Books › Musical Courier 1927-06-16: Vol 94 Iss 24, 1927 › scan 17
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Musical Courier 1927-06-16: Vol 94 Iss 24, 1927
41 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 18. See the scan on archive.org.
1MUSIC BY THE MEDITERRANEAN
2By CLARENCE LUCAS
4My little visit of a week's duration to the shores of the Mediterranean was not so much in the interests of music as in search of warmth and cheerfulness. Paris at the end of March was cold and wet; but Italy, Monaco, and the South of France were bathed in sunshine. Now and then a wind blew over the sea and dashed the white waves on the shore, and a bank of gray clouds swept across the sky and hid the sun. But the blues and greens of the Mediterranean waters were as beautiful as ever—as lovely as they appeared to the Romans and the Greeks two or three thousand years ago.
6Of course I went into the Casino at Monte Carlo, but not to gamble. Was it by design or by chance that the Casino is planned on what might be called moral principles? I refer to the ground plan of the building and not to the ethics of the place. The visitor who turns neither to the right hand nor to the left when he enters the spacious hall, finds himself at the entrance to the Opera House. Turning to the right hand, he comes at once to the refreshment bar, surrounded with little tables and inviting chairs. To enter the gambling hall, however, one must deliberately turn to the left. Metaphorically speaking, turning to the left is wrong. He who would find comfort in sophistry can enter the gambling hall when he comes from the Opera House by turning to the right. That was my method, for naturally I went to the opera first. Does not a busman take his holiday by riding in another bus? How can a double-dyed music critic escape music?
8The opera was Ivan le Terrible by Raoul Gunsbourg, a composer who has given his later years more to directing the Monte Carlo opera company than to composing. How many managing directors of opera companies are there who can compose a grand opera? The music is agreeable. Only the name of the piece is terrible. The performance was likewise agreeable. But who wishes to be thrilled by operatic music when sky and sea and mountain and flowers conspire to make Monte Carlo so full of exquisite beauty that artificial sensations are tame? The full moon hung in a silver blaze over the sparkling sea and a thousand lights along the bending shores of the bay made a fringe of gold around the water.
10The roulette tables in the gambling halls were surrounded by a light hearted throng of American visitors from one of the excursion steamers in the harbor. There was very little serious play. The loss or gain of a few dollars was greeted with laughter. One pretty brunette was making merry in the chair which was occupied a few nights before by a desperate man who blew his brains out when the capricious wheel had gone against his luck and the last of his fortune vanished. But, "On with the dance," as Byron remarked. The laughter and merriment of the Casino are paid for in tears and bitterness a thousandfold. Last year I saw a young man rush wildly from the room and offer for sale his costly motor car for next to nothing. Then he rushed back to the tables and lost even that last remaining stake. This is sport! Thanks! My tame and uneventful existence is better for me than either "to be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease," or "to sail through bloody seas," as the picturesque hymn of Dr. Watts expresses it.
12In the gambling halls that night I met two American pianists, neither of whom made fortunes nor committed suicide. One was the fairest of blondes, Marguerite Morgan; and the other was the black haired, ruddy, and temperamental John Heath. They were visiting the Riviera for the serious purpose of giving recitals and not to gamble or listen to Monte Carlo opera. Marguerite Morgan's recital was at Nice three days later. She had a large audience for her first appearance in that part of the world and she was kept exceedingly busy rising from the piano stool, sometimes two and three times after every number on the long program to acknowledge the unstinted applause. Perhaps it is not out of place for me to credit Stravinsky here with an act of courtesy to this American artist. When I called his attention to the fact that Marguerite Morgan had been the first pianist to play his Serenade in Vienna, he gave her two afternoons of his time in going over with her very carefully several of his piano works. He lives in a cosy villa in a garden of flowers on a cliff overlooking the sunny Mediterranean, with the remnants of the Alps on either hand. Nobody but a composer would tolerate the abominable piano he placed at Miss Morgan's disposal. Was it neglect or abuse or sea air or the infirmities of age which made Stravinsky's piano so atrocious? He has very decided views on how his music should be played. Several times he told the pianist not to interpret but to execute the composition. In other words, he desires the utmost clearness, strong, well marked rhythms, and a careful observance of the expression marks on the printed page. He dislikes any individual reading.
14Marguerite Morgan flitted away to Spain: John Heath shut himself up in his villa at Beaulieu to practice for the coming fray and a tour which includes Paris in a few weeks. There was nothing left for me to do but to spend a few hours with Mme. Regina A. de Sales in talking over days of old when she was singing operas in Covent Garden in London, and the opera houses of Munich and Paris. In different health alone prevents her from continuing her public singing, for her voice is as glorious as ever, and experience has given her a style which no young girl could ever have at the age when I first heard her sing.
16I listened to the Rosenkavalier, otherwise Le Chevalier de la Rose, by Richard Strauss, in the Monte Carlo Opera House, and then I boarded the train for Paris, pleased with the orchestra, bored with the French version of the Viennese dialect, trying to make up my mind whether the singing was fair or middling. I gazed at the enchanting vistas from the window of the train as it wound in and out of the bays along the sea and watched the soft waves smiling in the sun. Above the rattle of the wheels upon the rails I heard the voice of the Mediterranean waters. "Our existence is not measured by the brief endurance of a human life. A day, a century, a thousand years, are all the same to us. We can be patient until we overthrow the precipice and bury the broken stones in the cold blue waves."
18Quincy Porter's New Sonata
19CLEVELAND, OHIO.—Quincy Porter, one of America's youngest composers, who heads the department of theory at the Cleveland Institute of Music, has caught America's ear again with the newest of his works, a sonata for violin and piano. Given its world premier recently it revealed a more spirited and vigorous mood of its author than he has hitherto displayed.
21The composition was given to the public for its first time by Andre de Ribaupierre and Beryl Rubinstein, Porter's colleagues at the Institute, to whom the work has been dedicated. Their interpretation of it was accomplished and devoted.
23The first movement of the work opens with a slow introduction in which are heard several of the themes that reappear later. Much of the thematic material of all three movements and even the harmonies seem to take their origin from a particular melodic figure of three descending notes which appear in the introduction. The whole introduction is developed in lines of compelling and definite direction. Gay rhythm follows the exposition of the first theme of the allegro, followed again by material of the exposition, brilliantly treated in violin and piano with a short and vigorous coda. The andante, deriving its thematic material from the first movement is essentially lyric, and of sustained beauty. In the third movement, presto, a whirling rhythmic tarantelle-like figure becomes the accompaniment of a sustained theme in the violin, working to a climax during which a strong chorale-like theme is played by the piano, the violin continuing its tripping figure. A new theme of lyric nature appears, leading to a climax of choral chords, and the peaceful, closing theme of the movement.
25It is a terse and highly stimulating composition with no waste or arid spots, displaying a completely sophisticated use of modern technical devices—unexpected cadences, irregular rhythms, combined with an entrancing originality of motive. Porter adds this interesting work to other favored compositions, like his Ukrainian suite, judged in national competition to be among the six best unpublished works of American composers.
27Znaida Pupils in Recital
28A group of the Znaida advanced pupils gave a concert before a capacity audience on May 22 at the Carnegie Chamber Hall. Wide variety of program characterized the concert. The young people gave a good account of themselves, singing with real artistic feeling and showing the result of excellent training.
30Dorothy Spinner-Eisenstadt showed promise in arias by Verdi and in the Il Bacco by Arditi. Possessing a coloratura soprano voice, brilliant and sympathetic, she negotiated the difficult runs and trills with technical excellence and was warmly applauded. Julia Laurence, lyric soprano, handles her voice very well. She was applauded for her excellent interpretation of the Louise aria and Tchaikowsky's Pique Dame. Marjorie Hanellin sang with assurance, and her interpretation of the aria from Tosca and Ave Maria from Cavalleria Rusticana showed musical intelligence and fine taste; her soprano voice is naturally placed and makes a good impression. Lillian Gothelf, dramatic soprano, was heard in the aria from Cavalleria Rusticana and in a group of English and Italian songs. She has a powerful voice of appealing quality, well equipped; she secured her best effects in the prelude of A Cycle of Life by Ronald and also in the Italian song, Caro Mio Ben, by Giordani. Sophie Spivak, soprano, sang with much feeling and in a sweet voice Russian songs by Rachmaninoff.
32Mr. Znaida himself concluded the program with the arias from La Boheme by Puccini and Gioconda by Ponchielli. He was in excellent voice and heartily applauded by the audience. The singers had the able assistance of Mrs. M. Znaida and M. Popkin at the piano.
34Noyes Group Movement Spreading
35The Noyes Group Movement, which is spreading so rapidly throughout the country, is based upon Florence Noyes' discovery of how the laws of rhythm may be applied to human unfoldment. With Wolstan Crocker Brown as co-worker, this discovery has been developed into a complete educational system. Among the subjects offered at the school in New York, and at its many branches in other cities, are rhythm in the training of children, rhythm in the home, in sports, in nature and in sculpture. Demonstration-recitals are given frequently, the movement being based solely on the laws of rhythm in the form of lyric drama dance, dance-groups, pantomime, lyrical whimsies (humorous) and rhythmic character sketches. Masques also are presented from time to time.
37The summer camp of the Noyes School of Rhythm is situated at Cobalt, Conn., where many opportunities are offered girls and women to have a good time and in addition to store up energy for the winter's activities, whether they be in the home, at school or at business.
39Harper and Barr Sing Balcony Scene
40Helen Harper and James A. Barr gave the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet at the annual June fete of the Washington Arts Club on the estate of Dr. John Ryan Devereux at Chevy Chase on June 9.
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