Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-09

abroad to attend the European
music festivals. At that time
there we're the Bayreuth and
Oberanmergau events as the
dominant festival attractions
The latter even was limited to
once in every 10 years for its per-
formances. Now the thousands
of Americans who go each Sum-
mer to Europe are increasing so
fast in actual numbers as we'll as
types of people represented that
steamship companies are figuring
plans to arrange airplane connec-
lions at either end of the Atlantic
crossing so as to reduce the time
of crossing from the present
minimum of five days to only
three actually on the water, with
an air trip of few hours before
taking the ship and in making
the landing from the vessel. 1t
won't be long before even the
clerk with only two-week vaca-
ton will be able to have a trip
to Europe.
This year the European festival
season began April l and is an
nounced to last until October 90
with 80 distinct musical attrac-
tons scheduled In the IL already
passed into history with the clos
ing of the May calendar were:
Opera Festival at Cologne, Sew
enth Festival of international So
siety for Contemporary Music at
Geneva, the third Rhenish Music
Festival, the Congress for Musical
Education at Berlin, the Shake
speare Birthday Festival at
Stratfofd- on Avon, Schumanrl,
Brahms and Haendel Festivals,
Hans Pfitzner Week at Munich
and the international Season of
the Royal Opera in Covent Gar
den. London. The aforementioned.
while beginning April %, will not
be concluded till June %.
In the 20 still to come, the
high lights will be: Festival weeks
in Berlin, Vienna, Nuremburg,
the Bach Festival in Leipzig. the
Mozart Festivals in Wllerzburg
and Salzburg, the Forest operate
Festival at zoppot, the national
Welsh Eisteddfod, the Dolmetscll
Chamber Music Festival and the
Three ChoirS Festival at Wor-
cester, England,
A LII the interest that Aneri-
q \ cans are showing in musical
events abroad is fairly well bal
anced by the interest European
authorities are showing in the
progress culturally of America.
Several particularly interesting
views have been expressed recent
~ by foreigners concerning
Americans and their development
along musical lines. Ernest
FowleS, an English critic, who
has followed the profitable lead
of numerous literary lights of his
nationality and written his i'm
pressions of an American tour"
for a recent issue of the Musical
Times of London, said, in part:
In reviewing all I saw and
heard I am led to wonder whether
America is not developing too
quickly-in musical culture, at
any rate; whether, in fact, her
teachers will rise to the occasion
in the next generation-that is
when they will most be wanted.
They are struggling bravely to
meet the present need, but will
the number of adequately trained
teachers be sufficient to compass
the work of few years hence,
when the present development Of
orchestral knowledge and tech
nique has filled the land with an
innumerable body of music low
ers who, at any rate, will know
the difference between music we'll
taught and music i'll taught?
That will be an enormous prob
lem, even for America"
Percy Granger, the brilliant
Australian pianist and composer,
who last Summer was married to
his "Nordic Poetess' at the Holly
wood Bowl, has some very inter-
esting thoughts expressed upon
the American cultural attitude as
contrasted with the attitude
found in the people of Finland,
in a recently published article. In
speaking of the marked oppor-
tunities offered the people in
Scandinavian lands he said:
"One cannot refrain from spec
ulating upon the more favorable
lot of creative artists in these
small countries as compared with
the less satisfactory conditions
under which their brothers-in- art
struggle in larger countries, such
as England, America and Ger
many. The favorable conditions
in Finland are certainly not due
to the size or the prosperity of the
population. The total population
of Finland is not as large as that
of Chicago. There are few really
rich people In Finland, and there
is no doubt that the middle and
intellectual classes have suffered
much, in material way from
the fall in value of the Finnish
mark The Finnish poet, Ber-
tel Gripenberg, has recently
translated Edgar Lee Masters
Spoon River Anthology into
Swedish, and this translation
(highly excellent, by the way. in
its spiritual insight and literal
faithfulness) seems already bet
ter known in Finland than is
Masters original in it's native
land. An interesting point in this
connection is that the Finnish
translator is the recipient of a
poets stipendiun, whereas the
American creator (as far as I
know enjoys no such support.
"The more one considers these
national differences the more ap-
parent it is that the Anglo-Saxon
layr1an does not realize that the
circle of art is not complete until