Scan 15
Musical Courier 1902-01-29: Vol 44 Iss 1140, 1902
51 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 16. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE.
2(Latest Version.)
4JOHN HIGGINSON—his full name was John Rovescio Crotch Higginson—was a prominent member—indeed the founder—of the branch of the Incorporated Society of Musicians at Mugby-on-the-Marsh. Twenty years ago he had been apprenticed to his predecessor, the organist of the parish church—then about eighty years old—and having acquired from some traveling examiners the right to put a good many letters after his name he was much sought after as a teacher of music for many miles round. He was proud of being a thoroughly English musician; and was fond of explaining that what had been good enough for his grandfathers was good enough for him. He had never been near a foreign or English music school; he knew no language except his own, and he occasionally read a professional periodical, skipping all references to new music, and as he felt sure he could learn nothing by concert-going the absence of concerts within 50 miles did not grieve him. He conducted an orchestral performance, with ten violins, mostly amateurs; six professional wood-wind players from the neighboring town of 30,000 inhabitants, and an American organ, once a year, giving "The Messiah" and "The Elijah" in turn. He once read a paper on "Dr. Crotch as an Innovator" at a sectional meeting of the I. S. M., and so he felt himself entitled to look with scorn on the "unqualified" musicians, the men who had merely studied abroad, had seen and heard the best the world has to give, and kept themselves informed of the latest movements in art and thought in all civilized countries. He would pour forth the vials of his wrath on such charlatans, and protest that if any of his pupils ever showed him such stuff as some of the younger men wrote he would give them up. When he spoke of "younger men" he meant Costa and Macfarren. He had heard of Wagner, but knew only his "Wedding March" from "Lohengrin," and thought he could do better himself. He once borrowed a score of "The Flying Dutchman," but could make nothing of it; and when on New Year's Day one of his particularly progressive colleagues asked him to come to Queen's Hall to hear "The Nut Cracker Symphony" he proudly replied that for his part he didn't think such subjects were fit for symphonic treatment. Once he heard somebody talk of Strauss, and said he didn't see why people made such a fuss about a man who wrote waltzes.
6He was mightily pleased therefore to hear ex-cathedra that Wagner was perhaps not much more than a skilled artisan and that his librettos should not be left on the drawing room table. And when a very great man—at the sound of whose name country organists, metaphorically, beat the ground three times with their foreheads—protested that for him, too, Wagner was often too deep, then John Higginson settled himself comfortably in his seat and felt that of a truth he was dans le mouvement, or would have felt it had he known any French. And his satisfaction was increased to the bursting point when the Largest Circulation solemnly warned Englishmen that the greatest danger to music was our tendency to absorption in the art of to-day to the exclusion of what had stood the test of time. It needed all these things to atone for the concert of new orchestral works given by the society, which was a very rude shock to him. His hair positively stood on end, and in the smoking room that night John Higginson was great. "These young men," he said, "are past all bearing, with their ugly noises and accidentals flung over their scores out of a pepper pot. "Andel," he cried. "Andel can say all he has to say without bass tubas and treble bassoons, and these young whippersnappers will never write a 'allelujah with all the fuss they make. I daresay most of 'em couldn't do a simple tune in four-part harmony if they tried." And a murmur of sympathetic approval went around the room, which was crammed with leaders of musical thought from all corners of the United Kingdom.
8With his head full of these things he returned to Mugby, and after a terrible jolting on his branch line he was glad to sit before his fire and reconsider himself and make up his mind what to say about it all at the next meeting of the local branch. He felt it was a matter of national importance, and it was his duty as a citizen to do what he could to prevent the spread of the evil.
10Suddenly he cried: "I have it," and finding (he knew not how) pen and paper handy he wrote in feverish haste: "A bill to prevent the further desecration of music; or, the Purification of Music Bill":
12"Whereas, Sundry evil disposed persons, entirely disregarding the rules of the ancients, write unscholarly, ugly and unmelodious compositions, employing therein hideous harmonies and heretical resolutions and orchestral instruments not known in the seventeenth century, to the detriment of musical taste in this country, and whereas these evil practices result in the undeserved neglect of established masterpieces;
14"Now to be enacted, &c.
16"SECTION 1. This act shall be entitled 'The Purification, &c., Bill, 1903'—
18"SEC. 2. No publisher of music, bookseller or stationer shall print, engrave, publish, circulate or cause to be printed, engraved, published or circulated any piece of music or composition by any author or composer of either sex, whether a British subject or not, unless such author or composer shall previously swear a statutory declaration or execute any deed or assurance which may be necessary, declaring that he or she thinks everything composed since 1847, and not the work of a British parish organist, superfluous and harmful, and that he or she never has been and never will be a Wagnerian, and holds in equal detestation the brutalities of Russian composers, the ponderous obscurities of the German schools of to-day, the mystic symbolism of French music and the realism of Italian opera; a copy of such declaration, deed or assurance to be prefixed to any piece of music printed, engraved, published or circulated after the passing of this act.
20"SEC. 3. Any publisher of music, bookseller or stationer who shall print, engrave, publish or circulate, or cause to be printed, engraved and circulated any composition or piece of music of which the composer has not previously sworn a statutory declaration or executed a deed or assurance as aforesaid, shall be sentenced to a term of penal servitude not exceeding seven years.
22"SEC. 4. Any composer, author or authoress who shall refuse to swear a statutory declaration or execute a deed or assurance as aforesaid shall be hanged, drawn and quartered or burnt at Smithfield, at his or her option.
24"SEC. 5. Any publisher of music, bookseller or stationer not reporting at the Head Office for the time being of the Incorporated Society of Musicians the refusal of any author or composer to swear a statutory declaration or execute a deed or assurance as aforesaid, shall be deemed to compound a felony.
26"SEC. 6. Any composer scoring for more than two clarinets, one horn and one trombone shall be liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months.
28"SEC. 7. To score for violins, violas, 'celli or double basses divisi shall be a nuisance, and the second and other offences shall be misdemeanors.
30"SEC. 8. Any member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians shall on going out for a walk be preceded by at least two modern composers, who have been convicted under any of the foregoing sections, walking backward and singing hymns of praise entirely diatonic in his honor.
32"SEC. 9. All copies of works scored in contravention of the two sections immediately preceding shall be burnt in the Market Place nearest to the spot where they are discovered, after the president of the nearest branch of the I. S. M. has recited Mr. Higginson's Lecture on "Dr. Crotch as an Innovator"; and the composers of such works shall be burnt in effigy. All persons concealing such works after the passing of this act shall be liable on summary conviction to furnish to the president of the nearest branch of the I. S. M. a written analysis of all Messrs. Novello's Octavo Anthems.
34"SEC. 10. Any conductor or manager causing to be played or performed any work or works scored in contravention of Sections 6 and 7 of this act, and any musical writer or critic praising such works or works or performances shall be liable to be detained during His Majesty's pleasure.
36"SEC. 11. Only the six chords mentioned in the schedule hereto shall be allowed in any composition."
38"There, said Higginson, "I think that will clip their wings. I must get Mr. Slocum—Slocum was the Borough Member—to take charge of the bill. But the next day Mr. Slocum died, and at the by-election which ensued Mr. Higginson was returned unopposed on a wave of popular enthusiasm aroused by his great bill. By extraordinary good luck he secured a chance of moving the second reading on Wednesday afternoon before Easter, and was just about to rise to address a breathless and crowded house with some trepidation but a conviction of ultimate triumph, when—he woke with a start and found that he had forgotten even the title of his bill." A. KALISCH.
40Dorothy Harvey.
42MRS. DOROTHY HARVEY, the soprano, continues to charm her audiences and the critics. Following are some of her recent press notices:
44Notwithstanding the downpour of rain all day long, the largest audience Music Hall ever held assembled to hear the Oratorio Society sing Handel's immortal "Messiah." * * * Mrs. Harvey, a young woman of great personal beauty, has a sympathetic voice, clear, true and sweet, especially in the upper notes, and she sang her several numbers with the full measure of expression. Especially beautiful were her solos, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth" and "Come Unto Him." She was altogether a most satisfying singer, and was warmly applauded after each number.—Baltimore American
46All the soloists sang well and formed a strong quartet. Mrs. Harvey has a young, fresh and brilliant voice, of great carrying power and lovely quality. The greatest soprano aria of the entire work, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth," she sang with great feeling and good taste, rising to the true artistic height demanded by the solo. But special mention must also be made of her rendition of "Come Unto Him," and the several recitatives which she sang most beautifully. Mrs. Harvey is a wonderfully beautiful woman, with a charming yet dignified and unaffected manner, and she left the impression that with a voice of such great possibilities she will undoubtedly make a great name for herself. She will always be a most welcome singer to a Baltimore audience.—Baltimore Herald.
48All the soloists contributed to the success of the performance. Two of them, the soprano and tenor, were heard here for the first time publicly, and both were great successes, receiving generous and well deserved applause for their efforts.—Baltimore News.
50Mrs. Harvey has an exquisitely beautiful and brilliant voice, which she uses with skill, and she sang her every number conscientiously and with great artistic feeling, especially the aria, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth," and "Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion."—Baltimore Sun.
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