Evening star., 1933-07-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEVELL.

the individual must ti-ow up his hands
1t is not fashionable 10 admit that such
problems exist, but every one knows
that they do, that before them the
individual human being Is practically
helpless and blessed is he VINO admits
it and goes on TO solve the problem
for himself
This solution, we believe, in this
problem, simply will be to admire what
one admires, whether old or new, and
to let others admire what they choose
to admire.
When the music lover thinks back
over all the treasures of the past, he
may smile up his sleeve as he watches
doing their best to admire some OF the
very latest things"
The older things are so much better,
as far as he Is concerned, that he will
not dignity the new by entering into
an attack against them, or sully the
old by attempting to defend them.
Wherefore, we believe. it is best to
concentrate ones musical affection
strictly on what one considers the best,
irrespective of age.
The best in art, whether music, lit
erature, painting, architecture, Is time
less
1t is easy enough to see this in re-
gard to the so-called classic" especially
In music and writing.
The classic Roman and Greek writ
ingS, the finest of the musical works Of
the great German and French ccm-
posers-
These need no praise. being beyond it.
1t is not SO easy. however to see the
merits of the brand-neW things, espe-
cially in books and music. The ten
dency on every side is to "ballyhoo"
the new, SO that even the champions
become confused.
Who Is there. reading a new best
seller" who has rot wished that he
would really know whether the book he
held in his hand merited the approba-
tion he felt for it? The difficulties of
precise judgment are immense: time,
comprising many individual judgments,
has a vast advantage here.
The penalty one pays for sitting two
hours at somel barren performance,
whose music is movement. merely, with
out musical invention showing its beau
tiful head once, is that one misses the
delights of Fra Diavolo" and it's like
There were dozens of them just as
good or better not just half a dozen.
as our correspondent has it. Most of
them would be called "old-fashioned"
now Fra Diavolo." as made into
The Devils Brother" for the screen.
is lin danger of being laughed to death
for all time" according to one New
York critic.
We do not believe that outlook Is
justified. We have talked to a num-
Der OF young persons who saw the talk
ing picture. and it was not the comedy
OF Laurel and Hardy they remembered
so much as the music of Daniel Fran
co.'s Esprit Auber. You can't laugh
good music out Of existence. even a
Wlse-cracking age cannot do it.
Our belief "a purely personal one, but
no doubt held by many is that the ad-
mirers Of what We might call the older
music have Surer basis for their ad-
mlratlon. in that commonly they put
more into the music themselves. That
is, mostly they purchased the piano
music, and either played il themselves,
and perhaps sung scme of it. or they
had some one else play it for them
Maybe they played it on a violin, or
flute.
If this intimate knowledge is con-
trastod with the comparatively few
minutes spent by our smart Young
things, as they like to see themselves
called. in attendance at a movie, and
that an end of it, then We see plainly
enough who has the bsst of it. mu-
cicaiiy speaking. Some day. We feel
sure, the young people are not going to
be satisfied with their sketchy. jumpy
music, but are going to demand the
real thing. whether old or new And
thsy will get it.