The Washington times., 1934-06-11

INK udQ Deeu OpSLISu VII IA-C
Oder. One afternoon, to my de-
light, I was permitted to go.
When I went in I was given a
portion Of my ticket, which was
to serve as a paSs-out check. OF
course I lost it. When I tried to
leave the guard stopped me. I
went back and skated for what
seemed years and years. I thought
I would have to stay on that &C.
cursed rink the rest of my life.
Finally Tante Marie appeared
and my imprisonment" ended.
Father insisted on spinach
although the stuff made me Ill.
Thousands Of boys would be glad
to get this nice spinach" he would
say. And I would choke it down.
But to this day I detest it.
It was because Of fathers dis
satisfaction with musical life in
Breslau that we finally came to
America. My birthplace looked
on music as a stepchild. And
while father as a musician was
honored by those who knew him
0hey would always tip their
hats), monther never knew ex-
actly where next weeks bread
was coming from. One day father
received an invitation to come to
New York as conductor Of the
Arion Society. I will never for
get the farewell concert. We
were all in box. Suddenly in
the audience I Spied my arithme-
tic teacher. I was amazed be-
cause it never occurred to me
that he might be interested in
such things. I hated him because
I was never good at figures and
when I made a mistake, rap"
went the ferule on my hands.
And here he was at a concert,
ogling the ladies through his
opera glasses. I couldn't get over
it.
Before the concert was ended,
however, I had cause to think
Of other things. I burst a sus-
pender button. Gone was my en-
joyment of the music. was in
agony lest my pants slip off. I
clutched them tightly. And I
sighed with relief when 1 finally
reached home without a catas-
trophe.
Put r To1J1c& I11Tr1y o1o1,o Nathan
came to New York and then sent
for us. I remember my first school
here-Grammar School No. 40
where I was put in the lowest
grade because didn't understand
English. Although I was well ad-
vanced in Silesia, here I had to
go through the "cat" and "dog"
routine. One of my young friends
was Gustav Schirmer, son of the
music publisher. With him have
the honor of having first pro-
duced Wagner's "Rhinegold" in
America. It was in a toy theatre
We constructed. And the audience
was made up of our assembled
families. incidentally it was a
financial success.
First Appearance
My first appearance in a
symphony orchestra was with the
New York Symphony, which
father founded. I played second
violin. Father thought the expert
ence would help me later in con-
Quoting. In 1880 he conceived the
idea of a monster music festival.
To me he entrusted the piano
scoring of Berlioz' Requiem"
which I did while studying French
and Latin during a summer course
at Amherst. When I returned I
was put in charge of drilling two
huge sections of the Festival
chorus including the Newark
Harmonic Society. The Festival
was a great success and as re-
suit Of my work I was chosen, at
Is, permanent conductor of the
I-ewark organization. To get to
Newark I had to travel by horse
car, ferry and train. I will never
forget the big stems of beer and
cheese sandwiches we had in the
old fashioned German saloon after
rehearsal.
In 1882 went to Europe where
met both List and wagner.
The latter gave me a manu-
script copy of the finale from
the first act Of his "Parsifal" for
my father. And it was with
List at his home in Weimar
that I first heard the Tilt of the
nightingale. Few things have
thrilled me more.
Father, who was conducting
at the Metropolitan Opera
House, died in 1885. During
his illness I was pressed into
service to conduct "Tanhauser"
and "Walkure." Memories both
happy and sad. At the close Of
the season took the company
on tour and in Boston gave the
first American performance Of
Gluck's "Orpheus." Later
was made assistant director and
conductor at the Metropolitan
and from then on my life
flowed almost exclusively in the
channels of the world Of music.
In 1887, at the home of An.
drew Carnegie in Scotland, I
met James G. Blaine, who had
been a candidate for the preSi-