Scan 24
Musical Courier 1894-11-21: Vol 29 Iss 767, 1894
106 lines. Read by computer on 20 September 2026. Printed page 25. See the scan on archive.org.
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1that many in this city have had to hear the Australian diva. Her reception was enthusiastic and she was heard in five numbers, besides as "Marguerite" in the last act from "Faust." Scalchi showed herself the consummate artist, as of old, and her singing was listened to with marked attention, and for both of her selections she was forced to respond to recalls. The gem of the evening was the singing of Plançon, and after his artistic rendition of Schumann's "Beiden Grenadiere" he was greeted with a perfect ovation.
3A fine praise service was given at Trinity recently under the direction of Mr. F. H. Cheesewright and his vested choir. Stainer's "Creation" was rendered exquisitely with Mr. Charles Herbert Clarke, of New York, tenor, and Mr. Herbert Witherspoon, baritone, of this city, as soloists. Great credit is due to Mr. Cheesewright, for he has worked indefatigably, training his choir until it now sings with remarkable finish and precision.
5JANE MARLIN.
7PITTSBURG.
9Pittsburg, November 3, 1894.
11THAT talented pianist Theodore Salmon has again cast his lot among us. Mr. Salmon has been searching for health on the Pacific Slope and in Salt Lake City, and judging from his appearance he has not searched in vain. To inaugurate his second coming Mr. Salmon gave a recital in one of our suburban towns. The recital was given in the interest of the conservatory of music connected with the Pittsburg Female College. Mr. Salmon played with his old time skill and was warmly greeted by a large audience. He was assisted by Mrs. Elizabeth Mathews, soprano; Miss Grace Medbury, pianist; Miss Mary B. Kier, reader, and Mr. Ad. M. Forester, pianist.
13Marie Decca was here recently with a concert company. A large audience was attracted to hear this fine artist.
15One of the recent notable musical events was the recital given by Mr. Ethelbert Nevin, of this city. The most satisfactory performance of this gifted pianist was of his own compositions. Following is the program:
16Fantasie and fugue, A minor………………………..Bach
17Two etudes……………………………………………..E. Nevin
18In form of a Romance.
19In form of a Scherzo.
20Etude, D flat major……………………….Chopin
21Eccossaises……………………………………………..Chopin
22Fantasie, F minor, op. 49………….Chopin
23Ethelbert Nevin.
25Songs—
26"'Twas April"……………………………Rubinstein
27"Herbstgefühl"……………………………Rubinstein
28"Beat Upon Mine, Little Heart"………….Liszt
29"In Winter I Get up at Night"………….E. Nevin
30(The Child's Complaint)
31"Dites Moi"………………………………………Chaminade
32"An Old Song"…………………………………….Schumann
33"Nocturne"………………………………………….Schumann
34Mrs. James Stephen Martin.
36Barcarolle, A minor……………………………Rubinstein
37Liebestraum, No. 3………………………………..Liszt
38"La Lysonjera"…………………………………….Chaminade
39"Des Abends"……………………………………….Schumann
40From Pantomime (MS.)—
41Harlequin……………………………………………E. Nevin
42Columbine……………………………………………E. Nevin
43La Guittara…………………………………………..E. Nevin
44"In Arcady"—
45"A Shepherd's Tale"……………………………E. Nevin
46"Shepherds All and Maidens Fair"………..E. Nevin
47"Shepherd's Lullaby"……………………………E. Nevin
48"Tournament" (à la Polonaise)…………….E. Nevin
49Ethelbert Nevin.
51Mrs. James Martin, who is one of Pittsburg's leading vocalists, assisted Mr. Nevin with a number of short songs, which were plucked from Mr. Nevin's poetical garden. They were charmingly sung and joyfully received.
53Mr. Nevin will give another recital in December, when he will be assisted by Mrs. Julie Wyman and a string quartet.
55Our old friend Henry Kleber has composed a march which he calls the "Greater Pittsburg" (dedicated to Edward Bigelow, Esq.), and a reverie under the title of "Twilight Fancies" (dedicated to Mrs. C. L. McGee).
57Farrand & Votey have secured the contract for the $20,000 organ for the Carnegie Music Hall.
59Dr. Carl Martin sang here recently for the Art Society. He was assisted by Miss Blanche Newcombe and Mr. Fritz Burckhardt.
61The Schubert Male Club, under the direction of Mr. Morris Stephens, will give its first concert in the Pittsburg Club Theatre. Mr. Stephens is one of our enterprising vocal teachers, and is doing good work.
63The Duquesne Conservatory of Music, of which Mr. Charles Carter is director, gave its first quarterly concert in Carnegie Music Hall, Allegheny, Tuesday evening, November 13.
65SIMEON BISSELL.
67TRENTON.
69Trenton, N. J., November 18, 1894.
71THE Mendelssohn Choral Union recently dissolved after an existence of twelve years. A new society, bearing the same name, has risen from its ashes, and bids fair to rival the older organization in its palmiest days. The union was formed in 1882, and originally consisted of sixteen members.
73One of the first presidents of the society was Mr. William Burgess, late consul to Tunstall, England. He was succeeded by S. M. Studdiford, of the Third Presbyterian Church, Mr. Alfred Foster and Mr. John L. Parsons in the order named.
75The life of the old society was very remarkable, considering the fact that most musical organizations are ephemeral in their character. That a society should continue to exist twelve years without reorganization is wonderful. Much of the credit for this record is due to one of its founders, who was also for a long time its conductor, Mr. George R. Ewan.
77Already the new organization has become very popular, and its continued success may be considered as assured. The officers of the society are: President, Mr. Alfred Foster; vice-president, Mr. Clayton L. Traver; secretary, Mr. Fred Barlow; treasurer, Mrs. J. Howard Ronan; conductor, Mr. B. C. Gregory; accompanist, Mrs. J. Robert Weber; librarian, Mr. Carl Hellerman; membership committee, Miss Florence Dickinson, Mrs. J. Robert Weber, Mr. Joseph Sweeney and Mr. John L. Parsons; board of directors, J. Robert Weber, John L. Parsons, William Woodhouse, Jr., Charles Gummere, John C. Leech, Joseph Sweeney, Dr. Ernest Dickinson and E. L. Townsend.
79Music and the University.
81WHEN in the latter part of the ninth century Johannes, a monk versed in the traditions of Gregorian music, founded at Oxford a school in which music was recognized as worthy to stand upon an equal footing with the then known branches of learning, he planted in English soil the seed which should later develop rich fruit. This recognition of music is of more interest to us than the statements of Greek philosophy regarding its educational and ethical value; for while the Greek modes contained the possibilities of artistic growth, the Gregorian Chant, as the expression of a religious sentiment more humanizing, more ennobling and more enduring than the Greek beliefs, was capable of expansion into artistic completeness.
83This form then being more strictly in accord with the fundamental truths upon which the highest developments of Christian civilization are based was evidently fitted for a place in the curriculum of the modest school which was the beginning of Oxford, the educational centre.
85The wisdom of this monk having been attested by the fact that not only the great university which was founded at a later date at this spot continued music in its curriculum, but also by its universal acceptance by the universities of the Continent, we may with profit consider the grounds upon which it depends for its position in the university and glance at the possibilities of its future.
87Could we not trace the birth of the art to the earliest dawn of history; could we not discern in the exhaustive works on music which exist in Greek literature the estimation in which it was held by the Hellenic philosophers and scientists; could we not discover in the music of the early Christian Church the blending of the best qualities of Jewish, Greek and (many we not add?) Egyptian music; could we not see in the gradual development of music through the centuries its growing fitness to serve as the medium of expression of feelings beyond the power of words, we should as musicians and as students have no greater interest in this beginning of higher education in England than would be aroused by any trivial circumstance in the local history of the most unimportant hamlet in that country.
89Because music has its history, because its study involves intellectual effort, because it has ethical value, and finally because it has a literature, we must assign to it a distinct position in the university.
91That these reasons did not apply to the universities of England and the Continent with equal force as they do to us is easily understood when we consider that not only did the term when used by Aristotle and Plato cover many other branches than those strictly belonging to the art—as, for instance, mathematics and astronomy—but also that the earliest conceptions of music in the universities were also based upon this misapprehension of its real nature. A knowledge of this furnishes the explanation of the fact that the development of artistic music was retarded rather than accelerated by the distinguished men of letters, who from their chairs in the universities enunciated theories which were often contrary to the teachings of that artistic instinct which the true musician inherits as a birthright. These men were often more absorbed in other studies than in music—as for instance, Jean de Muris, professor in the University of Paris, who was in reality a theologian; and in their desire to make music take the peculiar bias of their own minds they laid the foundation for the strange misunderstanding of the true nature of music which causes many a disciple of the art in our day to injure it greatly by claiming for it more than it really deserves.
93The logician, seeing that musical form is logical, must needs call it logic; the scientist, because it has its basis in scientific truth—and what art has not?—in the attempt to make of music a science, which in a strict and absolute sense it can never be, overlooks the fact that it is an art; the philosopher, realizing that it has its roots in the deepest recesses of the heart, would measure to a nicety the exact gradations of emotion involved in the act of producing or receiving musical impressions. And thus by mistaking analogy for identity, in assuming too much, they would take away the strength that it really possesses.
95We find that the theoreticians of the present day, as well as those of several generations back, occupy precisely the same points of view; while the practical musician is too often found viewing his art from no thoughtful standpoint whatever. Its position in the university curriculum to-day must depend upon the manner in which it subserves the philosophical idea of education, which is the glory of university training; and the value of such study to the art must largely consist in the broader conception of the truths of art—the more perfect understanding of the true standards of criticism in added appreciation; and, above all, in the truer perceptions of the end of all knowledge.
97To educate oneself is not simply to gather and store away facts, but is in a broader sense the acquisition of the power of deducing from facts general principles and lessons which shall guide us in becoming masters of our own powers. While it would be an insult to common intelligence to claim for music the first place as an educational factor, and while its limitations must be recognized, we may insist that it possesses a special value of its own.
99In its very limitations we find its wonderful power; and in its scientific aspects, in its historical growth, in its ethical and aesthetical qualities, as well as on its moral side, we find its greatness consists largely in the fact that because it is less definite than the other arts, it can more adequately voice the feelings, which, although so strong as to cause the whole soul to vibrate, are yet impossible to formulate into words.
101In musical history we see the reflection of the emotional growth of nations. We see in the gradual development of artistic appreciation the growth of the finer qualities which lie at the foundation of ethical advancement; in the formulation of the transitory media of musical tones into systems, the appreciation of the existence of law. We find that in the so-called music of savage tribes there is but little attempt at anything approaching systematic grouping of tones, much less of themes; and, strangely enough, if we take tribes of negroes in Africa as an illustration we can discover in their music the varying degrees of the development of governments. With the growth of Greece we discover the introduction of various modes, some of which, in a modified form, exist in our modern music; with the growth of culture we discern the added gracefulness of the musical conceptions, and in the artificialities of the later Greek music we may see the same weakness of character which brought about their national decline. In the ancient pentatonic scale (our modern major scale, with the fourth and seventh omitted) we see the same primitive taste, which delighted in strong contrasts of color, and the expression of the emotional nature, incapable of appreciating the subtler phases of feeling which are only possible to highly cultured peoples.
103When Plato speaks of the beautiful musical models which the Egyptians placed in their temples, and which had been preserved there for ages, he speaks of an art the evidences of whose existence are found on the walls of their tombs. If the tombs of Beni-Hassan contained wondrous proofs of the antiquity of decorative art, they also testified with equal force to the general use of musical instruments in such combinations as to well nigh indisputably prove the existence of a science and art of music. The existence of the pentatonic scale in every quarter of the globe, and the fact that rude instruments giving almost exactly the same intervals in the same relationship have been exhumed from the ruins of ancient civilization in all quarters of the globe, is a fact that carries enormous weight with it, and which furnishes one with food for reflection. The inferences derived from a study of the structure of the instruments found in Egyptian tombs, as to the nature of their music, have been justified by what we know of the character of the Egyptians. Our ideas respecting the Greek music have been guided by the labors of John Wallis, the Oxford professor of music in the seventeenth century, and by the critical analysis of the subject by Rudolf Westphal, the distinguished philologist of Moscow. Westphal has shown that the Greek philosophers had anticipated many of the distinguishing marks of modern theory, and we thus gain a valuable lesson upon the far reaching character of many of the fundamental principles of expression. From the beginning of the Christian Era we find an historical evolution which enforces many of the most useful lessons of the philosophy of history. The science of music (using the word not in its strictest sense) means subjection to law. The art of music is no less thoroughly under the domination of the law of form and expression, so that musical history in its way enforces the most important lessons of general history, and has, besides, a special value of its own. To say that the grandeur of general history is approached by any special branch of history is to take a vulnerable position; but to feel that the lessons derived from the progress of music can materially aid the student of events is at once a justification of its value and a pride to the intelligent musician.
105If the lessons regarding the practical unity of art, the part it has borne in the development of the finer sensibilities, its value as an index to the appreciation of the benefits
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