Scan 5
Musical Courier 1927-05-05: Vol 94 Iss 18, 1927
76 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1MUSICAL COURIER
2MAY 5, 1927
4MARION TALLEY'S FAME KNOWS NO BOUNDS; PERSEVERANCE AND HARD WORK RESPONSIBLE
6Career a Notable One, But Her Achievement Fails to Turn Her Head—Offers Valuable Advice to Others—Flooded with Letters from Her Host of Admirers—Mrs. Talley Tells of Young Singer's Early Activities—Next Season to Be Still Busier One for Young Prima Donna
8Marion Talley! What significance? Surely there is no one in America, whether musical or not, who does not know that it belongs to the young American girl who hailed from Kansas City and, on going to New York last season, made a sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera House. Talley, Talley, Talley! The name resounded for days after that memorable evening. She was "made"… and over night. Even then there were all sorts of speculations. Some predicted her vogue couldn't last; others said: "See what she does next year!" But in spite of all the "I told you so's," Marion Talley's star is on the ascent.
10The second season of opera has gone, and Talley is just as popular. As a concert attraction, she fills the box-offices. Last season the young singer sang four roles; this season she added two new ones. She is not content to rest on her laurels; she marches steadily ahead.
12Nor has all the great success—for it is truly that—gone to her young head. And she is only a little over twenty. She is modest, almost reluctant about discussing herself. She has none of the airs of many of the "would be prima donnas," giving one the impression of a normal young girl who rather enjoys being natural, and is not at all awed by her new surroundings and the glory attending her rapid jump to fame.
14Marion Talley lives in a comfortable New York apartment with her mother and sister, and part of her daily routine consists of making her own bed and helping with the general light house-work. The Talleys boast of no maid. Their home surroundings are simple and congenial.
16The first question we asked Marion Talley when we interviewed her one morning last week—and it was only a little after nine o'clock—was: "Will you sing again with the Metropolitan Opera next season?"
18The little singer looked surprised, and with a laugh replied: "As far as I know I will. Why?"
20"There have been a couple of rumors going around, as rumors will, to the effect that you were not to be with the company next season. A statement from you would put them to rest."
22"You may say there is nothing in them whatsoever. I am going on tour with the company next week, not to Baltimore and Washington, however, but to Atlanta, Cleveland and Rochester. I have three concerts prior to joining the company and several at the close of the tour until Decoration Day. Then I am free. Last year I sang until June 18, but that is too late, I think. No, I shall only sung as far west as Denver. Let me see," she continued, "six in California, two in Washington and one in Oregon. From there I go to Salt Lake City, filling about forty concerts before Christmas and with an additional ten in January before I join the Metropolitan the second half of the season." one of two readings
23"You may say there is nothing in them whatsoever. I am going on tour with the company next week, not to Baltimore and Washington, however, but to Atlanta, Cleveland and Rochester. I have three concerts prior to joining the company and several at the close of the tour until Decoration Day. Then I am free. Last year I sang until June 18, but that is too late, I think. No, I shall not go abroad. Everyone seems to be booking passage. I really don't know where I shall spend my summer. one of two readings
25"My season begins early in September, opening on the sixth in San Francisco. I shall have six concerts in California—and this is my first trip to the Coast, as I have only sung as far west as Denver. Let me see," she continued, "six in California, two in Washington and one in Oregon. From there I go to Salt Lake City, filling about forty concerts before Christmas and with an additional ten in January before I join the Metropolitan the second half of the season." one of two readings
27"You have had quite a season with your concerts, haven't you?"
29"Yes," she replied in her naturally modest way, "since I made my debut at the opera until the first of this coming June, I will have filled seventy-five concerts." Quite a record for a young artist's first year, but then in the case of Marion Talley it is not surprising.
31At this time it is not necessary to go into the details of this young American girl's sensational success. She is probably the most talked of among the new singers at the present time. Her fame has spread to all parts of Europe. In some little towns in Germany and Czechoslovakia, she is looked upon as the highest paid singer of the day. Since her debut, and as a consequence, she has received thousands of letters from young singers all around the world. Some want to know how she achieved her success, others how she takes care of her voice. Strangely enough there are also many who, although not musical, seek financial aid. Only the other day Miss Talley received a letter from a young Belgian boy, sixteen years old, in which he sought to become the heir of the American girl. He went on, in his well written letter, to say that she had so much money she couldn't spend it all and, as her relatives didn't need it, why couldn't she leave it all to him at her death. He seemed certain he would live the longer. Still another man in Switzerland wanted enough money to buy a piano for himself, his wife and babies. A third living in a little town adjacent to one of the larger cities where he went to work each day, appealed for funds to purchase an automobile which would make transportation easier. Many of these writers even take the pains to register their letters, regardless of cost.
33But if Marion Talley were to comply with one request from the most remote town in Europe, she would be besieged within a short time, as news of that kind spreads too quickly. It would also necessitate not one but several secretaries to attend to all this mail. As it is, her clever little sister, Florence, who is also a talented pianist, has about all she can do to take care of her younger sister's regular flow of correspondence.
35"But have you a message for the young American aspirants?" she was asked.
37"Yes," Miss Talley hesitated, with a little toss of her shiny head, whose curls have been recently put up.—"to succeed one must have 'it' in them and work hard. I have no set rules for attaining success. Each one is individual, therefore the circumstances are different."
39Here Mrs. Tally remarked that she didn't know whether as a baby Marion had sung or spoken first. To her mother's recollection, she has always sung, fulfilling the wish of her parent, who admits quite frankly that she never had the opportunity to study. Unlike the average young singer, Marion did not aim for the Metropolitan. She never really thought very far ahead. Before preparation started for her present career, because the two girls were musical, Mother Talley thought that, with good fortune, her children might do an act in vaudeville. And, according to the singer, if it had been someone else who was as indefinite as she was about her future, they might not have gotten there. People known to the Talley family have set their hearts on a certain goal and when they did not have success their life was apparently wrecked.
41"Having two girls," said Mrs. Talley, "I thought it would be easier for them to make a living in vaudeville than in an office, a store, or by teaching. Why, Marion took a business course in high school to prepare her if music failed."
43"And I am certain if I had not known anything about having a career," interrupted Marion, quite unexcited, "I would have been just as satisfied in business. You see our family is not given to getting excited very easily. We take things as they come, living mostly in the present, and letting the future take care of itself. We do not dwell on the past.
45"And will you misunderstand when I tell you that I could stop singing any time and not feel it? I am, by way of explanation, not so wedded to my art that nothing else counts. But while I am singing I honestly can say it is with all my heart and soul. I have studied very hard, as anyone must to achieve something worth while. Yes, I like concert work very much; opera, too, but neither better than the other."
47The People's Symphony Celebrates Birthday
49Mr. Mallet-Prevost made an address at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the People's Symphony concert on April 15, in which he called particular attention to the fact that Franz X. Arens was instrumental in the establishment of these concerts. He said, "More than half a century ago, a boy of ten stood on the deck of an immigrant boat, gazing for the first time upon the shores of the New World. He came, as some of you have come, driven by stress from his native land to seek a home.
51"Fifteen more years went by. The boy had grown to manhood. The soil of the West has been responsive to the toil of his hands and the sweat of his brow. He had sat at his father's feet, and received from him the culture that poverty could not crush. The soul of unheard music stirred within him. A great yearning possessed him, a yearning to hear and to learn things that, as yet, only the Old World could teach.
53"Yielding to that impulse he turned his face toward his native land; and there, for the first time, he heard the great symphonies of the Old Masters. They came as a revelation to him. They stirred him to the depths of his being. They brought home to him the realization that struggling multitudes in his adopted country were barred from entering the enchanted land of music; and, then and there he resolved to break down those bars, to throw open the doors, and to invite his fellow workers to walk with him in those Elysian fields. The years in Europe prepared him for his task. He studied, he taught, he conducted. Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Weimar, Leipzig and Vienna listened to his conducting and applauded. He returned to America complete in his equipment for the work which he had undertaken.
55"For a time his labors were in the Middle West; but at last New York welcomed him, and then it was that he laid the cornerstone of the Temple of Music of which he had so long dreamed. That was twenty-five years ago. Many of those who enlisted under his banner have passed away. Nora Godwin, Albert Stettheim, and Ellin Prince Speyer, who from the first came to that dreamer's help; Betty Loeb, who contributed so generously to the work; Annie Louise Carey, the charming singer of a generation gone by who, at her death, left a legacy of $50,000 to the Society, and many others whose names are too numerous to mention.
57"I would that the man who dreamed that dream were here tonight. He is far away across the continent; but he is with us in spirit, and I hold in my hand a message which he has sent. It is dated Los Angeles, and reads: 'Warmest felicitations to officers, trustees and audience assembled to celebrate twenty-fifth anniversary. My heart goes out to our loyal president, officers, trustees and financial supporters; to Annie Louise Carey who permanently established our future; and to our audience who so nobly vindicated my conviction that the best music is their just due. Regretting my inability to be present I send three songs as special greeting. (Signed) Franz X. Arens.'"
59Summer Courses at Carnegie Institute
61Professor J. Vick O'Brien, head of the department of music at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, who is studying in Europe on leave of absence, will return to Pittsburgh in June to take charge of the summer courses in music. Professor O'Brien will conduct, personally, the courses in elementary harmony, practical harmony, advanced harmony and melody writing, and elementary counterpoint and form.
63The summer work in music, which is arranged in two main groups announced as the Public School Music Course and the Instrumental Course, will be given for a six weeks' period from June 27 to August 5. For teachers the program includes, in addition to Professor O'Brien's courses, work in vocal ensemble, keyboard harmony, solfege, history of music, Dalcroze Eurythmics, chorus conducting, technic of orchestral instruments, elements of orchestration, methods, rote songs, voice, and individual lessons in voice, organ, piano, violin, cello, and all instruments of the symphony orchestra.
65Children Participate in Mannes School Concert
67Twenty-one children, ranging in years from seven to fifteen, and in grade from first-year students to advanced players of violin, cello and piano, were heard in a special concert at The David Mannes Music School, April 20. Five children, beginners this season, opened the recital with gavottes, minuets, and little pieces written especially for children by members of the school faculty. The second and third parts of the program, made up of music for more advanced students, included the names of Bach, Debussy, Schubert, Porpora, Wieniawski, Beethoven, Viotti and Schumann. The recital proved of exceptional interest to adults and children alike and to the many visitors who attended. On May 9, a program of original compositions will be given by students at the school and also assisting colleagues, concluding the series of special recitals for this season.
69Stephens Pupil Is Awarded Scholarship
71Paul Parks, baritone, artist pupil of Percy Rector Stephens, has been awarded a Harry Harkness Flagler operatic scholarship for study at the Fontainebleau School of Music the coming summer. Mr. Parks is a resident of New York City. At the beginning of his career he was known as a concert pianist and accompanist, but in the World War he received an injury that incapacitated him from continuing as an instrumental performer, and he therefore turned his attention seriously to vocal work. In December, 1921, he won the Bispham Memorial Prize for baritone and sang at the Bispham Memorial Concert in Carnegie Hall, and from that time on has made steady progress in vocal art, concertizing in many cities of the United States.
73Marjorie Meyer Declines Offer
75Marjorie Meyer, soprano, has declined a flattering offer to sing opera roles in South America next season. She prefers to devote herself to recital and concert work here for the present and continue her operatic preparation by increasing the number of her roles.
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