Evening star., 1949-03-13

t Throughout the ages prlmltlVe
mans instructive aspiration has
urged him toward the expression
of his emotional life. Later this
urge became known as culture,
and led eventually to an ultimate
refinement of civilization. When
that point was reached man be-
came satiated and, by a natural
rephlsion of feeling, yearned to
90 back to the simple life" b"
Years ago Jean Jacques Rous-
seau, Chateaubriand and others
who were the first to denounce
the artificiality of their century,
began to write in praise OF the
ideal existence of the untutored
aborigines-of which they actu-
ally knew very little.
Such artists as MatisSe IN
painting, Epstein in sculpture and
Stravinsky in music are among
its most prominent opponents.
Every so often in the course OF
their artistic development they
preach primitivism-not because
their minds are simple. but be-
cause, on the contrary, they are
hypercivilized and supercultured.
This trend has captured the
imagination of many. The magic
masks, the fetishes and all the
other relics of barbarism have
almost disappeared from Central
Africa, and can more easily be
found in the artists studios or
in the show windows Of art deal
ers in Paris and New York
while. on the other hand, the
greatest market for silk topper"
today is in the tropical Congo
country.
No one can wholly escape this
tendency. Nor, indeed, should we
attempt to stem the tide, or we
would resemble old King Canute
who succeeded only In getting
| his feet wet when he tried to
stop the oceans natural ebb and
flow, but it is possible to control
this drift to extremes and to
strike the balance of happy
medium.
Lesser Composers Studied.
In this connection one OF my
own most enjoyable pursuits has
been the study Of early. lesser
known composers. and the pre-
senting of their works to our
audiences. The result has been
gratifying. Often the very names
of these composers were almost
unknown. Yet Sweelinck. Boyce.
Manfredini. the lesser" Bachs,
dall'Abaco-to name but a few,
brought us hidden treasures in
their all but forgotten compost
tions.
In comparison with the In
finitely more complex works OF
the greater Bach and his sue
cessors. these composers are SIM
pie, if not actually primitive. Yet.
at their best, the message they
convey is a moving one. and
sometimes even more admirable
because of it's very simplicity. At
the same time many of them
augmented and developed the
musical technique Of their day
in divers ways.
Outstanding in this group Of
LESS important" writer's are the
members of the Stamitz family.
According to Groves Dictionary,
Karl was the most memorable
son of Johann Stamitz" (the name
is Bohemian and means stonema-
SOM, himself musician "of great
originality and force" Grove as
signs to Karl a place of flrst-rate
Importance as q pioneer in sym
phonic design. The family had
emigrated from Bohemia. settled
in Mannheim. founded a great
orchestra there and became the
leaders in the development in
music known as the Mannheim
School. It's reputation spread all
over Europe. the orchestra was
considered the finest on the con-
tinent. Mozart himself, in 1777.
stayed in Mannheim and wrote
with enthusiasm about the high
degree Of musical culture In the
town. and the brilliance of the
orchestra.