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Musical Courier 1892-04-20: Vol 24 Iss 635, 1892
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1support necessary can be secured, the scheme is likely to be undertaken. A regular attendant at the Brighton Beach concerts says: "If Brooklyn could only have a popular concert hall for summer entertainment it would be an oasis in the desert of midsummer dreariness in the city. With all the theatres closed and nothing going on anywhere in the evening the people of the city are driven to Coney Island for recreation. If they could find nearer home what they have found at the seashore I believe they would give it sufficient patronage to assure success. Then in the winter there would be some place besides the antiquated Academy of Music for musical performances."
3THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF MUSICIANS.
5THE examinations for 1892 will be held at Chicago, Ill., beginning June 28, at 9:30 A. M. Here is the officiary of the year:
7President—E. M. Bowman.
8Vice Presidents—Clarence Eddy, Geo. E. Whiting.
9Secretary and Treasurer—Robert Bonner, 60 Williams street, Providence, R. I.
11BOARD OF EXAMINERS.
12Piano—William Mason, Albert Ross Parsons, Mrs. F. Bloomfield-Zeisler, William H. Sherwood, Chas. H. Jarvis.*
13Organ—S. P. Warren, S. B. Whitney, Geo. E. Whiting, Clarence Eddy, A. A. Stanley.*
14Violin—S. E. Jacobsohn, J. H. Beck, G. Dannreuther, Gustave Pringnitz, A. Waldauer.*
15Voice—Luise Cappiani, J. Harry Wheeler, F. W. Root, F. Korbay, William Courtney.*
16Public Schools—W. F. Heath, N. Coe Stewart, Wm. H. Dana, Jas. A. Butterfield, F. A. Lyman.
17Theory—W. W. Gilchrist, Dudley Buck, Thos. Tapper, E. M. Bowman, Frederic Grant Gleason.*
18* Alternates.
20THE M. T. N. A.
22THE fifteenth regular meeting will be held at Cleveland, Ohio, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, July 5, 6, 7 and 8, 1892. The officers for 1891-2 are these:
24President—J. H. Hahn, Detroit, Mich.
25Secretary—H. S. Perkins, 36 Van Buren street, Chicago, Ill.
26Treasurer—W. F. Heath, Oshkosh, Wis.
27Executive Committee—N. Coe Stewart, Cleveland, Ohio; Alfred Arthur, Cleveland, Ohio; J. Bassett, Cleveland, Ohio.
28Program Committee—Wilsen G. Smith, Cleveland, Ohio; Edmund J. Myer, New York; N. H. Allen, Hartford, Conn.
29Examining Committee of American Compositions—Arthur Foote, Boston, Mass.; E. R. Kroeger, St. Louis, Mo.; Chas. H. Jarvis, Philadelphia, Pa.; J. H. Rosewald (alternate), San Francisco, Cal.
30Auditing Committee—W. Ruggles, Fayette, Ia.; C. H. Congdon, St. Paul, Minn.; F. A. Parker, Madison, Wis.
32THE N. Y. S. M. T. A. REPORT.
34QUITE by far the best report hitherto published by any State music teachers' association is the official report of the third annual meeting of the New York Music Teachers' Association, which took place at Utica, N. Y., June 30, July 1 and 2, 1891. The one fault to be found is the tardiness of publication, but that, the editor, M. J. F. Von der Heide, tells us, was simply unavoidable for several reasons, the principal one being a scarcity of funds. Otherwise this pamphlet of nearly 200 pages contains some very interesting reading.
36The officers of the meeting were:
37President—S. N. Penfield, New York.
38Secretary-Treasurer—J. William Suffern, Brooklyn.
39Executive Committee—A. L. Barnes, Utica; Louis Lombard, Utica; J. F. von der Heide, New York.
40Program Committee—Edmund J. Meyer, New York; Herve D. Wilkins, Rochester; Frank L. Curtis, Syracuse.
41Auditing Committee—Geo. F. Greene, Troy; David M. Kelsey, Saratoga Springs; J. A. Jeffery, Albany.
43The essays were as follows:
44Relation of Music to Colleges and Universities—Wardner Williams
45The Musician a Public Educator—Edward Dickinson
46Public School Music—Miss J. Ette Crane
47Distinct Singing, first essay—Chas. A. White
48Distinct Singing, second essay—Sumner Salter
49Professional versus Amateur Music Teachers—Chas. W. Landon
50The Janké Keyboard—Emil K. Winkler
51Church Choirs—Chas. A. White
53Then follow the reports of the specialist committees on:
54Piano.
55Organ.
56Voice.
57Violin and other stringed instruments.
58Church music.
59Choral and singing societies.
60Harmony and composition
61Public school music.
62Orchestra.
63Musical literature and journalism.
64Piano tuning.
66All this meant a tremendous amount of labor, and that it was carried to a satisfactory conclusion argues well for the officers of the association in general and Mr. J. F. Von der Heide in particular.
68In the report of the specialist committee on piano, Messrs. J. de Zilinski, Adolf Glose and F. L. Curtis, the following apt reference to the value of music journals occurs:
70Another channel for a sure investment is the music journal. Every earnest student should keep informed and every artist and teacher should express themselves occasionally through the columns of some first-class musical journal. Any careful reader of the several meritorious journals of our time will in a few years have the main outlines of history and musical criticism by heart. The thoughts of great artists and floating gems of information are constantly being reproduced through these valuable mediums, with many original observations and thoughts from their editors. That which was once surmised in art is now discussed as a matter of fact. Journals make their mistakes, but in the long run are found to be the friends of merit and earnestness.
72Added to these generalities your committee have outlined a progressive course for the piano, with such remarks as are deemed necessary to an easy understanding of the same.
74This is quite as it should be. The report of the specialist committee on musical literature and journalism lost an opportunity to make a good point, as may be seen by reading it:
76The committee do not feel authorized to make a critique on the various musical publications that have been issued during the current year, neither do they feel it their duty to give a list of such books or of songs. The committee, however, think it within the line of the association's mission to provide that such a critique and such a list should be made each year; but that the committee appointed for such work should have special instructions and have their line of work definitely laid out.
78In the judgment of the committee several good books have been published during the last year, and the committee note with pleasure that there is greater activity in musical literature, and that such literature is increasing in bulk and improving in quality, and that also music teachers and artists in various departments of musical performance are doing more reading, and in various other ways are increasing their capabilities and becoming better teachers.
80Inasmuch as all the members of the committee are musical journalists, they feel all the more free to express their regret that there is not a first-class music paper in the country—that is to say, not one paper that satisfactorily meets all the wants of the music profession and that entirely covers the musical field. Several periodicals are good in certain specialties and are doing excellent work in these specialties, but no one periodical covers the whole ground. Perhaps such a journal is not practicable, but it certainly is to be desired. Nearly all of the musical periodicals depend largely upon the trade for their support and must be more or less influenced by trade interests, the advancing of which is sometimes done at the expense of the teacher and of the profession. The ideal musical paper will not appear and last until the music profession itself gives it a cordial and substantial support. When musicians themselves show in a practical manner that they want an organ that will be purely educational and unreservedly devoted to their interests a competent and enterprising publisher will not be long in appearing.
82Respectfully submitted,
83(Signed) EDGAR S. WERNER,
84CHAS. W. LANDON,
85Of the Specialist Committee on Musical Literature and Journalism.
87It is a great pity Messrs. Werner and Landon do not read THE MUSICAL COURIER more carefully, for they would not only see that it is the only weekly music journal in this or any other country, but that it "satisfactorily meets all the wants of the music profession and that it entirely covers the musical field." It is not influenced in the least by trade interests "at the expense of the teacher," all of which can readily be discovered by an attentive perusal of its pages. One excellent point this report makes—a point which proves that its compiler has read THE MUSICAL COURIER, and profitably, too. In the association notes, page 177, may be found the following pregnant sentence:
89All of our advertisers are responsible and reliable firms. No stencil manufacturers or "cheap John" publishers are admitted to our columns.
91The above speaks for itself.
93The fourth annual meeting of the N. Y. M. T. A. will be held at Syracuse, N. Y., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, June 28, 29 and 30 next. Here is a list of officers for 1891-2:
95President—S. N. Penfield, Chickering Hall, Fifth avenue, New York.
96Secretary-Treasurer—J. F. Von der Heide, Steinway Hall, East Fourteenth street, New York.
97Executive Committee—Henry M. Chase, 331 South Salina street, Syracuse; George A. Parker, University place, Syracuse; Sumner Salter, 86 West Fifteenth street, New York.
98Program Committee—Charles A. White, 65 North Pearl street, Albany; John Hyatt Brewer, 49 South Oxford street, Brooklyn; F. W. Riesberg, 481 Pearl street, Buffalo.
99Auditing Committee—David M. Kelsey, Saratoga Springs; R. Hunting-ton Woodman, Brooklyn; F. W. Wodell, Rochester.
101A Little Local Color.—At a recent charity concert in Darmstadt the artists, in order to give "local color" to the music of Bach, Graun and Hasse, dressed themselves in the costumes of the period of these composers. This reminds one of the story of the "Othello" who blacked himself all over.
103Revival of the Harp.—Judging by certain signs, there is reason to believe that the harp may again become popular. Perhaps the cost of an instrument and the constant expense of strings have had something to do with the disuse that the instrument seems to have fallen into. Moreover, it is thought that the harp is difficult to play, and does not sufficiently reward those who give their time to mastering it. As the oldest and one of the most romantic of instruments, the harp naturally excites our sympathies; and musicians know that there are certain effects to be got from it that can be obtained nowhere else. The harp is an excellent accompanimental instrument, its tone mixing better than the piano. As, moreover, concertos have been written for it, it supplies plenty of opportunity for display for those who take up this too much neglected instrument.
105THE RACONTEUR.
107"The essence of music is sound and motion."
108EDUARD HANSLICK.
110"It is perhaps the greatest triumph of music that the motion it represents is so beautiful as to lead us to ignore its origin."
111HELEN M. SPARMANN.
113I WELL remember reading in one of Charles Lamb's "Essays of Elia," but which particular one I can't recall, an attack on instrumental music, which the gentle author denounced as being meaningless, a mere empty frame which the listener filled in with his mental pictures, and I can recollect the lively indignation this paragraph excited in me and how false it seemed aesthetically. This was ten years ago, when I was just emerging from the "Charles Auechester" period of musical mush to fall into the respectable quagmire of the Rev. Dr. Haweis' moral music. Since then I, in common with many of my fellow sufferers in art, have been snared by new fangled aesthetic birdlime, musical prophylactics that amounted to nil. Schopenhauer opened my eyes, but Schopenhauer's mystical metaphysics, to coin an inadmissible phrase, did not seem to cover the ground satisfyingly, and until Helen Sparmann's tiny brochure, "An Attempt at an Analysis of Music," appeared I had to stumble about in the dark, not knowing that Dr. Eduard Hanslick's "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen" existed. Now that Novello, Ewer & Co, have put forth a neat edition of the work, excellently Englished by Gustav Cohen, with the title "The Beautiful in Music, a Contribution to the Revival of Musical Aesthetics," I wish to earnestly recommend my readers to read, ponder and digest this remarkable book. Written over forty years ago, and having reached its seventh edition, it is yet more than abreast of the times in its denunciation of music being considered but a representative of the emotions and not an art per se.
115Hanslick in his latest preface protests against the intrusion of feelings in the province of science, contending that all the "customary appeals to our emotional faculty can never show the way to a single musical law." He denies that the office of music is to "represent feelings," and wonders why this denial should be considered equivalent to "affirming that music is absolutely destitute of feeling. The rose smells sweet, yet its subject is surely not the representation of odor; the forest is cool and shady, but it certainly does not represent the feeling of coolness and shadiness."
117"The beauty of a composition," says Hanslick, "is specifically musical—i.e., inheres in the combinations of musical sounds and is independent of all alien, extra-musical notions."
119In a word, he believes that music in its essence is sound and motion, and should not be a peg for people to hang their silly subjective nonsense on. Certainly all this is incontrovertible, for the idea that the aim and object of music is to excite the emotions is the greatest fallacy in aesthetics.
121Music has nothing whatever to do with emotion in the sense that we commonly use the term; as an art it deals with the imagination and bears not the slightest relation to love, anger, pride, affection, jealousy, &c., all of which it is supposed to portray indefinitely.
123To disprove the commonly accepted notion Hanslick devotes seven chapters to considering the question on its negative and affirmative sides, and he deals heavy blows at the champions of "an emotional subject in music"—in other words, the makers of program music, like Berlioz, Liszt, Richard Strauss and others.
125"Every real work of art appeals to our emotional faculty in some way, but none in any exclusive way." "As a consequence of our mental constitution, words, titles and other conventional associations (in sacred, military and operatic music more especially) give feelings and thoughts a direction which we falsely ascribe to the character of the music itself." And isn't this so? Just remember how we laugh at the criticisms of fifty years ago on works of musical art. How ridiculous they now seem! It shows the folly of ascribing to any composition an emotional content it really does not possess.
127"Definite feelings and emotions are unsusceptible of being embodied in music," says Hanslick. Now, you composers who write symphonic poems, why don't you realize that it is on its merits as a musical composition, its theme, its form, that your work will endure and not on account of its fidelity to your explanatory program? For example, suppose I were a very talented young composer (which I'm not) who had mastered the tools of his trade, knew everything from a song to a symphony and whose instrumentation covered the whole gamut of orchestral pigments. I tossed wearily on my bed one fine spring night, the moon rounded lustrous and silvering the lake in front of me; my imagination began to work. I had just been reading for the thousandth time Browning's "Childe Roland," with its sinister coloring and spiritual suggestions. Yet it somehow or other never struck me as a subject fit for musical treat-
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