Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12
NJ u S l c.

other compositions, and how in
the old days the chief complaint
against Wagner was that he had
BORROWED" his themes unSparing-
ly. It was not quite clear which
of these various branches of hui
man complainers, as they might
be called, Mr.. Potter objected to
most. Certainly, however, he dis
posed of them all in nimble fash
Ion and pulled them down right
merrily from their Self-conceived
thrones.
The plight of the critic is apt to
be a very sad one. He is strung
between the devil and the deep
blue sea. On one side of him the
raging current of artists, who
necessarily know more than he
does, ~goad him and, on the other,
when he is merely trying to voice
humble and personal opinion, a
thousand voices cry out that he Is
either modifying for popular ap-
proval or destroying for malicious
reasons the subject before him.
When he would like nothing so
well as to find out just what he
thinks about a composition, the
clock sits staring him in the face,
and the ominouS sounds from the
composing room warn him that
he has but a half hour in which
to thumb out the why's and
wherefores of his beliefs. He is
furthermore, confronted by the
ghosts of the reading public. who
will tell him in the morning
what he should have known"
With a kind of mad fury, throw
ing himself upon his typewriter,
he unleashes an Imagination that
may or may not be working after
the mellowing influence of the
music which he has only Just
over the inuendos of thought that
struck him in the middle of some
thematic passage, or chat with a
kindred spirit as to the soundness
of his impressions. He is literally
emptied from the concert hall to
his desk, and there he has his
few deeting minutes to cast into
print what he could willingly
have pondered over during long
and vigilant period.
What wonder Is 1t then that
there are times when he finds
himself INDUCING in exultant ap-
probriums or moaning over the
shallownesS of the music world,
with time or a conscience prick
ing him in the back. Would the
most perfectly trained musicians
in the world, with their minds
soaked in the lore of the past. be
able to keep themselves on
constant and even keel? And Is
he not apt to become, either
through the ceaSeleSS browbeat-
ing Of publicity seekers, or the
lackadaisical ignoranceS that no
one ever takes the trouble to en-
tighten him about, a sort of in
machine, flaring up
when least expected? Whereas
rhyme and reason are meant to
be in back of all his remarks, may
1t not be possible for him to wax
indignant merely through the
human foibles of his own nature?
Just as a prima donna may cry
herself hoarse In a passage that
CRATES on her SensitivenesS when
it should have been sung with
delicate nuances, may not the
critic forget himself and throw
little loose ink around? The
answer is, of course, he shouldn't.
But he does. And he gets punched
for 1t. On the other hand, when
he strikes the musical nail on the
head, every one takes it for
granted, says ''just as I thought"
and diSmiSSes him with the hope
that they'll find something to dis
agree with him about next week.
Is temperament to be permitted
alone in musicians and critics Of
critical utterance?