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Musical Courier 1898-06-15: Vol 36 Iss 954, 1898
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1had something to compare it with, for he owned one of the finest Stradivari in the world.
3Mr. Heskett copied Guarneri and Stradivari with matchless skill, besides making his own model. He seemed especially to love Guarneri, and the last few years he made Guarneris almost exclusively. When he died he had only four fully finished violins and they are all Guarneri. In his copies he did not merely copy the appearance of the originals, but their tone as well. Remenyi said to me once: "Mr. Heskett has settled the fiddle question." It is a strange coincidence, too, that these two geniuses and intimate friends for many years parted life simultaneously. Remenyi dying a day later than his friend.
5Mr. Heskett's son, C. H. Heskett, is also a violin maker, having made some notable instruments. Whether he will continue his father's business is not known to the writer. The writer has for five years used in concert a Stradivari copy by Mr. Heskett, so he has fully tested the "staying" qualities of these superb instruments. It had the genuine old Cremona tone when I started to play it five years ago, and still it has developed wonderfully. Mr. Heskett was also a splendid specimen of honesty and candor. He was a man among men, his cheerful disposition and enthusiasm winning friends for him wherever he was acquainted. Truly the world is happier and better because Mr. Heskett has lived in it.
7T. K. THORVILDSEN.
9M. T. N. A.
11THE twentieth convention of the Music Teachers' National Association will hold its sessions at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel from June 23 to 27 inclusive, under the auspices of the following officers and committees:
13President—Herbert Wilber Greene, 487 Fifth avenue, New York.
14Treasurer—Alex. S. Gibson, 11 Wall street, Norwalk, Conn.
15Secretary—James Potter Keough, 13 East Fourteenth street, New York.
16Executive Committee—Carl G. Schmidt, chairman, 81 South street, Morristown, N. J.; Frank Danosch, Carnegie Hall, New York city; Frederic A. Fowler, 851 Chapel street, New Haven, Conn.; Albert Gérard-Thiers, 649 Lexington avenue, New York city.
17Program Committee—Wm. Edward Mulligan, chairman, 3 and 5 West Eighteenth street, New York city; Wm. W. Thomas, 501 and 502 Carnegie Hall, New York city; John Tagg, 16 Humboldt street, Newark, N. J.; Walter Henry Hall, St. James' Church, Madison avenue and Seventy-first street, New York.
18Committee of Women—Mrs. John Jay Knox, 19 East Forty-first street; Mrs. Fay-Pierce and Miss Amy Fay, 66 West Fifty-sixth street; Mrs. E. Lawson Purdy, 220 West Fifty-ninth street; Mrs. James Pedersen, 228 West Forty-fourth street, New York; Mrs. J. E. Curran, 97 Hamilton avenue, Englewood, N. J., and Miss Ada B. Douglass, 24 Broad street, Newark, N. J.
20A preliminary program has been issued, but it is subject to such a large number of changes that its publication in these columns can safely be delayed for fear of creating misunderstanding. It is a most difficult task to arrange the programs of the M. T. N. A. on account of the great variety of subjects and the subdivisions of performances. A later program will be nearer the actual line of work to be done.
22London "Musical Standard" on Zumpe.
24"The blot of blots on the performance ('Tristan and Isolde'), however, was the conducting of Herr Zumpe. I have heard, on what should be good authority, that the rehearsals were very inadequate, but this will not account for the German conductor's failure, because our orchestra knows the music of 'Tristan' almost by heart, and the faults of the performance were really faults of interpretation. Anything so tame as the reading of the prelude I cannot remember. It was mediocre to the extreme, and any provincial orchestral society would probably have given a better idea of the composition. And it was not only tame in a general sense, but there were absolute faults of playing. Well, let us charitably suppose that these were due to want of rehearsal. Even then Herr Zumpe is not to be pardoned. All through the music-drama he was never anything but commonplace at his best; point after point was slurred and went for nothing; he did not seem to have a rudimentary grasp of the significance of the motives, and it was positively painful to hear such fine singing so inadequately supported. The one merit he has, that of subordinating his orchestra to the voices, was not sufficient to make us forgive the commonplace, mealy-mouthed, timid performance of the music as a whole. The fact is Herr Zumpe is no conductor; he has no magnetism but only a second-rate sensitiveness; he desires to obtain a climax and, rising from his chair, waves his arms about with the fruitless energy of a weak man, but no climax comes. It was painfully pathetic to observe his desperate endeavors to prove himself worthy of his promotion and of the great artists who took part in the performance, and as a plucky man attempting to do more than his temperament and character and skill would allow, he had my sincere sympathy. But why, in the name of St. Cecilia, was he chosen to conduct at Covent Garden? I should like to know the reason. But enough; Zumpe is an honest failure; he won't do at all."
26Peabody Institute, Baltimore.
27ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
29THE annual meeting of the trustees of the Peabody Institute was held last Friday. Dr. S. C. Chew, the president of the board, occupied the chair, and Gen. Lawrason Riggs acted as secretary in the absence of Faris C. Pitt. The treasurer's report showed the institution to be in a good financial condition. For the year the receipts were as follows: Balance on hand, $895.54; income from investments, $43,311.58; conservatory of music, $11,570.96; sale of library catalogues, $232.53; lectures, $365; profit from change in investments, $75, making a total of $56,450.61. The expenditures were: Premiums and medals for public schools, $1,220.55; library, $21,544.06; conservatory of music, $20,141.08; lectures, $461.39; art gallery, $685.25; general expenses, $11,373.68, making a total of $55,426.01, and leaving cash on hand, $1,024.60. The expenditures from the Reinhart fund amounted to $3,900.27, with a cash balance of $2,895.06. The investment of the fund amounts to $105,800.
31INFORMATION BUREAU.
33MAIL FORWARDED.
35Letters have been forwarded to the following since previous issue:
37Gordon Darlington Richards.
38Miss Ella C. Carr.
39Miss Jeanne Franko.
40Miss Amy Fay.
41Lewis Solomon.
42Mrs. Berenice Thompson.
43Maud Reese Davies.
44Mrs. Richard Blackmore, Jr.
46MAIL FOR ARTISTS.
48Mail addressed to the following has been received at THE MUSICAL COURIER Bureau of Information:
50Mrs. Edouard Remenyi.
51Chas. A. Fischer.
52Miss Claude Albright.
53Enrico Scognamillo.
54Geo. Lehman.
56Verdi Wasn't Alarmed.
58Giuseppe Verdi, who is now eighty-five years old, removed to Milan only a few months before the recent riots, and while they continued many persons expressed a fear that his life might be in danger, particularly as he was in the habit of standing on the balcony of the Hotel de Milan to watch the movements of the troops and the rioters. Some of his friends suggested that he return to his villa at Sant' Agata until the riots were over. Many telegrams of inquiry and similar suggestion came to the hotel, but the veteran composer made light of all of them.
60"In my time," he would say to all such proposals, "we had a revolution every two years. Finally I became accustomed to them. One can get used to anything."
62Nothing that was said could persuade him to leave Milan, whither he had gone to look after the details of the new home for artists which he is building.—Sun.
64Rapid Success.
66As a rule it takes a pianist, or, indeed, for that matter, any artist, three or four seasons before any great measure of popularity is attained, says the Manchester Umpire, but Georg Liebling has jumped at one bound into the front rank. At St. James' Hall, London, recently he gave a piano recital before a crowded audience. People are always on the lookout for effective piano pieces, and the three preludes (Forsyth Brothers), composed by Mr. Liebling to songs by Heine, may rightly be termed "songs without words." They are all very charming, and, moreover, effective, and the pianist-composer, had he been so minded, could have taken an encore after their performance. The English translations, provided as a guide to the "poetic basis" of each piece, are by A. K. initials but thinly disguising the identity of a well-known London critic.
68Herr Liebling's Tenth Recital.
70Herr Georg Liebling will give his tenth and last recital at St. James' Hall, London, on the afternoon of June 24. The program will contain Chopin's B minor sonata, op. 58; Mendelssohn's now seldom played fantasia in F sharp minor, Francesco Berger's "Voice of the Rivulet," Rubinstein's "Valse Caprice," Liszt's Fourth Rhapsody, and by special request the octave toccata of Dupont, which aroused so much enthusiasm at his ninth recital; also the Wagner-Brassin "Feuerzaube" from "Die Walküre."
72On this occasion Herr Liebling will bring forward some of his new compositions: three preludes (to verses of Heine), op. 29, arranged for violin and piano, and his new Suite à la Watteau, op. 31, composed during his recent trip to Berlin. All these compositions of his are to be published by Messrs. Forsyth Brothers. At this recital Miss Regina de Sales will sing four songs by Herr Liebling, two of which are also to be published by the above firm.
74State Association of Music Teachers, Binghamton, N. Y.
76Outline of Program.
78FIRST DAY—TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 28.
79Stone Opera House.
809:30—Address of welcome by Hon. Jerome De Witt, Mayor of Binghamton. Response and annual address by President Sumner Salter. Orchestral and choral music, reports, special announcements, &c.
8111:00—Piano and song recital by H. Forrer Pierce, New York, and Miss Inez Grenelli, soprano, New York.
83TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
84Saint Mary's Church
852:00—Organ recital by Seth Clark, Buffalo, with sacred songs by G. Alexandre Chapman, New York, and Miss Anna L. Johnson, contralto, Elmira.
863:00—Organ recital by Charles Heinroth, New York, with sacred songs by G. Alexandre Chapman and Miss Anna L. Johnson.
874:00—Piano recital by Miss Katherine Ruth Heyman, New York, with the assistance of Lewis Williams, baritone, New York.
885:00—Meeting of vice-presidents.
90TUESDAY EVENING.
91Stone Opera House.
928:15—Grand concert in which the following will participate: Miss Elizabeth Argue, soprano, Buffalo; Miss Lilian Carlsmith, contralto, New York; Miss Fannie De Villa Ball, pianist, Albany; Mrs. Chas. C. Taylor, pianist, Binghamton; Henry Meyn, tenor, Rochester; Adolph Dahm-Petersen, baritone, Ithaca; Edwin H. Pierce, viola, Auburn; Miss Lillian Littlehales, cello, Syracuse, and the Cogswell Orchestra, Binghamton. After the concert a reception will be given by the Young Women's Christian Association to the members of the association.
94SECOND DAY—WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 29.
95Stone Opera House.
969:00—Business meeting, for active members only. Selection of the place of meeting for 1899.
979:45—Morning concert by Mrs. G. T. Rogers, pianist, Binghamton; Miss Adella B. Chase, mezzo-soprano, Black Creek; John P. Scott, baritone, Oberlin, Ohio, and the Auburn Trio Club (Messrs. Heerling, Pierce and Scovill).
9810:45—Papers by Clement R. Gale, New York, and Harvey Wickham, Middletown.
9911:30—Morning concert by Mme. Eleanore Meredith, soprano, New York, and Miss Lillian Littlehales, cellist, Syracuse.
101WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
102Congregational Church.
1032:00—Organ recital by C. Wenham Smith, Jersey City, with sacred songs by Miss Elizabeth Argue, soprano, Buffalo.
1043:30—Papers by George C. Gow, Poughkeepsie; Henry Harding, Freehold, N. J., and John Tagg, Brooklyn.
1054:30—Reception to members of the association tendered by Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Delavan.
107WEDNESDAY EVENING.
108Stone Opera House.
1098:15—Grand concert in which the following will participate: Miss Inez Grenelli, soprano, New York; Miss Eleanor De Gollier, contralto, Bradford, Pa.; W. Theodore Van Yorx, tenor, New York; Lewis Williams, baritone, New York; Joseph S. Baernstein, bass, New York; Albert T. Lockwood, pianist, New York; W. Grant Egbert, violin, Ithaca; and the Bohemian Ladies Trio, Troy.
111THIRD DAY—THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 30.
112Stone Opera House.
1139:00—Business meeting: Election of officers and unfinished business.
11410:00—Morning concert by Miss Fannie De Villa Ball, Miss Anna L. Johnson, Oscar L. Bowen, tenor, Cortland, and the Bohemians.
11511:00—A talk by Albert Gérard-Thiers, New York.
11611:45—Song Recital by Adolph Dahm-Petersen, baritone, Ithaca.
118THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
119Stone Opera House.
1202:00—Analytical lecture by Dr. Henry G. Hanchett, pianist, Brooklyn.
1213:00—Papers by Miss Julia Etta Crane, Potsdam; A. S. Downing, Albany, and Miss Evelyn Fletcher, Boston, Mass.
1224:30—Symposium on Voice Culture. Speakers limited to five minutes each.
124THURSDAY EVENING.
125Stone Opera House.
126Oratorio, "The Redemption," by Gounod, for soli, chorus and orchestra. Soloists—Mme. Eleanore Meredith, Miss Lilian Carlsmith, W. Theodore Van Yorx, C. F. Hess, baritone, Binghamton, and Joseph S. Baernstein. Conductor, Louis Arthur Russell, New York. The above programs are subject to such changes as the program committee may consider necessary to make before issuing the official revision. For information of any sort address as follows:
127F. W. RIESBERG,
128Secretary-Treasurer,
1299 West Sixty-fifth street, New York.
131A LADY (musician) of first-class antecedents and superior education, speaking fluently German, French and English, also in close acquaintance with musical and art circles in Vienna, offers a refined home and chaperonage in one of the best localities of Vienna to a young American or English lady wishing to pursue her studies there. Special advantage for next season. Address "Vienna," care of the Bureau of Information, MUSICAL COURIER. References exchanged.
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