it
very well. Incidentally, the lady
was the only one who participated
who held her fiddle" in what Ia
generally conceded by violin
teachers TO be the correct posi-
ton, on the left shoulder tucked
under her chin. All the others
played as they sat, careleSslJ
cross legged, holding the fiddle In
such position that the upper part
sugt below the scroll. rested or
The players knee and the otheI