Evening star., 1940-02-25

y bound to take It's toll from the.
older artists and the prospect Of re-
placing them with like talent Is slim
indeed.
Most OF the really great artists
today are middle-aged or past 1t.
They are still giving us great music
superbly interpreted, and no matter
how interesting the younger talent
Is, it is not yet sufficiently advanced
to replace those whose artistic ca
reers touch back to another era.
Music, together with the other arts,
is perhaps the only profession where
age is no barrier, but rather an asset.
and the proof Of 1t can be recognized
every season, when the concert
schedule brings us mixture of
young and older talent.
It is rare, indeed, when an artist
young in years has the maturity Of
outlook that colors his music In a
thoroughly satisfactory manner. The
proportion of older people who have
arrived at the conviction that music
has q special influence to convey is
probably much larger than that of
the young ones who are still in the
process Of enjoying it simply for
what it is. 1t Is the older generation,
however, that forms the greater part
of the concert public and who are
the ones willing to spend money in
order to visit concerts. These peo-
pie want an artist who speaks from
their level, not one who is simply
talented and glamorous, and to
whom life has not yet put the test
of its severest lessons.
Reactions Of Life.
The strange part about music is
that 1t demands q knowledge Of the
reactions to every experience Of life
from the cradle to the grave. An
understanding Of the joyousness Of
youth and of happy care-free hours
may BE- balanced the next moment,
In a recital program. by the great
est tragedies, the saddest reflections
that a human being can have. While
some Of this can be visualized sue
cessfully by young artist by the
grace OF superior talent, the full
realization of it can come, with
verify and sympathy, only As the
years pass. Time also brings
clearer perception Of the light
heartedness Of youth and q richer,
menower feeling toward the COM
plexities that strew every ones
pathway through life.
The young artists Of today are
unfortunate in many respects, Al
Nf
Nothing conspires to give them the
chance for inner contemplation and
the serious thinking that flowers in
art. The trend of the age Is to
crowd life with activity, with quick
accomplishment, with only the
biggest success. They are not given
the time to grow or even the time
for prolonged study. It 10 hardly
necessary for them to search for
anything themselves; others have
prepared and digested 80 that the
cream Of knowledge may be had
with little effort. Yet this can never
replace, in the final analysis, the
personal struggle and seeking by
which the immortal musicians have
found the great and noble messages
left us in their music.
However, the youth of this country
10 entirely different from that Of
even q generation back. It seems
to be specially endowed with the
ability Immediately to carry forward
where others have left OIL. The
influence of this quality will be felt
more and more in music, and who
knows what strides forward may
be made, what new vistas opened
up of which no one has, dreamed
as yet? The talent in our midst
Is great and plentiful and the
strength Of eager young blood is
there to direct it. It has mastered
quickly many things that formerly
were acquired with time and 80
1t will do with music when the urge
Is strong enough.
Few New Rivals.
But right at the present moment
the question Of successors to the