Books › Musical Courier 1926-02-04: Vol 92 Iss 5, 1926 › scan 28
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Musical Courier 1926-02-04: Vol 92 Iss 5, 1926
86 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1February 4, 1926
3AMERICAN JAZZ
4It may or may not be significant that the jazz that comes to us from England is good jazz and that the jazz that comes from the Continent of Europe is very bad jazz. People who think jazz and ragtime are Negro music might do well to think this over. Some of those who have studied the subject most carefully have found the basis of this sort of "American" music to be English, Scottish and Irish, with a good strong element of the influence of the accents of the English language behind it all. Anyway, our British cousins turn out a variety of "American" music that is in no single particular different from the original. They bring it over here with their reviews, and there is practically nothing to choose between the English review and the American review except that the English review is generally more refined and more cohesive. The fact is that, in America, Jewish composers make ragtime and jazz means nothing. Wherever they live, the Jews adopt the language and idiom of their temporary homes. The German Jew writes German music; the French Jew, French music; the Italian Jew, Italian music; the American Jew, American music. Only when they "take thought" do they write Jewish music. And our Negroes—what have they had to do with it? Hardly a composition comes from Negro composers either here or abroad, and Europe has been in close contact with African Negroes for thousands of years without ever developing either ragtime or jazz or anything even vaguely pertaining to these idioms. You might just as well say that the characters of Shakespeare made Shakespeare as to say the Negroes made ragtime and jazz. The Negroes were nothing more than the characters in the play. Their curious exotic ways suggested to theatrical people of old a possible profitable use for them and were the basis of our Negro minstrels. But Negro minstrels were never Negro, always black-face. After the Whites had shown the way the Negroes sometimes followed suit, but the Negroes no more made our minstrels than they made our ragtime and our jazz. They were seen by Whites and dramatized musically, just as Dvorák when he came over here saw them and dramatized them musically. This is no attempt to take away from the Negroes what is their just due. Nothing is their just due. They have not yet arrived. When they do they may show us Whites that we are pretty poor as musical talents. It would not be surprising if they did, for they most certainly possess extraordinary musical talents. But to claim that American and British ragtime and jazz is anything but Anglo-Saxon-Celtic is just foolishness, and its paternity is in no wise better demonstrated than by the fact that the great musical countries of the Continent cannot make it. England not only makes it but plays it. The Continent cannot make it—cannot play it—but must import not only the music but also the musicians.
6THE CRITICS
7Herbert Brussel writes to the Musical Courier to suggest that "the various musical critics perpetuate the memory of their vocation by having their reviews printed in book form at the end of each season. And should the concerts of the modern music societies be included?"
9We hardly see the connection here. What have the modern music societies to do with it?
11And as for the reviews of the critics—we assume Mr. Brussel means the critics on the daily newspapers?—being perpetuated, God forbid! The critics have one merit, they are able to pick out with fair accuracy the good artists, though, even in that, they show not half as much wisdom as the common public, which often takes up and makes a success of what the critics condemn.
13Apart from that, we fail to see what the critics write that would be worth preserving. There are exceptions of course, but most of them display an amazing ignorance of everything pertaining to music. Only last Sunday, Olin Downes of The Times published a long article on "conducting from memory" that gave the orchestra players in this city a huge and healthy haw-haw. What friend Downes doesn't know about orchestra conducting and playing would fill a big volume.
15Not long ago Mr. Henderson published an article in which he found all of the singers of this generation equally awful, which, of course, is pure hokum. And the other critics are doing equally awful things all the time (most of them, at least.) The fact is, as aforesaid, that critics ought to stick to their job of telling the public how good or how bad things are, using, not their own judgment, but the judgment of the public. The public knows what is good and what is not good, the critic knows how to phrase this information in proper English, and is able at times to give reasons for the success of an artist or a composition. But such material is, after all, nothing whatever but news. It is not intended to be anything else, and when the critics spread themselves with learned (?) speculations they simply are stepping outside of their vocation. The critic is a music-news-reporter. Let him stay where he belongs! And as to perpetuation, who would care to perpetuate the daily news?
17MODERNITY
18The January, 1926, issue of Eolus, a review for new music, has just appeared. This is the official bulletin of the National Association of Harpists. It is, likewise, the official mouthpiece for Carlos Salzedo, its editor, who is not only one of the world's greatest harpists, but also is a musician of the finest sort in every sense of the word. Mr. Salzedo is fond of modernism, and although we are far from agreeing with him in everything his judgment commends—what two modernists agree?—we approve of his energetic activity in behalf of all that is new. This issue of Eolus has an article about Arthur Honegger, by Arthur Hoeere, in which Arthur throws bouquets at Arthur rather fulsomely. It is a valuable contribution to contemporary biography, it being always difficult to get facts about living musicians. Here they are in great detail! There is an article entitled The Birth of the Twentieth Century Piano, which concerns John Hays Hammond's new device. This is by D. Rudhyar, who writes amazingly good and flowing English, lots of it, without saying anything. There is a most excellent and timely article on the Third Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music at Venice. The author, Henry Prunieres, has sane judgment and his opinions may be depended upon. There are departments of various sorts at the end of this excellent magazine, reports from chapters of the N. A. H., and official directory of harpists, and so on. It is curious to see a harp magazine devoted to modern music, but Salzedo is a driving force that is rapidly bringing the much-neglected harp to the fore.
20FOR THE OPERA LOVERS
21It is not surprising that Charlotte Lund, in three years, has built up such a fine following for her Opera Recitals at the Princess Theater. Last Sunday, despite the heavy downpour, there was a capacity audience, nearly half of which were men, many of whom had first attended Mme. Lund's recitals, with their wives, rather unwillingly. Now they are not only thoroughly interested but also eager attendants, and in the bargain are learning more about opera than they thought it was possible to do in a commonplace way. Mme. Lund and Mr. Pavey are unquestionably doing invaluable work in their opera recitals of the novelties and revivals presented each season at the Metropolitan. The fact that each successive season the attendance of these Princess Theater Opera Recitals has increased until they are now an established feature of the musical season, and that Mme. Lund and Mr. Pavey have many concerts outside of New York, in many cities where opera companies never are heard, prove that they are doing a great pioneer work for the development of appreciation of opera. In these recitals Mme. Lund tells the plot, gives the various themes and motives of each opera, and she and Mr. Pavey (who both plays and sings) render various selections from the opera, giving a complete and delightful idea of what "the opera is all about."
23VERSATILE WEINGARTNER
24Felix Weingartner is probably the only European conductor who is equally in demand both for symphony concerts and operas. Immediately following his symphonic engagements in England and Germany he has filled, within three weeks, three guest appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper, five concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic, and two guest concerts at Prague. After a short tour of Roumania the famous conductor will conduct two more concerts with the Philharmonic at Vienna and then leave for a solid month's concert engagements in Europe, returning East in time for a tour of Russia in April. Upon the request of the Austrian Government, Weingartner has consented to return to the Staatsoper next season for another guest season.
26TILL DEATH DO US PART
27The members of the Léner Quartet, after seven years of uninterrupted union, have made a mutual agreement never to perform separately in public as long as they live. If many more such agreements are made we shall have to have a special divorce court for musical ensembles.
29TUNING-IN WITH EUROPE
30Dr. Henry Coward, described in the London press as "the eminent conductor," belied his patronymic recently by coming out flat against modernity in music, describing this as the "gee-whiz-bang" age of art. The bad critics, according to Dr. Coward, are to blame, and, of course, the war. "Since the war they have become very noisy and dissatisfied with convention"; and (figuratively, of course) they are said to have said: "Let's have a splash, a crash, anything to make things hum." But this is not all. "When one is told," says the venerable Dr. Coward, "that Bach was an old fossil, Handel should be buried for thirty years, Mozart wrote only piffle, it was time Beethoven was knocked off his pedestal because he was dull and his instrumentation out of date, and that Wagner had not composed a bar of real music, it makes one's gorge rise." Speaking for the aforesaid bad critics, we must heartily agree! But who, one wonders, had been pulling the old gentleman's—limb?
32* * *
34One hundred years ago, on June 5, 1826, Carl Maria von Weber died at Great Portland Street, London, after having produced Oberon eight weeks before at Covent Garden, for which it was written. If present prognostications fail, Covent Garden will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event by a performance of—Puccini's Tosca.
36* * *
38The latest biography of Liszt, by Frederick Corder, is entitled Francois Liszt. Perhaps Frédéric Corder has been reading a list of lectures issued by a prominent American conservatory, in which one of the titles is "Chopin, Liszt, and other French Composers." But surely Friedrich Corder knows better than that!
40* * *
42At the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, the various courses during the past term have been attended as follows:
44Piano ………………………………………….. 82
45Singing ………………………………………….. 35
46Violin ……………………………………………. 20
47Organ ……………………………………………. 16
48Conducting ……………………………………… 11
50Total …………………………………………….. 164
51Only thirty-one attended harmony or composition classes. Practice before theory seems to be the idea of the remaining 133.
53* * *
55The Pioneer is the title of the first Jewish opera written in Hebrew, and it is being produced by the Hebrew Opera Company in Jerusalem. The composer is a young Palestinian. His colleagues on the repertory are Verdi, Puccini, Gounod and Rimsky-Korsakoff; Wagner; Meyerbeer, Saint-Saëns and Halévy. Which makes the race division as nearly fifty-fifty as is possible!
57* * *
59Answering the complaints against its programs, the British Broadcasting Company, which prides itself on catering to the real wishes of the public, issues an interesting list of percentages of what English stations send through the air:
61Popular music …………………………………. 43 per cent.
62Talks ……………………………………………. 26.25 per cent.
63Dance music ……………………………………. 26 per cent.
64Classical music …………………………………. 9 per cent.
65News ……………………………………………. 5 per cent.
66Religion ………………………………………….. 0.75 per cent.
67And who would have thought that the English were more musical than religious?
69* * *
71The following "advertisement" appeared in a Berlin daily after the dismissal of Intendant von Schillings, whose contract has four more years to run:
73Beginning Dec. 1 we require for our
74State Theatres
75obedient and strong-nerved
76Intendants
77Applicants must call between 12 and 7 p. m. at the Ministry, with their references. Only personalities of great reputation but of absolute adaptability need apply. Duration of contract: five years, but the Ministry reserves the right of
78Three Days' Notice
79or immediate dismissal. Applicants who are also available for domestic use have preference. Marriage to singers strictly forbidden!
80Modest salary to start. No personal intercourse outside of office hours is permitted to the Intendant!
81THE MINISTRY FOR ART AND SCIENCE
83* * *
85"Full Concert Grand Piano, by Broadwoods out of Alton Towers," is offered in an advertisement in an English paper. What we're looking for is a Baby Grand, by Steinway out of Bechstein, inheriting the qualities of both.
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