Books › Musical Courier 1926-04-22: Vol 92 Iss 16, 1926 › scan 17
Scan 17
Musical Courier 1926-04-22: Vol 92 Iss 16, 1926
56 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 18. See the scan on archive.org.
1AN OLD QUESTION: HOW DOES A TEACHER HOLD HIS PUPILS?
2By Hans Hess
4An old question: How does a teacher hold his pupils? A question the answer to which may spell success or failure to either.
6Teaching is not a business but an art. As all art is founded fundamentally on inspiration, and all true artists are temperamental to a greater or lesser degree, it is much more difficult to answer concretely a question that depends so completely on the individual, whereas a corporation that treats its members as a whole, and whose action and reaction can create a success or failure to a great extent depends on generalities.
8All great motives in life are based on an unselfish desire to be constructive, to create something that will live for the future, increasing in fineness and perfection. This wish to see the best carried on through the vehicle of a younger generation, who in turn adds its mite to the firm foundation it has acquired under one's tutelage, in turn to pass its knowledge on to the next, and so on till the end, when time alone will create absolute perfection—this is the true basis on which inspiration to instruct is created and on which the bond of sympathy between student and teacher is united.
10Through experience one finds himself facing the acute knowledge that he himself is but a student, a student of human nature, who has learned from the pupils he teaches that knowledge which is impossible to gain elsewhere, namely, that no two students are alike. They may be segregated as a whole into classes with certain similar mental and physical characteristics, but where is he who can classify a soul, that indefinable element that marks individuality? Still in some subtle way unknown even to the master, this is accomplished. How, he may not be able himself to conceive. Still, once such an understanding is established, whether actually realized or not, the battle is won, and as a result a mutual appreciation is developed that opens the path to success for the student and a satisfaction and pride on the part of the instructor that seldom fails to result in ultimate achievement for both.
12Such a condition itself, however, is not alone sufficient, but practical application must be made of it as well, for many are the pitfalls along the way, particularly in the case of an advanced pupil who is just beginning to realize his (or her) own ability and power. His superiorities, his little vanities, are unbounded. He forgets to whom he owes so much. He has developed temperament. He has gained a little knowledge, and a little knowledge is a dangerous plaything to the present generation. He steps over the precipice, and the great tower that has been built, totters. Will it fall, or will it only settle on to a firmer foundation? Every teacher has had in the course of his career, at one time or other, to sit back and helplessly witness such a catastrophe. After all, no human being is infallible. Such incidents but add to one's knowledge and strengthen one's resources, so that the knowledge thus gained but increases his ability to understand similar tendencies. The result is that each foundation is a little stronger, each new edifice more beautiful, each product of his skill more perfect. He realizes it is the majority, not the exceptional, that must carry on and will give to the future what he himself has helped to create, but always in a bigger sense. For life may not stand still, and his art must also take its part in that great scheme of events we know as progress.
14Edward Johnson Delights Boston Audience
16Edward Johnson has been one of the high lights among tenors visiting Boston recently. The dailies were unanimous in recognizing in him a singer who not only possesses a voice of rare quality but one who also expounds eloquently, with a fine classical regard for the content of the music and its outline. The Boston Herald attributed Mr. Johnson with having "a voice that has a medium as solid as any baritone's, which leads without break into high tones, full, strong, and sweet, tones free from hint of pinch or bellow or beat. On every note of his long range Mr. Johnson seems able to pronounce any word resonantly and with clearness . . . The poet's song from Andrea Chenier he sang poetically, quite as a well bred young man, also a poet, in his fine frenzy might sing it. An Italian boatman's song he sang enchantingly, with a beauty of tone to be remembered and a rhythm not to be bettered." The Boston Transcript declared: "Seldom does an operatic excerpt make such an impression in the concert hall. By voice, manner, inflection, nuance, Mr. Johnson brought the illusion of the opera house to his hearers. With rhythmic driving force, with accents of superlative dynamic vitality, he created tension upon tension, made his hearers one with himself, carried them with him through the impassioned scene."
18Lanham's Prize Winning Quartet Heard
20The Columbian Quartet, of Washington, D. C., prize winner in a recent competition, was heard, April 10, at the American Institute of Applied Music, Charles Brandenburg and Gwilym Anwyll, tenors, pupils of McCall Lanham, singing solo numbers. The quartet sings with commendable clearness of enunciation, excellent unity and general tunefulness; The Lost Chord (with well sung solo by Raymond G. Moore) was done in remarkable fashion. Works of the XVth Century by Palestrina and Morley, as well as modern works by Rheinberger, Brahms, and the Americans Protheroe, Ambrose, Gibson, Burleigh, and Reddick, were also on the program.
22Mr. Brandenburg's range and quality of voice were demonstrated in German lieder, and Mr. Anwyll was programmed for songs by Campbell-Tipton. John C. Smith, bass of the Columbia Quartet, sang The Two Grenadiers with gusto, and Mr. Lanham, excellent pianist that he is, played the accompaniments. The program commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his teaching at the American Institute of Applied Music, and a somewhat similar program was given the preceding evening at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, of which Mr. Lanham is choirmaster, with Felian Garzia, pianist, and William F. Sherman, organist, assisting.
24Tollefsen Trio Back From New Mexico
26The Tollefsen Trio has returned from its usual tour in the South, starting in North Carolina and ending in New Mexico. Among the places visited, several being return engagements, were Greenville, N. C. (East Carolina Teachers' College); Daytona Beach, Fla. (Auditorium); Mobile, Ala. (Shell Road Auditorium); Conway, Ark., (Central College); Searcy, Ark. (Galloway College); Arkadelphia, Ark. (Henderson-Brown College); Denton, Texas (College of Industrial Arts); Keene, Texas (Southwestern College); Alpine, Texas (Sul-Ross College), and Messila Park, Texas (State College). As usual their programs were much enjoyed, being enhanced by Mr. Tollefsen's descriptive remarks, a feature much appreciated by college audiences. This was Paulo Gruppe's first trip South with the Tollefsens as cellist, and both his solo and ensemble playing received favorable comments.
28The trio played in Poughkeepsie on March 3 for the Duchess County Musical Association, and on March 6 for the Mozart Society of New York, at the Astor hotel giving an all-Scandinavian program.
30Crystal Waters in Concert
32On April 6, Crystal Waters, soprano, was the soloist at a lecture given at the New York Historical Society. The speaker was Harold Vincent Milligan, and the subject was Three Centuries of American song. Miss Waters was in costume, and with the splendid selections which were rendered, added considerable interest to this unusual event. Miss Waters is known for her artistic attainment and this concert before the Historical Society was up to her usual high artistic standard.
34Johnson and Gordon Heard in Boston
36Taylor Gordon and J. Rosamond Johnson were heard in their third concert of the present season in Boston at the Copley Theater on March 28. The Boston Globe wrote: "Negro Spirituals move large crowd. Johnson and Gordon fill Copley in last concert." The Boston Post said: "They aroused enthusiasm." The Boston Herald stated that the audience filled the theater and there were many demands for encores. And again "one was thrilled at the ecstatic beauty of Mr. Gordon singing Stand Still Jordan and Steal Away to Jesus." The Christian Science Monitor commented: "Again they gave pleasure by reason of their great artistry in this kind of music."
38The Boston Transcript said that the public of these two men is growing rapidly. It was perhaps in the closing comment of the music critic of the Boston Globe that the most impressive criticism was written: "After an evening more spiritual than many church services, more dramatic than many plays, more truly musical than most concerts, it would be surprising if there were anyone in the audience who is not now eager for the speedy return of these artists."
40Miss Miloradovitch Coming Home
42PARIS.—Milo Miloradovitch, American soprano, who made a successful debut in the Liege Royal Opera, is sailing for
44
46MILO MILORADOVITCH,
47American soprano, who is winning operatic success in Europe. (F. Celis photo.)
49the United States to fulfill a number of concert engagements during the summer. She will return to the European operatic field this fall.
51N. DE B.
53Chamber Music Society Busy
55Since its return from a highly successful transcontinental tour, the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco has been kept busy on the Coast, not only playing a large number of concerts from Los Angeles north to Vancouver, but also in the work entailed in playing and judging, with Alfred Hertz and Frederick Jacobi, the sixty-seven string quartets submitted for the prize competition for the Ojai Festival. With its characteristic thoroughness and high artistic ideals, the organization has spent the better part of four weeks in careful try-outs of these compositions submitted from all over the world. Each quartet submitted was thoroughly played and carefully investigated, and the decision was reached after a slow and conscientious weeding-out process. The judges were unanimous in their decision. The winning quartet was played on the last day of the Festival at Ojai by the Chamber Music Society.
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