Evening star., 1928-05-13
Lauds Paderewsk on Anniversary of Poands Freedom

His manner was simple and free from
gesture, except an occasional lifting Of
hand, In kind of plea or benediction,
or both. I have heard nearI all the
great speakers of our time except Glad
stone. I have heard none that seemed
to have the power that Paderewski ex-
hibited that day. He made me think
of the great Greeks. and everybody felt
as I did For 40 minutes, without a
halt, his fine voice rolled on through
that hall and filled 1t. One could have
heard a pin drop until he concluded,
and then the auditorium rose In one
mad applause.
Finally, when 1t had subsided, Ma
saryk stepped to the front He was the
speaker of the day, and his grafton was
supposed to close the afternoon. Silent,
pale. he looked at the chairman Of the
foreign relations committee, at the
audience, at Paderewski. Then he spoke:
II know not what to say. I, too have
been carried away by the master speech
of Poland'S great leader and liberator.
came here intending to deliver these
notes"--and he shook the written sheets
he carried in his hand-"but they are
of no use now. AS sat and listened to
the wonderful things Paderewsh said ]
could not understand how he who had
spent his life IL the seclusion of his art
could do this. Then it came to me. It
Is because he Is great artist that he
, can understand and know these things.
He has the artists gift to aid him in
what he has done
I TITLE did any of us believe then
that Paderewski's career would COM
plete itself officially in Polands freedom
and development. and that he would
return to the piano and to his life as q
great musician Few Of us believed
that 1t would be possible for him to re-
main away from the instrument for
| period of years and yet return and re-
| cover the mastership over the piano he
had attained. Yet In time this all oc-
Cured.
None of us can have forgotten the
! interest and the anxiety felt by every
/ American awaiting his first appearance,
and the cry of JOY that arose through
I out the country at the end of his first
/ concert, when the critics declared that
Paderewsk. the iberator of Poland, had
| returned to us unimpaired, the same
| great artist. the same marvellous musi-
clan he was-with perhaps an increased
mastery and larger concept Of de-
| livery
! Recently IN San Antonio, Tex, sat
| for two and a half hours and listened
| to his music: listened not only to his
music but listened to all he meant to
! mankind. to the part that he played, TO
| the sacrifices he had made for his peo-
pie, and could not help thinking, pos
| sibly with some vanity, that had been
Pole, Paderewski would be President
| of Poland If I had to pull the state
apart and rebuild 1t.
There sat this great man, playing
masterpiece after masterpiece, he who
was willing to step down from his great
place among the gods and for q little
while to lead his country to freedom,
and then as quietly return to his place
as master of the world In music. And
after the concert I went with him to his
car. For three hours-until 2 O'Clock
in the rnorning-we sat. Not q word
vas spoken of art between us-only the
struggling world of humanity In its
bind fight for freedom, for immortality.