Scan 27
Musical Courier 1895-02-27: Vol 30 Iss 781, 1895
83 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 28. See the scan on archive.org.
1causerie, which was not musical, most thoroughly. Miss Ella Powell sang, instead of the lines by Princess May, "Connais tu le pays," from Mignon, in a voice evidently unsteady from nervousness, but with good possibilities.
3The Aschenbroedel Verein gave its third concert of the season on Sunday afternoon, at the Club Hall, 144 and 146 East Eighty-sixth street. A string octet of Svendsen and Schumann's forever welcome quintet, op. 44, for piano and strings, with some contralto songs by Miss Eva Hawkes, formed the program. The two leading men of the club, Victor Herbert and Sam Franko, were absent, and the following were the performers on Sunday:
5Clavier—Leopold Winkler.
6Violin—Richard Arnold, Gustav Saenger, Carl H. Engel, Emil Hafelfinger, Hermann Kühn, E. Fischer.
7Viola—Emil Gramm, Hermann Krasel, Louis V. Gatterdam.
8Violoncello—Arthur Laser, William See, John F. Mundwyler.
10It may be seen that the Aschenbroedel is a very large organization, particularly of string performers, who can be changed at each concert to the extent of an octet or nonet when necessary, the same men, with the exception of the principals, Franko and Herbert, seldom performing at two concerts in succession. All, however, are evidently kept in good rehearsal, as the concerts are always upon a high artistic level—in fact, there is never a mediocre concert given.
12The octet went smoothly, but beyond a fresh, piquant allegro scherzoso, the inspiration of the work hardly seemed in proportion to the labor taken in performance.
14This same movement is brought to an effective close, syncopated and played pizzicati. The contrast of the Schumann quintet following made things before seem even duller. Here Mr. Winkler acquitted himself admirably at the piano. He evidently appreciated the lovely themes that lay to his hand, and in the first movement especially his sympathy and expressive touch did full justice to the work. The strings did their share artistically, but, balanced as the work is, it is hard in this quintet to take one's primary interest away from the piano. This was altogether the best performance of this noble composition heard here in a long time, and was on a par with a recent performance in this same club of the Beethoven septet and Rubinstein D minor trio.
16Miss Eva Hawkes sang Saint-Saëns' La Cloche, a star song by Chamisso, and a little French chanson for encore. She has a refined, nicely cultivated contralto, which she uses with judgment, and she has adapted with much grace and taste the French manner of delivering her songs. She is a youthful newcomer and certainly would appear to merit recognition.
18What's This?
19Musical (?) Boston.
21BOSTON, February 21, 1895.
23Editors The Musical Courier:
25At the César Thomson concert at Music Hall on Tuesday afternoon the last numbers on the program were:
27Adagio…………………………………………………Ries
28Passacaglia (on a theme by Händel)…………………Thomson
29Fantasie, Non Piu Mesta……………………………Paganini
31After the Passacaglia Mr. Thomson played an encore. The majority of the audience mistook it for Non Piu Mesta, and started to leave the hall, so that Mr. Thomson had to come running out with his violin in hand to show people that the concert was not over. Isn't it rather funny for a town that makes such claims to being musical as Boston does that in a large audience that nearly filled Music Hall only about a hundred people knew Non Piu Mesta when they heard it?
33More Anon.
35Honolulu.
36February 7, 1895.
38During the month of January and up to the time of writing, there has not been a single musical event in the city. This is because martial law was declared on January 6 and is still in force. On the evening of that day, while the churches were in session, a number of royalists who had arms and ammunition landed secretly a few miles from town on the beach, and commenced a revolution with the intention of restoring the monarchy and doing away with the republic.
40The plot was discovered by the Government before it could get much headway, and within a week the rebels, who at the sound of cannon had fled to the mountains, were all under arrest. Many very prominent royalists were arrested, also the ex-Queen, Liliuokalani, on whose premises buried in the ground were found guns, ammunition and dynamite bombs. A court martial was at once constituted and at the present time is trying the prisoners, who number over 300. It is expected that some of the ringleaders will be shot.
42That is why musical matters have been so dull in the city of late. Even the churches have been poorly attended on Sundays since the racket commenced, especially in the evenings. One thing: the republic is stronger than ever. One of our local musicians, Oscar Herold by name, who plays the piano some, is a royalist. At the time of the outbreak he was very loud in his denunciation of Americans, who had befriended him, and openly said they should be massacred. Herold was hauled up before the police authorities and given a talking to by the marshal, which he will not forget to his dying day. The last heard of Herold he was looking for a padlock for his mouth. The probability is he will not remain in the islands any longer, as no one seems to have any use for his services.
44As soon as martial law is declared off the Honolulu Choral Society will commence rehearsals.
46We are looking forward to a concert in March or April by Master Cyril Tyler, the boy soprano, who is expected to pass through this city on his way from the colonies to the States.
48Hawaii.
50Woman's Voice.
52"Psycho-physical culture, bicycling, and all the various methods for mental and physical development which are being so assiduously pursued by women at the present time are often sneered at as fads," said a Boston lecturer not long since. "But blessed be any fad," continued this same speaker, "that helps woman to a realization of the importance of her perfect development. Let us hope her fondness for such fads may continue."
54Woman seems to possess a peculiar monopoly of the word "fad." There is a long list of distinctive "fads" attached to her memory. But there is one "fad" which she has not yet taken up. The nature of this will suggest itself to the thinking mind if it notices the voices of the women one meets.
56"Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman." Did the immortal bard live to-day he would find comparatively few American women who would draw from him a similar burst of admiration. The voice of the average American has been likened to a compound of twang, whine, acridness and affectation. This criticism is severe, but not wholly unmerited. The voices of our men are, as a rule, far less disagreeable than those of our women. They may speak with unnecessary volume, and the tones will fall hard upon the ear, but fewer of their voices have the high, sharp, penetrating quality so common to the voice of the American woman and so rasping to the nerves of the sensitive listener whose ear has been trained to better sounds.
58The greater proportion of the feminine element of society and fashion spends the hot, sultry days of summer in the cool confines of the mountains or at the seaside. Here lovely woman swims, rows, plays tennis and golf to cultivate the muscles of her arms and chest, and rides the bicycle to cultivate some more of her muscles. Away from the din of the city, this sojourn offers excellent opportunities to cultivate the soft, gentle and low tones of which Shakespeare sings. But the average woman doesn't think about that, and continues to scream across the tennis net, in the golf field, and over the bounding waves.
60The majority of the people of our nation stoutly deny the fact that they have rasping voices, or indifferently ignore it. But anyone who has traveled is fully conscious of the unenviable reputation Americans have gained in this respect. The majority of those who admit the universal harshness of tone are more than willing to shift the responsibility to climatic influence, declaring that the chill damp winds and raw cold sea fogs common to the northern country affect the delicate tissues of the nose and throat until after a time the vocal cords become permanently affected.
62That climate cannot rightfully be charged with the entire blame is partially proved by the fact that even among Southerners only a comparatively small majority are entirely free from whine, and the voices as a rule are not any more flexible than those of Northerners. The one saving grace of the Southern voice is that it is usually pitched in a lower and therefore more acceptable key. However, the contrast between the voices of the Northern and Southern women is so marked that, accustomed as Northerners are to the hard sharp tones, they are apt to ascribe to the Southern voice in general far more beauty of tone than it actually possesses.
64The blame of considerable hardness of tone may justly be placed upon the Northern pronunciation. The Southern characteristic, which omits almost universally the letter "r," thereby avoids the Northern tendency to pronounce that letter with a harsh, hard tone. While adherence to this habit of omitting the sound of the "r" does not recommend itself to those who seek for the best pronunciation of the language, it accounts for much of the musical quality of the Southern voice. A little judicious practice will accustom one to the happy medium, which is better in all cases than either extreme. The speech of the Southerner is often indistinct, and in this respect the conversation of the Northerner is far more pleasing, and would be fully as musical did he modulate to a considerable degree his pronunciation of the vowels and some of the closed consonants.
66But many people will say, "Life is too short to think so much about the tones of our voices. Life ought never to seem too short to give pleasure to others." Why should we whine and twang and scream at each other in ordinary conversation, upsetting nerves unconsciously and promoting nervous prostration, when a little thought would make our voices pleasing, if not wonderfully musical? When all the facts, pro and con, have been considered, it is readily seen that all the blame cannot be put down to climatic influence, and the burden of poor pronunciation rests upon our own carelessness. Perhaps the desire to be patriotic and emulate our national emblem has something to do with our national scream. Some who unwillingly admit the fact that most American voices have faults and serious ones rest the burden on inheritance.
68Well, even though one be unfortunate enough to inherit a disagreeable, tuneless voice, there is no voice that is not susceptible of improvement. Judicious training and culture will effect a wonderful change, giving a voice the soft, flexible modulations which are the naturally ascribed characteristics of refined, well-bred people. One would not look for the same beauty of tone in the voice of an uneducated factory girl as would be expected in the intonation of a college-bred woman. But "the subdued ripple of conversation that betokens perfect breeding" and "mellow trainante voices" are rarely heard. One learns of them from the society novel.
70These criticisms may seem severe, but just attend a reception—that most intolerable of all American methods of entertainment—and listen to the babel of voices in high strident keys; or go to a woman's luncheon, where the guests are numerous, and the discovery will be made that as a rule the victor in that talking match is she who possesses the greatest lung power. Listen to the voices of the women met incidentally—out shopping, in the street cars, on the avenues, and in the fashionable and unfashionable restaurants. But, declares some one of the culprits, on the avenues and in the cars we have to talk against the din of the streets; in the stores, against the din everybody is helping to make; in the unfashionable restaurants, against the rattle of dishes and the howling of waiters.
72All this defense has much of truth in it, and the only advice possible under some of these circumstances is, don't talk. Don't dispute the right of way with a heavy wagon filled with loose iron rails that jogs cheerfully along over the cobbles; don't try to beat a band in the matter of making noise, for it is sure to come out ahead. Confine your conversation to the person to whom you are talking; don't try to edify everybody within a radius of 20 feet with your remarks. If it seems almost impossible to make yourself heard, don't try to, unless it be a matter of life or death. You will save your voice, and probably leave unsaid many foolish and unnecessary things. If you miss the opportunity of saying something brilliant or witty, comfort yourself with the truthful reflection that most people talk too much, any way.
74One great help toward being understood when speaking under the pressure of noise is to enunciate distinctly and speak slowly. Imagination helps to ruin the voice, for it is natural to imagine in the midst of a din that one must shout, even though the person spoken to be very near. If instead of howling, the words are slowly and distinctly spoken, you will probably be agreeably surprised to find yourself easily understood without the necessity of raising the tone of your voice very much.
76If women fully realized the magnetic charm that lies in a beautifully modulated voice they would cultivate it as assiduously as a gardener does some rare, beautiful flower. Think about the tones of your voice. Paste the poet's couplet upon your mirror or on the inside flap of your purse, or any other place where it will be apt to meet your eye several times a day. Start a "fad" to possess conversational tones that are "soft, gentle and low," and, if successful, rejoice in the thought of having proved a benefactor to all mankind.—"Sun."
78Arnold Reitlinger.—Arnold Reitlinger, one of the promising pianists of the day, is a young Hungarian, a son-in-law of the celebrated chess player, S. Rosenthal, residing in Paris. The New York Herald, European Edition, of February 14, speaks of a concert given by him at Salle Erard on February 13 as a "distinct success from an artistic point of view, as well as in regard to the attendance. There were thirteen items on the program, made up of selections from B. Godard, Chopin, Xavier Laroux, Saint-Saëns, Svendsen, Mozart, T. Nachez, S. B. Schlesinger, Dubois, Schumann, Bach and Popper. Mr. Reitlinger was heard in Mozart's Fantasie in D Minor, Schlesinger's Impromptu Caprice, in Les Bucherons by Dubois, and in Schumann's Etude Symphonique."
80Organ Grinders' Paradise.—A whole village of well-to-do Italians, speaking English with an accent, is one of the most astonishing things that Italy offers to the tourist. They are retired organ grinders, who have acquired comfortable fortunes in this country and have gone back to their beloved native land to live in affluence with their families in this strange little colony, which they have founded among the sweet Italian mountains.
82The stranger, in walking through the quiet streets, is often astonished at the sound of a hand organ sending forth the familiar strains of a once popular air from within some one of the houses, giving evidence of the affection in which the organs are held by their swarthy, dark-eyed owners, and which most of them cherish fondly in their ideal life of idleness.—Recorder.
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