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FAMOUS MUSICIANS
OF A
WANDERING RACE
Famous Musicians
of a
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF OUTSTANDING FIGURES OF JEWISH ORIGIN IN THE MUSICAL WORLD
By
GDAL SALESKI
VITA HRKVK8
NEW YORK
BLOCK PUBLISHING COMPANY
, 1927
•; i
COPYRIGHT 1927 BY GDAL SALESKI
All rights reserved
Hetoronue
Printed in tue United States
THE BARNES PRINTING Co., INC,,
NRW YORK CJTY
TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER.
JOSEF SALESKI
PREFACE
The author wishes to make clear at the very beginning that the words Jew" and "Jewish" are not used in their religious or na tional sense. The method of approach is purely a racial one. He has isolated all these musicians into this one volume for the simple reason that all of them have in their veins that fire to which the Jewish prophets gave utterance in the time of Jerusalem's glory.
He realizes that a number of those included in this volume, though reputed to be of Jewish origin, are now of a different faith, He is not concerned with their religion, past or present, but solely with their racial roots, as in the case of the Damrosch family. Dr. Leopold Damrosch, father of Walter J. and Frank H., was born of Jewish parents but later was baptized in the Christian faith*
^ Although attempts at recording the rich contribution of cer tain members of the Jewish race to the world's arts and culture have been made before, no book concerning itself exclusively with musicians of Jewish origin has, to the author's knowledge, ever been written. And yet it would seem that a race which has given to the world so many outstanding musicians, including practically every great pianist of the nineteenth century and of the present one, with the exception of such figures as Liszt, Paderewski, and a;few others, certainly deserves a book to itself. The reader's con viction will strengthen itself on that subject when he glances through these pages and sees the imposing array of violinists conductors, composers, etc. The author takes courage from the tact that similar books which have been and still continue to be published have found their readers, and as a rule have had to be published in many editions. He consequently feels that in compil ing this volume he is filling a definite want.
In any case, this book will, in part at least, be a distinct contri bution to the critico-biographical literature of music, inasmuch as certain names and facts will here appear between covers for the first time. These facts and anecdotes have been carefully collected during the author's travels as soloist and as member of several large orchestral organizations of the world, either by direct con tact with the personality described, or as first-hand information from members of the family, associating artists, etc,
For the biographies of musicians now dead, the author used as a basis the newest and most reliable sources.
In this book the author lays no claims to being exhaustive. For the purpose of this volume, he has concerned himself only with out-
viii Preface
standing musicians. It is a pity that a more comprehensive vol ume, including a great many other names that could be classified under this heading, could not, for practical reasons, bo made.
The circumstances leading up to the writing of this book are in themselves not devoid of interest. The author began his musical career in Russia and Western Europe, where he was a fellow-stu dent with most of these Jewish young men whose art has since taken the world by storm, at a time when in the Bohemian and intellectual Russian- Jewish circles there blossomed forth a new and powerful racial consciousness. That consciousness led to the establishment of certain aims, the principal one of which was that the composer-musician of Jewish origin could achieve much greater results in his work if he were to identify himself more closely with the genius of his race. The author has carried on the work of his companions by collecting the necessary data for the compilation of this volume. Such a lexicon cannot but serve as a guide and inspira tion to the numerous young Jewish musicians of our day, and to those yet to come.
Nearly three-quarters of a century has passed since the poet and composer Richard Wagner wrote his brochure /wffl/Vwt in Music. This volume was undoubtedly prompted by his jealousy of the popular successes of Meyerbeer, Halevy and others*. Facts have since disproved all his accusations, and by the irony of fate, some of his staunchest champions then and since have been Jews. For example, it was Taussig who raised the three hundred thousand thalers for the erection of Bayreuth Temple, and Leopold Dam- rosch has battled in Wagner's cause in America against appar ently insurmountable odds. Wagner in his brochure wanted to prove that the Jewish composers have impregnated muaie with their Judaic spirit (sic), and that their compositions atand on a lower plane than those of the pure-blooded Aryans, — the same Aryan (rather Nordic) myth that has since come to the front in America.
There is only one grain of truth in Wagner's accusation* Jew ish musicians have undoubtedly contributed their mite to the world's music. Musicians of Jewish origin express themaelvea just as harmoniously and melodiously as the great majority of their Aryan brothers.
Without attempting to give the Jews priority in creative musk, such works as Mendelssohn's "Elijah" can well stand alongside of Handel's and Bach's best. But when we come to the field of inter pretative music, one is forced to recognize that it is the Jewish musicians who excel both in numbers and in quality.
This volume has been undertaken in face of the fact that the contribution of the Jews to the progress of music haa been mini mized. At the same time the author is fully aware that in the
Preface ix
realm of music there are no artificial racial and religious divisions. in this realm there reigns only talent and genius, and here there exists no monopoly by individual races or nationalities, as some would have us believe.
It is the author's sincere wish that this book be graciously ac cepted not alone by the Jewish reader, but by his Christian brother as well, since, as we have already said, it is not merely a specialized volume, but brings forward much that is new and of general inter est and value*
The author sincerely hopes that omissions and uncertainties which have inevitably occurred here will be rectified in a future edition.
In conclusion, the author wishes to express his deep indebted ness to the main sources wherefrom he drew his material, Includ ing the managers of the younger generation of artists, who have furnished him with valuable data; to the relatives, parents and tnends of the artists from whom the author has obtained many personal anecdotes; to the artists themselves, with whom he lias had many interesting and memorable interviews; to Mr Maurice Alterman and Miss Celia Krieger, who have given so much of their time and energy to translating, copying and preparing this volume and In particular to his dear friends, Emanuel Goldman, Hymie Rosa, Barney Anderson and Louis Meyer, for their aid in publishing this book.
New York City. September, 1927,
CONTENTS
COMPOSERS PAGB
AOHRON, JOSEPH 1
BKNDIX, VICTOR K MANUEL 2
BINDER, ABRAHAM WOLF 10
HIBKT, GEORGE , . , , 3
BLOCK, KRNKHT 5
OH, MAX * . . , . 9
fc . , 10
('ABTRLNUOVO-TEDKHCO, MARIO... 00
COPLAND, AARON 11
OOWKN, SIR FREDERICK H.. , * . , , 12
DAVID, FERDINAND 17
IHJKAS, PAUL , 1 14
ENGEL, JULIUS 15
FALL, LEO 10
FBINBERG, SAMUEL , * , . . 18
FRANCHETTI, BARON ALBERTO,.. 21
FRIML, RUDOLPH ..*.., 20
GEDALGE, ANDRE . . , . 23
GERNSHEIM, FREDERICK ..».,,. 24
GERSHWIN, GBORGB , . , , 25
GNI&B8IN, MICHAEL FABIONOVITCH 26
GOLDPADEN, ABRAHAM 27
GOLDMARK, KARL . , . . 20
GOLDMARK, RUBIN ......*.,..». 2B
Louis ....,.,,*..* 22
, JACQUES KLLI ** * Bl
HILLER, FERDINAND ,..',,...... 2S
JACOBI, FRI^BRICK ..,..*..*,*. 16
JADASSOHN, SOLOMON 18
KALMAN, EMEEICH 32
KORNOOLD, ERICH WOLFGANG.,. BS
KRIIYN, ALEXANDER ABRAMOVITCH 86
LEIWANDOWBKI, Louis 60
MAHLIE, GUSTAV 38
MENDELSSOHN, ARNOLD , 48
MUN0&LSS0HN-BARTH0L0Y, FELIX 45
, GlACOMO ,.......,. 53
D, DARIUS ............. 49
Mosus MICHAIL 68
MOSCHIL1S, IONAT2 ..,,»,*...** 66
MOSSSKOWSKY, MORITZ » 4S
OCHS, Simmiro 67
PAGE
POLPOWSKI, JEAN PAUL 68
RAVEL, MAXJRICE 59
ROGERS, BERNARD 65
ROM BERG, SlGMUNP 63
ROSOVSKY, SOLOMON 62
RUBINSTEIN, ANTON 66
"RUSSIAN-JEWISH" SCHOOL OF
COMPOSERS, THE YOUNG 97
SAINT-SAENS, GAMILLE '. . 70
SAMINSKY, LAZARK , . 74
SCHAEFER, JACOB 77
SCHONBERG, ARNOLD 78
STEINBERG, MAXIMILIAN »..,... 85
STRAUSS, OSCAR 84
SULZEJR, SOLOMON 86
TANBMAN, ALEXANDER 88
VON ZEMLINSKY, ALEXANDER » . . 95
WEIL, KURT 92
WEINBERG, JAKOB 98
WEINER, LEO 87
WBLLEBZ, EGON 91
WUPRIK, ALEXANDER 92
ZHITOMIRSKY, ALEXANDER 94
ZUGCA, MANNA 96
CONDUCTORS
ALTSCHULER, MODEST * — 101
BLECH, LEO , 102
BODANZKY, ARTUR 108
COLONNE, E00UARD JUDAS 106
COOPER, EMIL .,,....,,.. 105
DAMROSCH, FRANK HEINO 110
DAMROSCH, LEOPOLD 107
DAMROSCH, WALTER JOHANNES.* Ill
DEBSOPF, FELIX OTTO.. 101
DOBROWEN, ISSAI f 117
FINSTON, NATHANIEL 120
FlTELBERG, GREGORY , . , 119
FRIED, OSCAR * 118
GOLDMAN, EDWIN FRANKO 122
GOLSCHMANN, VLADIMIR . • t . » t 123
Xll
Contents
PAGE
GOODMAN, ALFRED 121
HASSELMANS, Louis 124
HELLER, HERMAN 461
HERTZ, ALFRED 460
HOLLAENDER, ALEXIS 125
JACCHIA, AGIDE 1 25
KLEMPERER, OTTO 127
KOLAR, VICTOR 126
KOUSSKVITXKY, SERGE 1*U
LEVY, HERMANN 130
Low, LEO — 135
MBNDOXA, DAVID . ,. 136
MONTEUX, PIERRE 137
PASOWSKY, AARON 141)
POLACCO, GIORGIO 138
RAPEE, ERNO 143
REINER, FRITZ 141
RlESENFELI), HUGO . , 140
RONALD, SIR LANDON 144
ROTH WELL, WALTER HENRY — 147
SCHINDLER, KURT 150
SHAVITCH, VLADIMIR 153
SHTEIMAN, MISCHA 163
SHTEINBERG, LJOV » , 156
SMALLENS, ALEXANDER .... 151
SOKOLOFF, NIKOLAI 157
STERN, JULIUS 155
STOPAK, JOSEPH . . 166
STRANSKY, JOSEPH 152
TALBOT, IRVIN < . , « , 160
TAUBE, MICHAEL 159
VOLPE, ARNOLD 463
WAGH ALTER, IGNAX 166
WALTER, BRUNO 1 62
WEINER, LAZAR 161
ZILBERTS, SAVEL 165
ZURO, JOSIAH 164
VIOLINISTS
AUER, LEOPOLD ,...,...,.*.»,, 169
BACHMANN, ALBERTO ABRAHAM, 173
BENDIX, MAX . . . . , 176
BLINDER, NAUM , , 174
BLOCK, ALEXANDER 173
BRODSKY, ADOLPH 175
BROWN, EDDY 177
BTJRGIN, RICHARD 178
DUSHKIN, SAMUEL , , . „ 170
EPLW, Louis 187
PAGE
ELM AN, MIKCHA 180
EUNST, HEINRICH WILIIKLM — IH6
FLESOH, CAUL 189
FRADKIN, FREDERIC liU
FRANKO, NAHAN 1B8
FRANKO, SAM 188
GARDNER, SAMUEI Ii)i5
(CORDON, JACQUEH 104
GKRGOROVITHOH, ("HARLEH 103
(JRU'N, JAKOB 105
GU83CKOFF, MlSHKL 106
HARM ATI, SANMW 203
HAKTMANN, ARTHUR , .,,. 106
HAUSER, MIHCA * — . 204
HHIFBTTJ, JAHCHA 108
HOCHBTON, DAVID 107
IlOLLABNnER, GUttTAV * . . . 205
HUBERMAN, BRONISI^AW 206
JACOBSKN, SASCHA , . , , , 208
JOACHIM, JOHK™ 209
KOCHANBKI, PAUL 211
KRKIHLBR, FRIT/ * — 21 ft
KROLL, WILLIAM 210
LAUB, FKRDINAND 217
LOTTO, IBIDORK , 216
LUKOBHUTft, LEA „* 238
MANNKS, DAVID .».,,,.. 221
MENUHIN, YBHUIH ,,,...., .210, 456
MlHOHAKOFF, MlHCHA .......... 222
MOLDAVAN, NICOLAS , , . 223
MORINI, KRIKA . , — ,,,,....., 224
MOBBBL, MAX » 25f>
NACHK«, TIVAIKJR * ,,,,,,, 227
PARTOH, BTKPHAN ...» „ 2S2
PBTBOHNIKOFF, ALEXANDER .... 220
PlABTRO-BOIUBHOFF, JOHBF «...,, 288 FlABTRO, MlBHEL 2*10
PILFER, MAXIMILIAN .»,»,,,,,* 2B4 PonAKm, MYRON ..,....,..,, 2S5
POLK, RUDOLPH ,,,.,,. 2S7
PREHB, MICHAEL « . , , 2S6
RAPFOLDI, EDOUARD « 288
REMENYI, EDOUARD ,,...,. 242
RoBJBf ARNOLD , * .„.«.,.,„. 244
ROSBM, MAX ,,,,... .„,.„.. 2B9
RUBINBTEIN, EHNA 240
RAMBTiNr, LEON * * 247
SASLAVSKY, ALEXANDER ,....,,. 247
SCHKOLWK, ILYA ^,*,.» 246
Contents
Xlll
PACE
SCHKOLNIK, JENNY 255
iScHMULLER, ALEXANDER 248
SEIDEL, TOSCHA , 251
SINGER, EDUARD 254
SPIVAKQWSKX, TOSSY 238
STASSEVITCH, PAUL 245
SZIGETI, JOSEPH 249
TAS, HELEN TESCHNER 256
WEISBORD, MISCHA 257
WIENIAWSKI, HENRY 258
&EITLIN, LJEF . , , , , 265
2UMBALIST, EFREM 260
ZIMMERMAN, Louis 264
ZUCCARWI, OSCAR . . . „ 259
'CELLISTS
BBLOUSSOFF, EVSEI » , , 269
DAVIDOPF, CARL , , , 270
FBUERMANN, EMANUEL 271
GARBOUSOVA, RAYA 273
GBRARDY, JEAN 274
GRUNFELD, HBINRICH . . 275
HAMBOURG, BORIS 276
JACOBS, EDUARD 272
LOEVIINSOHN, MARIX . , , . . 276
MALKIN, JOSEPH 277
MOSSBL, ISAAC 278
PEN HA, MICHAEL 278
PlATIGORSKY, GREGOK , 279
PoppfcK, DAVID 281
PRESS, JOSEPH 280
SAKOM, JACOB . , , , 288
STUTBCHEWSKY, JOACHIM 2B2
VAN LIER, JACQUES * , . . . 283
WELLERSON, MILA .,...,... — 284
PIANISTS
ACHRON, ISIDOR « , , 289
ADLER, CJUARENCE ,.,.,. 289
ASHMAN, GREGORY , 290
BAUEE, HAROLD .„..., 291
BAY, EMANUEL , — 290
BtOOMHEtD-ZEISLER, FANNY . . . 294
BOROWBKY, ALEXANDER ,».,*.»* 295
BUBONI, FERRUCCXO BENVENUTO . 299
CHERKASSKY, SHURA B02
CHOT2INOFF, SAMUEL 304
DROUCKER, SANDRA 305
PAGE
EPSTEIN, RICHARD 305
FISCHHOFF, ROBERT 309
FRIEDHBIM, ARTHUR 306
FRIEDMAN, IGNAZ 307
GABRILOWITSCH, OSSIP 310
GALSTON, GOTTFRIED 313
GODOWSKY, LEOPOLD 314
GOLDENWEISER, ALEXANDER 314
GOLDSMIDT, OTTO 321
GRADOVA, GITTA 319
GR\JNFELD, ALFRED 321
GUNXBURG, MARK 323
HAMBOURG, MARK 323
HBRZ, HBINRICH (HENRI) 322
HESS, MYRA 324
HILSBERG, IGNACE 326
-HOROWITZ, VLADIMIR 325
ISSEKLIS, JULIUS 327
JONAS, ALBERTO 328
JOSEFFY, RAFAEI 330
KAUFMAN, HARRY 331
KREUTZER, LEONID 332
LAMBERT, ALEXANDER 333
LANDOWSKA, WANDA 335
LERNER, TINA 336
LEVITOKI, MISCHA 338
LEVY, HBNXQT 342
LHBVINNE, JOSEF 343
LIEBLING, GEORGE 347
MEEO, YOLANDA — 349
MIROVITCH, ALFRED 356
MOISEIVITSCH, BENNO ., 351
MliNZ, MlECZYSLAW 354
ORNSTBIN, LEO — 357
PACHMANN, VLADIMIR DE 367
POUI&HNQFF, LEFF 373
RABINOWITSCH, MAX * 374
EBISENBBRG, NAOIA 380
ROSENTHAL, MAURYCX (MORIT2) 375
RUBINSTEIN, ARTHUR 381
RUBINSTEIN, BERYL — 377
RUBINSTEIN, NICHOLAI 378
SAMUEL, HAROLD 382
SAPERTON (SAPERSTEIN), DAVID. 381
SAUBR, EMIL 384
SCHNABBL, ARTHUR 385
SCHNITZER, GERMAINE 386
SCHOR, DAVID 384
SKLAREVSKI, ALEXANDER ....... 388
XIV
Contents
PAGE
SOKOLSKY-FREZD, SARA 391
SZRETER, KAROL 387
TAUSIG, KARI 389
WENGEROVA, ISABELLA 390
WIENIAWSKI, JOSEPH 297
SINGERS
BLOCK, MAX 395
BRASLAU, SOPHIE 395
BALM ORES, CHARLES 397
DALOSSY, ELLEN 401
DEMUTH, LEOPOLD 400
GABOR, ARNOLD 405
GLUCK, ALMA 404
GUILFORD, NANETTE 402
HENSCHEL, ISIDOR GEORG (Sin
GEORGE) 406
JADLOWKER, HERMANN 407
KALISCH, PAUL , 408
KIPNIS, ALEXANDER ...... 409
KREMER, ISA 411
KURZ, SELMA ...» 401
LASALLE, JEAN Louis 418
LASHANSKA, HULPA 412
LEHMANN, LILLI , . . 414
LUCCA, PAULINE 413
PACE
MEITSCHIK, ANNA 417
PASTA, GIUDITTA NEGRI 41^
RAISA, ROSA , 423
RAPPOLD, MARIK . 42t>
RENAUD, MAURICE 420
RIMINI, GXACOMO 422
SABNGKR, OSCAR 428
SAMOILOFF, LAKAR S 430
SOHUMANN-HEINK, ERNESTINE. . 431 SCHWARX, JOSEPH . , 429
SlBIRIAKOFF, JjJOW 42B
SLOBODSKAYA, ODA 427
SONTHEIM, HKINRICH 43(5
STRAKOSCH, MAtnmiK 437
TARTAKOFF, JOACHIM 438
WEIL, HERMANN 441
WOLFE, JAMES 439
OTHER INSTRUMENTALISTS
THE CHERNIAVHKY TRIO 447
BELLISON, SIMEON 445
GUSIKOFF, MIKHAIL JOSEPH,*,. 449
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
GDAL SAJLESKI 451
COMPOSERS
\^»\.Ma. A 3. fcuw.
s T
o
JOSEPH ACHRON
JOSEPH ACHRON, who is considered one of the moat significant com posers in 1he fiolci of Jewish music, was born on May 1, 1886, in the small town of Losdseje (Government of Suvalki), Russia. His
father was a Jewish merchant in that community.
Even at the age of two, little Joseph showed a remarkable aptitude for music, His father presented him with a violin of his own making and taught him the rudi ments of music. When he was five, his family moved to Warsaw, where he began taking regular violin lessons, first with his father, and later under Mikhalovitach. He was not yet seven when he composed his first violin piece. A year later he appeared at a benefit concert given by Counts PuuMvilov and Tyssskxewiez. A concert tour through Russia was the im mediate result of this first appearance.
He continued studying the violin, under Professor Lotto from 1894-90. In 1011, Achron, together with Koaowsky, Gniessin, Tomars Krcin, and ML Milner, founded the Society for Hebrew Folk Music in Petrograd, From 1913 to 1916, Achrou was at the head of the master classes in violin and chamber music at the Boyal Conservatory in Kharkov. His career as teacher and com poser was interrupted for one and one-half years when he was drafted into the Russian Army* He reached the peak of his career as composer in 1918 when his sonata for violin and piano appeared. Igor Gliebov, the famous Russian critic, said of Achron: "Ho is a lyric composer. He builds vibrating forms and passionate pictures of dramatic intensity. He awakens the young musician's interest by his individualistic attainments in polyphonic music, which he unites with an effective and expressive idiom. His music is emotionally dynamic, a quality that is lacking in most of the other lyric composers, 1 have seldom met with such mastery as that shown In his second violin sonata/'
It Is also of interest to note what was said of him by two other known critics, Sabaneyeff of Moscow and Karatygin of Petrograd, in which two cities his second violin sonata and other works were performed in November, 1922, arousing great interest.
Karatygin says ; "As violinist and composer of aerious cham ber music, Spohr was a great exception (excluding, of course,
l
2 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
Corelli and Tartini). The other exception is Achron. Achron the violinist is a worthy rival of Achron the composer."
Sabaneyeff says : "I consider Achron a mature and significant musician in his masterful artistry. He follows simultaneously two paths. He works on Jewish folk lore, enriching the Jewish reper toire with brilliant and individualistic compositions, and he writes significant music that has nothing of the Jewish tonality. In his latter period the two paths meet."
The famous historian E. Braudo says of him: "As a^ creator and interpreter Achron occupies a special place in our musical life. His art is deep and concentrated."
During 1922-1924 Achron lived in Berlin, making occasional trips to Egypt, Palestine and other countries. He moved to New York, where he is now living, in January, 1925.
Achron's opuses of independent works number up to sixty at this time, but he also made a similar number of arrangements of Jewish themes. Of particular interest is his incidental music, written for orchestra and chorus, to the dramatic works of Maeter linck, Perez, Roche, and others. These were performed by the Moscow Kamerny Theatre. Of great importance^ are also his works for orchestra, choruses, string quartet, two sonatas, four suites, and smaller pieces for violin and orchestra (or piano), 'cello compositions, and songs.
In December, 1925, his works were performed in New York by the Stringwood ensemble and the Stony-Point Ensemble, at special concerts.
Achron's works are published by the Universal, Juwal Verlag (Berlin, Palestine), Belaieff, Schirmer, Fischer, Russian Musical Edition, Zimmerman and Jurgenson.
VICTOR EMANUEL BENDIX
ONE OF the most important Danish composers, pianists and teachers of the past twenty-five years is Victor Emanuel Bendix, who was born on May 17, 1851, in Denmark. He was a pupil at the Royal Conservatory of Copenhagen, and studied under Niels and W. Gade.
Bendix belongs to the school of Neo-Romantics. He has written four symphonies, a concerto for piano and orchestra, a piano trio, and a series of songs and romanzas of great individuality. Some of his works have attained a place in the international repertory.
He was conductor of the People's Concerts, the Philharmonic Concerts (1879-91), and the Danish Concert Society, from 1907 to 1910.
This illustrious musician, who died on January 5, 1926, was lamented as one of Scandinavia's most loved conductors, par ticularly of choral works.
Composers
GEORGE BIZET
IN THE new French School, Bizet occupies a unique place. He was an innovator, inasmuch as his problem was to paint character by means of musical sounds and to bring about effects through tense
dramatic situations. The famous com poser of "Carmen" and "Jamilet" was born on October 25, 1838, in Paris, This unusual child could read notes at the age of four. He studied at the Paris Con servatory, under the guidance of Mar- montellet, Halevy and Zimmerman, When the latter could not, for some reason, give the boy his lesson, his place was taken by his famous son-in-law, Charles Gounod. In 1857 Bizet received the Prix de Rome, but even previous to this he re ceived the first prize at the competition arranged by Jaques Offenbach for his operetta, "Le Docteur Miracle/' After this Bizet undertook a journey through Italy for the purpose of studying. Upon his return he succeeded in staging his "Pearl Fishers" at the Theatre Lyrique, where it was indifferently re ceived. This did not discourage the composer. After a short in terval there appeared his incidental music to Daudet's drama, "L'ArloHienne." In 1825 he appeared with his famous "Carmen/' which, at the beginning unsuccessful in France, was very cordially received in other countries.
Bizet's music has retained to this clay its beauty, originality and freshness. Every note sounds brilliant and alluring. The pathetie scenes have not lost any of their effectiveness, and the lively parts still sparkle with good humor and wit Not appreciated, even mis understood at first, "Carmen" brought painful disillusion to its composer. Its unique value was not recognized to the fullest and most enthusiastic extent till later. Today it is not only one of the most brilliant among the operatic jewels of France, but one of the most popular operas of the world's operatic repertoire.
Bizet succumbed to a fatal illness three months after the pre miere of his "Carmen/' The assumption that he died in conse quence of the "failure" of "Carmen" is incorrect. The unfortunate composer had been in ill-health for a long time; he was the victim of severe throat trouble, and his heart was subject to weak spells. He died when he was only thirty-six.
To Halevy, who was, by the way, his real teacher, Bizet was passionately attached. He even finished Halevy's three-act Biblical opera, **N0ah." On July 3, 1860, Bizet married Genevieve Halevy,
4 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
the beautiful daughter of his teacher. To glimp.se the true nobility of Bizet's soul, we quote an excerpt from his letter to Halevy, writ ten during the Franco-Pruaaian war :
"Our poor philosophy and dream of the eternal world of the brotherhood of man, and the society of men! . * . Instead of all this — tears, blood, and numberless crimes ... I well remember that I am a Frenchman, but I cannot forget that I am al«<> — & Man.
In 1867 he expressed his views on criticism and the significance of music, thus: "We have all kinds of music: music of the past, present and future. For me there exists only two kinds of music- good and bad. Do not we find genius in all lands and times? The true and the beautiful never dies !
"The poet, painter and musician put all the wealth of their spirits, all that is in their souls, into the work they are doing. And what do we do? Instead of being delighted and ennobled, we inquire . . . about his passport; we gather information about his manners, connections and his artistic past. Thia is not criticism, this is police methods. The artist has no name, no nationality; he possesses inspiration, or he possesses it not; he is a genius, or he is not From a great artist we cannot demand those qualities which he does not possess, but we must appreciate that he hast"
It is worthy of note that the ballet music for the last act of "Carmen^' was after his death borrowed from his "L'Arlesienne." In the original score there was no ballet music in the place where it is now customary to play it in the last act
Most of the attacks of his early critics were mainly directed against his "unlimited admiration and imitation of Wagner/1 Poor Bizet! If he could have known that Nietesche, the great philoso pher who became Wagner's bitterest adversary after having been one of his most devoted friends and admirers, pointed later to "Carmen" as a model of clearness and dramatic naturalness, along side of Wagner's "complicated and sophisticated «core»"t Other crities accused Bizet of using Spanish popular melodies for his opera. It is true that he made use of a Cuban melody for his Habanera" and of a popular Spanish tune for the "Seguidllla," which probably Sarasate, the great violin virtuoso and Bizet'8 classmate and friend, had called to his attention.
A year or so previous to this writing, Nemirovitch-Dantschenko, a director of the Moscow Art Theatre Music Studio, presented * if]?.8 V score in a somewhat revised version, under the name of Carmencita and the Soldier." This gifted director has worked miracles m the new staging of this popular work. The music in this version by Dantschenko has not been tampered with; the only revisions made were in the libretto, such as the substitution of the Toreador by the Matador Lucas and the entire elimination of the
Composers
character Micaela, while Instead of the fortune-telling by cards, a candle is used. The libretto written by Meilhac and Halevy on Heritage's story was revised for the Moscow Art Music Studios by Constantin Lipskeroff.
^ Bizet's memory is perpetuated by monuments, and he is now hailed as one of the greatest musical geniuses France has ever pro duced. His "Carmen" was a "trionfo," but poor Bizet only tasted of the "lamento" !
ERNEST BLOGH
ERNEST BLOCK is one of the master musicians of our time. No less an authority and critic than Remain Holland said about his "Sym phony in 0 sharp minor" that it is one of the most important works
of the modern school.
Born in Geneva on July 24, 1870, of Jewish parents, he studied from 1894 to 1896 under Jacques Dalcroze. From 1896 to 1899 he was a pupil of Ysaye and Rassl in Brussels, and from 1899 to 1900 he studied under Ivan Knor in Frankfort, Returning to Geneva in 1904, he lectured in that city from 1911 to 1915 at the Con servatoire. From 1916 he was teacher of composition at the Mannes School in New York.
He conducted his orchestral works in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago^ New York, St. Paul, Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Switzerland, and was everywhere recognized as one of the greatest composers of our day. One of the greatest prizes in the United States, the so-called "Coolidge Prize" (Berk shire), was awarded him in 1919.
Hin "Suite for Viola and Piano" was performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, by Luis Bailly and Harold Bauer. It was also played in Boston by the Flonzaley Quartet on March 11, 1920, and then performed in a viola and orchestra arrangement by the New York Symphony Orchestra on November 5, 1920.
In regard to the views of the composer on Jews as creators in music, we take recourse to his own words, pronounced in 1917 :
"Nationalism is not essential in music, but I think that racial consciousness is* The two things are not the same, and I think that is where many composers get confused about the real issue. A man not have tQ label a composition 'American1 or 'Germaif or
6 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
Italian/ but he has to be American, German or Italian, or even Jewish, at the bottom of his heart if he expects to produce any real music. I, for instance, am a Jew, and I aspire to write Jewish music, not for the sake of self-advertisement, but because I am sure that this is the only way in which I can produce music of vitality and significance — if I can do such a thing at all!
"I believe those pages of my own in which I am at my best are those in which I am most unmistakably racial, but the racial quality is not only in folk-themes ; it is in myself ! If not folk-themes, you might ask, "then what would be the sign of Jewish music?" Well, - 1 admit that scientific analysis of what constitutes the racial ele ment in music is difficult. But it would be unscientific to deny the existence of such elements. Racial feeling is certainly a quality of all great music, which must be an essential expression of the people as well as the individual. Does anyone think he is only himself? Far from it. He is thousands of his ancestors. If he writes as he feels, no matter how exceptional his point of view, his expression will be basically that of his forefathers. I think the principal reason that Jewish composers have never as yet attained the first rank in music composition is that, consciously or unconsciously through fear or lack of self-knowledge, they fail to proclaim them selves in their art/' And it is true. The Jew have never enjoyed a specific system of musical training, such as exists in nearly all countries of the world. The Jews of each country have been sub jected to the influences of that country and all they have in common is the music of the Synagogue. A Jewish student's training in a conservatory of Berlin, Paris or in the music-schools of London or America, would be moulded much more by the influences of Ger many, France or England than by those of his race.
Ernest Bloch's opera "Macbeth" was the most discussed premiere of the season, at its reception in Paris in 1910. The critical camps were divided. Lalo, however, was very enthusiastic, and what gave Bloch most pleasure was the fact that Romain Holland was so much interested in the score that he made a long journey to see Bloch in Geneva and encourage him to continue his career. Encouragement, at that time, the composer sadly needed. He had built much on the possible success of his opera, for a life full of hardship had almost persuaded him that it would be wiser to attempt making a living at other things than music, and com pose for the joy of it, provided there were any time left over. It is a great composer who can keep from falling into the net of his own success and never rise again.
Bloch is really a prolific composer. His chief works are as fol lows: Symphonic poem, "Vivre- Aimer" (1900) ; Symphony in C sharp minor (1901-02) ; Lyric drama, "Macbeth" (1904) ; Or chestral poem "Hiver-Printemps" (1904) ; "Poemes d'Automne," for voice and orchestra (1906) ; "Concerto Grosso," for string or-
Composers
ehewtra with piano obligato (1924-25) ; Symphony "Israel" (1913- 16) ; Hebraic Rhapsody "Schelomo" (1916), produced for the first time in New York on May 3, 1917, by Hans Kindler, 'cellist; "Orientale" for full orchestra and the opera "Jezebel" (1917) ; two "Psalmes" for soprano and orchestra, and one "Psalrne" for baritone.
Of particular interest are some of his "Pictures of Chassidic Life" for piano, and the "Baal Schem" for violin. The latter was performed by B. Huberman in New York on March 21, 1924. Since then it has been included in the repertory of nearly all great violinists.
Leigh Henry, the famous English critic, wrote of Bloch in the London Musical Standard on August 8, 1925, as follows:
"Today, in musics however, one witnesses a recrudescence of He brew impulse, in varying degrees Hebraic in expression. It is the typical Hebraic asceticism, the brooding philosophy and visionari- ness of the Book of Genesis, of the sterner prophets which, in spite of overlaying German philosophic influences, determines the bent of his inspiration and expression. Similarly Hebraic is the sys tematic, almost ritualistic, constructive attitude to new formulae, the immutable logic and the acrid humor of Milhaud.
"If one accepts the classic definitions of opposed Hebraic and Hellenic thought, then Bloch is unquestionably the most Hebraic composer in the world. If similes loaned from one art to another are ever justifiable, then Bloch is par excellence the Isaiah of mod ern music. His fierce intensity, his harsh asceticism, his almost dogmatic exposition of stark modern form, his relentless, almost surgical cutting away of all emotional or sentimental emanations which might obscure the main hard imagery of a seer-like vision ; these mark the typical Semitic intellectualism which, in its extreme limits of religious fervor, philosophic thought, and systematic or- jrattiz;ation, invariably carries with it something near the fanatical. Bloch's is essentially the tragic muse of Hebrew spiritual expres sion, the war between an intensity of spirit and physique which has laid the foundations of the age-long conception of the attain ment of beatitude through pain. Even the lyricism of Bloch is that of a beauty sensed through poignancy , not naive joy."
His symphony "Israel" was criticised in the New York Times, October 30, 1926, by Olin Downes, who said:
"Very few composers are writing music that has vitality, sin cerity and significance* One of these very few is Ernest Bloch. Yesterday afternoon in Carnegie Hall the Philharmonic Society, repeating the program of the evening previous, played his 'Israel' Symphony- — the first performance of this work which has been given in America since it was produced as a novelty by Artur Bodanzky in 1917,
8 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
"The symphony is great music. How it compares with other compositions of Bloch is another matter, not to be determined after a single hearing, and without preparatory .study of the score. It« date of composition coincides roughly with tho.se of the works of Bloch's early maturity, such as the Toemen Juives/ and the mag nificent settings of three of the Psalms for solo voice and orchestra. The Bloch of the Psalms, especially, is heard in the music played yesterday. The proportions and details of the symphony, of which but one movement exists, are not easy to grasp at once; the work may be found to be episodic and a little less concise, a little, less cer tain in its development, than other of Bloch's compositions. But that is of secondary importance today. The first thing in that the music is superbly conceived, that it quivers with life, that its per vading grandeur and sweep are like cleansing wind when it is com pared with most of the anemic or neurotic brain-stuff of today*
"The Israel1 symphony was conceived in two parts— the first part lamentation, supplication, frenzy, prophecy, and vision of the promised land. The second was to be the triumph of Israel, but the composer has stated, for reasons of his own, that this part will never be written. Be it so! What is left is a magnificent body of music that rebukes by its energy, its protest, its vision, the gen eral affectation and insincerity of this period in art. The orches tration is at times heavy but always effective — never thick or superfluous. The theme stated at the opening, and subjected to masterly transformations, is lonely and grand. There are thoughts of Hebraic ritual, there are heard 'ancestral voices prophesying war/ Here and there is a detail not wholly Bloch— accidentally, as it were, reminiscent of another composer. It is only an indica tion of a musical individuality slowly forming itself, gaining a mighty physiognomy of which the lines take some time to form and harden and clear. But this is a great and thrilling piece of music, and Mr. Mengelberg did admirably in bringing it again to the attention of the public and interpreting it with all possible care and devotion to his task. The symphony won enthusiastic ap plause,"
In 1917 he settled in New York as teacher at the David Mannes School of Music, and in 1920 he was called to Cleveland, Ohio, as the head of the newly organized Cleveland Institute of Music, in which capacity he continued to serve until the spring of 1925-
Ernest Bloch, who is recognised not only as one of the greatest living composers, but also as a great educator and teacher, accepted in 1925 the invitation of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to become its director* The securing of Mr. Bloch for San Francisco was most fortunate. His qualities, no less than his eminence, impressed those responsible for the project as particu larly what was required.
Composers
9
MAX BRUGH
MAX BRUOH was a gifted and versatile composer whose major works possess the quality of nobility with strictness of mood and style. His was a mature creative gift, and in his striving for the
strong, the earnest and the great, he
gave utterance to a soul that was equally noble, earnest and poised. His work re minds us of Mozartian and Mendelssohn- ian beauties. He never sacrifices artistic beauty for the sake of effect. As a com poser of choral music, Bruch, together with Brahms, belong among the greatest musicians of their times.
Bruch was born on January 6, 1838, in Koln, and at an early age revealed creative musical talent. At eleven, he tried his power in major composition, and when only fourteen his first sym phony was performed in his home town, His teachers in theory and composition were Ferdinand Hiller and Carl Ehemedke; and in piano, Ferdinand Breining.
In 1852 Bruch was awarded the Mozart prize in Frankfort for his string quartet. In 1865 he was appointed director of the Leip zig Music Institute, and two years later was appointed conductor in Somterhausen. In 1878 he was the leader of the Stern Choral Society in Berlin; in 1880, conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, He became conductor of the Breslau Orchestra in 1883, after a tour through the United States. In 1892 Bruch was ap pointed professor at the Berlin Music High School
Following are a few of his best known works: His wonderful **Song of the Bell," "Odysey," "Arming/* for mixed chorus, solo and orchestra; "Frithjoff/' "Salamis," and the "March of the Nor mans/* for male chorus ; two operas, "Hermion" and "Lorelei," the latter the more successful.
One of his most popular works is his "Kol-Nidrei/' originally written as solo for 'cello and orchestra. In this melody the com poser expressed his Hebraic musical inheritance. This is no doubt why this song, built around a traditional synagogue lament, is the most loved and moat widely performed of his compositions. Bruch also composed three symphonies, If we judge him along the broad lines of his life and work, he can be considered the successor of Kheinecke and Mendelssohn, He died on October 2, 1920, in Berlin-Friedenau,
10 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
IGNATZ BRULL
BRULI/S fatherland is Austria, where he was born on November 7, 1847, in the city of Prosnitz, Moravia. His parents moved to Vienna two years after the boy was born. In that city he took
lessons from Julius Epstein in piano, and from Fuffinacce, and later from Otto Dessoff, in composition.
In 1861 Epstein produced the concerto of his youthful pupil, and this concerto was received with great enthusiasm. Soon Brull reached perfection in piano playing, and appeared as virtuoso in a long concert tour. His name became popular, thanks to his "Serenade for Or chestra," which was first performed in Stuttgart in 1864.
The wholesome influence which Schumann and Mendelssohn exercised over Brull can easily be noticed in his chamber-music.
In 1864 his first opera, "The Beggar of Samarcand," saw its premiere. His second opera, "The Golden Cross/' met with uni versal approval, and was played all over the world. (The libretto for this opera was written by the Jewish poet, I. G. Mosenthal.) Later he wrote the following operas : "Peace/' "Bianca," "Queen Mariette," "The Stone Heart/' and the comic-opera, "The Hussar," which had a successful run in Berlin.
His "Golden Cross" is rich in heartfelt and natural melodies. At its first presentation at the Royal Opera House in Berlin it like wise found favor in the eyes of Wilhelm I, who said to the young composer: "You Viennese are a happy people; melodies are born in you overnight, and no one can sing so happily as you do." Brull died in Venice on September 17, 1907.
ABRAHAM WOLF BINDER
ABRAHAM WOLF BINDER was born on January 5, 1895, New York City. The son of a cantor, he early became acquainted with tra ditional melodies and modes. At the age of seven, he was already writing musical settings for the synagogue liturgy. He received his musical education at the Music School Settlement under Angela Diller and Elizabeth Quaile. He later continued his piano studies with Albert Ross Parsons, and counterpoint and composition at Columbia University, under Daniel Gregory Mason and Cornelius
Composers 11
Rylmer. In 1918, he was awarded the Mosenthal Fellowship in Music at the University, and was later awarded the degree of Bachelor of Music by the New York College of Music, where Pro fessor Rybner had gone to teach.
Since 1919, Binder has been director of music of the 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association, in New York City, where he directs a music school a symphony orchestra, and a choral society. In 1923, Binder became instructor in synagogue and folk music at the Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1924 he became choir master of the Free Synagogue, at Carnegie Hall, New York City.
Binder went on a research tour to Palestine in 1925, bringing back a collection of melodies sung by the Palestinean choluteim, us well as many Yeminite, Arabic, and liturgical melodies. This trip yielded not only a published collection of new Palestinean songs, but also a symphonic suite for a large orchestra, entitled "Holy Land Impressions,"
AARON COPLAND
AARON COPLAND, considered one of the most talented young Am erican composers, was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1902. He began to study music in his thirteenth year. His teachers in Am- ^ erica were Victor Wittgenstein and Clarence Adler (Piano) , Rubin ££>Goldmark (harmony and composition). Then he went to Paris in 1921 to study composition and piano with Naclia Boulanger and returned to New York in the Summer of 1924.
The list of his compositions includes a Symphony for Organ Orchestra (1924), performed in Boston by the Boston Sym- fs phony Orchestra, February 20, 1925 (Nadia Boulanger, organist) ; * I Ballet, in one act (1922-24) ; Four Motets for mixed chorus a cap- f^'twlla (1921) ; "As It Fell Upon a Day," song for voice, flute, and v) clarinet (1923), performed at a concert of the S. M. I., Paris, Feb ruary 6, 1924; Rondina on the name of Gabriel Faur6, for string quartet (1922) ; "The Cat and the Mouse" (1919) ; Passacaglia for pianoforte. The Passacaglia, played at a lecture recital of the League of Composers, in New York, November 16, 1924, was played in Boston by Denoe Leedy, November 10, 1925. Mr. Copland's latest compositions are Two Choruses for Women's Voices (1925). His Suite, "Music for the Theatre," was performed on November 28, 1925, in New York (League of Composers).
The Suite is scored for small orchestra; flute (interchangeable with piccolo), oboe (interchangeable with English horn), clarinet (interchangeable with clarinet piccolo), bassoon, two trumpets, trombone, two first and two second violins, two violas, two violon cellos, double bass, pianoforte, xylophone, glockenspiel, wood block, snare drum, bass drum and cymbals,
12
Famous
of a Wandering Rare.
SIR FREDERICK II. COWEN
SIR FREDERICK H. COWEN was bom on the Island of Jamaica, on January 29, 1852. When he was four yeans old, his parents moved back to London, where his father obtained the position of head
cashier of the Italian opera.
His first teacher was Henry Ilussel, also a Jew, the author of the very popu lar English song "Cheer, Boys, Cheer." At the age of six, the little musician wrote a wait'/, dedicating it to his teach er. But it was from the teaching of Julius Benedict that the young composer profited most. Cowen also studied theory and the violin with John llitss.
At the age of eight Cowen wrote his first SOUKS, and at that time began ap pearing on the public platfornh—- nnw* even with Joachim. In 1865 his parents took the boy to LeiprJg, where he at tended the conservatory, studying under Moscheles, Uheinecke ami Hauptman.
In 1867 young Cowen went to Berlin, where he studied at tlu* Stern Conservatory under Frederick Kiel In that city he became an intimate of Mendelssohn's family, and it was there* that- he played at the court of the crown princess, the future Kmpmss and wife of Frederick III. That same year his first symphony WIIH performed In London*
Cowen became popular in England because of his melodious romanzas, of which he has written several hundred. Notwith standing his wide creative activities, he finds time for practical things. He is as celebrated for his conducting us for his compos ing. " From 1888 to 1892 he was conductor of the Old Philharmonic, and some years later again accepted the same position. At the same time he conducted In Liverpool, Bradford, Glasgow and Edinburgh,
Cowen's compositions bear witness to his outstanding talent. He wrote several symphonies, of which the "Scandinavian1* is a veritable treasure house of melody and deep emotion. It waa per formed In every civilised country. Ho also wrote an operetta, "Garibaldi," and the following operas: "The Oowairts" "The UOHC Maiden/' "The Egyptian Maid," performed in 187(5 In Birming ham; the oratorios, "The Flood/' M8t UrBula/1 "Tho Sleeping Beauty," "Ruth," "The Waterlily," "The Transformation," and an "Ode to the Passions,"
Composers 13
Later there appeared the overture "Niagara"; a suite for or chestra; "Language of the Flowers"; various chamber composi tions and some fifty smaller works.
In 1913 he published a book, My Art and Friends.
Sir Frederick is an interesting personality. He has an English restraint of manner, yet much enthusiasm and a marked gift of fluency of speech, directly and simply expressed. Although one of the busiest conductors living, he finds time for much creative effort. In 1903 he wrote his famous Coronation Ode, and performed it by royal command at Buckingham Palace. Musically, Cowen can be said to be self-made, A deep thinker, he states his ideas frankly. His face is that of a literary man rather than a musician. "I belong to no school, I admire them all for the good that is in them. If I were asked, perhaps, who comes first with me, I should say Mozart." Thus Cowen expressed his views on school and music.
Cowen conducted the Handel Festivals at Crystal Palace during 1903, 1906 and 1909, and the Cardiff Festivals in, 1902, 1904, 1907 and 1910.
In November, 1900, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Cambridge, and in July, 1910, the same honor from the University of Edinburgh.
SOLOMON JADASSOHN
To THE number of composers akin in spirit to Mendelssohn, we must add the name of Jadassohn, who gained fame by his teaching of theory and composition as well as instrumentation at the Leipzig and Vienna conservatories. Though his manner of composing bears marks of the influence of his predecessor, Mendelssohn, a large number of his works show novelty and originality of ideas and superb instrumentation. In writing canons, he achieved an excellence and mastery of form which few others have approached. His text books, Harmony, Counterpoint, Canons and Fugues, Free Form, Instrumentation and a Commentary to Bach's Fugues, prove him a pedagogue of outstanding ability.
Jadassohn was born on August 8, 1881, in Breslau. He studied first in Leipzig and later in Weimar, under Liszt, returning to Leipzig, where he took up composition with Hauptmann. From 1852 he lived in Leipzig, where in 1867-68 he conducted the Psalter Choral Society, and in 1868-69 the Wuterpe Choral Society. He received the title of Honorary Professor of the Leipzig University,
This noble musician died in Leipzig on February 1, 1902,
14 Famous Muxicianx of a Wandcniiff
PAUL DUKAS
PAUL DUKAS, one of the most brilliant and popular of modern French composers, does not belong to any clique. Always discon tented with what he lias written, he only consents to give it to the
public when he realises that he is incapa ble of making it more perfect* This honesty has made Dukas one of the finest, figures in contemporary musical circles, lie has never sought official hon ors or popularity, and lives a solitary life surrounded by a small circle of affection ate friends, avoiding salons, coteries and concert halls.
He was born in Paris on October 11, 1865. During the fourteenth year of his life he began to take a serious interest in music. He began to composes and had the courage to study solfeggio by him self. After finishing his general educa tion, he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where his chief teachers were Dubois and Guiraud. In 1888 he was awarded a Second Prix do Rome for his cantata "Vellcdu." In the following year he was unsuccessful at the annual competition, and abandoned his studies to fulfill his military service. At the same time he studied deeply and passionately the works of the master musicians of all epochs, and by his personal efforts succeeded in forming an esthetic doc trine of his own, waiting to become perfectly sure of himself before composing.
While yet a student at the Conservatoire, Dukas composed two overtures, "Le Roi Lear1' (188ft) and "(Joutsc cle Berliehingen1* (188;}). A third overture, "Polyeudx*" (1891), based on the trag edy by Corneille, was Dukas1 first work to receive public perform ance. It was given by Lamouroux on January !i!lt 1H9LL IHikan orchestrated the first three acts of thin work, and also took part in the rehearsals and staging of the opera during the season of 1895* Recognition of Dukan as a composer of rank dates from tin* year 1897. His "Symphony in G-Major," composed during IHOfi- 96, was performed at an opera-concert on January ;{, 189(5, and in May the Scherzo, "L'Apprenti Soreier," the work by which he in most known, wan conducted by its composer at a concert of tin* Soeiete Nationale.
By 1892 he wrote the text of an opera, "Horn et Rimenhild/' and had even sketched the munic. In 1899 he had begun another
Composers 15
opera, "I/Arbro do Science." Both works were abandoned in favor of Maeterlinck's "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue," the first performance of which was given at the Opera Comique on May 10, 1907.
Dukas won an enviable position as a critic through his erudi tion, his keen perceptions and his analytical insight. He also con tributes to many reviews, among them the "Revue Hebdomadaire" and the "Gazette des Beaux Arts/*
In 1909 he was appointed conductor of the orchestra class at the Paris Conservatoire, but three years later he resigned this post in favor of Vincent dimly.
Paul Dukas has achieved independent solutions of the fusion of classical structure and freedom of expression. By reason of his classic sympathies, he is allied to the school of Frank, although he never followed its precepts blindly. In the works based upon classic forms, Dukas has remained steadily faithful to tradition. In his dramatic works he never loses control of structural continuity, but he also succeeds in infusing into his music a due regard for color and delineation of character.
Vivid description of character and scene distinguishes his opera "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue." His faculty in disposing orchestral and choral forces with such ordered symmetry is masterly. This opera is not only the most commanding work by its composer, but it ranks with "Peleas et Melisande," "Le Pays," "L'Heure Espag- nole" and "Penelope," among the leading works for the stage by the modern French composers.
Unlike Debussy, Dukas gives pre-eminence to the musical idea in his dramatic labors. His melodic ideas are of rare and plastic beauty, and he develops his ideas according to a method of variation peculiar to himself* A great artist among contemporary musicians, Dukas is also a creative genius without a peer among living composers.
JULIUS ENGEL
JULIUS ENGEL, famous Russian lexicographer and composer, was born in Berdiansk, Government of Tavr, Russia, in 1868. He was educated in the Gymnasium of his native city, and in 1890 was graduated from the law school of the University of Kharkov, At the age of seventeen, while still a student here, he took up the piano. In 1892 he was graduated from the Kharkov Music Academy, spe cializing in theory, which he studied under A. Urican, and in 1893, on the advice of Peter Chaikovsky, he entered the Moscow Conser vatory, from which institution he was graduated in 1897. There
16 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
his teachers In theory and compositions were 8. K. Tnnyoev and M. Ipolitoff-Ivanoff.
EngeFs career as music critic began when hi* wan .still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, and stop by «top ho won note aa a cultured and educated music critic. Upon being graduated from the Conservatory, Engel, on the recommendation of N. Kiutchkm, was invited to take the post of music editor of the A/wow Jittx- skiya Vedomosti. At the same time he edited the Russian section of Riemann's Music Lexicon, He also undertook the translation into Russian of Riemamfs books.
Engel occupied a place of great importance in Russia's musical life. His general culture and great industry won for him hosts of friends and admirers among Russia's music lovers.
Following is a list of KngePs published compositions: "lio- manzas," "Jewish Folk Songs" (collected and harmonized by him), "Hindu Songs/* "Children's Songs/1 "Hebrew Songs/1 and the incidental music to "The Dybbuk/1 played in Europe and the United States by the Moscow Habimah players.
He also edited a Russian music lexicon in 1914, and has written numerous articles on opera, symphony, concerts, -etc,
Engel died on February 11, 1927, in Tel Aviv, Palestine,
FREDERICK JACOB!
FREDERICK JACOBI, American commoner, WEB born in San Fran cisco, California, on May 4, 1891* He wan educated in New York* where he attended the Ethical Culture School, of which he LH now a patron. Another American composer, Kubin Goldmark, wa& his principal teacher in piano and composition, but he* ulno tttudied under Rafael Joseffy, Paolo Gallico and Ernest IJloch. Borne years later Jacobi attended the Hochsehule fttr Mtmik in Berlin, study ing under Paul Juon,
On his return to New York, Jacobi was engaged aa assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera House to Alfred Hertss and Artur Bodanzky.
Jacobi has written compositions for orchestra, string-quartets, violin, piano and chorus, as well as many songs, His larger or chestral works include 'The Pied Piper/* a symphonic legend, per formed by the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Alfred Hertz, and by the Minneapolis Symphony, under Emil Obcrhoffer; a symphonic prelude, "The Eve of St. Agnes/' after Keats1 poem, performed by the National Symphony, conducted by Artur Bodanzky.
His latest work, a string quartet mainly based on American
17
Indian themes, received its initial performance at u concert of the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco on October 28, 1925. According 1o one San Francisco daily, "Frederick Jacob i gave his fellow-fitixens a thrill when his 'Assyrian Symphony' was given its premiere by 1he San Francisco Symphony, under Alfred HertK on November H, 1925."
Jacobi is one of the founders of the American Music Guild and a member of the Bohemians and the MacDowoll Club. In 1917 lie married Irene Seluvar/, a very talented pianist.
FERDINAND DAVID
DAVID, who is considered the father of modern violin playing, was an excellent player and pedagogue, as well as a composer of genius. He had the perfection of a real virtuoso on his instrument. His
playing was always remarkable for its taste and his tone was noble and beauti ful Together with Luclwig Spohv and Molique, David occupies a place of honor as n violin virtuoso.
While conducting the concerts of the Leipzig Gewandhaus, David succeeded in achieving1 brilliant results.
As a pupil of Spohr and close friend of Mendelssohn, David had the road opened to him. His own pupils, includ ing Wilhelmi, 55ula> Ileekmann "and Sehradie.k, occupied leading places in the great, orchestras.
His works for the violin; concertos, variations, etudes, caprices, etc., are excellent, and will long hold their own on the concert repertories. He also wrote several .sym phonies, quartets, works for the clarinet, viola and 'cello, and a comic opera, "Huns Warhl" (1852).
David was born on June 11), 1810, in Hamburg, lie was one of the world's "Wuwlerkiwlor," as he began appearing in public when only ten years old. From 182:? to 1826 he studied under Ludwlg Spohr. After that, David made a concert tour with his sister. In 18*515 he went to Leipzig, on the heels of his friend Mendelssohn, whom David helped in solving certain artistic and musical problems, lie was particularly helpful to Mendelssohn when the hitter founded the Leipzig Conservatory in 184:1 Among the first teachers on I he statf of the now famous conservatory were David, St'humamu Hauptman, and many others oC distinction, David died on July 11), 187,1, in Kloslors.
18 Famous Musicians of a \V<tn<1eri)i(f R<icc
SAMUKL FKINBKIU;
SAMUEL FEINBBRG, eminent, Russian composer, was born in 189(1 He has astonished every one with the suddenness of the revelation
of his great talent. His career as a composer started in 1915, when
he produced his first two sonatas, proving himself an accomplished and masterly composer, Strictly speaking, he never studied composition, but experimented with the expression of his own ideas, First lie Indulged in improvisation; then, about 1911» ho began more* serious work in definite composition, working quite in dependently and almost without help. In his first attempts at composition he abandoned the piano, of which ho already had a mastery, and his first works worthy of attention were written for vio lin, voice* string quartet, and then for full orchestra.
This struggle for expression was a painful onet and likely to have had tragic consequence. In 1915 he finally chose the piano for the ultimate means of conveying his musical thoughts, Hince making this decision, he has become an outstanding1 figure amontf modern Russian composers for the piano.
In the early Fdnherg we see much more the real Foinberg than we do the real Scriabin in Seriabin's early work* inllueneed an tin* latter was by Chopin. The strangenenH of Peinherg's apprentice ship was the real cause, for his first appearance, not as a hegittner* but as an accomplished and fully developed art int. The ideas of his compositions are consistent with the present, eliaturblng and stormy times. One thought, one tension, one purpose passing through all of his work are the true cause of its unity, and add unusual interest to the methods for its creation,
Feinberg is not a composer only; he in also a remarkable and thoroughly original pianist, playing his instrument with unusual refinement and skill Like Chopin and Serlabin, he in a real poet of the piano, and has created a new world of piano music, The pianist and composer are one and indivisible. One must consider him fundamentally as a poet, Feinberg is witty and good-humoral, wen joking occasionally at the piano. The new Russian school has in him a passionate propagandist of its piano muaie,
The compositions that stand out most prominently are WB sewn piano sonatas. The first is luminous and bold, with a paatoral
Composers
19
beginning and a bright finish, reminding one of sunrise. The sec ond is primarily lyrical These two sonatas occupy the same place in his work that the first two sonatas of Beethoven and Scriabin do in these composers. They are as remarkable, as finished, as deep and as youthful.
^ We find nowhere in his work the purely musical "Ammut." His works possess a rich and original color, expressive harmonies, but no harmony and no color for the sake of harmony and color alone. Because of this his harmonizations are always clear in their relationship to the tonality, his melodies too expressive to be just "pretty."
LEO FALL
LEO PALL, known as the Prince of Operettas, was born in Olmutz, Moravia, on February 2, 1873. He was the son of the conductor of the Army Music Band, Fall showed musical talent at an early
age, but did not seriously commence stud ies until he entered the Vienna Con servatory, where he studied under Robert Puchs and others. There he showed extraordinary talent in com position. He also became a very capable conductor upon being graduated from the Conservatory, and for many years was first conductor at the theatres in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and other cities. In 1904 he returned to Vienna, and became one of the most successful operetta com posers. That same year he married the (laughter of Jadassohn.
The melodies of Fall's operattas are fresh and tantalizing, and are marked by a rhythmic structure al together peculiar to himself, and his Viennese temperament. His Hound training and pleasing invention places him on a level with another famous Jewish operetta composer, Oscar Strauss,
Fall is a prolific composer. The list of his operas and oper ettas is too long to give In full A partial list follows :
The two operas, "Frau Denie" (1902) ; "Irrlicht" (190.5) ; Many highly successful operettas: "The Merry Peasant" (1907) ; "The Dollar Princess" (1907); "The Girl in the Taxi" (1908); "The Doll Girl" (1910) ; "Der Liebe Augustin" (1911) ; "The Eternal Waltz" (1912) ; "The Night Express" (1913) ; "The Student Duch ess" (1918) ; "Young England" (1914) ; "Der Kunstliche Mensch" (1915) ; and "The Golden Bird" (1920),
20 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
RUDOLPH FRIML
RUDOLPH FRIML was born in Prague, on December 7, 1881. His parents were very poor. His father, who worked in a bakery, en couraged the boy's musical ambitions.
One night the owner of the bakery happened to come to old Friml's house, and heard the little boy playing. The child had not had a single lesson. But the baker, who was interested in music, thought Rudolph should be encouraged. He advanced the necessary money to send him to the Prague Conservatory.
Friml had as schoolmate Anton Dvorak, composer of the "New World Symphony/' a struggling young boy like himself, and Jan Kubelik. These three worked together for six or seven years, studying, composing, playing, earning a little money now and then by semi-ama teur appearances. Finally some local manager happened to hear them and started Friml and Kubelik on a concert tour, which was subsequently repeated for five successive seasons (1901-06). They trouped through the little towns of Central Europe, half the time without enough to eat. Finally they got to Berlin and made a success. London followed, and it was the London engagement that was responsible for Friml's coming to America. Daniel Froh- man, famous theatrical producer of New York, happened to attend their concert and signed them up for a tour of American cities.
The rest has since become common knowledge in New York. In rapid succession Friml produced "Katinka" (1915), "You're in Love," "The Blue Kitten," "Tumble Inn" and others. His latest triumph is the "Vagabond King" (1926), which played at the Ca sino Theatre, in New York City, for several months. The music of the piece is exciting, with a quality which seems to belong some how to the romantic and reckless period of the setting. The Vaga bond's song, throbbing and drumming recurrently through the whole performance, has in it the defiant exuberance of desperate and outlawed folk of a time when outlawry retained some rags and tatters of the dignity which belonged to it when outlawry was a state of nature. It has that exuberance, no doubt, because the heart of it comes from some wild Roumanian gypsy folk tune.
Friml also wrote pieces for the violin, 'cello, and a number of excellent songs.
21
BARON ALBBRTO FRANCHETTI
AMONG contemporary Italian composers who attract the attention of (lie whole world by their melodiousness and originality, is Fran- ehettu who possesses, aside from a brilliant talent, many mil lions in money, a very rare phenomenon, indeed, among musicians!
Baron Alberto Franchetti was born on September 18, I860 in Turin. He be longs to a very prominent and wealthy family, being the son of Baron Raymondo Franchetti and his wife, Baroness Louisa Rothschild. Alberto had to struggle against has father's wishes in order to follow his musical inclinations.
He st tidied at first under Nicolo Coconi and Fortunato Magi at Padua and Ven ice, then under Draeseke at Dresden and llhineberger at Munich. He wrote live operas— ''Asraol" (in four acts), pro duced in 1888 at Brescia and later at the famous La Scala and else where with great success. His "Oristoforo Colombo" (in four acts) was produced at Genoa in 1892; his "Fiori d'Alpe" (in three acts) was produced in Milan at the La Scala in 1894; "Signer di PoiuvoaiiKuae" (in three acts) was produced at the La Scala in 1897, as well as his "Giamanio," produced in 1902.
In his opera "Asraol" (of which the subject is taken from a Flemish legend of the fourteenth century and an episode of Moore's "Lows of the Angels"), the composer was attracted undoubtedly by the deep religious mood of the subject. This opera is filled with (lying angels, singing apostles, trumpeting archangels ^ and holy ascetics. The music boars witness to the great talent of the composer the daring of his melodies, and refinement of taste. Al though he imitates Wagner a groat deal, he nevertheless shows much of his own individuality of ideas and mood
His opera "Colombo" is also worthy of attention. In it the com poser rebelled against Meyerbeer's "L'Afrieaine," which was hitherto accepted by nearly all contemporary composers as an ex ample of grand opera composition. r 1
Some critics have called Franchetti the Meyerbeer ot modern Italy and there are certain points of resemblance between the two, besides the accidents of circumstance. Franchetti stands entirely apart from the hysterical school of young Italy. He also wrote a -Symphony in K minor for Orchestra/1 "La Figlia de Juno, (La
22
Famous Musician** of a Wnntcriuff
Scaia, Milan, 1915), "Giaiu'o" (San Carlo, Naples, 19LTJK and his famous operetta "I Gove a Ponipei" (Rome, 1920), which ho wrote in collaboration with Giordano.
LOUIS GRUKNBKRG
Louis GKITENBERG, composer and pianist, wan horn in Russia in 1883. He was brought to America when ho was two yearn old, and received his general education in the public schools in Now
York, After Home preliminary piano
work with Adele Mar#ulies in Now York, he went abroad itnd studied at the master school in the Vienna Conservatory. Later he studied piano and composition with Hnsoni. He made* his debut with the Ber lin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Husoni iti 1910, and subsequently ap peared in recital tours through Russia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and other countries. He also was guest conductor in the Stadt-theatre in Kiel, Uorlltx, Bergen, awl other cities. He afterward returned to America with BUHOIU and composed an opera, 'The Bride of tin* Gods/" for which Ihuscmi wrote the libretto, in H)i21 he was awarded the Flakier pme of $1,000 for his symphonic work, "The Hill of Dreams,** which was played by the New York Symphony. Among1 his compositions are sonatas for violin and piano, n number of songs, piano works, a symphony* piano concerto, cham ber music works, etc* He is one of the founders of the-* American League of Composer** and also a director of the International C'oni- posers' Guild. His ultra-modern composition "Daniel Jassss" for tenor and seven instruments, which was produced by the League of Composers in New York on February, 1025, wan also chosen as one of three American compositions which was performed at the International Festival in Venice in the Summer of
Composers 23
ANDRE GEDALGE
WKLL~BRKI> children, it is said, reflect honor upon their parents, and well-trained musicians reflect glory upon their master. The teacher of practically all the representatives of the modern French school, including Ravel, Florent Schmitt, Honnegger, Darius Mil- hand, and many, many others, Gedalge himself was not, apparent ly, intended by nature to be a creator ; he was a great teacher.
Gedalge started upon a musical career comparatively late in life. Born in Paris on December 27, 1856, he entered the Conser vatoire in 1884, and at that famous incubator of great musicians studied composition and harmony with Guiraud, Gedalge was considered the greatest contrapuntal master of his generation.
lie has written two symphonies, an orchestral suite, a quartet and opera-eomique.
He died in April of 1927.
FERDINAND HILLER
LIKE many composers of the nineteenth century, Hiller was under the influence of his contemporary and friend, Mendelssohn. We can see in the works of these two composers a striking similarity.
Hiller was born on October 24, 1811, in Frankfort-am-Main,' and studied first under A, Smith and later under Humml in Weimar. In 1829 we see Hiller in Paris, where he met Cherubini, Meyer beer, Berlioz;, Liszt, Heine and Chopin. The latter often said that Killer's piano playing as well as his compositions for the piano were very similar to his own in spirit and technique.
In 1843-44 Hiller conducted the Ge- wandhaus concerts in Leipzig, substitut ing for his friend Mendelssohn. In. 1847 he was conductor in Dusseldorff and in 1850-84 he was conductor in K51n, In 1877 he was knighted by the King of Wurttemburg.
Among his best works are his two big oratorios, "The Rape of Jerusalem" and "Saul," and several 'symphonies, of which ^Spring Will Come" is the best known. Also some orchestral overture^ a concerto for piano, opus 69 in F sharp minor, and quintets for mixed voices.
He died on May 11, 1885, in Koln.
24 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
FREDERICK GERNSHEIM
FREDERICK GERNSHEIM was born on July 17, 1839, in Worms. He studied theory under the composer Louis Libbet, and violin under Rosenheim and Hauff, in Frankfort-am-Main.
At the age of eleven he appeared as pianist at a public concert in Frankfort- am-Main, where he played his own overture, which was well receive^. f>opn after, his mother took him to ttie Leip zig Conservatory. His teacher and ad visers there were Mauritz Hauptman, Julius Eietz, llichter and Moscheles.
In 1855 we see him in Paris, where he remained for six years and gained renown as pianist and one of the best interpreters of Chopin. After that he went to Saarbrucken, where he remained for three years as conductor, pianist, and composer, and afterwards accepted the post of professor at the Koln conservatory in piano, counterpoint, and fugue, also as conductor of choral societies. In 1874 he went to Rotterdam, where he organized symphonic concerts over a period of sixteen years, and where he also taught. In 1890 Gern- sheim was at the head of the Stern Choral Society in Berlin, and also art advisor at the Stern Conservatory.
In. the field of both vocal and instrumental music Gernsheim left much of importance. The following are among his best efforts : Three symphonies for large orchestra; a violin concerto; a 'cello concerto; a string quartet; "Garden Song," for male chorus; "Agrippian," for alto, chorus and orchestra; "Divertimento," for flute and strings; a number of major and minor works for solo, chorus and orchestra; a hymn, for male chorus and orchestra; an album of songs, opus 57; second concerto fox piano; the fourth symphony; second and third sonata for the violin; "Morn's Lul laby/' for chorus and orchestra; second string quartet in E minor; "Ode in C," for baritone.
In Gernsheim's compositions we are impressed by the direct individual utterance of the composer. They nearly all possess vivid imagination, melodic wealth .and strictness of rhythm. In his earlier compositions Gernsheim followed in the steps of Bee thoven and Schumann, but in his latter works, we see more and more clearly the composer's creative power. He died on September 11, 1916, in Berlin.
25
GEORGE GERSHWIN
(<KOR<;K (5KKSHW1N was horn in Brooklyn (New York), on Sept- t ember 20, 1898, and received his education in the public schools there. II was not until his thirteenth year that he started to play
the piano, but after four months' lessons he played so well that friends of his father advised sending the young pianist to Europe to study. The advice was not followed, however, and different teachers in turn were employed. Gershwin then studied harmony under Charles Ham- bif'/.er, with whom he also continued his piano study until the hitter's death. Later lie continued his harmonic studies under Kdouard Kilyeni and Rubin Gold- mark. At the age of sixteen he began work as a usong plugger," for J. II. Rerniek, music publisher, sometimes playing all day for vaudeville acts and until two and three o'clock in the morning in cafes*
On November lt 192**, Gershwin made his first appearance as a serious performer on the stage of Aeolian Hall, in New York, as accompanist for Eva (luuthior, in a group of his own songs, and on February 12, U)2«l, his "Rhapsody in Blue" was played for the first time by its composer and Paul Whiteman's orchestra.
In the Spring of 1925, Gershwin, whose original talent was im mediately recognized by Walter Damrosch, director of the New York Symphony Orchestra* wan commissioned by the Society to compost* a concerto for piano and orchestra; and it is probably a circumntance without parallel in America that before a single note of tin* work was written he had signed contracts for six perform ances of it with tlu» New York Symphony Orchestra in New York, Brooklyn, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia,
This concerto in Gershwin's third essay in the field of serious music, the others being the already famous "Rhapsody in Blue/' opus 2, and a one-net negro opera, opus 1, entitled " 135th Street." The latter was written about four yours ago and was performed by Paul Whlteman in January, 192(5. Meanwhile, the composer pro duced the scores of two musical plays, the operetta "Song of the Flume," and the musical comedy, "Tip-Toes." The concerto is the find work Gershwin has scored for symphonic orchestra. In form, the concerto follows, in a rather elastic sense, the classical models. The first movement, for instance, (we quote the composer) "is in
26 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
sonata-form, but the second, in a kind of extended three-part song-form; and the finale is, in principle at least, a Rondo." In other words, in utilizing the traditional moulds, Gershwin has sub jected them to such alterations as modern music in general, and *his own highly personal idiom in particular demand.
MICHAEL FABIONOVITCH
MICHAEL FABIONOVITCH GNIESSIN, eminent young Russian com poser, was born in 1883. After studying music at the St. Peters burg Conservatory, he settled at Rostov-on-the-Don. Then he lived
for some time at Berlin, and is at pres ent living in Moscow. His earliest works, especially the "Orchestral Tone Poem from Shelley/' which bears as epigraph five lines from "Prometheus Unbound," displayed his sense of style and the strong romantic turn of his imagination. He composed a "Sonata-Ballade" for 'cello and piano, which is one of his most characteristic works; "Hymne a la Peste" ; music to the "Phonikerinnen des Europides"; songs, symphonic poem, "Wrubel" for voice and orchestra, etc.
Gniessin was a student of Rimsky- Korsakoff and Liadoff, at the St. Peters burg Conservatory.
In the works of Gniessin there is a novel pathos, and a pas sionate fervor, throughout individualistic, which finds its expres sion in complex chromatic harmonies. Gniessin began his career as a "modernist" composer, belonging to the school which arose on the debris of the distinguished "Mighty Group," and which lacked at the time any signs of a nationalistic physiognomy. Not a thor ough modernist, however, Gniessin remained for a time at the cross-roads of two directions; then there came into his creative- ness a break, after which he wholeheartedly took the road leading to thoroughgoing Jewish nationalism.
In the beginning of 1917, the year of the Russian revolution, we see a blossoming forth of the Jewish prophetic pathos in this composer. He enters definitely on this path in his songs, whose an cestry we can trace to kabalism and talmudic wisdom. Even more iconoclastic does he become in his opera, "The Youth of Abraham," which is intended to serve, to all appearances, as an example to forthcoming Jewish "grand" opera. His second opera, "The Mac- cabeans," was written in the same spirit as the first.
Composers 27
ABRAHAM GOLDFADEN
CHRONOLOGICALLY, Goldfaden occupies the first place among Jew ish national composers. An excellent connoisseur of Jewish folk lore, he jealously protected it against the attempt of Sulzer and
Lewanclowski to "westernize" it. Weakly versed in the art of music, he neverthe less possessed a real artistic instinct, and realized that his operas would be of value only if the national element in them were foremost. With his excellent musical memory he found it easy to fit the mem orized music to texts written by himself. Goldfaden had a composer's talent. Un acquainted with theory, his melodies are nevertheless beautiful both in structure and mood. They are somewhat monot onous because of their exclusively dia tonic character, and absence of modula tions, but on the whole they are quite beautiful and have since become quasi-folk-lore.
Abraham Goldfaden, poet and father of the Jewish theatre, was born in 1B40, in Starokonstantinov, Russia. His father, a watch maker and "Masktel," educated his son in the spirit of the new times. In 1857 Goldfaden entered the Zhitomir Rabbinical Sem inary. A year before graduation he published a collection of. an cient Hebrew poems, Zizim Uperaehmi, published in 1865. Two volumes followed in modern Yiddish, Dos Yidele (1868), and Die Yidene (1869, and won great popularity. Many of Gold- f aden'rt songs have become Jewish national property, and are being sung all over the "pale*" During a period of ten years following bin graduation, Goldfaden taught in the government schools in Simphoropol and in Odessa. In 1875 he founded in Lemberg a humorous Jewish weekly publication, Yisrolik, which was unfor tunately short-lived. In 1876 he edited Caernovici's Die Bukowiner litradititichw Volksblatt, with the same unhappy results. The same year he went to Yassi, whei^e he founded the first Jewish theatre, Goldfaden was not only the producer, decorator, and di rector of his company; he wrote dramas, with couplets and songs, and composed music to them. When the Jewish theatre was pro hibited in Russia, Goldfaden moved with his company to Warsaw, renamed it "German," and went on playing in a peculiar jar gon somewhat reminiscent of German, but of atrocious pomposity of speech, since known as "Deitschmerisch." After an extensive
28 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
trip over Western Europe, Goldfaden came to New York in 1887, and there founded the Jewish organ, Yiddische Illustrirte Zeit- ung. He then went to Paris and returned in 1903 to New York, where he played an important part in the cultural life of its Jews, being the founder of the first Jewish theatre there.
Goldfaden died in New York in 1908. Two years later the Vienna Academie Union ("Jiidische Kultur") announced the estab lishment of a fund for the "Goldfaden Prize/' for the best dra matic works in Yiddish.
RUBIN GOLDMARK
RUBIN GOLDMARK is triply famous: first, for his extraordinary musicianship, his pedagogic activities and creative work; second ly, for being a nephew of the famous Karl Goldmark ; and thirdly,
for his wise and eloquent lectures and aphorisms, which he reads principally at the New York Bohemian Club.
Rubin Goldmark was born in New York City on August 15, 1872. He re ceived his education in the City College and later went to Vienna and attended the lectures given by the philosophical faculty at the University there. He be gan his music studies at the Vienna Con servatory, where his teachers were Livo- ' nius and Door in piano, and Fuchs in composition. On his return to New Yorky Goldmark continued his piano studies with. Joseffy, and composition with Dvorak. From 1891 to 1893 he was professor of piano and theory at the National Conservatory of Music in New York. From 1895 to 1901 he lived in Colorado, where he was director of the Colorado Conservatory of Music.
In 1902 Goldmark returned to New York, where he has since devoted his time to teaching, composing and giving lectures. He has given over 500 lectures and recitals in the United States and Canada. In 1910 he received the Paderewski prize for chamber music. His compositions include "Theme and Variations" for or chestra, which was played under the conductorship of Anton Seidl; the overture "Hiawatha/' played by the Boston Symphony Orches tra; the Symphonic Poem "Samson/7 performed by the Boston Symphony and later by the New York Philharmonic in 1917; a trio in D minor, performed by the Tollefsen Trio, a piano trio, piano quartet, violin sonata, songs and numerous other works for piano, violin, orchestra, etc.
29
With Joseit'y as co-worker, he was one of the founders of the famous New York "Bohemians" dub, of which he was president for (ho first three years of its existence, after which he was elected permanent honorary vice-president.
(Joldnmrk is on the staff of teachers of the famous Julliard Foundation, His pupils in composition and theory include: Wil- lecke, Jhitfo Kortehak, Miseha Elmanf Ethel Leginska, Frederick Jueobi, Aaron Copland, Victor Wittgenstein and George (Jershwin.
On the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the Foundation of the Bohemians' (Huh (Dec. 2(5, 1921), the membership organized a special banquet in his honor.
He* is now at the height of his careen* as teacher and composer. The partial deafness which has set in does not, fortunately, hinder him in his activities.
Aside from the compositions enumerated above, the following have since become popular in America and abroad: "Requiem" for orchestra, inspired by Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address, first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra on January ;50, 1919, and since played under Stransky, Mengelberg, Stock, Rudolph (5atr/, and many others; a "Negro Rhapsody" for orchestra, first performed by the New York Philharmonic on December 19, 1922, and since played by the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch, the State Symphony, and other orchestras.
KARL GOLDMARK
TilK "Queen of Sheba" (1875) made Goldmark's name as a com poser, but it was performed after the composer worked and waited for yeans and suffered insults and humiliation—not the least of
which was the appeal addressed to Ed ward Hunslick, the noted music critic. The words with which Goldmark opened the letter to Hanslick reflected his state of mind: "I have had the great misfor tune to compose an opera. The extent of this misfortune, however, can only be appreciated when you realize that I In tend to have it produced. You alone can help me to that end, more than all the others." But Mr. Hanslick did not lift a finger to help the poor composer, either as a music critic or in his capacity as artistic advisor to the Minister of Educa tion. On the contrary, long before the opera was produced, when the Grand March from it was played
30 Famo'ux Musicians of a Wanderhu/ Race
at a concert and enthusiastically applauded by Liszt, who present, Hanslick wrote that this part of the opera was the only part of the work fit to he heard.
Mahler had long wished to give the opera the brilliant, produc tion which it deserved, but could not get the money from the Im perial Treasurer. At last he succeeded in staging it in Vienna in 1875. Since then it has been triumphant on the operatic stages in the world.
Although Goldmark was under the influence of Wagner's the ories, he nevertheless shows much originality and individuality. He is particularity successful in his emphasis on dramatic nit na tion, and his brilliant orchestration, Goldmark was much attracted by biblical material, and he brought to it all the passion of his Viennese temperament and all his love for the history of the Jew ish nation. A romanticist, he shows a love for the fantasy and the poesy of the Orient,
In his beautiful opera, "Cricket on the Hearth/* he remained true to the emotional fairy-tale character of the libretto, A beau tiful opera is also his, "Prisoners of War/*
Goldmark showed great genius in his concert music, especially in his master symphony, "Bauern Hoehaeit," and the second sym phony in B flat major. In his overtures, "In Spring/* **Penthesi« lea" and "Sappho" he reached great heights. These works are also immensely popular, Also of extraordinary interest are his violin concerto, piano concerto, piano quintet, quartet and quintet for strings, and Psalm 113 for chorus.
His concert overture "Sakuntela" (1865) is a #em among works written for the orchestra; it is a poetical Illustration of the* Hindu drama, "Calidasf."
Goldmark was born on May 18, 1830, in DoHxthel, Hungary. In 1844 he went to Vienna, where he studied the violin under Leo pold Janse. From 1860 to 1857 he occupied the post of violinist in various Austrian orchestras. For Ignatx Brllll, Goldmark had a great attachment as they were both frank and hcmeat nature*, and felt neither of the diseases that often consume musician* — envy and jealousy.
Goldmark died in Vienna on January 2, 1915,
In his hook, My Long Life in Mmic, Leopold Auer aays the following of his acquaintance with Goldmark:
"It was during one of my visits to Vienna that I met Goldmark one evening at a house of a music loving friend. He was most unassuming in his ways. He was a little chap with a large head crowned with long and abundant locks, then in vogue among young musicians, owing, I believe, to the example set by Liszt and Paga- nini. He was a remarkable musician and a great personality, Hii violin concerto can be considered a gem in the literature for that instrument."
Cow power
31
JAGQURS FROMMENTHAL ELLI IIALEVY
AN UNCOMMON influence was exerted by Halevy not only on the French but on all musically cultured men ot% the world. As a master of French grand opera he has hardly a rival. The creator of "The
Jewess/' "The Queen of Cyrus" and other operas, he occupies a foremost place among French composers of the nine teenth century, although he, like Burnett and Benedict* was of German origin.
His father, Elli Halevy, was born in Purth, Bavaria, and won a name for him self as a talented poet, who wrote in He brew, His two famous sons, one the composer, and the other Leon Halevy, the writer, took care their father's name should continue to live in the world of art.
Halevy, as well as Meyerbeer, took little or no care that the contents of his work should reveal his ancestry. In his famous opera "The Jewess** ho makes use of many ancient Hebrew melodies, and we owe to him the immortalisation of the tragic fate of his nation in music. In "The Jewess" we hear the passionate strains of relig ious emotions, the century-old pains of the Jews, melodiously sung. The jrtympulhetit' character and the noble heart of the composer gained for him general love and respect. The love and admiration of his colleagues, Ober and Thomas, and his pupils, Gounod, Mas- senetf ami Jules Cohtmt tell enough of this great musician and man. Halevy WILH born on May 23, 1799, in Paris, where he studied at the Conservatoire* under Oassot, Collibere, Berton, and Cheru- hmL In 1819 he received a government stipendium and the Prix de Rome for his cantata "Hermione." Halevy left for Rome to study, returning to Paris in 1822, where he devoted himself en tirely to creative activity*
Among his first operas are "The Bohemians/* ^Pygmalion" and the comic opera 4*y Artisan," also "Quid et Ginera," "Carl VI," and the "Queen's Musketeers/' He also wrote many cantatas, choral works romances and sonatas for four hands.
The circumstances of his life were favorable to the full devel opment of his genius, a fact that is true of every few other com posers* In 1827 he was appointed professor at the Paris Conser vatoire, and two years later he received the position of conductor at the Paris Grand Opera, In 1840 Duke Holiansky appointed him
32 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
his private conductor, and four years later the Beaux Arts elected him vice-president. Halevy was also considered a great ora tor, and was chief speaker at the Beaux Arts.
He died on March 17, 1862, in Nice. His remains were removed to Paris, and his funeral bore the character of a national mourning day. Among the distinguished people who followed the bier through the streets of Paris were Count Morney, brother of the Emperor, Prince Napoleon, and Princess Mathilda. He left an unfinished opera, "Noe," which was completed by his son-in-law, Bizet. The opera, like "Samson and Delilah," had its premiere outside of France, having first been performed under Felix Mottl, at the Grand Ducal Theatre of Karlsruhe in 1885, where, accord ing to a report which appeared in the Paris "Figaro," it was a success. Among his most famous pupils are Gounod, Bizet, Mas senet, Victor Masset, Del Devez and Duvernoy.
EMERIGH KALMAN
WHAT lover of operetta is unacquainted with the famous "Herbst- manover" or "Czardasf iirstin" ? The author of these operettas is Emerich Kalman, the beloved Hungarian composer, who was born
in Siofok, Hungary, on October 24, 1882. On a plane with Oscar Strauss, Franz Lehar, and Leo Fall, Kalman occupied one of the outstanding places among operetta writers of the day. Even more than that of his colleagues, Kalman's music reflects the color of his fatherland, that celebrated land of wine, dance, Chardasch and Paprika !
Kalman studied composition at the Royal High School in Budapest under Hans Koessler. Aside from the operettas mentioned, he also wrote the following charming works that have already cir cled the globe :
"Der Kleine Konig"; "Faschingsf ee" ; "Hollandweibchen" ; "Die Bajadere"; and his latest work, "Countess Maritza." He is now living in Vienna.
Composers
33
BRIG! I WOLFGANG KORNGOLD
WHITING about Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Maurice Halpersohn, the New York critic, said: "When Nature takes a holiday, which does not occur too often, she takes pleasure in creating a genius. And
so it happens that a few chosen ones can' enjoy as a gift of Nature what other mor tals can attain only by hardest studies, and then only if they have the necessary talent and ambition. We are accustomed to speak then of 'miracles.' One of these happy mortals on whose brain genius was stamped by kind Nature is young Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the Viennese com poser, who has showed since earliest youth a musical genius which can be com pared only with Mozart's,"
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was born in Brunn on May 29, 1897. He is the son of the noted music critic, Dr, Julius Korngold, who was also born at Brunn, in 1860, and studied In Vienna, lie is the music reviewer of the Ne/ue Freie Presse, where ho succeeded the famous Dr. Ecluard Hanslick (known as Richard Wagner's mortal enemy). At the age of six, Erich received his first piano and harmony Issons under Emil Lamm, a distant relative of the pupil When only seven, Erich began composing small piano pieces and dances. It was characteristic of the boy to carry with him wherever he went a music note-book, on whose pages he put down everything that came into his head. Later he took lessons from Zemlinsky and Gradener, to whom he owes his splendid and solid music foundation.
Korngold's first work of consequence, written at the age of eleven, is the ingenious pantomime "Der Sehneemann," performed at the View mi Opera House in 1908. This work shows the child's genius, for its bold harmonies are conceived on vigorous melodic lines. It was given its first performance with Zemlinsky's instru mentation. To this period also belong his piano trio, opus 1, and a few piano pieces without opus numbers, including his "Don Quixote." Korngold showed his mastery of orchestration at the age of thirteen, in the "Schauapiel Overture," opus 4, and his "Sin- fonietta," masterpieces of their kind. His other works, the second piano sonata, opuw 2; "Marchenbilder" for piano opus S; violin so nata opus 6; string sextet, opus 10; string quartet, opus 16; and piano quintet, opus 15, are written as though by the hand of a
34 Famous Mmiciaus of a Wctnderinfj Race
thorough master. The following of his works also are often heard on concert programs: "Sursum Oorda," a symphonic overture for orchestra; "Einfache Leider," opus 9; and "Lieder des AlwhitnLs/* opus 14.
His operas, "Der Ring des Polyenitcsi," opus 7, and "Violanta/' opus 8, had great success when presented at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, yet these were eclipsed by his opera on a legendary theme, "Die Tote Stadt" (from Rodenhaeh's u Bruges la Morte"). The two first-mentioned operas are not only musically brilliant, but dramatically so masterfully constructed that they prove Korngold'a great genius in dramatic composition, We can even say that in them Korngold has become the father of a new form of music drama. Undoubtedly* Korngold's future Hticceases will prove to have been foreshadowed in these operas, and it IB to be hoped that he continues along his own tracks,
"Violanta" was first performed on April 10, 1916, in Vienna, under Reichwein, with Jeritssa, Kurfc, Pic-caver, Miller and Weide- mann. With this opera Korngold achieved a brilliant Hueeesa* gaining the interest of the greatest music authorities, including Arthur Nikisch, Humperdink, and Weingartnor for thin prodigy. Karl Goldmark said: "His knowledge and pristine wealth of musi cal ideas are positively beyond understanding, Korngold h a won der!" Professor Kretschmar said once to the elder Korngold; "Among all the early maturing geniuses, your son is to be consid ered an extraordinary phenomenon, I only know of one comparison and that is young Handel"
The "Dead City" had its premiere on January 10f 1921, in Vienna, with Jeritza in the leading role. She created the name part at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in November, 1921. (This opera was incidentally the first German opera to be produced in America since this country entered the war.)
The text, by Paul Schott, one of the younger members of the well-known music publishing firm of B, Schott's Sdhne in Mainz, Germany, is based on a famous romance by the great Belgian au thor, Georges Rodenbach* It is Bruges, the "Dead City," which is the center of interest in Rodenbach's romance and drama and a good deal of the atmosphere was retained in the libretto, Roden* bach's widow related to the Viennese playwright, Siegfried Tre- bitsch, an old friend of her late husband, the drama "Le Mirage/* written after the romance "Bruges la Morte*" Trebltach trans lated it into German and the drama produced at the Leasing Theatre in Berlin made a deep impression- When young Korngold asked Trebitsch for an effective opera libretto, he recommended Rodenbach's drama. Erich read it in one night and was BO im pressed by the fantastic story that he decided to set it to music* The same night he worked out an opera scenario, which, however,
Composers 35
was radically changed when Paul Schott, his collaborator, had the happy idea that the entire fantastic action should be changed from reality into a vision. 9
Korngold's opera pi*esents difficult problems to the singers and the stage management. The vision must impress us as such, and no realistic or even theatrical tone must interfere with the action of the dream. The score of it is alive with flaming harmonies. When Richard Strauss heard this opera he said : "The first feeling one experiences is simple fear that such a precocious genius should follow the course of normal development to enable him to carry out hitf wishes. This assurance of style, this mastery of form, this individuality of expression, these harmonies, are really astound ing! ..."
Enemies of Erich's father charged him with using his influence in favor of an artificially created "child prodigy." They went so far as to charge that the boy had been given the name "Wolfgang" only after his musical talent developed, In order to establish the analogy with the immortal Mozart Little Erich Wolfgang and his father were made the objects of such bitter professional and per sonal attacks that the father often contemplated giving up his posi tion as critic, so that talent would not stand in the way of genius.
Young Erich was in no way arrogant, but seemed to be, on the contrary, a lovable boy. Felix Weingartner, the great conductor, one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the boy's gifts, charac terized him as "jolly, often exuberant, clever, but in no way pre cocious; affectionate and grateful, but never submissive; of frank and sure judgment and with a goodly portion of humor." His whole crime was his genius, and the fact that he had an influential father and that this father had innumerable adversaries. What critic has not?
The opinion of the musical observers who watched young Korngold's development with anxious admiration is best expressed in the following words of Felix Weingartner: "Erich Korngold is an individuality. In vain I searched his compositions, even his earliest, for blunders. Nowhere did I find a point disclosing an inexperienced hand. His compositions never betray the composer's youth. No one would suspect that a little boy was the author. Erich's music is of a refinement which could almost frighten musi cal experts, but we must not forget that even a genius is a child of his time. He gives me an impression as though Nature had the caprice to sum up everything the art of music had produced in the last decades in order to give the sum total to a child in his cradle, who now plays with it."
Weingartner found an opportunity to judge the boy's mastery in handling orchestral problems when he asked him to rearrange for orchestra three of Korngold's songs, which were originally
Famou*
of' a Wandering Race
written to piano accompaniment, so that; the conductor's wife, the late Lucille Marcel- Weingartnor, could sing them at a concert, When Erich brought him the orchestral part a few days* later, Weingartnor remarked that lie wished the accompaniment some what, less massive. The hoy sat- down to work- Twenty minutes later he gave the conductor the corrected manuscript* which Wein- gartnor, before wlio.se very eyes this miracle hud taken place, found faultless.
Among Korngold's smaller pieces are songs, and the incidental music to "Much Ado About Nothing/' opus 11, written in capric ious chamber-nuiHic style, admirably illustrating Shakespeare's gay comedy. His latest work is an opera written for Mme Maria Jeritsca "called "The Miracle of Uclian." The libretto is by Kalt- necker, who died some time ago of starvation. The author had heard Korngold's "Violanta" and was so impressed with the score that he immediately set to work to provide the composer with a suitable vehicle for his talent.
He often conducts his operas and concerts himself, with great ability. In 1919 he accepted a position as conductor at the Opera House in Hamburg; his skill, temperament and artistic taste were generally admired there. This position he resigned to devote him self entirely to composition.
ALEXANDER ABRAMOVITGH KREYN
ONK OB" the most gifted representatives of the young modern Kua- suan-Jewish School in Alexander Ahramovitch Kre.yn, who wan born in Nisshny Novgorod, llusaia, on October 20, 188!i, Kreyn became
actively interested in composition after graduating from the Moscow (Conserva tory 'cello class, his instructor there be ing Von-Gltm. He later studied composi tion privately under Professors B. I* Yavorski and L. B» Nikolayev* Shortly afterwards ho gave to the world a suc cession of musical compositions whieti rank among the beat that modern RuHsiii has produced
Kreyn was one of the most independ ent among the modernists. His music is basically vocal The vocal color of his work is not only expressed in the melodic line but runs throughout the har monic structure. Marvcloualy enough, in all the complexity of hii
Composers 37
musical genius hia music is always free from chance. Although Kreyn did not quite reach perfection in the pianistic writing, his pieces for that instrument are always rich and strikingly effective,
In his early youth, he was for a certain time an avowed disciple of Scriabin, Ravel, and Debussy, and his work showed their influ ence. Acquaintance with Hebrew folk-music and traditional melo dies completely altered his artistic creed. He found here some thing that made a basic emotional appeal to him and it profoundly affected his latter works. As has been the case with most of the modern Hebrew composers who have given up the attempt to imi tate the Nordic and the Latin, Kreyn's work developed individual ity and power. In the latter works of all this school, and particu larly in Kreyn, one feels the breadth of Biblical pathos, and a peculiar Hebrew lyricism which combines religious contemplation with characteristic racial melancholy.
Kreyn attracted the attention of the Russian musical world by his symphonic work "Salome/' which he called a "Poem of Pas sion," and which was performed at the Moscow Symphony Con certs. It is a forceful and deeply emotional work with a strong Hebrew strain in it. In this poem Kreyn successfully illustrates the suffering of the heroine, rejected by the prophet. The music of "Salome" has a certain fascination because of the brilliant color ing and the rhythmic contrasts in the different themes.
His first compositions were free from nationalistic traits. He became a conspicuous figure among Russian modernists before he revealed himself as a Jewish national composer. His first attempt in the Jewish national spirit, written to order, was "Jewish Sketches," for string quartet and clarinet. After that he began other works in 'the same style. In "Salome," although there is not apparent a definite nationalistic approach, the composer feels his basis of a Europeanized tonality. His "Kadish," opus 33, is an excellent cantata for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra to the text of A. OrBchanin. A piano sonata, in spite of its apparent European form, retains all the significance of a nationalistic production, as do his excellent series of songs to words of Jewish and Russian poets, Balmont, Byalik, Ef ros, and others.
Kreyn has also written Five Jewish Songs to the words of Abraham Ef ros, opus 31 ; music to the L. Perez drama "Na Pokay- annoy Tsepi," which was performed by the State Theatre in Russia, and a series of other compositions :
Five Preludes, for piano,, opus 3; Lyric Poem, for violin and piano, opus 4 ; Poem-Quartet, for two violins, alto and cello, opus 9; Poem in F major for 'cello and orchestra,, opus 10; Elegy, a trio for violin, 'cello and piano, opus 16; Symphony No. 1, for large or chestra, opus 35 ; music to the drama "Sabatay Zvi," for orchestra, opus 87; and many smaller works,
Kreyn is not a religious thinker, but a religious enthusiast,
MHMCWUH of a Wainlerhift
a sort of "Ohassid." However we may appraise his work, we must
always consider him, aside from his specific Jewish significance, a figure of Importance in the music of the world.
GUSTAV MAULER
GUSTAV MAHLKR is acknowledged as one of the world's greatest composers and conductors that over lived. He was horn on July 7, I860, in Kalisch, Bohemia. A few months after his birth, the
family removed to l#lau. Here, at tlw age of six, lit* received his first music lessons. In 1875 ho came to the Vienna Conservatory, where ho studied piano under T. Epstein, harmony under K. Fuchs, and composition under T. Krowtu Having won tlio conservatory prize in 1878, ho attended the philosophy and musical history classes at the university for two yours. His works of that 'period (quintet for strings and piano, a violin sonata, and the opera U10rnst von Schwa- bon") were destroyed lator on by the1 composer. At that time he came in close* contact with Anton Bruckner* who.se les sons influenced his style, mure perhaps, than any other eom« poser. Bruckner was particularly delighted when Mahler made* an excellent piano arrangement of his third symphony.
In the Summer of 1880 Mahler accepted his first engagement as conductor at Hall, and finished his first work, **Das Klagende Lied/' for solo, chorus and orchestra. The orchestra score was rewritten after 1900. The poem of thin cantata wan written by Mahler himself in 1878, This excellent work shows already a fully developed style and technique. It marks the beginning of Inn first period, influenced by romantic poems, especially by the "J/iwtor Aus Den Knaben Wuwlerhorn,"
Angclo Neuman was the mart who "discovered" Mahler, in Prague. As a ward of Anton Swell, Gustav Mahler was the first to conduct the Niehelungen 'Ring at the Prague Gorman Theatre. At the same time ho manifested such talent in the interpretation of Mozart that even then Brahms often said of him: I4lf you want to hear Mossart, go to Prague And hear M'aliler play him/1
During the Winter sea«on of 3881, Mahler conducted at Jxjl* bach; in 1882-3 he conducted at the Olmutss Theatre, then was
Composers 39
chorus master of the Italian season in Vienna, During the same year he composed his first volume of songs. In the Summer he went to Bayreuth to hear "Parsifal" and spent the season of 1883-4 at the Cassel Opera, His "Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen" and his First Symphony he composed in December, 1883. In 1885 he was second conductor at the Deutsches Theatre in Prague, and in the Summer of 1886 he went to Leipzig, where he actively assisted Arthur Nikisch at the Leipzig Opera, and where he became known through his arrangement and completion of Weber's opera-frag ment "The Three Pintos" (first performed in Leipzig, 1888). He spent 1888-91 in the capital of Hungary as director of the Buda pest Opera, and succeeded in increasing the importance of opera in that country. He was first conductor at the Hamburg Opera House ( 1891 ) , retaining the post for six years. His famous Second Symphony in C minor was finished in 1894 and had its world pre miere in 1895.
Mahler began his Second Symphony while at Leipzig in the late eighties and finished it, according to the com poser's biographer, Paul Stefan, at Steinbach, on the Al- tersee in June, 1894. On March 4, 1895, Richard Strauss con ducted the three instrumental movements at a Berlin Philharmonic concert. On December 13 of the same year, Mahler himself con ducted the entire symphony in Berlin. The first performance of the symphony in America was given by the Symphony Society of New York on December 8, 1908, under the composer's direction. I, myself, participated in the performance of this symphony a number of times, and also heard the Philharmonic play it in New York under Mengelberg on November 27, 1925. This massive work left an indelible impression on me; it is a master work among master works.
Mahler has given us a clue to the significance of this symphony, not only in the words that are allotted to the chorus and solo voices in the symphony, but by his exegetical comments.
"When I conceive a great musical picture," he wrote, "I always arrive at the point where I must employ the 'word' as the bearer of my musical idea. . . . My experience with the last movement of my Second Symphony is such that I literally ransacked the litera ture of the word up to the Bible to find the redeeming 'word.'
"Deeply significant of the nature of artistic creation is the man ner in which I received the prompting to it I had had for a long time the thought of using the chorus in the last movement, and only the fear that this might be considered an imitation of Bee thoven made me hesitate. About that time Bulow^ died, and I attended his funeral in Hamburg. The mood in which I sat and thought of the dead man was exactly in the spirit of the work that I was carrying about in my mind* Then the chorus intoned Klop-
40 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
-? — ' " " — ' ~"~
stock's chorale 'Resurrection/ This struck me like a flash of light ning, and everything was revealed clearly and plainly to my soul. The creative artist was waiting for this flash. What I then experi enced I had to create in tones. And yet, if I had not had this work already in me, how could I have had this experience?"
The symphony has been called, with good reason, apparently, the "Resurrection" Symphony, but this title was displeasing to Ernst Otto Nodnagel, who wrote at length about Mahler's works in his Jenseits von Wagner and Liszt (1902). Herr Nodnagel preferred to see in the first Allegro "the funeral music of a great man," with hints at episodes in his life; in the idyllic second move ment he perceived "a reference to an episode of sunny happiness" ; in the "demoniacal Scherzo," "a portrayal of the doubt and despair of a racked soul"; and in the fourth, "comfort"; while the fifth brings "the longed-for deliverance, not as a 'resurrection/ a con fession or religious belief, but in the sense of our modern biological views." Or, as it has been phrased by another writer, a "Hymn of praise on the return of the soul clarified and perfected." Herr Nodnagel explains the bird's thrillings in the last movement, which have puzzled many commentators, as being a "symbol of the last expiring vestige of life on the earth."
"This is a symphony of destiny. Mahler's subsequent explana tion implies (in the first movement) the death of a hero who has fallen in the Promethean struggle for his ideal, for the knowledge of life and death. Abysmal depths are stirred. A long-drawn-out funeral march rises sharp and trenchant from the restless declama tory basses, with a consuming lament in the wood-winds. Then the abrupt change from minor to major so characteristic of Mahler, in horns and strings, very softly, a first promise of consolation. But, quick as lightning, the convulsion of the beginning returns/'
The second movement is an andante-intermezzo in A-flat in retrospective mood. The strings begin a dance tune, a horn leads to the key of B, changing E flat enharmonically to D sharp. Lively, gay, youthful triplets over an unmoving bass.
The third movement, a scherzo in form, is St. Anthony of Padua's sermon to the fishes (from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn"). The fourth movement, "Primal Light," is also from this famous old German folk poetry. The fifth movement, "The Great Sum mons," a wild, frantic, terrifying scherzo, represents Death and Judgment at hand. "Death and Judgment are at hand. But the storm of the orchestra is interrupted by reassurances. Distant horns spread the terror of the Last Day. Like a subdued March, the chorale of the first movement is recalled — a reference to the coming endless procession. . . . The cry for mercy and grace sounds, terribly in our ears. Fear and hope struggle in all hearts. The Great Summons is heard; the trumpets of the Apocalypse
Composers 41
sound the call In the awful silence we seem to hear a far, far distant nightingale, like the last quivering echo of earthly life. The chorus of the saints and the heavenly hosts begins almost in- audibly: "Thou shalt arise, arise from the dead!" The splendor of God appears. ... It is no judgment; there are no sinners, no righteous. . . . There is no punishment and no reward. An irre sistible sentiment of love penetrates us with blest knowledge and vital glow. The chorus with soprano solo, begins a capella, with indescribable effect (the first two themes are taken from a hymn, "The Resurrection," by Friedrich Gottlob Klopstock). With the peal of organ and bells amid the jubilation of the orchestra, this "Resurrection Symphony" ends.
In 1896 Mahler finished his Third Symphony. Its first complete performance took place in 1902. From 1897 he was director of the Vienna Opera, and here began his great transformation of the rep ertoire — with new mises en scene of the operas of Mozart, Gluck, Wagner and other classics. This period was the heyday of that opera house. The first performance of his Fourth Symphony, a tremendous and overpowering work, composed in 1899-90, was given in Munich in 1902. Whereas the second, third and fourth symphonies have solo or choruses in the last movement, the sym phonies of the second period (except the eighth symphony) are entirely instrumental. His Fifth Symphony, Mahler finished in 1902 (performed for the first time at Cologne in 1904), In 1904 he married Alma Maria Schindler. That same year he also began his Sixth Symphony (first in Essen), and his Seventh, which he completed in 1906 (first performed in Prague, 1908). This is his maturest effort, and is one of the most significant works in the modern symphonic repertory. It is written in two parts (with solis and double chorus). The first part is, "Hymn, Veni, Creator Spiritus" (with double fugue) ; the second part — the last scenes of Part II of "Faust" in the form of an Adagio, Scherzo and Finale. It had its first performance in Munich, September 12, 1908. This tremendous work demands a colossal ensemble and is named the "Symphony of the Thousand/'
After a period of ten years' work, Mahler left his post as direc tor of the Vienna Opera, and in 1907 came to New York, where he conducted the operas of Mozart and Wagner and many symphonic concerts. It was during the Summer of 1908 that he finished his orchestral poem, "Das Lied von der Erde," which had its first per formance in Munich in 1911 under Bruno Walter. This work, after a Chinese poem, is written for alto and tenor voices with orchestra. It was during his stay in America that he composed his Ninth Symphony, which had its premiere in Vienna in 1912, also under Bruno Walter,
42 Famous MiwieiaHx of a Wandering Race
In this symphony, the first and fourth movements arc Adagio, and are in religious mood, the second movement in rustic mode, while the third is burlesque. During one of the rehearsals with the New York Symphony, the author was told hy Otto Klentperer that the third movement was written during Mahler's stay in New York, and reflects the futility of the haste, noise and hustle of the great American metropolis. It is as though Mahler asked the world for a solution of the eternal enigma: "Whither do men go? Is it worth all the trouble?" In the fourth movement Mahler answers this question; "Yes, in death will you find it, in rest eternal and in oblivion* . . ."
In 1909-10 Mahler began sketches for his Tenth Symphony, but, alas! he did not finish it— a fate he shared in common with Bee* thovcn and Bruckner, whose lives ended after their Ninth Sym phonies were written*
This great genius died on May 18, 191 If in Vienna* without having heard his Ninth Symphony, It was not performed in public till nearly a year after his death, His last concert in America look place on February 21, 191 1, after which he returned to Vienna,
While Hermann Lovi saw in Wagner's labors the full realisa tion of the ideal Music-Drama, Gustav Mahler was considered a conductor par excellence of these dramas, He met all great musical compositions of this day with the greatest honesty and attention,
Mahler's fame increased rapidly after his death, He in the hmt in the line of Viennese classical composers. He completed the romantic symphonic form handed on to him by Schubert and Bruckner.
Together with Hans von Bulow, Mahler should he considered one of the greatest and most powerful personalities among con ductors, A friend of the author's, who played under Mahler*** leadership, once said that no conductor has ever exercised such magnetic influence over his orchestras. Ha wan also one of the most loved of men, by his friends as well an by the members of his orchestras, and by all people with whom he* came in contact* Bright and genial he was kind to all, always responding to any request for his aid or service.
His unfinished Tenth Symphony wan first performed on June 6, 1925, in Prague, under Zemlinsky,
Another great living Jewish composer, Ernest Bloeh, remarked regarding the influence of racial inheritance on a composer's work r "I think the principal reason that Jewish composers have never as yet attained the ftrat rank in musical composition is that consciously or unconsciously, through fear or lack of self-knowledge, they failed to proclaim themselves in their art I think the great short coming of Mahler as a composer was that he failed to realize this, So he built with idioms that were outworn and inadequate to the things he wished to say and the manner in which he would have
Composers 43
said them. If, in his restless searching for the "word" he could have linked himself to the genius of his race, what might he not have accomplished? As it is, we listen to Mahler's great symphonies, that tower so high, and aspire so much higher, and realize with sorrow that for all their spirituality their musical spirit Is too con ventional, too certain to crumble with the passage of time/'
MORITZ MOSZKOWSKY
ONE of the most talented composers of our time is Moritz Mosz- kowsky, son of a Polish Jew* His musical gift expressed itself in creation, although he also ranked high as a pianist and a violinist.
He is considered to have been one of the greatest Polish composers for the piano, his Spanish dances and German choruses being especially delightful. Few pianistic programs fail to include his name. The Polish spirit of his work has some kinship with the genius of Chopin, though the influence of Wagner and Liszt is frequently patent.
Born on August 23, 1854, In Breslau, Moszkowsky showed his talent and incli nation for music at an early age. When he was eleven years old, his parents un dertook to give him a serious musical ed ucation. His first quartet for piano and strings was composed two years later. The next year his parents moved to Berlin, and there he entered the Stern Conservatory where he studied piano under Eduard Frank, and composition un der Prederich Kiel. After two years he entered the Conservatory of Kullak, and there studied composition with Wuhertz and piano with Kullak.
He was eighteen when he gave his first concert overture for orchestra. A year later he appeared as pianist in a program of his own works, and was enthusiastically received. In 1876, he wrote the symphonic poem, "Jean d'Arc," which made his name famous at home and abroad.
Among his most important works are the following : Two orchestrated suites. ; a violin concerto ; the opera "Boabdil" ; incidental music to "Don Juan" and "Faust"; numerous pieces for piano (two and four hands) ; pieces for 'cello, songs, compositions for two pianos, etc.
Moszkowsky received many honors and prizes, including an
44 Famous Musicians of ct Wandering Race
honorary membership of the London Philharmonic Society, and membership in the Queen's Academy of Arts.
During his latter years he lived in Purus where he wan a lender in musical circles, being considered one of (he most talented artists and pedagogues.
In December, 1919, it was reported that Mosy.kowsky, who hud been in uncomfortable circumstances, was ill and in want. He had lost practically all his fortune in the war, and had been compelled to undergo several difficult and expensive operations on his throat, which kept him in hospitals for long periods of time. His illness had left him in such a weakened condition that he was unable to do any more composing or teaching. His editions of standard works which he had made during the war, remained unpublished due to the shortage of materials. An appeal for funds was madth and in a few days over $1,000 was subscribed In December, 1921, a remarkable concert was given in Carnegie Hall, New York, for the benefit of Mosxkowsky, Fifteen prominent pianists gave their services, including Josef Lhevinne, Ignaz Friedman, Wilholm Bachaus, Leo Qrnstein, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Percy Grainier, Ern est Schelling, Ernest Hutchison, Germaine Sehnitsser, Klly Ney» Harold Bauer, Alfredo Casella, Sigismund Stojowaky, Alexander Lambert and Walter Damroach, A reproducing piano as well as programs autographed by all the players were auctioned off at high prices.
At this concert $15,000 was realized, which together with the Presser Fund, and a fund collected by Mtmcal Amvrim, brought the total amount to $20,000, which was sent immediately to Moszkowsky.
The life of Moritz Moazkowaky was, for the most part, quiet and uneventful His student days were free from the poverty that has been the lot of so many musicians, and hi$ SUCCOSB an a pro fessional pianist was immediate. In the field of componition he seems to have been absolved from the necessity of gradual devel opment, so that his early works are as ripe and finished aa hia latent.
Though of Polish descent, he cannot be reckoned an a Polish composer. His works are German or French in style and in the spirit of Mendelssohn and Schumann, though marked by the ele gance of style that characterises the land of his adoption. Curi ously enough, two well-known writers on musical subjects referred to Moszkowsky respectively as "a salon composer of the Romantic School" and as "classicist among aalon composers/' His piano pieces for four hands are unrivalled in excellence,
Personally he was a gentle, cheerful man, with a keen sense of humor, who was excellent company. Once, writing to a friend, he said: "In addition to my extensive musical acquirements, I can play billiards, chess, dominoes and violin, and can ride, imitate canary birds and relate jokes in the Saxon dialect/' He further-
Composers 45
more added that he was "a very tidy, amiable man," which mot summed up as well as any description could, not only the man but his musical compositions as well.
Moritz Mosxkowsky died in Paris on March 2, 1925, surrounded
by friends and admirers,
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
THE Mendelssohn family traces its origin from a poor Jewish schoolmaster of Dresden named Mendel. On the sixth of September, 1729, the wife of this man gave birth to a son who was called Moses,
In later life he was known in Dresden as Moses, the Son of Mendel (Moses Men delssohn), This Moses later became one of Germany's greatest philosophers, and it was he who was immortalized in Les- sing's famous drama — "Nathan the Wise/'
In 1768 Moses married a girl of his own faith named Fromme Guggenheim, daughter of a humble merchant. They had three sons, Joseph, Abraham and Nathan, and three daughters, Dorothy, Henrietta and Recha. The second son, Abraham, and his wife, Leah Solomon, a lady of considerable property and ac complishments, whom he married on December 26, 1804, were the parents of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
Leah's older brother had long been a Christian. In accordance with German custom he had to assume on his admission into the Lutheran community the surname of Bartholdy in addition to his own. By his advice, Abraham decided to have his children bap tized in accordance with the Lutheran formula, and educated as Protestant Christians. , He seems to have adopted this course in the full conviction that he was doing the right thing for his chil dren, though he had not at first the courage to take the same step himself. However, after a period of irresolution, he also presented himself and his wife for baptism at Frankfort. She took the Chris tian names of Felicia Paulina, and the whole family assumed the double name,, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born in Hamburg on Feb ruary 8, 1809. When the boy was four years old his parents moved to Berlin, His teachers in piano and composition were Louis Ber- ger and Celter (a friend of Goethe) ; his violin teacher was Ken ning, The famous philologist, Paul Heyse, was the family's tutor.
46 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
The culture, taste and hospitality of the Mendelssohns made their home an artistic centre of Berlin.
At the age of nine Felix gave his first public concert, and at ten entered the Berlin Sing-Akademie. Two years later Zelter introduced the boy to Goethe, who showed much interest in the boy's genius. By that time no one any longer doubted Felix's tal ents, excepting perhaps his careful father. The latter did not allow his son to devote himself to his passionately loved music, when the great Paris musical powers, with Cherubim at the h<md, unconditionally recognized his talent Even then it was only on condition that the boy continue his general education, lie was graduated from High School and for two years attended the lec tures at the Berlin University.
At the age of sixteen, he wrote his famous Octet, and at the age of seventeen his overture to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This latter composition occupies to this day a unique place in the world's music literature. It indicates a genius already mature. In this work the orchestra achieves great expressiveness and exceptional brightness of color.
The characteristic spirit of Mendelssohn's work, its fairy-tale character, its limpid beauty, was the greatest triumph of the Ro mantic School. Early in 1829 Mendelssohn did music a great service by performing in Berlin Bach's "Saint Matthew's Passion," a work that had remained in oblivion for seventy years. Soon afterwards he went to London, where he was introduced by Mosch- eles to the Philharmonic Society and started preparations for the presentation of his "Midsummer Night's Dream/' The premiere took place on May 18, 1829. Its success was colossal KB second presentation on July 13 of the same year was a triumph for the composer.
Marchesi, the famous singer, in her memoirs says: "London worshipped Mendelssohn and his 'songs without words/ his 'Wai- purgis Night' music, his 'Elijah' and 'St, Paul,' and his 'Midsum mer Night's Dream.' When Judah spoke through the lips of Men delssohn, he spoke with a heavenly voice, that still enchants the world by its sweetness and expressiveness."
One year later in 1830, Mendelssohn went to Italy via Munich, After a visit to Naples he returned home, where he played at court his Piano Concerto in B minor, and where he was commissioned to write an opera for the city of Munich.
After his brilliant presentation at Dusseldorff of Handel's "Israel in Egypt," Mendelssohn was offered the post of conductor at that theater, which he accepted and held for three years. In the Spring of 1835 he conducted the Musical Festival at Koln, and then left for Leipzig, where he was invited to conduct the Gewand- haus concerts. Thanks to his genius and his charming personality.
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Mendelssohn soon became the center of Leipzig's musical life. In 1843 he founded, under the protection of the King of Saxony, the
Leipzig conservatory, which was des- t i
tined to become famous in the annals of music.
On March 28, 1837, he married Ce cilia Jorneau, the daughter of a Ham burg minister, a charming and kindly woman. In this marriage Mendelssohn found his life's happiness.
An invitation from the Prussian King, Friederich the Fourth, to come to Berlin was not accepted, and even his appointment to the post of General Music Director did not entice him, for he did not like this city, where he felt his music had not been properly received. At a farewell audience, the king remarked that he could not force Men delssohn to remain in Berlin, but that he was much hurt by his refusal to stay. Not only Prussia, but Switzerland, England and other countries invited the composer to come and lead music fes tivals.
Mendelssohn was an innovator in the most diverse branches of his art. As a composer, virtuoso and man, he won for himself the love and admiration of the whole world. Unfortunately, he, like Weber, Schubert, Mozart and Bizet, died in the heyday of his creative life. This genius, who occupies so unique a place in the world's esteem, owes his greatness not only to the heavens' grace, but to having sprung from a family distinguished for its spiritual aristocracy.
This immortal composer has again proved by his numerous works how greatly the Jewish race is gifted with musical genius.
His works to this day rank high in almost all the diverse branches of music. He wrote many concert overtures^ sympho nies, concertos for piano and violin, and chamber music; duets, trios, quartets, octets ; salon pieces for piano, among which are his famous "Songs Without Words"; works for the organ and for male voices, and the unfinished opera "Lorelei"; the oratorios "St. Paul" and "Elijah"; motets, cantatas, hymns, etc.
Mendelssohn' was the creator of the Concert Overture in its present-day, independent and finished orchestral form, of which his "Hebrides," "Melusina" and similar works are examples.
The death of his dearly beloved sister, Fanny, who was a kin dred spirit, on May 18, 1847, was an insupportable calamity in the life of the young musician. Whoever has heard his Quartet in F minor, written during the Summer of 1847, will understand how
48 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
deeply he suffered from that time till his death. He began to avoid society more and more, and became more and more enervated and irritable. His lively walk turned into a slovenly gait. On Octo ber 28 1847, Mendelssohn suffered a stroke, and on November 4 of the same year, he died. Three days later he was buried. His teachers, Moscheles, David, Hauptman and Gade, were the pall bearers.
The compositions Mendelssohn left are too numerous to find a detailed listing in so limited a volume as this. To form a concep tion of how great Mendelssohn's genius really was, it is enough to remember that his oratorio "Elijah" ranks with the giant Han del's best, and is being performed to this day more often than any other composition of its kind.
ARNOLD MENDELSSOHN
THE MENDELIAN theory of hereditary influences finds ample sup port in the life and work of Arnold Mendelssohn (son of a cousin of the famous Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and member of the rich German family of Mendelssohn).
Born in Ratibor, Germany, on December 26, 1855, Arnold was educated first for the bar, but eventually turned to music, and became organist and music teacher at Bonn University during 1880-83, His first musical studies were pursued under Haupt, with whom he studied the organ, and continued under Grell, Wilsing, Kiel, Taubert and Loeschhorn. In 1885 he became teacher at the Cologne Conservatory, and in 1890 church choir-master in Darm stadt, where in 1899 he received the degree of Grand Ducal Pro fessor.
In 1917 the University of Heidelberg bestowed on the composer an honorary Ph.D. Degree. In 1919 he was elected a member of the Berlin Academy of Art. Among his works are three operas, three sacred concertos, and many choral works and cantatas.
He wrote also a symphony in E flat major, opus 85; a violin concerto, piano sonatas, opus 21 and 66; String Quartets, opus 67 and 83 ; a very well known 'cello sonata, opus 70 ; a violin sonata, opus 71 ; a trio for two violins and piano ; and a "Modern Suite," for piano, opus 77.
Arnold Mendelssohn's works are distinguished by delicate feel ing and perfection of form, which mark him a composer of late romantic tendencies.
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DARIUS MILHAUD
DARIUS MILHAUD is another outstanding figure in the much-spoken- of Parisian "Groupe des Six." He is one of the fiery and brilliant apostles of today's revolutionary musical work. The influence
exercised on him by the aesthetic theories of the poet, Jean Cocteau, should not de ceive us as to the real nature of his in spiration, for in spite of his modernistic exterior, he is in fact a follower of the romantic tradition. His music often expresses a serious and religious feeling, which is likewise found in another, more famous modernist, Honegger, but which is entirely foreign to the preoccu pations of the other members of the group.
Darius Milhaud was born in Aix-en- Provence on September 4, 1892. Al though of a Jewish Provencal family, he received his musical education in the capital, at the Paris Con servatoire, where he studied from 1910 to 1919. There his teacher in composition and fugue was Gedalge, and in the other branches of music Widor, D'Indy, and Leroux.
Milhaud is one of the most interesting and gifted musicians of the young French modern school. His extraordinary creative energy manifested itself at an early age. He could not, of course, escape the influence of Debussy, Stravinsky, Schonberg and Bela Bartok. His "P'olytonal" works have caused many a storm among the conservatives.
Although he is still in his middle thirties, Milhaud's work al ready includes several lyrical dramas and symphonic works, ^five quartets, pieces for violin and for piano, songs and compositions for wind instruments. We must mention especially, his "Eum- enido," "Prote," and the "Poemes Juives." Some of Milhaud's work shows signs conflict and indecision, while others preserve those qualities of vigor and spontaneity, which, after all, give the real value to his best compositions.
Early in 1923, Milhaud visited the United States, on which occa sion the City Symphony Orchestra under Dirk Foch of New York performed two of his works, a "Symphonic Poem for Orchestra" (conducted by the composer) , and a "Ballade for piano and orches tra," in which the composer played the piano solo. 1 As leading 'cellist of that orchestra, the author of this book
50 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
has had the opportunity to play and study Milhaud's works, which are among the most interesting music we have heard from this composer. It is music completely of the present age, or the more superficial side of it; music of intensely nervous quality, ironic, and of a driving energy — music that arrests the attention, and yet is barren of results. It is all nerves and mechanism, but no heart. The writing is extraordinarily accurate, and the effect is brilliant if nothing more.
On March 1, 1926, the International Referendum Orchestra gave a performance of Milhaud's Sixth Symphony at Chickering Hall, New York. This work, which is still in manuscript, is scored for vocal mixed quartet, oboe and 'cello. It is the last of a set of symphonies utilizing voices and various combinations of instru ments. It was written by Milhaud after his recent visit to the United States, and in its three movements are reflected his impres sions of the American scene. The voices are treated contrapun- tally. His "Hebrew Folk Songs" were also performed then.
LOUIS LEWANDOWSKI
Louis LEWANDOWSKI represents a phenomenon in the field of synagogical singing. In 1871 he published his famous Kol Rinnoh Utfilloh, a collection of solos, part-choruses for small synagogues,
and recitations for cantors. In these works Lewandowski achieved brilliant results by retaining the ancient motives, and ennobling them through his splendid harmonization, whereas previous to his day these chants, passing from mouth to mouth, were subjected to many corrup tions. Encouraged by the success of these works, he published four years later a large volume of Sabbath chants for four voices, named Todah Wesimroh. To this period belong also his arrangements of synagogal chants for the Nuremberg and Stettin congregations, and a num ber of liturgical psalms with German text.
Lewandowski was born on April 3, 1821, in Wreschen. He studied in Berlin, first under A. Marx and later under Runhen- hagen and Grell. He was the first Jew who had the good fortune to be a pupil at the Berlin Academy of Arts. For a round half- century he directed a synagogue choir until the day of his dearth on December 27, 1890.
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51
JACQUES OFFENBACH
THE historico-cultural significance of music never appeared so clearly as in the comic operas and operettas of Jacques Offenbach, favorite composer of the French Revolution and musical illustrator
of the demoralization and degeneration of that period.
Son of a Jewish cantor in Koln, Offen bach for many years bore the honest name of Jacob, until he found it neces sary to change it in Paris to Jacques. His father, Judah Offenbach (his full name was Judah Eberst) , had a beautiful voice, and was the Chazan (cantor) of the orthodox synagogue. He who had published in 1839 a Jewish prayer book, never dreamed that his son would stray so far from the righteous path of his forefathers and would not only forsake ___ their religion, but would also compose melodies which were open mockeries and burlesques of traditional synagogical chants.
Whoever wished to become acquainted with French morals of the time of Napoleon III would necessarily have to take into ac count Offenbachiana, as this musical buffoonery, brimming over with melodious jollity and super-refined caricature, is the very ex pression of the society of Paris in the mid-nineteenth century.
Jacques Offenbach was born June 21, 1819, and received his musical education in Paris. His fine 'cello playing at the local con servatory attracted attention, but his first attempts to appear as 'cellist virtuoso were unsuccessful. He did, however, secure a post as 'cellist in the orchestra of the Queen's Opera. But this could not satisfy him for long. In 1847 he secured for the first time the position of conductor at the Theatre Francaise. His cherished dream was to compose for the theatre, and his first success on the stage was his "Chanson de Fortunio."
In 1872 he became entrepeneur of his own troupe. He under took .a tour of the United States, but was unsuccessful and had to return to Paris.
Offenbach, representative of the Bouffe Parisienne, created by his works a whole school of music. Many composers of operettas owe a great debt to "Beautiful Helen'' and "Orpheus in Hades," but none of them so far have succeeded in approaching him. Had Offenbach been a poet he would have been a parodist. As it was,
52 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
he created that form of music which we call "Burlesque Opera" or "Opera-Comique." Not unjustly did Kossini refer to him as the "Mozart of Paris."
As a man Offenbach was kind and genial. He exhibited at times the weakness of a child as well as a childish naivete and good ness. He was witty, talkative, jolly and happy-go-lucky, using his powers of sarcasm only when irritated. Of Wagner, for example, who visited him, he spoke angrily, assuring everyone that Wagner would have been the greatest composer, if he had no predecessors in Mozart, Gluck, Weber, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, and that his melodies would have astounded by their originality if there had not existed previously Harrold, Halevy, Auber and Bouldien. Wagner's genius would then have stood beyond the pale of com parison had he not as contemporaries Rossini and Meyerbeer.
Offenbach had only one weakness, and that was vanity. No praise or compliments for his work ever appeared to him exag gerated.
Someone once asked him: "Were you born in Bonn?" "No," he answered, "Beethoven was born there, but I was born in Koln."
Although Offenbach wrote 102 works for the stage, all of them possessing that seductive grace which belongs to the best examples of French comic operas, Offenbach's fame and universal popularity were created mainly by his "Orpheus in Hades/' "Beautiful Helen," "Paris Life," "Genevieve," "Blue Beard," and his "Tales of Hoff man," which was his last work. To the "Tales" he gave the best and deepest that was in him. This work shows traces of the talent which Offenbach had, prior to his Parisian demoralization, when his light-hearted muse still retained some modesty and virginity. His popular success was due in part to his librettists, Milliac, Hal evy, Blum, Cremier and others.
A long and painful malady put an end to Offenbach's life on his sixty-first year, October 5, 1880. The funeral of the king of light opera was unusually impressive. All of Paris was to be seen following the bier; aside from singers, actors, musicians, scien tists and litterati, there was also many soldiers and statesmen
even the President of the Republique, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs sending representatives.
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GIAGOMO MEYERBEER
"THERE is Meyerbeer, the creator of cyclopean melodies!", Liszt once exclaimed. His bold operatic pictures undoubtedly stimulated Wagner for the great work he was to do. Although Wagner pro claimed that he had no use for Jews, yet he frequently accepted aid from Meyer beer, the son of a rich Jewish banker. The Wagnerians cannot, on general prin ciples, forgive Meyerbeer for the fact that notwithstanding systematic hound ing by Wagner and his henchmen, the genius of Meyerbeer won for him a last ing place in the operatic repertoires, not only of Germany and France, but of the whole civilized world. His operas "Le Prophete," "Les Huguenots/' "L'Afri- caine," "Robert le Diable," "Dinorah," and others, will forever remain the de light of the world's lovers of grand opera. It was against Meyerbeer that Wagner's pamphlet, "Judaism in Music/' was mainly directed. It is true that Meyerbeer was born a Jew and remained one, not finding it necessary, as did many other famous composers, to wash off in baptism the "shame" of his ancestry. Wagner's attack is a monstrous absurdity; it was Meyerbeer, above all, who knew how to make use of all that was beautiful in music, no matter where he found it. Wagner's accu sation that Meyerbeer drew from the works of others, could well be directed against a good many composers, including Wagner himself. In his "Rienzi" and other operas, did he not make good use of the efforts of his predecessors? As to "The Huguenots," there is a famous bon-mot of Heine's, that in that opera the Cath olics are killing the Protestants to musical strains written by a Jew. With the exception of Mozart and Weber, there is not a German composer whose influence has so powerfully affected the Spanish, Italian, French and other theatres as did that of Meyerbeer, the great musical cosmopolitan. His melodies became the common heritage of all peoples.
Meyerbee^ whose 'real name was Jacob Liebman Beer, was born on September 5, 1791, in a covered wagon on the way to Frankf ort- am-Oder, where the Beers were traveling to the fair. He later changed his name when his grandfather promised to leave him his fortune on condition that he pref ex "Meyer" to his patrouym. He was the son of a rich banker, Jacob Herz Beer, and his wife Amalia. His first teachers were Mendelssohn and Zelter. Later he studied
54 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
with Weber, Abbt, Vogler and others. At the age of seven, he played splendidly on the piano ; and to all appearances, should have been a great pianist, but his creative genius developed early and
eclipsed his virtuosity. By the age of twelve, he had already written several songs, and by twenty, he wrote the can tata, "God and Nature," first presented on May 8, 1811, with much success, in the Berlin Singing Academy. Within the next year came his first dramatic work, "The Daughter of Ephaia," and the operetta, "The Fisherman and the Milkmaid."
His first operatic triumph was "Ali- melech," performed in Stuttgart. Weber himself spoke highly of this work. In Vienna, where the young composer went in October, 1814, to stage "Alimelech," he met Beethoven. Meyerbeer reached his heights when he wrote his opera, "The Crusaders in Egypt," presented for the first time in 1825 in Venice. This opera made the rounds of Europe and was even played in Rio de Janeiro, being everywhere a popular success. In Paris Meyerbeer found his ideal librettist, Eugene Scribe, who had almost exclusively the gift of creating romantic, histori cal and demonical librettos. It was he who wrote the libretto of "Robert le Diable," whose premiere took place in the Paris Grand Opera, and whose triumphal march over the operatic boards of the world continues to this day.
After completing this opera, Meyerbeer rested for five years, writing only smaller pieces. In February, 1836, the long-awaited "Les Huguenots" was given in Paris. It is hard to imagine what a deep impression this opera made at its premiere. In this opera are united poetry, drama, and painting. Heine wrote on that occasion in the Augsburg newspaper the following lines : "Meyer beer is undoubtedly the greatest of the living masters of counter point He is the greatest painter in music." "The Huguenots" was received with similar enthusiasm in Germany.
The Berlin Academy elected Meyerbeer a member, and King Frederich Wilhelm IV appointed him general music director of Prussia. The composer, however, generously refused to accept the 3000 marks annual salary, turning it over to the orchestra.
December 7, 1844, saw the opening of the new building of the Berlin Opera. The occasion was celebrated by a presentation of Meyerbeer's pompous work "A Camp in Schleswig," which was metamorphosed into the opera "The North Star." The principal
Composers 55
role of this opera, that of Vielki, was written for the "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind. When in 1840, Meyerbeer went to Vienna, Jenny Lind and he repeated their triumph.
Some of the letters written from that city to a friend are quite humorous : "My stay in Vienna was somewhat in the nature of being in golden fetters. It is as though I am condemned to £sit.' I sit at the piano, at the score; in the morning I sit at the table, in the evening I sit in the lodge, and during the day I have to sit for twenty-four lithographers, three dozen etchers, sixteen carvers in wood, ten acquarellists, and four miniaturists. . . . Too much incense of immortality for one time. This in itself is enough to break down any man, be he of the stoutest health. . . ."
During the same year Meyerbeer gave the world one of the gems of genius — "Struensee," which he dedicated to the memory of his brother, Michael Beer. A year later, on April 16, 1849, his third great opera, "Le Prophete," was given in the Paris Grand Opera House. Neither the revolution, nor even the plague of cholera could lessen the tremendous success of this work. This time, as always, Meyerbeer's triumph was followed by interest on the part of the Napoleon governments. The President of the Re public appointed him Chevalier of Honor, and the lena Uni versity awarded him the honorable title of Doctor of Music.
Meyerbeer was very superstitious. Vanity was strange to his frank and modest nature, but in one instance he showed a sur prising weakness : when on certain occasions he had to wear the uniform of a member of the Academy of Arts, he wore his sabre with as much swagger and pomp as if in it were sheathed the very genius of music.
He had one other weakness on the score of his ability as ac companist. He used to say : "I do not know whether I am a good composer, but I do know that I am a great accompanist." Never theless, not one singer who played with him was inclined to dis agree with him.
On April 4, 1859, his opera "Dinorah" was presented, but "L'Af ricaine" had to wait until 1865, almost a year after his death, when it was performed in Paris. This grand swan song assures Meyerbeer of immortality, even if no other work of his should remain. .
Death's shadow descended over the great composer and genial soul on May 2, 1864. He died in Paris in the house which is now known as the "Hotel Meyerbeer" on the Champs Elysees. His remains were afterwards taken to Berlin for entombment in the family vault.
56 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
IGNATZ MOSGHELES
IGNATZ MOSCHELES has the distinction not only of composing fine scores which are still in modern repertoires, but of having been the first Jew to make himself acceptable in the artistic and critical
circles of London. That Mendelssohn founded the Leipzig conservatory is known to everyone, but a great deal of the honor is due to Moscheles.
Moscheles was practically unequalled in his day for his piano technique. For many years he gave concerts all over the Continent, and was enthusiastically re ceived, not only because of the brilliance of his playing but because of its artistic and deeply-felt interpretation of the great classical works. All the great mu sicians and critics of the day spoke with enthusiasm of Moscheles' playing of Hay dn, Mozart and Beethoven. Beethoven himself often mentioned him as one of the greatest of his inter preters. Robert Schumann, who heard him for the first time in 1819 in Karlsbad, was deeply impressed and undoubtedly influenced by him. Here is what he wrote to his older colleague, Moscheles, on November 20, 1851, when the latter dedicated his sonata for piano and 'cello to him: "Could I dream thirty years ago, when in Karls bad and being entirely unknown to you (I have preserved as a treasure an announcement of that concert) , that I would some day deserve such flattering attention on the part of a famous virtuoso, dedicating to me such a work of genius. Accept my heartfelt gratitude."
As to Moscheles' activities and abilities as teacher, the fact that he was the teacher and musical guide of Mendelssohn speaks vol umes. Of exceptional value were his activities as instructor at the conservatory, where he had large classes, many of his graduates later becoming famous musicians. His friends and colleagues sin cerely admired him, and as a composer, Moscheles created for him self an honorable place in music. His G minor sonata for piano and 'cello, as well as his piano concerto "Au Pathetique" belong among the best classic works. But it was as a man even more than as an artist that Moscheles was most admired by all who knew him. His editions and arrangements of the great German classics for the English speaking countries have proved a valuable contribution. Moscheles was born in Prague on May 30, 1794. There he be-
Composers 57
gan his musical studies, under the guidance of Friedrich Dionistus Weber, and later studied in Vienna under Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Moscheles kept up an intimate friendship with dementi and Beethoven. In 1849 Moscheles arranged for the piano under Beethoven's guidance, a fragment from the latter's opera "Fidelio." In 1825 Moscheles came to London, young and ardent, with con certos and sonatas of such quality under his arm, that the world turned to examine them, and the composers too. Soon after his arrival in that city, we find him succeeding Sir Henry Bishop as conductor of the London Philharmonic Society.
Moscheles is also known as a writer of great ability and excel lent style. In 1841 he translated into English and published Shind- ler's biography of Beethoven.
He died on March 10, 1870, in Leipzig.
SIEGFRIED OCRS
SIEGFRIED OCHS, one of the most gifted composers and choral con ductors of our time, was born on April 19, 1859, in Frankfort-am- Main. Upon graduation from High School he began teaching chem istry, first in the Politechnique at Darm stadt, and later at Heidelberg University. But his passionate love for music was little satisfied by his playing the tympani in the local orchestra.
At the age of twenty-three, he entered the Berlin Royal High School of music, where he studied under Ernest Rudorg, Schulz, Kiel and Urban. Ochs was found er and conductor of the Philharmonic Choral Society in Berlin, which he brought into quite extraordinary promi nence. Unfortunately, he had to dissolve it in the Summer of 1920 owing to un favorable conditions. He is now conduct ing the choral class of the Berlin High School of Music. Of special interest are his efforts to introduce British and American music in Berlin.
Ochs's first compositions include a set of variations and paro dies on the theme, "Kommt ein Vogel Geflogen." He became noted for his fine songs, duets, piano pieces for four hands, canons, and also for his text and music "In the Name of the Law/' which was produced in Hamburg in 1888 with considerable success.
58 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
'
AN EXCEPTIONAL composer is Moses Michail Milner, the young Russian who is being compared, for the vividness and melo diousness and realism of his style, with Modest Moussorgsky.
Contrary to Kreyn and Gniessin, he did not have to start in search of forgotten paths of his people. A son of his people who never lost contact with them, he is brimful of Jewish folk-music and folk lore. He has an intense feeling, which shows in the originality, the tender lyric ism, the scenes full of humor, and the powerful and expressive choruses of his works. Aside from a considerable num ber of small pieces, which have already won great popularity, he has written the opera "Ashmodai," and "The Heavens Are Aflame" — the first purely Jewish work in operatic form. During the past few years Milner wrote among other things : "Symphonic Suite/7 and "Symphony on Hebrew themes" for or chestra, as well as many songs.
Milner has undoubtedly been influenced by Moussorgsky, for he has an undeniable kinship with him.
JEAN PAUL POLDOWSKI
LADY JEAN PAUL, youngest daughter of Henry Wieniaski, the cele brated violinist, has assumed this misleading nom-de-plume in her brilliant career as composer. Born in Brussels, her musical edu cation, from the age of seven till twelve, began in the "Cours" of Miss Ellis. Continuing at the Conservatoire, she won the first prize in preparation and solfeggio. At this institution she studied the piano under Professor Stork, and composition under Gevaert. Coming to England, she continued composition under Percy Pitt, and piano under Professor Michael Hambourg. After her mar riage to Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, she went to Paris to study under Andre Gedalge, but was tragically interrupted by the death of her first child. When she returned to Paris, she resumed her music under Vincent dlndy at the Schola Cantorum.
The earliest compositions of Poldowski were piano pieces writ ten at the age of five— -followed within four years by an "Oriental Suite/' the manuscript of which is lost.
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Poldowski is one of the unusual artists whose aesthetic evolution has sensitively followed the natural tendencies of her sex, rather than being influenced by the desire to emulate the masculine which so often renders feminine art abortive. Hence, her originality of conception and expression, her naturally modern taste in form, thematic material and particularly harmonic substance, reveal an innate inclination for freedom, but are never merely icono clastic. In a musical sense, almost a daughter of Debussy, she shares this composer's fastidious delicacy of taste. Always in her music she makes the aristocratic gesture.
The key to Poldowski's music is her intense humanity, none the less profound because it does not find it necessary to express itself in heavy pretentiousness. Her humanity carries her to the heights as well as to the depths of comprehending expression.
Among the works of Poldowski are "Pat Malone's Wakes/' for piano and orchestra, "Caledonian Market Suite" for piano, many songs, a violin and piano Sonata, "Suite Miniature de Chansons a Danser," for eight woodwind instruments, performed, with "Pat Malone's Wake," on various occasions, under Sir Henry Wood at Queen's Hall, together with three clarinet pieces, a symphonic drama, "Silence," a light opera, "Laughter," three songs with string quartet accompaniment — all as yet unpublished.
MAURICE RAVEL
To MAURICE RAVEL belongs priority among the composers of the French Modern School. Chabrier, Faure, and Satie exercised a greater influence in the formation of his genius than did Debussy.
Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, near the Spanish bor der, and was educated in Paris. In child hood he showed an extraordinary and peculiar sense of rhythm, as well as gen eral musical ability. At the Conserva toire he studied piano under the famous De Beriot, and under Pessard he studied harmony. His earlier works are the "Habanera" (1895) and the "Rhapsodie Espagnole." But his thirst for more advanced musical knowledge and partic ularly counterpoint necessitated further study, and he devoted himself to this study under Gedalge and Gabriel Faure. He resembles the latter in his ability to maintain a respect for classical formulae while adopting extreme harmony and rhythm.
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In the year 1901 Ravel won the second Prix de Rome for a can tata, "Myrrha," which he had treated in operetta style (a piece of irony which his judges failed to appreciate). In 1904 a quartet in F definitely brought Ravel to public notice. It is masterly in its combination of classical form with purely modern harmony; its emotion is delicate, and one melodic theme arises out of another without the slightest sense of mechanical effort. In the same year Ravel gained another success with his three melodies for voice and orchestra, "Scheherazade," a miracle of musical impressionism. The "Rhapsodie Espagnole" revealed his gift for local colour; he put the entire science of orchestration at the service of an inspi ration sometimes gay, sometimes homesick. His dainty "Haba nera" was later included in the "Rhapsodie Espagnole." "Ma Mere 1'Oye" (1908) is a collection of musical interpretations of fairy tales written first as pianoforte duets, and remodeled in 1919 for the Theatre des Arts. In this piquant fairy tale Maurice Ravel brings out with extraordinary brilliance the legendary and never- never character of the stories, which he took from Mother Goose. The orchestration is as delicate and diaphanous as Brussels lace. In the "Histoires Naturelles" (1907) he introduced a new humor ous style in which irony and lyrical feeling alternate and combine in the most unexpected fashion.
A still more perfect work of Ravel's, one which may be con sidered a chef d'oeuvre, is the famous choreographic ballet, "Daph- nis et Chloe," produced on March 8, 1921, by Diaghilef s Russian Ballet, directed by Fokine. The vigour of its rhythm, its beautiful melodies and the expressiveness of its harmonies gained over even the most prejudiced listeners.
His "Heure Espagnole" achieved a triumph in 1921 at the Mon- naie Theatre in Brussels, and in 1922 at the Opera in Paris. This opera has since entered the repertoires of the great operatic organ izations of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera House of New York, where its brilliant premiere in 1925 was a memorable event It is a work vibrant with life and emotion, tenderness and understanding of its theme.
In his "La Valse" (1922) and "Tombeau de Couperin" he proved his great mastery of the gentle art of instrumentation. He has a special affection for the woodwinds whose piquancy and" deli cacy no one knows so well how to utilize. In none of his works can Ravel be accused of striving for cheap effects, either in theme or in instrumentation. For transparency of tone, perfect balance, play fulness and delicious color-blendings, he has no equal. The list of his independent works and arrangements is too lengthy to be in cluded wholly in this volume. His outstanding works are :
"Menuet Antique," 1895; "Pavane pour une Infante defunte " 1899; "Jeux d'Eaux," 1901; "Miroirs," 1905; "Sonatina " 1905-
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"Gaspard de la Nuit," 1908; "Minuet on the name of Haydn/' 1909; "Valse Nobles et Sentimentales," 1911; "Ma Mere 1'Oye," Suite for violin and piano, 1908; "Tzigane," (first performance, London, April 27, 1924) ; "Scheherzade," 1903; "Histoires Na- turelles," 1906; "Sur 1'Herbe," 1907; "Vocalise en forme d'Ha- banera," 1907; Five Greek Folk Songs, 1907; Three poems, for pianoforte, string quartet, two flutes and two clarinets, 1913 ; "String quartet," 1902-3; "Sonata for 'cello and violin," 1922; "Introduction and Allegro" for harp, strings, flute and clarinet, 1906; "Rhapsodie Espagnole," 1907; "La Valse," 1922; "Daphnis et Chloe," a ballet, 1906, first performed in Paris in 1912 ; "1'Heure Espagnole," a musical comedy, 1907.
His newest opera, "L'Enfant et les Sortileges," was performed on February 26, 1926, at the Opera Comique in Paris.
In his search for new and delicate tone combinations Maurice Ravel in his new opera added to the conventional instruments a whip, a rattle, a xylophone, a slide flute, a curious piano with four stops called a "Lutheal," and a nutmeg grater. Full of daring inno vations in harmony and instrumentation, Ravel's score, notwith standing protests of the music critics, is held by many persons to add to his reputation as one of France's foremost composers. The book by Mme. Colette, whose animal stories have gained for her the title of the French Kipling, is worthy of the music. Fanciful and whimsical, the work is enjoying a popular success. Among the novelties are two fox-trots, danced by the Teapot and the Chi nese Teacup, with the regulation stopped trumpets and eccentric drum beats. They never fail to arouse enthusiasm. It is the first time the orchestra of the Opera Comique has played fox-trots.
It was at the request of Sergei Koussevitzky that Ravel scored the "Tableaux d'une Exposition" of Moussorgsky for the orches tra, as this work was originally written for the piano, and it may be added that it is due entirely to the great genius of the orches tration of Ravel that this work has taken on a new lease of life.
Keen interest is aroused by the visit which Ravel will make to the United States in 1928, to expound his own music. His first American appearance will be with the Boston Symphony on Janu ary 10, following which he will come to New York to give the American premiere of his new sonata for violin and piano. The organization Pro-Musica, is primarily responsible for his visit to this country.
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SOLOMON ROSOVSKY
SOLOMON ROSOVSKY, the talented composer and director of the Jewish Conservatory at Tel Aviv, Palestine, the only existing Jew ish institution of its kind, belongs to that brave handful of ideal ists who worked valiantly, in spite of handicaps, for the advancement of Jew ish folk-music.
Rosovsky was born in Riga in 1878, and is the son of Baruch Leib Rosovsky, a well-known cantor of Riga's principal synagogue. After being graduated from the town's high school, he studied law at the University of Kiev. Here he had only a battered old piano to practice on, and the dreamy-eyed boy found not a single soul interested in his aspirations. His musical education really began after his graduation from the university, when he decided to let his law go by the board. Entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he studied composition with Liadoff, instrumentation with Rimsky-Korsakoff, and free composition with Vitol and Glazounoff, After finishing his studies in this institution, he accepted an invitation in 1911 to become musical editor of the St. Petersburg Djen. He served in that ca pacity for six years.
Toward the end of 1907, Rosovsky, together with several other idealistic friends, organized the renowned Society for Jewish Folk Music. These men, Nesvijesky (Abilea) the pianist, and Tomars the tenor, are responsible with Rosovsky for the vitality of this organization. Its object was the renaissance of Jewish folk music, and it suffered untold hardships during its early days because of the persistent persecution at the hands of the Russian Government, supported by time-serving journalists. Rosovsky was one of the most active fighters in its cause. Besides giving concerts in differ ent cities of Russia, he used his musical editorship of Djen as a means to fight the enemies of the movement. He also wrote in Noviy Woschod and Rasswet.
In 1918 he was invited to be musical producer of the Jewish Kammer Theatre, in St. Petersburg, for which theatre he also wrote music for different plays, among them "The Sinner/' by Ash; "Amnein," "Tomar," and "Uriel Acosta."
In 1919 he returned to Riga, his birthplace, and opened a Jew ish Conservatory on a large scale. It was the first time such a
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school, devoted to Jewish culture, was founded in Russia. He also organized branches of his society, whose progress the Revolution temporarily arrested.
Rosovsky is a very prolific composer. He has written both chamber, vocal and instrumental music. Some of his important works are two quintets for wood-winds; a "nigun on a sof" for orchestra; "Kaddish," "Kol Nidrei," and "Hatikvah" arranged for a capella ; a piano suite in three movements ; a trio for piano, violin and 'cello ; "Fantastic Dance," written on chassidic themes. The latter composition was later arranged for symphonic orchestration and successfully played by various orchestras.
The synagogue element is very strong in his work — a heritage of his father, who for forty-eight years was cantor of Riga's most notable synagogue. But Rosovsky, imbued with the teachings of his professors, gained from them a strong appreciation of folk-lore. He is at present working on an opera, and is active as pedagogue and composer. The musical renaissance in Palestine owes most to him.
SIGMUND ROMBERG
THE MUSIC of Sigmuncl Romberg exercises a spell that few can resist. He is the creator of innumerable melodies that have been sung, played and reproduced on phonographs and piano in homes, ball rooms, concert halls, and theatres. His most popular melody is perhaps "Auf Wiedersehen," originally sung in "The Blue Para dise/' which has netted him over $15,000 in royalties. Other song hits, which have brought him both profit and popularity, in clude "Sweetheart/' "My Senorita," "Dream Waltz/7 "Song of Love/' "Mother," "Omar Khayyam," and "Oh, Those Days."
At the present time, the name of Romberg is identified with "The Student Prince/' one of the outstanding successes of the atrical year of 1925-26. For this musical version of "Alt Heidel berg/' Romberg has supplied the complete score of twenty-three musical numbers. It is his masterpiece. Entirely free from the barbaric influence of jazz and from the lurid wail of the saxophone, this musical play revives pleasant memories of his two former suc cesses, "Maytime" and "Blossom Time."
During the same season Romberg was represented in five other musical productions — "Marjorie/' "Artists and Models/' "The Dream Girl," "The Passing Show," "Annie Dear," and "Louis XIV."
Sigmund Romberg never had to suffer financial hardships. Born about thirty-nine years ago, of Jewish parents, near Szeged,
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Hungary, his education was most liberal, including technical and academic training.
For three years he studied harmony and counterpoint privately under Victor Heuberger, a noted teacher of Vienna.
Although he studied engineering with the intention of becoming a bridge builder, he soon discovered that his forte was music. As an ardent amateur, he assiduously practiced musical composition before coming to America. The melodies of Strauss and Lehar enchanted him and gave him his first inspiration..
About thirteen years ago he reached New York with a letter of introduction from Franz Lehar to J. J. Shubert, the Broadway producer.
For a time the future composer was a pianist in the Cafe Boule vard on Second Avenue near Tenth Street, where Eric von Stro- heim, now a famous movie-director, worked as cashier. That was about twelve years ago. His opportunity came when Shubert com missioned him to write the music for a Winter Garden production "The Whirl of the World," presented in 1914. Romberg did a good job, and attracted the favorable attention of the music critics. Since then he has steadily progressed to his present position.
Like most Hungarians, Romberg is sentimental by nature. Two summers ago he visited his parents, residing in Crotia. But first he took a flying trip to Belgrade, where he assembled a thirty-six piece orchestra. Returning to his parents, he invited both to attend a concert given solely for themselves. After distributing the scores of his best musical compositions, Romberg mounted the platform and conducted a performance of all his works, himself acting as conductor. Whenever his aged parents applauded, he bowed his acknowledgments as if in the presence of a vast audience. "That was the greatest thrill of my life," he said.
Not all of us can appreciate the music of Wagner or Beethoven, for which a taste must be cultivated. But there is a kind of music to which we universally respond. Such is the music evolved by the masters of light opera. And in this field Sigmund Romberg is America's foremost representative.
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BERNARD ROGERS
BERNARD ROGERS, who belongs to the clique of young American modernists, was born in New York, on February 4, 1893, and re ceived his general education in the grade and high schools of New York and New Rochelle. He began the study of piano privately at the age of twelve. He left school when fifteen, and for a brief period studied architecture at Columbia University in the eve nings. About this time; Rogers began the study of theory -with Hans Van den Berg, with whom he remained for two years. He became a member of the staff of Musical America, in December, 1913. In 1916 he began the study of harmony and composition under Ernest Bloch and Rubin Goldmark. The same year he went to Amsterdam and spent a brief period in study there. Return ing to New York, he resumed his lessons with Bloch for two more years. In November, 1919, his "Dirge" was played by the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall, New York, and the following Spring the same work won the Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship. Mr. Rogers went to Paris during the Summer of 1920, and again visited Europe the following year. Returning to America, he studied com position with Percy Goetschius at the Institute of Musical Art in New York, and later went to the Cleveland Institute of Music for further study with Bloch. He returned to New York in March, 1923, and resumed his work on the staff of Musical America. His "Prelude" to "The Faithful," Masefield's tragedy, was played at the Metropolitan Opera House by the State Symphony under Josef Stransky on February 3, 1924. His compositions include a number of songs, works for chamber music ensemble, an aria, "Buona Notte," for tenor voice and orchestra ; a dramatic scene, "Aladdin," for tenor, bass solo and orchestra. On April 29, 1927, Bernard Roger's new symphony, "Adonais," had its first performance in Rochester, N. Y., at the Eastman Theatre's sixth American com posers' concert, being played before an enthusiastic audience.
"Adonais" was composed in 1925-26 in Kent, Scotland. It is based on poems of Shelley, "Prometheus Unbound" and "Adonais." The symphony is in two parts, the first in strict sonata form and of large dimensions, and the second quieter in character and with much scoring for strings woodwinds and harps.
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ANTON RUBINSTEIN
AMONG THE greatest composers and pianists of all time belongs Anton Rubinstein. In him the artist poignantly fulfilled the man. As a pianist, he was rivaled only by Liszt, and after Liszt's death,
by nobody." His head, with its brow of a thinker and a poet's melancholy eyes, was compared to Beethoven's. For many years Rubinstein was dictator in the realm of piano playing. He was consid ered the greatest interpreter, not only of his own works, but of the great classic masters as well. In 1841, when Liszt heard the playing of the twelve-year-old boy, he shouted with great enthusiasm: "This is the genius who is going to be my heir at the piano !"
Rubinstein was born in the village of Vikhvatinetz, on November 28, 1830. His mother, an accomplished pianist, gave him his first lessons. The first public concert of the "Wunderkind" took place when he was ten.
At that time there was only one city in Europe where world- fame could be gained, and that city was Paris. There Rubinstein created a sensation. It was also in that magic city that he met Liszt and Chopin. From that time on young Rubinstein's studies were guided by Liszt. It was by his advice that Rubinstein, to gether with his teacher, Villoing, went to Germany, giving concerts en route, in England, Holland, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries. In 1845 we see Rubinstein in Berlin, studying theory under Den, and composition under Marks, by the advice of Men delssohn and Meyerbeer, who were Madame Rubenstein's close friends.
When Rubinstein's father died in 1846, the boy with his mother, brother and sister, returned to Moscow. From that time on Anton had to look for himself, through a long period of dire want, bitter struggle and unremitting work.
Rubinstein's star shone bright when in 1848 he returned to St. Petersburg for here he found a patron in the person of Princess Elena Pavlovna. Thanks to her advice and aid, and to his own energetic activities, the Russian Music Society was founded by him in 1859, with himself at its head. He succeeded in attracting there as teachers such famous men as Leschetizk, Wieniawsky, Zaramba, Henrietta, Niessen-Solomon and others. Among his first pupils of
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the school were Tschaikowsky, Annette Essipova, Vera Timanova and others.
In 1862 a long-cherished dream of the composer came true: the first Russian Conservatory was founded in St. Petersburg, of which he was the first director, retaining this post until 1867. The found ing of the Music Society and the Conservatory would alone have assured Anton Rubinstein immortality in his own country, for whose music no one either before or after him has done so much. But Rubinstein was not content with a virtuoso's and director's laurels. He wanted to compose. His native vanity painted in his imagination great dreams. He wrote numberless compositions in imitation of Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn and even of Beethoven. But he was most active in the field of dramatic music, enriching the operatic repertoire with a succession of operas, including "Dmitry Donskoy," in three acts, and three one-act operas, "Khadjhi Abrek," "The Siberian Hunters," and "Tomka the Fool/' His greatest triumph he achieved in "Demon," "Feramors," "The Mac- cabeans," and "Nero."
Rubinstein the composer has the same characteristics as Rubin stein the virtuoso. He strives for what he considers the highest expression in music, and troubles little about purely aural effects. This does not prevent his work from possessing moments of tender lyricism and poetic grace.
Traces of his Jewish origin are seen in his "Maccabeans," given at the Berlin Royal Opera House in Berlin on April 15, 1878. In this opera the biblical spirit reigns supreme, especially towards the end. He endeavored to give it throughout an oriental character, and with this in view, he, like Meyerbeer and Halevy, drew upon the old Synagogal chants and melodies. His appreciation of the genius of his race is shown in his admiration for and interest in such subjects as were written about by Jewish poets, such as Julius Rodenberg, Rudolph Levenstein and Hermann Mosenthal.
Rubinstein also wrote the biblical opera, "Moses," in eight scenes, after Mosenthal's text; also "Hagar in the Desert," and the oratorios "The Tower of Babel," "Paradise Lost," and "Sulamith." In all these works is seen the composer's deep religious nature.
Rubinstein was as great a conductor as he was a pianist and composer. He was born to reign supreme over the orchestra as over the keyboards. He was a great favorite of the Czars Nicholas I, Alexander II, and Alexander III, from whom he received many civil honors.
His mother's maiden name was Levenstein. She was born in Prussian Silesia. Anton's grandfather, Ruvim Rubinstein, rented the lands in Berdichev from. Count RadziwiL He was honored by his co-religionists, and had the reputation of a pious Jew and. learned Talmudist. For some reason, however, he decided to con-
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vert himself and his whole family to Christianity. He received at the christening the surname Roman, and Anton's future father was christened Gregory. He was the owner of a pen and pencil factory which did not prosper.
Rubinstein's own point of view on the subject of nationality and racial affiliation is shown in a letter to a friend, which we quote in part: "In life a republican and radical, I am in art a conserva tive and despot; for the Jews I am a Christian, for the Christians a Jew; for the Russians a German, for the Germans a Russian; for the classicist a futurist, for the futurists a retrograde. From this I conclude that I am neither fish nor meat— a sorrowful individual, indeed!"
Rubinstein had among his friends in Berlin, Auerbach, Joachim and Henrich Herlich.
During his lifetime he received innumerable honors, among which were the Order of the Grand Cross of St. Stanislaus, which was awarded him after he was made an "Actual Consular of State" with the title of "Excellency." The whole musical world was deeply moved by the news of this honor, and inundated him with letters and telegrams of felicitation, for he was the first musician (and a Jew at that) to receive such distinction from Russian monarchs. Rubinstein 'himself was so deeply moved by these signal honors conferred upon him that he thought them incompatible with the exercise of his profession as a musician, that is, of playing before the public for money. Nor was the St. Petersburg University slow in recognizing his services and accomplishments, for it awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. Stipendiums for needy and deserving students were founded by this Conservatory in his honor. Friends ordered marble busts of him.
Rubinstein himself was anything but rich. He lived on the pen sion of 3,000 roubles which the Czar's government had allotted him in recognition of his services to the art of music in Russia, and for the innumerable concerts he had given for the benefit of Russian charitable societies. He was exceedingly generous with his money, giving it away freely for the upkeep of needy musicians, and for other charitable purposes. It was due to his aid that the monument to Glinka was erected in Smolensk, his native town. The remark able American tour (1872-73) netted him $40,000 for 215 concerts, and so popular did he become there that he was afterwards offered $125,000 for only 50 concerts, but could not overcome his dread of the voyage.
Leopold Auer, the famous violin teacher, in his book, My Long Life in Music, says of Rubinstein, who was his intimate friend and companion on concert tours: "The grandeur of style with which Rubinstein played, the beauty of tone, his softness of touch are indescribable. Whosoever of my readers was so fortunate as
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to have heard Anton Rubinstein will understand the astonishment and enthusiasm I felt. Very simple of manner, without affectation of importance, he was charming in his relations with all artists, and, indeed, with all whom he regarded as devoted to the true cause of music.
"Rubinstein died suddenly during the night in his villa at Peter- hof, of aneurism, on November 20, 1894. It is pleasant to think, however, that Rubinstein felt well on the last day of his life — a small measure of consolation for his irreparable loss. There had been company to dinner, a game of whist afterward, and everyone, guests and host, had parted at eleven o'clock in the very best of spirits ; by twelve Rubinstein had ceased to exist.
"His body was brought to St. Petersburg the following day on a catafalque, escorted by the professors and students of the conserva tory, to one of the big churches, where it was exposed in state for twenty-four hours, the casket guarded night and day by professors of the conservatory in deep mourning. Vassily Saf onoff, then quite a young professor, had come from Moscow as a member of the deputation sent by that conservatory, and he and Leopold Auer were a part of the guard of honor at the catafalque on this occasion. On the day of the burial the Nevsky Prospekt was barred to traffic, and thousands followed the flower-laden coach as it advanced slowly and solemnly to the Monastery graveyard, where Anton Rubinstein now lies in peace, not far from Tschaikowsky and Borodine."
Anton Rubinstein's most beautiful and enduring monument is of his own making, for the composer's generosity survived him. In his will he set aside a fund of 25,000 gold roubles for the award of the Rubinstein piano and composition prize. Competitions for young pianists and composers, according to this will, were to be held every five years, beginning 1890, in Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna and Berlin. The prize, now known as the "Rubinstein Prize/' is 5,000 francs.
Rubinstein was a tyrant where his plans were concerned. By his energy he succeeded in forcing the government to establish an opera house in the capital of each government, and a conservatory and music school in every large city. In these schools composition and theory are compulsory subjects, according to Rubinstein's orders, and no one can receive a music diploma without at least four years of elementary education in a gymnasium. This plan has been copied by the world's leading musical institutions, includ ing the famous Damrosch Conservatory in New York.
Among Rubinstein's famous pupils is Josef Hofmann, who came to him at St. Petersburg from Leipzig.
It was due largely to Rubinstein's efforts that Russia holds a place among musically enlightened countries of the world, inferior to none, and superior to most.
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GAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS embodies one of the many aspects of the French temperament — that in which the mind and intelligence supplant sentiment and even emotion, as in the case of a Voltaire
or a Rameau. That is, of course, as long as Saint-Saens remained the patriotic Frenchman — a patriot who could attack Wagner for no better reason than that he was German. But as soon as the same Saint-Saens dug down to the roots of his own being and for once forgot that he was above all a Frenchman, he succeeded in composing his one immortal work, a work written on a biblical theme, in which he freely employed the Hebrew scale. In his "Samson et Delila," not only one of the master's best operas (per haps even the very best) , but one of the finest dramatic works produced by any French composer during the last fifty years, Saint-Saens com pelled the admiration of musicians as well as of the general public, perhaps for the very reason that when he wrote it he did not at tempt to please either, but was content to follow ancestral inspira tion without "arriere pensees" of any sort.
The author is reminded in this connection of the significant words of one of our greatest living modern composers, Ernest Bloch, who said that he considers those of his own works which are most essentially Jewish to be the best. Bloch is far from admitting that to be Jewish one must make use of Jewish folk-themes. He merely points out that each man is the product, the sum total of all his ancestry.
Who will deny that the deepest fount of inspiration lies in inher ited racial characteristics and not in these ephemeral ones acquired, perhaps, in the course of one or two generations? Such men as Mahler and Saint-Saens, two composers of the greatest natural gifts, practically squandered their natural inheritance by trying to express themselves in idioms long outworn by their Aryan brethren. It is perhaps for this very reason that of all the works that Saint- Saens has ever written (and he has been one of the most prolific composers of our time; a man who delighted above all in the fluency of his pen), only this one biblical work, the one in which he ap peared as most unmistakably Hebrew, is bound to endure, whereas
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the great bulk of his work has already toppled over under the as sault of the mighty group of the rising modernists.
Music is in debt to the memory of his mother, who was of Jew ish origin, and of her aunt, Mme Masson, for the wise and unre mitting care which they devoted to the delicate infancy of the com poser — and for the extreme care with which they helped, but avoided forcing, the flowering of his genius.
The fragile baby, born at No. 3, rue du Jardinet, Paris, on the 9th of October, 1835, certainly embarked upon his long life under a severe handicap. Saint-Saens' father, with the scourge of con sumption already well advanced in his system at the time of his son's birth, died a couple of months later, on December 31, just a year after his marriage.
* His genius showed itself early in the boy's life. At the age of three, he was already showing that there was one thing for which he was designed by his Creator above everything else. His talents were nurtured carefully, private tutors were engaged, and when the boy was old enough he entered the Conservatoire, where he studied piano under Stamitz, theory with Maleden, organ with Benoist, and composition with Halevy and Heber. For a time he was also a private pupil of the great Gounod.
When he was but seventeen years old, he was named organist at the Church of St. Marie, and in 1858 was appointed to a similar post at the Madeleine, in succession to Lef ebure Wely. From 1858 on, Saint-Saens was pianist, organist, and touring conductor. At the age of sixteen, he composed a symphony.
There probably never existed another composer who was more prolific than Saint-Saens. A perfect master of his craft, he has contributed to every branch of his art. An eclectic in the high est sense of the word, he has attempted every style and form, dis seminating his works right and left with reckless prodigality.
The opinion of one artist concerning another is always interest ing. The following words of Hans von Bulow, written in 1858, will convey an idea of the esteem in which the great German pianist held his French colleague: ''There does not exist a monument of art of whatsoever country, school, or epoch, that Saint-Saens has not thoroughly studied."
Saint-Saens put his theory into practice with considerable suc cess in the four Symphonic poems entitled :
"Le Eouet d'Omphale"; "Danse Macabre"; "Phaeton"; and "La Jeunese d'Hercule."
Fundamentally different one from the other, each of these com positions comes into the category of descriptive music, and is in tended to illustrate a special subject. In the "Rouet d'Omphale," the composer employed the well-known classic tale of Hercules at
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the feet of Omphale as a pretext for illustrating the triumph of tenderness over strength.
No words can express the art with which the composer has developed his themes, or give an idea of the delicacy of his instru mentation, which, gossamer-like, seems to float in an atmosphere of melody. Perhaps the most characteristic of the four symphonic poems is the well-known "Danse Macabre." This work was sug gested by a poem of Henry Cazalis, the first verse of which runs thus:
"Zig et zig et zag,
la mort en cadence Frappant une tombe
avec son talon La mort a minuit joue
Un air de danse Zig et zig et zag
sur son violon."
The hour of midnight is heard to strike, and Death is supposed to perform a weird and ghastly dance, which grows wilder and wilder, until the cock crows; the excitement gradually subsides, and quiet reigns once more.
The method in which Saint-Saens has succeeded in musically depicting the above story Is intensely original and masterly.
A curious detail to be noted is the introduction, in a kind of burlesque manner of the "Dies Irae," transposed into the Major and converted into a waltz, to which the skeletons are supposed to dance. Strikingly original and ingenious is the effect of the solo- violin with its string tuned to E flat producing a diminished fifth on the open strings A and E flat, which being reiterated several times, conveys a peculiar sensation of weirdness.
Of his piano concertos, the second and fourth are the best known. It is curious to note that although principally known as a composer of opera, because of the great success of "Samson et Delila," Saint-Saens did not make his debut in this field until he had reached the age of thirty-seven, and then, only with a one-act opera-comique, entitled "La Princesse Jeune," which was produced in 1872.
The long, active, and productive life of Saint-Saens came to an end while on a visit to Algiers on December 16, 1922. Thus this man, who was born of a consumptive father, lived to be eighty- seven years of age, a period filled, it is true, with toil and occasional failures, but never with the heart-breaking privations which seem to be the accustomed lot of great artists. Work after work was brought out from his prolific pen to meet with the expected success.
The influences that created his style were complex. From his earliest youth he was an insatiable reader ; he had heard everything
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and could draw inspiration from a Berlioz or from a Liszt. He came tinder all the influences that acted so potently on the men of his generation, and yet was able to retain his own personality. His style, precise, nervous and clear-cut, is absolutely characteristic and also essentially French ; it recalls that of the eighteenth century French writers, particularly of Voltaire; nothing is superfluous, everything has its place. Order and clarity reign. Yet this com poser, although classic by temperament and choice, is no pedant; he is often cold and empty of sentiment, but he is never heavy or pretentious. In this respect he differs entirely from Brahms, with whom he is often compared.
When young,, he had an extraordinary gift of freshness and spontaneity, as is seen in his trio in F, opus 18. As he advanced in age his style gained in purity but lost in feeling; his last com positions are of a most chilling correctness. Moreover, Saint- Saens was always inclined to write with excessive facility. For this reason, of his enormous works, there survive today only a few gems of the first water — his symphonic poems, the Third Sym phony, and "Samson et Delila."
For the greater part of his life Saint-Saens showed a most subtle and intelligent appreciation of the compositions of others, never hesitating to throw down the gauntlet in defense of Liszt, Berlioz and Wagner. Toward the end of his life, however, he allowed himself to be dominated by his patriotic sentiments. Debussy fought against the influence of Wagner because he consid ered it detrimental to French art, but Saint-Saens attacked Wag ner merely because he was a German. The violent polemics, which he directed against Wagner did him much more harm in the eyes of the general public than did the bitterness with which he attacked young artists suspected of modern tendencies in music. These foibles, excusable if only on account of his age, must not be allowed to blind one to the fact that here was a great man who in his youth possessed a lucid and enthusiastic intelligence, a musician who, like his master Liszt, was always ready to sacrifice himself for fellow- musicians whom he admired.
It would be impossible to give in these brief pages a review of the numerous works that Saint-Saens poured forth in a continuous stream.
We have already spoken of some of his most important works. These included also his 'cello concertos and his violin concertos, which remain unrivaled in the repertoire of those instruments for the brilliance and elegance of their conception and construction. He has written chamber works, songs, choruses, church music, ora torios, "De Noel," opus 12 ; "Le Deluge," opus 45 ; "Psalm 150," etc.
In spite of the popularity of many of his compositions, "Samson et Delila" stands to this day as the real monument to this great
74 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
man and musician, a monument that will undoubtedly survive most of his other work, because in the author's opinion, it was in this great work that both the musician and the Jew realized themselves most poignantly.
Saint-Saens died in Algiers, December 16, 1922.
LAZARE SAMINSKY
AMONG THE young Russian-Jewish composers, perhaps the most widely known is Lazare Saminsky, not alone because of his many musical compositions, but because of the universality of his culture
and the breadth of his development. Saminsky is one of the ablest critics in the realm of special music. There is per haps no other man, except Julius Engel, who has a deeper insight into Jewish music than he. Saminsky is a welcome contributor to practically every musical magazine of note, in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Of an age with most of the outstanding modern musicians, Saminsky, due to his wide travels, inti mate with most of them, and his charac ter sketches as well as criticisms have a vividness and sparkle that no second hand knowledge can supply. Saminsky has contributed to Musical America, Musical Courier, Musical Quarterly, Chesterian, and Musical Standard of London, La Revue Musical, La Monde, Journal of the League of Compos ers; and the Russian magazines, Sovremyenik and Musika of Moscow.
Lazare Saminsky was born in Valle Gozulove, near Odessa, on December 27, 1883. He was graduated from the St. Petersburg University, specializing in mathematics, in 1906, when he entered Rimsky-KorsakofF s composition classes at the Conservatory. Later he continued his studies under Liadow and Tcherephine. In 1910 Saminsky conducted an overture of his own at the Petrograd Con servatory, and the same year also conducted HandePs oratorio "Jeptha," and Glinka's "Russian and Ludmilla." Later, at Moscow, he directed his own symphony "Vigilas" at one of Koussevit- zky's concerts. In February, 1917, he conducted his "Symphonie des Grandes Rivieres" at one of Siloti's concerts at the Imperial Opera House in St. Petersburg.
During the following year he became director of the People's
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Conservatory of Music in Tiflis, conducted historical concerts there, and traveled in the Caucasus, Syria, Turkey, Palestine and Egypt, doing research work in oriental music. In 1920 he gave a concert of his own works in London, conducted a ballet season at the Duke of York's Theatre, and gave lectures on Russian, Hebrew and ori ental music in London and Oxford. Saminsky came to America at the end of 1920, and in December of that year he conducted his "Vigilae" with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His "Four Sacred Songs" for chorus and orchestra were performed at a con cert of the Society of the Friends of Music in New York, February 5, 1922, under the composer's direction; and on March 3, the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed two excerpts from an early version of the music of his ballet, "The Lament of Rachel." He gave a concert of his works in Paris in the Summer of 1924.
In addition to the works mentioned above, Saminsky has com posed an opera, "Julian the Apostate"; two symphonies, an opera- ballet, "The Vision of Ariel"; music for Yevreynov's play, "The Merry Death" (given at the Duke of York's Theatre in London in 1920) ; besides this, choruses, violin and piano music.
Saminsky has also written several scientific works, mainly on the philosophy of mathematics, some of them published.
On March 18, 1923, the Philharmonic Society of New York, under the composer's direction, performed his "Symphony of the Summits," being the second part of a symphonic trilogy, the two others of which are "Symphonie des Grandes Rivieres" and "Symphonie des Mers." It was performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, under Mengelberg, on November 16, 1922, for the first time anywhere. This music of river, mountain and seas is said by the composer to embody a unified poetic conception. The music is neither descriptive nor illustrative, but an expression of moods and of emotional responses to a pantheistic view of nature.
The first symphony ("Of the Great Rivers"), writes Saminsky, "was composed in October-December, 1914, in Tiflis, capital of Transcaucasia where I then lived high up on the hills near the city with the wonderful panorama of the snow chain of Caucasian mountains spread out before me— especially gorgeous at sunset."
Saminsky's "Symphonie des Mers" was given its premiere in Paris in June, 1925, by the Colonne Orchestra. In February, 1925, the League of Composers in New York, of which Saminsky is one of the directors, presented his one-act opera "Gagliarda of a Merry Plague." Saminsky himself conducted an ensemble of seventeen instruments, a chorus, which both sang and spoke, and two soloists — a baritone and soprano.
But Saminsky has principally devoted himself to the study of Jewish folk-music, and was one of the first members of the Jewish
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Folk Music Society and for many years President of the Art Com mittee, which consisted of all the Jewish composers in Russia. Saminsky traveled through Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and France, and used this journey for studying and collecting religious melodies of the Yemenite Jews, the Turkish Sephardim, and of other ancient communities. He lectured in Jerusalem and Jaffa on Jewish folk-music, and since his stay in England has lectured at King's College, University College (under the auspices of the Mac- cabeans), and also at Oxford and Liverpool.
Saminsky's two ballets are "The Lament of Kachel" and "The Vision of Ariel" (an opera-ballet), already spoken of. The latter work has a narrative of his own taken from the Middle Ages, against a background from the book of Esther. "The Lament of Rachel" was first performed in its final version on June 16 and 22, 1923, in Paris, by the Colonne Orchestra at the Salle Gaveau, under Saminsky's direction.
In September, 1924, Saminsky became music director of the Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue, New York, one of the greatest congregations of the world, where he often conducts special He brew Music Programs, in which he includes works of such Jewish modernists as Ernest Bloch, Achron and others. He is also one of the founders and active members of the famous society for Hebrew Music in St. Petersburg, and was several times a member of the jury of the Section of American International Society for con temporary music. He is also the founder of the group "Music and the Bible," an honorary member of the Royal Academy in Florence, Italy — an honor given him for his services rendered in the cause of modern music.
Saminsky has conducted in practically all the great music centers on both hemispheres and has found enough time for numerous inde pendent compositions, some of which we have already mentioned. Aside from the incidental music to YevreynofFs play, he has also written as early as 1910, an opera, "The Emperor Julian," tone cycles — "Songs of My Youth" ; three Hebrew Song Cycles ; a He brew Rhapsody, for violin and piano ; "Rachelina," and interesting arrangements of an air of the Saloniki Jews, settings of Jewish folk songs; he is now preparing albums of the songs for the Far Eastern and Gregorian Jews.
Of particular interest are his songs, full of life, movement and color, of crystalline lyric quality, at once decorative and emotional.
Saminsky cannot be considered an exclusively Jewish national composer, although the influence of Jewish folk-lore begins to ap pear in much of his work, including his modernistic symphonies. Saminsky's work and research will greatly influence his Jewish contemporaries. He has been requested to furnish material col lected from the Gregorian Jews for use in works of specific Hebrew
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character. We may still expect a great deal from this young and gifted composer. After Kurt Schindler's resignation as music director of Temple Emanuel, in 1925, Saminsky became his suc cessor.
JACOB SGHAEFER
IN His youth a carpenter and cabinet maker, Jacob Schaefer rose to be what some "laborites" like to consider the representative of the new "proletarian music" in the United States. Born in the picturesque Ukrainian town of Kremenetz, province of Wolhyn, on October 13, 1888, of poor parents, little Jacob sang in the choir of the "Big Synagogue" on Saturdays and the chief holidays, and on week days served his apprenticeship in the cabinet-maker's shop.
In 1911 Schaefer eloped to Chicago with the daughter of a rich and aristocratic family. For a time he pursued his trade. Due to the insistence of his wife, who died shortly after their arrival in America, Schaefer began studying piano and composition, first under Epstein, then with Adolph Brune, Felix Borof sky and finally with Adolph Weidig of Chicago. The same year he organized and became conductor of the "Freiheit Gesangs Verein," a choral body composed entirely of shop-workers, which grew and prospered under his leadership and ultimately became the parent of a number of similar organizations in most of the principal towns in the United States.
Continuing his studies, Schaefer wrote a number of songs for mixed chorus, which have since become the standard numbers on all "Freiheit Gesangs Verein" concerts, and exceedingly popular with Jewish workers throughout the land.
Schaef er's most important works are his cantata for string or chestra, soprano and baritone solo, and mixed chorus, "The Two Brothers," to the text by Perez, and his "Messiah Ben Joseph," originally written as an opera and later revised as an oratorio for full orchestra, soprano solo, full chorus and children's chorus. "The Two Brothers" was performed first in Chicago, and later in Mecca Temple, New York, twice in succession, in the Winter of 1926, under Lazar Weiner. The second work was performed dur ing the same period, the composer himself conducting.
His latest work, "The Twelve" (on the text of Alexander Bloch) , for tenor, baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, was produced at the Madison Square Garden, New York, on April 2, 1927, by the "Frei heit" Gesangverein and New York Symphony Orchestra under the composer's baton.
78 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
ARNOLD SCHONBERG
A REVOLUTIONARY among revolutionaries, the most radical of all the twentieth century modernists, is Arnold Schonberg. Schonberg has been called a "musical anarchist," using the word in its orig inal meaning, "anarchos," without a head. Perhaps he is a super-human and the world does not know it. He is an autodidact. His mission is to free har mony from all rules. His knowledge must be enormous, for his scores are as logical as a highly wrought mosaic. Schonberg may be called the Max Stirner of music. Now let us see what the music of the new man is like. Certainly he is the hardest musical nut to crack of his generation, and the shell is very bitter in the mouth.
It must be borne in mind when judg ing his later works, that he is not by any means a composer incapable of writing music on traditional lines. Up till 1909 his work showed the strong tie that bound him to Wag- nerian methods of expression. The time is not yet when we can arrive at a considered judgment of him as a composer. There can be no doubt as to the power of his personality or the powerful in fluence of his music, his aesthetics and his teachings on contempor ary art.
Arnold Schonberg was born on September 13, 1874, in Vienna. He began, when quite young, to compose chamber music. At that time he studied the violin and 'cello. Later, when he began to study under his famous brother-in-law, Zemlinsky, Schonberg sprang suddenly into the limelight.
At the age of nineteen he made a wonderful piano arrangement of Zemlinsky's opera "Sarema," and wrote his string quartet in D minor, which was performed, with some alterations, in the follow ing season (1898-9) by the Fitzner Quartet. This work is at pres ent believed lost. Another string sextet — "Verklarte Nacht," opus 4, was composed in September, 1899. His gigantic Symphonia Chorus, "Gurrelieder," was written in 1900. It is a ballad cycle for five solos and three male choruses, for four voices, mixed chorus for eight voices, and full orchestra. This most extensive composition from Schonberg's pen is a powerful echo of the "Tris tan" harmony. It is, in comparison^ with the tormenting and self- judging post-Wagnerism which persisted up to the end of the last
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century, a gigantic work, but still the work of a decadent Wagner- ite. In spite of this, it is a work pointing to the future, a work rich in invention, of which some motives are second only to the eternal motifs in "Tristan and Isolde."
The "Gurrelieder" spread among the largest musical circles, was first to give irrefutable proof of Schonberg's great ability; but it is too much of the past and too little of the real Schonberg.
The first Vienna performance of this cycle was directed by Franz Schrecker, then conductor of the Philharmonic chorus.
Composition was interrupted in 1900 by the necessity of scoring operettas for a living. In 1901 Schonberg married Matilda Zem- linsky, sister of the well-known Alexander Zemlinsky (who was the only teacher Schonberg ever had) , and removed to Berlin, where he accepted a conductorship at the cabaret "Uberbrettl," a literary variety-theatre. After composing his symphonic poem, "Pelleas and Melisande," he returned to Vienna in 1903 and there began his career as teacher of theory and composition. His name was then known to a select circle of young musicians, and it was at that time that he formed a close friendship with Rose and Gustav Mahler, who were enthusiastic over his work and personality.
Those who have believed in Arnold Schonberg from the begin ning are few in number ; they are oppressed people who have had to suffer infinitely in mind and, almost without exception, mate rially also. Certainly not saints, they were but martyrs for a serious artistic idea, yearning souls who were in danger of being chilled by the littleness of their own selves and who were endeavoring to seek the warming sun of a greater one. It was owing to the disciple-like, fanatical activity of those few that Schonberg's early Vienna works were performed at last, albeit amid irritating scenes of cruelty and wide opposition, proving that no serious musician in the whole world dared to pass by the artistic apparition of Schonberg.
These people, through a misunderstanding or something which was cautiously groping its way out, carried away by their enthusi asm, regarded work which was still in the experimental stage as a complete fulfilment of their theories. The gradual development of the qualities which were characteristically Schonberg seemed to them to apply to all modern music. They are only now realizing that these qualities are an integral part of Schonberg and do not always apply to his colleagues.
In the years 1904 and 1905 Schonberg was occupied with a new string quartet in D, opus 7. At this time the first perform ance of "Pelleas and Melisande" was given by the Society of Creative Musicians in Vienna, Schonberg himself conducting. From 1905 till 1907 he wrote eight songs, opus 6, two ballads,
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opus 12, his Kammersinfonie in E, opus 9, which won the Mahler prize in composition, and the second string quartet, with voice, which had its first performance on December 1908 by the famous Rose Quartet in Vienna. What Schonberg wrote from that time on leaves tradition more and more behind and finally gives up altogether every relationship with it. The tradition and Schonberg creations, after the F minor Quartet, have in common only the physical phenomenon of tone. Traditional harmony, counterpoint, and form appear no longer in Schonberg's works after the year 1907.
His innovations, justified in his theory of harmony, are Will and not Chance, Whether this Will has the power to create a new musical world, whether Schonberg will some time be as famous as Orlandus Lassus or Joseph Haydn will be decided in the future, which will have gained the perspective which is necessary for every just artistic judgment.
The transition from the classical to the new period starts with his "Lieder," opus 15, written in 1907. The years 1907-10 were astoundingly productive, not only in music, for Schonberg inspired by the new movement in painting, began himself to paint. A collection of portraits and "Visions" dating from this period was exhibited in Vienna in 1910.
And now Schonberg embarks on the exploration of the uncer tain seas of atonality. The new musical style is fully expressed in the Three Piano Pieces, opus 11, the Five Orchestral Pieces, opus 16, the monodrama "Erwartung," opus 17, and a modern Form of solo cantata for the stage. The "Five Orchestral Pieces," composed in 1909 were performed for the first time on September 3, 1912, at a Queen's Hall Promenade concert in London, under the direction of Sir Henry Wood. In January, 1914, they were again produced at Queen's Hall, this time under the composer's direction. The program notes for this performance stated that the "Five Pieces" seek to express "all that dwells in us subconsciously like a dream; which is a great fluctuant power, and is built upon none of the lines that are familiar to us; which has rhythm, as the blood has its pulsating rhythm, as all life in us has its rhythm; which has a tonality, but only as the sea or the storm has its tonality ; which has harmonies, though we cannot grasp or analyze them, nor can we trace its themes .... All its technical craft is submerged, made one and indivisible with the content of the work/'
Schonberg, without doubt, knows his Freud thoroughly, and like many others was profoundly impressed by the revolutionary psychological theories of this countryman of his. Thus psychoan alysis brought forth its inevitable fruit in the realm of music as it did in drama and fiction.
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The score of the "Five Orchestral Pieces" calls for two piccolos, three oboes, English horn, four clarinets, bass clarinet, contra bass clarinet, three bassoons, contra-bassoon, six horns, three trumpets, four trombones, tuba, kettle drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, gong, xylophone, harp, celesta, and strings. As might have been expected, this work was jeered and hissed, and only a few chosen critics assumed a more or less tolerant attitude towards the work. The well-known English critic, Ernest Newman, was of the opinion that Schonberg' s music was "not that of a genius, but of a brain that has lost every vestige of the musical faculty it once had except the power to put notes together, without the smallest concern for whether they mean anything or not."
On November 29, 1925, this anarchistic piece was performed by the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch in Mecca Temple, New York, where it met the same fate as in London.
In the Autumn of 1911 Schonberg again moved to Berlin, where he lectured on composition and began his "Pierrot Lunaire," opus 21, a cycle of 21 tiny poems recited in music, scored for declamation with string orchestra, flute and clarinet. This work, which was first performed by Albertini Zehme in Berlin in the autumn of 1912, made Schonberg famous. It is the most con spicuous of the late German specimens of modernism, which was profoundly admired in the country of its creation, and unmerci fully attacked elsewhere.
On the occasion of the London performance, the London Times said that "Schonberg's .world is described as one of name less horrors and terrible imaginings, of perverse and poisonous beauty and bitter-sweet fragrance, of searing and withering mockery, and malicious selfish humour which goes beyond that of his poet."
During the season of 1912-13, Schonberg undertook a tour with a "Pierrot Lunaire" party, and conducted his own works in Amsterdam, St. Petersburg and Prague, everywhere evoking intense opposition on one hand and great enthusiasm on the other. "Pierrot Lunaire," said one periodical, "is a riddle not to be solved in a day, a year, or a decade. There is no need at this writing to go again into the details of this strangely morbid mood painting — this quivering, but heartless dalliance with the phan tasms of a lunambulist; a thing sickly, greenly pallid, sometimes partaking of vertigo; at other moments suggesting the patholog ical rather than the beautiful, and hovering close to madness; a work fascinating in a hypersensitive way, and yet as monotonous as the dripping of water — of which it resembles. This uncanny mastery of it is not to be denied, yet it is a mastery that would seem to lead music to an impasse, to put Schonberg and his
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followers in a cul-de-sac rather than to open any new dominions for the tonal art/'
It was in the year 1913 that Schonberg finished a dramatic work, for which he wrote his own book, "Die Gltickliche Hand." This work was not performed until twelve years later, on October 14, 1925 in Vienna. Dr. Stiedry, the present energetic director of the Volksoper, undertook the difficult task of producing "The Fortunate Hand," after the financial difficulties in the way had been overcome by the efforts of Dr. Bach, a distinguished writer on music and a close friend of Schonberg's. This opera, which had been considered impossible to perform, necessitated innum erable rehearsals, but in the course of the Vienna Music Festival, Dr. Stiedry spared no pains in preparing it.
The text of this work, which was also written by the composer, must be regarded as symbolic. "The Fortunate Hand77 is owned by the "Man," as he is called on the program, who, however, does not know how to use it. When the curtain rises the "Man77 is seen lying with his face to the ground, a fabulous animal seated on his back and holding him in its claws. A dark velvet curtain shuts off the background, and in this there are twelve loopholes through which as many faces, bathed in a greenish light, look forth and chant words of commiseration for the "Man,77 acting the part of the chorus in the ancient Greek tragedy. When the "Man7' rises he is seen to be clad in rags. Schonberg's stage directions are so minute — indeed, they occupy the greater part of the libretto — that he prescribes a hole in the "Man's77 stockings. The "Man77 is an idealist who clings to a dream which cannot be fulfilled and who ever and again yields to temptation.
The second picture shows us the "Man77 as the "Woman77 appears in him and holding out a goblet of which he drinks greedily. He is filled with love for her, but now the "Dandy" appears and draws the woman away with him. After a few minutes she returns and kneels down before him while the "Man" rises from the ground and stands grandly erect. In the third picture we see a rocky landscape and blacksmiths at work. The "Man" takes up a hammer and cleaves the anvil with a mighty blow. This probably symbolizes the idea that through happy love the "Man" has gained mighty strength. One cannot help being reminded of Siegfried. In the fourth picture the "Man" and the "Woman" are seen together. She hurls a rock at him, which resembles the fabled animal of the first picture. This again drives its claws into the "Man" who is lying prostrate on the ground once more, while the greenish faces in the loopholes of the curtain chant the words : "Hadst thou to endure ever again what so often has been thy sad fate? Canst thou not renounce earthly lust and
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pleasures? Seekest then again to grasp that which eludes thee ever ? But what is ever in thee and around thee is wherever thou art. Dost not see and feel, seest and f eelest only the smart of thy body, and dost torture thyself in vain?"
Of course, this is all symbolic of woman drawing down man, or perhaps contrast between dream and reality, between prosaic thinking and genius. The music speaks more clearly than the poem, and there is little new to be noticed in the now often preached asceticism.
Small motifs spring up and disappear. Schonberg again proves himself the master of tone-painting that he is. This singing is declamatory in the extreme, and often new meaning and depth of feeling are lent to simple words. The "Man" was interpreted by Herr Jerger with his wonted skill in character portrayal. The "Woman" and the "Dandy" are mute characters. The scenic mounting was in the hands of a member of the Staatsoper, Stage Manager Turnauer. The work had a divided reception. Many of the audience maintained an attitude of reserve, but there was plenty of applause and the poet-composer had finally to appear to bow his thanks.
In 1915 Schonberg began a Grand Oratorio, "Jakobslieder." In 1918 he founded the Society for private musical performances, known as the "Schonberg verein" in Vienna. Afterwards he lectured on composition in Amsterdam (1920-21) and then, returning to Modling, near Vienna, he began again to teach, to compose and to take pupils in composition. It must be mentioned here that as early as 1903 Schonberg was teaching at the Stern Conservatory, and ten years later he became professor at the Konigliche Akademie fur Musik. In 1922 he published a new and revised edition of his Manual of Harmony. In 1923 he composed a cycle of piano pieces, a quintet and a septet for various instruments. These works seem to be the beginning of a new phase of his evolution.
Whatever Schonberg's aims may be, one thing he cannot be accused of, and that is ignorance of his art. Nothing is more difficult than to classify the unfinished work of one who is still vigorously working.
Lazare Saminsky, composer and authority on the subject of Jews in music, says of Schonberg:
"Arnold Schonberg, with all his radicalism, is a typical repre sentative of Western, that is, Continental Jewry, hysterical and neurotic, assimilating and accentuating ideas and feelings adapted from its neighbors. Schonberg plays in music the very Hebrew role which was played by Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer and Rubinstein, and I am sorry to say that this role does not at all consist in
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bringing an original note into European music. It tends only toward accentuating, sharpening or giving an overtaxed expres sion to the tendencies of the composer's contemporaries. The set and stubborn classicism of Mendelssohn is as much a product of a typically Hebrew over-emphasis of the point of artistic creed as the biting extremities outbursts and experiments of a Schonberg."
On March 13, 1926, the League of Composers in New York gave a performance of Schonberg's quintet for wind instruments at Town Hall, the opinions on which were again divided as in the case of his other works.
Arnold Schonberg's life has been up to this hour a life of great artistic surprises to himself and to those whose belief in him is firm. It has been a life of puzzles to those who look at his music, his poetry and his paintings from a distance. It is also a life of problems, partly solved, partly unsolved, a life of questions asked with an answer now and then, although some may never find an answer.
It is also the life of an uncommonly strong fighting spirit who, convinced of the power of his mission, is counting defeats among the necessary preparations for a final victory.
OSCAR STRAUSS
ALTHOUGH NOT a relative of the famous Johann or Richard, Oscar Strauss nevertheless has won a high place in lighter music, and is now one of the most widely known of operetta composers. He is radically different from Lehar and Fall; he is rather to be considered a successor to Jacques Offenbach, for like him, he makes light of the classical music-tragedies in an inimitable satirical way.
Like some of his colleagues in the operetta field, Oscar Strauss began as composer of serious music, and to this period belong some of his best works, including Overture to Grill- parzer's "Der" Traum eines Leben," for orchestra; "Serenade," for string orchestra, violin sonata in A minor, opus 33 ; the opera "Colombine," performed in Berlin in 1904; "Die Lustige Niebel- ungen," a parody performed in Berlin in 1905; "Hugdietrichs Brautfahrt," performed in Vienna in 1906; "Ein Waltzertraum," (undoubtedly his best work) performed in 1907; "Der Tapfere Soldat," (his famous "Chocolate Soldier") first performed in Vienna in 1908; "Rund um die Liebe," performed in 1914. But Oscar Strauss soon turned to lighter compositions and here found a wide field for his talents.
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Oscar Strauss was born in Vienna on April 6, 1870, and studied under Gradener and Max Bruch. During 1895-1900 he was conductor in many provincial theatres. In 1900 he became chief conductor in the cabaret "Uberbrettl," founded by E. von Wolzogen, whose members included the famous poets, Franz Wedekind and 0. J. Bierbaum, for whose stage pieces Strauss wrote many musical numbers.
In his later period Strauss began to make free use of modern dance rhythms ("Shimmy" and fox-trot), and there he has achieved artistic and pleasing results.
Aside from the compositions listed above, the following comic operas 'belong to his "serious" period: "Der Schwarze Man" performed in 1903; "Die Galante Markgrafin," performed in 1919. And to his more modern group belong "Liebeszauber," performed in Berlin in 1916; "The Last Waltz," performed in Vienna in 1920; "Nixchen," performed in Berlin in 1921, and many others. He has also written the ballet "Die Prinzessin von Tragant."
Oscar Strauss's operettas sparkle with life and humor, and his melodic inventions are of the "catchiest" and most lyrical, pleasing alike to the connoisseur and layman. Few operettas of modern times have won such universal popularity as the incom parable "Chocolate Soldier" and "A Waltz Dream."
MAXIMILIAN STEINBERG
THIS WELL-KNOWN composer and theoretician, among whose pupils was the author of this book, was born on July 7, 1883, in Russia. In spite of the fact that he showed precocious talent in music, his parents chose for him the career of a scientist. On being graduated from the Petrograd Gymnasium in 1901, Steinberg entered the University of the same city where he completed the course in 1906.
But his natural inclination and love for music compelled him to take up its study seriously. He entered the Petrograd Con servatory, studying under Rimsky-Korsakoff and Glazounov. He was graduated from this institution in 1908. Immediately after wards, he was offered the post of Professor at his alma mater, an honor very rarely bestowed on any one, and this youth (then not quite twenty-five years old) suddenly found himself in a profes sor's chair. Not only did fortune smile on the musician, but on the man as well, for he won the hand of the daughter of his teacher, Korsakoff . On the occasion of his marriage, Igor Stravin-
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sky, his fellow-pupil, wrote and dedicated to the couple the brilliant and famous symphonic work, "Fireworks."
Steinberg's early work as composer shows the influence of Glazounov, even more strongly than that of Korsakoff, and a great technical ability, combined with a not unoriginal but essen tially classical temperament. His was also the honor of editing the posthumous works of his father-in-law. He also completed Korsakoff' s famous Handbook on Orchestration.
Steinberg has utilized practically all forms in his writings. He has written songs, chamber music, symphonies, etc.
This interesting personality is still teaching at the same conservatory where he began.
SOLOMON SULZER
SOLOMON SULZER,, composer and chief cantor of the Jewish con gregation of Vienna, as well as teacher at the conservatory there, is considered the most famous cantor of the nineteenth century.
He was born on March 30, 1804 in Voralberg. This great reformer of synagogue music is also significant as a composer. Thanks to the two volumes of religious chants, Shir Zion, pub lished by him in 1845-66 and accepted by all synagogues, he won fame as a great innovator of excellent taste and genius.
Sulzer was also the possessor of a soft and soulful voice, which exercised an unspeakable charm over his listen ers. He had a vivid creative imagina tion, which recalls the Hebrew prophets, and like them bore the pathos and tradi tions of his people on the wings of his mournful melodies and expressive voice. He saw in flaming images the things he sang. His far-reaching imagination carried him to the days of his people's great past. The general feeling of love and respect for the genius as well as for the man was made evident when he resigned his post as chief -cantor of the Vienna Great Synagogue, which had echoed the strains of his soul and voice for fifty-six years.
In 1845 he received an invitation from the Vienna Music Society to accept the honorary post of Professor of Singing at
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the conservatory. He kept it until 1848. During one of the evenings organized in his honor by his friends and followers, Madame Gabglion, a court actress, read Mosenthal's Prologue, and the famous violinist Helmesberger, at that time director of the conservatory, played music to the same Prologue, especially written for the occasion by Karl Goldmark.
Franz Liszt, after hearing Sulzer sing, spoke of him in his article, "The Gypsies and their Music in Hungary" (Budapest, 1861) : "Only once had we the opportunity to conceive what Jewish art could have been if all the intensity of the living feeling in the Jew could be expressed in forms innate of their own spirit; we met in Vienna Cantor Sulzer. His singing of the psalms, like the spirit of fire, soars over us to the all-high to serve as steps to His feet. The heavenly quality of his voice transports us to heaven . . . ."
During the latter years of his life, the famous author of "Shir Zion" devoted his time to the re-editing of his works. In this labor he was much assisted by his son, Professor Joseph Sulzer, an outstanding 'cellist and pedagogue. His aid was the more necessary as the old composer's sight began to fail him. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the new edition of his compositions, for he died in Vienna on January 18, 1890. Two years after his death, his son published the posthumous works of his father, augmented by his own works.
LEO WEINER
THIS HUNGARIAN composer won international repute when his "Serenade" for small orchestra, written when the composer was only twenty-one years old, was awarded the Budapest Liptovarosi Kaszino prize. His second string quartet received the Coolidge prize in 1922.
Born in Budapest on April 16, 1875, Leo Weiner studied composition under Hans Kessler at the Royal High School for Music in his natal town<, In 1907 he accepted the post of teacher in harmony and composition at that institution.
Aside from the two prize works mentioned, this composer has written many other works of great significance, a partial list of which follows:
First string quartet, opus 4; "Fasching," — an overture for small orchestra, opus 5; "Prelude, Nocturen and Scherzo" for piano, opus 7; first sonata for piano and violin, opus 9; second sonata for piano and violin, opus 11.
Weiner is very active both as teacher and composer and much may be expected of him.
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ALEXANDER TANSMAN
ALEXANDER TANSMAN is one of the most gifted among the young generation in France. For though he is of Polish origin (which is often in evidence), this composer belongs to the
_ _ modern French, having developed under
the joint influence of Stravinsky, Ravel, and the masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
He was born in Lodz, Poland, on June 12, 1897. He first studied music in his native town with Gawronski, Podka- miner, Sandor Vas, and Karl Lutchg. He began to compose when he was nine years old. At Warsaw he continued his musical studies, while he took a course in law at the university. His first com position to be played in public was "Symphonic Serenade" for strings, written at the age of fifteen. Musicians were surprised by the original harmonic scheme, which gradually developed into what Roland-Manuel has called "Les accords Tans- man/' Before Tansman was twenty-two he had composed several symphonic works, chamber music and piano pieces. In 1919 he was awarded not only the Grand Prix de Pologne for musical composi tion, but also the second and the third prizes (entries were sub mitted anonymously) . All these years the contemporary movement in other countries was wholly unknown to him. His "Modernisme" was his own. Knowing that the Polish public was not prepared for music of modern tendencies, he made Paris his dwelling place in 1920, and at once entered actively into the musical life of that city, publishing his compositions. He also traveled outside France with the same purpose. On March 18, 1924, a dispatch from Warsaw announced his marriage at Paris to Anna Eleonora Bronciner, the Roumanian dancer.
Tansman has progressed from his "systematic bitonality" to a chromaticism "quasi-atonal through the superposition of several well-defined tonalities." For this young musician is credited with being an innovator — even in the days of Stravinsky — in the field of harmony and rhythm. Of the Slavic world, this musician has beyond doubt preserved a taste for the fairy-like, a very lively sense of rhythm, a need for heavy harmonic coloring. One can easily observe the influence Scriabine exercised over him.
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In the Summer of 1924, Tansman composed his new famous "Sinf onietta," which was performed for the first time at a concert of the Societe de Musique de Chambre in Paris on March 23, 1925. Beginning with the "Sinfonietta," reviewers cease mentioning any traits that may be charged to immaturity. "Up to the 'Sin fonietta/ Tansman's style was one of juxtaposed phrases; further, he frequently went astray in the details of his work. But in the 'Sinfonietta' as also in the 'Quartet/ there is a certain terseness of thought, a flight of the imagination which while devel oping in a continuous line, shows diversity, and blossoms into new richness. It seems that Tansman will always retain an attachment for short and compact forms. But the first two parts of the 'Sinfonietta' definitely show that with Tansman this brevity is often accompanied by a richness of thought which loses nothing because of its conciseness."
The "Sinfonietta" is scored for five strings, woodwinds, piano, trumpet, two trombones, kettle-drums, and percussion. It comprises an allegro, a mazurka, a nocturne, and a finale made up of a fugure and a toccata. In the allegro motto the flute and oboe sing their graceful little phrase in thirds to the metronomic pizzicato of a viola and ostinato of a clarinet. Bell-figures of horn and trumpet are interrupted by tutti. In the Mazurka woodwinds develop supple and expressive arabesques. The Noc turne flows on in a sombre atmosphere produced by the tremolo of low strings. The poetic note of a horn is answered by an oboe. After a short development there is a return to the beginning. A cymbal sounds forth the mystery of night ... In the fugure and tocatta, the violincello exposes a theme based on intervals of the fourth; strings, woodwinds, brass join in the general poly phony, written freely but with great concentration.
Although but thirty, Tansman has already proved himself a prolific composer. He has chosen the symphony orchestra as the medium for his expression, and has already written a number of important works, a list of which follows : "Elans" ; "Promethee" ; "Le Jardin du Paradis"; "Intermezzo Sinfonic" (1923, Paris), which constitutes an effort toward new forms of musical con struction; "Scherzo Symphonique," (performed by Koussevitzky in Paris, 1923) ; "Legende" (also performed by Koussevitzky in Paris in 1924) ; "Danse de la Sorciere" (performed on November 2, 1925, in New York under Mengelberg) .
His latest work, at the time of this writing, is a "Sonatina" for flute and piano, which introduces a fox-trot as one of the movements and is full of fantasy.
He is making his visit to the United States during the 1927-28 season, at the invitation of Serge Koussevitzky, and will conduct
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orchestral performances of his works, among them the Symphony in A minor, "Danse de la Sorciere," and Sinfonietta for small or chestra. He will be piano soloist in performances of his chamber music works,
During the last season, Tansman's ballet, "The Tragedy of the 'Cello" was produced several times. In Chicago it was per formed by Adolph Bolm's Allied Arts, and in New York by the League of Composers, conducted by Tullio Serafin, of the Metro politan Opera Company.
Much of great importance in the field of contemporary music can be expected from this young and gifted musician.
MARIO CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO
THE MUSIC of Castelnuovo-Tedesco is noted for a breadth of human feeling which, brought to bear on us, strives and is able to awaken those generous emotions often dormant in man, and only awaiting a fraternal word for their awakening.
No outside influence has been exerted on Castelnuovo-Tedesco, if we except that of Pizzetti, his master, who was for him all that an educator should be. Divining the ardent individuality of his pupil, Pizzetti's^sole aim was to quicken and stabilize it through the agency of his own overflowing humanism.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born in Florence, April 3, 1895. He studied piano at the Cherubini Royal Institute of Music in Flor ence under Del Valle, and composition under T. Pizzetti. One of the young Italian school, he is noted for his interesting work. One of the compositions that fills us with a bounteous sense of tranquil emotion in the presence of nature, is his "II Raggio Verde," tech nically one of his most finished and in its inspiration one of his freest creations.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco makes notable approaches to a purity of form in certain pages of Pizzetti. His merit lies also in his ability to discover the musical language most apt to express the inner meaning of the Franciscan parable, in his three "Fioretti"— a language that should be at once medieval and modern. It is sim plicity itself, particularly from the harmonic viewpoint, being pe culiarly limpid and transparent, and the declamation varied and interesting.
To piano literature, he has dedicated three rhapsodies (one Viennese, one Neapolitan, and one Hebrew) ; also "Le Stagioni," a short piano suite. He has written, among other things : "Signor- ine" (1918); "Ritmi" (1920); "Capitano Fracassa" (1920); "Cinque Canti" (1923).
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Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco has been actively composing of .ate. His work includes a dithyramb in one act, for soli, chorus, rdmes, and orchestra; "Bacco in Toscana"; a song cycle, "Otto Scherzi per Musica" ; four sonnets for voice and piano ; a new rhap sody for piano on Hebrew themes, "Le Danze del Re David" ; and three chorales for piano, also based on Hebrew melodies.
EGON WELLESZ
EGON WELLESZ, the Hungarian composer, is considered one of the most gifted among the young modern composers. He was born in Vienna on October 21, 1885. He started to take lessons in theory while he studied at High School. Graduating from the school he went to the University and also studied counterpoint and compo sition with Arnold Schonberg.
The first composition he wrote was "Wie ein Bild," which Emmy Heim sang in Budapest. Later he wrote some beautiful songs and piano pieces, of which "Der Abend," opus 4 (1909-10), Four Im pressions for Piano, was produced by Mme. de Tigranoff in 1912, in Paris, as well as his "Drei Klavierstlicke," opus 9, "Eklogen," opus 11, and "Epigrame," opus 17, produced by Norah Drewett in Berlin and Vienna, in 1912-13.
In 1914 he wrote his first String Quartet, opus 14 ; in 1916 his Second String Quartet and his "Idyllen" for piano; and in 1918 his Third String Quartet.
At the same time Jacob Wassermann wrote especially for Wel- lesz the text to an opera, "Princess Girnara," to which Wellesz com posed music in 1918-19 ; it had its premiere in Frankf ort-on-Main in May, 1921.
His other compositions are: "Persische Ballett," composed in 1920 and produced in Donaueschingen in 1924; Fourth Quartet, "Achilles auf Skyros," ballet produced in 1926 in Stuttgart; the following operas: "Alkestis," produced under Richard JLert in Mannheim on March 20, 1924 ; "Opf erung des Gef angenen," pro duced under Egan Szenkar in Koln, on April 10, 1926; two violin sonatas; compositions for large orchestra; suite for violin, cham ber orchestra, and songs.
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ALEXANDER WEPRIK
ALEXANDER WEPRIK, composer, was born on July 23, 1899, in Lodz, Poland. He first took piano lessons in 1904-5, in the Warsaw Con servatory. Till 1909 he was with Goussokofsky, following which he studied with Wendling in Leipzig. After the war he studied composition in the St. Petersburg and Moscow Con servatories. In so high esteem were his talents held that he was invited to teach, despite his extreme youth, in his own alma mater.
His first composition was performed in 1920 in Leipzig. He has written two sonatas for piano; "Song of the Dead/7 for viola and voice ; "Kaddisch" for high voice; a violin suite, and Hebrew songs. He is now working on his third sonata for piano.
KURT WEIL
KURT WEIL has recently begun to attract the attention of Berlin's musical cognoscenti. A young man of only twenty-eight, Weil has already won a place as one of the prominent ultra-modern
composers. Busoni, his teacher in piano and composition, prophesied for him a brilliant future. Weil is a follower of Debussy, Schonberg, Hindemith and the whole school of our ultra-modernists; nevertheless he shows much individual ity. In spite of his youth, he has already created a good deal of work in the field of opera, ballet, symphony and fairy-tale music.
On April 5, 1926, his newest work, an opera in one act, "The Protagonist," was given its premiere at the Dresden Opera. The story, based on a play by George Kaiser, tells of the visit to an English village of a traveling troupe of actors, headed by the Pro tagonist. The period is the Renaissance. The latter's sister, who is his particular idol, reveals by her evasions during the
Composers 93
performance of a pantomime at the command of a Duke, that she is having a love affair. The maddened showman, in a frenzy, throttles her. There is an element of "play within a play" as the real story is enacted against the background of a stage represen tation somewhat as in "Pagliacci." The performance under Fritz Busch was a striking one.
His other works include: "Quodlibet," entertainment music for orchestra, aimed for a child's theatre, opus 9 ; "Girls' Dance," opus 10; "Concert for Violins and Wood Winds," opus 12; "The New Orpheus," a cantata for soprano, solo violin, and orchestra, with text by Ivan Goll. In the winter of 1926, his opera "Royal Palace," created a sensation, because of its novel theme, when produced at the Berlin State Opera. His latest one-act opera, "Photography and Love," is based on a play by George Kaiser.
JAKOB WEINBERG
JAKOB WEINBERG was born on July 1, 1879, in Odessa. His family was well known in music and literature, his father's brother, P. J. Weinberg, enjoying a reputation as literary critic, poet, and trans lator of Heine. As a child, young Jakob displayed marked musical tendencies. His father, however, had other plans, and wished to make a merchant of the boy, and insisted that he attend a school of commerce. At the age of seventeen, young Weinberg moved to Eostow to work as a bank-clerk. But his calling was soon made manifest — he had a strong leaning for music. After studying for two years under the musical pedagogue Pressman, Weinberg was permitted to enter the most" advanced courses of the Moscow Conservatory, then under the direction of Saf onoff. Here he studied piano with Professor Igumnoff, and composi tion with Tanejew. At the same time he was appointed professor in the law faculty of the Moscow University.
Weinberg remained in Moscow after concluding his studies. His first work was an "Elegy for 'Cello/' a Tschaikowsky memorial, published by Jurgenson as opus one. This was followed by the Sonata for Violin and Piano, in F sharp minor, first played in Paris, 1905, at the Rubinstein Concerts and then given on numerous occasions in Russia. The Piano Concerto in E flat minor, opus eight, was played in Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, and other cities. The
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following year, Weinberg toured Russia as piano virtuoso and ac companist. He then gave instruction in piano and the theory of music.
In 1923 Weinberg left for Palestine, where he began to com pose in the Judaic tradition.
He has played a leading part in the establishment and organ ization of the Jewish National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem, and has composed Jewish music on yemenite, sepphardic, chassidic and Arabian themes.
In 1926 he won first prize in a musical contest at the Philadel phia Centennial Exposition, for his comic opera "Hachaluz" (the Pioneer), for which he also wrote the libretto. This opera is in three acts, the first of which transpires in Poland, the second and third in Palestine ; it paints the life of the young immigrants, first in the golus, then their arrival and life in Palestine. The opera consists of many humorous and interesting episodes. The music for it is written in pure Jewish folk-lore music. It is the first purely Jewish music that ever received recognition in an inter national musical contest. Prominent judges, consisting of com posers and conductors, made the award. Parts of the opera — the chorus, dance, and a few songs, the whole under the title, "A Night in Palestine," may be produced next season in Philadelphia at a festival to be played by the Philadelphia Orchestra with a picked chorus of several thousand singers.
Besides the above-mentioned works, some of his standard num bers are : Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra ; Sonata in E flat major for Piano; Phantasy for Piano and Orchestra; Hebrew Folk Dance for Violin ; Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola and 'Cello ; and many works for chorus and solo voice.
Weinberg's name is numbered among the outstanding few who are making Jewish musical history in the world today, and espe cially in Palestine. He has recently been invited to take charge of the Jewish Publication Society, in Berlin.
ALEXANDER ZHITOMIRSKY
ALEXANDER ZHITOMIRSKY was born in Kherson, Russia, in 1881. At the age of seventeen he entered the Odessa Musical School of the Imperial Russian Musical Society, where he studied the violin under Professor E. K. Mlinarski. During 1898-9 he studied at the Vienna Conservatory, where his teachers were Prill for the violin, Foil for theory, and Dehr for piano. In 1901 he undertook a special
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95
course in theory and composition with Korsakoff, Liadoff and Gla- zounoff . He was graduated from the Conservatory in 1910 with the degree of "Free Artist," and received the silver medal there for his "Dramatic Overture." Since 1914 he has been professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the Special theory and composition classes.
ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY
ALTHOUGH A musician of great ability and the composer of many significant works, Zemlinsky is principally known as teacher and for that Wagnerian and Brahmsian element in the early works of
his famous pupils, Schonberg and Korn- gold.
Born in Vienna on October 4, 1872, Zemlinsky attended the Vienna Conser vatory, and later became conductor at the Volksoper in Vienna, where he in augurated a brilliant epoch. In 1908 he was conductor at the Vienna Hofoper and the following year in Mannheim. After several seasons he became chief conductor at the Prague Opera.
Zemlinsky is a brother-in-law of the now famous Schonberg. He excels par ticularly in instrumentation, the ef forts in this field of his other famous pupil, Korngold, showing at an early age great brillance and originality.
Zemlinsky has written three symphonies, of which the third "Lyric," was first performed in Prague, on June 6, 1924; a sym phonic poem,— "Die Seejungf rau" ; chamber music of excellent quality and six operas.
His first opera, "Zarema," which had its premiere in Munich in 1897 was awarded the Lentpold prize; his second opera, "Es War Einmal," also had great success when it was presented in Vienna in 1900. His "Kleider Machen Leute" was performed in 1910; "The Dwarf (libretto by Oscar Wilde) , was performed in 1921, and "The Birthday of the Infanta/' also to a Wilde libretto, was performed at Cologne. Since September of 1927, Zemlinsky has been con ductor at the Berlin Staatsoper.
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MANNA ZUGCA
MANNA ZUCCA, one of America's foremost composers, was born in New York, December 25, 1891. Her extraordinary musical talent manifested itself very early. At four she made her first public ap pearance, playing standard works and improvisations. At eight she created a real sensation, playing a Beethoven Con certo with the New York Symphony Or chestra under Walter Damrosch. Her teacher in this country for piano was Alexander Lambert and for composition, Herman Spielter. Going abroad, she con tinued her studies with Godowsky and Busoni, taking also composition with Max Vogrich and voice with Raimond von zur Miihlen.
Manna Zucca gave concerts in Russia, Germany, France, Holland and England, arousing great interest and enthusiasm. For a short time she turned her attention to the stage. While dining at a friend's house in London, she met Franz Lehar. She sang the score of "Gypsy Love" so well at sight that he asked her to go to Vienna and sing the leading role. George Edwards, another prominent manager, who was present, said, "Stay here and you will sing at Daly's." The following week Manna Zucca made her debut in London in the "Count of Luxemburg." After this success, she came to America to sing the leading role in the "Rose Maid." Later she appeared in "Geisha" and "The Mikado." As she later said, this life provided lots of fun but not enough of the seri ous element.
Returning to her career as musician, Manna Zucca played her own Piano Concerto with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.
Her compositions are being sung by the world's leading artists. Her "children's songs" of which she has made a specialty, are being used in a great many schools. She has found time to write upwards of 400 compositions.
In 1921 Manna Zucca responded to the ardent wooing of Mr. Irwin M. Calless, a millionaire in Florida, where they married in September, the same year. Manna Zucca is still composing. Her works, especially her songs, are extremely popular in America. She has been called the "Chaminade" of America.
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THE YOUNG "RUSSIAN-JEWISH" SCHOOL OF COMPOSERS
WITH THE GROWTH of a strong racial consciousness among the younger Russian-Jewish intelligentsia and Bohemians, a step has been taken which will undoubtedly lead to the establishment of a new school.
We feel that we cannot do better than to quote the words of Leonid Sabaneyev, a non-Jewish critic of Moscow, about this new trend of the young Jewish composers. It may be mentioned that some of these composers, for example, Lazare Saminsky, Joseph Achron, Weiner, Jacob Schaeffer, Leo Low, and Zavel Zilberts, have carried this movement to the new continent, where they are now living, and that the famous Ernest Bloch has carried the ideals of this movement to a pitch, the true strength of which the reader can appreciate when reading the life of this great and inspired mu sician.
"The natural musicianship of the Jews exceed that of all na tions," says Leonid Savaneyev. "The proportion of Jewish musi cians is" much larger than that of any other nation. The artistic temperament of this people, its colossal ability in the fields of inter pretation, the examples of its masters in the field of creative music (Meyerbeer, Rubinstein, Halevy, Mendelssohn, Bizet, etc.), and the concerted awakening of an interest in the field of national creative work, — all these give us hope for the future of Jewish music. And we must say, in truth, that those stones already laid in the erection of a Jewish national music permit us to say that a part of the hopes has already been realized. The Jews have already enriched the world's musical literature by a fresh and decidedly original draught of inspiration. The people who created the great religions of the world, this nation of God-bearers, a revolutionary people tragically scattered over the face of the earth, bearing for thousands of years the world's sorrows, a people that withstood humiliation, insult, exile, in which it has tempered its national spirit — such a people cannot but possess the peculiar psychology of expressing its soul in tones.
"The Jewish nation was always a singing nation; ever did it express in tones the sorrows that shook it — its wrath and its temptations. . . . And now, when this nation has already crys- talized an intellectual stratum — it not only can, but must say the WORD."
A tremendous impetus to the formation and growth of this movement was the "ethnological expedition" financed by Baron Horazio Gunzberg. This expedition was organized for the purpose of collecting Jewish folk-lore in the remote Russian villages, and in out-of-the-way districts of Russia and other parts of the world.
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The members of this expedition were the best equipped in Eussia, culturally, musically and spiritually. We find on its staff such names as Julius Engel, Z. Kisselhoff, Leo Wintz, Ephraim, Schklar, Lazar Saminsky. At the same time a similar expedition was carried on in Palestine by Zwi Idelson.
The result of these activities was the establishment in St. Peters burg of the famous "Society for Jewish Folk Music" founded in that city in 1908. Five years later, a branch was also opened in Moscow, and others were established in Kiev, Kharkov, etc.
The next step was the natural moulding of the material col lected by the members of the expeditions, comprising such untold treasures of fresh and highly original Jewish themes. The concern of the musicians that contributed to the Society was to preserve in their work the maximum of "Jewishness" as well as the freshness of the material collected, and to arrange and develop the themes ac cording to the latest harmonic devices.
Although such men as Rubinstein, Halevy and others of the past utilized Jewish themes in their creative efforts there is never theless a vast difference between what they accomplished and what the members of the Jewish Society have done. It must be borne in mind that the great Jewish composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were limited by the culture and traditions of the land in which they were born or which they later adopted. For example, Mendelssohn was, or tried to be, more German than the Germans themselves, Rubinstein more Russian than the Slavs, Meyerbeer more French than the Frenchmen. The men who cham pion the racial consciousness of the Jewish composers admit no doubt as to the racial origin of their creation. No longer are we aware of frantic efforts to conceal themselves behind a pseudo- nationalism. The Jewish composer of this movement comes frankly to the fore. It has taken the Jewish composer many years to find out that the outworn idioms of his neighbors would hardly suffice for the expression of his individual life and aspirations. This new trend which has arisen on the rim of the twentieth cen tury, has already gained substantial results, and is intimately con nected, in Russia, with such names as Joseph Achron, Alexander Krein, Michael Gniessin, M. Millner, Lazare Saminsky, Solomon Rosowski, A. Veprick, Gregory Krein, L. Streicher, I. Eisberg, Samuel Feinberg, Leo Wintz, 0. Potoker, A. M. Zhitomirski, Rum- shinski, Boris Levenson, D. Schorr, P. Lvoff, Herman Swett, M. Levin, Abilley, L. Zeitlin, Tomars, Chessin, Bichter, Weisberg, Leo Low, Rivessman, G. Weinberg, A. Dzimitrowsky, S. Golub, J. Rosenblat, L. Weiner, Rumschinsky, Posner, Okun, M. Schalith, G. Kopit, E. Kaplan, Rhea Silberta, E. Schklar (pupil of Balakireff and Rimsky-Korsakoff), who wrote extraordinary songs, among them "Jerusholaim."
a
ONDUCTORS
MODEST ALTSCHULER
ONE OP the pioneers of symphonic music in the United States is Modest Altschuler, the eminent 'cellist and conductor who was born in Moghileff, Russia, on February 18, 1873. He studied 'cello
under Goebelt at the Warsaw Conserva tory, and under Fitzenhagen and von Glen at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was also a pupil of Arensky for har mony, and of Tanieeff for composition. He received the Moscow Conservatory de gree of Bachelor of Music in 1890.
Being graduated from the Conserva tory, he toured Europe as one of the "Moscow Trio," and later went to the United States, where he was active for some time as 'cellist and teacher. In 1904 he founded the Russian Symphony Or chestra, which annually gave a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York. He was conductor of this body until 1919, and still continues to conduct it at musical festivals in the southern states.
The first concert of the Russian Symphony Orchestra was given under his direction at Cooper Union Hall, on January 7, 1904. It was with this symphony that Mischa Elman made his American debut on December 10, 1908. Scriabin also owes his popularity in America to Altschuler, who first introduced his works and fought in his behalf before unfriendly audiences.
FELIX OTTO DESSOFF
FELIX OTTO DESSOFF was born in Leipzig on January 14, 1835. He belonged to those German conductors who by their refinement, quick wit, and inventiveness are as if especially conceived by nature for conducting, and can divine the thought of the composer. He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and began his career as conductor at Chamnitz, going on to Aachen, Dusseldorff , Altenburg, Magdeburg, and Kassel.
His extraordinary love of work, together with his gifts, brought him at the peak of a conductor's career at an age when most mem bers of that calling are just beginning. In 1860 he was invited to
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take the post of court conductor at Vienna. Dessoff accepted and remained there for fifteen years, also teaching at the Conservatory of the Society of Music Lovers, and conducting the Philharmonic concerts.
His constant labors naturally prevented him from composing. The few pieces he did compose, some sonatas for piano, piano quar tet and quintet, songs and chamber music, prove his refined taste and his great mastery.
In 1875 Dessoff was invited to take the position of court con ductor in Karlsruhe, and from 1881 till his death, which occurred on October 28, 1891, he was conductor of the Frankfort-am-Main Stadtstheater. Dessoff held first place among the conductors of the latter half of the nineteenth century.
LEO BLEGH
AN ABLE, energetic and experienced conductor is Leo Blech. He particularly excels in conducting opera, having few equals in this field. Blech has conducted in practically every great music center.
His ability and talent are the more re markable when one considers that the period of his official musical education, prior to his first engagement as con ductor, was not longer than one year.
Blech was born in Aix-la-Chapelle on April 21, 1871. He engaged in business, but decided to devote himself to music, and took up the study of theory with Ku- dorff. In 1892 he was engaged as con ductor at the Aix-la-Chapelle Stadtthea- ter, where he conducted until 1898. He spent summers of the first four years studying under Engelbert and Humper- dinck. In 1899 he became first conductor at the Deutsches Landestheater, and in 1906, conductor of the Eoyal Opera House in Berlin, where, since 1913, he has been General Musical Director. Since 1923 Blech has been first con ductor of the Charlottenburg Opera in Berlin.
His latest appointment was to the Berlin Volksoper, thus com pleting the rounds of the Berlin Opera Houses, for he was also engaged at the Staatsoper.
Blech is also a composer of great ability. He has written songs, piano pieces, symphonic poems ("Die None," "Trost in der Natur/'
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"Walderwanderung"), choruses with orchestra for female voices, ("Von den Englein") and "Sommernacht," one-act comic opera ("Das War Ich," words by Batka, performed in Dresden in 1902), "Cinderella," in three acts, performed in Prague in 1905, and "Versiegelt," in one act, performed in Hamburg in 1903 ; also a new setting of Raimund's "Alpenonig und Menschenfeind," the text recast by Batka as a three act opera, performed in Dresden in 1903 ; and the operetta, "Die Strohwitwe," performed in Ham burg, 1920.
ARTUR BODANZKY
ARTUR BODANZKY was born in Vienna on December 16, 1877. He studied at the High School and Musical Conservatory in that city. Among his teachers in the latter institution were Griin (who was
Fritz Kreisler's instructor), Graedener and J. N. Fuchs. In 1896 he joined the Imperial Opera Orchestra as violinist. His first engagement as conductor was at Budweiss, Bohemia, in 1900, after which he went to the Vienna Karlstheatre in a similar capacity. He conducted a season of light operas in St. Petersburg in 1901. Next year he returned to the Vienna Opera, where he became assistant to his friend, Gustav Mahler. Two years later he went to Paris, conducting the first French performance of the "Fleder- maus."
Returning to Vienna he became con ductor at the Theatre der Wien, famous
for its premieres of "Fidelio" and "The Magic Flute/' For nearly three seasons, beginning in 1906, he was director at the Royal Opera in Prague and also conductor of the Philharmonic Concerts in the Bohemian capital. It was there that he married a Bohemian society girl. In 1909 he was called to be director of the Grand Musical Theatre of Mannheim where he also conducted the Philharmonic Concerts and Oratorio Society Concerts.
While a resident of that city he made frequent visits as guest conductor to London, Milan, Rome, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Brus sels, Cologne, Vienna, Munich, and other prominent European mu sical centers. He conducted the first performance of "Parsifal" in England in 1914. Such was Bodanzky's reputation that when the
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Metropolitan Opera Company of New York sought a successor to Alfred Hertz, his name was the first if not the only one seriously considered. He joined that organization in 1915.
From that time on he has conducted Wagner operas at the Metropolitan Opera House as well as directed the New York Society of the Friends of Music, whose regular series of concerts in New York are among the outstanding events of the music sea son. He presents ultra-modern works, gives premieres of novelties, and revives old and forgotten scores.
As a conductor, Bodanzky has gained an enviable reputation. His movements, when he conducts, are alert and vivacious, and his orchestral army responds to every gesture. In repose, his mobile face is melancholy. The sharply modeled features, and firm thin lips, are contradicted by the large black-brown eyes with dancing golden flecks in them, and by the broad, sloping forehead — the emo tional brow of the born musician. Although he looks like a pessi mist, he is actually the reverse. He is as fiery as a Hungarian and as elastic in his moods as a Viennese. At times he is as gay as a boy. It is his delight to conduct Italian operas, to lead Mozart and Johann Strauss, as well as to conduct Honegger or Ravel.
His musical pedigree is sound, his personality strong, ingrati ating. Few conductors have won their way so quickly.
Bodanzky made his New York debut with Wagner's "Twilight of the Gods," and nobly he stood the tremendous test. There were a few slips, the cast was not impeccable — how could it have been, since the great Wagner singers of former years have vanished ! but the conductor was the hero of the evening. For the first time in years, the audience was able to hear the singers. The sympathetic musician at the helm did not drown them with the turbulent waves of the score. There was power, potential and expressed ; there was poetry, and there was a rhythmic vitality that swept the listeners and musicians along on the wings of the mighty song of Wagner. A sagacious intellect controlled the work.
Bodanzky differs from his predecessors, Hertz and Toscanini. He is a versatile, brilliant and subtle conductor, and it is a bold dissenter who takes general exception to his broad musical con ception, though one may disagree as to details. He is a master of nuances. His orchestra is ever transparent. It vibrates, it glows, but it always reveals the musical structure. One can hear the inner voices, while the larger tonal balance and ensemble are in evidence. For the singers the conductor has peculiar care ; every entrance is signalled, every variation in tempo or rhythm indicated.
Arthur Bodanzky is equally the genius in conducting grand opera, symphony, and oratorio. He is in fact the conductor par excellence.
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He is never nervous during a performance although afterward he may become unstrung, for he uses up an incredible amount of energy, and becomes discouraged over such trifles as a false en trance by a singer, or the vagaries of the electric switch. At the first "Tristan" he conducted at the Metropolitan Opera House, the light failed at his desk during a crucial moment. It made no difference in his conducting — he could conduct the entire work without a score — but it annoyed him, and later those about him saw his features grow melancholy, his eyes stared at imaginary windmills, and he straightway became the dreamer of dreams, who waved long, thin hands across the river of multicolored music; a veritable Don Quixote of the baton.
EMIL COOPER
EMIL COOPER, the eminent Russian conductor, was born on Decem ber 20, 1879, in Odessa, Russia. His father, Albert Cooper, was a musician and teacher of music, and the son grew up in musical environment. His first violin lesson was taken at the age of six, and a year later he was discovered by Professor Freeman of the Odessa Conservatory. After six years under Professor Freeman's instruction he gave his first recital as a wonder child. Among the many noted personages in the audience was the Turkish Ambas sador to Russia, who invited him to give a concert at the palace of the Sultan Abdul Hamid. The Sultan, evidently quite pleased with the performance of the young virtuoso, extended to him the honor of remaining there as soloist for his pleasure. As protege of the Sultan, he was fortunate in obtaining a most liberal, cultural and practical education, his teachers being the very instructors of the princes. While at court he gained proficiency and fluency in the French, German, English, Spanish, Greek and Turkish lan guages.
After a four-year stay at the palace, he returned to Russia at the time of the Turkish massacre of Armenians. Upon his arrival in Odessa, when only at the age of seventeen, he was offered the direction of the symphony orchestra during the Exhibition at Odessa (1896). He rapidly rose to fame. In the next four years he held such high positions as conductor of the Castellano Company, a very famous Italian opera troupe, and the Prince Ziritelli Com pany, with which he toured entire Russia and scored great success.
In the year of 1900 the City Theatre was opened at Kiev, where Mr. Cooper in his capacity as main conductor displayed remarkable genius and ability. Six years later he was requested to fill the posi-
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tion of chief conductor of the great Moscow Opera Company, Zinuria. After a three-year stay, filled with unquestionable suc cesses, he was summoned to share the baton with the great master, Dr. Suk, in the Grand Imperial Opera at Moscow. During this ap pointment, he accompanied Chaliapin as special conductor to Lon don and Paris in order to present "Boris Godounow" at the above- mentioned places. It was during the war, following the departure of the great composer and conductor Nepravnik from the Marinsky Grand Opera at Petrograd that Emil Cooper was 'honored as his successor. At this stage in his career he was granted the degree of Professorship by the Petrograd Conservatory, at which institution he gave a series of lecture courses in conductorship.
During the revolution, Cooper founded the famous Philharmonic Orchestra of Petrograd. In 1923 he began a world-wide concert tour as guest conductor of symphonic and special operatic produc tions, performing in Germany, France, Spain, South America, Lon don, and the Baltic States, and gaining great popularity. At this writing he is conductor at the Grand Opera House, Paris, France.
EDOUARD JUDAS COLONNE
EDOUARD JUDAS COLONNE is principally famous as the founder of the Colonne Concerts in Paris. These he organized on March 2, 1873, at the Theatre Odeon. They have since become a permanent insti tution in that city, being regularly given on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the Theatre du Chatelet. They are at tended mainly by students and business people.
Colonne was born in Bordeaux on July 23, 1838. He was graduated from the Paris Conservatoire, under Girard and Sauzay (violin), and Elvart and A. Thomas (composition). Colonne was the first to produce such works of Berlioz as: Requiem, Romeo and Juliette, Damna tion de Faust (which he performed at his own concerts over 200 times), Chris- ti's Childhood, etc. In 1878 he con ducted the official concerts at the World Exhibition, Paris, and from 1892 till his death (March 28, 1910) he was first conductor at the Paris Opera,
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LEOPOLD DAMROSGH
THE MUSICAL LIFE of America took tremendous impetus from the energetic and intelligent labors of Leopold Damrosch. His name will always be mentioned with respect as one of the most talented
and extraordinary conductors of the New World.
Dr. Leopold Damrosch was born on October 22, 1832, in Posen (Polish Prus sia) . He was graduated from the Berlin University as doctor of medicine in ac cordance with his father's plans, but his own inclinations were toward music. He quickly negotiated a vocational transfer, making his initial appearance as a violin ist at Magdeburg in 1855. He studied the violin under Dan and Bohmer. His pro ficiency was so marked as to attract the attention of Franz List, then conductor of the Court Theatre at Weimar, who engaged the young artist as leading violinist of the opera orchestra. In 1858, Damrosch moved to Breslau to accept an appointment as conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra. He had married a highly gifted young singer, Helene von Heimburg, member of a noble family which traced its genealogy back to the thirteenth cen tury.
Musical conditions, however, were miserable. There were no regular symphony concerts, but with the founding by him of the Breslau Orchestra Verein, such concerts were established. All the great artists who passed nearby, visited the city, and invariably stopped at the Damrosch home. Among these were Wagner, Liszt, Von Bulow, Taussig, Cornelius, Joachim, Eubinstein, Lassen, Auer, Clara Schumann, and Raff, with all of whom he established the most friendly and intimate relations.
From 1858 to 1860 Damrosch directed the Breslau Philhar monic Society, and greatly aided in the popularizing of the works of Wagner, Liszt, and Berlioz. In 1860 he resigned this post, on ac count of tours which he undertook with Taussig and von Bulow. From 1862 to 1871 we find him conducting an orchestral society in Breslau, which blossomed under his fine leadership. At the same time he founded a choral society, arranged chamber music soirees, directed the Society for Classical Music, was for two years con ductor of the Breslau City Theatre, and with all these activities
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Leopold Damrosch and His Son Walter
still found time to appear as soloist in Leipzig, Hamburg and other cities. The music center of Breslau is deeply in debted to the untiring efforts of this splendid musician and executive.
Upon the outbreak of the Franco-Prus sian war in 1870, Dr. Damrosch became more and more discontented with musi cal, social and political conditions. It was with great difficulty that he was able to gain a living, the Breslau populace evincing more interest in material affairs than in art. A republican at heart, he hated the Prussian bureaucracy. When he received an invitation in 1871 to go to America as conductor of the Arion Society, he gladly accepted.
He proceeded to New York to ascertain whether or not the new field offered a career and a living. How well he gauged the situation and how well he fitted into the new order of things musical in America is a matter of history.
In the United States Dr. Damrosch revealed an even greater organizing talent, bringing to its highest development the society he directed.
In 1873 Rubinstein and Wieniawski came to America on a tour. While dining at the Damrosch home, the celebrated piano virtuoso expressed surprise that the doctor had not as yet achieved a posi tion worthy of his European reputation and capacity. Theodore Thomas dominated the American orchestral field and the general belief prevailed that there was not room for another similar or ganization. But Rubinstein urged as a beginning, the formation of at least an oratorio society. This was soon accomplished, and eventually led to the founding of the Symphony Society in 1878. These two societies play the greatest role in the musical life of America to this day.
Dr. Damrosch was a violinist of the first order. Upon his ar rival in New York he made his debut with the Philharmonic So ciety, playing the Beethoven concerto. His compositions number some forty vocal and instrumental pieces, including a symphony, a festival overture, an oratorio, and several cantatas.
In 1879 Dr. Damrosch gave the American public a first hearing of the "Damnation of Faust," by Berlioz. The event took plape in Steinway Hall. It enlisted the combined forces of the Symphony Society, the Oratorio Society, the Arion Society, and several soloists. The performance was a sensation, and was repeated four times during the winter to crowded houses. Following up this advance,
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he conceived the idea of a monster music festival in May of 1881, with 1,200 singers, an orchestra of 300, and a group of noted solo ists. The Seventh Regiment Armory in New York was filled with an audience of 10,000. The organ of St. Vincent's Church was transferred bodily.
The works performed were : Berlioz's "Requiem," Rubinstein's "Tower of Babel," Handel's "Messiah," Bethoven's Ninth Sym phony, and shorter selections.
After the failure of Italian Opera under Abbey, Schoeffel, and Grau, the directors of the Metropolitan Opera House tendered Damrosch the directorship for the 1884-85 season. He accepted and sailed for Europe to procure singers for a season of German opera in New York. His productions, especially of the Wagner operas, proved epoch-making, but the burden of opera, concert and oratorio proved too great a strain. During a rehearsal of Bach's "St. Matthew's Passion," he collapsed and never recovered, passing away on February 15, 1885, of pneumonia. The responsibility of continuing his work fell upon his son, Walter.
In My Musical Life, Walter Damrosch writes : *
"Money matters were to my father always so unimportant, as far as he was concerned, that I think he would have signed a con tract in which he bound himself to pay $8,000 a year to the Metropolitan Opera House for the privilege of mentioning Wag- nerian opera there. . . . He accepted their proposition and was happy in the evident security of opera in German for many years to come. During this winter he would not give up his beloved Sym phony nor Oratorio Societies, and he always insisted that the weekly Thursday evening rehearsals with the chorus of the Oratorio So ciety were a rest for him from operatic affairs. During one of those rehearsals (in February, 1885), while preparing the 'Requiem' of Verdi, he suddenly complained of feeling ill, and I rushed from the piano toward him, and, together with some of the singers, carried him to a cab and brought him home. Pneumonia set in, and he was too worn with the gigantic struggles of the win ter to withstand it. . . ."
Dr. Leopold Damrosch died at his home in New York on Febru ary 15, 1885.
During his lifetime the Columbia College of New York conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music.
Following is a list of his compositions: Violin Concerto in D minor; "Sulamith," a sacred cantata for soprano, tenor, chorus, and orchestra; "Ruth and Naomi," an oratorio; church music pub lished as "St. Cecilia," "Thou who Art God Alone," for baritone, male chorus and orchestra; the "Lexington Battle Hymn," for mixed chorus; "Cherry Ripe," a part song; also songs, concert pieces, violin pieces, et cetera.
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FRANK HEINO DAMROSGH
THIS GREAT American educator was born in Breslau on June 22, 1859. He is the son of the American musical pioneer, Dr. Leopold Damrosch and began his musical education under his father's guid ance in the city of his birth.. At the age of eleven, he came to America to join his father there. In New York City he con tinued his piano studies under Joseffy, Jean Vogt, Pruckner and Von Inten.
From 1882 to 1885 Damrosch con ducted the Denver Choral Club, organ ized by himself and from 1884 to 1885 was music supervisor in the public schools of that city. From 1885 to 1891 he was chorus master of the Metropolitan Opera House. In 1892 he resigned in fa vor of the People's Singing Classes, which later developed into the body now known as the People's Choral Union, which has accomplished much for the cause of popular train ing in choral singing in New York City.
In 1893 Damrosch founded the Musical Art Society, an organi zation of about sixty selected professional singers, who sang a capella music, old and new, with a degree of finish and style not heard in America before. Its dissolution occurred in 1920, due to lack of financial support.
Frank Damrosch's greatest service in the cause of music in the land of his adoption is the establishment by him of the Institute of Musical Art in 1905. It was generously endowed by the Jewish philanthropist, James Loeb. This school has raised and stabilized the shifting standards of musical education and pedagogy in the United States, and has since its establishment graduated from its ranks many well-known artists, such as Mischa Levitzki and Sascha Jacobsen. Damrosch has done wisely in introducing the Anton Kubinstein requirements in his school, for no pupil is accepted who has not been graduated from high school, or who cannot show the equivalent of such an education. Solfeggio, harmony and theory are compulsory subjects.
Dr. Damrosch is the author of A Popular Method in Sight Singing (1894), and Some Essentials of the Teaching of Music (1916) . He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Yale University in 1904.
His younger brother, Walter, speaks of him very enthusiastic-
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ally in his reminiscences : "He has always shared with me my love and enthusiasm for music in an equal degree. Frank always in sisted that his talent was not great enough to warrant making mu sic his profession; and therefore at the age of seventeen, he with great courage determined to go out West and begin a business career. He arrived in Denver, Colorado, with $100 in his pocket, and proceeded, in the manner of our American young men who have no intention of becoming a burden on their parents, to earn his own living. He began at the very bottom and slowly worked upwards, but suffered intensely during his first years there from the almost total lack of music. In order to satisfy his needs he founded a Choral Society, with which he gave some of the old oratorios, and with characteristic audacity he supplemented this with an orchestra composed of a handful of professionals then playing at the Denver Theatres, and a few amateurs. The citizens of Denver, realizing that he was a real musician in spite of his modest estimate of him self, urged him to give up business and turn altogether to music. . . ."
He took their advice! Great praise is due those citizens for having started on his career a man who has probably done more for the cause of choral music and teaching in America than any one we know, excepting, perhaps, his venerable father and younger brother.
WALTER JOHANNES DAMROSCH
No ONE has more enriched the musical culture of America, pro vided more musical entertainment for its people or labored more industriously in the cause of musical art than has Walter Johannes
| Damrosch. Fate seems to have prepared ' him for his vocation. As conductor, pi anist and lecturer he has ever been an alert and indefatigable advocate of good music.
The first nine years of his life were full years. His father stimulated in him a love for the classics, his favorite read ing being Greek mythology, fairy tales and biblical parables. Even at so early an age, his mind was searching out the dramatic. The artistic environment in which he lived brought him in contact with celebrities, Wagner, Liszt, Kubin- stein, von Bulow, Sarasate, Joachim, Clara Schumann, and many others.
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Son of the famous Dr. Leopold Damrosch and brother of Frank Damrosch, Walter Johannes Damrosch was born in Breslau, Silesia, on January 30, 1862. His father preceded his family to America. Shortly after his departure, the family in Breslau received an en thusiastic letter, bidding them follow him to New York. The mother, Walter, Frank, two younger sisters, and their Aunt Marie, set sail in August 18, 1871, in a little ship, the "Hermann" from Bremen. Dr. Damrosch's position was not worthy of his European repu tation and his ability. Pioneering in any field is hazardous, diffi cult, unremunerative. Only those with vision undertake it. Dr. Damrosch had one comfort in the realization that his two sons would continue the tradition of the family and carry his work to its ultimate fruition.
Walter and his brother Frank attended public school in New York, the former continuing his piano lessons. He possessed a talent for painting which he put into practice by constructing a doll's theatre in which miniature productions of opera were given. In My Musical Life he writes: "I continued my studies of the piano under an old teacher, Jean Vogt by name, and after his return to Germany I studied with Pruckner, von Inten, Max Pinner and Boeckelmann. . . . My first appearance in an orchestra was, I am sorry to say, a rank failure. I was only a boy of fourteen years, and my father had prepared a charming operetta of Schubert's, 'Der Hausliche Krieg,' for a summer night's festival of the Arion Society. In this occurs a delightful march of the crusaders with one loud clash of the cymbals at the climax. It did not seem worth
while to engage a musician at full union rates for this clash only, and I was there fore entrusted with it. At rehearsals I counted my bars and watched for my cue with such perfection that the cymbals resounded with great success at the proper time and in the proper manner. But at the performance, alas, a great nervousness fell upon me, and as the march proceeded and came nearer and nearer to the crucial moment, my hands seemed paralyzed. When my father's flashing eye indicated to me that the mo ment had come, I simply could not seem to lift the cymbals, which suddenly weighed like a hundred tons. ... As soon as I could I slipt out of the orchestra pit underneath the stage and into the dark night, feeling that life had no joy for me. I could not bear to hear the rest of the opera or to meet my father's reproachful eye. ..." In spite of this unhappy beginning, there followed his appoint-
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ment, at the age of eighteen, as director of the Newark Harmonic Society, the concerts of which were attended by Dr. Damrosch and analyzed by that thorough parent. In 1882 Walter was sent to Europe to advance his musical culture through contact with promi nent musicians, among them Liszt, von Bulow, and Brahms. He was also privileged to meet Wagner and his wife at Bayreuth, where he attended the first production of "Parsifal." Dr. Dam rosch, who had been appointed director of the Metropolitan Opera House with a commission to inaugurate a season of German opera, imported some new artists and gained a pronounced success during the Winter of 1884-85.
During the opera season, Walter was alert and toiling, on hand for every rehearsal, every performance. That sweet confidence between father and son was destined to bear fruit. While deeply engrossed in a multiplicity of duties, Walter became assistant to Director Stanton of the Metropolitan, and in the summer of 1885, again set sail for the land of artists, securing such prizes as Leh- mann, Brandt, Alvary, Fischer, and Seidl. Again in 1887, a journey across enabled him to have during an entire summer the inestimable privilege of analyzing the Beethoven symphonies with von Bulow. On the outward voyage he met Andrew Carnegie, who extended an invitation for a visit to Scotland. There he met James G. Elaine and his daughters, one of whom, Margaret, subsequently became Mrs. Damrosch, while the steel magnate was made president of the two Damrosch societies, a function which included the role of chief supporter ! Thus did fate take a hand in shaping the career of the young musician.
Upon the death of Dr. Damrosch, his responsibilities fell on Walter, then a youth of twenty-three. But his training and experi ence had peculiarly fitted him for the work. At the end of the second season with the Metropolitan Opera, he resigned, in order to return to his first love, the symphony. During this decade of building up, Damrosch found time to compose an opera, "The Scarlet Letter/' produced in 1896 ; the "Manilla Te Deum," in 1898 ; another opera "Cyrano de Bergerac," in 1913, as well as inci dental music to the Greek plays for Margaret Anglin. A first Han del festival in 1892 ; a first Beethoven cycle in 1909, repeated in 1924 in New York and in Paris, celebrating the centennial of tKe Ninth Symphony, are testimony to his energy. In 1908 Saint-Saens came to America at the invitation of Damrosch, ever on the gui vive for something of musical importance to present to the Ameri can public. There were many first performances under his baton, among them "Parsifal" and "Samson et Delila" in concert form, as well as symphonies by Brahms and Elgar.
His life was now a crowded one, and until his retirement in
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1927 has never ceased to be so. It provided enough material to fill the volume which appeared in print in 1924, under the title My Musical Life. The year 1891 was a fruitful one. Invited by Dam rosch, the famous Russian composer Tschaikowsky came to Amer ica. The first American performance of his "Symphonie Pathe- tique" was given the following year under Damrosch's direction; this year also saw the first appearance of Paderewski with his or chestra. With the formation of the Damrosch Opera Company in 1895, other great singers were introduced to American audiences, including Sucher, Brema, Ternina, Nordica, Klafsky, Bispham. In 1900 he again conducted German opera at the Metropolitan under Grau.
In 1912 Walter gave over the baton of the Oratorio Society to his brother, Frank, who presided over it from 1898 to 1912, resign ing to become director of the Institute of Musical Art. Walter again resumed control from 1919 to 1922, then handed it over to Albert Stoessel, the present able conductor.
Novelty and experiment are part of the Damrosch scheme of progress. He inaugurated the Sunday Symphony Concerts, devel oped the Young People's Symphony Concerts (inaugurated by Frank) , made possible the morning Symphony Concerts' for Chil dren with explanatory talks, given in his inimitable manner. Dam rosch found an active, efficient, and productive work during the World War. He was continuously busy as president of the Ameri can Friends of Music in France, giving concerts, securing employ ment for French musicians, and the like. Finally he went to France. He was instrumental in perfecting the organization and establishment of the Music School for Americans at Fontainebleau, and completed his magnificent labors by a tour with the entire New York Symphony Orchestra of France, England, Italy, Holland, and Belgium, in the Spring of 1920.
The most celebrated artists in the world have appeared at his concerts, and honors have been bestowed upon him in many forms. He was made Doctor of Music by Columbia University, Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Chevalier of the Crown of Belgium, Officer of the Crown of Italy. He also holds the gold medal of the Banda Municipale of Eome and the silver medal of the London Worshipful Company of Musicians. In 1922, Damrosch was the recipient of a signal honor when the combined orchestras of the New York Symphony, Philharmonic, and Philadelphia joined in a gala concert to establish a perpetual free-scholarship in the Ameri can Academy in Eome, to be known as the "Walter Damrosch Fel lowship in Music/'
The dean of American conductors, he has represented his coun try abroad more often than any other musician. Damrosch has
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departed for Europe year after year with some message, some duty for those across the sea. One of his greatest achievements and lasting contributions to the cause of musical art was made at the time when everyone turned against Germany and German prod ucts. Damrosch almost alone refused to banish his great German masterpieces from the programs, never conceding that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Wagner were part of the conflict, but maintaining that art and war must be kept apart.
In 1921, during the Congress of the British Music Society, he directed the London Symphony Orchestra, giving a program of American works. He also led the symphony orchestra of Stock holm and that of the Paris Conservatoire. He conducted a Bee thoven Cycle in Paris as a benefit for the old conservatory students. On numerous occasions he has donated his services in the cause of art.
The significant tour was that to Europe in 1920 which served as a fitting climax to his unparalleled record on this side. Through the generosity of Mr. Flagler, president of the society, the entire orchestra, on invitation of the French Minister of Fine Arts, jour neyed abroad to win further honors and establish a record of being the first American orchestra to play in Europe. Twenty-eight concerts were given in nineteen cities of France, Italy, Belgium and Holland, the tour including London; all was effected in less than seven weeks.
In prestige, the New York Symphony Orchestra ranks with the best institutions of its kind in any part of the world, while the name of Walter Damrosch stands out pre-eminently today as one who has served longest and accomplished most in the cause of musical art. During the forty-one seasons in which he has been director of the New York Symphony Orchestra, the wealth of edu cational material he has brought to the attention of thousands of students, teachers, musicians and music-lovers is incalculable. Standing on the bed-rock of conservatism with respect to the ideals of music, he has nevertheless been most liberal in serving the best of all schools. He has maintained an unswerving policy against the inartistic or banal. The masterpieces of the world's most emi nent composers have been presented, many of them having been performed for the first time under his baton. He has been a dili gent student of schools, traditions and developments. The new, if it be good, has an equal chance with the old, but it must be good. Damrosch is a keen and merciless analyst. Should anything escape his eye, his ear locates it.
As a worker, Damrosch is an electric dynamo, capable of con tinuous performance. He finds time for every duty, every call. His labors have been productive and notable. Not the least was
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his share in the revival by Margaret Anglin of Greek plays, for which he wrote dignified and appropriate music. His lectures on opera and symphony are models of lucidity and entertainment, while as a speaker his natural wit, knowledge and earnestness have made him eagerly sought. His programs are constructed with the best taste and judgment.
It was Walter Damrosch who inaugurated with a musical festi val the opening of the now famous Carnegie Hall in 1891. In order to give special significance to the occasion, he invited Tschai- kowsky, with whom he became close friends. The following year he visited Cambridge University, on the occasion of Tschaikowsky's receiving the honorary degree of Music Doctor, together with four other famous musicians, Saint-Saens, Boito, Grieg and Max Bruch. Of these four musicians, Saint-Saens was a special friend of Dam rosch, who conducted his concerts in New York in 1908.
America owes to Walter Damrosch and his father an acquaint ance with the world's great singers and musicians, most of them intimate friends of the conductor, particularly Lili Lehman, to whom Damrosch acknowledges a great many debts of a musical and practical nature. In the operatic ranks were: Seidl-Kraus, Schroeder, Hanstangel, Materna, Brandt, Schott, Staudigal, Eobin- son. Following in his father's footsteps, Walter brought over Leh- mann, Alvary, Fischer, Seidl, Sucher, Gadski, Brown, Ternina, Kalfsky, Nordica, Schumann-Heink, and introduced the American baritone, Bispham — all famous names that have since disappeared from the musical calendar. In the concert field, the artists assisting at symphony concerts are legion. In the early days, we had Wil- helmj, Rubinstein, Joseffy, Kubelik, D' Albert, von Bulow, Carreno, Paderewski, Sarasate, Ysaye, and all the great singers.
It is to be regretted that Walter leaves no male heirs to carry on the rich tradition of their father, uncle and grandfather. Of his four daughters, Alice, Margaret, Leopoldine and Anita, only the third, Polly, is an excellent pianist.
In 1920 Walter Damrosch celebrated the marriage of his daugh ter, Gretchen, to Mr. Fandlater, in Paris. The occasion served for the gathering of the cream of Europe's musical circles, among whom were Saint-Saens, the grand maitre, and Mme. Nellie Melba.
America is also indebted to Walter Damrosch for the many new works of great value he has introduced here. Among these are "Samson and Delila"; Edward GrelFs "Missa Solemnis"; Liszt's "Christus" ; Horatio Parker's "St. Christopher," and many others.
As a composer, Damrosch has produced compositions which do not deserve the neglect which has been their fate. These works have an educational value that has never been appreciated. His operas, "The Scarlet Letter" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" have a dis tinct place in musico-dramatic literature, and deserve study in spite
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of the fact that they are not in the repertory of present-day opera companies. His "Manila Te Deum," though composed for a speci fic purpose, ought not, because of that fact, to be relegated to oblivion. There is no more stirring song in print than "Danny Deever," while his incidental music to the Greek plays is the work!1 of a skilful musician and master of orchestral color.
During the year of 1925 there was talk in Washington of ap pointing Damrosch as America's ambassador to Germany, but for one reason or another he did not choose to yield his baton to the diplomat's robe, as had his colleague Paderewski.
On March 27, 1925, Damrosch's friends and followers cele brated the fortieth anniversary of his presidence over the fortunes and destinies of the New York Symphony Orchestra, a unique rec ord in the annals of the musical history.
ISSAI DOBROWEN
ISSAI DOBROWEN has achieved considerable reputation as com poser, piano-virtuoso, conductor, and staff manager. His recent mounting of "Boris Godunov" in Dresden, and at the Berlin Volk-
soper, aroused unusual critical admira tion, as has his conducting of symphonic concerts in the German capital.
Dobrowen was born in 1894 at Nizhni Novgorod, and obtained his principal musical education at the Moscow Con servatory, where he studied piano with Jaroschewsky and Igumnoff, and com position with Taneieff. Graduated from this institution in 1911 as gold medalist, he pursued his piano studies with Godow- sky in Vienna. He was named professor at the Moscow Philharmonic in 1917, and two years later accepted the conductor- ship of the Grand Theatre, in that city, continuing until the spring of 1922, when he resolved to settle in Dresden.
"Although Dobrowen is thoroughly modern in his harmonically rhythmic conception of sound, he does not belong to any of the radical groups of the present generation of composers. He has in scribed on his banner neither the Schonberg school, nor the lately proclaimed "inanimation" of music originating from his fellow- countrymen at present active as composers in France."
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In his music he is above all a man of feeling, not merely a me chanical sound apparatus. Among his compositions are: "The Thousand and One Nights" (1922), a musical fairy play; music for Verhaeren's "Philip IF'; two piano sonatas; a violin sonata; a piano concerto in C sharp minor, etc.
During the winter season of 1924-25 he was first conductor at the Volksoper in Berlin and successfully produced "Boris Godu- now," "Carmen" and other operas. At the same time he conducted concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin, Dresden,. Magdeburg, Halle, Stockholm, Helsingfors, as well as Moscow and Leningrad.
OSCAR FRIED
OSCAR FRIED is one of the outstanding figures in the German musical world. He is an excellent interpreter of opera as well as of symphonic and choral music. He was born in Berlin on August
10, 1871, and is a pupil of Humperdinck and Philip Scharwenka. He started his musical career as a hornist in various orchestras. In 1904 he received his first engagement as conductor with the Stern Gesangsverein in Berlin, and in 1907 with the Geselschaft der Musikf reunde. From 1910 on he acted as conductor of important orchestral organizations, de voting himself to producing novelties. He also conducted the Berlin Philhar monic Orchestra at the Deutsches Opera House in Berlin, and toured Germany, Scandinavia and the important cities of Russia.
Fried has also found time for composition. The following is a partial list of his works : Choral piece, "Song of Intoxication" (text from Nietzsche) , opus 11 ; Harvest Song (text from Dehmel) , opus 15 ; Preludes and Double Fugues for large string orchestra, opus 10; pieces for thirteen wind instruments and two harps, opus 2; songs, opera 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 13; "Radiant Night," for solo and orchestra (text from Dehmel), opus 9; Female Choruses, opera 12 and 14.
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GREGORY FITELBERG
THE SON OF A Russian army bandmaster, Gregory Fitelberg was born in Dinaburg, formerly a Russian province, on October 18, 1879. By residence and culture he was completely identi fied with the Polish nation. In 1891 he entered the Warsaw Music Institute, where he studied theory with Noskowski and violin with Barcewitz. He was graduated in five years and immediately became violinist of the Warsaw Opera Theatre Orchestra. In 1896 his "sonata for violin and piano/' opus three, won the first Paderewski prize in the Inter national competition at Leipzig. In 1901 he was awarded the Zamoyski prize for his "F minor Trio," opus 10,, for violin, 'cello and piano.
In 1902 he became solo player at the Warsaw Philharmonic and was conductor there from 1907 to 1911. In 1912 he led concerts of Polish music, especially the music of Karol Szymanowski, and became conductor of the Imperial Opera in Vienna. He soon gave up this post to return to Warsaw. During the Russian Revolution he was a con ductor of opera and symphony in Leningrad. He was also con ductor of the Russian Ballet Company, with Pavlowa and Fokine, Although not a familiar name to America, he is considered in Europe as ranking with the ablest conductors. The breadth and fire of his interpretations recall Otto Klemperer. His "Trio" is ir the pseudo-classical style, and is extremely sentimental, but broac and melodious, while his latest work is impressionistic, exhibitins bold and complicated harmonies and richly-colored orchestrations Fitelberg's work since his "Trio" has been growing increasingly modernistic, and he is now spoken of as the bold and progressiv< pioneer of modern Polish music.
In 1905 Fitelberg founded, together with Karol Szymanowski Ludomir Rozycki, and Apolinary Szeluta, the Society of Young Pol ish Composers,, which has issued many remarkable compositions A list of Fitelberg's work follows : symphonic poem, "The Son; of the Falcon" (from Gorky) , opus 18 ; "Protesilaus and Laodamia (from Wyspanski), opus 24; violin concerto, opus 13; two ovei tures, opus 14 and 17; Piano Trio, opus 12;, two Violin Sonata; opus 2 and 13 ; Songs, opera, 19, 21, 22, and 23.
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NATHANIEL FINSTON
ALTHOUGH STILL IN His early thirties, Nathaniel Finston can boast of a place in the new field of cinema synchronization that is rapidly developing from the piano thumpings of yesteryear's nickelodeons
to the dignity of an independent and col ored art of his own.
It is almost unbelievable how much this man has to carry in his head in the way of scoring, synchronizing and directing his motion picture theatres. He has to furnish suitable music not only for one theatre, but for a whole circuit of thea tres ; not only in one city but in three — all at a great distance from one another. It is interesting to see this man darting from on theatre to another and from one city to another — today in Boston, tomor row in New York, and the day following in Chicago.
Nathaniel Finston was born on February 24, 1892, in New York City. His father, a Russian, came of a family of professional people. His mother is of Austrian origin ; her father was a fisher man by trade and a violinist by avocation, performing at peasants' weddings and local celebrations. Finston says of himself:
"I received my early training in public school and for a time attended the City College of New York. It was my grandfather's brilliant idea to get me to study the violin in order to keep me off the streets, so he went to a pawn shop and bought my first violin for two dollars. Of course, this violin was big enough for him to use it also, and he was longing to play again. My first impression of music was hearing my grandfather play by ear. He tried to teach me to play by ear, but could not make me understand him.
"About a year later, a friend of the family, Mr, Gusikoff , father of the well-known violinist, Michael Gusikoff, advised me to take the violin and call on one of his friends ; to this friend I think I owe my whole musical career. This man never made his mark in life, but he devoted his best efforts to his violin pupils. His name is Solomon Elin, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory for years, a member of the New York Symphony and other organizations.
"I played with the Russian Symphony Orchestra, under Modest Altschuler, for five years, and for two years in the Boston Opera Company. After this I came to New York City and played for two years with the New York Symphony as assistant concertmaster un-
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der Walter Damrosch. In the subsequqent two years I became a member of the New York Philharmonic under Josef Stransky, a marvelous body of orchestral players. During my years in orches tra, which in all were eleven, I also played under Safonoff, Bodan- sky, Gabrilovitch, and Ernest Bloch.
"About this time, the motion picture theatre developed musical ambitions. Having played for eleven consecutive years in sym phonic orchestras, opera, quartets, salon orchestras, and similar or ganizations, I had become dissatisfied with my prospects. An idea struck me that I could probably utilize my vast musical experience in other ways. I applied to Hugo Riesenfeld. During the first association of Mr. Eiesenfeld and Mr. Rothapfel at the Trilby Theatre, I was engaged as one of the concert masters.
"A year and a half later I was engaged as assistant conductor at the Rialto Theatre, and two and a half years later I was engaged by the Capitol Theatre in New York. Later I went to Chicago, where I remained for five years with a then unknown firm, Bala- ban & Katz, but who now are credited with the marvelous improve ment of the movie theatres.
"I have been for five years director of all the productions in the Chicago Theatre, and now am in charge of all productions in the Publix chain of theatres, comprising many hundreds in the United States. For a position of this kind is it necessary to know the jazz mind as well as the opera and symphony mind."
Finston's glowing eyes are ever restless, and the sparkle in them speaks volumes for his bountiful mental, physical, and spir itual resources. His is a clear, logical, and analytical mind.
ALFRED GOODMAN
ALFRED GOODMAN, composer and conductor of musical comedies and operettas, was born on August 12, 1890, in Nikopol, a small town on the River Dnieper near Odessa, Russia. His father was an orthodox cantor, and Alfred received his rudimentary education from his father and brothers, who were all educated musicians.
When Alfred was seven years old, his parents brought him to America. He spent his adolescence in Baltimore, where he received his entire schooling. For ten years he studied piano, organ, harmony, composition and singing at the Peabody • Conservatory in Baltimore.
Goodman married before he was twenty; thus there was the necessity for immediate and additional income. He thereupon secured a position with the music publishing firm of Witmark as their Chicago orchestrator and arrived in Chicago to hear that
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Los Angeles was a good unworked field. At a Los Angeles theatre, he drifted into conducting, for which he was paid, though not for the music he composed for the local produc tions. One night, while thus officiating, Al Jolson, the celebrated comedian, was in the audience. Then and there Goodman's troubles were ended. Jolson arranged to have him come to New York as his own particular conductor; he has led for Jolson ever since.
The first Jolson show in which he thus participated was "Sinbad," and J. J. Shubert, the musical producer, liked his methods so much that he was engaged as the general musical director and producer of musical scores for the Shubert Theatrical Enterprises.
He is becoming well known as a composer, too, and has prepared and composed and interpolated on everything from "Artists and Models" to "Maritza" by Emmerick Kalman. He has also conducted musical comedy, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and a summer stock season of Grand Opera.
EDWIN FRANKO GOLDMAN
EDWIN FRANKO GOLDMAN is known to America as the organizer of the "Symphony Orchestra in Brass." This orchestra was founded in 1918 when Goldman conceived the idea of free summer concerts in New York City. He himself raised the necessary funds to begin. Since then he has given free public concerts every sum mer at Columbia University campus and at Central Park, drawing huge audiences. This European institution of park concerts was hardly known to Americans before. Goldman was the first musi cian to be officially honored by the city of New York when in 1919 the mayor presented him with a gold watch.
Edwin Franko Goldman was born in Louisville, Kentucky on January 1, 1878. Both his parents were musicians, having studied violin and piano in Europe for many years. His mother appeared in public when a very young girl. At the age of eight Edwin began to study the cornet. At fourteen, his success in an examination for admission to the National Conservatory of Music won him a free scholarship. (Dvorak was then director of the Conservatory.) For a year Goldman studied composition with him. Then Jules Levy, the famous cornetist, accepted him as a free pupil. At seventeen he was engaged as cornetist at the Metropolitan Opera House where he remained for ten years.
Since resigning from the Metropolitan, he has devoted most of his time to conducting and writing.
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VLADIMIR GOLSCHMANN
ONE OF the ablest young French conductors is Vladimir Golsch- mann, who was born in Paris on December 16, 1893, of .Russian Parents. He studied violin, piano, harmony, and counterpoint,
and on maturing played as violinist with various Paris orchestras.
Golschmann came to public notice in 1919, when he organized the "Concerts Golschmann," which have popularized most of the works of the modern French School at the Salle des Agriculteurs, Salle Gaveau, Theatre de Champs-Ely- sees. The first significant event of this foundation was his presentation in 1920 of Milhaud's "Boeuf sur le Toit."
Golschmann is an excellent inter preter of polytonal music, and is natur ally the champion par excellence of the Groupe des Six. He was also the con ductor of the Diaghilev Ballet in 1920, and directed the first post-war production in Paris of Stravinsky's "Sacre du Prin- temps." He was* invited to Brussels as guest conductor of the "Concerts Populaires" in 1924, and on October 19 and 20 presented there the first hearing of Honegger's "Pacifique 231," the Queen and Princess Elizabeth being present. Golschmann was summoned to the royal box to receive Her Majesty's congratula tions.
On November 29 and 30, the young French conductor presided over the famous Pasdeloups Orchestra in Paris of which Rene Baton is the regular conductor. In March, 1924, Golschmann was engaged as guest conductor with the New York Symphony Orches tra, and in December of the same year conducted a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall, Aeolian Hall, and the Brooklyn- Academy of Music, where he successfully performed excerpts from Rameau's "Castor and Pollux," Stravinsky's "A Bird" suite, Roussel's "The Spider's Banquet," Beethoven's "Seventh .Sym phony" and Honegger's "Pastorale d'fite."
The first impression of importance that Golschmann made in America was as conductor of the Royal Swedish Ballet.
His wife, Mme. M. Soyer, is a lyric soprano at the Monnaie Theatre in Brussels. She is a graduate of the 'cello class of the Paris Conservatory and made her debut with that instrument.
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LOUIS HASSELMANS
Louis HASSELMANS, who has been In charge of the music prepara tion of the French repertory at the New York Metropolitan Opera House and conductor of its performances since the last half of the
1921-22 season, was born in Paris, on July 25, 1878.
. The young Louis (whose father was a celebrated harpist and teacher on that instrument at the Paris Conservatoire) entered the Paris Conservatoire to study the 'cello under J. Delsart, harmony un der A. Lavignac, while Jules Massenet was his teacher for instrumentation, and B. Godard for chamber-music. From this institution he was graduated with the first prize at the age of fifteen.
His musical career started as 'cellist of the Concerts Lamoureux. In 1904 he became 'cellist of the famous Caplet Quartet, with which organization he toured France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Holland, and other countries.
But he soon manifested great abilities as a conductor. As a consequence, he made his debut as conductor of the Lamoureux Orchestra in two concerts (1905). The talent displayed on those occasions instantly marked Hasselmans' future, and there was a public response to the founding, in 1907, of the Hasselmans So ciety Concerts in the Salle Gaveau.
Called by Albert Carre to become first conductor at the Paris Opera Comique, Hasselmans resigned his place in the Caplet Quar tet. His destiny was, however, apparent; so much that it was natural he should have yielded to the invitation to conduct for the Montreal Opera Company during 1911-13, and in 1913-14 to lead the twenty-four programs of the Marseilles Concerts Classiques. At the end of the World War, Cleof onte Campanini secured Has selmans for the Chicago Opera Association, where he remained as head of the French repertoire in 1918-20.
Louis Hasselmans returned to Paris, where he again conducted at the Paris Opera Comique in 1920-21. It was from that institu tion that he went to the New York Metropolitan Opera House. His accomplishment there .and at Ravinia — near Chicago — (where he has conducted uninterruptedly since the summer of 1921), are matters of public record.
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ALEXIS HOLLAENDER
As A pianist and conductor Alexis Hollaender won notice equally with his brother Gustav. Alexis has for many years conducted the Berlin "Cecilia Verein," whose object it is to present seldom
heard choral works. He succeeded in carrying out the aims of the organiza tion which he still manages, though he is now in his eighty-seventh year.
He was born on February 25, 1840 in Ratibor, Silesia. In 1858 he was graduated from the Elizabeth Gymnasi um in Breslau, and entered the Berlin University, attending the Academy of Arts at the same time. He was a pupil of K. Bohmer, and also studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy in Berlin. In his public appearances that followed he advocated the works of the then little-known Robert Schu mann. From 1861 to 1888 Hollaender was piano teacher and instructor of choral singing at Theodore Kullak's New Academy of Musical Art, and from 1888 he directed his own music school. Previous to that, in 1877, he was engaged as professor of singing at the Victoria School, and from 1903 his excellent lectures on music were heard at the Humboldt Academy.
Hollaender wrote a Requiem for six voices, a piano quintet, a trio, piano pieces, songs, chorals, songs a capella, five-voice chor uses, etc.
In 1875 Hollaender received the title of King's Music Director, and in 1888 the title of Professor. Hollaender is the husband of the famous singer, Anna Becky.
AGIDE JACCHIA
AGIDE JACCHIA, the Italian conductor and composer, was born in Lugo, Romagna on January 5, 1875. He studied at the Conservatories of Parma, Pesaro, and Milan, where he was a favorite pupil of Mascagni. He made his, debut as conductor of the Teatro Grande in Brescia in 1898, and continued to conduct there, filling engagements as well in Ferrara and Venice until
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1902, when he visited the United States with Mascagni. During the season of 1903-6 he conducted at Milan, Leghorn, and Siena, and from 1907 to 1910 he led a season at the Academy of Music in New York. From 1910 to 1914 he was director of the Montreal National Opera Company in Canada. For the season 1914-15 Jacchia was chief conductor of the Century Opera Company in New York, and in the seasons following conducted the Boston National Opera Company, later becoming director of the popular concerts at Symphony Hall in Boston. Since 1919 he has been director of the Music Institute of that city.
He has written a "Hymn to Rossini," a prize Cantata (1898), a Central-American National Hymn, and other works.
VICTOR KOLAR
VICTOR KOLAR, assistant conductor to Gabrilowitch of the De troit Symphony Orchestra, is a gifted and promising young musician. He was born of Bohemian parents in Budapest, Hun gary, on February 12, 1888. At the Prague Conservatory he studied violin, and took composition with Dvorak. In 1904 he came to America and joined the ranks of the violinists at the Chicago Symphony, but forsook them the following year for the Pittsburg Orchestra. From 1907 to 1919 he was a member of the New York Symphony Orchestra, also acting as assistant conductor since 1915.
Kolar is now regarded as one of the outstanding young Ameri can composers. His symphonic poem "Hiawatha" was performed by the Pittsburg Orchestra on January 31, 1908. Another sym phonic poem, "A Fairy Tale/' was given a performance by the New York Symphony Orchestra on February 16, 1913. This same orchestra also performed his symphonic suite, "Americana," opus 20, on January 25, 1914, and his "Symphony in D" on January 28, 1916. Kolar's "Slovakian Rhapsody" for orchestra was performed at the Norfolk Connecticut Musical Festival on June 7, 1922.
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OTTO KLEMPERER
DURING THE famous Peace Conference in Vienna in 1813, Czar Alexander I is said to have exclaimed in Napoleon's presence, "I am the greatest here/' to which the short corporal replied : "No,
you are undeniably the tallest, but I am the greatest." Otto Klemperer, on the other hand, is the tallest, and also one of the greatest among contemporary con ductors. Looking seven or eight feet tall, he towers above the .world's leading orchestras, without needing the custom ary conductor's platform, and magnetizes his men with his Promethean fire. His appearance calls to mind the late Gustav Mahler, Elemperer's friend and patron. Members of the orchestras, accustomed to leaders of lesser dimensions, look for Klemperer's baton, but find their eyes on a level with his coat buttons. Otto Klemperer is a man of dark complexion, sensitive features, and expressive eyes. Now crouching, now rising to his full and enormous height, or bending double, like an immense bird, over the orchestra, he pulls or drives tone from it. In spite of his mannerisms in conducting, his sincerity is unquestionable, and whether or not, in these observant days, his gestures appeal to the gallery, the basic and important fact is that they draw immediate response from the orchestra, that the men are infected with the conviction and the enthusiasm of the leader, and that his spirit is felt in turn by the audiences.
I have had the pleasure of playing with the New York Sym phony, under Klemperer's leadership during the seasons of 1926 and 1927. In the course of a conversation with him he related to me these facts about himself,
His paternal grandfather was a teacher of religion and other subjects in Prague, and his father was a merchant. His mother, whose maiden surname was Nathan, was born in Hamburg, and was an accomplished pianist. His maternal grandmother, Frau Nathan (nee Ree) was of French ancestry. Like Walter Dam- rosch, director of the New York Symphony, Klemperer was born in Breslau on May 15, 1885.
His parents moved to Hamburg four years after his birth. He entered at an early age the Hochs Conservatory in Frankfurt-am-
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Main, and later became a pupil of Scharwenka in Berlin. Klemp- erer is one of the few notable conductors who have never played in an orchestra. His first intention was to be a pianist. His piano teacher was Ivan Quast, and his violin teacher was Zayic; and Hans Pfitzner taught him composition.
In the year 1905, Klemperer was assistant conductor to Oscar Fried in Berlin. During that time Max Reinhardt came to Berlin to put on an Offenbach operetta. He wanted a conductor. Some one suggested "that great tall fellow, Klemperer, young, to be sure, but very talented." One of Gustav Mahler's works was given its first performance in Berlin. There were two orchestras, one of them back-stage, which Klemperer was chosen to conduct.
Mahler was there and being well pleased with the work of the long-legged boy, took an interest in him. It was through Mahler that Klemperer in 1917 got his first position — that of conductor at the Deutsches Landstheater in Prague.
Klemperer treasures as a memento a letter given him by Mahler at that time. "I find Herr Klemperer extraordinarily good, in spite of his youth, already a well routined musician, who is predestined for a conductor's career. I guarantee good results in case of his appointment to the post of conductor and always stand ready personally to co-operate with him and help him."
In 1909 Klemperer was appointed conductor at Hamburg, again on Mahler's recommendation. Then he went as conductor to Bremen and Strassburg, and in 1917 to Koln. During the past several years Klemperer has been engaged at Wiesbaden, where he is the "Volcano of Wiesbaden." He spends half of the year travel ling as guest conductor in Russia, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the larger cities of Germany.
He was among the first to introduce modern French and Italian composers in Germany. He is also well-known for his readings of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler, as well as Richard Strauss. Klemperer is spoken of "as perhaps the greatest of all conductors, in Europe today, with a positively fascinating person ality, and as an artist is equally at home in classic as well as modern music."
His success in Russia was phenomenal, probably greater than in any other country. He was invited there for three successive seasons, and is now again invited, this time to conduct the Beethoven Festival, planned in Moscow, Leningrad and other large Russian cities during 1927.
During the season of 1925-26 Klemperer was engaged as guest conductor with the New York Symphony, where the writer, being a member of the orchestra, had an opportunity to study the man and the conductor. He wields a precise and rhythmic stick over
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his orchestra ; the patterns he lays out are lucid. He knows the exact capabilities of his players and how to draw these capabilities out. A symphony for him is comprised of sallies, dartings, appre hensions. His posture seems to say to his men: "There is some thing coming now, something extraordinary; you'll never guess what ; watch out ! Around the corner of the next phrase something very exciting is lurking — watch me get excited and double up when it arrives!"
Klemperer earned particular gratitude in New York for his practical championship of Bruckner. It takes courage and convic tion for a visiting conductor to lead this modernist's "Eighth Symphony" three times in quick succession in spite of an anti- Bruckner prejudice which exists among New Yorkers.
Klemperer won immediate enthusiastic recognition from the New York audiences and reviewers. This is the more to his credit since, during his first visit to the United States he had to compete with such colossi as Toscanini, Mengelberg and Furtwaengler, who were conducting other orchestral organizations in New York at the same time. As a result of his ten weeks' engagement, Klemperer has grown so greatly in public favor that he is now perhaps New York's favorite conductor. And let it be added that he came to the United States practically unknown and unheralded. The result of his first engagement with the New York Symphony was an imme diate re-engagement for a season of fifteen weeks for the ensuing year.
The press was unanimous in declaring his interpretations of Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel" and "Todt and Verklarung" the out standing musical events of the season. Klemperer is aflame with whatever music he interprets, and he conducts everything by faultless and letter-perfect memory.
Being interested in this phenomenal memory of his, I once asked Klemperer whether it could be attributed to his sight or his ear, to which he pointed at his temple, saying, "Everything is here. It is only necessary for me to hear or to play the score a few times, and it at once sinks whole into my memory."
Klemperer is also a composer of consequence, although his extensive occupations as conductor absorb most of his time and energy necessary for creative work. The following are his pub lished works: "Missa Sacra," in C, for solo, choir, children's choir, organ and orchestra; Psalm 13, for bass solo, organ and orchestra ; a coloratura aria added to Rossini's "Barber of Seville/' and several songs.
Klemperer is also an excellent pianist and accompanist. On the occasion of Lawrence Tibbett's appearance with the New York Symphony as a substitute for Mme. Austral, Klemperer accom-
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panied him in Schumann's "Dichterliebe" cycle, playing from memory.
Otto Klemperer accepted an offer to conduct twelve concerts at the Colon Theatre, of Buenos Aires, during September and Oc tober of 1926. Here he won the same recognition from Latin audi ences that he earned throughout Europe and the United States.
In September of 1926 he accepted the position of general music director of the Staats Opera in Berlin offered him by the Prussian Kultur-Minister, Dr. Becker. His contract is for ten years be ginning in September of 1927. Immediately after signing this contract, he engaged the two well-known conductors, Alexander Zemlinsky and Fritz Zweig as his assistants.
HERMANN LEVI
THE NAME of Hermann Levi is intimately associated with the history of the Munich Theatre, and particularly with the shifting fate of Richard Wagner's music dramas.
Levi was born on November 7, 1839, in Giessen, where his father was chief rabbi. From 1872 till his death he was General Musik Direktor and Court Conductor in Munich. On July 28, 1882, he conducted the first performance of "Parsifal" in Bayreuth. He was one of the most ardent apostles of Wagner, and his word was considered final in debates on the significance of any of Wagner's music dramas. In Levi's eyes art stood higher than any current party politics. He was governed by wholesome, simple instincts, and his worship of the Bayreuth idol did not prevent him from giving other gods their due.
Hermann Levi was a pupil of Lachner in Mannheim, and later entered the Leipzig Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Ritz and Hauptmann. Like a great many other musicians of his time, he was finally attracted to Paris. Levi's career begins with his appointment as General Musik Direktor at Saarbrucken in 1859. Two years later he was conductor of the German Opera in Rotter dam, and from 1864 to 1872 he was court conductor at Karlsruhe, after which he held the same position in Munich.
Wagner's many letters to Levi speak of the ever growing intimacy between the two musicians, from the time of their meeting in Mannheim in 1871.
Hermann Levi died in Munich on May 13, 1900.
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SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY
SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY'S place in the world of music is unique, for the celebrated Russian conductor is also universally known for his mastery of that ponderous — and, in the hands of lesser men,
lugubrious — instrument of the orchestra, the contra-bass. As conductor he was widely known in pre-war days. As leader of his own orchestra in Moscow, which he conducted almost without interruption during the war and the revolutionary upheaval in Russia, Kous- sevitzky gained recognition as one of Russia's foremost conductors.
Richard Strauss once astonished the world by saying, a propos of "Tristan" : "Believe me, the brain that could pour out that passionate music must have been as cold as ice/' This paradox is the sober truth. The more an artist is on fire, the cooler must be the head and hand that direct the fire. Koussevitzky has this central iciness to an extraordinary degree. It would hardly be possible to raise some works to a higher pitch of nervous incandescence than he does ; but this nervousness never gets out of hand. It is Koussevitzky's servant, not his master. The excitement is always perfectly under control; one great plastic line runs through the work.
Although Koussevitzky is known as the "apostle of the moderns," he does not devote himself exclusively to them. He presents unusual programs, that is, programs that have not become platitudinous through repetition; these include seldom heard symphonic works of the older masters.
Koussevitzky is also an extraordinary and thoroughly original interpreter- of the classics. He plays the works of Beethoven as though they had been written yesterday. He does not build up a fanciful picture of this great classicist as he was, one hundred years ago, and does not insist on making him behave in the decorous way in which some conductors think a classic ought to behave.
It is a spirit of dissatisfaction with ready-made interpre tations of life and art that has made Serge Koussevitzky the figure he is in the world of music. He is continually searching, not merely for novelty, but for new contributions, new explana tions, new truths. Claimed both by the romanticists and the
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classicists, he seems to have applied the theories of the first to his life and the sec ond to his art. His interpretations are the most authoritative, particularly that of Scriabin.
Serge Koussevitzky was born in Tver in 1874. His father was a member of a symphony orchestra. When only six the boy received music lessons, and at nine took part in the orchestra of the Tver City Theater. Three years later he began to conduct a provincial the atre orchestra, and to compose music for dramatic representations. In ^1890 he
__ entered the Conservatory of the Moscow
Philharmonic Society as a student of composition and orches tral conducting, and, in order to qualify for a scholarship also studied the double-bass under the famous Professor Bam- baussec. ^ His studies terminated, he obtained a post as double- bass soloist at the Moscow Imperial Opera, and for several years appeared in all the principal centers as a double-bass virtuoso. He never lost sight, however, of his real aim, and in 1909 organ ized a student orchestra in Berlin of the best classical and modern music, gaining experience in interpreting. Eeturning to Russia, he established his own Symphony organization in Moscow, and gave a series of symphony concerts in Moscow and Petrograd! He made several tours with his orchestra through the Russian provinces, and was the first to familiarize Russia with many of the modern European composers, such as Debussy, Ravel, Florent Schmitt, P. Ducas, Roger Ducasse, Fanelly, Elgar and Richard Strauss, as well as with the Russians, Scriabin, Stravinsky Prokofieff, and others.
Koussevitzky was in the habit of making a bi-annual tour of the central provinces of his native country, chartering one of the largest Volga steamers, and using the 2,325 miles extent of the river as a highway. By this means he was able to transport with ease and celerity a large party of friends as well as his permanent private orchestra of eighty-five musicians, and a full-size concert grand piano. Stopping at the principal cities on the banks of the river, he gave a series of concerts at nominal fees, thus bringing a breath of the civilized world to the teeming multitudes in that region which covers about 583,000 square miles. In the course of these crusades, Koussevitzky discovered and encouraged many persons whose talents would otherwise have remained unknown. The last occasion on which he was permitted to make his musical tour on the Volga was in May 1914, the company of
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guests and musicians totaling over 100 persons, and the itinerary embracing the principal towns of the Volga River from Jaroslavl to Astrakhan.
The principal aim of all the musical organizations and activi ties of Koussevitzky in Russia was partly to struggle against routine in the understanding and interpretation of the classical music. Debussy was twice invited by him to come to Russia and to conduct his works in Petrograd and Moscow.
Koussevitzky used to organize special festivals of Beethoven, Bach, Tschaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, and others, conducted by himself in the two capitals of Russia. He was a favorite pupil in Arthur Nikisch's classes in conducting. Koussevitzky was un doubtedly much influenced by Nikisch, for he resembles him a great deal in the manner of his conducting, being like him, both lyric and romantic.
The great friendship which united Koussevitzky to the com poser Alexander Scriabin is well known. The composer himself estimated Koussevitzky as the best interpreter of his orchestral works. He was the first to perform in Russia Scriabin's poem "Prometheus" and the famous "Poeme de 1'Extase." They had no success at the first performance; but their present great popu larity is due to many repetitions at the concerts of Koussevitzky.
The musical publication L'Edition Russe de Musique, organ ized by Koussevitzky and his wife Natalie, in 1909, simultane ously with his concerts, had as its principal aim the publishing of the works of talented young Russian composers thus intro ducing them and saving them from exploitation. L'Edition Musicale Russe published the most important works of such Russian composers as Igor Stravinsky, Serge Rachmaninoff, Alex ander Scriabin, Serge Prokofieff, Alexander Gretchaninoff, and others. Rimsky-Korsakoffs Treatise on Orchestration, known by musicians throughout the world, was also published by them. Their activities are now being continued in Paris.
Koussevitzky came to Western Europe in 1920. He organized concerts in Paris with the same aim that he had done in Russia. Each year he gave a spring and autumn series of four concerts. These have become a leading feature of musical life in Paris, owing to the freshness and novelty of their programes and the new spirit which inspires them. During the four years of their existence Koussevitzky discovered to his audiences not only many works of Russian composers quite unknown in Europe before him, but also those of the young composers of the modern French, English, and Italian schools, and even some quite unfamiliar classical and ancient works.
Koussevitzky has given over sixty novelties in Paris, enjbraQ-
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ing almost the entire list of the French, Russian, and Italian moderns, as well as many revivals.
During the same years, he conducted concerts in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Warsaw and Mantes. At Barcelona, Lisbon, and Paris, he gave Rimsky-KorsakofFs "The Snow Maiden," Moussorgsky's "Boris Godounoff" and "Khovanschina," Borodine's "Prince Igor," Tschaikovsky's "Queen of Spades," and others.
The following tribute was one of a great many paid him in England: "It used to be said" (we quote the Westminster Gazette) "that Nikisch mesmerised his players. In Koussevitzky's case one might rather put it that he electrifies them — and with them the audiences too."
In Autumn of 1924 Koussevitzk was nominated as conductor to the Boston Symphony to replace Pierre Monteux.
During the season of 1924-5 he gave, for the first time in America, Moussorgsky's "Tableaux d'une Exposition," especially orchestrated for the conductor by Maurice Ravel; Arthur Honeg- ger's "Pacifique 231," and Serge Prokofieff s suite "Scythe," which he had previously given in Paris. He also brough with him Igor Stravinsky's new piano concerto.
Koussevitsky's success in America was so great that the Boston Symphony Orchestra re-engaged him for another five years long before his first contract had expired.
His graying hair, his well-knit figure, his firm decisive jaw seems to mark him, not as an artistic radical, but as a conservative. He is both of these. Therein perhaps lies the secret of his success. He has a somewhat cynical sense of humor, which he is tactful enough to suppress when the occasion demands. As he talks there is in the inflection of his voice, in the whimsical drooping of his eyes, a suggestion of the dynamic personality which he reveals on the stand.
As the bass-viol virtuoso, Koussevitzky developed an extraordi nary facility; he not only became the double-bass soloist of the orchestra of the Imperial Opera at Moscow, but succeeded his teacher as prof essor of that instrument at the Conservatory. For ten years he toured Russia and Western Europe as a contra-bass virtuoso, and composed a number of works for that instrument, including a concerto, that are now part of the repertory of every contra-bassist.
On February 24, 1926, Kossevitzky appeared as soloist on the contra-bass at a concert of Brown University in Providence, Long Island, playing Handel's "Ombra mai f u" ; and the honorary degree of Doctor of Music was conferred upon him.
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LEO LOW
ONE OF the most conspicuous figures in the field of national Jewish music in New York and its environments is Leo Low, who was born in Volkovisk, Poland, on January 15, 1878. A child of middle- class-parents, he received up to the age of thirteen a strict Jewish education. Low showed his musical predilection at the age of eight, when he used to sing in the choir of his father, a cantor. When twelve years old, he appeared a "child- cantor," and attracted much attention. Later followed a period of travelling with journeying cantors through Lithu ania and Ukrainia. When the boy was fifteen years of age, and his voice changed, he became conductor of a choir in his home town.
Shortly afterwards, Low entered the Warsaw Conservatory where he was graduated in 1899. He subsequently became leader of a military band, and the conductor of Yiddish and Eussia operettas. He was also engaged as conductor at the big synagogue in Vilna under the famous cantor Sirota, with whom he remained for five years.
Shortly afterwards, Low went to Bukharest, Roumania, where he became music director of a reformed Jewish temple. There he directed the chorus and also wrote several compositions for voices as well as for the organ. He made the acquaintance of a Spanish Jew, Cohen-Linary, with whom he again studied harmony, and at that time he composed some music for psalms and several songs. In 1908 Low returned to Warsaw, where he became music director of the Tolmatzker Synagogue, remaining in that capacity for twelve years. During that time he was also conductor of the Warsaw "Hazomor," a choral body interested in the. performance of oratorio and classic choruses.
In 1913 he undertook a concert-tour through the United States with the cantor Sirota. At that time, Low trained a chorus and gave concerts in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other centers, drawing a large attendance, and arousing enthusiasm among Jewish music lovers. Returning to Warsaw, he lived there through the turbulent period of the war. In January of 1920, he again came to America with the well-known cantor, Hershman, and finally settled here. He then composed a Jewish operetta, "The Musical Village/' which had a short run. In 1921 he returned to
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his former activities, becoming conductor of the Paterson (New Jersey) chorus, which he brought to a high degree of perfection. He later organized the Nazionaler Arbeiter Verband Chor in New York, of which he is to this day conductor. With this he gave a number of important concerts, with such soloists as Joseph Schwarz, Mischa Levitzki, Marie Sundelius, Mischa Elman, and others. At the same time he assumed the musical direction of the Brooklyn Beth-El Synagogue.
DAVID MENDOZA
ALTHOUGH STILL a very young man, David Mendoza occupies a place in the field of motion picture music together with Finston, Rapee, Pilzer, and Riesenfeld. The orchestra he conducts is the
, full-sized symphony orchestra of the
Capitol Theatre in New York which is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Mendoza was born in New York City on March 13, 1894. His father was a government clerk. At the age of seven, David began studying the violin with Kneisel, and later composition with Percy Goetschius. He twice interrupted his musical studies in order to work for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, but the stronger love conquered, and at the age of seventeen he determined to devote himself entirely to music.
During his professional career, Men doza was with the Eussian Symphony under Modest Altschuler for two years, and later with the New York Symphony as first violinist. After leaving these two well-known orchestras, he entered the motion-picture field, first appearing at the Rialto Theatre. He then became concert master of the Rivoli Theatre, where he displayed exceptional talent in the selection and presentation of the musical programs. He next became musical director at Fox's Academy Theater, and remained there for one year, after which he was brought to the Capitol Theater by Mr. Rothapfel. He has made many friends at this palatial house of entertainment which has become a national institution.
Mendoza is now recognized as one of the ablest musical pro ducers for motion pictures. His Adaptations, arrangements and compositions for such pictures as the "Big Parade," "The Merry Widow," "Greed," "Ben Hur," "Mare Nostrum," and others, are both colorful and interesting.
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PIERRE MONTEUX
THIS EMINENT French conductor should be given credit primarily for his high courage in popularizing during the early days of his career, the works of the French and Russian modernists, who were
in France at least, taboo. With this view he founded at the Paris Casino in Feb ruary of 1914, the Societe des Concerts Populaires, with which his name is still connected. There he gave the first full concert performance of Stravinsky's "Petroushka," and during April 1914, had the courage to include in his program the same composer's "Sacre du Prin- temps," since made famous and even popular.
Pierre Monteux was born in Paris on April 4, 1875. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire (solfeggio and harmony with Lavignac, counterpoint with Gene- puen, and violin with Berthalier), and won the first prize in violin playing in 1896. As early as 1894 he made his debut in a quartet. On being graduated from the Conservatoire, he commenced his career as violinist in the orchestras of the Opera Comique and the Concerts Colonne, where he was second leader of the violin section. From 1912 to 1914 he won fame as conductor of the Diaghilev Ballet Russe, where he conducted Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe," Debussy's "Jeux d'Eaux" and Stravinsky's "Sacre du Printemps" (1913-14).
Beginning with 1913 and continuing for several seasons, Monteux conducted at the Paris Grand Opera House Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Chatelet, and Odeon. During that time he was also conductor at Convent Garden and Drury Lane, London, and in Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, and other musical centers. He con ducted a tour of the Russian Ballet in the United States, and the concerts of the Civic Orchestra in New York.
During the World War, Monteux was recalled from the front and sent to the United States to carry on musical propaganda in favor of the Allied nations. He has since definitely settled in this country and, until his resignation in 1924, conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and in New York. His programs are models of eclecticism, and his interpretations are noted for their delicacy of detail — those of Debussy especially benefitting by his fine gradation of nuances and sensitive appreciation of the
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value of each group of instruments. During the season of 1917-18 Monteux also conducted at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
He has also given the premieres of RavePs "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales," Roger-Ducasse's "Le Jolie Jeu du Furet," and many others.
During past seasons Monteux conducted at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and in the interval directed concerts in Leningrad, Moscow, Stockholm, and Berlin.
in 1TO he married Germaine Benedictus.
GIORGIO POLACCO
"THE SOUL of a performance of grand opera is the conductor." The man who stands with uplifted baton in the orchestra pit is the representative of the composer. In the orchestra pit, the true
conductor, directing the entire perform ance, lives not one role, but all of them, for he must live them all to express with the music of his orchestra all that moved the composer of the score.
Giorgio Polacco, present conductor of the Chicago Civic Opera Company, is accepted throughout the world as a mu sician and conductor, who is as gifted an artist as the age has produced. The story of his life, expended in the cause of art, is full of achievement.
Polacco was born in Venice on April 12, 1875. He spent his youth in a com fortable home, studying literature and philosophy and languages, according to the ideas of his father. But he was born with an inordinate craving for music. He dia not know the meaning of moderation in its study.
Even as a youngster, Polacco displayed the artistic gifts that later made him one of the great figures of the musical world. When his father died, Giorgio became the head of the family. He decided to put his musical education to professional use. Wealthy relatives would have given aid, but young Polacco refused.
At the age of eighteen the young musician accepted a position in London with an operatic company. There, in the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1892, and with an operatic ease that would do credit to any of the principal opera theatres of today, the eighteen-year-
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old boy conducted a performance of "Orpheus" that lived long in the memory "of many who heard it.
When he was only twenty, he was sent for to conduct at the Lyric International Theatre in Milan.
His musical career was a series of triumphs. He served seventeen seasons at Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro where he became a popular idol. Between opera seasons he went home to Italy to his mother.
After more than a decade and a half of opera in Brazil and the Argentine, he took up his principal operatic labors in Italy. Polacco came to be known as a conductor who was always being asked to conduct first performances outside the countries where those operas were being composed and produced. He was the first man to conduct "Louise" outside of. Paris as well as "Peleas and Melisande" and others too numerous to mention.
In 1904, Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, and lover of the arts, charged one of his ministers with the duty of obtaining talent for the opera in Mexico City. The minister invited Giorgio Polacco to come to Mexico with him. Polacco accepted, taking to his Mexico company a modestly paid Italian singer whom he regarded as a real artist. This artist was Tetrazzini !
In his youth Polacco became fluent in French, German, Russian, and Italian. In Brazil and the Argentine he learnt Spanish and Portuguese. One day in Mexico City it was decided to give a presentation of "The Love of Three Kings/7 The conductor's score was in Italian. The company required a Spanish translation. Conductor Polacco sat up all night, and when day broke a full translation into Spanish was ready. In 1910, Puccini produced his "Girl of the Golden West" at Brescia, with Polacco conducting. The production was later brought to the United States, and staged by Henry W. Savage. In the Fall of 1911, Arturo Toscanini recommended to the Metropolitan management that Maestro Polacco be added to the conductors' list. Polacco went to the Metropolitan without a contract, expecting to remain a month or two. He remained there six years. When Toscanini left in 1915, Polacco became senior conductor for three years. At the expiration of that period, he joined the Chicago Civic Opera Company on the invitation of Cleofonte Campanini, then director of the Chicago organization. He is now their chief musical director.
Giorgio Polacco married Edith Mason, the well-known singer.
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HUGO RIESENFELD
HUGO RIESENFELD engages in an exceptionally varied and interest ing routine of activities as managing director of three Broadway picture theatres in New York. He popularizes classic compositions,
arranges popular melodies symphonic- ally and presents them as classical jazz, composes melodies and symphonies, cre ates film opera by featuring motion pictures of opera to match the music of opera, writes original settings for pic tures and conducts his orchestras at the metropolitan theatres. "Just a gentle man of leisure," is the way he describes himself.
Hugo Riesenfeld was born in Vienna on January 26, 1879, and was gradu ated with honors from the Vienna Con servatory, after which he filled a long engagement in the Vienna Opera House as concert master and conductor of ballets. In the course of an extremely active and intense life, Riesenfeld played under such musical colossi as Mahler, Schuch, Hans Richter, Goricke, Safo- noff, Wiengartner, Hugo Bresehan and many others.
Riesenfeld's first violin teacher was Bachrach. He also studied with Grunn and Rose. Robert Fuchs and Grodener taught him composition. In the year 1906 Riesenfeld came to America as concert master of Oscar Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera House. Later he worked with the Klaw and Erlanger Company as music director and conductor of comic opera productions.
Riesenfeld composed and directed his own operetta "The Merry Martyr/' produced with success by Klaw and Erlanger in 1913. When the Century Opera Company opened with grand opera in English, Hugo Riesenfeld was secured as its guiding musical spirit.
In April of 1916, he became the musical director and conductor of the Rialto Theatre Orchestra, New York. When the Rivoli opened in 1917, and the Criterion in April of 1920, they were also placed under his direction.
Carl Engel, chief of the music division of the Library of Congress in Washington, B.C., writing of classical jazz in the London Chest erian, declares : "It is nothing else than some of our excellent popular tunes of recent vintage, infused with all the sparkle of a symphony orchestra bottled up in a masterful i
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mentation, enriched with a bouquet unmistakably American, irresistible, intoxicating."
The Kiesenfeld standards have become the standards of the motion picture theatres of America. His entertainment scheme has been copied from coast to coast. His orchestral settings to such pictures as "The Covered Wagon," "The Ten Command ments," "Madame Sans-Gene," and particularly "The Volga Boatman," which had its world premiere in May of 1926 in New York, have been applauded by millions.
As a composer Riesenfeld has to his credit, aside from the operetta already mentioned, such successes as "Betty Be Good," a musical comedy ; "Overture in Romantic Style"; songs; and innumerable small works.
FRITZ REINER
THIS BRILLIANT young Hungarian conductor, though still in his thirties, is regarded as one o'f the foremost wielders of the baton. His rapid rise to musical eminence in Europe won him the
conductorship of the Cincinnati Orches tra in 1922.
He was born in Budapest, Hungary on December 19, 1888. His parents were ambitious for his development. . During his youth he carried on many studies at the same time, and always took first honors in his classes. During high school days he studied piano, com position, and English besides the regular course. At the age of sixteen he was graduated simultaneously from higt school and from the National Academy . of Music of Budapest. His father had planned for him the career of a lawyer, and so insisted that the young man attend university. The boy3 however, became more and more interested in music, and conse quently more and more neglectful of his law studies. A year later, his father died. Young Reiner abandoned himself to the call of music and left the university.
Through the good advice, help, and influence of a boyhood friend, Leo Weiner, Fritz had been admitted to the National Academy of Music. He played tympani in the orchestra of the National Academy of Music, which is one of the most famous musical institutes of the world. During those years the great Hubay was conductor, and young Reiner was much loved by the
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master. His first professional experience as conductor, when he was but nineteen, was as assistant to the Budapest Opera Com- ique. This was followed by an appointment as principal director at the National Theatre in Laibach, Jugo-Slavia, and this led to the post of principal director of the People's Opera in Budapest. The fame of the young conductor began to spread, and the opera management of Dresden, which boasts one of the most celebrated opera houses in the world, made him an offer. It resulted in his going to Dresden, where he remained for eight years as first conductor of the Royal Opera, succeeding in this capacity the famous Ernst von Schuch.
During these years he was frequently invited to be guest conductor in various cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna. Then came the World War. Reiner's position was a lifetime one. At the beginning the beautiful prospect of a glorious future with countless honors glowed before him. The war brought ruin and revolution to the country. The whole order of affairs was changed. When an invitation came to him from the Teatro Constanzi, Rome, he accepted immediately. There he remained during the winter season of 1921, conducting Wagnerian operas, as well as concerts at the Augusteo. While in Rome he received an invi tation to conduct at the Teatro Liceo of Barcelona, Spain, a number of Wagnerian Operas in the Spring of 1922. While in Barcelona, his engagement was extended to include some produc tions in Palma, the principal city of the Island of Majorca. Meanwhile, his wife, Mme Bertha Gardini Reiner, who had been through a great strain during the previous war time years in Germany, singing and teaching, remained for a rest at her villa in Italy. One day there came to her a cable from a friend in Zurich saying that the President of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Association was desirous of offering Reiner the position of conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Mme Reiner immediately cabled her husbancf, but when the message reached him, it was no longer intelligible. Unable to make it out, he replied that Mme Reiner should use her own judgment in the matter, whatever it might be. She accepted.
This happened in March of 1922. In April Reiner returned to Rome to conduct a final engagement. Then he and his wife started on their long journey for their new position, home, and country. They went first to Dresden, and then sailed from Hamburg, on September 16, on the steamer "Caronia," reaching New York, September 26, and arriving in Cincinnati on October 1st.
Reiner had come to Cincinnati on a one-year contract, but long before its termination he was offered a four-year contract, which he accepted. Under his commanding baton this organiza tion has reached a high degree of perfection.
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During the Summer months of 1924 and 1925, Fritz Reiner conducted at the New York Philharmonic concerts in the series of the Lewisohn Stadium open air concerts, playing- for huge audi ences. In January of 1926, he brought his Cincinnati orchestra for a series of concerts in New York, eliciting high praise from the metropolitan press for his splendid leadership and musician ship, for according to one New York critic "Reiner delicately conjures forth from his favorite compositions not their brazen defiance, but whatsoever they have of melody, plaintive, dreamy or joyous."
He also conducted several concerts with the Philadelphia and the New York Philharmonic Orchestras.
Reiner also devotes some of his time to composition, and has written a string quartet, many songs, and sundry pieces.
ERNO RAPEE
ERNO RAPEE, conductor, who has established for himself a unique reputation in the field of motion picture re-scoring, synchronizing, and conducting, was born in Budapest, on June 4, 1891. He was
a pupil of the National Academy there, and also of Emil Sauer, the distinguished Viennese pianist. He acted in 1912 as assistant to Ernest von Schuch, the well- known Dresden conductor. He is an ex cellent piano virtuoso, and has appeared in Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Since coming to this country in 1912, Rapee has been accompanist to such artists as David Hochstein, Maurice Dambois, and others. He also enjoys the distinction of being the first pianist to appear with the Letz Quartet.
For two years he was musical di rector of the Rivoli Theatre in New York City, and for four years the musical director of the Capitol Theatre, which maintains a full-sized symphony orchestra. He is considered one of the most talented of the younger conductors.
After being active for two years as musical director of the U. F. A. Theatre in Berlin, he returned in 1926 to New York City, where he is musical director of the world's largest and tinest theatre — the Roxy. His talents as conductor give his musical representa tions here a dignity not found in theatres of its kind.
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SIR LANDON RONALD
SIR LANDON RONALD, the famous English conductor, is the son of Henry Russell, the well-known teacher of singing and song com poser. He was born on June 7, 1873, in London, and educated at
St. Marylebone, All Souls' Grammar School, and Margate College.
He has described his childhood days in Variations on a Personal Theme:
"From the age of four or five I gave such obvious signs of being exception ally musical that never for an instant was the possibility entertained of my ever becoming anything but a musician. My dear mother not only gave me my first pianoforte lessons, but in every way guided and helped me in my studies, se lecting my masters, and even standing over me with infinite patience to see that I performed my allotted tasks. Oddly enough, I was a lazy boy and would always shirk work if I could.
"This is all the more curious when it is remembered that from the age of seventeen I have been an indefatigable worker and that today I never give up unless ill-health compels me to do so. Everything in music came remarkably easy to me, especially writ ing songs. I was trained, however, to become a pianist and violin ist, but heartily disliked having to practice either instrument. At the age of fourteen I wanted to give up both in order to become a conductor, a composer and a musical critic, and wrote this fact to my mother. . . . She met me with a very definite refusal, partly because she quite rightly deemed my desire as a mere excuse to escape the necessary work that all pianists and violinists have to do. To those two instruments I was therefore kept, and after some six months' private tuition under Lady Thompson for com position, Franklin Taylor for pianoforte, and Henry Holmes for violin, I was entered as a student at the Royal College of Music." At the College he studied composition under Sir Hubert Parry; counterpoint under Sir Frederick Bridge. He also studied under Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir W. Parrat.
He obtained his first professional engagement in 1890, soon after leaving the College. He played the piano part in "L'Enf ant Prodigue" at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. This post he obtained in a competition with numerous other applicants. He accompanied the famous musical play over 500 times all through England and Scotland. He was then engaged by William Greet to tour as conductor of comic operas.
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At the age of eighteen he met Mancinelli, the well-known con ductor at the Covent Garden Opera House, and through his influ ence, as well as his own merit, was appointed "maestro al piano" at the Italian Opera, Covent Garden, under Sir Augustus Harris. The latter sent him on a six months' tour as one of the conductors of a company including the Sisters Rowogli, David Bispham, Kich- ard Green, Lucile Hill, and about twenty other artists, together with a large chorus and orchestra.
In 1893 he was introduced to Melba, who required a maestro to study "Manon" with her. Since that time he .has invariably joined her in her tours as conductor and accompanist.
It will be of interest to quote a few words of his own in regard to his meeting with the great Melba:
"My friendship with this great singer dates back many, many years, and I can scarcely think of one milestone in my career with out the name of Melba being in some way identified with it. As a matter of fact my first meeting with her was actually on Covent Garden stage, when I was a boy of nineteen, doing all the dirty (musical) work there was to do ! Why she ever took the slightest notice of me, or troubled to ask my name of Arthur Collins, will ever remain a mystery to me.
"It came about that one memorable night when I was in my usual place (the 'prompt corner' on the stage, vocal score in hand) during a performance of 'Faust/ In walked Melba. She sat on a wooden bench, looked about her, saw me, glanced quickly at me, turned her head, then looked me up and down, and asked in a very direct fashion, 'And who on earth are you?' I went hot and cold, red and white, tried to stammer out that I was a sort of maid-of- all-work, but a humble worshipper of hers, when Arthur Collins, the director, bounced in and said: 'This is the young fellow I spoke to you about, madame. I want you to give him a chance/
"A few days later I was called to visit the great Diva . . . I was very nervous when I was eventually ushered into Melba's sitting-room and found her waiting for me. At the end of the practice on 'Manon,' Melba asked me a few questions about myself, and paid me some charming compliments about my touch on the piano and the patience I had shown.
"I told her that my ambition was to become a great conductor and accompanist, and she took me seriously and encouraged me. Suddenly it occurred to her to ask me to play one or two of her famous arias for her. She became very enthusiastic and went into minute details as to what she wanted here and what she wished there, seating herself at the piano and actually showing me. As I left her, she uttered a single sentence, which probably meant little enough to her, but everything to me in the world : 'Remember, that for the future you are Melba's sole accompanist.'
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"And for something like fourteen consecutive years she kept to her word and had no one else to play for her."
After his return from America, he appeared twice before Queen Victoria, and in 1898 was conductor at the Lyric Theatre. He also appeared at Balmoral and Windsor before King Edward and Queen Alexandria.
From 1897 on he became Tosti's helper at court functions, and from 1898 to 1902, besides being conductor at the Lyric, he also conducted the Sunday concerts at Blackpool. In 1907-08, he was guest conductor with the London Symphony, as well as with other orchestras on the Continent: Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Leipzig, Bremen, and at the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, where he introduced Elgar's First Symphony for the first time in Italy.
In November of 1910 Sir Ronald was elected Principal of the Guildhall School of Music, London. He has conducted the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (formerly the New Symphony) since 1908, bringing it to a high point of excellence ; also the Promenade Con certs in Birmingham.
He has also conducted the Liverpool Philharmonic Concerts, the Manchester Halle Concerts, the Scottish Orchestra, and others.
At times he has served as critic for London papers. He was musical editor of Artist in 1902 and of Onlooker in 1903.
Among other works, he has written the symphonic poem, "A Winter's Night,1' the overture "A Birthday," the ballets "Britan nia's Realm" (1902) and "Entente Cordiale" (1904), an operetta, dramatic scenes "Adonais" and "Lament of Shah Jehan" (violin and orchestra), incidental music to "The Garden of Allah," about 300 songs, including additional numbers to "Little Miss Nobody," "The Silver Slipper," "Floradora," "1'Amour Mocille," and many piano pieces. He also published, in 1924, an autobiographical book, Variations on a Personal Theme.
He was knighted in 1910. He married Miss Mimi Ettlinger, of Frankfort-on-Main.
Of his musical likes and dislikes, he says :
"I would like to make it quite clear that I have no grievances — no axe to grind. I belong to no clique — I have no prejudices for or against any particular school, and thank God, I am not jealous or envious of a single member of my profession. There is room for us all in this world, and perhaps life might be made a little more pleasant for many of us if we took a little more interest in each other's work and were not quite so absorbed in our own."
His father, Henry Russell (1812-1900), wrote "A Life on the Ocean Wave," "Woodman, Spare That Tree," "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," and other popular songs, numbering more than 800 in all. He played organ in Rochester, N. Y., wrote I'Amico dei Cantanti and a book on singing.
Henry Russell was a pupil of Rossini in Naples.
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WALTER HENRY ROTHWELL
WALTER HENRY ROTHWELL was born on September 22, 1872, in London, of an English father and an Austrian mother. He was taken to Vienna when a very young child. His musical talent soon
manifested itself too clearly to be over looked, and his mother, an excellent pianist and a pupil of Wieck (who was the father of Clara Schumann), gave the boy instruction. He made such rapid progress that at he age of nine he en tered the Royal Academy of Music in Vienna, where his piano teachers were Rauch, Schonner and Professor Julius Epstein. Counterpoint and composition he studied with Hans Krenn, Robert Fuchs and Anton Bruckner.
Upon graduating from the Royal Academy with highest honors — the first prize and the gold medal — at the age of fifteen, Rothwell continued to study piano and composition with Julius Epstein and Nathan Fuchs in Vienna, and then went to Munich, where he completed his studies in composition and modern orchestration with the late Ludwig Thuille and Dr. Max von Schil lings, noted authorities in these branches of music.
In his seventeenth year, Rothwell became widely known as a pianist throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He was engaged as teacher of piano for several members of the royal family of Austria, and became the vogue among the members of the Aus trian aristocracy.
At this time, notwithstanding his extreme youth, he coached many artists of the Royal Opera of Vienna and also prepared artists for the Bayreuth Festivals. It was while he was rehears ing one of the Wagner operas that the famous impresario Pollini, of the Hamburg Opera, heard him and persuaded him to abandon the concert field and become conductor of the Hamburg Opera, under the leadership of the distinguished Gustav Mahler, who was chief conductor of the institution. To Gustav Mahler Rothwell acknowledges a deep debt of gratitude, as that great master took an immediate interest in the young musician, and taught him every detail of the technique of conducting. Although for years he had been in close contact with the opera in Vienna and its wonderful orchestra, Rothwell's insight into the works of the great masters was due to Mahler's genius and personality.
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Two years later, having become a skilled conductor, he left Hamburg to act as first conductor in such cities as Vienna, Bres- lau, Rostock, and Linz. After several years of activity in Ger many, he was invited to conduct "Fidelio," "Lohengrin," and "Die Freischutz" at the Royal Opera in Amsterdam, Holland. After a sensational success he was appointed general musical director of that institution. While there he received an offer from Colonel Henry W. Savage, which resulted in his first visit to America to conduct the English performances of "Parsifal" in 1904-05, when it was given in all the large cities of the United States — a total of 114 performances of this opera under his baton. This tour was so successful that he was re-engaged for a similar tour of Puc cini's "Madame Butterfly/' which had its first American presenta tion in English at Washington, under RothwelL The opera was produced at the Metropolitan Opera House later in the same sea son. Its success was so great that a second season was made possible, and the second year was even more successful than the first.
Upon the completion of this engagement, he accepted a five- year contract to conduct opera at Frankfort-am-Main. He later procured his release from the Frankfort operatic conductorship and accepted an offer from the St. Paul Symphony Association of Minnesota, for after conducting opera for many years, he much preferred symphonic to operatic work.
Rothwell has been conductor of the St. Paul Symphony Or chestra for seven years and has raised it to a high degree of excel lence. His contract had another two years to run when, at the outbreak of the World War, the Symphony Association found it impossible to raise the necessary guarantee fund, and so the or ganization was disbanded. It was while conducting the St. Paul Symphony Orchestra in 1907 that Rothwell inaugurated the first Children's Concerts given in America. They were tremendously successful and have since been generally introduced in America by the various symphony orchestras.
In 1908 Rothwell married Miss Elizabeth Wolff, dramatic so prano, who came to America to sing the title role in "Madame Butterfly," and who has since appeared in recital on numerous occasions.
In 1915-18 Rothwell centered his activities in New York City, where he maintained a studio for artist pupils. His pupils include many who have since attained recognition and fame. During this period he found the time, hitherto denied him in his more exacting engagements, to devote himself to composition.
Rothwell was not permitted, even during this period of teach ing in New York, completely to lay aside his conducting. During the years 1917 and 1918, he served as guest conductor some ten
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times of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Sym phony Orchestra.
In the Summer of 1916, Rothwell directed the Civic Orchestral Concerts at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, in a series of summer concerts, which drew capacity audiences.
In the Summer of 1919, William Andrews Clark, Jr., decided to found the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and selected Rothwell as its permanent conductor, which position he held until his death by apoplexy on March 13, 1927. He was driving his car in Los Angeles, making for the beach. Evidently he felt the at tack coming, for he shut off his car and coasted to the curb where he collapsed over his wheel. A woman driving behind him stopped and helped him out of his car, and laid him on the grass where, in another minute, he died.
Rothwell served the highest ideals in art, both as a conductor and a composer, in which latter field he was also well known. His work in Los Angeles was that of a pioneer and his influence has been great in molding and developing the musical taste, not only of the community but the surrounding territory as well. The ex cellence of his orchestra was a matter for favorable comment of important guest-conductors who led it in the Hollywood Bowl Con certs and it also made possible the fine performances of the Los Angeles Opera Association, with which he was to have conducted the first local performance of "Tristan and Isolde.'* Personally, he was unostentatious but sincere, and his untiring efforts brought honor to himself and distinction to the organization whose destiny he did so much to shape, in making it, in the space of eight years, one of the notable orchestral bodies in the country.
Rothwell composed a piano concerto with orchestral accom paniment; two piano sonatas; incidental music to Maeterlinck's "Mort de Tintagiles" for voice and orchestra; a "Bacchanale" to a poem by Louis Untermeyer for voice and orchestra; a musical setting for voice and orchestra for a cycle of poems by the same American poet; two scherzos for orchestra; "Midsummer Night" for voice and orchestra (the vocal part was sung by Florence Easton with great success) ; and many other songs.
AARON PASOWSKY
AARON PASOWSKY, chief conductor of the Moscow "Big Theatre," is distinguished as a conductor of opera. Still in his early forties, he is considered one of the most significant conductors in Russia at the present time.
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KURT SCHINDLER
KURT SCHINDLER is widely known for his conductorship of the famous Schola Cantorum, the foremost choral organization in the United States, which he founded in 1908. The original name of
this organization until 1910 was the MacDowell Club Chorus. No other or ganization of its kind has been known to present such a great variety of new or forgotten works, singing with style and finish, as did the Schola Cantorum.
Kurt Schindler is a master of pro gram building; he has a genius for discovering new or forgotten music, for which he makes periodical journeys to Europe. He is also a great connoisseur of folk songs, particularly Russian and Spanish, having published Songs of the Russian People (1915), and Russian Liturgical Songs (with Charles Win- fred Douglas, in 1913). From 1912 to 1917 he edited two volumes, entitled A Century of Russian Songs, comprising the best examples of several Russian schools.
Schindler is a gifted writer. His two brochures — in essence an attack on Moussorgsky and Schonberg — are well known. Schindler has furthermore composed over eighty songs of his own. From 1907, he has been almost continuously connected as critic and reader with the great New York publishing house of G. Schirmer, also making many translations into English from the Russian, Finnish, Spanish, German and other languages. He has also published an album of songs of the Finnish people.
This versatile scholar, composer, and conductor of choral music, was born in Berlin on February 7, 1882. He studied piano under Ansorge, and composition under Bassler, Gernsheim, Thuile and L. C. Wolf. He also studied philosophy and history of art and music at the Universities of Berlin and Munich. From 1902 to 1904 he was conductor at the Court Theatres at Stuttgart and Wtirzburg, and assistant conductor to Richard Strauss in Berlin.
Schindler came to America in 1905 as assistant conductor at the New York Metropolitan Opera House. This post he resigned in 1908 when he laid the foundation of the present Schola Cantorum which is responsible almost to him alone for the high place it holds in the musical life of America. Kurt Schindler resigned his leadership of the Schola Cantorum in 1926.
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Schindler has been organist and music director of the famous New York reformed synagogue, Temple Emanuel, from 1912 to 1925, when he resigned. He is now musical director of the Musical Forum Society, of New York.
ALEXANDER SMALLENS.
THE PROGRESS of this young conductor during the past fifteen years has been steady. It was therefore not unexpected that he should reveal such distinctive gifts when his symphonic debut
eventually occurred in Philadelphia dur ing the Summer of 1925, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra concerts in Fair- mount Park for one week. The skill and authority displayed on this occasion resulted in an engagement to conduct a number of concerts of the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra the following December.
Alexander Smallens was born in Petrograd, in 1889. He came with his parents (his mother's maiden name was Anna Rosovski; his father's, Pantelei- mon Smallens, a well-known physician in Petrograd, and head of the Ked Cross) to New York in 1890, was educated at City College, and studied piano and composition (1909) at the Institute of Musical Art, where his teachers were Arthur Hochman and Bertha Feiringin, in piano; and Percy Goetschius, in composition.
After being graduated from both places, he departed for Paris, studying from 1909 to 1911 at the Paris Conservatoire under Pessard, Gedalge, Vidal, and Paul Ducas. We later see him as assistant conductor at the Boston Opera House (1911-14) ; conductor at the Century Opera Company of New York (1914) ; conductor with the Boston Opera Company (1915-17) ; and conductor for the Pavlowa Ballets through South America (1917- 19). Further prestige came through his achievements with, the Chicago Opera Company (1919-22), where he was also chosen by Sergei Prokofieff to conduct the performance of his "The Love of Three Oranges/' succeeding the world premiere which the com poser himself conducted. The following year brought oppor tunities for conducting at the Volksoper and Staatsoper in Berlin, and at the Royal Opera in Madrid. Since 1923, and upon invitation, Smallens has acted as conductor and musical director of the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company.
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JOSEPH STRANSKY
JOSEPH STRANSKY, known to the world as one of the foremost living conductors of Wagnerian and symphonic music, was born in Humpolec, Bohemia on September 9, 1872. His father, a man
of strong musical tastes, sang and played the violin. The Stransky home had a genuine musical atmosphere. Fortun ately for the young Stransky, his father took the family to Prague, and there personal contact with such men as Fi- bich and Dvorak fanned the flame of the boy's musical predilections.
Stransky was educated in the Uni versities of Prague, Vienna, and Leipzig, and received a medical degree in 1896. The great Dvorak was perhaps the first to discover young Stransky's ability for leadership. Smetana also became inter ested in him. He studied under Jadas- sohn in Leipzig, and under Robert Fuchs and Bruckner in Vienna. In December of 1898, Stransky made his first appearance, conducting "Die Walkure" with eminent success. In Hamburg he has had to conduct 164 operas in one season alone, not to mention frequent symphonic concerts. Following his first engage ment, Stransky served for five years at Prague, and for seven at Hamburg, both as symphony and opera conductor, and for two years led the Bliithner Orchestra in Berlin.
Stransky was a close friend of Gustave Mahler. "Your letter affords me great pleasure. You have hit the nail on the head in all you have written regarding my work, while concerning the character of my art, you have made the most appropriate and discriminating comment that has yet reached me. As Mozart has been called, perhaps rightly, the Singer of Love, so I might be given the title the Singer of Nature. From childhood, nature has been to me my all in all. It delights me to find at last some one to whom my music says something and means something. I had almost despaired of it." This was written by Gustav Mahler in acknowledgment of a note of appreciation sent to him by Stransky after a performance of Mahler's "First Symphony" In Prague.
In November of 1911, Stransky conducted his first concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra, in New York. There was a large audience, among whom were many musicians of note. His success was immediate. It must be born in mind that Stransky
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was invited by the New York Philharmonic to succeed the great Mahler. This post Stransky filled with great credit to himself and to the orchestra for fully twelve years. He resigned in 1923, when he became the head of the State Symphony Orchestra, also of New York.
Stransky was chief conductor of the Wagnerian Opera Com pany during its American tour in 1923-4. While still conductor of the New York Philharmonic, he undertook many tours with this orchestra, and everywhere elicited the highest possible praise from public and press. A Boston newspaper said of his conducting: "He seems to be a man of authority and taste, a fiery nature. "Stransky has won a great triumph in his own right." Stransky composed "Symphonic Songs/* .for medium voice and full orchestra (1913) ; Songs (published in 1896 and 1908) ; and an opera.
VLADIMIR SHAVITCH
ONE OF the rising musical stars on the horizon in the "United States, South America and Europe is Vladimir Shavitch who was born in South America, on July 20, 1888, of Russian parents.
At the age of five he began to study violin. Later he turned to the piano with such seriousness of purpose as to be graduated from the Berlin classes of Busoni and Godowski while very young. A brilliant career as concert pianist was prophesied for him. He was only seven teen when he made his successful debut as a pianist in Berlin.
In 1908 Shavitch became a member of the faculty of the Institute of Musical Art in New York, a post he resigned in order to resume concertizing in Europe. Meanwhile, he held a professorship in the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. The ambition to conduct was early revealed in Shavitch, who sought for an opportunity to signalize himself in that capacity. It came in assisting Schonberg in the production of his "Pierrot Lunaire," and as second conductor of the Russian Ballet under Oscar Fried. The war interrupted his progress, and he returned to the United States, where new opportunities began to present themselves. He made a deep impression when he directed a
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Spring festival at a Greek Theatre at Berkeley, California, in 1920, and since then he has acted as conductor in various orchestras.
From 1921 to 1923 he conducted the Montevideo Symphony Orchestra in Uruguay, and afterwards with great success in Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and other places.
It was during the season of 1923-24, when the writer of this book was leading 'cellist in the Rochester Eastman Theatre and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, that Shavitch shared the season's program with Eugene Goossens and Albert Coates. Sha vitch revealed himself during that period a conductor of great temperament and an energetic leader. In my memory is partic ularly fresh his conducting of Tschaikovsky's "Fourth Symphony/7 to the performance of which he gave much fire and expressiveness and the genuine Russian sweep that the work demands. It is also worthy of mention that on the same "All Tschaikowsky" program, his wife, the famous pianist, Tina Lerner (whom he married in 1915), appeared as soloist, playing the Russian composer's "Piano Concerto in B flat minor." This fine musician combined a truly womanly tenderness with masculine power.
In June of 1924, Shavitch made his debut with the London Symphony, which resulted in immediate re-engagements. The London Times found him a "conductor of real authority and knowledge," while Ernest Newman, the famous critic, approved his "great technical skill." On June 23 of the same year he led the Lamoreau Orchestra at his Paris debut as first conductor. In the Fall of 1924, he was engaged as conductor of the Syracuse Sym phony Orchestra; under his direction this organization has prospered to such a degree that it is now one of America's permanent symphony orchestras.
In June of 1925, Shavitch returned to Paris, again leading Lamoreau and the Pasdeloup orchestras. Then he returned to Syracuse. Of his successes in Europe during 1926, the fol lowing cable despatch speaks convincingly:
"This evening, April 12, Vladimir Shavitch, conductor of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, appearing for the third time in as many seasons as guest conductor of the London Symphony, conducted a long exacting program. At the end of the symphony the audience not only applauded frantically but arose and shouted, recalling the conductor. The orchestra, too, joined in the demon stration. Shavitch's three appearances here have firmly estab lished him with London audiences."
It must be mentioned here that the London Symphony Orches tra's subscription concerts are distinguished for their conductors. Among those who appeared during the season of 1926 were Albert Coates, Bruno Walter, and Felix Weingartner. In April, Shavitch and Sir Edward Elgar closed the symphony season. Following
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his London engagement, Shavitch was again guest conductor of the regular concerts of the Pasdeloup Orchestra.
Shavitch is not only an excellent pianist and conductor, but also an earnest and gifted composer. His teachers in theory, harmony and orchestration were Hugo Kaun and Paul Juon. Like his wife, he is a charming and 4 highly intelligent personality.
JULIUS STERN
THE HISTORY of music in Berlin will forever remain intimately associated with the name of the conductor Julius Stern. Much of an enduring nature has been done in the cause of music in that
city by this talented musician and execu tive. In 1847 he established a Choral Society, which later became famous. The directorship of this Society later passed into the hands of such men as Julius Stockhausen (1873), Max Bruch (1878), S. Sudorf (1880), and Fried- rich Gernsheim (1890). In 1850, with Kullak and Marks, he founded a conservatory which bears his name to this day, and is held in great esteem throughout the world. When Kullak in 1855, and Marks in 1857, abandoned the conservatory, Stern continued the work alone and unaided. From 1869 to 1871 Stern conducted the Berlin Symphony Capella, and from 1873 to 1878 conducted the orchestra in Reichheim, organized by himself. He also left his mark on the choral life of Berlin, being for many years chief director of the choruses of the Jewish reformed congregations.
Julius Stern was born on August 8, 1820 in Breslau. He studied the violin there under Liistner, and later was a pupil of Maurer, Ganz, and St. Lubin in Berlin. In 1843 his teacher at the Academy was Ruhenhagen. At that time he was awarded the prize for his sacred overture.
Thanks to the stipend granted him by King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV, he undertook a voyage in 1843 with a view to rounding out his education. He first visited Dresden, where he took singing lessons with the famous Johann Kikscha. Later he went to Paris where he began his career by becoming conductor of the German
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Singing Society there. Stern wrote some compositions for voice, and transcribed Bach's and Handel's oratorios for the piano.
It is characteristic of Wagner, the author of Judaism in Music, that hq accepted the services of such Jewish conductors as Levi and Stern, when they could assist his interests and aims. To Levi he entrusted the presentation of "Parsifal," an opera steeped in the deepest mysteries and allegories of mediaeval Christianity, and to Julius Stern he came for aid in other matters. From 1859 on, Stern and Wagner were in active correspondence.
In one of his letters to Stern (October 30, 1859), Wagner says regarding his desperate conditions in Paris, the city of his exile : "By the mei^cy of the Saxon king and the consent of the general German public, regarding the exposure of politically compromised persons, I am forced to abandon all hope of ever returning to Germany, and must begin planning to make Paris my permanent home. . . . " When on April 30, 1871, Wagner finally returned to the Vaterland, and visited Berlin, the local Musical Society gave him a royal welcome at the Singakademie, and on that occasion his own overture was played to Stern's baton. In 1872, at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bayreuth Theatre, when Wagner wanted to make the event historical by giving Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony," he came to the same Stern to lend him his best singers for the occasion.
When in 1866, the "Niebelungen Ring" was given, Stern was of course there. The following letter from Stern to his wife belongs to that period.
"On the way to Wagner I met Frau Cosima, who received me quite graciously, Mr. Richard was at the theatre. At this time he was even more genial with me than usual, and I believe was genuinely glad to see me. To those present he introduced me as his 'oldest and best-tried friend/ Liszt is living in Wagner's home, furnished in the Parisian taste in the grandest and most refined fashion. And ten years ago he wanted to buy a warm overcoat for his trip to St. Petersburg on the instalment plan. I speak of Wagner, the owner of all those riches !"
Professor Julius Stern died in Berlin on February 27, 1880.
LJOV SHTEINBERG
LJOV SHTEINBERG is an excellent Russian conductor, both in the operative and symphonic fields, and has a wide reputation through out Russia.
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NIKOLAI SOKOLOFF
THIS GIFTED young Russian-American violinist and conductor was born near Kieff, Russia in 1886, of a family known in the musical life of Russia for a century and a half. At the age of five he was
taught to play the violin by his father, who put him through a rigid training until 1893, when he was admitted to the violin section of the Kieff Municipal Orchestra. His parents have always insisted upon strict scholastic routine, as well as musical training, so the lad had no opportunity for the normal recreations of childhood. He tells of nodding over his violin at concerts, worn out with long practice, school work, and the late hours necessary as concert per former, and being awakened by a rude rap of the conductor's baton on his head. Despite his youth, he toured Russia as a regularly employed member of the Municipal Orchestra of Kieff.
In 1898 his parents sold all their possessions including young Nikolai's only companion, his violin, and came to America. The lonely lad, deprived of his only recreation and self-expression, his music, wandered about the streets of New Haven, whither his parents brought him. He deciphered a window card announcing a musical contest at the Yale University School of Music. He earned the money to buy a three-dollar violin, started preparing for the contest, then presented himself to the professor a week after the contest had closed, failing to understand the time limit of the competition. But he secured a private hearing, and a special scholarship was created for him because of the splendid musicianship he displayed.
In 1903, at the age of seventeen, Sokoloff was invited by Willem Gericke, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to join its first violin section. He then placed himself under the tutelage of Charles Martin Loeffler, the American composer, with whom he remained throughout his employment with the Boston- ians. In 1907 he went to Paris on the advice of Loeffler, to study and concertize. There he secured an audience with Vincent d'Indy, the French composer and leader of the modernist school, and received instruction from him.
During the year 1911, concert work in France and England
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brought him tremendous success, resulting in a call to Manchester, England. There he conducted an orchestra for a short time. The same year he returned to America as concert master of the Russian Symphony Orchestra. Five years later, in 1916, he was called to San Francisco as leader and first violinist in a String Quartet, and the same year was also appointed conductor of the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra. He resigned this post in 1917, and went overseas to France to play for the American soldiers. Upon his return in 1918, he conducted a series of concerts in Cincinnati.
In 1918 Sokoloff was asked to come to Cleveland as musical adviser, to survey music in schools and aid the newly incorporated Association to carry out its plans.
He then organized the Cleveland Orchestra with fifty-five musicians, and gave the first series of concerts, which included three symphonies, four popular concerts, thirteen special concerts, and seven out-of-town concerts. The Cleveland Orchestra, thus established, began at once to make musical history under the guidance of its virile and forceful conductor. The next years were marked by the phenomenal success of the Cleveland Orches tra, and a constantly widening circle of renown for both organization and conductor.
In 1922 Sokoloff was invited as first American conductor to direct the London Symphony Orchestra at the National Welsh Eisteddfod. There he gave two concerts before 30,000 people, with such success that each year brought a renewal of the invita tion to come as guest-conductor of the London Symphony. In 1923 he was invited to London and Stockholm; among other concerts in the English capital, he conducted two concerts in Queen's Hall. Illness prevented his acceptance of an invitation to conduct the Symphony Orchestra of Barcelona, Spain, organized and conducted by Pablo Casals, the world-famous 'cellist. At his sixth guest-conductorship of the London Symphony Orchestra, he conducted two concerts, introducing Londoners to Charles Martin Loeffler's "Pagan Poem." From his youth, his friendship with Loeffler has been growing, and Sokoloff seldom misses an oppor tunity to introduce the work of this truly noble but unfortunately seldom heard musician, both in the United States and abroad.
His concerts were enthusiastically received by capacity houses, and Sokoloff was feted by the most prominent music patrons of England.
In 1925 Sokoloff was also asked to conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for a week during the Summer concert season at the Lewisohn Stadium. This, appearance was recorded as a triumph, and he was immediately re-engaged for the following Summer season.
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MICHAEL TAUBE
MICHAEL TAUBE, the young Russian-German conductor, was born on March 13, 1890, in Lodz, Poland. His father, a teacher and musical director of that city, gave his son his first music lessons
at the age of eight.
From 1910 to 1911 he studied piano in Leipzig with Professor Teichmuller. From 1917 to 1918 he studied counter point and composition in Koln with Pro fessor Strasser. The two following years he studied conducting in the same city with Abendroth. After being grad uated from the Koln Conservatory, he soon became leader of the Municipal Symphony concerts in Bad Godesberg, Germany, where he was immediately ac claimed by the press.
Since 1922 he has been invited to conduct six annual subscription concerts in Koln, where he enjoys great vogue. He also conducts opera and concerts in Berlin, Frankfort, and other cities. In 1923 Taube accepted the position of permanent conductor at the Charlotten- burg Deutschen Opernhaus, where he works with Bruno Walter, and where he is considered a priceless member of the staff. In addition to his operatic activities, he conducts a number of sym phony concerts with the Berlin Philharmony.
In 1926 he organized the Neuen Kammerorchester, and the fol lowing year the Kammerchorus, both in Berlin.
He has written a Sonata for piano ; Variations, for two pianos on a Beethoven theme; Suite, in the old style, for violin and piano; Hymne, for mixed chorus ; songs and small pieces for the piano.
Of him, the Cologne Post wrote, on March, 1920 : "It is seldom that music lovers enjoy such a treat as Saturday night's Grand Orchestral Concert which the conductor Michael Taube gave with his orchestra, and the co-operation of Georg Bertram, the great pianist from Berlin. The programme opened with Beethoven's Leonoren Overture No. 2 and the masterly rendering of the Maestro's chef-d'oeuvre immediately revealed what a wonderful Beethoven interpreter Taube is, and his ability to bring out all the delicacies, power and joy Beethoven expresses in that heavenly work. Next came Brahms' C minor symphony, which raised the audience to a pitch of enthusiasm seldom witnessed. At the close of this remarkable concert Michael Taube was called over and over
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again to acknowledge the frantic applause accorded him by a highly pleased audience."
Mr. Taubman, the well-known critic of the Berlin Borsen Courier, thus commented on his production and conductorship of the "Freischutz" at the Deutschen Opernhaus: "Mr. Taube was in full command, not only over partitur and orchestra, but also over the singers and staff. His tempos and nuances are tasteful and fine. Summa summarum, he is a conductor par excellence."
Taube is a delightful charming personality. In meeting him, one gets the impression that here indeed is a true artist. One is won by his absolute sincerity. To him, art is no commercial ven ture, but a sacred trust.
He is not alone a conductor and composer, but plays the piano and 'cello in a masterly way.
IRVIN TALBOT
IRVIN TALBOT, musical director of the Paramount Theatre, of New York City, was bo.rn in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 27, 1896. At six years of age, he began to study violin under Christo pher Jakob.
From 1912 to 1917 he played with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, un der the direction of Max Zach. Upon America's entrance into the World War, he was commissioned bandleader of the Sixty-ninth Infantry. The war over, he returned to St. Louis, and became con ductor at the Pershing Theatre.
Talbot accepted an invitation in 1920 to become musical director of the Mis souri Theatre, in St. Louis — one of the largest theatres in the Middle West. It was here that Hugo Riesenfeld, manag ing director of the Rivoli and Rialto Theatres, of New York City, saw and was so impressed by his work that he offered him the conductorship of the Rivoli.
Under the direction of Riesenfeld, his progress was rapid. He gained distinction as a synchronizer and conductor of cinema music. He was invited in May, 1925 to be guest conductor for eight weeks at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre, after the ter mination of which engagement he returned and opened the New Mosque Theatre, in Newark, New Jersey.
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In January, 1926, Nathaniel Finston, musical director of all Publix Theatres, offered Talbot the directorship of the musical representations of the Rivoli. Here, as orchestra leader, score writer and arranger, his work won merited recognition. New York newspaper writers mention "sincerity," "modesty/' and "simplicity," as the qualities that characterize his art.
So marked was his progress that when the Paramount Theatre, New York, one of the finest in the world, opened in Nov ember, 1926, he was chosen as its musical director.
LAZAR WEINER
ON A SUMMER'S afternoon in 1910, when I played as soloist at the Merchant's Club in Kiev, under Schneevoigt, I made a vist to an old friend of mine, Dzimitrovsky, then conductor at the Brodsky
Synagogue, where I too was a chorister in my childhood. In the basement of the synagogue were the rehearsal hall and the class rooms, where the candidates for the great choir pursued their aca demic as well as their musical studies. I arrived while Dzimitrovsky was giving a piano lesson. Among the assembled boys was a dark haired, pale lad of twelve, small for his years.
It was Lazar Weiner who, Dzimi trovsky said, had a great gift for the piano. When I met him again, eleven years later, I found him a mature musician, then holding the position as coach and conductor, and giving piano lessons in New York City. This young, energetic and talented musician, was born in Charkass, near Kiev, Russia, on October 15, 1897. At the age of seven he began to sing in the choir of the Cherkass Synagogue. At ten he came to Kiev, entering Dzimitrovsky's choir. There h^ studied the piano under the conductor until he was fourteen. He then entered the Kiev Conservatory, continuing his piano studies under Poukhalski, and theory under Ryb. After three years at the conservatory, he left with his family for the United States, arriving here in 1914.
In 1921 he resumed harmony and took up orchestration with Jacoby, and later with Benett, in New York City. In 1923, Weiner organized the New York Freiheit Gesangs Verein, an amateur chorus of several hundred Jewish shop workers. He
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became and remains its conductor. By unremitting effort he suc ceeded in bringing this body of men and women to a degree of perfection among amateur choruses. At the same time, Weiner is also conductor of the choruses of the Folk's Universitet in New York.
He has also written many songs, piano pieces, incidental music to the drama "Day and Night," pieces for violin, for 'cello and also two unpublished compositions for orchestra. He is at present engaged in setting Levick's poem "Der Golem" for chorus, solo and orchestra. Weiner's work belongs to the school of impressionists, and shows much originality and melodic invention.
BRUNO WALTER
BEUNO WALTER, was a pupil of Gustav Mahler, and is one of the world's greatest living conductors of symphonic and operatic music. At the present day no music festival in any part of Europe or
America is complete without Walter's name among the conductors. Walter is furthermore an enterprising operatic manager and gifted composer.
He was born in Berlin on September 15, 1876, and was a student at the Stern Conservatory under Ehrlich, Buss- ler and Robert Radeka, , He began his career as a conductor of opera, working in Cologne, Breslau, Hamburg, Press- burg, Riga, Berlin ( Royal Opera House) , Vienna (Court Opera, 1901-1912). In 1911 he became conductor of the Sing- akademie in Vienna, and from 1912 to 1922 was general music director in Munich.
Bruno Walter is now an independent conductor, traveling freely to almost all parts of the world as guest conductor. During the season of 1922-23 he conducted the New York Symphony, repeating his engagements during the following two seasons. In 1924 he also conducted in London. This was the first German opera season since the war, and was enormously successful. The audiences were warm, responsive, and absolutely sympathetic. The human side of the visit was fully as enjoyable as the artistic. Arrangements have since been made to repeat the German season the following year. Walter also gave a series of
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concerts with the Vienna Symphony, and conducted Mengelberg's orchestra in Amsterdam. On completion of his American series at the end of March, 1925, he returned to Amsterdam to conduct the Mozart "Requiem," and also to conclude his Berlin cycle, giving three concerts in Vienna before going to London.
Bruno Walter is not an admirer of ultra-modern music, although it cannot be said that he is conservative. "The conductor in me leads me to do what I can for modern music, but the musician is not always convinced," says Walter. "Many experi menters in modern music seem to me to be walking sidewise. There is no convincing impression of progress or development in what they are doing. They are too absorbed in trying to discover something sensational. The octave with half-tones does not satisfy them as the basis of music. They want to add to it a brand new set of quarter-tones. And then, they are intent on repro ducing musically all sorts of machines and other extraordinary sounds.
"One gets dizzy trying to follow them. I am amazed, inter ested, curious to see what will happen next. Without doubt something of value will evolve out of the present chaos. Indeed much already has. There are a number of Russian composers who are producing music that is really fine as well as exceedingly original and audacious. Prokofieff is one of them. In England, Hoist and Vaughan Williams represent the best of the New school. For my part I am still a conservative — a member of a great audience that is bedazzled with watching a seven-ring circus. My eyes cannot follow the changes — they are too swift."
Bruno Walter is at present playing the troubadour through the length and breadth of Europe, presenting Wagner cycles and symphony concerts, particularly in Germany.
MISGHA SHTEIMAN
MISCHA SHTEIMAN, at present chief conductor of the Gorodskoy Theatre of Moscow, is one of the most talented of the younger Russian operatic conductors.
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JOSIAH ZURO
JOSIAH ZURO'S life has been one of service to music — a devotion so strong that even when it demanded an outlay of money running into thousands of dollars he did not hesitate to pay. His Sunday
Symphonic Society is supported almost entirely out of his own pocket but, hoping that the sight of other contribu tors might stimulate further donations from the audiences, he listed his own contributions under various names. This is indeed, a proof of a devotion that hardly has a parellel in musical history. But these Sunday concerts organized by him are not his only contribution to the cause of American music.
Zuro was born in Byelostock, Russia, on November 27, 1887. His father's ambition was to make of his son a rabbi, but the boy's inclinations were decidedly musical and not rabbinical. He used to gather his friends about him and form an "orchestra", of which he was leader, somewhere behind the shed. In spite of family opposition, he insisted upon a musical career. He began to study at the great Conservatory in Odessa. There his talents were recognized, and he had a place in the school orchestra with a view to becoming a conductor. After a final year at the Cracow Conservatory, he came with his family to America, when he wafe eighteen years old.
By this time the fortune of the family had dwindled and their only resource was their musical talent. The older Zuro had a fine voice, and his son could play the piano. They both found work at the Manhattan Opera House under Hammerstein, whose special protege Josiah became. There he was given the title of assistant conductor and a very small salary. He played the piano during rehearsals. The following year, Hammerstein's chorus master left. Zuro asked for the post, and got it.
An interesting incident in . his life was his meeting with Campanini. The Italian was nearly overcome with indignation when he saw a nineteen-year-old chorus master. But at a rehearsal of "The Damnation of Faust," which Zuro was con ducting, Campanini stepped up to him and gave him a resounding kiss on each cheek for his expert handling of the chorus.
After the closing of Hammerstein's opera in 1909, Zuro gave
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grand opera performances in New York's East Side with his own company. Then he went to the Pacific Coast where he produced "Aida" in San Francisco during the World Exposition in that city. Later he became conductor at the Century Opera in New York. His operatic ventures culminated with the signal honor of being asked to produce three open-air grand-opera performances for the city of New York in the Summer of 1925. Zuro has in the course of his career conducted musical comedy, grand opera, managed his own "Zuro Company/' and given concerts throughout the country. He was with the Paramount motion picture theatres in New York City for over six years, as director of presentation, in which capacity he has directed and developed many vocalists, instrumentalists, and performers of various kinds.
SAVEL ZILBERTS
SAVEL ZILBERTS was born in Pinsk, Kussia, on November 7, 1881. His father was then one of the most widely known cantors, and he took care that his child, who at the age of nine was already
showing marked musical talents, should receive a sound and thorough musical training.
At the age of eighteen, Savel entered the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, studying piano, harmony, theory, com position, and singing. The talented young man also possessed a lyric baritone of fine quality. In fact, as time went on, an operatic career seemed to be the aim of the young artist. However, fate had arranged matters differently. We find Zilberts in 1903 as conductor of the Hazonim Society in Lodz. In 1906 he was called to Moscow to fill the position of director of the largest temple there, which is also one of the greatest in the world. In 1914, he returned to Lodz, taking back his old position and giving many interesting concerts there. In 1920 Zilberts came to New York, where he accepted the post of director of the Cantors' Association of America, and also opened a studio for vocal training in New York.
Zilberts has composed a number of songs and sundry other works, especially for choruses a c&pella, and with organ or piano
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accompaniments, but is very well known as one of the ablest conductors of oratorios and chorus works.
In 1922 Zilberts organized the Hazomir Choral Society, and the Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association of Newark, New Jersey.
IGNAZ WAGHALTER
THIS EMINENT German conductor and prolific opera composer started his musical career in 1910, when he became conductor of the Komisches Opera in Berlin. Since 1912 he conducted at the
German Opera House in Charlottenburg. During the season of 1924-25 he also conducted, with great success, the New York Symphony Orchestra.
Following is a list of Waghalter's works: "The Devil's Road" (Berlin, 1912) ; "Mandragola" (Charlottenburg, 1914) ; "Youth" (words from Max Halle by R. Wienhoppel, Berlin, 1917) ; "The Late Guest," (Berlin, 1912 and 1922) ; "To Whom Does Helen Belong?" (Ber lin, 1914) ; "Satan" (P. Milo, Charlot tenburg, 1923).
Waghalter also wrote a violin con certo, Opus 15; a string quartet, Opus 3, and a violin sonata, Opus 5.
VIOLINISTS
LEOPOLD AUER
HUNGARY, LAND of wine and song, is also the land of musicians. It is particularly the home of violinists. The gypsy music of Hungary conquered the whole world. Such virtuosi as Joachim,
Mischa Hauser, Jacob Griin, Eduard Remenyi, Edward Singer, Tivador Na- chez, Carl Flesch, Joseph Szigeti, and many other musicians come from that enchanted land of melody.
Leopold Auer is also a son of this country of chardash and paprika. He was born on June 7, 1845, in the little Hungarian town of Veszprem. His father was a house-painter of consider able skill, who was received everywhere despite his humble social position, and held a sort of recognized place as a decorator and beautifier. On the occa sion of these professional visits he would mention the fact that he had a boy of five who, according to those in a position to judge, had a gift for music. It was during one of these conversations that he laid the basis for little Leopold's apprenticeship.
At four years of age Auer showed an understanding of rhythm. At eight he was taken to Budapest and appointed to the Budapest Conservatory, in the class of Professor Ridley Kohen. At the same time he continued the regular school curriculum at the boarding school, where he was treated with much consideration.
Later, Auer started taking lessons from the famous Professor Jacob Dont. He it was who gave him the foundation of violin technique. At the same time he took lessons at the Conservatory under Professor Josef Helmesberger. In 1858 his studies at the conservatory, and the lessons under Dont came to an end, since the money necessary for the continuation of his musical studies was not forthcoming. His father appeared in Vienna one day and took him travelling as an infant prodigy, giving concerts in the provinces, in order to earn the money necessary to support the family in Hungary. Upon being graduated later from the con servatory, with the first prize, he left for Hanover, to study with Josef Joachim, under whose guidance he soon became an accom plished artist.
For four years Auer toured through many cities, winning abundant laurels, as violinist. In the Spring of 1861, he arrived
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in Paris and gave a morning recital at the Salle Pleyel, arranged for him by persons of influence, to make it possible for him to continue his studies. At this recital he was assisted by the famous pianist, Josef Wieniawsky, the brother of Henry, the great violinist. In Paris, Auer, thanks to Moscheles, succeeded in making friends with Rossini and Berlioz, who fully appreciated his great talent. While studying under Joachim in Hanover, he drew the attention of Ferdinand David Nils Gade, the greatest composer Denmark has produced, Madame Clara Schumann, Ferdinand Hiller, and many other celebrities.
After two years in Hanover, he and his father, having ex hausted all their reseources, took leave of the beloved Joachim, in order that the young Auer might try to make his debut at one of the- big Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts. He was invited to play there by Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn's friend, who had heard him play in Hanover. This was in November of 1863 or 1864. This is what Auer says about this concert in his book My Long Life in Music :
"The day of the concert I was so nervous that I could not eat a thing. My father, in despair, brought a little bottle of seasoned Bordeaux wine along with him to the hall, and at the moment when I was about to step out on the stage, made me swallow a tiny glass of it. It produced the effect desired. I stepped out, full of courage, and actually scored quite a success, for not only did David and .the other artists congratulate me warmly, but the press was praising me as well."
In 1863 he received the position of concert master in Dusseldorff, and in 1865 had a similar appointment in Hamburg, where he met and appeared with Brahms.
In 1868 Auer was invited to take the post of professor at the Conservatory of St. Petersburg, succeeding Henry Wieniawski, who received at that time the title of "Soloist to his Majesty the Em peror/' to play the soli expressly composed for the ballets. In 1782, when Wieniawski resigned, Auer succeeded him and held that post until 1906, when he retired with a right to retain his title of "Solo ist to the Czar." Due to the great talent of his playing and his pedagogic abilities, Auer was, and still is, one of the greatest violin teachers the world has ever known. He is not only a great teacher of the violin, but a great authority and excellent guide in the art of chamber music and ensemble playing.
It is necessary to mention only a few of his many pupils : Jascha Heifetz, Mischa Elman, Efrem Zimbalist, Cecilia Hansen, Kathleen Parlow, Eddie Brown, David Hochstein, Toscha Seidel, Alexander Bloch, Ruth- Ray, Myron Poliakin, the brothers Piastro, Maia Bang, Thelma Givens, Joseph Achron, Francis Macmillen, Jaroslav Siskowsky, Stassevitch, Max Rosen, Ruth Breton, Burgin, Jascha Fischberg, Vladimir Grafman, Benno Rabinoff, and many others.
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Auer is also famous for founding the St. Petersburg Quartet, composed of two of his pupils, Korgueff, Kruger, Werzbilowitch, and himself. Auer also played much chamber music with the famous cellists, Alfred Piattil and Karl Davidoff, and such pianists as Anton Rubinstein, Annette Essipova, and other great celebrities. The writer of these lines remembers with much gratitude the unforgettable days during the years 1910-1915, when he had the pleasure of attending Auer's chamber-music classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
From 1878 till 1892 Auer was director of the Symphonic Con certs of the Imperial Musical Society in St. Petersburg, where he had the privilege of presenting two works of the greatest impor tance : Berlioz* "Requiem/' and the whole of the incidental music to "Manfred" by Robert Schumann, to the Russian text.
Tschaikowsky's famous violin concerto was dedicated to Auer, who for some reason of his own, refused at first to play it. Tschai- kowsky, very angry, re-dedicated the score to another famous violinist, Adolph Brodsky.
Professor Auer's career has been an amazing one. It contains a brilliant kaleidoscopic perspective of artistic Europe and Russia of the last sixty years, with the present and the future in music of this younger and newer land, America. Auer looks back to ac quaintances and intimate friendships, among which he numbers Franz Liszt, Rubinstein, Joachim, Brahms; the Russian "Five," Tschaikowsky, Napoleon III, Abdul Hamid II, Rossini, Henry Vieuxtemps, Clara Schumann, Richard and Johannes Strauss, Saint-Saens, Gounod, Gladstone, Disraeli, Turgeniev, von Bulow, and others.
In 1918, shortly after the Russian revolution, Auer, at the age of seventy-three, sailed for Christiania, where he established a home for himself and some of his pupils in Vocsenkollen, a famous Norwegian hotel on a high mountain near Christiania. In 1920 he, together with Mme Bogutzka-Stein, now his wife, and some of his pupils, came to New York, where he established his residence and studios. On April 28, 1925, his eightieth birthday, his two pupils, Heif etz and Zimbalist, arranged a magnificent gala-concert at Carnegie Hall, New York, in his honor. Ossip Gabrilowitz, Joseph Hofmann, Serge Rachmaninoff, and Paul Stassevitch played on that occasion. The program follows : I. Vivaldi: Concerto in F major for three violins. Played by
Auer, Heifetz, and Zimbalist (the cadenza was by Joseph
Achron, also a former pupil of Auer), with Stassevitch at
the piano. II. Brahms : Sonata in D minor. Played by Zimbalist and
Gabrilowitch.
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III. Tschaikowsky: A Melody. Brahms: Hungarian Dance.
IV. Auer : Romance.
Joseph Achron: Pensee de Leopold Auer. Auer: Tarantelle de Concert.
Played by Heifetz, with Zimbalist at the piano. V. Chopin: Polonaise.
Tschaikowsky : Berceuse. Wagner-Liszt : Isolde's Liebestodt.
Played by Josef Hofmann. VI. Bach: Concerto in D Minor for two violins. Played by
Heifetz and Zimbalist, with Stassevitch at the piano. The writer remembers that concert very well, not only because of the significance of the occasion, but because of the great gather ing of celebrities on that evening. Carnegie Hall has seldom held a more illustrious audience. All seats were sold weeks in advance, standing room was at a premium, and hundreds of people were turned away. This audience was composed not alone of celebrated musicians, but of great captains of industry, financiers, etc.
Auer's long life as violinist and teacher is like one triumphal march, during which he has moved under a constant shower of medals, prizes, and other distinctions without number. He received decorations from many sovereigns, including the Chevalier du Le gion d'Honneur, conferred upon him by the French Republic, the little Meininger Cross, the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stan- islav (with a star) — a high distinction which he shared with only two other Russian musicians : Saf onoff and Napravnik, and which was handed him personally by the Czar on his twenty-fifth jubilee at the conservatory of St. Petersburg. He also played for the Kings of Sweden and Norway, and for the Turkish Sultan, Abdul Hamid II.
In his studio in New York we find him to this day very active, instructing his numerous students. Professor Auer is very ener getic. His bright brown eyes radiate life, his cheeks are fresh and full of color, his face full of expression. He looks wise, skeptical, and optimistic. At eighty-two he is as full of ambition as many a youngster at twenty-five.
Aside from some pieces he wrote for the violin, he also wrote : My Long Life in Music and Violin Playing as I Teach It.
Auer is not a builder of technique, or a teacher of beginners. Pupils who are accepted by him must already be technically pro ficient, and it may be stated that the teacher who can prepare pu pils for Auer must stand pretty high in the profession. Auer is considered a great adviser, a former of style and master of inter pretation, to whom pupils flock too early, and feel aggrieved if they are not at once accepted.
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173
ALBERTO ABRAHAM BAGHMANN
ALBERTO ABRAHAM BACHMANN, eminent Swiss-French violinist, was born on March 20, 1875, in Geneva of Russian parents. He studied under Ysaye, Thomson, Brodsky, Hubay and Petri, and was awarded first prize at the Lille con servatory.
As a performer on the violin, Bach- mann is equipped with a splendid tech nique and a broad tone.
He made many successful tours In Europe and came to the United States in 1916, where he toured with great success. Later he became a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and taught the violin privately. He has toured the world, and has received many of ficial decorations.
Some of his compositions include three concertos, .a sonata, two suites and many light violin pieces. He has also written many important works dealing with the violin and violinists, including an encyclo pedia of the violin (1925). Among some of his books are: "Les Grandes Violinistes du Passe" (1913) ; "Le Violon" (1906) ; "Gymnastique" (1914).
Bachmann returned in 1922 to Paris where he opened a studio for teaching and concertizing.
ALEXANDER BLOCH
ALEXANDER BLOCK, well-known American violinist and teacher, was born in Selma, Alabama, on July 11, 1881, and received his gen eral education in New York City, where he studied in public and private schools, and at Columbia University. He pursued his mu sical education at the same time, studying under Edward Hermann in New York, Otokar Sevcik in Petrograd, and Leopold Auer in Vienna. Bloch studied theory under Lilienthal in New York.
Upon being graduated from Auer's classes, Bloch was appointed concert master of the Tiflis Symphony orchestra, and on his return to America began his pedagogic career by accepting the post of head of the violin department of the Washington Conservatory of Music. His formal American debut as virtuoso was made in New York, in 1913.
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While in Vienna, Bloch married a gifted pianist, with whom he gives a series of sonata recitals each season at Aeolian Hall, in New York. Here they gave their performance of important works, among them sonatas of Magnard and the much discussed "Sonata" by Pizzetti. They were also the first to give a public performance of the entire cycle of Beethoven's piano and violin sonatas.
Bloch is the author of a number of published technical studies, among them Scale Studies in Double Stops, Finger Strengthening Exercises, and Principles and Practice of Bowing. He has been for the past few seasons an assistant to Leopold Auer in New York, and is considered by him an excellent pedagogue, and one of the best interpreters of his methods. Of the violinists chosen from every State in the United States for Juilliard Foundation Fellow ships, 25 per cent were his pupils.
Because of his great popularity as a teacher, Alexander Bloch has practically abandoned his career as artist. "Either the pupil must suffer from lack of continuity in his lessons and from a super ficial interest on the part of the teacher/' Bloch says, "or the teacher must suffer from giving his all to his pupil so that he is not fit to concertize. Concert work demands all of one's interest and strength ; and if you are really giving yourself to your students, as a good teacher always does, you will have little or nothing left to offer an audience."
He conducts summer classes with his wife in the Berkshire Hills, where he has 110 acres of ground, "just enough," he says, "for each of my violin pupils to have an acre to himself and not be heard by any of his colleagues, nor yet by Mrs. Bloch and myself."
Alexander Bloch is one of those delightful persons who does not take life too seriously. He is an unsentimental soul, and he does not name his fiddle, nor talk to it in endearing terms. Be cause of this, perhaps, he has been a great favorite of the New York bohemian colony.
NAUM BLINDER
NAUM BLINDER, the Russian violinist, was born at Evpatoria, in the Crimea, and was distinguished as a child prodigy. He studied with Fidelman in Odessa, and with Brodsky in Manchester. After touring Europe he returned to Russia in 1912. He is at present professor of the Moscow Conservatory, and enjoys a high reputa tion as a soloist, chamber music player, and pedagogue.
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ADOLPH BRODSKY
THE EMINENT VIOLINIST, ADOLPH BRODSKY, a pupil of Helmes- berger, was born on March 28, 1851, in Taganrog, Southern Rus sia. When only nine years old, he gave a public concert in Odessa,
and upon being graduated from the Vienna Conservatory, played second vio lin in the famous Helmesberger String Quartet. From 1868 to 1880, Brodsky was engaged at the Vienna Opera House, and in concerts, with great success. In Moscow he made friends with Ferdinand Laub. After Laub's death, Brodsky took his place as teacher at the Moscow Con servatory. Prior to this, he concertized through Europe for four years.
In 1879 we find Brodsky conducting the Kiev Symphony Concerts. In 1882 he played for the first time the Tschai- kovsky violin concerto, hitherto not risked by any other violinist. This concert occurred after Auer, to whom the score was previously dedicated, had declared it too dif ficult. When the famous violinist Radeck accepted the position of violin teacher at the Cincinnati Conservatory, Brodsky was ap pointed to fill his place at Leipzig. While in that city, he made a success of various concerts at the Gewandhaus.
Because of his long experience in chamber music, acquired in the Helmesberger and Laub quartets, he decided to organize his own quartet in Leipzig, under his own name. The second violin was played by his friend, the excellent violinist, Hans Sitt, the viola was played by one of his pupils, 0. Novatcheck, while the 'cello was played by Leopold Grtitzmacher. This ensemble was later changed, the second violin being played by Hans Becker, and 'cello by the famous Julius Klengel. This quartet is said to have had no superior in all Europe, and not more than one equal.
In 1891 Brodsky resigned his Leipzig position, to take a post in the New York Conservatory of Scharwenka. He was also en gaged by Walter Damrosch as concert master in the New York Symphony. During his stay in America he appeared in many important concerts, and was considered one of the best violinists who had come to America up to that time. In 1892 he returned to Europe, and after a short sojourn in Berlin received the appoint ment of Director of the Royal College of Music in Manchester, England where he succeeded Sir Charles Halle, and where he again organized his own string quartet.
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As a virtuoso and chamber music player par excellence, Brod- sky was universally successful and popular. As a teacher he also won great renown, many of his pupils securing important posi tions in the great orchestras.
Brodsky was a close friend of Tschaikowsky. He is now living in Manchester.
MAX BENDIX
SELDOM HAS any other violinist occupied so many honorable po sitions as Max Bendix, the noted violinist, pedagogue and con ductor, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 28, 1866.
His general education he received in Cincinnati, New York, and Berlin. Mu sic he studied chiefly with Jacobssohn.
He became concert master at the Met ropolitan Opera House under Van der Stucken, where he remained for two seasons. Later he accepted the follow ing positions of first rank: concert master and assistant conductor of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra (1886-96) ; assistant and later successor to Theodore Thomas in conducting at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago (1893). After mak ing a two-year concert tour as a violin virtuoso through the United States, he organized the Bendix Quartet (1900). A year later he organ ized his own School of Music. In 1904 he conducted a symphony orchestra at the Exposition in St. Louis, and in 1905 was the con cert master in the Wagnerian Operas at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
He reached the height of his popularity and fame in 1906, when Oscar Hammerstein opened the Manhattan Opera House and invited Max Bendix both as concert master and conductor of his opera.
In three successive years he gave recitals all over the United States and Europe, winning praise from critics and audiences.
From 1909 to 1911, he again conducted at the Metropolitan Opera House, later conducting various orchestras including the National Orchestra, Chicago (1914-15). (Besides being a splendid conductor and violinist, Max Bendix is also a very talented com poser. Among other things he composed: "Thirty-six songs/7 "Tema con Variazioni" for 'cello and orchestra, "The Sisters," a ballad for soprano with orchestra, violin concerto in E minor, music to the play "Experience," etc.
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EDDY BROWN
EDDY BROWN was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 15, 1895. He started studying the violin at the age of four, and gave his first recital in Indianapolis when six years old. Soon afterwards he was
taken to Europe, where he became a pu pil of Hubay, at Budapest. At eleven, he played the Mendelssohn concerto. In a contest open to all violinists, he came out victor among forty contestants, re ceiving a fine violin as a prize. In his thirteenth year he passed his examina tions at the Royal Conservatory by play ing the Beethoven concerto with orches tra, and on this occasion the celebrated virtuoso, David Popper, came on the stage and kissed the abashed Eddy before an audience of 3,000 persons, de claring that he had never heard the work played so perfectly since Joachim. After touring for some time, he went to London in 1909, where he made his English debut at the huge Albert Hall. In London he met Leopold Auer and with him went to Russia to study. There came a period of five years' continuous work under Auer, and then his triumphant Berlin appearances, which settled his European status once for all This was at once followed by recital tours through Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, and England again, playing at the Nikisch concerts.
He returned to America in 1915, and made his American debut in Indianapolis, playing the Beethoven concerto with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch. His New York debut followed a few days later. Since then he has made recital tours throughout the United States, and has appeared with the leading orchestral organizations of the land. His first engagement in New York with the Philharmonic Orchestra, under Josef Stransky, when he played the Tschaikowsky concerto, took place in 1915.
Eddy Brown has also composed, including songs and works for the piano, and has made numerous violin arrangements of the works of the classic composers. As a technician and interpreter, Brown is ranked very high among contemporary violinists. He possesses incredible facility of technique. A sweet caressing tone that can be both tender and powerful, and a dashing and brilliant style are foremost among the attributes which have made Brown a favorite.
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RICHARD BURGIN
*>
RICHARD BURGIN is one of those fortunate students of the violin who has had the best teachers the age afforded. Born in Warsaw on October 11, 1892, he began to study violin at the age of six, his
first teacher being Winetzky. Later he studied with Lotto, Joachim (in Berlin) and Auer in St. Petersburg, being gradu ated with the gold medal from the latter's class of 1912.
Burgin made his first public appear ance prior to this accomplishment, how ever, for in 1903 he appeared as soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orches tra, of which he became concert master in 1914. Burgin was a favorite of the famous conductor, George Schneevoigt, and appeared with him in Helsingfors, 1912-15, as concert master of that city's symphony orchestra. In 1915, upon being graduated from the Warsaw Philharmonic, he became concert master in Fitelberg's Orchestra in Pavlovsk, and from 1916 to 1919 again appeared as concert master with Schneevoigt, this time in Christiania, playing also with Nikisch and Richard Strauss, during that period.
Schneevoigt regarded his concert master very highly, but when Monteux came, in 1920, to Europe to look for a concert master for his disrupted Boston Symphony, Schneevoigt recom mended Burgin warmly to the French conductor. When the latter heard Burgin play in Paris, he immediately engaged him. Burgin often appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, after he joined its ranks as concert master, playing Sibelius' "Concerto in D minor," on January, 1924. He gave a performance of the highest merit. He has also been noted for his playing of the "Prokofieff Concerto/' both in America and in Europe.
Burgin is also a chamber music performer of exceptional en dowments, and is celebrated as such throughout Europe and Am erica.
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SAMUEL DUSHKIN
TRADITION AND environment play a more important part in the making of an artist than heredity. This fact is manifested in the life and career of Samuel Dushkin. He was born in Russian
Poland, the land of famous musicians, in the little town of Suwalk.
Since he evinced a desire to play the violin at an early age, an instrument was put into his eager hands, with such ex cellent results that he entered upon a tour of Russia at the age of nine. A year later his parents brought him to America. In the New World the young violinist continued his studies, but feel ing that Paris offered better opportun ities, he returned. In the French capital, he became absorbed in work, studying with Remy at the Conservatoire. Later, he became a pupil of Auer and then, for a final polishing, of Kreisler. War broke out. Dushkin joined the British Army, and when the United States entered the conflict was transferred to the American forces. After the Armistice, he resumed his artistic career, touring through England and France, appearing in recitals and as soloist with the principal orchestras. Early in 1924, Dushkin returned to America and gave three suc cessful appearances in rapid succession, which demonstrates how completely the public and critics accepted him. His debut with the New York Symphony Orchestra on January 6, 1924, was impressive.
On October 8, 1924, Dushkin played in Bristol, England, then in Wiesbaden, Frankfort, and Darmstadt, followed by ap pearances in Amsterdam with Mengelberg. Later he went to France, and gave a recital at the American Conservatory at Fon- tainebleau. In the Spring of 1925, Dushkin was invited to per form at the Beethoven Festival in Paris.
Dushkin is not an artist who relies on virtuoso effects to im press an audience, but one who plays simply and sincerely, with out affectation, and without undue seeking after individuality in interpretation.
Dushkin has composed several small but effective pieces for the violin, and made a number of successful transcriptions and arrangements.
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MISCHA ELMAN
LIKE CARUSO'S tone among singers, so Elman's tone in the realm of the violin has been accepted as the standard by which violinists are measured. This child of the ghetto alone can produce that
broad, wholesome, spiritual tone which is characteristic of his playing and is so representative of the spirit dominating the long-suffering sons and daughters of his race.
The late James Huneker, in his vol ume of criticism and comment, Unicorns, with his inimitable raciness of style and bewildering glitter of erudition, devotes a chapter to "Violinists Now and Yester year/' Considering the fact that this ubiquitous critic had personally heard such violinistic giants as Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Wilhelm, and Joachim, and had listened to a host of virtuosi of this generation, his praise of the playing of Mischa Elman is all the more significant. He writes: "United to an amazing technical precision there is a still more amazing emotional temperament, all dominated by a powerful musical and mental intellect that is un canny. In the romantic or the virtuoso realm he is a past master. His tone is lava-like in its warmth. He paints with many colors. He displays numberless nuances of feeling. Naturally the pride of hot youth asserts itself, and often, self -intoxicated, he intoxi cates his audience with his sensuous, compelling tone. Hebraic, tragic, melancholy, the boisterousness of the Russian, the swift modulation from the mad caprice to Slavic despair — Elman is a magician of many moods."
Mischa Elman was born in Talnoye, Eussia, on January 20, 1892. His father was a Jewish religious teacher and amateur violinist, who early recognized the boy's musical talent and judici ously encouraged it by giving him at the age of four a little violin. When he was twelve years of age, his father succeeded in bringing him to Odessa where he gained admission to the Imperial music school ; here for some time he was taught by Alexander Fidelman. It was at that school that Leopold Auer, his future master, heard him play, and took him along subsequently to St. Petersburg.
In 1904 we find Mischa the star pupil of Auer in St. Petersburg. It so happened that a much advertised young virtuoso, called Vecsey, was to give a concert and Professor Auer was asked for
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his opinion of the artist's ability. "I have a pupil only twelve years old who is far superior," said Auer. This, naturally, was taken as a wild statement by all who heard it, and the news spread fast. Auer was determined to back up his remarks. He planned an opportunity for Mischa Elman to appear at the opening concert of the Deutsche Liedertafel — the most important musical society of the city. Auer was to play. At the last moment he sent word that he was too ill to ap pear, but that his youngest pupil would take his place. Consequently, Elman, a lad of twelve, played the Mendelssohn Concerto, Paganini's "Motto Perpetuo" and a Chopin "Nocturne" with such tremendous success that the audience refused to let him leave the stage until he had played half a dozen encores. The following day, the name of Mischa Elman was on everyone's tongue. After that important appearance the young virtuoso went in triumph from one city to another. Today he has played in practically every city on the globe.
In speaking of his teacher, Auer, Elman has said : "I may call myself the first real exponent of his school in the sense of making his name widely popular to American audiences." Auer himself says in his reminiscences, regarding the episode with Vecsey: "In October Mischa left with his father for Berlin, and in spite of the vogue enjoyed by his competitor Ferenc Vecsey, his success was so overpowering, that Vecsey's manager left the latter in order to engage little Mischa, and a few months later had him make his London debut, after which Elman made the English capital his headquarters until the outbreak of the World War in 1914." On the occasion of his first London appearance, the Grand Duke Au drey Vladimirovitsh presented the lad with a handsome diamond pin as a token of his appreciation.
Elman first played in the British Isles when he was only four teen. He came there after his conquest of Eastern Europe as one of the world's supreme wonder-children. England, particularly London, was sceptical about these sensational reports, but after hearing the youthful master, it was captivated like the rest of Europe. Since that period, Elman has been a frequent visitor and the British have taken him to their hearts as they have done few foreign artists. On the occasion of his recent trip to London, when he gave a recital at the Royal Albert Hall, the largest audi torium in the English capitol, Clarence Lucas, the renowned author and critic, had the following to say : "Mischa Elman had an enor mous audience in Albert Hall last Sunday afternoon. No other
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hall in London could have contained the Elmanites who flocked to Kensington's big music room to hear him pour forth from his little Stradivarius such a boundless flood of music. The journeys of his fingers up and down the tiny fingerboard were as nothing com pared with the miles his music flew in filling every part of the vast auditorium. And though the instrument was silent at the end of the afternoon, many an echo of it will live in the memories of those who came under the spell of Elman's bewitching tones."
Not only is Elman popular with the general public and with the critics, but he is also a favorite with the British royal family.
After his recital, he was commanded to appear before Queen Alexandra, widow of the late King Edward VIII, before whom Elman had made several appearances at Buckingham Palace.
Elman has played with the world's greatest conductors. He has the following episode to relate about Colonne, the famous French conductor:
"I had an amusing experience with Colonne once. He brought his orchestra to Russia while I was with Auer, and was giving a concert at Pavlovsk. Colonne had a perfect horror of 'infant prodigies/ so Auer had arranged for me to play with his orchestra, without telling him my age. I was eleven at the time. When Colonne saw me, violin in hand, ready to step on the stage, he drew himself up and said with emphasis : 1 play with a prodigy ! Never!' Nothing could move him, and I had to play to a piano accompaniment. After he had heard me play, he came over to me and said : 'The best apology I can make for what I said is to ask you to do me the honor of playing with the Orchestra Colonne in Paris/ Four months later I went to Paris and played the Mendels sohn concerto for him with great success."
When Elman appeared in New York with the Russian Sym phony Orchestra, under Modest Altschuler, on December 20, 1908, he played the now familiar concerto of Tschaikovsky, the difficulties of which melted under his agile fingers. It was said that the Tschaikowsky concerto was written for Auer, who considered it too difficult to play himself. Nevertheless, he showed Elman the secret of how to do it, and aided him in triumphing over it wher ever he played it. On the occasion of Elman's debut in New York, the music critic of the Tribune wrote :
"It argues no lack of appreciation for the Russian Symphony Orchestra to say that the most interesting feature of the concert was the playing of Mischa Elman, the young Russian violinist, who made at this time his American debut. Elman passed through the prodigy period some years ago, and he now comes as a matured artist. The performance of the Tschaikowsky concerto was listened to with the attention it deserved, and it gained the genuine en thusiasm of the large audience. Elman's tone is large and is also full. His notes were produced with a precise faith to the pitch
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that was comforting to hear. . . . In the double stopping, his oc taves, and especially the rapid passages, the violinist reached a lofty standard of proficiency, while his cantilena was admirable, full and sustained."
"To hear Mischa Elman on the concert platform," another New York critic declared, "to listen to him play with that wealth of tone, emotion, and impulse which places him in the very foremost rank of living violinists, should be joy enough for any music lover. Tone, technique, temperament, intelligence, artistry, musicianship, are all combined in his work."
Elman apparently liked the land that showered so much praise on him as much as its inhabitants liked him, and he decided to become one of them. On May 17, 1923, he received his final citi zenship papers, and became a naturalized American citizen. He is now a resident of New York.
It would be unfair to speak of Elman and not mention his father's part in his successes. The debt that Mischa owes his father is beyond calculation. To the credit .of Mischa be it said that he keenly realizes the obligation to which he stands to his father. "If," he says, "anyone deserves thanks for the pleasure of listening to my playing, it is first of all my father, who did more than his means permitted to nurture and develop my talent, and to help me to occupy the place that is now mine. Thanks are also due my grandfather, and great-grandfather, from whom I have inherited a love for study and application. If my father is not a Mischa Elman himself it is undoubtedly due to the fact that the circumstances of his childhood were not such as he had himself created for me. Thanks are due him for the encouragement and inspiration he was ever ready to offer me."
Mischa's paternal grandfather was the town fiddler, and, ac cording to "Papa Elman" he was able to conjure forth from his old instrument tones like those of his famous grandson. This grand father did not want his son (Mischa's father) to follow in his steps, for the humble position of town musician was looked down upon in those little ghetto communities in the pre-Mischa days. "Papa Elman," however, saw the thing in another light and wheth er or not he knew that heredity in the third generation always as serts itself more strongly than in the second, he, for one, was de termined to lay down his life for the advancement of his Mischa as violinist.
On a summer's day in 1914, while visiting my mother in Leip zig, I also paid a call at the Kochanski home. On that occasion, Paul Kochanski's father showed me a letter recently received from "Papa Elman," with whom he had a strong friendship. In that letter, the father of Mischa described his son's successes in London, and I remember that that letter was freely sprinkled with such expressions as "we made a great success"; "we were invited to
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Buckingham Palace"; "we had wonderful reviews in the papers," etc. At that time I smiled the cynical smile of youth, for to gether with a great many of the Elman intimates, I was under the impression that "Papa Elman" was exploiting his son's genius for all it was worth. Only later, and with maturing years, did I learn to respect and love Mischa's father for utter self-effacement — something akin to martyrdom — in his son's cause.
In his reminiscences concerning Mischa and his father, Auer says : "The next morning the father and son stepped into my room. The father said that he came from Odessa, where his son was at tending the Music School. He also informed me that his pecuniary situation was very precarious, and that he was obliged to sell part of his wardrobe in order to be able to pay his fare from Odessa to Elizabethgrad, a few hundred miles away. He added that he was prepared to make any and every sacrifice, provided his son was accepted for the St. Petersburg Conservatory . . ." After hear ing the lad play, Auer wrote a letter of recommendation to the director of the Conservatory, the great Alexander Glazounoff, re questing him to enter little Elman in his class and to see that he was given a scholarship.
"When I returned to St. Petersburg I found Elman installed in my class, but as regards his father all sorts of difficulties had de veloped. The law authorized students of every nationality to re side in the capital, but the same permission was not extended to their parents, unless they happened to be artisans who knew a trade, or were simply workmen. Tapa Elman' could not qualify in either capacity, and he led a most precarious existence, remov ing all evidence of his presence in the city of Peter the Great dur ing the day, hiding in various retreats known to him alone, and spending his nights in the dirty, overheated, and airless janitor's quarters of the apartment in which he had rented a small room for his son. A petition signed by Alexander Glanzounoff to the only too famous Minister of the Interior, V. von Plehve, was de nied. Tapa Elman,' exhausted and enervated by his furtive and unnatural mode of life, was in despair at being obliged to leave the city without any idea of where he might take refuge. One day he told me his troubles, and the office of the Conservatoire as sured me of the truth of his statement that the Minister of the Interior had refused him the necessary domiciliary permission."
"Four weeks after a personal visit to Plehve's residence," Auer continues, "I received a large envelope with an official seal. Plehve's secretary informed me in the Minister's name that Tapa Elman' was graciously permitted to reside in the capital while his son was a pupil at the Conservatory. . ."
Mischa Elman has long since become a favorite due to his ex cellent sonata playing, as well as his chamber music performance. In order to give a larger audience the benefit of his art in this
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branch of music, he organized the Elman Quartet, now famous in the United States. When a great artist enters the realm of ensemble playing, he has as much difficulty in submerging his individuality as a small musician has in trying to make himself important. A great violinist is not always a happy leader of a string quartet, but Mischa Elman knew that he could enter the field with three of the best available colleagues. Playing quartets is no novelty to him; the only new feature is giving the public opportunity to hear him. He has associated himself with those rare ensemble players, Edward Bachman, Nicholas Moldovan, and Horace Britt. The Mozart "Quartet in B flat," at the opening of the first concert of this quartet, was thrilling in the beauty and simplicity with which it was played. The magical tone of the first violin, the exquisite legato, lovely rounding of phrases, flaw less intonation spelled Elman. There was moments in the Schu bert "D minor Quartet" that seemed almost a prayer, and there joy and spring-like naivete in the Haydn piece. The large audi ence made Town Hall ring with applause.
Since its first concert, Mischa Elman's quartet has enjoyed a reputation rivalled by none of the quartets giving concerts in the United States, and provides series of regular concerts through out the music season there.
Elman owns an instrument of rare excellence. It cost him $50,000, and he claims he knows its history from the time it was manufactured in 1717. According to him, it belonged to the collection of Mme Recamier, a celebrated French leader of so ciety exiled from Paris by Napoleon. In 1804 she is said to have sold it to Marshal Count Molitor, who distinguished himself in the Napoleonic wars. It remained in the Marshal's family until it passed to the dealer who sold it to Elman. It was Elman's third Stradivarius.
Mischa Elman has a letter, written by the late Czar Nicholas II in which the Russian ruler told the violinist to remain out of the war zone until the end of the conflict as "Russia does not wish any harm to befall one of her greatest geniuses." This is espe cially interesting in contrast with his father's persecution by the police in St. Petersburg some years previous for the simple rea son that he was a Jew.
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HEINRICH WILHELM ERNST
ONE of the greatest violinists of the nineteenth century was Ernst. Attracting attention principally as a virtuoso, Ernst had at the same time a broad musical education. He was a man of warm and
impulsive nature; his playing was dis tinguished by great boldness in the ex ecution of technical difficulties of the most hazardous nature. His tone had a peculiar charm, and he was one of the most welcome performers in the concert halls of Europe. He was a thorough mu sician and a good composer, though his works, "Othello Fantasy," "Concerto in F sharp minor/' "Erl-Koenig," "Elegie," for example, are so full of technical dif ficulties as to be almost impossible of per formance. Indeed, it is said that some of them contain difficulties which even he with his enormous technique could not always overcome.
Ernst was born May 6, 1814, in Brunn, Moravia. His education he received at the Vienna conservatory where Bom was his teacher on the piano and Zeifrod in theory and composition.
Paganini was at that time traveling through Europe. His matchless playing made such an impression on Ernst that he was filled with a passionate desire to imitate in everything the Italian violinist. Deliberately or through some coincidence, he began to follow Paganini in his travels, and so he often met the great vir tuoso. Ernst did not rest content with his adoption of some of Paganinfs artistic tricks, but actually memorized and played by ear some of Paganini's unpublished works, played only by Pagan ini himself.
Once Ernst visited Paganini and found him with a guitar in his hands, working* on some composition. Pag&nini, noticing his guest, jumped up from his stool and hid his manuscript. "I have to look out not only for your ears, but for your eyes as well !"
In 1832 Ernst settled in Paris where he studied hard under Beriot and frequently played in concerts. Like his idol Paganini, Ernst made concert tours in France, England, Germany, Russia, Scandinavia and other lands, creating a furore everywhere.
After 1844 he lived chiefly in England, where he was highly appreciated, until the approach of his fatal disease made it neces sary for him to give up, first, public performances, and then, violin
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playing of any kind. He died at Nice, October 8, 1865, from spinal meningitis^ after eight years of intense suffering. When Ernst died, a critic compared him with other players of his day in the following words: "Less perfect in polish, less unimpeachable in the diamond lustre and clearness of his tone than Beriot, Ernst had as jtmich elegance as that exquisite violinist, with greater depth of feeling. Less audaciously inventive and extravagant than Pag- anini, he was sounder in taste. His music, with no lack of fantasy, was scientific in construction. The secret however, of Ernst's suc cess, whether as a composer of virtuoso, lies in his expressive power and accent. There has been nothing to exceed these as ex hibited by him in his last days. The passion was carried to its utmost point but never turned tatters."
His "Carnival de Venice" will preserve his name for the coming generations. But the gem of Ernst's creative genius is his "F sharp minor concerto," a work wondrous in its beauty, and which puts in the background all his other work.
Ernst wrote a string quartet, two nocturnes, Concertino, Polon aise de Concert, Hungarian Airs and the magnificent violin piece "Rondo Papageno" which unfortunately is seldom played.
LOUIS EDLIN
Louis EDLIN, American violinist and chamber music player of rare excellence, was born in New York City on September 30, 1893, and began his violin studies under Arnold Volpe at the age of nine. At thirteen he appeared as soloist with the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra, and also with Duss's Band, in Madison Square Garden, New York. At the age of sixteen, he went to Paris to study with Remy. There he remained for two years, and then went to Berlin, there studying under Kreisler. Returning to America, he became concert master of- the Russian Symphony Orchestra, and later con cert master of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, which post he held for five years. While there he often appeared as soloist with that orchestra in the larger mid-western cities. In Cleveland he organized the Cleveland String Quartet, and was a member of the Institute of Music in that city.
In 1923, he came to New York, where he became a member of the New York Trio and member of the faculty of the Institute of Musical Art. Of his playing in that celebrated Trio, one reviewer said, in part: "Edlin is a far better violinist than one meets with ordinarily in a chamber music organization. . . . He plays with a firm and virile tone ; moreover, it is music with meaning that comes from his bow."
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NAHAN FRANKO
THE ORGANIZER and director of the Franko Symphony Orchestra in New York, was born in New Orleans on July 23, 1861. He learned to play the violin in childhood, and at the age of eight toured the world with Adelina Patti. Like his brother, he went to Berlin, and there studied the violin under Rappoldi, De Ahna, Wilhelmj and Joachim. Upon the completion of his studies, he returned to New York, and entered the Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra. In 1883 he became concert master of that orchestra, and from 1905 to 1907 was conductor there.
SAM FRANKO
SON OF Haman and Helene (nee Berman), this eminent American violinist, teacher, composer, and executive, was born in New Or leans, Louisiana on January 20, 1857. He went to Breslau, where he studied the violin under Blecha, and later went to Berlin, study ing there with De Ahna. At the age of ten, he appeared in public with an orchestra in Breslau, and at twelve had his first American concert at Steinway Hall in New York. In 1876 he returned to Berlin, resuming his violin studies, this time under Joachim, and studying composition at the same time with Hollaender until 1878, when he went to Paris to study the violin with Vieuxtemps and Leonard until 1880. Upon the completion of his studies, he re turned to New York, where he became leading violinist in 1884 in the Thomas Orchestra.
From 1891 to 1897 Franko was principal viola player in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1883 he toured the United States and Canada as first violinist of the Mendelssohn Quintet of Boston, and from 1890 to 1893 gave chamber music concerts with his own organization. In 1894 he organized the American Sym phony Orchestra, consisting of sixty-five native players. From 1900 to 1909 he attracted much notice with his concerts of seven teenth and eighteenth century music. In 1909 Franko went to Berlin, where he continued these interesting series of concerts, and at the same time taught advanced violin classes at the Stern Conservatory, and conducted the orchestra class.
His works include "Meditation," "Lullaby," "Valse Gracieuse," a "Fantasy on Korsakoff s 'Coq d'Or' for Violin," and others.
Franko was awarded the Art and Science medal in Germany.
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CARL FLESGH
IN THIS era of decadence, the art and personality of a musician like Carl Flesch is to be doubly welcomed. Flesch today stands at the zenith of his art. He is an individual, one of those who can say /.
As an artist, Flesch is a pronounced personality, a seeker after beauty. He has a Hedda Gabler soul, one, however, which will not "die for beauty," but will live and work for beauty. Like A. Wilhelxnj, he is the personification of perfection.
Carl Flesch is very modest, yet he is a brilliant personality. He combines the sound thinking usually attributed only to a legal mind with the sensitivity of the artist. He is thoroughly human, and although he thinks only of music when he is making music, he is not so wrapped up in his particular accomplishment as to lack a broad interest in life in general. Like a good physician, he has a manner that inspires confidence, and one of the eccentricities which we might expect a great violin ist to manifest. Above all, he has a sense of humor. He writes very well, and his articles and books on music are marked by a crisp, entertaining style. In fact, he is a genius who manages to be human at the same time.
Carl Flesch was born in Moson, Hungary on October 9, 1873. He began to play the violin at the age of six, receiving his first formal instruction three years later. At the age of ten, he was sent by his parents to Vienna to study. Five years later he was graduated from the Vienna Conservatory. From Vienna he went to Paris, studying with Sauzay and Marsick, and won first prize at the Conservatory in 1894, starting on his public career a year later.
The remarkable gifts and accomplishments of the young violin ist at once made him a favorite, and in 1897 he was appointed court violinist to the Queen of Roumania, also becoming professor at the Royal Conservatory. After five years, Flesch again went on tour, and in 1903, became professor at the Amsterdam Con servatory.
Flesch has been heard in every part of Europe and has made two tours in America. His fame has spread, not only as an ex ecutant and as a preceptor, but also as the author of several works on violin playing, one of which, now published in America, is al-
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ready acknowledged to be a standard work. The appearances of this master, now at the height of his striking powers, are musical events welcomed by all who appreciate and enjoy violin playing which combines complete technical mastery and virtuosity with authoritative and sensitive understanding and appreciation.
Flesch returned to America in 1924, and appeared with the Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati and Chicago Sym phony Orchestras. He also gave recitals in many parts of the country, all of which intensified the impression which he had made on his first visit some ten years earlier. Carl Flesch has come to be looked upon in America as a paragon in the realm of violin musicianship. He is a master, and his audiences are composed of the musical and intellectual elite that the country affords. This great artist arouses human and divine dreams. It is life that is speaking, and its words are music, the music of Flesch's violin. In his programs are reflected the characteristics of their maker. They are full of beauty, serious and yet not heavy. And they are performed with the skill that is not an end in itself but a perfect means of expression.
So many young violinists from all parts of the world have been anxious to study with Flesch that he has been unable to deny him self completely to pupils. In 1924 he accepted the post of head of the violin department in the Curtis Institute of Music in Phila delphia, where his colleagues are Josef Hofmann, Marcella Sem- brich, and Leopold Stokowsky. Among his pupils are Alma Moode, William de Boer, Josef Wolfsthal, and many others.
While in Berlin, in 1921, Flesch joined Hugo Becker and Ar thur Schnabel in forming an eminent trio. Nor did he neglect his love for chamber music in America, for soon after his arrival there he formed in 1925 the Curtis Quartet, an organization that is already active and popular.
Carl Flesch has published: Basic Studies, and the first part of an extensive educational work, The Art of Violin Playing. He also edited Kreutzer's Studies, Caprices of Paganini, Mozart's Violin Sonatas, and the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms.
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FREDERIC FRADKIN
FREDERIC FRADKIN, appointed concert master of the Boston Sym phony Orchestra in 1918, w.as the first American to be honored with this position. Fradkin's achievements in the musical world
have been remarkable. Born in Troy, New York, in 1892, he began the study of the violin at the age of five, first with Jarow, and later with Sam Franko, L. Lichtenberg, and Max Bendix. At the age of nine he was soloist with the Am erican Symphony Orchestra. Three years later, Fradkin went to France, starting his studies with G. Remy and later en tering the National Conservatoire in the class of A. Lef ort. Here he received the first prize, the only time an American violinist has been so distinguished. Af ter serving as concert master in Royan, France, with the Bordeaux Opera Com pany, and later with the famous Louis Ganns Orchestra at Monte Carlo, Fradkin continued his studies with Ysaye. He later ap peared with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the last soloist to play under the late Gustav Mahler. Fradkin has also appeared as soloist under Lowe, Ronald, Rabaud, Monteux, and Ysaye.
After touring England in 1911 and 1912, Fradkin accepted the post of concert master at the Wiener Concert Verein in Vienna. The outbreak of the war in 1914 found Fradkin again visiting England. Later, during the season of 1914 and 1915 he was con cert master with the Russian Symphony Orchestra of New York. The following two years he was concert master with the Diaghileff Ballet Russe, joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1918.
Fradkin's tone is silk, supple and lustrous. It bends to every modulation, every inflection of the piece in hand. It answers quick ly to every beat of rhythm. It is artful in light and shade.
In 1922 Fradkin accepted the post of concert master with the New York Capitol Orchestra, remaining there till 1924.
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SAMUEL GARDNER
SAMUEL GARDNER was born in Elizabethgrad, Province of Kher son, Russia in 1891. But he considers himself an American, for his family, fleeing from the pogroms, brought him to America when
he was a child. They settled in Prov idence, Rhode Island. He has received his entire musical training in America. Gardner began the study of violin at the age of seven with Wendelschaffer, and at nine placed himself under Loeffler, to whom the young violinist and composer is much indebted. Next he studied with Winternitz, and at the age of fifteen, studied under Franz Kneisel in New York. His teacher in composition was Percy Goetchius of the Institute of Mu sical Art.
Samuel Gardner, who is now one of the most promising young American composers, as well as an excellent violinist, believes that stricter methods should be used in handling inspiration. He believes in paying more attention to its plainer sister "work" and by this method bringing the spoiled beauty to terms.
In 1918 Gardner's "String Quartet in D minor" was awarded the Pulitzer Prize of $1,500 by Columbia University. Gardner also received the Loeb Prize of $500 for a Symphonic Poem for Orchestra. This poem, entitled "The New Russia" has been played by such leading orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, with himself as soloist, and the Stadium Concerts Orchestra.
Gardner has also written a violin concerto, which he performed with the Boston Symphony. During the season of 1924-25 he played the Mendelssohn "Concerto" with the New York Philhar monic under Mengelberg, and on March 27 and 28 of 1925, played his own concerto under the same leadership.
Gardner made his formal debut in New York as a violinist in 1918, and during the same year was for some time first violinist of the famous Letz Quartet, while Mr. Letz was in service dur ing the war.
Gardner's "String Quartet" was performed by the celebrated Flonzaley Quartet and many violinists are using his solo com positions in concert. "Four Preludes," "In the Rockies," and "From the Canebrake" are among the most popular compositions by this versatile young violinist and composer.
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CHARLES GREGOROVITSGH
CHARLES GREGOROVITSCH belongs to the number of the great Rus sian musicians of the newest virtuoso violin school. He was one of the most gifted violinists of our time. His frequent concert
tours in Europe and America made him world famous.
Charles Gregorovitsch was born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), on Oc tober 25, 1867. His teachers were Vas- sily Bessekirksy, Henry Wieniawski, and later in" Vienna, Jacob Dont and Joseph Joachim. His father, however, must be considered his very first teach er, as is the case with Heif etz and Elman and Piastre. Wieniawski considered Gregorovitsch his best pupil, and was so impressed with the boy's great promise, that on first hearing him, he offered to take him as a pupil, gratis. Wieniawski once said to him: "If I did not know I was Wieniawski, I would think that you were Wieniawski !"
Few violinists have had the advantages that have fallen to the lot of Gregorovitsch, principally as regards great teachers. He was highly honored in Russia, where the Czar granted him ex emption from military service, and he was decorated by the King of Portugal. He made his first London appearance in 1897 at the Queen's Hall Symphony Concerts. Gregorovitsch was remarkable for his broad tone and for the smoothness and finish of his playing. He has often been compared to Sauret and Sarasate.
Like Anton Rubinstein, Brodsky, Joachim, and Auer, Gregoro vitsch was considered one of the most talented interpreters of chamber music. His name was later connected with his leader ship in the famous Mecklenburg Quartet (which bore the name of its patron, the Duke of Herzog Mecklenburg) . The other members of this famous quartet were Kranz, second violin; Makaleinikoff, an excellent viola player ; and Butkevitsch, 'cellist.
Due to some political misunderstanding, Gregorovitsch was arrested by the Soviet government officials in Vitebsk in 1921, and confined to jail. There he fell sick of typhoid fever, and died. Thus came to an inglorious and untimely end the life of one of the world's greatest and most gifted violinists.
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JACQUES GORDON
THE DISTINGUISHED violinist and concert master of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was born in Odessa, Russia, on March 7, 1898. He attended the Imperial Conservatory, his instructor being
Franz Stupka, at present conductor of the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. A prize pupil of the Conservatory at the age of thirteen, young Gordon demon strated his unusual artistic mettle and entered upon a professional career. Af ter a successful concert season on the European Continent he came to New York, where he further perfected him self under the masterly guidance of Franz Kneisel.
In New York City Gordon made a number of successful appearance, includ ing chamber music recitals with such artists as Harold Bauer and Benno Moiseivitch. He was also a member of the famous Berkshire String Quartet.
The position of concert master of the Chicago Symphony Or chestra was proffered Gordon by Mr. Stock, after an exhaustive scrutiny of the available violinistic material in America and Europe. The wisdom of this choice has been more than justified. Gordon's commanding mastery as soloist has won the unanimous and enthusiastic approval of the musical public and the press.
In the course of his artistic career, Gordon preformed many new works of European and American composers. Among others, he gave performances in America of RespighTs "Concerto Gregor- iano," Kodaly's "Quartet for Strings," and many others. Gor don's original compositions and transcriptions are published in New York by Carl Fischer.
Jacques Gordon is a virtuoso violinist minus eccentricity and plus a most engaging modesty and simplicity of demeanor. He is far more worthy his honors as soloist than many male and female artists in these days of many violinists.
He also formed a string quartet in 1921, which bears his name.
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JAKOB GRUN
JAKOB GRUN Is famous principally for his pedagogical activities, though he was an excellent violin virtuoso as well. He was born on March 13, 1837 in Budapest. His teachers in Vienna were El- linger and Josepf Boehm in violin. He studied composition principally in Leip zig under Hauptmann. From 1858 to 1861 he played in the Royal Orchestra of Weimar, and from 1861-65 in the Queen's orchestra in Hanover. After his concert tours through Germany, Hungary, Holland and England, Grtin was appointed in 1868 concert master in the Vienna Royal Opera, where he re mained for a considerable time.
In the early sixties Griin attracted at tention because of a conflict that arose on his account, in which Joachim, then concert master in Hanover, was con cerned. This is the story : Joachim reported to his master, Count Platen, that Griin, then a court musician, was worthy of a place in the court chamber orchestra, whose members, unlike the ordinary musicians of the orchestra, were entitled later in life to a pension. Platen objected, saying that to admit a Jew to a government post of that kind would be contrary to the wishes of the king and against the laws of the land. On Joachim's objection that his own Jewish religious belief did not stand in the way of his obtaining a life contract under Count Platen, the latter replied that Joachim's conversion to Christianity had made this argument invalid. Joa chim was highly insulted at the insinuation that he had changed his religious belief for purely material reasons. The letter sent to his master on August 23, 1864 needed no comment. In that let ter Joachim declared, among other things: "With my views on honor and duty, in order to vindicate myself, there remains only that I, together with Griin should leave you. If I should remain after Griin's dismissal, I would not be able to combat within myself the feeling that I owe my privileged position in the Hanover or chestra to my change in faith, leaving my fellow-Jews to occupy a humiliating position."
To settle this musico-Jewish argument, King George V in vented for Griin the title of "Kammer-virtuoso." This came as a great and sudden honor to Griin, but as the title given him did not entitle him to a pension, Joachim declared he was not satisfied with the solution, and on February 25, 1865, handed in his resigna tion.
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MISHEL GUSIKOFF
MISHEL GUSIKOFF, who was in 1926-27 first concert master of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski, was born of Russian parents in New York City, twenty-nine years ago. His
father gave him his first lessons in vio lin; he later continued his work with Formanoff. But the greater part of his artistic training was gained under Franz Kneisel. At the age of twenty-one he was engaged as concert master of the Russian Symphony in New York City, and toured the country with that organ ization. He was also heard on a num ber of occasions as assistant artist with the Russian String Quartet.
In 1917 Gusikoff went to St. Louis to assume the post of concert master with the St. Louis Symphony, succeeding Al bert Stoessel. Since then he has played each year as soloist with this organization at its subscription and popular concerts. He also made several appearances in recital and concert in St. Louis each year, does considerable chamber music work, and was first violinist of the String Quartet organized there recently.
Gusikoff made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in October of 1920, and gave his second recital the following year at Town Hall. In 1925 he was soloist with the St. Louis Symphony Or chestra under Rudolph Ganz on its tour of the South and South west. In April of 1927 he resigned from the Philharmonic Or chestra and accepted the invitation of Walter Damrosch to be his concert master for the New York Orchestra, effective October, 1927.
ARTHUR HARTMANN
ARTHUR HARTMANN, noted Hungarian violinist, was born in Mate Szalka, Hungary, July 23, 1881. He studied under Charles Loeffler, and at the age of twelve knew practically the whole modern violin
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(repertory. Having been a child prodigy, Ms earliest appearances were with Saint- Saens, Guilmant, Hans Richter, develop ing to the latter-day associations with Debussy, Binding, Sjogren and others. The concertos of Saint-Saens and Godard were given by the young violinist, with the composers, in Paris; the Beethoven with Hans Richter and so on. He has been heard in almost every part of the world and is widely known also for his compositions and transcriptions. Of the latter, over one hundred are published and they are played and recorded by Kreisler, Elman, Renee Chemet and others.
He has written the choral work "At the Mid-Hour of Night," various piano-pieces, about twenty songs, two melodramas, the discovery and editing of six sonatas by Giardini, Instinctive Method for the Violin, etc. As a performer on the violin, Hart- mann is specially noted for a pure tone, splendid technical ability, and musicianly interpretation. Each season since 1925 he has given the public another demonstration of his many-sided artistry in a series of quartet concerts. He can claim the unique distinction of having had three such pre-eminent composers and conductors as Ernst von Dohnanyi, Eugene Goossens, and Alfredo Casella appear with him as pianists in the interpretations of their own chamber- music works.
DAVID HOGHSTEIN
DAVID HOCHSTEIN was born in Rochester, New York, one of America's important music centers. The city is the home of the Eastman Institute, as well as of a symphony orchestra of high standing. This city has honored its citizen, David Hochstein, by naming one of its music schools after him.
Hochstein was born on February 16, 1892. He studied the violin at the Vienna Royal Academy, under Leopold Auer and Professor Sevcik, winning a scholarship at the Meisterschule. He was also awarded the First State Prize.
Hochstein made his debut in Vienna in January, 1911, and later, during the same year, visited London with Sevcik. He toured England, the Continent and the United States. Hochstein com posed several numbers for the piano.
This fine virtuoso and pedagogue was killed in France during the World War,
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JASCHA HEIFETZ
THE GREATEST technical genius of the violin of the present day is undeniably Jascha Heifetz. He is the technician par excellence since Paganini and Wieniawsky. His style is of the utmost refine ment and he invests everything he plays with a classical purity of line and love liness of tone.
Jascha Heifetz was born in Vilna, Russia, on February 2, 1901. From his earliest days he showed a remarkable re sponsiveness to music and seemed to take instinctively to the violin. He be gan to play it at the age of three, when he was presented with a small violin by his father (also a violinist), who spent his time teaching his remarkable son. At the age of five, Jascha entered the Royal School of Music at Vilna, where jascha Heifetz at Seven he studied under Malkin, and was gradu
ated before he was eight years old. He made many appearances in public immediately following his graduation, and was every where regarded as one of the greatest wunderkinder the age has produced.
Regarding Jascha's meeting with his future master, Leopold Auer, who has so influenced him and his career, Jascha's father tells the following interesting story : It happened that at that time (the boy was about nine years old), Auer was on tour with the famous pianist Mme Essipova, and Vilna was included in their tour. Malkin, Jascha's first teacher, a former pupil of Auer, came to the hotel to meet his master. He brought his little pupil to introduce to the grand maitre. Before he got a chance to rest from his long journey, Malkin 'eagerly assailed him with pleas to hear his pupil, but the master, first because he was tired, and secondly, which is the greater reason, because he had a peculiar and deep-rooted distrust, bordering on antipathy, for wunder kinder. Malkin nevertheless insisted. He kept on shouting, "but master, this youngster you must hear!" After a long pestering, which finally beat down Auer's resistance, he consented to give Malkin's favorite pupil a hearing.
Jascha played the twenty-fourth "Capriccio" of Paganini, and Mendelssohn's "Concerto." Auer was astounded. His eyes opened wide and his face flushed with wonder. It was clear that the boy's talent made a deep impression on the veteran of many "hearings."
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Made happy by the great master's deci sion to admit the boy to his classes, the father sold his meagre belongings, gave up his post as violinist at the theater (his sole source of revenue) and with the small sum realized, took the child to St. Petersburg. Arriving in the capital, they went direct to Auer's house from the railroad station. But a great disap pointment awaited them. The master had apparently forgotten his meeting with Jascha in Vilna, and thought this was a new wunderkind. In a rage he told the parent that the Conservatory ex aminations were over and it was too late to admit the boy. Private lessons could not be arranged as the father, being a Jew, had no legal right to live in the capital of Holy Russia. Pupils at the Conservatory had the legal right to reside there.
Heifetz' position can easily be imagined. Only one thing was left for him to do, and that was to take his son and return to Vilna, where, alas, someone had already replaced the father in the orchestra. ^But Leopold Auer was not without a heart, and after a consultation with Glazounoff, then director of the Conservatory, they arrived at this decision: The boy should enter the Conserva tory, but since Auer's classes were already filled with pupils who had qualified at the regular examinations, the boy should be en tered temporarily, for the current semester, in the classes of Auer's assistant, Nalbandjan, until the beginning of the following sem ester.
The father remained happy with this decision, as it offered at least the hope of the boy's entering Auer's classes in the near future. But a new and greater disappointment awaited both father and son. Jascha, upon his enrollment in the Conservatory, was granted the right to reside in St. Petersburg, but not so his father, who was ordered by the police to leave the city at once. Again Glazounoff interfered and saved the situation.
Auer thus describes the episode in his reminiscences : "Jascha Heifetz, then ten years old, was admitted to the Conservatory without question in view of his talent; but what was to be done with the family? Someone hit upon the happy idea that I admit Jascha's father, a violinist of forty, into my own class, and thus solve the problem. This I did, and as a result the law was obeyed, while at the same time the Heifetz family was not separated (soon after this had happened, the other members of the family, the mother and two daughters arrived in that city) ; for it was not legally permissible for the wife and children of a Conservatory
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pupil to be separated from their husband and father. However, since the students were, without exception, expected to attend the obligatory classes in solfeggio, piano and harmony, and since "papa Heifetz" most certainly did -not attend any of them, and did not play at the examinations, I had to do battle continually with the management on his account. It was not until the advent of Glaz- ounoff, who knew the true inwardness of the situation, that I had no further trouble in seeing that he Remain in his parent's care until the Summer of 1917, when the family was able to go to America."
Jascha Heifetz thoroughly realizes the great debt he owes his father for the many sacrifices he has laid on the altar of his genius. Furthermore, it must be stated that the Heifetzes did not exploit their child's talent to their own gain, as is the case with so many other ' parents of child prodigies, but saw to it, on the contrary, that the boy received an all-around education before entering the world of artists.
Jascha Heifetz himself realizes the advantage of the thorough training he received during those years at the Russian capital. "When I was studying at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg," he says, "we were not considered properly taught if we knew only our own instruments. We violinists, for instance, had to study piano, and of course viola. We were required from time to time to play in different sections of the orchestra, for the benefit of our sight reading, and we had to know the theory and technique of performance in duets, quartets and all forms of musical ensemble. Languages were emphasized, too, especially for the singers. They had to know Italian in addition to Russian, and two more besides that: French and German, or French and English. I think I was with Professor Auer about six years, and I had both class lessons and private lessons with him, though toward the end my lessons were not as regular."
Heifetz made public appearances at a very early age before coming to St. Petersburg, and everywhere he visited he was hailed as the coming genius of the violin. It happened that in the Summer of 1911 he was engaged to play soli at an exhibition in Odessa, where a symphony orchestra performed under the direc tion of Wolf-Israel and Pribick. I happened to be the first solo 'cellist of that orchestra.
Heifetz arrived there unheralded and unknown, but after his first three appearances his name fairly rang through the crowded streets of the Black Sea port, the young boy becoming overnight the idol of the population. After his third appearance Heifetz was invited to play as soloist at the concert for the-benefit of the Odessa students, who during their vacation were employed as ticket choppers at the various theatres in the city. That was on
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the first of September, 1911. The author, who was also one of the soloists at that concert, remembers the huge crowd of over 28,000 that Heifetz drew to the big open-air arena, and the mad demonstrations of the throngs, who nearly killed the prodigy with their uncontrolled adoration.
The child's god-like playing and cherubic face so hypnotized them that each one of them was eager to see and touch the chosen one of the gods. The people refused to leave the grounds. Little Jascha, his parents and two younger sisters could not pass out by the artists' quarters since all exits, windows as well as doors, were blocked by a raving undulating crowd. The family was nearly suffocated with fright and lack of air. I succeeded in summoning a whole police division, and with its help rescued the family from the over-enthusiastic attentions of the audience. Hiding Jascha under my cloak, I broke through the surging crowds, but someone saw the child's face, and we were seized and overwhelmed, and the boy was exposed to view. In the grand frenzy we were separ ated from the other members of the family, and had to search for them until late into the night. In the meanwhile, the parents, who had to force their way through a different exit nearly died of anxiety over Jascha's fate, until they found that he was safe.
In 1914 Jascha Heifetz made his Berlin debut, on which occa sion the great Nikisch declared that he had never heard his like. There followed a large number of engagements in Europe's great centers, but these were all cancelled when the war broke out. Fortunately, the family succeeded in returning to St. Petersburg in December of the same year, and the boy was able to resume his studies at the Conservatory.
In the Summer of 1916 the Heifetz family went with Auer to Christiania. "The name of Jascha Heifetz was totally unknown to the great mass of the public there," says the grand mattre in his book My Long Lifei in Music. "Yet his manager discovered in the library of one of the most important Christiania dailies a Berlin article of 1914 which gave a very enthusiastic account of Heifetz' sensational debut in that city at a symphonic concert conducted by Arthur Nikisch. It had been written by a Norwegian musician of high repute who happened to be in Berlin at the time. This article, coming from an altogether unprejudiced source, aroused the interest of the public to such a degree that the house was en tirely sold out when Heifetz gave his first concert, and the same held good for his succeeding ones. . . . His numerous concerts were given turn and turn about with Toscha Seidel. Every seat in the house was always filled by an enthusiastic audience. . . . One newspaper remarked, 'Toscha, Jascha, Jascha, Toscha — when will our own artists get a chance? ' "
The Heifetz family came to the United States in 1917 by way of Siberia and Japan. Jascha made his American debut October
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27, 1917, at Carnegie Hall, New York, with sensational success. His second recital was sold out weeks in advance, and he gave six recitals in New York that winter without once repeating his pro gram. Ever since he made his American debut, and was consid ered the greatest discovery in a generation by the New York press, he has wanted to become an American citizen, and on Feb ruary 3, 1925, the first steps toward fulfilling this wish were taken at the Naturalization Bureau in New York City.
Great as a wunderkind, Jascha Heifetz is also great as a man. He is no longer the boy- wonder in velvet jacket and long curls. He is now a man of the world, a student of affairs, and a connois seur of art and literature. In his New York studio apartment, surrounded by rare books purchased in London, Berlin, Paris, Tokio and Sydney, and his collection of Oriental curios, rugs, carvings, and unusual decorations, the distinguished violinist works and receives his many visitors. A lover of light effects, he has them so arranged that he can at will get the desired effect to fit the various moods of the evening.
Probably no other living musician has received such unanimous and unqualified praise as Heifetz. Regarding his first appear ances in America, Leonard Liebling, the New York critic, said :
"Jascha Heifetz' violin wizardry thronged Carnegie Hall at his afternoon recital. This modern young Orpheus seems to do all the things with a violin which the fabled charmer accomplished with a lyre. Heifetz remains unapproached in the perfection of his finger and bow manipulation, the refined wistfulness of his tone, and the unique appeal of his apparently impersonal relation to his playing."
Hardly a critic failed to appreciate his pure, limpid style and perfect technique, or to note the profound appeal he made to his huge audiences.
Jascha Heifetz remains, in spite of all the tributes paid him, the modest man he always was. He says, "I admit that I have a naturally reserved exterior. But since when must one's heart be worn on one's sleeve? And who says that temperament must be expressed in mannerisms and eccentricities? I am not indifferent to the public. If I were, I shouldn't offer the programs I do. Naturally, the program that an artist whose life has been devoted to music would choose for his own pleasure does not quite cor respond to that which he presents to a public picked from all walks of life. But I sincerely believe myself the servant of that public, and I carefully choose numbers which I think will please them. For years I played the Ave Maria, because the people loved it. Audiences are improving all the time, I watch their rise and model my programs accordingly." Nevertheless, externally cool and reserved as Heifetz may appear to some, he is capable on
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occasions of lighting up with that divine fire that characterizes his playing.
Jascha Heifetz, prince of violinists, continues to gain honors. The Continental public of Europe delights in the fact that the child prodigy has more than fulfilled his promise. The Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire of Paris has recently conferred membership upon him. Since it was founded in 1828 only three other musicians have been made "Honorable Members." They are Plante, Busoni, and Paderewski. After his Paris concert with the Conservatoire Orchestra in 1926, under the baton of Philip Gau- bert, he was presented with a gold medal and a diploma. In his apartment there are countless medals, gold and silver wreaths, as well as many works of Orientals given him in the Far East as expressions of appreciation.
In April of 1926, Heifetz gave a series of five concerts in Palestine, the entire proceeds being donated to the fund for the proposed National Conservatory in Jerusalem. Previous to his departure for the land of his forefathers, Heifetz played in Spain, the royal family being present on the occasion.
Heifetz was also awarded membership in the French Legion of Honor of France.
SANDOR HARMATI
SANDOR HARMATI, violinist, chamber music player and conductor, was born on July 9, 1892 in Budapest, Hungary. He is the son of Maurice and Sophie (nee Frohlich) . Sandor received his academic
education at the high schools and at Teachers' College. He studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest with Jeno Hubay, and composition with Hans Koessler. In 1909 he became con cert master of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and in 1910 concert master of the People's Opera Orchestra in the same city.
Sandor Harmati came to America in 1914 and the following year became a member of the Letz Quartet. In 1915 he assumed the conductor ship of the Women's Orchestral Club in New York. He later held similar positions with the Symphony Society of Morristown, New Jersey, and other organiza tions. In 1922 he organized the Lenox String Quartet. He was awarded the 1922 Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship for his symphonic
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poem. A* string quartet by him was awarded a prize by the Phila delphia Chamber Music Association in 1925.
Harmati played under the most famous conductors of our time, such as Strauss, Dohnanyi, Weingartner, Loewe, Pierre Mont- eux, David Popper, and others. At the age of twenty he toured Europe as conductor, having assumed the baton when the con ductor was taken suddenly ill.
In 1924 Harmati was engaged to conduct the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. Its main objective is civic service and its activities have been carried on without outside aid, financial or otherwise.
Harmati has written other compositions besides the two men tioned. "Little Caprice" and "Caprice Espagnole," for violin and piano, are among his best known works.
MISGA MAUSER
THE NAME of Misca Hauser is seldom mentioned in these clays of great violinists, and yet it was once known all over the world* No virtuoso of his time traveled more extensively, and few created
more enthusiasm than Hauser. As at one time Liszt, Paganini, Rubinstein, and Ole Bull inspired their audiences, so this Hungarian .fiddler and composer, born in Pressburg, Hungary in 1822, won laurels over the whole vast expanse of the earth. He was a pupil of Bohm and of Mayseder at Vienna, and also of Kreutzer and Sechter.
As a boy of twelve Hauser made an extensive and successful concert tour. In 1840 he toured Europe, and ten years later went to London, and thence to the West Indies and the United States, where he created a sensation, being a member of the company of Jenny Lind. He afterwards visited San Fran cisco, where he got himself into difficulties on account of the beau tiful dancer, Lola Monte. He also visited South America (Lima, Santiago and Valparaiso) . He then proceeded to the Sandwich Is lands, where he played before the royal family and all the dusky nobles. He produced an extraordinary effect on them, and they finally decided that he could pipe on the wood as well as any bird. He was particularly honored by Queen Pomare herself. He be came a hero at Otaheite, but was obliged to continue on his jour ney. He next visited Australia and Turkey, where he played be fore the sultan.
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Hauser had many amusing stories to tell of his travels, espe cially of his experience in the Sandwich Islands, Turkey, Cairo and Alexandria.
Hauser was the possessor of a great technique and there was something characteristic and charming in his tone and manner isms which were especially pleasing to the fair sex. Some of his compositions, named by him "Hungarian Rhapsodies," and which belong to the salon genre, are still to be found on concert pro grams. He used to play these exquisitely.
Hauser lived in retirement in Vienna after concluding his travels, and died on December 9, 1887, practically forgotten.
GUSTAV HOLLAENDER
THERE ARE, as is known, scientific and musical dynasties. There are the Scalligers, Bachs, Rubinsteins, Mendelssohns, Damrosches, etc. Among these gifted families belongs the name of Hollaender.
Gustav Hollaender occupies an honored
place among contemporary violinists, although he seldom plays in public since accepting the post of head of the violin department of the Stern Conservatory in Berlin.
Gustav Hollaender was born on Feb ruary 15, 1855, in Lochschutz, Upper Silesia. At the Leipzig Conservatory, his principal teacher was Ferdinand David, and at the Berlin Hochschule the great Joachim. He began his career as musician with the Berlin Court Orches tra. In 1877 he was invited to teach violin at the Kullac conservatory. From 1871 to 1881 he organized chamber music soirees, together with Xavier Scharwenka and Heinrich Griinfeld at the Berlin Sing- Akademie.
His uncommon talent and technical accomplishments as soloist caused Hollaender to be invited to Koln in 1881 as concert master and violin teacher. He organized the Koln String Quartet which included also Emil Bare (second violin), Joseph Schwartz (viola), and Friedrich Griitzmacher, Jr. "('cellist). This quartet concertized with much success in Germany, Italy, the Scandinavian coun tries, and elsewhere.
From 1894 Hollaender was at the head of the Stern Conserva tory, where he again organized a quartet, including Willy Nick ing, Heinrich Brandler, and Leo Schrattengold. When the last
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two withdrew, they were replaced by Walter Rappelman and Anton Kecking. Hollaender wrote several salon pieces.
Victor Hollaender, brother of Gustav, born in 1866, is a very talented composer. He is known for his operas, "Carmozinella," "The Bay of Morocco," and others. Since 1901 he has been the director of the Metropolitan Theatre in Berlin.
BRONISLAW HUBERMAN ,
BRONISLAW HUBERMAN, the distinguished violinist, was born on December 19, 1882, at Czenstochova, near Warsaw. His father was an established barrister in Warsaw, who gave up his practice
when his son was ten years old in order to devote himself to the cultivation of his genius. He received his first lessons from Michlowicz, a teacher in the Con servatory, and at the age of seven, per formed Spohr's "Second Violin Concer to/7 besides taking the leading part in a quartet by Rode. After a short course of lessons under Isidore Lotto, he was taken by his father in May, 1892, to the Berlin Conservatory, where he studied for eight months under Joachim. He made public appearances in Amsterdam in 1893. During the same year he played in Brussels and Paris. Charles Gregoro- vitsch was also among his first teachers.
In the Polish Count Zamoiski, Huberman found a patron, who made the boy a gift of a valuable old violin.
Playing in London in May of 1894, he attracted the notice of Adelina Patti, who introduced him the following year to an Aus trian audience, and engaged him to play at her farewell concert in Vienna on January 12, 1895. At this concert he made a sensa tion, and attracted the favorable notice not only of the capricious Viennese public, but also of Brahms and the critic Hanslick. He made tours through Austria, Italy, Germany, Russia, America and England.
In 1896, the venerable Brahms had learned to his great indig nation that Bronislaw Huberman, then a boy prodigy, was to play his "Concerto"— a difficult violinistic feat. He determined to attend the concert and at the end administer a stern rebuke for such presumption. The forbidding presence of the famous com poser in the audience did not make the boy nervous, but instead filled him with an intense desire to play his best. The difficulties
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Bronislaw Huberman at Eight
of the first movement were easily surmounted. Brahms' look of disapproval gradually disappeared, and at the close of the "Con certo/' he drew out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. After the
concert he hurried to the artist's room, warmly embraced young Huberman, and said, "You are a genius, my son."
From that day Huberman's career as a master .violinist was assured. His great successes (particularly in Rou- mania, where he often played for Queen Carmen Sylva) became universal. He was given the title of "Roumanian Court Virtuoso."
Huberman is a writer of distinction as well as one of the world's foremost musicians. His books and articles on musical topics are well known. His vol ume on the violin entitled From the Vir tuoso's Workshop has had a great vogue, and is considered one of the standard works on technique. Many leading periodicals in England, Ger many, France, Italy, and Holland have published his articles on various phases of musical art.
An incident of his Italian journey was his engagement by the municipality of Genoa to play on Paganini's Guarnerius violin in one of the Chambers of the Town Hall — an honor he shares with the late Camillo Sivori. This took place on May 16, 1903.
An unusually personality is Huberman. He is always friendly and affable, but the real spirit of the man is delicate. He is a good companion, and his interests are by no means limited to music. He is a reader and philosopher. Human events and human thoughts always interest him, and he has a real sense of humor.
In the Spring of 1923, when he played in Vienna, the Neue Freie Pr^esse remarked:
"The fifth concert of Bronislaw Huberman was sold out. That signified a triumph without equal. Artists who can attract the public on a warm June night are not too numerous. Huberman had the power to do this. His violin playing has a legendary lustre, his tones a clear beauty, an infatuating sensuousness. The noble breadth and ardent interpretation bewitched all. Artists like Huberman are the elect and favored of fate ; they shine like stars." On the occasion of his return to Carnegie Hall in New York on October 17, 1924, Henry Edward Krehbiel of the Herald-Tri bune wrote : "Huberman's technique is remarkable, his execution superlatively facile." W. S. Henderson noted that "he played with dash, incisiveness. and brilliancy."
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SASGHA JAGOBSEN
THE FAMILY of Sascha Jacobsen, the violinist, can trace music in its blood from its earliest recollections. For at least three genera tions back, every member of the Jacobsen family, both on the
paternal and maternal branches, have played some musical instrument. Some have reached professional attainments, others a high degree of amateur profi ciency. Sascha's father is an excellent 'cellist, his mother* is as conversant with music as an amateur can be, his brother is a pianist, one sister a pianist, another a violinist. But this musical talent found its highest expression in Sascha who, since childhood, showed great musical gifts. He justified all the prophecies made for him by famous artists and by his teachers.
Sascha Jacobsen was born in Helsing- fors, Finland, on December 11, 1895. He spent the first eleven years of his life partly in Finland and partly in Leningrad.
At the age of eight, Sascha began to prepare for the class which had become the mecca of all violin aspirants. But the Rus sian Revolution intervened, and at the age of eleven the boy found himself in America. Soon after, he became a member of another famous violin class, that of Franz Kneisel. In 1915 his famous teacher pronounced him ready for public appearance.
Since that time, Jacobsen has toured the country extensively, played in all the large and small centers, and became a favorite with phonograph owners as well. He possesses a marvelous tech nique, his runs are always clear, and his intonation is almost be yond reproach. He has temperament, but not to such an extent as to mar his playing or drive beauty from his tone. He has youth, a beautiful artistic outlook and a rare love of his art.
In sonata recitals Jacobsen has been associated with such cele brated pianists as Mischa Levitzki, John Powell, and Leo Orn- stein. He has been soloist* with the New York Symphony Or chestra under Walter Damrosch, with the New York Philharmonic Society under Stransky, with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowsky, with the Metropolitan Opera House, etc.
On the death of his former teacher, Kneisel, in March of 1926. Sascha Jacobsen was invited to 'succeed him as head of the violin department of the Institute of Musical Art in New York.
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JOSEPH JOACHIM
JOSEPH JOACHIM, one of the world's great violinists, was born on June 28, 1831, in the village of Kittsee, Hungary, within the small radius which has produced three other great musicians — Haydn,
Handel, and Liszt. He began to study the violin when barely five years old, when he was placed under Servaczinski. Later his parents took him to the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under Joseph Bohm for two years, 1839-41, after which he went on Bohm's advice to Leipzig. Due to Ferdinand David's friendly help, he met Mendelssohn and played in a concert of Madame Viardot. While in Leipzig he also took lessons from Hauptmann ' and Mendelssohn. The latter took a particular interest in the boy. On one occasion he said to his parents: "You need not worry about your son. I will also be his relative, will play with him myself, and be his advisor." A few months following Joseph's arrival in Leipzig, he appeared at the Gewandhaus concerts as a finished artist, and played Ernst's "Otello" fantasy.
Musical Leipzig was at that time under Mendelssohn's influ ence, as was the rest of the civilized world. For a boy of twelve to appear at the hallowed Gewandhaus concerts and earn, not only the applause of the audience, but also the praise of the all-powerful critics, was something very extraordinary. But even greater honors fell to the lot of the wonder-boy the following year, when he assisted at a Gewandhaus concert in a concertante of four violins in which Ernst, Bazzini, and David took part.
In 1845 Joachim went, together with Mendelssohn, to London. At his first appearance with the Philharmonic Orchestra, he at tracted attention by his excellent interpretations of Beethoven's "Concerto." Upon his return to Leipzig, he met Ludwig Spohr, whose acquaintance had a wholesome influence on him. His. friend ship with Clara Schumann, with whom he often played, was also valuable to him.
Joachim visited England again in 1847, and from then on so frequently, that he became one of the regular features of the musical life of that country and was highly honored there. In 1849 he made his first appearance in Paris, at an orchestral con cert given by Berlioz. Liszt, who had heard of Joachim's rapidly increasing reputation, invited him to come to Weimar and lead the
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orchestra which he conducted. Joachim accepted, and remained in Weimar for two years.
Of particular importance at that period was his friendship with Hans von Bulow, Max Bruch, Raff, Hermann, Grimm, Franz Liszt, Rubinstein, Remeny, and others. In 1854 he went to Han over, accepting there a contract for the position of concert director of the Queen's Concerts. This assured his economic independence.
He was in high favor with King George V of Hanover. Re maining there for twelve years, he met and married Amalia Weiss, a celebrated contralto singer.
In 1869 he was appointed director of the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin. On that occasion he received the honorary title of the "King's Professor/' That same year he was elected member of the Berlin Royal Academy of Art. During the many years of his connection with the Hochschule, Joachim's personal influence was exerted upon a large number of pupils. Almost every well-known violinist of our time has been to Berlin to receive advice and in struction from him. Among the innumerable players he has per fected are: Betty Schwab, Gabrielle Wietrowitz, Marie Soldat- Reger, Gustave Hollander, Willy Hess, Jeno Hubay, Leopold Auer (the latter two having since become the greatest violin teachers the world has ever known), Henri Petri, Karl Halir, Charles Greg- orovitsch, Kamervirtuos Eeksher, the famous Professor Mar- seek, Tivador Nashez, and many, many others.
WILLIAM KROLL
WILLIAM KROLL, violinist, was born in New York City on January 30, 1901. His father was a violinist, and gave the boy his first instruction on the instrument when he was but four years old.
At the age of ten he went to Berlin, where he studied for three years at the Hochschule under Marteau. At the out break of the war, Kroll returned to New York where he continued his lessons un der Kneisel from 1916 to 1921. He was graduated from the composition class at the Institute of Percy Goetschius. In 1923 he became a member of the South Mountain Quartet sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
He then joined the famous Elshuco Trio on the recommendation of its 'cell ist Willeke, and is still a member of that organization, giving frequent concerts in New York and adjacent territory.
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PAUL KOGHANSKI
OF THE MANY younger artists who have blazed their way into pro minence, Paul Kochanski is perhaps the foremost. Musical critics say that he is one of the very few interpretive artists who approach
a musical composition from the stand point of sincerity and truth. He does not seek to dazzle, when to do so would interfere with the spirit of that parti cular part of the music. There is a musically aristocratic point of view in his approach to the music he presents, a finer grain in his playing, a distinc tion that separates him from the many. His tone is wonderfully pure. He has a solid technique and a G string that vi brates without metallic rasping.
Paul Kochanski has entertained many of the best-known rulers and imperial families of Europe, among them those of Spain, Belgium, and the late Czar and Czarina of Russia.
Born on August 30, 1887, in Orel, Russia, Paul Kochanski received his first tuition in violin playing from his father. When his family removed to Odessa, Paul was immediately admitted to the class of Emil Mlynarsky at the Conservatory of that town. His extraordinary talent enabled him to complete his studies at the Conservatory at the age of twelve. After his brilliant success it was stated in the press that not since the foundation of the Conservatory had there been so remarkable a talent as Kochanski among the pupils. In consequence, Mlynarsky, on being appointed director of the Opera of Warsaw, took his pupil with him to that institution.
The time Kochanski spent in Warsaw was a period of unin terrupted triumphs. In 1900 the Warsaw Philharmonic Society was founded, and Kochanski was appointed first soloist. Two years later he went to Brussels to continue his studies at the Con servatory under the celebrated Thomson. There he obtained the first prize with the greatest distinction. He was the protege of the Belgian nobility and especially of the Countess of Flanders, who after his concert personally congratulated him upon his phen omenal playing. Kochanski then appeared in Antwerp, Liege, Paris, and other cities, and thereafter made a tour through Spain, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey.
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In Spain he was commanded to appear before the Royal family. The Infanta Isabella of Bourbon presented him with her signed portrait and some jewelry. In 1909 Kochanski returned to War saw, where he was appointed Professor at the Conservatory, stay ing- there for two years. He then appeared in Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Kochanski's London recitals were so successful that the press hailed him as one of the greatest violinists of our time.
His engagement as professor of the Warsaw Conservatory was followed by a similar appointment at the St. Petersburg (Lenin grad) Conservatory as successor to Auer. He held this post from 1915 to 1918.
Late in 1919, he gave several recitals in Warsaw and appeared fourteen times with the principal orchestras of Poland. In the fall of 1920 he returned to London, the scene of his debut thirteen years before. Leaving a profound respect earned by four recitals and appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra under Al bert Coates, Kochanski came to America in 1921 at the invitation of Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Or chestra. His life has been full of work, adversity, war, and art; but he came through triumphantly to win new glories in a new world.
Probably few artists have given more recitals in as many dif ferent places as Kochanski. He possesses, besides his genius for the violin, a mentality of a high order, an ingratiating person ality, seriousness toward art, lofty idealism, reverence for the best, sound training, studious habits, experience, and self-mastery.
Paul Kochanski is also a conductor of excellent ability. In 1910 he conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic in Mayrenhoff, near Riga, for a period of three months.
On March 19, 1926, Paul Kochanski gave his second and last recital of the season at Carnegie Hall, New York, when he intro duced a new suite by Igor Stravinsky. The composer finished the suite last September and the unpublished score, which is dedicated to Kochanski, is in his possession. The title of the work is "Suite Apres des Themes de Pergolesi," and as heard that evening it has five movements in dance poems.
Not only did Stravinsky dedicate this manuscript to Kochanski, but he furthermore handed over to him the rights for its execu tion, thus allowing him to retain a priority for two years, during which time no other violinist will be allowed to play it.
Paul Kochanski has two younger brothers, Elli, a 'cellist, and Joseph, a pianist. The former, with whom the writer studied under Klengel, showed remarkable genius for his instrument, and at that time displayed great promise of a brilliant career as vir tuoso. His technique was indescribably facile. In 1924 Elli
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settled in Warsaw, where he is professor at the Conservatory, and first cellist at the Warsaw Philharmonic.
Like his two older brothers, Joseph is a talented pianist, having studied under Wendling at the Leipzig Conservatory. For some time he was assistant professor to Kreutzer at the Berlin High School of Music. His musical achievements have brought him a tribute from the Far East, where he was invited in 1925 to accept the post of piano professor in Tokio, Japan.
On May 3, 1927, Poland conferred on him the order of the Legion of Honor.
Paul Kochanski's wife, the daughter of a famous Warsaw jurist, resembles her famous husband in many respects.
FRITZ KREISLER
HATS OFF ! The King comes ! And his name is Fritz Kreisler !
So universal is Kreisler's genius that he may be called the King of Violinists. His appeal is so wide that he draws his audiences
from all ranks and classes.
It was said that Paganinfs playing was a magic of the devil. Kreisler has a finer magic — the magic of entire self- subordination. Before his tone listening becomes a spiritual faculty. No other violinist so melts the listening mind, ear and heart into a common pleasure, a sub limated and suffusing sensuous delight. Kreisler did not become famous over night. His growth from a modest be ginning was steady and unaided by chance.
The author of this volume well re members the empty halls that resounded to Kreisler's inspired playing on the few occasions when he heard this superb master, still without a name, and was enchanted by him; in Leipzig (1907), and later in St. Petersburg (1910 or 1911).
To quote his own words : "From the age of 20 to 27 I struggled hard for recognition. I played every bit as w$ll then as I do now, but people did not understand it."
Fritz Kreisler was born in Vienna on February 2, 1875. For tunately for the boy, his father, one of the leading physicians in Vienna, was also an amateur musician of talent. He instructed and encouraged his son to such good purpose that Fritz appeared at a concert given in Vienna by Carlotta Patti, the singer (sister
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of the more famous Adelina), when he was only seven years old. Then he entered the Conservatory of Music, where he was a pupil of Hellmesberger. He was so young that he had to get special permission to enter the Conservatory, for as a rule pupils were not admitted before the age of fourteen. He justified the opinion of his teachers by winning the gold medal for violin playing at the age of ten. Kreisler then went to Paris, where he studied at the Conservatory under Massart and Delibes. He achieved an other remarkable success by wanning the gold medal at the age
of twelve. His competitors, of whom there were about forty, were all over twenty years old.
He then appeared in several German cities and during the same year he made his first tour of America, playing with the pianist, Moritz Rosenthal. He was regarded as a youthful prodigy. Many predicted that his talent was being "burnt out." He returned to Vienna to complete his general education at the Gymnasium, took a course in medicine, studied art in Paris and Rome, and then entered the army and became an officer of the re serve cavalry.
Kreisler was in Switzerland at the outbreak of the war. On July 31, 1914, without waiting for a summons, he started for Graz, the headquarters of his regiment. In the middle of August he was sent to the front. He was in the thick of the fighting against the Russians in Galicia. On the night of September 6, the trenches were rushed by the Cossack cavalry. Kreisler was severely wounded by a lance, and was left for dead in the trenches. Toward morning, however, his orderly crept to the trench and carried him back to the hospital. Two weeks later he was sent to Vienna, and was finally discharged from military service, not, how ever, before he had received a medal of honor and promotion. In his books, Four Weeks in the Trenches and My Own War Story, Kreisler related his war experiences.
Returning to America in 1915, Kreisler resumed his concert tours, but when the United States entered the conflict, objections were made on the grounds that he was an alien. He cancelled his engagements and retired into private life until the end of the war, when he resumed his career and found his popularity even greater. Kreisler's student days were rather stormy. It was hard work to drive him to practice, and he frankly owns to having resorted to every kind of device to escape from the hated fiddle, just as Collini abhorred his flute.
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"I was only seven when I attended the Vienna Conservatory," he says, "and I was much more interested in playing in the park, where my chums waited for me, than in taking lessons on the violin. And yet some of the most lasting musical impressions of my life were received there. Some very great men played at the Conservatory when I was a pupil there. There were Joachim, Sarasate in his prime, Hellmesberger, and Rubinstein, whom I heard play the first time he came to Vienna. I really believe that hearing Joachim and Rubinstein play was a greater influence in my life, and did more for me than five years of study.
"I have worked a great deal in my life, but have always found that too large an amount of purely technical musical work fatigued me and reacted unfavorably on my imagination. As a rule only practice enough to keep my fingers in trim; the nervous strain is such that doing more is out of the question. And for a concert violinist, when on tour, playing every day, the technical question is not absorbing. It is more important for him to keep himself mentally and physically fresh and in the right mood for his work.
"Sincerity and personality are the first main essentials. Tech nical equipment is something which should be taken for granted. The virtuoso of the type of the Ole Bull, let us say, has disap peared. The modern virtuoso, the true concert artist is not worthy of the name unless his art is the outcome of a completely unified nature. I do not believe that any artist is truly a master of his instrument unless his control of it is an integral part of a whole. The musician is born — his medium of expression is often a matter of accident. The true musician is an artist with a special instru ment. And every real artist has the feeling for other forms and mediums of expression, if he is truly a master of his own. I firmly believe that if one is destined to become an artist the tech nical means find themselves. Too great a manual equipment often leads to an exaggeration of the technical and tempts the artist to stress it unduly. Technique to me is a mental, not a manual thing. A technique whose controlling power is chiefly mental is not per fect — I say so frankly — because it is more or less dependent on the state of the artist's nervous system. Yet it is the only kind of technique that can adequately express the musician's every instinct, wit and emotion. Every other form of technique is stiff, unpliable, since it cannot entirely subordinate itself to the indi viduality of the artist."
Kreisler has composed "Caprice Viennois" and other pieces for violin, cadenzas to several concertos and to Tartini's "Devil's Thrill"; arranged a number of classical and modern pieces for violin solo and written a "String Quartet in A minor," and num erous other works. Kreisler's transcriptions and arrangements
216 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
for the violin are masterpieces of their kind and appear regularly on the programs of all leading violinists of the day,
Regarding his work as composer, he says: "I began to com pose and arrange as a young man. What I composed and arranged was for my own use, reflecting my own musical tastes and pre ferences. In fact, it was not till years after that I even thought of publishing the pieces I had composed and arranged. For I was very diffident as to the outcome of such a step. I have never written anything with the commercial idea of making it pay able."
Kreisler is not only a violinist ; he is a first-rate pianist as well as a composer. His famous operetta "Apple-Blossom" (New York, 1919) is a melodious and picturesque work which was produced with great success. He has also done invaluable work in reviving the compositions of the Italian and French masters of the seven teenth and eighteenth centuries.
Kreisler's programs usually include works of Bach, Mozart, and Gluck, the French miniaturists, Couperin and Cartier, Pugnani, Corelli, or TartinL Not within memory of modern times has a violinist given more genuine musical satisfaction than Kreisler. He has intellect, blood and brawn, can be forceful, sombre, or play ful as the mood of the piece demands it. His playing of Beethoven's "Concerto," for example, is like an inspired prophesy.
In November of 1902 (when in England), Kreisler married Miss Harriet Lies, an American. Kreisler's home is the haven of all who need help or succor. In spite of his enormous earnings, Kreisler is not rich. This is attributed to the fact that a whole group of talented children at the Vienna Conservatory are com pletely dependent on his support.
Fritz Kreisler's brother, Hugo, is a well known 'cellist, a mem ber of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
ISIDORE LOTTO
LOTTO WAS born December 2, 1840, in Warsaw.
He studied violin under Massar and composition with Zeber. Lotto concertized all over Germany and other countries, and every where delighted his audiences with his technique and bravura.
In the field of polished French technique, Lotto realized its maximum possibilities. In this respect he was outshone by no one. His faultlessness in the art of conquering all difficulties, his double flageoletti, his wonderful staccato, which only Wieniawsky could execute with equal perfection, impressed his audiences so
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much that in Leipzig for example, he had to give four concerts in one week, instead of the single one planned.
In 1862 Lotto received the title of the Archduke's soloist, and Kamer-virtuos in Weimar. Some time later he was invited to teach violin at the Warsaw Conservatory. There he unfortunately fell sick with typhoid, and for several years had to discontinue all artistic and pedagogic activities. Recuperated, he returned to Warsaw, where he remained for the rest of his life.
FERDINAND LAUB
FERDINAND LAUB was born on January 19, 1832, in Prague, the city that has given the world so many other great musicians. His violin playing was brilliant and technically perfect, and always created
a deep impression. He toured practically all over the world.
At the age of six, he could play the variations of Beriot; at nine he made a concert tour through Bohemia. He studied in the Prague Conservatory un der Moritz Mildner. From early child hood he was patronized by people of high rank, such as Archduke Stephan, who presented the young violinist with an excellent Amati violin and gave him recommendations to Vienna. In that city Laub gave several concerts, creat ing a furore. He was unusually well received also in Paris and London. In Paris he had among his followers, Berlioz, Ernst, and others. Laub led a romantic life, having no permanent residence. In 1853 he came to Weimar, taking Joachim's place at the local music school ; two years later, he became teacher at the Stern Conserva tory, Berlin, soon winning the position of concert master and Kammer-virtuoso in the court orchestra, where he remained until 1864.
In 1864 Laub, together with Charlotte Patti, Alfred Joell, and the 'cellist Chermann, made a concert tour through the Nether lands and South Germany. In 1866 he was first teacher of the violin class at the Moscow Conservatory and first violinist at the local music society. This did not, however, prevent him from continuing his musical journeys.
He died on March 17, 1875, In Griz, near Bozen.
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LEA LUBOSHUTZ
LEA LUBOSHUTZ was born in Odessa, Russia, on February 21, 1888. She is the daughter of Saul and Gittl Luboshutz. Her father, a violinist, gave h^r her first lessons at the age of five.
At six she gave her first concert at a pupils' recital in Odessa. At the age of ten, she entered the Odessa Music School, studying under Mlynarsky. Three years later she was heard by Wassily Safonoff, who took her to the Moscow Conserva tory of Music, where at the age of six teen she received a gold medal and the gift of an Amati violin from the Con servatory.
Her adult career began with an or chestral tour through Poland, Germany, and France under Artur Nikisch, Was sily Safonoff, and others. The Russian Symphony Orchestra, Modest Altschuler conducting, invited her to come to America to play with them, biie came, but returned in three weeks, due to her husband's insistence. Upon returning home she played in a concert of twenty of the best violinists in Moscow, and won the prize. Later she began studying with Ysaye in Belgium.
Lea Luboshutz played at the court of the Romanoffs and for the King and Queen of Belgium.
She appeared in concerts under such famous conductors as Mlynarsky, Lamoreux, Koussevitzky, Bohnany, Glazounoff, Cooper Rene Baton, et cetera. In her concert tours she traveled through Germany, France, China, Japan, the United States, and many other countries. In 1921 she appeared as soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra and with the Pasdeloup orchestra in Paris. During the following four years she was professor of violin at the Berlin and Paris Conservatories.
Lea Luboshutz is a player of vitality and a mistress of many moods. She has great technical skill, a broad tone, and much per sonal and artistic charm. Her style is fluent, brilliant and finished, and she has a sure musicianly understanding of the music she plays During ^ her 1925-26 American appearances she was warmly and enthusiastically greeted by audiences and the press, receiving many favorable reviews. "Mme Lea Luboshutz," said the Phila delphia Bulletin, "a Russian violinist of remarkable talent gave a recital in the Academy of Music last evening, which was one of
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the high spots in the musical seasons of Philadelphia. She played a most difficult and exceptionally varied program, with an artistry which places her extremely high among women violinists of .the present day. She possesses a beautiful tone of great power and of equal sweetness, and plays for the music rather than for the effect pyrotechnics will produce."
Together with her sister Anna, a 'cellist, and her brother Piotr, a pianist, Lea organized a trio, concertizing with much success in Europe. Anna was a pupil of von Glenn, receiving the gold medal, while Piotr studied with Shumnoff. Lea Luboshutz's second son, Boris, is a gifted piano pupil of Kreutzer, who has recently been his mother's accompanist.
On November 21, 1926, Lea Luboshutz appeared as soloist with the State Symphony Orchestra in New York, giving a first per formance of Prokofieff's "Violin Concerto." She played the diffi cult score with brilliance and a fine tone distinguished for its purity of accent and intonation. She was an ideal interpreter for the work, presenting its many interesting points with great clarity.
She was invited to be a member of the Faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music, in Philadelphia, effective September of 1927.
YEHUDI MENUHIN
"LET YOUR pen fly; you can't overdo it. This boy puts us all to shame."
These words were spoken by the assistant concert master of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra when Yehudi Menuhin, at the age of six, swept San Francisco off its feet by his playing as soloist for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. His superb technique, his musical comprehension, and his warmth of tem perament brought down the house.
A short time later the little fellow gave another demonstra tion, at his own recital in San Francisco, of his almost uncanny powers as violinist. Many of the audience were so enthusiastic over the child's playing that they broke into some of his numbers with thunderous applause. Yehudi's poise at these outbreaks was that of a seasoned soloist. The first number was Vieuxtemps' "Fantasia Appassionata." Then he gave two encore pieces, Tschaikowski's "Chant sans Paroles" and Victor Herbert's "A la Valse." When he played the Mendelssohn "Concerto" he con vinced even the hardened music critic, Redfern Mason, of his genius, as is evidenced by the following which appeared in the
220 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
newspaper the next day : "His conception of what the music means was so ripe, the manner of its production so artistic that, if the player had been invisible, we could have thought that we were listening to the playing of a proved mas ter. I thought of Joachim who, when a lad, left his boat in the bathtub, dried his hands, to play this same work for Mendelssohn himself, and was publicly embraced by the composer. I think Men delssohn would have done the same to Yehudi if he had heard him last night." Then Yehudi played Paganlni's "Moto Perpetuo." The audience gasped at the speed of this number so masterfully ren dered and with so much feeling.
Zimbalist, the great and mature vio linist, said that the nearest approach to Yehudi's playing that he has come across anywhere was Heif etz at the age of nine. Yehudi was seven years old at the time. Mischa Elman and other well-known artists are astonished at the boy's playing and unusual mentality. His teacher, Louis Persinger, former concert master of the San Francisco Symphony, and now with the Chamber Music Society of San Fran cisco on its tour through the East, writes in the Violinist of Au gust, 1925:
"People have been kind enough to 'blame' me for creating some of the mature understanding and musical richness of Yehudi's playing, but it is all within the boy himself and I am happy to be the guide who takes him along the good path."
Yehudi is not the usual type of heralded genius. From the description of his conquests as rendered above, one is frequently prepared for the picture of this genius as a "dark, slight, serious boy, of sallow complexion from hours Indoors, and with an adult expression." But he is a chubby, blue-eyed, red-cheeked young ster with a profusion of blonde hair and a winning smile.
Yehudi Is the oldest of three children of Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Menuhin. His father is superintendent of the Jewish Educational Society of San Francisco. His mother was born in the Crimea and has father in Palestine. They were married in New York, where both were attending university. Upon being graduated, the couple decided to follow a famous American's advice and "go west." Their destination was San Francisco, where they have since lived. Yehudf s successes in New York have been remarkable. Mrs. J. Casserly, of New York and San Francisco, herself a prominent music lover, presented Yehudi with a valuable Stradivarius violin. The forty guests who came to do honor to little Yehudi included
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the Damrosches, Goldmark, Britt, and others of prominence in the world of music. They were amazed to hear such playing by a lad of eight. So pronounced has been Yehudi's success that he gave his first eastern recital in tht Manhattan Opera House.
So marked is his fame that the Symphony Society of New York engaged young Menuhin as its soloist for two concerts in Novem ber, 1927.
He was born in New York City on January 22, 1917.
(See addenda for additional facts.)
DAVID MANNES
DAVID MANNES is known in the United States for two things; first, the Mannes School of Music, founded by himself in New York, of which he is director and owner; second, his directorship
and conductorship of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Saturday Evening Free Concerts in the same city. Further more, Mannes is the founder and di rector of the Music School Settlement for Colored People in New York. The David Mannes School of Music holds a place in the pedagogic field in America second to none. The Metropolitan Museum Concerts, given every Saturday night between January fourth and March fourth of each year, are financed by philanthropical New Yorkers. The orchestra is drawn from the New York Symphony Orchestra. To the spacious halls of the great Museum six to eight thousand people come to listen to the music of the great masters. Mannes' programs often include Tschaikowsky's "Sixth Symphony," Beetho ven's "Fifth," the symphonies of Schumann, Dvorak, and many of the works of Wagner and Bach.
This famous American violinist and pedagogue was born in New York City on February 6, 1866. His teachers were Carl Richter, John Douglas, in New York, De Ehna and Halir in Berlin, and Ysaye in Brussels. In 1891 Mannes was "discovered" by Walter Damrosch, who appointed him to the last stand of the New York Symphony Orchestra's violinist section.
The young musician moved rapidly towards the front stands, and seven years later became concert master, keeping his post with much honor until 1912. From 1902 to 1904, Mannes gave chamber music concerts with his own organization, and some time later founded the Symphony Club, of which he was conductor.
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In 1898 he married the talented pianist, Clara Damrosch (daughter of Dr. Leopold Damrosch and sister of Walter Dam rosch). Within two years after their marriage, they became fa mous for their joint sonata recitals, which they gave for several seasons in and around New York City.
He has for the past seven years been supervisor of music at the Cleveland Laurel School, and for the past two seasons has been conductor of orchestral concerts for young people in Green wich, Connecticut.
David Mannes and his wife separately received the rosette of an "Officer de Instruction Publique," conferred by the Ministere de I'lnstruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts of France, in Septem ber of 1926, for their work as artist-educators and directors of the David Mannes Music School.
Few citizens of any city have so nobly and whole-heartedly served the cause of art in the city of their birth as has David Mannes. His special interest in the negro population of the vast metropolis stamps him as a man of wide sympathies, which alone should assure him of a place of great honor and esteem among his fellow-citizens, as well as of the larger fraternity of music lovers of all cities and lands.
MISCHA MISGHAKOFF
THE EVOLUTION of Mischakoff s name is a rather complicated one. His father's original name was Beckerman, but for some reasons of his own he changed it to Fischberg. His son, Mischa, has made
a derivation of his own first name, adopt ing the surname of Mischakoff, under which name he is now known.
Mischa Mischakoff was born on April 3, 1895,, in Proskouroff, Russia. His parents were Isaac and Masia Fischberg. Little Mischa showed a liking for the violin at the age of five, and received his first instruction from his father, a flutist. After two years under his parent's care, he continued with his brother for three years. At the age of nine, he went to study In the Imperial Conservatory in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), with Kor- gueff, one of Leopold Auer's pupils. He was graduated in 1914, at the age of sixteen, with the highest honors offered by the institution, the gold medal, and the Anton
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Rubinstein prize of 1,200 gold roubles. When Korgueff first heard the talented boy (Mischa's brother told the writer), he not only immediately accepted him, but offered him a stipend for life.
He came to America in October of 1922. On his arrival, Mis- chakoff gave a series of successful concerts, but his first real suc cess was at the auditions for the Stadium Concerts in 1923. Out of 500 applicants he was the only soloist selected. He made his American debut as soloist at a Stadium concert in New York on July 27, 1923, playing on his famous Stradivarius. The seasons following he gave recitals in Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, in New York, and also appeared as soloist at a Sunday evening Metro politan Opera House concert. Then followed his appointment as concert master of the New York Symphony Orchestra on October 31, 1924, in which capacity he was employed for two seasons.
In April of 1927, Mischakoff resigned from the New York Symphony Orchestra, and accepted the position of first concert master in the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowsky.
NICOLAS MOLDAVAN
NICOLAS MOLDAVAN was born in the town of Kremenetz, Province of Volhyn, Russia, on January 23, 1891. When two years old, his parents moved to Odessa, where he began his musical educa tion under Professor Perman at the age of seven. Later he studied with Pro fessor Alexander Fidelman. In 1906 he received a scholarship at the conserva tory of Music at St. Petersburg (Lenin grad), where he remained until 1912, graduating with highest honors from the classes of Korguyeff. When the World War broke out, Grand Duke Boris took a keen interest in the young musi cian and made him organize a trio, when he soon became a favorite of that royal family. The Grand Duke pre sented him with a diamond pin and gold cigarette case at the termination of the war in Russia.
During the revolution of 1917, Moldavan joined the ensemble "Zimro" as a violin player and in 1918 left Russia with that organization. Since that time he specialized exclusively as a viola player. After an extensive tour with the "Zimro" in Siberia,
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China, Japan, Java, and British Columbia, he finally arrived in the United States, where he soon became one of the leading and most popular viola player in New York City. After three successful years with the Lenox Quartet, Mischa Elman chose him as a mem ber of his own quartet, with which organization he played many successful public recitals and also made phonographic records.
In various concerts he appeared with some of the greatest artists, including Harold Bauer, and Jascha Heifetz. He also took part in the Berkshire Music Festivals, In 1924 he was chosen member of the Beethoven Association.
Moldavan's fame as a brilliant viola player spread rapidly throughout the United States. When in 1925 the famous viola player of the Flonzaley Quartet, Louis Bailly, resigned, Moldavan was immediately chosen in his place. The Flonzaley Quartet is the foremost music organization of its kind in the United States, and the appointment of Moldavan to the place of violist was the first instance since its existence that this body admitted a non- Latin in its membership, and a Jew at that.
ERIKA MORINI
ERIKA MORINI, is one of the few fortunate talents who have not been hampered in their study of art. She was born in Vienna in the year 1906. Her family (especially on the paternal side), has
been musical for as far back as anyone can remember. At the age of four, she began to display a marked aptitude for the violin. Her father, Oskar Morini, head of a music conservatory, gave her her first instruction, but the child's swift and startling development into an expert persuaded him, after only two years, to take her to Professor Sevcik.
Erika Morini was never a "child prodigy," for she was always a perfectly normal child, studying and playing as other children do and living the ordinary life of a child. She was educated at home, so that she might have more time to play her violin, but she took the regular examinations and was given satisfactorily high marks in every subject except mathe matics, for which she has the average girFs distaste. Although she was establishing a reputation as an unusual violinist, Erika was, until the age of eleven, only an outstanding artist in a city which has always been a sort of paradise for musicians.
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The custom of having a secondary artist fill in the time be tween a famous artist's numbers gave Erika her chance. She was chosen to play at a concert given by one of Vienna's favorite singers, so that a great crowd of critical music lovers was present, perfectly willing to be bored for a few minutes while their fav orite rested. Instead of being bored they were treated to a new sensation — a sensation so great that after she had played her first number, the concert was hers, and after the concert Vienna was hers.
This concert, and her playing with some of the best local or chestras in Europe, led to her engagement, during the war, to play with Arthur Nikisch, who had long been considered the leading orchestral conductor of Europe. The disruption of travel caused by the war compelled the soloist and orchestra to play the Mozart "Concerto" without a rehearsal. So little was known of Erika Morini in Leipzig that not even all the members of the orchestra knew that she was only eleven years old. Yet it was after this concert that Nikisch gave his opinion of Morini in these words: "Erika Morini is not a wonder child, she is a wonder!"
So successful was this concert that Nikisch at once engaged the young violinist to play with him in Berlin, and until her departure for America she played with him at least twice each year. En gagements with other notable conductors followed at once upon the critical approval of Nikisch's audiences. Felix Weingartner often chose her to be his soloist, and in the Music Festival Week in Vienna in 1920 she was the only artist distinguished by being asked to play with his orchestra.
The war naturally limited the scope of Morini's activities, but as soon as actual hostilities ended, while the Peace Conference was officially making peace, she was invited abroad, and made a tour in Roumania an<J Poland. The profundity and understanding she displayed amazed her auditors who heard for the first time an ex pression in music of the terrible emotions of years of war. In the midst of poverty and desolation, the tributes paid to Erika Morini could not be the extravagant jewels and gifts of former times. Even flowers were prohibitive. But baskets of food, cherished loaves of white bread, and other simple necessities, were sent to her as tributes to her playing.
On her return to Vienna, she was about to start a tour of Switzerland when Otto Weil of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York brought word of her genius to Mr. F. C. Coppicus, proprietor of the Metropolitan Bureau, who engaged her for Am erica. Her first American appearance given in Carnegie Hall, New York City, as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Or chestra under Bodanzky, on January 26, 1921, was made without any previous publicity. The result was electric, for the cities,
226 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
swamped by violinists of high talents, were quite prepared for an other one, but totally unprepared for the unheralded appearance of a genius. The notices she received the morning after her first playing betray the excitement and wonder of those who heard her. Within four weeks she was compelled to play four New York re citals and only after could she start on her first American tour.
Since then Erika Morini has been soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the symphonic societies of Chicago, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and other cities, and has given recitals in Chicago, Boston, Pitts- burg, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Buffalo, Rochester, Washington, and many other points en route, making seventy-one appearances in fourteen months, and being immediately re-engaged in more than half of those cities.
Morini has at the time of this writing completed her fourth American tour, and during her travels she has appeared with nearly every symphony orchestra in America and given recitals in every important city. In these four seasons Morini's fame and art have grown so that she is everywhere acknowledged the peer of all violinists of her sex, being compared with the greatest living masters, Kreisler, Heifetz, and Elman.
A complete mistress of technique, Morini is able to address her entire attention to the music itself, the interpretation of its glories.
"Her tone is a heartbreaker," wrote one critic, "but it is not her tone alone, it is her ability to extract, as it were, the very essence of music and convey it across the footlights to the audi ence. She is able by her genius to reduce to a common denomina tion her own soul, the soul of music and the soul of her listeners."
As an artist Morini was perhaps more sensitive than the aver age girl to the extremes of joy and fear, of love and hate, of pride and humiliation, which were the portion of everyone living through the war in Central Europe.
Although protected by their parents and sheltered somewhat by their youth, all the children of Europe absorbed tragedy from the air they breathed and saw and felt things unknown to the Ameri can boy or girl whom the war hardly touched. Erika Morini, according to those who know the present condition, is the fore runner of a race of geniuses given to Europe by the war.
Following the express wish of the late Maud Powell that her violin "must be used by a great artist," H. Godfrey Turner, her husband, has loaned the American artist's Guadagnini to Erika Morini for her American tours. Mr. Turner's decision was made immediately after hearing Morini at her debut. The violin was taken from the vault where it had been stored since Miss Powell's successor. The day after it was sent to Morini, Mr. Turner re ceived the following letter: "Very dear Mr. Turner: When my
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heart is very full I cannot talk at all. The inner being has no tongue. So it is now. I can only tell you that I thank you from my heart. I have heard so much of your wife that I am proud above everything else to play on her violin. This is such a happy day for me and please do not be angry if I do not write any more but go to my violin. Gratefully yours, Erika Morini."
The author has had the opportunity to hear this young artist on numerous occasions and has ever found her playing of a great and noble quality, her tone possessing true masculine breadth and vigor.
TIVADOR NACHEZ
NACHEZ, THE celebrated violinist, who achieved world fame, was a pupil of Joachim. He was born on May 1, 1859 in Budapest. Robert Volkmann and Franz Liszt took a lively interest in him,
and a government stipend enabled him to continue his education in Brussels, under Leonard. His technique was highly developed.
Although Nachez made London his residence, he undertook concert tours in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, France, Holland, and the Scandinavian countries. This famous Hungarian violinist often played before Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I and II, the Russian Emperor and Em press, the Danish Royal family, and other crowned heads.
He also won laurels in Leipzig, Dres den, Breslau and all the large German cities. He was many times likened to the greatest violinist of all times — Paganini. Here is what a Diisseldorff critic once said of him : "Tivador Nachez recalls the times of the great Paganini. It is true that our knowledge of the latter emanates mostly from written sources and portraits, with which Heinrich Heine sur rounded him in his Thoughts during Paganini' s Playing. Nachez' pale inspired face, his black hair, the calm which he preserves during demoniacally strong playing, resurrected before us the image of Paganini."
Nachez enriched the literature of his instrument by his fam ous "Danses Tzigaens," which are genuinely musical and effective. However, their composer regards them with mixed feelings.
William Martin, in his book Violin Mastery, relates what Nachez once said to him: "I have done other work that seems to me relatively much more important, but when my name
228 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
happens to be mentioned, echo always answers, 'Gypsy Dances, my little Gypsy Dances!' It is not quite fair. I have published thirty-five works; among them a Requiem Mass, two overtures, two violin concertos, three rhapsodies for violin and orchestra, variation on a Swiss theme, romances, a polonnaise, three Hun garian poems, Evening Song, three classical master works of the seventh century, to say nothing of songs, and the two concertos of Vivaldi and Martini, which I have edited, are practically new creations. I wrote the "Gypsy Dances" as a mere boy, when I was studying with Leonard in Paris, and really at his suggestion. Leonard was not my first teacher. I took up the violin when a boy five years of age, and for seven years practiced from eight to ten hours a day, studying with Sabartheil in Budapest, where I was born. But England, the land of my adoption, in which I have lived these last twenty-six years, is the land where I have found all my happiness, and much gratifying honor, and of which I have been a devoted, ardent, loyal, and naturalized citizen for more than a quarter of a century. Playing with Liszt is my most precious musical recollection of Budapest.
"What happiness there was in playing with such a genius! I was still a boy when I played the Grieg *F Major Sonata/ which had just come fresh from the press with him. There was not a trace of condescension in Liszt's attitude toward me, but always encouragement, a tender, affectionate and paternal interest in a young boy, who at that moment was a brother artist. Through Liszt, I came to know the great men of Hungarian music of that time; Erkel, Hans Richter, Robert Volkmann and Count Gezer Zichi, and eventually I secured a scholarship which the King had founded for music, to study with Joachim in Berlin. Hahag was my companion there, but afterwards we separated, he going to Vieuxtemps, while I went to Leonard in Paris. Liszt had given me letters of introduction to various French artists, among them Saint-Saens. When I left Paris I went to London, and then began my public life as a violinist. I played no less than three times as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Society of London ; once under Sir Arthur Sullivan, once under Sir A. C. MacKenzie, and once with Sir F. Cowen. On the last occasion, I was asked to introduce my new second "Concerto in B Minor." I appeared also under Liszt, Rubinstein, Brahms, Pasdeloup, Sir August Manns, Sir Charles Halle, Weingartner, Hans Richter, and others.
"I also remember with pleasure an episode at the famous Pasdeloup concerts at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris, on an occasion when I performed the T Sharp Minor Concerto' of Ernst. After I had finished, two ladies came to the Green Room; they were in deep mourning, and one of them, greatly moved, asked me to
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'allow her to thank me' for the manner in which I had played this concerto. She said : 'I am the widow of Ernst/ She also told me that since his death she had never heard the concerto played as I had played it. The other lady was the Marquise de Gallifet. Mme Ernst later presented me with her deceased husband's bow, and an autographic copy of the first edition of Ernst's transcrip tion for solo violin of Schubert's 'Erl Koenig/ "
ALEXANDER PETSCHNIKOFF
ALEXANDER PETSCHNIKOFF, eminent Russian violinist, was born in Yeletz, Government of Orel, Russia, on February 8, 1873. At an early age he was taken by his parents to Moscow. One day
a musician of the Royal Opera House chanced to hear the boy play the violin and managed to secure his entry in the Conservatory. He became a pupil of Hrimaly, and to earn his livelihood began to teach at the age of ten, He was graduated with the first prize and gold medal. An opportunity was offered him of going for further study to Paris, but he declined.
In Princess Ourusoff, Alexander found a patroness. She presented the boy with a violin which formerly be longed to Ferdinand Laub, and is said to be the costliest instrument in exist ence. In 1895 he made his bow before Berlin audiences and created a sensation. Since then his successes in Europe have been innumerable. He is said to have received the highest honor arium ever paid to any violinist in Europe.
Petschnikoff's technique is not astonishing, but he possesses a full, penetrating, sympathetic tone. There is no charlatanism nor trickery in his playing. The charm of it rests in his glowing temperament, ideal conception and wonderful power of expression. He can move the hearts of his hearers as few violinists can.
In 1910 Petschnikoff was appointed violin professor at the Berlin Royal Hochschule, and from 1913 to 1921 he was teacher at the Royal Academy in Munich. He married Mme Lili Petsch nikoff, a distinguished violinist and jointly gave many concerts. They are now divorced. Petschnikoff's first visit to America was undertaken on Leschetizkf s recommendation, who saw in this musician "an artist of the very first rank and of inconceivable versatility,"
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MISHEL PIASTRO
IN THESE days the violinist is almost, if not altogether, lord of the earth musically, for his tribe has increased to such a degree that singers and other instrumental artists find it hard to secure
opportunities for playing in public.
Genius, it is claimed, is either in herited or acquired — both in the case of Piastro, the brilliant Eussian violinist, whose born love for the violin dates back to early childhood and whose envi able attainments have been acquired only by dint of hard work. Piastro has been conceded a place of high standing throughout the musical centers of the world. Critics speak of the beautiful sonority of his big tones, his impeccable technique and his profound and poetic interpretations.
Mishel Piastro was born in Kerth, Russia, on June 19, 1891, and is two years younger than his equally famous brother, Josef Piastro-Borisoff. His father, a very able musician (who was a pupil of Auer), gave the young Piastro his first lesson on the violin when the boy was six years old. "The Crimean town in which I passed my boyhood and part of my youth," Piastro says, "was not far from some of the lovely villas near the Black Sea which were the Summer homes of many of the Petro- grad aristocracy. Some of the Grand Dukes had places there, not ably the Grand-Duke Nicolas, the father of the Grand Duke who was the Russian commander-in-chief during the World War. He was a very musical old gentleman and could draw a good, round tone from the violin and the viola. My father often played quartets with him in his beautiful villa near Yalta,
"I studied with my father and then with Professor Auer. My father was himself an Auer pupil, but studied at a time when the idea of teaching at the Petrograd Conservatory was a good gen eral musical education rather than the development of virtuosity of the highest type. In fact, there are hardly any cele brated Auer pupils dating from the Professor's earlier teach ing days, simply because at that time he did not trouble to develop the virtuoso aspect. I cannot say that I regret belonging to the later period because, though virtuoso is a word which once had evil associations, standing for technical skill and ability, but not necessarily for musical good taste or feeling, it has been
Violinists 231
rehabilitated by the playing of the great artists of the past twenty years. And under Professor Auer's training no violin student ever could imagine that technique was all-important, or anything more than a means to the end of interpretation. Auer made short work of those pupils who came to him technically un prepared. They were at once turned over to an assistant teacher and did not come to the professor himself until they were in a position to benefit by his instruction.
"One reason why his classes were so valuable to his students was that we had a chance to watch each other play every Satur day and Wednesday, and had an audience of private pupils to put us on our mettle. You know an audience is the most valuable stimulant an ambitious young violinist can have to make him do his best. I am saying nothing new when I mention that the professor's great gift in teaching was interpretation, making the very soul of the great numbers of the violin repertory clear to those whom he taught. I have heard people accuse him of suppressing individuality, but I cannot agree with them. He never opposed individuality, unless it was taking the wrong course. The idea that all Auer pupils play in the same way is ridiculous. All you need to do is to go to concerts given by any two of his pupils to realize that each plays in a manner distinct from every other one.
"My father often told me that when he studied with Auer, the Professor was not as patient and long-suffering as he after ward became. I have seen him angry, though, and I think his anger on the occasion was natural. His reverence for the master composers of the violin was very great, and he could not put up with anything that seemed to belittle their merit. I know that once a pupil brought him the Beethoven Concerto and played it for him. Before he came to the cadenza, Auer asked him 'What cadenza do you play?' 'Well, was the answer, "people are tired of the same old cadenzas by Joachim and Ries and the rest. So, I have written my own.' He played it, and it turned out to be a very modern affair, entirely out of keeping with Beethoven's style. Then the storm broke. Auer raged, gave him a lecture which came from the heart, and told him in plain words that he ought to be ashamed of himself for his conceit and lack of reverence with regard to such a composer as Beethoven.
"There were often distinguished visitors present at the Satur day classes of Professor Auer's pupils. Many a famous figure in the world of music came in while I was studying with the Professor. There was Ysaye, that lion of the violin, and among others, Zimbalist, back from his first American tour of concerts."
In 1910 Mishel Piastro graduated from the Conservatory with highest honors, and the following year he won the annual 1,000
232 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
ruble prize, which was contested for by many well-known musicians.
Piastro spent the years of 1914-1919 in a concert tour of the Orient and the Antipodes. From press reports, this visit was the most sensational event in the musical history of that distant portion of the globe. The King of Siam was so impressed with his playing that he presented him with a gold medal. Mishel Piastro, by the way, was one of the three violinists whom Czar Nicholas exempted from military service, the other two being Mischa Elman and Efrem Zimbalist.
It was not until 1920 that Piastro made his first American appearance, as soloist for the National Symphony Orchestra, in New York. He created a genuine stir in musical circles. Since then Piastro has been heard with great success in every part of the United States. Of special interest are the appearances he made with Richard Strauss, on the occasion of this famous composer-conductor's recent tour of the United States when Piastro played the "Sonata for Violin and Piano" by Strauss, with the composer at the piano. The various eulogistic reviews accorded the violinist in America, not only equalled but surpassed his splendid reception in Europe and elsewhere.
Mishel Piastro was appointed concert master to the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 1926.
STEPHAN PARTOS
A GREAT loss to the musical world of Europe was the death of the sixteen-year-old Hungarian violinist, Stephan Partos, which occurred in Holland in 1919.
Partos was born in Budapest on March 1, 1903, and at a very early age studied with J. Hubay, who took great interest in the boy genius. The author of this volume heard Stephan Partos play in the Scandinavian countries during the season of 1918. He was an extraordinarily beautiful boy and left an indelible impression by 'his truly marvelous playing. Having arrived in Amsterdam for a concert during the Spanish influenza epidemic, he succumbed to this disease in a few days.
He gave promise of greatness equal to that of Jascha Heif etz, his successes in the Scandinavian countries, in particular, having always been greater than his rivals.
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JOSEF PIASTRO-BORISSOFP
JOSEF PIASTRO-BORISSOFF is the older brother of Mishel Piastro, the renowned violinist. He adopted the surname of Borissoff to distinguish him from his brother. Both were born in the Russian
Crimea — Josef on February 17, 1889.
His first teacher on the violin was his father, a former pupil of Auer. In the year of 1900, while the great violin ist Pablo Sarasate was concertizing in Russia, Piastro-Borissoff played before him in Odessa several times, receiving most valuable instruction from the cele brated virtuoso, who wrote a personal letter to Leopold Auer, and in 1902 he went to the Conservatory of St. Peters burg (now Leningrad), where he became a pupil of Leopold Auer, and in his classes was associated with Mischa El- man, Efrem Zimbalist, and Kathleen Parlow. Upon his graduation he was awarded a gold medal as the honor pupil of the Auer class, and as a special distinction was given a famous old Italian violin called "Gobetta," the gift of Princess Alternburg, president of the Russian Musical Society. For four years afterward he toured the various Russian cities in recital, as soloist with the principal orchestras, and as director and first violin of the Leopold Auer Quartet, which he organized in honor of his maestro. They achieved a very great success in the foremost circles of St. Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, and other musical centers of his native land. During this time he was frequently "commanded" to give recitals before the Court, the Czar and the Imperial family, being rewarded with many hand some gifts and other honors while fulfilling his military service. As a special privilege the Czar permitted him to appear in con certs outside of military and governmental circles in civilian clothes.
Released from the army, Joseph re-entered the Conservatory for post-graduate studies in composition and orchestration. While there he composed the score of* an opera "Lolita," which was produced with success at the Palace Theatre in St. Petersburg. In 1918 began a tour to remote parts of the world seldom visited by concert artists. In Constantinople he gave ten concerts, playing before the sultan. Before the Sultan of Arabia he was equally well received and was offered an apartment in the palace
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of Beirut, with a pension for life, which would have enabled him to devote all his time to study and composion. However, a tempt ing offer took him to Athens instead, and there he gave recitals and played four times as soloist with the Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Armand Marsick.
The late King Alexander of Greece decorated the artist with the title of "Chevalier de 1'Ordre de Sauveur." Josef was the first foreigner to receive this honor. It has since been granted to Saint-Saens, but to no other foreigner.
Borissoff is a man of twin talents, for he is also an excellent landscape painter. So great is his gift in this form of artistic expression that the American National Academy of Design made him, in Autumn of 1924, a member of that venerable body, a distinction rarely bestowed on a man so young, especially when a foreigner.
He came to America on March 20, 1920, became a citizen in 1926, and on November 24 of that year, left for a world concert tour through Europe, India, Java, and Australia, together with Alfred Mirovitsch, the renowned pianist.
MAXIMILIAN PILZER
MAXIMILIAN PILZER, American violinist and composer, was born in New York City, on February 26, 1890, being the son of Jacob and Hulda (nee Cohn) Pilzer. At the age of six he gave his first
public recital, having been prepared for this appearance by local teachers.
Later, in the course of his studies, he has been with Joachim, and Gustave Hollaender at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. In that city he made his debut at the age of twelve, then returned to the United States, where he toured as soloist. In 1908 he was concert master of the Russian Symphony and the Peo ple's Orchestra in New York, and from 1914 to 1917 occupied the same position with the New York Philharmonic Or chestra. He then resigned to give a concert tour of his own throughout the United States.
Among Pilzer's compositions are : "Love Song," "Valse Cap rice," "Berceuse/' "Orientate," "Meditation," and several other pieces for violin.
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Pilzer is a member of the Bohemian Tonkiinstler Society.
Pilzer holds the unique record of having appeared with the New York Philharmonic Symphony as soloist over twenty-five times. His tone is warm and sympathetic, with rich quality and ample volume. He displays serious musicianship and variety understanding.
Early in 1926, Pilzer was engaged as conductor at the Rialto Theatre, of New York City, from which he resigned in April of 1927, to accept a similar position at the Roxy Theatre in the same city.
Besides his activities as conductor, Pilzer is very busy teaching and has a large class of students who come from all parts of the country to study under him.
Pilzer is a member of the Bohemian Society.
MYRON POLIAKIN
MYRON POLIAKIN is one of the most gifted virtuoso violinists of the Auer school, whose traditions he represents in their present form. A fellow-pupil of Heifetz and Toscha Seidel, he entered
r_= Auer's classes at the age of twelve, and
remained with him for six years.
Myron Poliakin was born in Tscher- kassy, near Kieff, Eussia, on January 31, 1895. His father was a violinist and conductor, and he It was who gave the boy his first Instruction. At the age of ten, Myron went to Kieff, where he studied with Vousovskaya, a pupil of Laub, in the Lyssenko School. Two years later he entered Auer's classes in Petrograd, and at the age of thirteen began concertizing in Russia, Poland, Germany, Scandinavia and America.
Poliakin was a particular favorite of Auer and Glazounoff, the director of the Petrograd Conservatory. In the course of his artistic career, he has played under such conductors as Safanoff, Koussevitzky, Feitelberg, Glazounoff, and others. He is now living in New York, where he is active both as concert artist and teacher.
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MICHAEL PRESS
MICHAEL PRESS, eminent violinist, conductor and one of the most inspired musicians of our day, was born in Vilna, Russia on September 8, 1872. His father, Isaac, was cornetist in the City
Theatre of Vilna, and his mother (nee Stupel) came of a musical family.
At the age of- eight, Press began studying with Tissen, in his native town, and when ten years old made his first public appearance. At the age of thir teen he was concert master in the Vilna Opera House, and at seventeen was assistant conductor to the famous Suk. For some years he was conductor of the Kartayev Opera Company, travelling all over Russia. In 1897 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Hrimaly, and two years later graduated, winning the gold medal. At his graduation, he was offered the post of professor at the Con servatory, but refused the honor, as it necessitated his accepting baptism.
Press was also a member of the quartet with Sokolsky and von Glen, in which organizations he played the second violin, and later organized his own quartet. From 1901 to 1904 he was professor at the Philharmony Conservatory in Moscow, and from 1905 was at the head of the Russian Trio organized by himself (the other two were his brother Joseph Press, 'cello, and his wife Maurina, piano). From 1915 to 1918 he taught at the Im perial Conservatory in Moscow.
In 1910 Press won first prize in a competition where twenty violinists competed; and for two years conducted the orchestra in Goteborg, Sweden. He also received many honors from crowned persons in Europe, among whom were Emperor Wilhelm II, the King of Roumania, the Dukes of Luxemburg, Gerra, Anhalt, Coburgatha, and others.
Press came to America in 1923. During 1923 he taught violin at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and also conducted the Philadelphia Philharmonic and Boston Orchestras.
Press possesses an extraordinary musical memory, which enables him to be completely independent of the score. The Goteborg press was very enthusiastic over his work with their orchestra. "All criticism must be silent in face of the deeply
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inspired performance of Professor Press. He is a true Beethoven interpreter, but also conducted Tschaikowsky's Symphonie Pathe- tique with rare intensity and grandeur." The Boston public and press were equally impressed by his conducting of the orchestra there.
The reviewer of the Boston Traveler wrote :
"He has a genial, pleasing personality and a quiet, dignified manner. He manipulates his baton without 'prima donna' manner isms. Yesterday he gave forceful, artistic interpretations of the pieces of the program, with a beautiful sense of shading. He indulged in brilliant phrasing; in fact, he minimized his own presence to a rare degree, rather letting the personality of each composer dominate the music. Thus there was the fiery, impas sioned Wagner of the Flying Dutchman, given with a dramatic flavor that quite changed Symphony Hall atmosphere to one of scenery, costumes and shifting lights. There was the serious, masterful Brahms, demanding every last accomplishment on the violin — and getting it. And the vibrant scintillating Sibelius, transporting the hearer to the far north where lights are opales cent and spaces limitless."
Press is a noble and serious musician. The writer remembers a concert by Michael Press in Bergen, Norway, in 1916, given at the Cathedral. Press's popularity among music lovers in that picturesque country was great, and there were not enough seats in the temple to go around; many had to sit on the floor. Press played, among other things, Bach's "E major Concerto" to the accompaniment of the organ. The effect of his masterly and heart-felt playing was such that the people remained silent long after the last echoes died in the vaulted expanses of the old church.
RUDOLPH POLK
EUDOLPH POLK, promising young violinist, was born in New York City in 1893 and is the son of D. M. J. Polk. Rudolph Polk studied with David Pasternack, Max Bendix, and Lichtenberg. He played in Europe until 1916, and then enlisted with the American armies during the war. In 1919, he made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall, and then went to Europe for further study, later to appear in concerts there. During the season of 1924-25 he was assistant artist to Chaliapine, famous Russian basso, on his •tour through the American continent.
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TOSSY SPIVAKOWSKI
TOSSY SPIVAKOWSKI, who comes of a very musical family, was born in Odessa, and was a pupil of Fiedelman. In his playing he ex presses the impetuous temperament of his birthplace, the south of Russia. The author of this work had opportunities to hear this slender, dark young man in Norway in 1919, where he concertized both in recital and as soloist with symphony orchestras, and was much impressed by his technique as well as by his passionate and impetuous tone. During the last few years he acted as concert master with the Berlin Philharmony.
Aside from his father, a professional musician, two of Tossy's brothers are talented pianists.
EDOUARD RAPPOLDI
THIS EXTRAORDINARY violinist, who was for a long time concert master of the Leipzig Court Band, was considered one of the greatest violinists of the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Rappoldi was in no wise inferior to Joachim; his full, noble tone, grandeur of style, clearness of interpretation,
(purity and elegance of nuance — all re minded one of the Berlin king of , violinists, yet Rappoldi did not imitate
Joachim but showed independence and individuality.
Rappoldi was born on February 21, 1831, in Vienna. At the age of seven he appeared as pianist and violinist, play ing his own composition at a concert organized by his teacher, Doleschallein. Later his teachers were Hellmesberger, Bohm, Ernst, Janza. Rappoldi made a concert tour through the cities of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, and Belgium. At one time he was concert master in Rotterdam, and later was conductor in Luebeck, Stettin and Prague. In 1876 he received the title of Prussian Professor and Concert Master in Dresden.
His concert tours, on which his wife, Laura Kahr, a famous pianist, accompanied him in the Scandinavian countries, Vienna, Warsaw, and other cities, could be likened to a triumphal march.
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^Among his works, published and in manuscript, are two string quartets, two sonatas for violin and piano, two symphonies, overture and songs.
He died on May 16, 1903 in Dresden.
MAX ROSEN
MAX EOSEN, eminent violinist, was born in Dorohoi, Roumania, on April 11, 1899. He is the son of Benjamin Eosen, a barber and amateur musician. The family came to America when Max
• was eight months old. He was educated in the New York Public Schools, and received his first music lesson from his father at the age of five. Eachel Lubar- sky (now Garbat), who had collected funds to send Mischa Levitzki abroad, also undertook to collect funds for Max's education. Through the aid of Mr. and Mrs. James Goldmark, a MacDowell scholarship was secured for him but was refused, as it was too small to send him abroad. Edward J. de Cappet then heard Eosen and offered to supply money for his education. While in New York Max took lessons from Alois Truka, Bernard Sinsheimer and David Mannes (1908-11).
In 1912 Eosen went to Dresden to study with Auer. When Auer returned to St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Eosen wished to accompany him, but because of his religion was refused entrance into Eussia. He continued his studies with Willy Hess in Berlin. At the outbreak of the war, when Auer went to Christiania (1916), Eosen went there and continued his work with his former master. He made his debut in that city in the presence of the King and Queen, and members of the court. This initial appear ance was followed by tours in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Germany, where he made his Berlin debut in 1917. His New York debut was made on January 11, 1918, when he played the Goldmark Concerto with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then he has been heard in many of the large cities of the United States. Max Eosen possesses brilliant technical attainments. His tone, while not big, is nevertheless of a beautiful and penetrating quality. His playing of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Bruch, and Saint-Saens are marked by a fine elegance and truly poetic fervor and grace.
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ERNA RUBINSTEIN
ERNA RUBINSTEIN was born in Hermannstadt, Hungary, in 1903. At the age of seven, after only four weeks of lessons on the violin, she made her debut as soloist at one of the conservatory
musicales. She displayed such extra ordinary natural gifts that a year later she was placed at the Conservatory of Budapest and became a pupil of Hubay, the noted violinist and composer. Five years later, at the age of thirteen, after capturing the highest possible honors, she was brought out as soloist with the leading orchestras in Budapest and Vienna. From that time on her rise to European fame was rapid and sensa tional.
She toured Germany, Czecho-Slo- vakia, and Scandinavia. Arthur Nikisch was so amazed with her talent that at her first recital in Berlin he played her piano accompaniments. In Amsterdam she was introduced by Willem Mengelberg as soloist with the Concertgebouw orchestra. Again her success was extraordinary. She subsequently gave twenty-nine concerts in Holland within a short time, playing everywhere to capacity audiences.
Her American debut was made in February, 1922 as soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Willem Mengelberg. There had been no preliminary trumpetings — it was only her amazing performance that in the words of one distinguished critic, "aroused a Friday afternoon audience to enthusiasm."
In spite of the lateness of the season, Erna Eubinstein appeared six more times in New York, including three more appearances with the Philharmonic. In addition, she played in Minneapolis, Nashville, Lindsborg and other cities. Since then she made two tours in America, dividing her time between European appear ances in the autumn, and American engagements in the winter. Erna Kubinstein became a violinist by mere chance. Her father had played the fiddle indifferently well, and her parents wished her to study the piano because it was considered necessary that the little girl play some instrument for her own as well as her parents* pleasure. She was taken to a conservatory in Buda pest, where the Rubinstein family lived, but when the principal saw her he shook his head. He explained that she appeared too
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fragile for the hard hours of practice, seated at the piano. But taking her long white fingers in his hand, and examining them closely, he said that the child could study the violin. The mother of little Erna was somewhat annoyed at this announcement. She had listened to her husband's poor fiddling for many years, and feared that the daughter would follow in his footsteps.
But to the great surprise of parents and teacher, the child took to the violin like the proverbial duck to water. In a short time the little student was giving a recital in the conservatory and two years later gave a concert in another city where she was recognized as an artist. The great Jeno Hubay, whose name abroad is as well known as that of Leopold Auer, offered to teach her for the mere joy of having such a pupil. Her parents accepted this offer and for three years she remained in the studio, constantly refusing offers from managers who saw in this child's playing a potential fortune. When she emerged from Hubay's studio she continued her career, and the demands for her appeara'nce all over Europe were innumerable.
Erna has other talents also. The first thing she learned in school was to dance. In a very short time she was the show pupil, the premiere danseicse. As star dancer she used to appear in all the school exhibitions, and even went touring with a group of pupils to the towns in the immediate vicinity. But it was the marvelous sense of rhythm which she displayed with her little feet and body, that led her mother and father to believe that she should express herself with a musical instrument. Between the serious periods of her practicing Erna watched the people who came and went, and often convulsed her parents by imitating some of the great musicians who heard her play, both at the conservatory where she studied, and later when she was acknowledged to be one of the finest fiddlers of the generation. She has been known to dress up in men's evening clothes and with rumpled hair, slightly humped shoulders and serious frown, imitate to perfection the famous Jan Paderewski. Early in life this little artist also showed a decided taste for the use of color. She has done portraits for several friends that are excellent likenesses, in a manner quite reminiscent of Gauguin. A sketch of herself which she made at the age of fourteen has been reproduced and published.
"As I grow older, and feel things differently — not more intensely than I did when a small child/' she says, "I find that I interpret the works of the masters with more insight and imagi nation than when I was younger. Before, I seemed to play and interpret as though I were being guided by some unseen presence. This guidance is of course, unexplainable. As I grow older, I am more dependent upon my own self, upon my own brain. My one
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Idea, now, is to play the works of a composer as nearly possible in the way that I believe and feel he meant it to be played. In fact, years have made me change. For I know I do not play composi tions as I did last year or two or three years ago. I feel them differently, and I hope that my change is progress as well as development."
Genius never seems to feel satisfied. This realization comes as a consolation to less gifted mortals. One hears of a famous singer whose desire is to retire to the quiet of some far-off mountain top, while a noted baritone seriously considers giving up his operatic career in order to enter a monastery. Now Erna Rubinstein, having received every possible praise from the Eu ropean and American press, wants to become an orchestral conductor. "It is tremendously thrilling to play as soloist with a great orchestra, and I have always longed to conduct a huge, well trained body of musicians. Unfortunately, the woman orchestral conductor is seldom considered seriously. However, it needs a little pioneering and I shouldn't be surprised if I started doing this in the near future."
EDOUARD RBM'BNYI
FEW CELEBRATED violinists have led more romantic and adventur ous lives than Remenyi. Born at Hewes in Hungary, in 1830, he possessed the relentless spirit of his race.
From his twelfth to his fifteenth year he studied the violin at the Vienna Conservatory under Bohm. In 1848 he became adjutant to the distinguished General Gorgez, and fought under Kos- suth and Klapka in the war with Aus tria. When the insurrection failed he escaped to America, where he made a tour as virtuoso. In 1853 he visited Weimar and sought out Franz Liszt, who at once recognized his genius and became his friend and guide.
In 1854 he went to London and was appointed solo violinist in the Queen's Band. Six years later he obtained an amnesty and returned to Hungary where he became solo violinist in the band of the Emperor of Austria.
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His restless disposition would not allow him to remain long in one place, and in 1865 he once more began to travel. He visited Paris, where he created a furore, and then continued his trium phant course through Germany, Holland, and Belgium. After settling in Paris for about two years, he returned in 1877 to London.
He went to America and remained there for some years, then proceeded in 1887 to the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar. In 1891 he once more visited London. A few years later he returned to the United States where he passed the remainder of his days.
He was frequently compared to Wilhelmj, although he differed widely from him in temperament, ideas and musicianship. In his prime Remenyi was master of an enormous technique and the possessor of a strongly pronounced poetic individuality. He was most successful in playing Hungarian music, some of which he adapted to his instrument; but the stormier pieces of Chopin which he arranged for the violin were given by him with tremend ous effect.
During his long career, he toured Australia and almost all the islands of the Pacific, also Java, China, and Japan; in fact, he went where few if any violinists of his ability had been before. He discovered thirty out of his collection of forty-seven old and valuable violins in South Africa. Most of them had probably been the property of the Huguenots.
It was related by Remenyi that when he was a young man in Hamburg in 1853, he was to appear at a fashionable soiree one night, but at the last moment his accompanist was too ill to play. Remenyi went to a music "store and asked for an accompanist. The proprietor sent J. Brahms, then a lad of sixteen, who was struggling for existence, and teaching for a very small sum. Remenyi and Brahms became so interested in one another that they forgot all about the soiree, and sat up until the next morning playing and chatting together. Remenyfs negligience of his engagement resulted in the loss of any further business in Ham burg. Together with Brahms, he set out for Hanover. They gave concerts as they went, thus earning sufficient funds to carry them on their way.
At Hanover they called on Joachim, who arranged for them to play before the court. After this, they proceeded to Altenburg to see Liszt, who received them warmly and offered them a home. During all this time Brahms received little or no recognition, in spite of Remenyfs enthusiasm in his cause, neither did he find much favor with Liszt, although the latter recognized his talent. He therefore returned to Hanover, where Joachim gave him a
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letter to Schumann, and it was Schumann's enthusiastic welcome and declaration that a new genius had arisen that established Brahm's reputation in musical circles.
Remenyi died of apoplexy while on the concert stage on May 15, 1898, in San Francisco.
It is said that Remenyi's real name was Hoffman.
ARNOLD ROSE
tt
ARNOLD ROSE, who made a great name for himself particularly because of his famous Rose Quartet, which is considered one of the finest musical organizations now in existence, was born on
October 24, 1863, in Yassy, Roumania. At the age of seven he took up the study of the violin, and when ten years old was admitted to the Vienna Con servatory, where he studied under Pro fessor Karl Goesler. During the three years in the Conservatory he received three first prizes and was graduated with the silver medal
In 1881 he accepted the post of first soloist and concert master in the Vienna Imperial Opera, under Wilhelm Jahn; this was the more flattering to the violinist since he was then only eighteen years old.
From 1888 to 1889, Rose undertook concert tours over Germany and Roumania, and also visited Paris. Later, from 1889 to 1896 he was first concert master at the famous Beyreuth Festivals. He organized regular chamber music evenings in Vienna, and his Quartet has since become universally famous by its tours through Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy, etc.
In 1894 he became violin professor at the Vienna Conservatory, where he is still teaching.
His brother Edouard (born 1865 in Roumania) is a very gifted 'cellist. He has been soloist of the court orchestra in Weimar since 1890.
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PAUL STASSEVITCH
PAUL STASSEVITCH is one of those rare musicians who has achieved virtuosity in a dual role — that of pianist as well as violinist. This noted artist's debut in America in 1924 was as soloist with the State
Symphony Orchestra under Josef Stran- sky, and the works he performed are among the most exacting in the reper toire of violinists and pianists, Brahms7 Concerto for Violin and Tschaikow- sky's for piano.
Born in Simpheropol, Russia, on May 5, 1894, Paul Stassevitch revealed, at an age where most precociously musical children attain skill as soloist on one in strument, an equal talent and facility for the violin and the piano. His first teach ers were : Sokolowsky and A. Sapelnikoff (violin), and Mme Koboreva (piano). * He was thirteen when he made his first appearance with symphony orchestra as soloist on both instru ments, and the works he played were the Mendelssohn violin and the Grieg piano concertos.
Like so many others of the brilliant Russian soloists of today, Paul Stassevitch studied with Professor Leopold Auer, from whose class at the Petrograd Conservatory he graduated in 1917. Al though it was in 1911 that he began his studies with the famous master, he had played for Auer seven years earlier while the violin ist was touring Southern Russia. Professor Auer had urged the boy's parents to permit Paul to return with him at once to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) , but this they had decided against in view of the fact that his school studies would be seriously interrupted. Upon entering the Conservatory, Paul, whose first piano teacher had been a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakoff, continued his studies on this instrument with Professor Nikolayeff. He was the favorite ac companist for the violinists and cellists at the Conservatory, and acted as accompanist for Professor Auer's classes.
Paul Stassevitch' s debut in Moscow, made while he was yet a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, was with Koussevit- sky's orchestra, where he played Glazounoff's Violin Concerto, for which the young artist had the distinguished conductorship of the composer. Later, in 1914, he made his first appearance in Scandina via where he became, during that season and in successive years, one of the most popular violin virtuosi, and was assured a per-
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manent place of esteem on the concert platforms of Norway, Den mark, and Sweden.
As England, France, Germany, and other European countries were closed to him as a Eussian, Stassevitch arrived in the United States in 19-19, invited by Professor Auer whose assistant he be came. For a time he retired from the concert platform, during which period he studied, for a year, with Josef Lhevinne to perfect his piano technique.
Paul Stassevitch married, in 1923, the celebrated Norwegian pianist, J. Margarethe Somme.
ILYA SCHKOLNIK
ILYA SCHKOLNIK, present concert master of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, under Gabrilowitch, and first violinist of the Detroit Quartet, was born in Odessa, Russia on February 11, 1890. His father, Samuel, a clarinetist and violin ist, began teaching Ilya at the age of five. One year later the boy appeared in con cert, and later toured with his brother, to raise funds to enable them to go abroad. In Berlin they met Joachim, who was in terested in the boy's talent. He advised him to remain in Berlin. There Ilya won a scholarship, and studied with Gustav Hollaender, after which he was gradu ated from Leipzig Royal Conservatory, under Hans Sitt in 1905.
Later he toured the Scandinavian countries and Germany, and then went to Belgium to continue his studies under Cesar Thomson. At the Brussels Royal Conservatory, in 1918, he received the "Premier Prix avec la plus grande distinction." When the war broke out in 1914, he found himself in Dresden. Unable to fill his engagements in France, Belgium, and other countries, he embarked for America. He became in the course of time concert master of the Russian Symphony, assistant concert master with the New York Symphony, concert master with the Stadium Sym phony under Volpe, and since 1919, concert master with the Detroit Symphony, where he also founded the Detroit String Quartet.
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ALEXANDER SASLAVSKY
WHEN ALEXANDER SASLAVSKY died in 1924 in San Francisco, vio linists and the musical world at large lost a staunch champion and supporter, as well as a fine musician. Saslavsky specialized as a
concert master, just as others specialize in solo or chamber music work. His last position was as concert master with the San Francisco Orchestra, a post which was taken over at his death by Mishel Piastre.
Alexander Saslavsky was born on February 19, 1876 in Kharkoff, Russia. He began his musical studies under pri vate teachers at the age of nine. Two years later he entered the Imperial Con servatory in Petrograd, studying under Pestel (a pupil of David), and later under Gorsky. He then went to the Vien na Conservatory, where he studied under Jacob Groin until 1893. The same year he made a concert tour of Canada, and then joined the New York Symphony as one of the first violinists. He subsequently acted as concert master, and fre quently appeared with it as soloist. He was also active in organ izing the Russian Symphony in 1904, and was its concert master for four seasons. In 1900 he founded the Mendelssohn Tri Club; in 1904 the New York Trio, with Paolo Gallico and Henry Bram- sen ; and in 1907 the Saslavsky Quartet. With the last-named or ganization he gave concerts throughout the United States.
His summer concerts with his quartet in Denver, Colorado, which began in 1915, were so well received that he subsequently repeated the series every year. Among many novelties he intro duced Chausson's "Poeme" for the first time in the United States. For several years previous to his death his musical activities were confined to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
LEON SAMETINI
LEON SAMETINI, Dutch violinist, and head of the violin department of the Chicago Music College since 1912, was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on March 16, 1886. He is the son of Samuel and Rose
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Sametini. Leon began studying the violin with his uncle, Michel von Groot, and from 1892 to 1896 was under the tutelage of Felice Togni and Bram Eldering in Amsterdam. In 1902 he went to Prague, where he became a pupil of Sevcik for one year.
Sametini made his debut in 1896 in Flushing, Holland, and achieved the dis tinction of a solo appearance with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw under Wil- lem Mengelberg in March of 1902. Since then he has appeared with practically - every leading orchestra in America and Europe. His American debut took place in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, during Christmas of 1912.
Leon Sametini plays with a fine tone. He phrases with intelli gence and indulges in no banal effects for the sake of pleasing.
ALEXANDER SCHMULLER
THIS EMINENT Russian violin virtuoso and teacher was born on December 5, 1880 in Mazur, Russia. He studied the violin under Sevcik, Hrimaly, and Auer. In 1908 he went to Berlin, where he
taught at the Stern Conservatory, and in 1914 received an invitation from the Amsterdam Conservatory, which he ac cepted. Schmuller concertized a great deal with Max Reger and Leonid Kreut- zer, as well -as alone, both in Europe and in America, introducing many new works on his programs. He was the first to play Reger's "Violin Concerto*7 and car ried on a lively propaganda for his favorite composer and friend. Schmul- ler's is a deep, expressive tone. He is an exceptional ensemble player.
At present he is occupying an im portant post at the Amsterdam Conserv atory. During his American season of 1922-23 he appeared under the baton of his friend, Willem Mengelberg, as well as with Stokow- ski, Gabrilowitch, and others.
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JOSEPH SZIGETI
JOSEPH SZIGETI'S chief musical characteristics are extreme ele gance and dignity. His career has been a succession of successes. The long list of orchestral engagements which he has filled in the
past several seasons is more eloquent than any description of his playing. Famous as a player of classics, Szigeti is also renowned as the violinist who has introduced many of the new works of the violin repertory. Hamilton Harty's Vio lin Concerto dedicated to Szigeti; Bus- oni's Violin Concerto; Bloch's Violin Sonata and ProkofiefFs Violin Con certo are a few of the modern composi tions which he has played at the pre mieres. Eugene Ysaye's Sonata for Solo Violin, recently published, is another work dedicated to Szigeti. This sonata, introduced by him, made a great success ; the violinist received a letter of gratitude from the composer thank ing him for his brilliant efforts in behalf of "an old minstrel."
The American composer, Templeton Strong, now living in Geneva, has also composed a work for Szigeti — a poem for violin and orchestra, which Szigeti played in Europe, and also in New York under Mengelberg.
Orchestral conductors are perhaps the severest judges of solo instrumentalists. The unanimous approval of an artist by cele brated conductors is probably the highest possible endorsement. Joseph Szigeti has been selected by Leopold Stokowski, Wilhelm Furtwaengler, Walter Damrosch, Frederick Stock, Sergei Kousse- vitzky, and Fritz Reiner as soloist.
During the past few years, Szigeti has appeared as soloist in Europe with Furtwaengler and Bruno Walter in Berlin, Pierne and Rene-Baton in Paris, Ysaye in Brussels, Richard Strauss in Salzburg, Mengelberg in Amsterdam, Reiner in Prague, Schnee- voigt in Stockholm, Ansermet in Geneva, and with many other im portant conductors.
London proclaimed him as "one of Nature's violinists." Ghristiania announced that his playing had the "sacred fire." Amsterdam described him as "grand, noble." Bologna declared that such playing has been "unknown to us since the interpreta tions of Kreisler." Madrid hailed him "a magician." Paris con siders him "among the most remarkable," while Brussels holds him
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to be in the same category. Bucharest says that he "combines all the qualities of the great artists," and Rome summarizes him as "master of the violin."
Joseph Szigeti was born in Budapest on September 5, 1892, and studied with Hubay, making his debut at the age of thirteen in Budapest, Dresden, and London. He was the last of the great con temporary violinists to come to America. Brought over by the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, under Stokowski, he ap peared as soloist in the autumn of 1925, first in Philadelphia, and a few days later in New York City. His success was great and imme diate. Engagements followed with all the leading orchestras. He has since played with the Chicago, Boston, and many other leading symphonic organizations in United States.
Olin Downes, music reviewer of the New York Times, wrote "De Musset remarked that while his glass was small it was his own. An artist's style may be intimate or commanding, he may deal in broad brush strokes or effects of miniature ; the first and last requi site is that he do a beautiful thing and reveal himself in doing it.
"These cogitations are induced by the violin recital of Joseph Szigeti last night in Aeolian Hall. This was Mr. Szigeti's first ap pearance in recital in New York. He had performed several days previously in Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and his performance on that occasion had bred curiosity to hear him under more intimate circumstances. The result justified expecta tions. Mr. Szigeti appears to be most himself, and to show most effectively the different phases of his artistic personality when he can get close to his audience and discourse the music of different composers. He played last night Tartini, Bach, Mozart, Bloch, Prokofieff, Veracini, Dvorak, Kreisler, and Paganini. He met each of these creative personalities on his own ground, yet with indi vidual perspective and within a self-appointed scale of values, achieved effects of much variety and artistic value. Mr. Szigeti never relied upon superficial means for his results. He was always the finished virtuoso, the distinctive musician.
"There was a lightning change from the radiant Mozart to the savage, rhapsodic Orientalism of Ernest Bloch. His two pieces, 'Viduf and 'Nigun' are masterly in their brevity and intensification of mood. They say much in little, and are Hebraic in the emotional force and the jagged contour of the melodies. They were given their true character, their utmost significance by Mr. Szigeti, and this without an instant of ugliness, roughness or bad taste. The t tone assumed a new sensuousness and there was a dramatic accent that would have been unexpected in a less intuitive player."
Szigeti's successes in Eussia were extraordinary. As a proof of this, the government has invited him three successive times to play
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in the leading cities of that country. He was invited there together with the famous conductor, Otto Klemperer, to play as soloist at the Beethoven Festivals there in April of 1927.
The author was present at Szigeti's farewell concert on March 24, 1926, In New York. It was extraordinary in many respects. In the first place, Szigeti had as a companion the famous Swiss pianist, Walter Gieseking. The afternoon was given to playing sonatas of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. The ensemble was per fect, and Szigeti's playing recalled the golden days of Joachim, to whom Szigeti can well be likened, if there is such a thing as com parison in the world of mature art.
Szigeti is a young man of medium height, with an attractive stage personality. He is an accomplished linguist, and writes and speaks English fluently. He has made a study of American music and has played several premieres of American works.
He now makes his home in Paris.
TOSCHA SEIDEL
TOSCHA SEIDEL'S tone is singularly sweet and clear ; and technical ly he is as near perfection as human skill can hope to come. As a boy of seven he astonished audiences in Warsaw, not alone by his
phenomenal ability in playing, but by his precocious musical sense that was obvi ous in performances. His progress has attracted world-wide notice, and he is today one of the most admired violinists in the world.
Toscha Seidel's playing is like the wines of Burgundy: of a deep purple, warm, sparkling and mellow. The con trast between him and his fellow-student, Jascha Heifetz, was summarized by a certain critic, who said : "Jascha Heifetz is the angel of the violin, while Toscha Seidel is its devil." There is a wild pas sion and abandon in Toseha's playing that is not to be found in these days of cultured and sober musicians.
Toscha Seidel was born in Odessa, Eussia. His mother was a
school teacher, his father a business man, and his uncle, Beerman,
a well-known violinist. Toscha at the age of three "chose" his
uncle's profession. He was "a boy born with a fiddle in his hand."
His first teacher was Max Fiedelmann, a pupil of Auer. Once
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when his teacher's brother, Alexander Fiedelmann (first teacher of Mischa Elman), heard the boy play a De Veriot concerto when he was eight years old, he was so impressed that he made arrange ments for him to enter the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. In 1912 Toscha Seidel was sent to Auer, spending his summers in Dresden and his winters in Petrograd. In 1915 the boy made his debut in Christiania, playing the Tschaikowsky "Concerto/' He gave other concerts in Scandinavia, and made his first public appearance in Petrograd in April, 1916. Then followed a long concert tour.
Seidel, who represents the fruition of Auer's formative gifts, has, to quote H. F. Peyser, "the transcendental technique observed in the greatest pupils of the master, a command of mechanism which makes the rough places so smooth that the traces of their roughness are hidden from the unpracticed eye." Speaking of his master's methods, Toscha said once: "Professor Auer always taught us to play as individuals, and while he never allowed us to overstep the boundaries of the musically aesthetic, he gave our in dividuality free play within its limits. When playing for him, if once I came to a passage which demanded an especially beautiful legato rendering, he would say: 'Now show how you can sing!' The exquisite legato he taught was all a matter of perfect bowing, and as he often said : 'There must be no such things as strings and hair in the pupil's consciousness. One must not play violin, one must sing violin.' "
Auer's classes were held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at the Petrograd Conservatory. Those were the gala days ! All the pupils used to stop in front of Auer's studio, listening to his great pupils' playing. Once (in 1913) while I was on my way to take my 'cello lesson in an adjoining chamber on the famous third floor of the Conservatory, I also stopped to listen. The marvelous strains of Beethoven's "Concerto" were issuing from the room into the cor ridors. Such playing should have been that of a mature master. A little boy emerged from the classroom, dressed in a sailor's suit. A woman of a southern type, who had been very restless, clasped him in her arms. It was Seidel and his mother. The students looked wide-eyed on the prodigy. On those days when Seidel, Heifetz, or Cecilia Hensen played, some other of Auer's pupils, who came prepared to take their lessons, and whose turn happened to be immediately after those geniuses of the bow, would lose con fidence and find all kinds of excuses for not playing on that day.
Toscha's mother was much concerned with her son's academic and worldly education. She engaged the services of a Russian- German professor of philosophy and mathematics, a certain Pro fessor Galatzky, who was tutor and guide to Toscha and his brother during their travels in Scandinavia and in America. In 1916 I met
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Auer and his "court suite" at the famous resort, Voxenkollen, near Christiania. There were Seidel and Heifetz, with their families, Burgin, Max Rosen, Stassevitsch, May Bang (a talented violinist, armies during the war. In 1919, he made his New York debut in and daughter of a Christiania bishop). There I became a close friend of the charming Seidel family. Toscha was called by the Norwegians "Tosca/' and for a long time he and Jascha Heifetz held sway over the city, and the hearts and ears thereof. The main music hall in Christiania was occupied by these two for weeks in succession — Toscha and Jascha alternating. The dark-headed boy captivated Norwegian hearts even more than the fair-headed one. During that time, in one of the Norwegian dailies, the following joke bearing on the subject of the boy's name, was printed: "A man in the street car, dressed in evening clothes, asked his neigh bor, f And where are you going, Hans ?' 1 am going to hear Tosca of Puccini, and you?' 'I am going to hear Tosca of Seidel.' "
Toscha with his mother and brother and tutor, lived in the city of Christiania, and not at Voxenkollen, where some of the other Auer students lived. The reason for this was two-fold — economy, and the great freedom allowed the students at dormitories in which they lived to practice whenever they wanted, while those living at the hotel had much trouble on that account.
Auer, in his reminiscences, speaks much of Seidel, and relates the details of his dual concert with Heifetz before the King and Queen of Norway.
Coming to America from Europe in 1918, Seidel instantly won recognition as a bright light of the violin world. Of his New York debut, W. J. Henderson of the Sun said: "He plays with dashing grace and great brilliance," and the late H. E. Krehbiel of the Tribune wrote : 'In dash and fire, breadth of bowing, solidity and richness of tone, his performance was unforgettable."
The Chicago Evening Post said : "Toscha Seidel settled all pos sible questions as to his power as a virtuoso." The Minneapolis Journal found him "a giant of the violin." The St. Paul Daily thought him "an uncanny blend of technique and fire — a very flower of Slavic genius." The Detroit Free Press discovered action and life in his playing. Each city found new wonders in his art.
From Australia, where Seidel made a tour in 1923-24, also came many flattering reports regarding his successes there. That was Seidel's first tour of the Antipodes and it meant his complete con quest of both Australia and New Zealand.
On his tour of Europe in 1925, he played a series of recitals in Christiania, and every concert was sold out days m advance. In Paris, Le Gaulois said: "He possesses an impeccable virtuosity." His playing of the incredibly difficult Brahms "Concerto" elicited
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from the Daily Mail the remark that "Kreisler at his best did not play the Brahms Concerto with more animated passion than this youth, who showed no intimidation at its oppressive traditions, rather handling it heartily, whereby the music lived more warmly."
SeidePs interpretation of Mendelssohn's "Concerto" is in a class by itself. Thread-like, his tone undulates upon the air. Light are the inflections he plays upon it. Sunshine and shadow no more than ripple over it. Fine-spun are the transitions, a modulation is a mere touch of bow and finger; rhythm stirs rather than beats; ara besques are tracery on gossamer.
Toscha Seidel and his brother, Vladimir, suffered an irreparable loss in the death of their mother, on April 26, 1925, in England, after a short illness.
EDUARD SINGER
THE HUNGARIAN violinist, Singer, won great fame as a virtuoso, pedagogue, and chamber music player. He was born on October 14, 1831, and received his musical education in Budapest under
Ellinger and Professor Eidely Cohen. After several concert tours, he went to Vienna, where he finished his violin studies under Professor Preyer. From 1851 on, Singer made concert tours through Europe, which were highly suc cessful.
In 1854 Singer was invited to Weimar on Liszt's recommendation to succeed Ferdinand Laub as court concert master and chamber music player, but in 1861 he moved on Meyerbeer's invitation to Stuttgart. Here he took the post of Pro fessor at the Conservatory, and was also concert master for a long time. Singer won honor as a composer of violin compositions, princi pally of an elementary nature. He wrote many etudes, capriccios, and fantasias, and also arranged and edited many classic pieces for violin. Together with Deifritz, he founded an excellent school of violin playing.
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JENNY SKOLNIK
JENNY SKOLNIK, scion of a very musical Russian family, and gifted young violinist, was born in Odessa, Russia, in February of 1896. Her first teacher was Sitt. Later she studied under Fiedel-
man (the teacher of Toscha Seidel), fin ishing: her studies under Carl Flesch. Her brother, Ilya Skolnik, is the well-known concert master of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and her sister, Marie Skolnik- Wellerson, was a gifted 'cellist (who has a young- daughter, Mila Wellerson, al ready well known as a player on the same instrument) .
Jenny Skolnik is now living in the United States, from where she under takes very successful concert tours through the musical centers of Europe, and America.
MAX MOSSEL
MAX MOSSEL, the younger brother of the famous Dutch 'cellist, Isaac Mossel, was born in Amsterdam on July 25, 1871, and like his brother showed his musical predilections at an early age. He studied the violin with Willy Hess and Sarasate, and made Ms debut at the age of fifteen, as soloist for the Hommel Orchestral Society, in Holland, in October, 1876.
On July 5, 1892, he appeared, this time also as soloist, at the Crystal Palace Saturday Evening Concerts in England. Since then Max Mossel has made numerous wide tours and has estab lished a reputation as one of Holland's great violin virtuosi.
He is at present director of the Max Mossel concerts in the chief cities of Great Britain, and Professor of the Guildhall School of Music in London, being intimately connected with that country's musical life.
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HELEN TESGHNER TAS
HELEN TESCHNER TAS, daughter of an internationally known physician, Dr. Jacob Teschner, was born in New York on May 24, 1889. She began the study of the violin when she was five years
old, her first teacher being Nahan Franko
and her second, Sigmund Deutsch. At seven years of age she made her initial public appearance, playing at Chickering Hall, and was announced by the Musical Courier as "certainly the most remark able child violinist, who has ever ap peared in this country within present re collection, if ever."
With her entrance at Dr. Julius Sach's private school, Helen Teschner discon tinued her appearance as a child prodigy. Violin studies with Henry Schradick and George Lehman filled the years until she went to Germany for further musical study. Her teachers abroad were Carl Flesch and Willy Hess. In 1909 she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ernst Kunwald, playing Bach and Bruch concertos and the Beethoven "Romanzes." Recitals in Berlin and Vienna followed and other orchestral appearances at which she performed the Brahms and Beethoven concertos, Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole" and Bruch's "Scotch Fantasie."
In 1913 Helen Teschner married Emile Tas, son of Louis Tas, of Amsterdam, Holland, and relinquished her professional career for a period of seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Tas made their home in New York, where the violinist appeared at a private benefit concert in 1915 as soloist in the Brahms "Concerto" with the New York Phil harmonic.
Her first public appearance in New York was at Aeolian Hall in 1920. These were followed the next season by a recital in Bos ton with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mengel- berg, when she was heard in the Brahms and Mendelssohn concertos. *
An appearance with the New York Philharmonic under Mengel- berg, on which occasion she played Mozart's A major Concerto, took place the next season, and one in Holland with the Concertge- bouw Orchestra during the violinist's visit to Amsterdam. Helen Teschner Tas participated during the summer of 1923 in the con certs of American music given in Paris by Lazare Saminsky, at
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which she introduced Albert Elkus's "Concertino after Ariosti," Lazare Saminsky's "Hebrew Rhapsody/5 and shorter works by Al bert Stoessel, Emerson Whithorne, and Frederick Jacobi.
American orchestral appearances the succeeding- season were with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Ossip Gabrilowitsch, and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Walter Henry Rothwell. In the Spring of 1924, Mme Tas gave a series of recitals in Holland. Upon her return to America she participated in concerts of the American Music Guild and the League of Com posers. Among the works she gave first hearings on these pro grams are: Louis Gruenberg's second Sonata and Alexander Tscherepnine's Sonata. Last season the violinist was heard with Arthur Loesser in three semi-public chamber music programs at Steinway Hall.
MISCHA WEISBORD
MISCHA WEISBORD began his violin studies at an early age under his father, who is an accomplished musician. He brought the boy to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) and entered him in the Conserva tory when the young violinist was nine years old. He could play the most complicated compositions from memory. Glazounoff heard him play, gave him a scholarship, and placed him in the most advanced class. The young violinist then studied music un der a number of famous teachers, including Auer, and was coached for a time by Paul Kochanski. During the war and the revolution Mischa and his father escaped to Siberia and gave concerts there.
Some of the New York managers heard him play, and wished to engaged him for tours at once. But the father decided to go once more with the boy to Europe. He studied with Cesar Thomp son and Hubay, and gave concerts in all the European centers. In London young Weisbord gave a private recital for a phonograph company which gave him the money to continue his progress. The violinist then went to Berlin for further concertizing and study, and then toured Germany and the Scandinavian countries. In Stockholm two years ago, Weisbord was given a tremendous ova tion. His ten concerts there were immediately sold out within a few hours after the tickets went on sale.
Coming to New York, Weisbord made his debut at Carnegie Hall on February 23, 1926, justifying all expectations of his for mer New York friends, and receiving glowing tributes from the press. Mischa Weisbord has a smooth flowing tone, brilliant tech nical attainment, and an intellectual grasp of his subject matter, gained in his many wanderings around the globe.
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HENRY WIENIAWSKI
FEW VIOLINISTS succeeded more thoroughly in captivating their audiences than the famous violin virtuoso, Henry Wieniawski, whose impetuous Polish-Hebraic temperament, with its warm and
tender feelings, gave color to his play ing. He was undoubtedly the greatest technician of his time. Wieniawsky is significant also as a composer. His com positions are, designed primarily for virtuosity effects. Who, for example, is not acquainted with his celebrated vio lin concertos in D minor and F sharp minor, his two "Polonnaises," his famous "Fantasy on the Faust Motive," his "Legend," his "Mazurkas," and numer ous other monuments to Ms art?
Wieniawski was born on July 10, 1835, in Lublin, Russian Poland, where his father practiced medicine. He was taken to Paris by his mother when he was only eight years old, and entered the Conservatoire, where he joined Massart's class. When only eleven he gained the first prize for violin playing, after which he made a concert tour in Poland and Russia. Soon, how ever, he returned to Paris to resume his studies, especially in composition. Together with his brother Josef, an excellent pianist, he went again in 1850 on a concert tour through the Netherlands, England, Germany, and Russia.
In 1860 he received the appointment of solo violinist to the Czar of Russia, and held that position for about ten years in St. Petersburg, after which he resigned. In his book, My Long Life in Music, Auer speaks thus of Wieniawski: "He was delightful company. He was always saying something that provoked laugh ter, always full of puns and anecdotes. He was never serious, save when his violin in his hands, he commenced to practice; but he practiced several hours a day. As regards the court, he was such a favorite there that no serious objection was made to Ms habitual late-coming to the performances. One day he had been asked to play at a soiree-musicale at the house of one of the rich est bankers in St. Petersburg. At those affairs the Baron was ac customed to entertain the most aristocratic society of the capital. The day after the soiree, Wieniawski received a letter from the Baron containing a bank note for 100 roubles and the Baron's card on which he had written 'with a thousand thanks/ Wieniaw-
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ski, furious, at once put the 100 rouble note in an envelope, to gether with his own card, on which he scribbled: 'I should have preferred a thousand roubles with a hundred thanks/ Baron X, delighted, sent him the 1,000 roubles the following day."
In 1862 he was invited to take a position as professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he remained five years. It was at the conclusion of this engagement that he made his tour in the United States with Anton Rubinstein, who was his intimate friend. When the great pianist returned to Europe, Wieniawski remained in America and succeeded in making a large fortune by his performances.
This tour was cut short toward the end of 1874 by a telegram from Brussels, offering him the professorship in violin at the con servatory there, during the illness of Vieuxtemps. When Vieux- temps recovered, Wieniawski resumed his tours. During one of those concerts he was seized by a sudden spasm and compelled to stop in the middle of the Bach "Chaconne." Joachim was among the guests. He came to the rescue, taking up Wieniawski's violin and finishing the program. Notwithstanding his great physical suffering, Wieniawski continued on his tour, but in Odessa he broke down altogether. He died on April 2, 1880.
It is stated as a fact, although it sounds improbable, that this unusual violinist died friendless and poor in a Moscow hospital, and that he was buried by public charity. But his son Jules con tradicts this, stating that his father died in the house of the Countess Meek, and was buried by Czar Alexander III, of whom he was the friend as well as the favorite violinist. A third version is that he was buried in Warsaw by his friends and relatives. One is reminded of the tomb of Moses, the whereabouts of which no mortal is supposed to know.
OSCAR ZUGGARINI
A MUSICIAN and virtuoso of uncommon ability, Oscar Zuccarini is one of the very few contemporary great Italian violinists. He was born in Rome on February 19, 1888 and studied at the Royal Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia under Ettore Pineli. Zuccarini played solo under Schneevoight, both in Kiev and Riga, and gave successful concerts at the Augusteo in Italy. Since 1913 he has been concert master of the Augusteo Orchestra, and has played in the Trio Romano and the Quinteto CristianL He is at present first violinist of the new Quarteto di ROBQ&.
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EFREM ZIMBALIST
ALTHOUGH BORN In Russia, Zimbalist Is in many respects an American artist. He makes his home in New York City and spends most of his time in America. He has become one of the
great factors in the musical life of New York, and is constantly in demand, not only for concerts, but as a judge in mu sical competitions of all sorts, and as a musical adviser.
Zimbalist, owner of the famous "Ti tian" Stradivarius violin, commands per haps the most beautiful tone to be heard today. His contribution to music is purely musical rather than technical, al though he is one of the great virtuosi of all time. He has brought forward much beautiful new music. American com posers have found in Zimbalist a pro found exponent and a brilliant inter preter of their works. *
As a composer, Zimbalist has distinguished himself not only in his contributions to the literature for the violin, but also as a writer of songs and piano pieces. Although eminently a serious musician, he has given to the light opera stage a highly successful musical play : "Honeydew," which had its premiere in New Haven, Connecticut, and was subsequently played with great success all over the United States.
There is hardly a city in which Zimbalist has not played, nor is there a symphony orchestra of importance with which he has not appeared frequently as soloist.
"Mr. Zimbalist's playing, coming after the vast deal of fiddling that we have heard lately, was refreshing in its artistic ma turity," said the New York Tribune. The New York Times wrote: Mr. Zimbalist gave a superb performance of the Glazounoff Con certo. It was a performance of gorgeously rich tone, entrancing cantilena, and in the florid passages, brilliant and accurate." The Evening World said: "In this year of a remarkable invasion by foreign fiddlers, Mr. Zimbalist's sound musicianship and big tone enabled him to more than hold his own. It was masterly playing." Efrem Zimbalist was born in Eostov-on-the-Don, Russia, on April 9, 1889. His first teacher, as in the case of Heif etz, Elman, Kochanski, the Piastres, and others of the world's greatest, was his father, who was an orchestra conductor. In the autumn of
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1903 Efrem entered Auer's classes at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) and was the forerunner of the famous coterie. Elman entered the conservatory one year later, then fol lowed Heifetz, Seidel, and the others. Speaking of the humilia tions and hardships the parents of the great Jewish violinists had to bear on account of the old Czarist laws in Holy Russia, Auer says sympathetically in My Long Life in Music :
"Similar difficulties arose with regard to Efrem Zimbalist, only in his case the one who suffered was his mother, who had accompanied him to St. Petersburg in order to place him with some family or other willing to take care of the boy, then between thirteen and fourteen years old. In this quest she spent several days with no success, meanwhile persecuted by the police. With out means and therefore unable to grease the palms of the guar dians of public safety, she was forced to leave her son's room one evening under menace of arrest. So mother and son were forced to walk the streets of St. Petersburg during the cold October nights, when the temperature sometimes dropped below zero. They wandered hither and thither, stopping to warm themselves in the all-night restaurants which catered to the factory hands working on night shifts and to the droshky drivers. And I never even suspected the depths of misery to which this poor mother had been reduced in her search of a lodging for her son. One morning when I had hardly arisen, Mme Zimbalist and her son were announced. Shivering with cold, they had come in to warm themselves and to ask my help. This time it was a question of a permit to remain in the city for a few days, something not so difficult to procure ; yet what physical and moral suffering had they not endured in the meantime! I was not personally acquainted with the current chief of police of St. Petersburg, but I wrote him a letter in which I pointed out the wretchedness of this poor mother, who was merely looking for a place where she could leave her child, laid stress on the boy's great talent, and in addition, assumed all responsibility for the infraction of the law involved. As a result I had the satisfaction of being notified that permission was accorded Mme Zimbalist to remain in the capital an entire week. How her heart must have grieved when she was obliged to leave this inhospitable city, to entrust her child to the keeping of strangers, and to face the depressing prospect of never being able to visit him when her mother-love prompted."
After the Russo-Japanese war, there occurred throughout Rus sia so-called "school-strikes," and expression of revolt against exist ing authorities, who caused so many lives to be needlessly ex tinguished in an inglorious war. The striking students refused to attend the classes of the royalist-teachers, A similar strike
262 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
took place, of course, at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. There were also "neutral" professors. Auer, in his reminiscences, re lates regarding that turbulent period in Russia :
"As for myself who wished to have nothing at all to do with politics, I belonged to the latter class, which was regarded with suspicion by the strikers, who picketed the stairs and halls leading to the class rooms. Among the most fiery and jealous of the strikers who forbade their colleagues to visit the classrooms on pain of a beating was Efrem Zimbalist, then fourteen or fifteen years old. He was a picket on a guard in the corridors leading to my classroom, and watched all those who attended my classes. Whenever he met me in the corridor he would salute me proudly and continue to tramp his beat."
Zimbalist was graduated from the Petrograd Conservatory as the winner of the coveted gold medal and the Rubinstein scholar ship of 1,200 rubles. On November 7, 1907, he made his Berlin debut, playing the Brahm's Concerto, and at once became famous. Shortly afterwards, he made his first London appearance (on December 9, 1907) and then appeared in many of the chief centers of Europe.
I first met Zimbalist in Leipzig (where I was studying at the Conservatory under Prof. Julius Klengel, and was a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch) . Zimbalist was the soloist with this Orchestra on January 1, 1910, playing the Glazounoff Concerto in A minor. I can still remember the ex cellent impression left on me by this great fiddler and musician. The day following, a certain Mr. Eugene Simpsen, the Leipzig cor respondent for the Musical Courier of New York, called on me at my home. He asked me to follow him to the house of a well- known Leipzig surgeon, Dr. Barban, and to take my 'cello along. We arrived at our host's house at about two in the afternoon. There I met Zimbalist, Schmuller, the two pianists, Leonid Kreut- zer and Telemaque Lambrino, and an old gentleman of about sixty, Dr. Margulies. I was told by the guests that the amiable old gentleman was in his day a favorite pupil of Wieniawski, but that he gave up a promising public career at the altar, on the re quest of his rich and jealous bride.
After dinner, a quartet was organized. Dr. Margulies, whom those present respected for his excellent musicianship and vir tuosity, played the first violin; Zimbalist was modest enough to play the second violin, Schmuller played the viola and I played the 'cello. We played several quartets of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, as well as Brahms7 F minor Quintet with Leonid Kreutzer; and later, with Lambrino, the Piano Quartet of Dvorak. The playing continued until after midnight, with occa-
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sional interruptions, when I had the opportunity to observe Zim- balist at close range. This gifted young man was the soul of the gathering and a charming gentleman. I also heard him that evening accompany one of the violinists at the piano. He has an uncommon gift for accompanying. That afternoon and evening are among the most pleasant of my life, and I will never forget it.
His American debut Zimbalist made on October 27, 1911, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, giving the first performance in America of Glazounoff s A minor Concerto. He was imme diately hailed as an artist of unusual merit.
Zimbalist's list of novelties is amazing. He has introduced two American concertos— those of Schelling and Powell, as well as one by Frederick Stock. He was the first to play the music of the Norwegian master, Tor Aulin, and he was also the first to recog nize the compositions of Albert Spalding.
On June 15, 1914, in London, Zimbalist married the famous soprano, Alma Gluck, to whom he has since often acted as accom panist in her tours.
Those who meet Zimbalist personally will find him a smiling man with a straightforward manner and address, and a re luctance to speak of his successes. He has no affectations. Despite his fame, he is. not convinced that he knows everything about making music on his instrument, and he still confers frequently with his illustrious teacher, Leopold Auer. Although about eighty years old, Professor Auer has not aged musically and is as keen a listener and as helpful a guide as ever he was— a fact which Zimbalist finds of great advantage.
The friendship of the old master and his celebrated pupil is deeply rooted. In 1925 Zimbalist, with the cooperation of Jascha Heifetz (whom he also accompanied at the piano on that occasion), organized a gala concert in honor of Professor Auer's birthday. He enlisted the aid of Josef Hofmann, Sergei Eachmaninoff, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Siloti, Achron and Stassewitsh. The concert netted a very large sum. The most striking moment of the evening came when Zimbalist and Heifetz played a triple concerto with Leopold Auer, who still plays with the art and fire of his virtuoso days.
Aside from his operetta "Honeydew," Zimbalist also composed a "Suite in old Form" for violin and piano (1911) ; Three Slavic Dances (1911) ; "Fantasy on the Motives of Rimsky-KorsakofFs *Le Coque d'Or' " ; arrangements for the violin, and many other works. Zimbalist's most recent composition is a Sonata for vio lin and piano, in G minor, which received its first performance in Carnegie Hall, New York, on March 5, 1926, with Emanuel Bay at the piano.
In 1925, Zimbalist made a tour of the Orient, receiving a royal
264 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
welcome wherever he appeared. He is much in demand in all parts of the world, and always plays to sold-out houses. He appears as soloist regularly every season on one of the Metropolitan Opera House Sunday Evening Concerts, as well as with the New York Philharmonic and New York Symphony Orchestras.
Efrem Zimbalist is a happy personality, and a favorite in the most contrasted social circles. He is the beloved of his fellow Jews, and one can often hear him in concerts of a specifically Jew ish nature, on which occasion he often plays some of his own transcriptions of traditional national Jewish airs. The home of this charming man and great musician is the center of New York's musical life.
LOUIS ZIMMERMAN
THIS EXCELLENT artist, born at Groningen, Holland, on July 19, 1873, received his first lessons from his father, and afterward's studied with Pt. Ortman. In 1890 he went to Leipzig, where he had the advantage of receiving lessons from Hans Sitt, and after wards to Brussels, where he studied with Ysaye. He then made a tour of Holland and visited Hamburg, Frankfort, and other Ger man towns, his performances meeting with unvarying success. In 1896 he was appointed Hofconcertmeister and soloist of the Court Orchestra at Darmstadt and from 1899 to 1904 he held the post of solo violinist of the celebrated Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. In 1898 he played before Queen Victoria at Osborne. He has also played before his own sovereign, Queen Wilhelmina, at the Hague.
Louis Zimmerman made his first public appearance before an English audience when he played the solo violin part in Richard Strauss's "Ein Heldenleben," on its initial performance in Eng land, under the composer's direction, at Queen's Hall, December 6, 1902. On that occasion he made a distinctly favorable impression.
A pupil of Carl Reinecke, he has produced several compositions, among others a quintet for clarinet and strings.
Zimmermann also wrote a violin concerto (first performed in Amsterdam in 1921) ; variations for violin and orchestra; a string quartet, smaller pieces for violin and piano, and songs,
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LJEF ZEITLIN
LJEF ZEITLIN, Russian violinist, one of the founders of the now famous "Conductor-less Orchestra" in Moscow, Russia, of which he has been chairman since its organization in 1922, has won for himself a place of honor in the hearts of his music-loving country men, because of his great musical talent and energy. So great a conductor as Otto Klemperer declared that he firmly believes in the growth and development of this idea of Zeitlin's.
Ljef Zeitlin was born in Russia on March 14, 1881. He was one of Auer's violin pupils at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, being graduated in 1901. He became a member of the Colonne Orchestra in Paris, as well as of the Zeitlin Quartet, which he organized and which has since 'won esteem among its kindred organizations. In 1910 he became concertmaster at the Zimny Theatre in Moscow, and later held the same post in Koussevitzky's Orchestra there.
This excellent musician and executive is now professor at the Music School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society,
'C.
ELLISTS
• EVSEI ,BELOUSSOFF
EVSEI BELOUSSOFF, eminent Eussian 'cellist, was born in Moscow in 1881. He entered the Imperial Moscow Conservatory at the age of eight. His entire musical education was directed by Was-
sily Safonoff (at the time director of the Moscow Conservatory) and Professor Alfred von Glehn, a pupil of Charles Davidoff. He was graduated in 1903 and was awarded the gold medal, the highest prize of the Conservatory. At the time of this award his name was en graved on the marble tablets of the con servatory to join those of many illus trious predecessors, among them: Tane- ieff, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Siloti, and others. In 1910 he received the prize in a contest of 'cellists from all parts of Russia.
Before the war, Safonoff returned from America and toured through the capitals of Europe with BeloussofL During this period they played sonatas. Beloussoff also appeared as soloist when Safonoff conducted the leading or chestras of Europe.
When, during the revolution, the musical centre of Russia shifted from Moscow and Petrograd to Southern Russia, Beloussoff became Professor at the Rimsky-Korsakoff Conservatory in Khar kov. He became one of the leaders of musical activity there, and organized many chamber music cycles, which were participated in by the leading musicians in Russia. In 1921 he and Alexander Borovsky, pianist, gave twenty-three concerts in Tiflis within the short period of three and a half months, playing every concert to capacity houses. In these twenty-three concerts Beloussoff ap peared not only as soloist and in chamber-music, but conducted the Civic Opera Orchestra in a cycle of symphony concerts. In 1922 he played in Paris, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfort, Wiesbaden, and other cities, and before coming to Am erica, toured through Poland, Finland, Esthonia, and Lithuania. During the season of 1923-24, Beloussoff made his first Am erican tour, which carried him from coast to coast. He appeared as soloist in concerts, being acclaimed by critics and audiences alike as a brilliant artist of the highest order. Beloussoff s per sonality is engaging and dignified. In New York he married the daughter of the late well-known philanthropist, Max Levy.
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CARL DAVIDOFF
THE GREATEST 'cellist of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all time, was Carl Davidoff. His playing was extraordinarily elegant, and he could gracefully overcome all technical difficulties. He was
born on March 17, 1838, in Goldringer, Russia, and educated in Moscow, where in 1858 he was graduated from the Uni versity as a mathematician. His musical education began in childhood when he chose the 'cello as his instrument. He studied at first under Smith in Moscow, and later under Carl Schubert in St. Petersburg.
In 1859 Davidoff went to Leipzig where he studied theory and composi tion with Hauptmann. From 1859 to 1861 he was solo 'cellist at the Leipzig Gewandhaus; after the death of Grutz- macher, he was appointed 'cello teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory.
Having made several concert tours, Davidoff returned to St. Petersburg, where he was invited to become soloist of the St. Petersburg Italian Opera (1861-77). From 1862 to 1865 he gave lectures on history of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and after Schubert's death (1863) 'was appointed Professor of the 'cello class. At the same time, he was appointed soloist of the Empress' court band.
Davidoff contributed much effort to the newly organized Im perial Music Society. From 1866 to 1867 he was director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. As an administrator, he was un tiring. He won the love of both colleagues and pupils by his humanity and kindness.
As a 'cellist he was immensely popular both in Eussia and abroad. He toured England, France, Belgium, Germany and Rus sia. Besides a large and beautiful tone, his playing was noble, elegant, and technically perfect. Davidoff was a favorite of the Czar and other crowned heads. When he died on February 26, 1889, in Moscow, the Imperial Court attended his funeral.
As a composer, Davidoff had great talent and a refined taste, but unfortunately he left only a few works. "Gifts of Terek," a symphonic poem for orchestra, an orchestra suite, four concertos for cello, "Am Spring-Brunnen," "Allegro de Concert," a "Russian Fantasy" for 'cello, piano quintet, string quartet, string sextet, an
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excellent "School for Violoncello," and songs. He also left an unfinished opera, "Mazeppa," the libretto of which he turned over during his life to Tschaikowsky, who made use of it for his opera of the same name.
Leopold Auer, with whom Davidoff was associated at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, as well as in their famous string quar tet, says in My Long Life in Music:
"Davidoff was a musical virtuoso of the first class. He en riched the 'cello repertory with several concertos and other com positions of real merit, some of which are still — nearly forty years after his death — holding their own on concert programs and 'cello curricula, and will, it seems to me, continue to do so for many years to come. He was a man gentle and timid by nature, yet gifted with a fund of real energy which disclosed itself only on rare occasions. At the least opposition of resistance, he withdrew himself and shut up like a clam. Owing to him and to its presi dent, the Grand Duke Constantine, the Eussian Music Society and the Conservatoire became Imperial institutions/'
EMANUEL FEUERMANN
DESPITE THE fact that the 'cello fulfills more functions than any of its stringed brethren, despite the fact that musicians and critics have considered it the leader of the stringed flock for a long time,
it is only recently that it has received its due from the general public.
There are two reasons why recogni tion has come to this instrument so slow ly — there have been few great masters of it and amateurs play it with only the most agonizing results, for it is very dif ficult. Its size is unwieldy and its strings twice the length of the violin strings. Feuermann was the master of it at the age of fourteen.
He was born in Kolomea, Austria, on November 22, 1902, and comes from a very cultivated musical family. His father, Marx Feuermann, still active as a violin and 'cello teacher in Vienna, was Emanuel's first teacher when the latter was only five years old.
A few years later, the Feuermann family went to Vienna, where Emanuel became a pupil of Anton Walter (a wonderful 'cellist himself, and member of the Rose Quartet in Vienna), with
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whom he studied for three years. At eleven, he gave his first debut in public, and at fourteen he toured Germany and Austria, being appreciated by critics and audiences. It was at that youth ful age that he played under Arthur Nikisch at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and under Felix Weingartner at the Philharmony in Berlin.
In 1917 Feuermann went to Leipzig to study with the famous Professor Julius Klengel. After studying for three years, the young virtuoso, then seventeen, was invited to become Professor at the Koln Conservatory, as well as solo-7cellist of the Giirzenich Symphony Concert and member of the Giirzenich Quartet, in which posts he remained until 1923. Feuermann now devotes himself to concert and chamber music work exclusively.
He has played under such conductors as : Bruno Walter, Furt- wanger, Nikisch, Weingartner, Klemperer, Busch, Abendroth, Pierne, and many others. During the past two seasons he also played in Moscow and Leningrad, where he had an enormous suc cess. The Isivestia wrote (on March 6, 1925) : "Enianuel Feuer mann is a great artist. His technique is remarkable and his tone is beautiful." On October 22, 1925, the newspaper Het Vater- land (Der Haag, Holland) wrote: "Feuermann, who belongs to the Casals class, is without doubt one of the greatest 'cellists we have."
Feuermann is an excellent musician and grand virtuoso. He has fire and bravura, a brilliant technique, and a scintillant style, an acute sense of dramatic confrontation.
Today he is acknowledged to be one of the greatest living interpretive artists. And for the great breadth of his powers he finds the 'cello the most satisfactory medium.
Emanuel's brother, Sigmund Feuermann, is a very talented violinist and musician of note.
EDUARD JACOBS
EDUARD JACOBS, eminent Belgian 'cello virtuoso was born in Hal, Belgium, in 1851. He studied under Servais, at the Brussels Con servatory, and later went to Germany, where he became a mem ber of the Weimar Court Orchestra. Upon his return to Belgium, he became professor at the Brussels Conservatory.
Jacobs made many tours as virtuoso through Europe and was particularly popular in Russia. He belonged to the old school of 'cello virtuosity and was one of the favorite 'cello performers of his day.
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RAYA GARBOUSOVA
FOR CENTURIES the violin has been considered supreme among string instruments. Violinists alone, of all string players, have been able to attain the popularity of singers or pianists, by virtue
of technical possibilities of their instru ment and the appealing quality of its tone. But in the last few years a 'cellist has come to the fore, whose accomplish ments have gone far toward changing traditional beliefs. Her name is Eaya Garbousova.
She sings so tenderly that she melts the heart of you; sings like an angel, either damned or celestial. There is something diabolic in her energy of at tack, an attack like the slash of a sabre. What temperament ! What surety! What purity of intention ! Technically she per ilously approaches perfection! Raya Garbousova was born on September 25, 1908, in Tiflis, Russian Caucasia. Her father, Boris, is a cornet player who is also a teacher at the Conservatory and a member of the symphony. At the age of seven, she started piano lessons, with her sister Lydia. A year later, she took her first 'cello lesson with Constantin Miniar, at the Tiflis Conservatory, from which she was graduated in 1923. She made such an impression with her playing, that the principals of the conservatory arranged a stipend for her, which enabled her to continue her studies in Moscow.
Her first appearance was made at the age of nine. Since then, she has appeared under Conductor Suck, in Moscow ; under Paray, Wolf and Arbos, in Paris; under Peres Casses in Madrid; under Sir Henry Wood and Albert Coates in London.
Critics have been unanimous in praise of Garbousova. When the famous 'cellist Casals heard her in Paris, he prophesied a great future for her. At her last appearance in London, the critic of the Westminster Gazette wrote: "Her success was indeed nothing short of sensational." Glazounoff thus described her in the Lenin grad Krasnaja Gazeta: "Her cantilena reminds one of singing and possesses a surprising variety of tone qualities. Everything in this young artist is extraordinary and she is herself a wonder of nature."
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JEAN GERARDY
JEAN GERARDY, noted Belgian 'cellist, was born on the seventh of December, 1877, at Liege, where his father, Dieudonne Gerardy, was a piano teacher at the municipal conservatory. At the age
of seven his studies were begun under Richard Boellmann. In less than two years he had won the second prize at the conservatory. In 1889, he was awarded the gold medal by unanimous consent of the jury. When ten years of age, he ap peared in public for the first time. The following year, when he played at Lille and Aix-la-Chapelle, newspaper critics hailed him as "an apparition destined to revolutionize the musical world." Each subsequent appearance s e r ve d to strengthen this prediction. Eugene Ysaye, who heard the boy during the Summer of 1888, was so greatly im pressed that he caused London appearances to be arranged where Gerardy appeared jointly with Ysaye and Paderewski. Since then his successes have been continuous and phenomenal.
When he enlisted as a private soldier in 1914, it was his desire to remain unrecognized. After successfully concealing his iden tity for three years, the Belgian Queen finally discovered him, and summoned him to appear at a Red Cross Benefit Concert in Lon don at the Royal Albert Hall. At that concert the King and Queen of England, the Queen Mother, and the King and Queen of Bel gium were present. As Gerardy says : "In poker parlance, we had a 'full house7 — two kings and three queens/'
Thereafter, until the armistice was signed, Gerardy, at his Queen's request, gave concerts at the "front," playing in all to more than 60,000 soldiers. When Gerardy made his last tour prior to his enlistment in the Belgian Army, he was generally rec ognized as having reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Artistically, Gerardy is fascinating. He embodies every qual ity for completely conquering his audiences.
The very manner in which he approaches his audience shows mastery and self-confidence. His listeners are captivated by his magnetic personality before he has drawn a single tone on his 'cello.
Gerardy has appeared for several seasons in the United States, making a great stir in music-loving circles.
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HE IN RICH GRUNFELD
GRUNFELD is considered one of the most extraordinary 'cellists of the past generation. By his playing as soloist, and particularly in chamber ensemble, he established in Germany Bohemia's fame as
a land of musicians par excellence. He was born on April 21, 1855 in Prague, and was a pupil under Hegenberdt at the local conservatory. At eighteen, he was soloist at the Vienna Opera. In 1876 Griinf eld moved to Berlin and was most popular as a teacher at the Kulak Musik Akademie, where he taught for eight years. He also toured with his brother, Alfred, the pianist, through Germany, Austria, and other countries.
In league with Xaver Scharwenka he organized in Berlin chamber trio con certs, which had great artistic success. This noble and gifted artist, the idol of Berlin society, was high in favor with the German Emperor, princes and counts, who covered him with medals and other tokens of favor. He also received the title of "soloist of the Prussian Court." He had an acquaintance and friendship with such colossi as Hans von Billow, Johannes Brahms, A. Eubinstein, I. Joachim, I. Strauss, Sarasate, D'Albert, Scharwenka, M. Sembrich, Sophia Menter, Adeline Patti, Zuderman, Fulder, Lindau, Bodenstedt, Spielhagen, Sonnenthal, Rodenberg, Lenbach, Edouard Hanslick, and many other celebrities.
Griinf eld has other ambitions than success on the concert stage. Amid all his broad activities as a concert artist, organizer, teacher, and ever-welcome friend in all of Berlin's music circles, Grlinfeld preserved the one treasure which most musicians sacrifice to their success — healthy nerves, sparkling humor, and cheerfulness.
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BORIS HAMBOURG
THE WELL-KNOWN Russian 'cellist, Boris Hambourg, was born on December 27, 1884, in Voronetz, Russia, and is the son of Michael and Catherine Hambourg. His first teacher was his father, who
was director of the Imperial Music School in Voronetz. Later, Boris studied 'cello with Herbert Wallen and Hugo Becker, and harmony with Professor Ivan Knorr, at Dr. Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfort. Later he studied in Paris and Brussels.
Hambourg made his debut at the Tschaikowsky Festival in Pyrmont, Ger many (1903), and later appeared in Aeolian Hall, London (November, 1904), and with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin (1906). He also toured Austra lia and New Zealand in 1903. At Aeo lian Hall, London, he gave five historical recitals on the 'cello (1906).
Hambourg made his American debut in 1910. In Toronto, Canada, together with his father and brother Jan, he established the Conservatory of Music, but abandoned the enterprise after his father's death in 1916. Later he settled in New York.
Boris Hambourg is also a talented composer, having published, among others, the following works :
"Perles Classiques," for 'cello and piano, arrangements from original editions for 'cello and figured bass ; several songs and 'cello pieces, including six preludes and six Russian dances.
Boris Hambourg is the brother of Mark, the famous pianist, and Jan, the violinist.
MARIX LOEVENSOHN
THE FAMOUS Belgian 'cellist and composer, Marix Loevensohn, to whom such contemporary composers as Flora Joutard, Henriette Bossman, Charles Granville Bantock, and many others, have dedi cated their works, was born in Coutari, Belgium, on March 31, 1880. He studied under Jacobs at the Brussels Conservatory and on graduating in 1898, received the first prize.
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The same year he made his debut in London, then toured through England with Adelina Patti, Albani, and Katherine Good- son. Marix Loevensohn is one of the best chamber-music "cellists, and one of the most learned musicians. He was successively mem ber of the Quartets of Wilhelmy, Marsick, Ysaye, and Thomson. He appeared as soloist in every center of importance in Europe, and also toured as soloist with the Colonne Orchestra (1905), visiting all the South American countries. The following year he toured with Ysaye.
He also organized the "Loevensohn Modern Chamber Music Series" in Berlin, in which city he remained until 1914, when he enlisted in the Belgian army. He was discharged in 1916, and became soloist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. In 1920 he was appointed first professor of 'cello at the Brussels Royal Conservatory. At present he is holding two similar positions at Amsterdam and Brussels. He is also a member of the Amsterdam String Quartet.
Loevensohn has written many works for the 'cello ; many songs (in manuscript), and a brochure, called Chamber Music of Bel gian Masters.
JOSEPH MALKI N
JOSEPH MALKIN, Russian 'cellist, was born in Odessa, Russia, on September 25, 1879. When still a very young boy, he received his musical instruction on the violin. Two years later, however, he adopted the 'cello, studying at the Conservatory under Aloise, Later he went to Paris, where he entered the Conservatory, and studied under H. Rabaud. In 1898 he received the first prize. The same year he toured the Scandinavian countries with his broth er Jacques, the violinist, and repeated this tour for three successive years. In 1902 he was accepted as 'cellist with the Berlin Phil harmonic Orchestra, remaining with them for six years. He played under Nikisch, Mahler, Weingartner, Mottl, Strauss, Sibe lius, and others. In 1908 he left the Philharmonic to join the Brussels Quartet, and a year later toured as soloist throughout Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, Russia, and England.
In 1914, because of his friendship with the famous Moltke, who had presented him with an excellent Ruggieri, Malkin was allowed to leave Germany for the United States, where he joined the Boston Symphony forces as first 'cellist. He remained in that capacity for five years. Later he served three years with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and afterwards concertized for two years .with Geraldine Farrar, the famous American soprano, giv-
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ing concerts in the United States, Cuba, and Canada. Malkin has also concertized jointly with Melba, Emmy Destinn, Amato, and other celebrated artists.
During the seasons of 1925-26-27, Malkin was first 'cellist with the New York Symphony Orchestra, under Walter Damrosch.
ISAAC MOSSEL
ISAAC MOSSEL, the teacher of nearly all present-day famous Dutch 'cellists, was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on April 22, 1870. When three years old he started to study the violin, but soon forsook it for the 'cello. In 1885 he was a member of the Philharmonic Or chestra of Berlin, and from 1888 to 1904 soloist of the Concert- gebouw in Amsterdam.
He began his long career as teacher by accepting a post at the Amsterdam Conservatory in 1890, from which institution he grad uated his numerous famous pupils.
Isaac Mossel, who was the older brother of Max Mossel, the famous violinist, died in December of 1923.
MICHAEL PENHA
MICHAEL PENHA, eminent Dutch 'cellist, whose playing is of that "grand style," was born in Amsterdam in 1888. He was a student at the Amsterdam Conservatory, under Isaac Mossel, and later of
H. Becker and Salmon.
Penha appeared in Amsterdam in 1907 and then toured Europe, South and Central America. In 1916 he settled in the United States, making occasional trips to Canada. He was leading 'cellist with the Philadelphia Symphony under Stokowski, and now 'occupies the same post with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Alfred Hertz.
His playing is marked by the fin ished virtuosity of a master. Wherever he appears in chamber music or as solo ist, he has been accorded an enthusiastic reception.
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GREG OR PIATIGORSKY
GREGOR PIATIGORSKY, the 'cellist, ranks with that small galaxy of stars who look down from the heavens of the musical profession. He has been called the Russian Casals, and the Kreisler of the 'cello.
Superlatives come readily to the pen of the critic reviewing his art. A daz zling technique, a warm rich tone that glows with color, a poetic insight and infinite variety of expression are out standing characteristics of his art. Added to his superb musical equipment is a per sonality of rare charm which captivates his audiences before he plays a single note.
As in the case of so many musicians who have achieved distinction, Piati- gorsky comes of a musical family. His father, Paul, was an accomplished violin ist, and taught Gregory when the latter was seven years old. Before the lad was nine, he was playing the concertos of Saint-Saens and Davidoflf. At fifteen he was jsolo- 'cellist of the Moscow Royal Opera.
From 1916 to 1919 he studied 'cello with von Glen at the Mos cow Conservatory, from which he graduated with the Grand Prix. Later he studied in Berlin with Hugo Becker, and in Leipzig from 1920 to 1922. He toured Poland and Germany in 1921, and has appeared with most of the European orchestras under the direction of such distinguished conductors as Furtwangler, Klem- perer, Bruno Walter, Muck, Monteux, Clemens Craus, and others. Since 1924 he has been first 'cellist at the Berlin Philharmonie.
The story is told that during a premiere of Richard Straus's "Don Quixote/' the famous composer brought with him a special 'cellist. The orchestra protested that their own first 'cellist be used. Straus, with an understandable respect for the difficulties of this work, agreed to dispense with his own 'cellist, if the other musician could play the score by sight. Piatigorsky accomplished the feat, and had his talents brought to the forefront as a result.
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JOSEPH PRESS
THE MUSICAL world suffered one of its greatest recent losses when Joseph Press, still a young man, died on October 4, 1925, after his return to America with a newly purchased splendid Ruggieri
'cello, from a successful tour in France and Western Europe.
He returned to occupy his place as 'cello instructor at the Eastman School of Music, in whose development he was actively interested, and to resume his other professional duties as first 'cellist of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and member of the Kilbourn Quartet. A few days after his arrival, he caught a severe cold and was removed to the hospital. He developed double-pneu monia, and succumbed in a few days.
This splendid musician and popular man was born in Vilna, Russia, on January 15, 1881.
While still a very young boy, he studied under Weinbreh and Kleppel. Later he studied under von Glen at the Moscow Con servatory from which he was graduated with the Gold Medal. This was immediately followed by a career of concert playing and teach ing, which continued until the World War. During that time he was chief of the 'cello department at the St. Petersburg Con servatory. In 1920 he was offered a position on the faculty of the Berlin Music Academy, but decided to come to America. His cordial reception there influenced him to remain, and he shortly after became a member of the faculty of the Eastman School of Music.
In 1921 he made his American debut in New York, and was accepted at once by public and critics as a 'cellist of unusual merit. A rare interpretative ability and superior technical mastery of the 'cello evoked enthusiastic commendation from the New York writers and the musical press of the country.
Shortly before the outbreak of the World War, Press with his brother Michael, and the latter's wife, Maurina Press (pianist), organized the famous "Russian Trio," which won great renown in Russia and abroad. These musicians often played for the ex- Kaiser Wilhelm II and other royal persons in Europe.
Joseph Press received many honors, among which were the gold Art and Science Medal of Germany. Not only as an artist,
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but as a man, Press was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him, because of his highly sympathetic disposition, nobility of mind, character and a staunch idealism that caused him, perhaps, much suffering in his career. The writer of this volume, who was associated with Press as a member of the Rochester Philharmonic, will never forget the rare friendship with his colleague.
DAVID POPPER
ONE OF the greatest 'cellists of our time was undoubtedly David Popper, born in Prague, Bohemia on June 18, 1846.
His playing was to the highest degree elegant and artistic, and his technical mastery perfect. Popper received his musical education at the Prague Conservatory. From 1863 he toured Europe, soon winning great fame as soloist. Not only was his technique perfect, and his tone large and noble, but his interpretations were ever musi cal, intelligent, and moving. He was par ticularly well received at Karlsruhe in 1865 where he played at a Musical Festi val, and in Vienna in 1867, where for several years he was soloist at the Vien na Court Theatre.
During many years Popper was pro fessor at the National Academy in Bud apest, from which city he started his concert tours over Europe, meeting everywhere with great enthusiasm.
In cooperation with Jeno Hubay he established the famous "Hubay-Popper String Quartet," which won great success.
In 1872 Popper married the pianist, Sofia Menter, daughter of another famous 'cellist of his day. With her he made many con cert tours over Germany, France, Russia, and other countries.
Aside from his activities as soloist and executive, he enriched 'cello literature by writing many beautiful and charming composi tions, mainly of the salon genre. These include: two concertos (E minor and G major), two suites, Requiem for three 'cellos, five Spanish Dances, the famous "Gavotte" in D, "Papillon," "Spinning Song," "Elf -Dance," and many other beautiful works, both original, transcriptions and arrangements.
A characteristic of his work is the brilliant and effective ac companiments which, it is said, he owes to his wife. This great 'cellist died in Baden, Austria, in 1913.
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JOACHIM STUTSCHEWSKY
JOACHIM STUTSCHEWSKY, the well-known Russian 'cellist, was born on February 7, 1891, in Romny (near Poltava), Russia. He conies of a musical family; his father and grandfather were pro fessional musicians.
He began to play the violin at the age of five, but it was a year later before he received regular lessons. At twelve, he expressed the wish to change to 'cello. It happened, however, that the town of Cherson, where the Stutschewsky fam ily was residing, lacked a single 'cello teacher, and Joachim had to take his first lessons from a bass player.
Shortly after, an accomplished 'cel list, Kusnetzoff, came to the town, and taught the lad for several years.
In October of 1909, he studied at the Leipzig Conservatory with Professor Julius Klengel ('cello), and Emil Paul (theory). Upon being graduated in 1912, he left for Zurich, where, till 1924, he was active as soloist, chamber music player, and pedagogue. He also toured in Germany, Holland and Austria.
He came to Vienna in 1924 and with three renowned musicians organized the Wiener Streichquartett, which gave successful con certs in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. He left this organization in 1927 to devote himself to concertizing and 'cello teaching.
He is also a talented composer. Specially interesting are his Jewish compositions: "Mchol Kedem," "Dweikuth," arrange ments of "Eli, Eli," and other works. His "Studien zu einer neuen Spieltechnik auf dem Violincello," (exercises for the left arm) is also an interesting work, and a new method for developing a high technique.
Stutschewsky has contributed articles in the Wiener Morgen- zeitung, Israelitisches Wocheriblatt, Das Judische Heim, Neue Zuricher Zeitung, and Die Musi'k. He is now living in Vienna.
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JACOB SAKOM
JACOB SAKOM, the Russian 'cellist, was born in the little town of Ponieweje, Lithuania, on July 9, 1877.
Although he started to take piano lessons at an early age, the
lad was soon forced to abandon them, for his father, a lawyer, removed his family to another town, Shavly, and in sisted that his son first receive a general education. Jacob therefore entered the local high school, which boasted a stu dent orchestra. At the age of fourteen, Jacob decided to take 'cello lessons with the leader of the orchestra.
After being graduated from the high school, Sakom went to Kiev in order to enter the university, where he studied physics and mathematics. At the same time he entered the Royal Music School of the same city, studying 'cello with von MulerL
At twenty-four, Sakom was graduated both from the univer sity, with a doctor's degree, and the Royal Music School, with a diploma and the first prize. He then decided to become a profes sional musician and left for Leipzig, where he studied 'cello with Professor Julius Klengel, and theory and composition with Ste- phan Krehl.
He was graduated from the Leipzig Conservatory in 1905, re ceiving first prize for his wonderful and highly cultivated playing. He accepted an invitation of the Philharmony in Hamburg, as first solo 'cellist.
Sakom possesses a fine noble tone, and is a musician par excel lence. He is at present living in Hamburg, where, besides being the leading 'cellist with the Philharmony, he engages in pedagogy and is a chamber music executor.
He has concertized through Germany, Sweden, and the Nether lands, and is acclaimed an unusual 'cellist. He was a member of the "Fidelman Quartet" and the "Quast Trio."
JACQUES VAN LIER
THE NAME of Jacques van Lier, the Dutch 'cellist, is well known among 'cellists and musicians at large. He is considered as one of the foremost interpreters on his instrument. Both as soloist
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and chamber-music performer, he occupies a place of high rank. Jacques van Ller was born in the Hague on April 24, 1875. He studied 'cello with Hortog, Joseph Griese at the Hague, and with Eberle, in Rotterdam. He was first 'cellist in Basle from 1891 to 1895, after which he made many tours, and finally established him self in Berlin as member of the Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1897 till 1899 he was teacher at the Klindvorth-Scharwenka Con servatory, and also a member of the Dutch Trio, with Coenraad Boss and Joseph van-Yen. He is the author of "Violincello Bogen- technik," "Moderne Violincello Technick," and composer of many classical works for the 'cello. Of particular value and excellence is his 'cello transcription of the well-known Burmeister "Stiicke Alter Meister," originally written for the violin. He Is at present in England, where he organized in 1910, the Hermann vanLier Quartet.
MIL A WELLERSON
THIS PHENOMENAL seventeen-year-old 'cellist proudly carries with her a formal Introduction from an older colleague, the famous and unsurpassed 'cellist, Pablo Casals, which reads:
LONDON, Nov. 22, 1925. To Whom It May Concern:
The violoncellists Mila Wellerson pos sesses the genius of her instrument. She was ready to play in public at ten years of age. Today she has been recognized as a great artist in the principal musical centers of Europe. PABLO CASALS.
Mila Wellerson was born in New York City of Russian parentage, March 30, 1910. Her mother, Mera Skolnik, is a 'cellist, and her father, Max Weller son, a pianist. At the age of two and a half, Mila would hide in the room to gether with her twin sister, Eugenia (violinist), waiting for her mother to leave the room after practicing on her
'cello. The twins would then fight for the privilege of playing on their mother's instrument. The winner would climb upon a chair to reach the fingerboard of the 'cello and would then pick out by ear the melodies which she had heard her mother play. Perhaps it was Mila's physical superiority and special desire for the 'cello in those early battles of ambition that turned her thoughts towards becoming a 'cellist. On her third birthday she was asked if she
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wanted a sled, a doll, or other things of the kind. She answered that she wanted only a little 'cello. But no 'cellos could be found small enough for her diminutive hands. So by taking a large viola and inserting a peg on the bottom, her mother manufactured a service able "baby cello" on which Mila at once began to play, under her mother's guidance. At the age of four, Mila could play sonatas by Romberg, Corelli and others. At the age of six, she played as 'cello soloist with the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra under Arnold Volpe, performing the A minor Goltermann concerto. At the age of nine, she gave several recitals at Carnegie Hail, New York, playing the most difficult compositions with such ease and understanding that old musicians and the press proclaimed her a great genius and a finished master of her instrument. At ten, she was engaged as soloist with the Cincinnati Orchestra un der Eugene Ysaye. The critics as well as the audience went into raptures over her playing, and Ysaye also paid tribute to her. The same year she went to Paris, where she took a competitive examination in the Conservatoire. Some of the judges advised her she would be wasting time by studying, since she knew before hand more than those who had been graduated with highest hon ors.
Immediately afterwards, she was engaged as soloist with the Colonne Symphony in Paris, under the direction of Gabriel Pierne. After giving several recitals, she came to Germany, playing with principal symphony orchestras as soloist. She gave many con certs and the critics proclaimed her the greatest artist on the in strument of her times.
Mila, has transcribed Paganini's "Violin Concerto for the 'Cello," and has composed a number of pieces which she plays at her concerts.
PIANISTS
ISIDOR ACHRON
THE VERY talented pianist and accompanist, Isidor Achron, is a brother of Joseph Achron, the famous violinist and composer. Isidor was born on November 11, 1892, in Warsaw. As he showed a decided musical learning in early childhood, his older brother placed him in the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied first under M. Vilaschevski and Mme Ersipov, and was graduated from the classes of Doubassov (1918). There he also studied theory, first with his brother and later under Liadov.
Isidor Achron concertized widely in Russia and Germany, and appeared as soloist with a large symphony orchestra in Pav- lovsk, near St. Petersburg. In Berlin he gave four concerts in the course of one season. He came to the United States in 1922, where he made his debut in a concert at Carnegie Hall, New York. Later he was engaged by Jascha Heifetz as his permanent ac companist.
CLARENCE ABLER
CLARENCE ADLER, pianist and pedagogue, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 10, 1886. He obtained his early musical training at the Cincinnati College of Music under Romeo and Albino Gorno. Later he studied in Berlin with Godowsky and Jose da Motta; with Alfred Reisenauer in Leipzig; and with Raphael Joseffy in New York. His European debut took place in Berlin in 1907, after which he was engaged to succeed Arthur Schnabel as pianist of the Hekking Trio, which toured the Continent. He returned to America in 1909 and established himself in Cincinnati where, together with Hugo Heermann (violinist) and Julius Sturm ('cell ist), he organized a trio.
He also was active there as teacher until 1912, when he was induced by Joseffy to come to New York. His first appearances in New York were with the Kneisel Quartet and with the New York Symphony in 1913. The same year he was engaged as member of the faculty of the Institute of Musical Art. In 1919 he appeared on numerous occasions with Kneisel and the Letz Quartet. Later, Adler organized the New York trio with Cornelius van-Vliet (cellist), and Scipione Guido (violinist).
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GREGORY ASHMAN
GREGORY ASHMAN was born in Kiev, in 1899. His parents were Sophia (Belopolsky) and Naum Ashman.
At the age of thirteen, Gregory resisted his father's objections, and secretly practiced the piano when no one was at home, play ing with each hand separately all the music which he could find in the house.
About a year later, Gregory startled his family at the dinner table by announcing that he had been accepted by the Russian Imperial Conservatory, as a scholarship pupil under Professor V. Puchalsky. The family who had shown such little sympathy for his musical inclinations could hardly believe such a statement, es pecially since no pupil was accepted in the conservatory without preliminary training.
Gregory Ashman continued to make great strides in his music, and at the end of the second year, was appointed to the position of official accompanist to all the soloists who were invited by the Imperial Musical Society to appear in Kiev.
Such remarkable progress was interrupted by the Revolution. Gregory was mobilized and a musical career had to be abandoned for a while. Later, when freed from military service because of his health, he was given permission to leave Russia. After travel ing through many countries, including Turkey and Greece, where he supported himself through his music, Ashman arrived in the United States at twenty-two.
Here he was glad to meet again Paul Kochanski and Josef Press, both of whom he had accompanied in Russia. Just when he was about to settle in the new country he received an offer from Zimbalist to tour the Orient with him. Again he was a traveler, and when the tour was ended, instead of coming back to the United States, he decided to go to Java. He lived there for a year and half and returned to the United States to continue his musical career.
EMANUEL BAY
EMANUEL BAY, the son of a cantor in Lodz, Poland, was born in that city on January 7, 1891. At the age of ten, he began taking piano lessons under Strobel at the Lodz Music School. (Strobel was at one time the director of the Warsaw Conservatory.) After being graduated from the local school in 1909, Bay went to St. Petersburg, entering the Conservatory and studying there under Drozdov. He completed the course in 1913, playing the Tschaikow-
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sky concerto, and receiving a grand-piano as a prize. Since then Bay has appeared as soloist under Coates, Koussevitzky, Malko, Tcherepnin, Glen, Aslanoff, and other famous conductors.
Bay is one of the best of contemporary pianists and accom panists, being accompanist for Koahanski, Press (the 'cellist), Heifetz, the Meckelburg quartet, and others.
For the past few seasons he has been the accompanist of Zim- balist.
HAROLD BAUER
HAROLD BAUER is one of the greatest pianists of our time. He was born in New Maiden, near London, on April 28, 1873. His father was of German origin (an excellent amateur violinist), while his
mother was English.
Born of a musical family, he began studying the violin at the age of six, with Pulitzer. At ten he appeared in public.
A few years later, the young Bauer met Graham Moore, a serious and ac complished musician, who taught him the piano. In the meanwhile he had no thought of giving up his studies on the violin. After his debut in London, he played much in public. At twenty, he went to Paris expecting the musical world to bow before him. He had very little money, but was determined to stay there indefinitely, for he loved the glamorous city. He found that engagements as a violinist were not easy to get, but that piano accompanying was apt to be more marketable. Bauer decided to use his knowledge of the instrument and, after a few weeks prac tice, succeeded in securing several engagements. His first chance came very soon. He was asked to substitute for another man who was to accompany Paderewski on a second piano. "At that time," says Bauer, "I knew about enough to be able to play the essential notes in a difficult passage— those that could not be spared !" Pad erewski was evidently impressed, for he gave him helpful hints from time to time, and got him a job.
This job consisted of playing sonatas for violin and piano twice a week with an old Polish aristocrat who had escaped from Poland during the insurrection and had managed to retain a con siderable part of his fortune.
During that period other engagements were coming and Bauer
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had no time to develop the careful technique that takes many years to perfect. He was a born musician; the violin had taught him to listen attentively to the tone, and he had to rely on his musical knowledge and ability for the rest. There was no time for perfec tion, so instead he strove to discover the essential meaning of the thing he was studying, and then to produce an effect that would bring out this meaning.
When he was offered an engagement to tour with a singer in Russia as her accompanist, he could not refuse the chance. Then he went to Constantinople, where he had to wait for money from Paris, for he had been robbed en route. In Constantinople he played a solo concert which was apparently a great success, for, on his return to Paris, engagements multiplied. From that time on his career as a pianist was an established fact. Circumstances had made him one of the greatest piano virtuosi of the world, a musician whose name is well known all over the civilized globe today. For Bauer is a real cosmopolite; he has played in Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, the Scan dinavian countries, Russia, England, Australia, Honolulu, Turkey, and in every town of the United States ; his audiences have con sisted of every class from the most sophisticated and cultured to a hall full of red Indians.
Bauer has played in America for twelve successive seasons. Until quite recently his permanent home was in Paris, but he has since moved to New York, making that city the centre of his numerous American engagements.
In 1919 Bauer founded the Beethoven Association of New York. Many of the foremost artists give their services gratuit ously to these concerts ; the idea being simply that these renowned virtuosi should have an opportunity to play together those beautiful pieces of chamber music that are seldom heard.
Six successful concerts have been given annually by the Beetho ven Association for the past eight years in New York under the inspiration of Bauer. The public would readily support twice as many.
Among the players are such names as Casals, Heif etz, Ysaye, Godowsky, Elman, Kochanski, Damrosch, Thibaud, Kreisler, Ga- brilowitsch, McCormack, Matzenauer, Lhevinne, Flesh, Samaroff, Kneisel, Stokowski, and of course Bauer.
The result of assembling so many noteworthy artists, with no other purpose than that of rendering beautiful music, should be to stimulate such artistic co-operation all over the United States.
It has established a precedent for co-operation, self-effacement, and the subordination of personal interests to the greater glory of art. This principle is upheld by the great triumvirate — Bauer, Casales, and Thibaud.
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Today Bauer is regarded as one of the most perfectly equipped pianists in the world. His talent thrived on this method and he advocates something very much like it for others. "The first thing for a student to learn/' he says, "is rhythm and self-expression. He should dance and sing before he ever touches an instrument. He should learn to express himself through gestures and voice. Singing is a vast help in learning correct phrasing. The child will learn that the true phrase should last as long as the breath required for its delivery. I would never start a child's actual lessons with scales. I would give him something that would interest him im mediately. There are plenty of good pieces simple enough for beginners. If he likes the piece that he is playing, he will want to remedy his weakness to obtain the effects. His imagination will become alert. Under my system scales would be abolished until the student wanted to play them."
Harold Bauer was an intimate friend of the late Debussy, the two artists holding each other in high esteem. There was only one point of disagreement between them. Debussy contended that his compositions were among the most difficult of the moderns, while Bauer disproved this again and again by reading his works at sight, and exactly as they were meant to be played.
One day Debussy greeted Bauer with a shout of delight. "I can write you a chord that even you will not be able to play at sight I" he cried. "Go ahead !" Bauer challenged. The chord was written. It was composed of three notes — the highest note on the piano, the lowest, and another in the middle of the board. Bauer promptly played the bottom and top notes with his hands and the middle one with his nose.
Great honors were paid Bauer in Europe. As soloist wim the leading orchestras of England, France, and Holland, and in re cital in the leading cities of that continent, he achieved great per sonal success. He was gratified to find a large public to welcome him after his absence of nine years in America. Among his most interesting recent appearances was his participation at the Salz burg (Austria) Festival for modern chamber music compositions. While in that city Bauer also officiated at the formal ceremonies of laying the cornerstone for the new opera house, attending this function as president of the Beethoven Association of New York City. In conclusion, we may add that thanks to Harold Bauer, the profits of the Beethoven Association concerts are devoted to the publishing of the original English version of Arthur Wheelock Thayer's authoritative life of Beethoven, hitherto available only in its German translation. The society has also contributed mater ially to the establishment in the New York Public Library of a valuable collection of works by Beethoven and books about the great composer, and has made a substantial contribution towards the erection of a new Festspielhaus in Salzburg.
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FANNY BLOOMFIELD-ZEISLER
THE EMINENT pianist, Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler, was born in Belitz, Austria Silesia, on July 16, 1863. She was the daughter of Solomon and Bertha (nee Yaeger), and was brought to Chicago when she
was three years old. In time she be came one of America's most successful artists. Her teachers in Chicago were Bernhard Ziehn and Carl Wolf sohn, with whom she studied from 1878 to 1883. At the age of ten, Fanny made a profound impression at a public concert in Chicago and two years later met the famous Mme. Essipova, who advised the girl to go to Leschetizky. She accordingly went to Vienna and studied under the famous pedagogue for five years.
Beginning with 1883, and for nearly ten years more, Bloomfield-Zeisler con- certized in every large and small center of the new continent, establishing for herself a reputation as a pianist of unusual prowess, commanding very enthusiastic audi ences,
Mme Bloomfield-Zeisler studied harmony and composition with Gardener and Navaratil. Her debut was made in February of 1875, when she appeared with the Beethoven Society in Chicago. Her first important New York appearance was at Steinway Hall under van-der-Stucken, in January of 1885. Bloomfield-Zeisler appeared with all the leading orchestras of both continents, under such con ductors as Richard Strauss, Nikisch, Mahler, Seidel, Thomas, Chevillard, Svendsen, MacKenzie, Ermannsdorfer, Stock, Rotten- berg, Hellmesberger, Damrosch, Gerricke, Stokowski, Pauer, Her bert, Oberhoffer, and many others. From 1893 until 1912 with oc casional interruptions, she concertized in Germany, Austria, France, England and elsewhere, meeting in those countries with even greater recognition than at home. Her emotional force, her personal magnetism and her keen process of analysis compelled critics everywhere to rank her with the foremost pianists of the day.
Bloomfield-Zeisler contributed articles on music to magazines and lectured on music before leading clubs. On October 18, 1885, she married Sigmund Zeisler. She was a cousin of Moritz Rosen- thai, the famous pianist, and of Adolph Robinson, the baritone ; and sister of Professor Maurice Bloomfield, of the Johns Hopkins University.
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In speaking of Bloomfield-Zeisler's successes as an artist, she herself said : "The secret of success in the career of a virtuoso is not easily defined. Many elements have to be considered. Given great natural talent, success is not by any means assured. Many seemingly extraneous qualities must be cultivated. . ."
She died in Chicago on August 20, 1927 of a heart attack.
ALEXANDER B^OROWSKY
A PIANIST of Jovian pattern is Alexander Bprowsky, the Russian pianist. Like one of Turgenieff s heroes, "with a storm in the soul and a flame in the blood," he invaded the western world of music,
intrenched behind its critical bastions, and was victorious.
Alexander Borowsky learned his first scales in Enisseysk, a small outpost of civilization in Siberia, where his father held a government position. Here, the winter lasts eight months of the year, and the temperature freezes the unwary nose that ventures out too long. Alex ander was born on March 19, 1889. The youthful Borowsky began his musical studies under his mother's devoted guid ance. The piano was one regularly loaned to the family by the captain of the ship which put into port every year be fore the ice season set in, and stayed until the ice broke up in the Spring. Thus Borowsky was taught early to make music while the piano lasted.
From the first his mother realized that her child had mar vellous gifts. He mastered scales, double thirds, and octaves with* out any trouble, and asked for more. He was only seven when his mother overheard him playing a Chopin Scherzo which she her self had been studying. When the family returned later to St. Petersburg, Alexander was sent to the Conservatory of Music where he studied under Mme Essxpova, and received honorary mention in the Anton Rubinstein competition. But his mother de cided that he should not be exploited as a wonder-child, and so he was not allowed to give public concerts until he had finished Ms course at the Conservatory. He -continued quietly at his musical studies throughout his University course, and received his degree in law before he made his bow as a professional musician to the public, The wisdom of this course was apparent to all who heard
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the young artist on the occasion of his debut. Like Minerva who sprang full-grown from the head of Jove, he appeared suddenly before the public a finished artist. His concerts were crowded wherever he played, even during the early Soviet regime when coal was scarce and the heating of concert hall a problem.
After five years of concert work in Russia, Borowsky decided he would like to see the world. He found, however, that it was not so easy for a Russian to leave his country, and it was only after countless visits to high officials that at last he received per mission to cross the frontier. That was in 1921. After giving recitals in Poland and the Balkan countries, Borowsky arrived in Paris at the time of the Music Festival, which was under the di rection of Koussevitzky. Here in two orchestral concerts con ducted by the famous Russian, Borowsky made his bow to a French audience. His success was extraordinary, and one recital followed another. In the three seasons since his first appearance he has appeared twenty-seven times in the French capital. In fact, throughout Europe and South America, Borowsky has ap peared with "marked success. In his five seasons before the west ern public he has appeared in nearly 400 recitals or concerts.
His American debut was made in two recitals in Carnegie Hall, in 1923, on which occasion he impressed all who heard him as a genuine artist. The following season (1924-25) he returned to America for a brief tour, owing to the fact that he was booked for a concert tour of twelve concerts in the Balkans, eight in Ger many, twelve in Scandinavia, five in London and six in Paris. The next season he returned to America for the months of Janu ary and February.
Borowsky is also a favorite in Berlin, where his twelve recitals and his appearances as soloist with the Philharmonic created a furore. He is known as a colossus of the tonal world. The in terest in his concerts is very great, and his large and representa tive audiences have included Rachmaninoff, Godowski, Levitzki, Rubinstein, Nikisch, Siloti, Claudio Arrau, Elly Ney, Marcella Sembrich, Huberman, and many other important artists.
The American press was particularly enthusiastic over Bor- owsky's performances. Lawrence Gillman of the New York Trib une wrote: "Mr. Borowsky's rapid achievement of distinction is not surprising. He is a pianist of imposing technical equipment."
Pitts Sanborn wrote: "Borowsky has a tremendous technique; he plays with crystalline clearness, with a sure command of dyna mic gradations, with unlimited nerve and dash. But it is always scrupulously clean playing, even when he splashes the tonal can vas with ochre and vermilion. His crescendo is one of the most thrilling things to be heard in our concert rooms these days, and his diminuendo is as faultlessly controlled."
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JOSEPH WIENIAWSKI
IN CONTRAST to his brother Henry, Joseph Wieniawski was a favorite of fortune. His marriage to the daughter of the famous composer, Julius Schulhoff, brought him not only happiness but
wealth as well. Joseph Wieniawski was as considerable a pianist as his brother Henry was a violinist. He was his brother's junior by two years, having been born on May 23, 1837, in Lublin, Russia. He studied at the Paris Conser vatory, where he won two medals. In 1853 he came to Weimar, where Liszt became interested in him and accepted him as a pupil. Later he toured with his brother through Europe, meeting every where with enthusiasm and financial suc cess.
To complete his musical studies, Joseph Wieniawski began studying the ory under A. B. Marx in Berlin, from 1856 to 1860, when he went to Paris and met with much success, often playing for Napoleon III. At Ober's insistence he became teacher at the Paris Con servatory, but left Paris for Moscow in 1865, where he was ap pointed professor at the Conservatory. He soon established his own school of piano playing, which prospered greatly. In 1875 he organized a musical society in Warsaw, whose director he was until 1876. He also was professor at the Brussels Conservatory for many years.
Wieniawski also won recognition as a composer. He wrote a concerto for the piano, Idyls, sonatas, tarantelles, waltzes, polo naises, etudes, capricios, rondos, songs without words, impromp tus, fantasias, fugues, cadenzas to Beethoven's C minor Concerto, and many other works.
In his book My Long Life in Music, Leopold Auer says the fol lowing of his meeting with Joseph Wieniawski :
"At a morning recital at the Salle Pleyel arranged for me by persons of influence in order to make it possible for me to continue my studies, I was assisted by the pianist, Joseph Wieniawski, the brother of Henry, the great violinist, whom at that time I knpw only by name. I had met the pianist Wieniawski in Germany. He played a sonata at my recital, a decided honor for me, who was no more than a young student with hopes that lay all in the future, whereas Joseph Wieniawski, aside from the imposing
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relationship with his famous brother, was himself a personality. The day after my recital, in order to thank him for his kindness, I went to call at his rooms in the Hotel de Bade, which was at that time very popular with musicians. When I had explained the rea son for my call, he received my thanks with dignity and a certain coldness. Nevertheless I plucked up sufficient courage to ask him for his photo. The album containing- a number of small photos were than at the height of their popularity, and every student then, just as he does today, yearned to add to his collection the auto graphed photos of the artists most in the public eye.
To possess an album of this kind had always been my greater desire; so after my recital, when my father made me a present of one as a little secret, Joseph Wieniawski was the first person to whom I turned for a pictorial contribution, because of our colla boration. I timidly explained what I wished of him. This is what happened:
"Wieniawski, stretched negligently on a lounge and employing the tone of a superior addressing his subordinate, asked, 'Have you a photo o'f Liszt?' I answered that, alas, I had none. 'Very well/ said he, 'have you a photo of Thalberg?* Once more I replied in the negative. . . . Thereupon Wieniawski, in a tone which min gled pride and regret, declared, 'Then I cannot give you my por trait. . . .'
"Many years later, when I was dining with Henry Wieniawski in a London restaurant, I told him the story of his brother Joseph and the portrait. Henry, looking very serious, told me, 'You should have said to him, "Sir, if I had the portraits of Liszt and Thalberg, I should not have done you the honor of asking for yours." ' "
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FERRUGCIO BENVENUTO BUSONI
BUSONI'S FATHER was an Italian Christian, but his mother (nee Weiss), was of German- Jewish origin. It was she, this accom plished pianist and earnest musician, who taught the gifted boy,
who was afterwards to become one of musical history's greatest names.
Busoni began as a pianist (perhaps the only great pianist who treated the in strument purely objectively, with no imaginative illusions about its singing or even suggestive melodic powers). His playing of Bach, Liszt, Chopin, or Weber could only be compared to stone colon nades coming to life. He was the most educative pianist in the world, for though there was everything to absorb in that gigantic style, there was nothing to imitate.
As a composer, on the other hand, there was probably no one among his contemporaries concerning whom there was such diversity of enlightened opinion. While Stravinsky is reported to have said that he "would like to bring it about that music would be performed in street cars, while people get in and out," Busoni regarded music as something which should be kept apart from daily life. "Music is the most aloof and secret of the arts. An atmosphere of solemnity and sanctity should sur round it. Admission to a musical performance should partake of the ceremonial and mystery of a freemason ritual/7 This was Bu- soni's attitude toward the highest, if not the most universally ap pealing art.
Leschetizki is known to .have said some nasty things about Italian pianistic methods; but Busoni is the exception, that ra/ra avis — a really great Italian pianist. He understood music as a musician, not merely as a pianist.
In Busoni was a wonderful blend of the dazzling virtuoso, the serious musician, and the restless, romantic spirit.
Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni was born on April 1, 1866, in Empoli, near Florence, Italy. His father, Ferdinado Busoni, was a clarinettist, and his mother, Anna Weiss, was an excellent pianist, who appeared in public concerts with no less an artist than Sara- sate. Under her guidance the boy advanced very rapidly and at the age of seven made his first public appearance in Trieste, play ing a Mozart Concerto with orchestra, Two years later he ap-
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peared in a public concert in Vienna. Not only by his playing, but by his gifts of improvisation he gained, even at that age, the enthusiastic praise of the famous critic, Eduard Hanslick.
For some years after, Busoni was a pupil of W. Mayer Remy in Graz, Austria, a Jewish pedagogue of considerable reputation, who was also the teacher of Kienzl and Weingartner.
At sixteen, Busoni competed for the diploma given by the Academy of Bologna for a fugue on a given theme. He won it to the great astonishment of the savants of the academy, for not since Mozart had a youth of sixteen gained this distinction. As an additional reward, his Cantata for soli and orchestra, "II Sabato del Villaggio," was performed by the Bolognese Philharmonic Or chestra.
At eighteen, he went to Leipzig and studied composition and virtuosity. During his stay there, he came in contact with great musicians, such as Delius^ Grieg, Mahler, and Tschaikowsky.
In 1890, Busoni was appointed Professor at the Helsingfors (Finland) Conservatory. In that city he met and married Gerda Sjorstrand, daughter of a famous sculptor. In that Scandinavian country Busoni for the first time came in contact with the North erners. This had an important influence on the course of his de velopment. It was during the same year that he won the Rubin stein Prize for his "Konzertstiick," opus 31, for piano and or chestra, which he rounded off into a concertino in 1921 by adding a charming Romanza and Scherzo. This was the first occasion which caused him to be regarded as a person of importance. In Russia he met Rimsky-Korsakoff, Safonoff, and Glazounoff, with whom he became friends.
After his first term at the Helsingfors Conservatory in 1891, Busoni made a visit to the United States, as professor of piano at the New England Conservatory. He returned to Europe two years later, making his home in Berlin, where he resided from time to time until his death. From that place he made frequent concert tours, and spent the season of 1907-1908 in Vienna, where he suc ceeded Emil Sauer as teacher of the Meisterklasse at the Conser vatory. From 1909 to 1911, he made highly successful tours to the United States, and in 1913 went to Bologna as director of the Liceo and conductor of the symphony concerts in that city. That same year he was decorated with the Cross of a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, Rossini and Verdi being the only other Italians to have been so honored.
In 1915 Busoni again came to America. Italy being blockaded on account of the war, Busoni spent the period from 1915 to 1919 in Zurich, Switzerland, in a sort of voluntary exile, playing in none of the belligerent countries. Returning to Berlin in 1920, he was appointed director of the "Meisterklasse" for composition,
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a post whch he kept until his death (from heart attack) on July 27, 1924.
Ferruccio Busoni achieved fame in four phases of his profes sion: as pianist, as pedagogue, as conductor, and as composer. As a pianist, Busoni was one of the world's greatest technicians since Liszt and Rubinstein. His mastery over his instrument was almost superhuman, yet he never sacrificed music on the altar of display. His playing was imbued with extraordinary fire, which he also imparted to some of his numerous pupils, many of whom are now among the world's foremost concert artists. There was an elevation, a spiritual force, an utter absence of materialism in his playing which rendered it unique. The astounding boldness and clearness of his polyphonic playing, the vehemence and ele mentary force of the sweeping passages, the elegance of his orna mental work, the elasticity and precison of his rhythms, his sur prisingly new and admirable treatment of the pedal, created marvels of sound. The profundity which was the metaphysical background of his playing did not interfere with its musical quali ties.
Busoni's compositions cover practically the entire field of music from opera and symphony to incidental music. Probably his best known single work is his transcription for the piano of the Bach Chaconne. His best known opera is "Die Brautwahl." Between 1890 and 1900 he did not compose, but slowly evolved those ideas which later found expression in his mature work.
The art of his earlier period, which he later hardly consented to recognize, contains nevertheless many gems. This period is summed up in his monumental "Pianoforte Concerto," opus 34, outstanding in the grandeur of its construction and wealth of musical invention.
Busoni was a violent opponent to realistic and Wagnerian ten dencies in the field of dramatic music. He wrote all of his libret tos, and occupied himself only with magical, mythical and fan tastic subjects, realistic subject matter being, in his opinion, un suitable for musical treatment.
It was Busoni who brought the art of arranging to a perfec tion surpassing even Liszt's work. His Bach studies fill seven extensive volumes.
This sincere and cultured man also found much time for writ ing, and his essays, which have recently been collected under the title of Von der Einheit der Mu&ik, are examples of limped style and earnestness, approaching that of Santayana. Of these essays, his Entwurf einer Newn Aesthetic der Tonkunst (1907-1916), has been translated into Russian and English.
His compositions of the later period may be roughly said to begin with opus 36a, which shows his peculiar mixture of southern
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temperament with the mysticism and fantasy of the north. Under this opus number is published his second "Violin Sonata/' His "Violin Concerto," opus 35, in D major, has of late become some what familiar through frequent performances by the young Hun garian violinists, Szigeti and Telmany, especially, having played it often.
Busoni has also written for the pianoforte — for two and four hands. To the latter class belong his famous "Fantasia Contra- puntistica," "Improvisations on a Bach Chorale," and a "Duetino Concertant," on themes from a Mozart concert.
He has written two chamber music quartets, opus 19 and 26, twelve compositions for symphony orchestra, the earliest of which is his "Tone Poem/' opus 32a, and the last, the famous "Tanz- walzer," opus 53; various songs, opus 1, 2, 15, 18, 24, 31, 32 and 35; a "Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra/' opus 48; a "Diver timento" for flute and orchestra; and cadenzas to concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart, as well as numerous other works.
SH.URA CHERKASSKY
THE MOST IMPORTANT musical discovery since Hofmann — such is the consensus of opinion of all who hear Shura Cherkassky, the sixteen-year-old boy pianist. New York heard him in November,
1923, and again on March 14, 1924, as well in 1925, '26 and '27. But to Balti more belongs the credit of his "discov ery," or rather to Harold Randolph, di rector of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and Frederick R. Huber, muni cipal director of music in Baltimore.
When the little family arrived in Bal timore in 1923 from their home in Odessa, Russia, where privation and cold had made life unbearable, the boy, who was born in 1911 in Odessa, was taken by his uncle to the Conservatory, to have judgment passed on his playing. Deeply impressed, Mr. Randolph arranged for a private hearing before the chief critics of the city. About fourteen persons were present on that occasion. When Shura entered the room, they saw before them a child of average height for his eleven years, pale, with a shock of black hair shadowing a pair of rather sad eyes. He sat down at the piano. His stubby little boots barely touched the floor, so that he was obliged to sit on the extreme edge
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of the chair in order to reach the pedals. But his playing showed no trace of his physical immaturity. His small audience sat amazed.
This awjpvard little boy with the sad eyes manifests in his music the intellectual grasp of a mature artist. His technique leaves the hstener breathless, for before one's eyes, you see the little fel low s fingers take octaves, arpeggios, scales with lightning speed. On this occasion he gave the Rachmaninoff Prelude in G, the Beethoven Sonata, opus 31, No. 2, Daquin's "Le Coucou," the C sharp minor Etude," and "Fantaisie Impromptu" of Chopin, and a Prelude Pathetique" which he himself had composed. Ran dolph and Hubert kissed the boy for his wonderful playing
It is terrifying!" a critic was heard to remark. Here was indeed the find" of the age. A recital was arranged forthwith at the Lyric Theatre, and here Shura made his American debut on March 3, 1923. Two other sold-out recitals followed, in which he was heard in entirely different programs. At that time the eleven-year old boy had a repertoire of two hundred pieces, in cluding such works as the Liszt, Grieg, and Chopin concertos. In fact, he played the Chopin F minor with the Baltimore Symphony in October, 1924.
But technique is more or less a physical attribute; it is the spiritual quality in the playing of Shura that shows him to be a genius without equal in recent years.
When Paderewski heard Shura play, he was delighted with his gifts and personality. He declared that Shura must continue the same course that had developed his talents. "Two concerts a month — no more. A sound general and cultural education with special attention to the languages. The rest will take care of itself, and his needs will be met as they arise." This last phrase was the one that pleased Shura the most. For he does not want especially to be this vague and mysterious creature that men call a "genius." His ambition is to be a regular boy and to master the intricacies of base-ball.
Rachmaninoff also heard 'him and was impressed by his re markable gifts, as were also Godowsky and De Pachman. The late Victor Herbert after hearing the boy, exclaimed, "He is a genius, that is all there is to it ! He is marvelous — that is the word."
As one reads the various criticisms in the newspapers, criticisms from various cities where Shura has played, he meets more than once the remark that it was impossible to listen to the boy's play ing with dry eyes. Strange indeed is the effect of the playing of this "wonder child." What some pianists spend a life-time in acquiring, this boy possesses without effort— rhythmic understand ing, a beautiful singing tone, a technical mastery that is uncanny. So incomprehensible is the mystery that it stirs the very depths of one's emotions.
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After his recital in New York on March 13, 1925, one periodical said: "On this occasion the young artist not only drew a dis tinguished audience but also received the warm favor of the critics, the World saying in part: 'With careful nurturing, preferably in some musical hothouse, Shura Cherkassky might be in a few years the piano genius of a generation.' "
Shura has found the "hot-house" the critic recommends in the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was awarded a scholarship in 1924, and where he is a pupil and special favorite of the great pianist, Joseph Hofmann. Young Shura is very proud of having in his possession an autographed picture from the late President Harding and his wife, which he received after playing at the White House.
SAMUEL CHOTZINOFF
ONE OF the pre-eminent piano-accompanists and music critics is Samuel Chotzinoff, who was born in Vitebsk, Russia, on July 4, 1889. His father was a rabbi and teacher of Yiddish. The family
emigrated to the United States in 1906. At ten, Samuel exhibited decided musical predilections, and began taking piano les sons, first under Jeanne Franko (sister of the noted Franko brothers), and later under Oscar Skach, at the Columbia Uni versity in New York. Chotzinoff also studied theory and composition at the same insititution under Daniel Gregory Mason. He also pursued a general aca demic course at this University.
Chotzinoff came to the fore as an able accompanist, when in 1911 he made a concert tour with Zimbalist. In the fol lowing years he was accompanying artist to Zimbalist's wife, Alma Gluck, and also to Frieda Hempel. He reached the peak of his career as accompanist when, in 1919, he undertook a tour with the celebrated violinist Jascha Heifetz, whose sister Pauline he subsequently married in 1925.
ChotzinofFs early musical articles began to appear in Vanity Fair and other American magazines in 1923, and on the resigna tion of Deems Taylor he became music editor of the New York World, one of the most important of the metropolitan dailies.
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SANDRA DROUGKER
IN EUROPE and especially in Germany, Sandra Droucker is no less a celebrated pianist than her famous husband, Gottfried Galston. She is a pupil of Anton Rubinstein. Like her husband, she ap peared with the most important orches tras and under the most famous con ductors.
The writer of this volume met Mme Droucker in Bergen, Norway, in 1920, where she gave a series of concerts. We decided to concertize jointly for three months and I had the pleasure of asso ciating with this excellent musician and personality. Our tours extended through Norway, up to North Gape, and our pro grams consisted of solo numbers and sonatas. Her parts of the sonatas as well as her solo numbers she performed with uncommon virtuosity and deeply felt poetry. She possesses a brilliant crystalline technique, a mas culine power, together with the tenderest and finest nuances, a sense of rhythm and a rarely excellent taste.
RICHARD EPSTEIN
THE PASSING of Richard Epstein (son of the famous Julius Ep stein), in New York City on August 1, 1919, took from the musical world an artist of achievements far beyond the ordinary, as well as removing from his social circle a man of sterling worth and great personal charm- Epstein's versatility, combined with his thorough musician ship, made him a notable figure even among the musical elect.
He was born in Vienna in 1869 and educated at the Conserva tory, studying piano with his father, the eminent teacher, Julius Epstein, and theory with Robert Fuchs. He married the daughter of Johann Strauss, the "Waltz King," but later was divorced from her.
Under the baton of Richter, he played with the Vienna Phil harmonic Orchestra, as well as with famous Bohemian and Vien nese ensembles. For some time he was professor of piano at the
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Vienna Conservatory; he toured Austria, Roumania, England, France, Spain, and America; was accompanist for Olive Frem- stad, Julia Gulp, Elena Gerhardt, and other famous singers.
In 1918 his artistic and beautiful ensemble playing added to the success of the Elshuco Trio in New York. Ossip Gabrilowitsch was among the many who praised him both as teacher and as vir tuoso. Personally, he was everywhere held in the highest esteem for his fine manly qualities.
ARTHUR FRIEDHEIM
THE NAME of Arthur Friedheim is known to almost every lover and student of music. He attracted universal attention by his poise, power, and sincerity in playing.
Arthur Friedheim was born on Oc tober 26, 1859, in St. Petersburg (Len ingrad). He was a pupil of Anton Rub instein, then pupil and close friend of Liszt, in the interpretation of whose music he excelled. His first public ap pearance he made when barely nine years old, and even then a brilliant career was predicted for him. From 1894 he was teacher and concert player in the United States, then went to England, where he became professor of piano playing at the Royal College of Music in Manchester and remained there until 1904, after which he went on a tour through Europe. Arthur Friedheim is not only a brilliant pianist but an excel lent conductor and first-rate composer as well. His opera "Die Tanzerin," written to his own libretto, was performed by Karl Lohse at Cologne in 1904, and by Arthur Nikisch in Leipzig in 1907. From 1908 to 1910 Friedheim conducted in Munich; he took part in many Liszt centenary performances in 1911. In 1921 he was engaged as professor of piano at the Canadian Academy of Music in Toronto.
Friedheim remains to this day faithful to his friend and teacher, Liszt. He is preparing a book, a psychological study of Liszt.
Among the many decorations received by Friedheim, the one given him by the former President Taf't at the White House in 1912, is particularly worthy of mention.
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Following is a list of Friedheiin's publications: Piano concerto in E flat (1890) ; American March "Pluribus Unum" (1894) ; his operas are "Die Tanzerin," "The Christian" (unfinished), and "Giulia Gonzaga" (also unfinished) . He has also orchestrated four "Hungarian Portrait-Sketches" of Liszt, and his second Rhapsody for piano and orchestra.
IGNAZ FRIEDMAN
IGNAZ FRIEDMAN was born at Podgorre, near Cracow, Poland in February 14, 1882. At three, he showed unmistakable evidences of a strong affinity for music and piano. This tendency in a few
years developed into a serious devotion for his chosen art, and a willingness to study patiently and effectively. He took his first lessons with Mme Grzywinska, and later studied for a long term of years with the famous master Lesche- titzky, whose friend and assistant he subsequently became. He began study ing composition with Hugo Riemann in Leipzig in 1900.
At the age of eight, Ignaz was able to play remarkably well, and his mu sicianship was such that he could trans pose the fugues of Bach without diffi culty. He appeared throughout Europe as a "prodigy pianist" and quickly won fame as a brilliant Chopin player. So great was the demand for his services that he did not have an opportunity to visit America until 1915, but then post poned the tour on account of the war.
The coming of Ignaz Friedman to America in 1921 was the important musicial event of that year, for Friedman is one of that noble cycle of Polish pianists now living, whom musical his tory will record as the greatest of artists of the pianoforte ever to be produced at one time by one country : Ignaz Friedman, Ignaz Paderewski, Joseph Hofmann, and Vladimir de Pachmann. Com poser, scholar, poet, and virtuoso, Friedman measures up to his celebrated colleagues.
Friedman made his American debut in New York City early in January of 1921. His gigantic technique, his poetic pianissimos, and marvelous virtuosity caused a veritable sensation. Audiences listened to him with awe and greeted him with tumultous applause. It was acknowledged everywhere that a Friedman recital is a
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thrilling affair, and the late James G. Huneker referred to him, as "the biggest pianistic hit of the season."
His whole approach to the piano is that of a powerful artist whose work, bench, and tools have no means of frightening him. He is master of the piano and he does not fear it ; he does not pose at the piano, nor grimace. He has a quiet, dignified manner, and he does a "good job" like any other skilled artist. Curiously enough, all his powerful technique and grip oft the piano was taught to Friedman by his first teacher, a woman.
Friedman completely won the rugged audiences of Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, Russia, Poland, and Denmark by the fire and power of his technical virtuosity, and in those countries where the gentler and more romantic moods prevail, such as France, Spain, Portugal, Argentine, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and even in non-com mittal England his poetic understanding made as deep an impres sion as did his power. Ignaz Friedman was the recipient of two of the most remarkable tributes ever given simultaneously by two responsible music critics to one artist. The writers are Deems Taylor of the New York World and Max Smith of the New York American, on the occasion of one of his latest New York appear ances. Under the caption, "One of the Great," Mr. Taylor writes:
"Ignaz Friedman played stupendously at Aeolian Hall last night. This stubby, gray man has a piano technique so utterly complete that his playing does not even seem effortless. He sits at the piano, exerting himself just about as much as would appear seemly in a good average player, and out of the instrument come such sounds as it seems impossible for any human pair of hands to evoke — glittering scales that approach, flash by, and disappear with the speed of lightning and yet are so clearly fingered that every note is clear and round ; runs in sixths, thrills in thirds, chords that blare like trumpets, arpeggios that are like a caress — and never for a moment technique for its own sake."
Max Smith says :
"If you want to be thrilled by the 'Tannhauser' overture, don't go to concerts of the Philharmonic or Symphony societies. Hear it in the Liszt transcription for piano as played in Aeolian Hall by Ignaz Friedman to an audience that went wild with excite ment. How he did it the writer is unable to say. Surely it was not with ten fingers only that he enunciated those oily violin pas sages in clean-cut legato octaves, while proclaiming sonorously the chant of the pilgrims. Yet where were the other hands that seemed to be scurrying over the keyboard? And behold, the feet kept close to the pedals, offered no solution to the mystery. It was stupendous, it was incredible, what this man accomplished."
After his recent American appearance, Friedman made con cert tours in Holland, Spain, and Portugal, playing in Madrid no
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less than six concerts in quick succession in place of the two or iginally planned, appearing- always as composer-pianist with the greatest possible success. From Spain he traveled to South Am erica where, during his first month, he gave the record number of twenty-three recitals. In Argentine, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay he earned a wide following and has been re-engaged for the next three seasons.
Friedman has been soloist with every leading orchestra in America and abroad, appearing with the world's greatest con ductors. Recently, he has also completed a tour of the larger Can adian cities.
His interpretations of Tschaikowsky's concerto and Chopin's works have absolutely no equal among contemporary pianists. Further proof of Ignaz Friedman's profound musicianship and studious art is presented in his work of editing the entire Chopin and Liszt editions. He is now at work on similar editions of Bach and Schumann.
Friedman has also found time for composition, despite the strenuous work of touring throughout Europe and America. To date there are nearly 100 compositions to his credit, and these are published in all lands. They include: one concerto for piano with orchestra, a quintette for piano and strings, three other string quartettes, compositions for piano alone, and several beautiful songs. In addition to these he has written many fragmentary compositions which are still without classification and in manu script.
ROBERT FISGHHOFF
BORN IN a family of artists, Eobert Fischhoff was one of the most talented pupils of Door. His uncle, Joseph Fischhoff, professor at the Vienna Conservatory, was a friend of Schumann, and one of the contributors to the music magazine published by the latter. Robert Fischhoff was born in 1857 in Vienna. He studied the piano at the Vienna Conservatory under Anton Door, and theory and composition under Robert Fuchs, Franz Kren, and Anton Bruck ner. Later he continued his studies with Liszt. He made his first public appearance at the age of seven, and was looked upon as a "wunderkind." Later in his career he made long concert tours and on several occasions played in the courts of many European coun tries, including Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and Denmark.
In 1884 Fischhoff was appointed professor of the Vienna Con servatory. He left several compositions for the piano, principally some excellent piano concertos, which he introduced in Paris and Berlin.
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OSSIP GABRILOWITSGH
A STRIKINGLY cosmopolitan artls is Ossip Garbilowitsch, the famous Russian pianist and conductor.
He is one of the few masters of the pianoforte who combines with mere virtuosity both poetic feeling and soaring imagination, and who pos sesses the power to convey those qual ities not only in his own music, but in his interpretation of the works of other masters.
Thirty years ago in St. Moritz, Romain Rolland overheard the boy prac tice in a hotel room, and was much im pressed. Not wishing to interrupt him, he waited for a long time, then left a letter for the boy in which he predicted a great future. At the time Rolland also was unknown.
Just as De Pachmann became known as the sympathetic interpreter of the moods of Chopin, so Gabrilo- witsch has established himself in an exalted position as one who re veals the piano compositions of the great Pole with superb under standing and with a gift of illumination which transcends mere interpretation.
Gabrilowitsch was born in St. Petersburg, on February 7, 1878. His father was a well-known jurist of the Russian capital. His brothers were musical, and one of them was his first teacher. Later he was taken to Anton Rubinstein who was so deeply impressed that he earnestly urged a career as a virtuoso. Accordingly, the boy was entered in the classes of Victor Tolstoff at the St. Peters burg Conservatory (at that time under the supervision of the great Rubinstein himself). He also studied composition at the Conservatory under Liadow and Glazounof (1888-94). His fre quent personal conferences with the latter, Gabrilowitsch has always regarded as of inestimable value. In 1894 he won the Rubinstein Prize. From St. Petersburg he went to Vienna, where he studied for two years with Leschetizky — another great per sonality to whose influence much of his subsequent success is credited. His debut he made in Berlin, in October of 1896. Tours of Europe and America served to bring him into prompt and well- deserved recognition.
He visited the United States in 1900-1901, 1906, and 1909, in which year he married Clara Clemens, the daughter of Mark
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Twain. From 1909 to 1911 he lived In Munich, where he also con ducted the concerts of the Konzertverein. From 1912 to 1913 he toured Europe. After leaving Europe for America in 1914, he gave concerts in Boston, New York, and Chicago where he was equally successful. In 1917 he conducted an orchestra in New York.
It was in 1918 that Gabrilowitsch was offered the conductor- ship of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. This honor meant the addition of new and arduous duties to his already heavily-taxed time, but the temptation to leave the narrow limits of pianoforte interpretation for the more colorful fields of the great symphonic and orchestral works was not to be resisted. As a conductor, Mr. Gabrilowitsch has revealed the same extraordinary qualities which are such significant factors in his success as a piano vir tuoso.
Since his marriage, Gabrilowitsch has identified himself more and more with the life of America. The last step in the process of his Americanization came in 1921 when he became a citizen of the United States, thus forging the one final bond of his allegiance to the ideals and musical future of this country.
Gabrilowitsch has an astounding memory. He has a perfect technical equipment and his interpretations are penetratingly warm and poetic in the highest sense, Richard Aldrich, music critic of the New York Times, said of him : "His translucent beauty of tone, the clearness of his articulation, the beauty of his rhythm and phrasing were transportingly united in it." H. T. Finck of the New York Post thus commented on his versatility and energy : "Never has Ossip Gabrilowitsch played more beautifully and poeti cally than he did Saturday afternoon. He was listened to with rapt attention by a large and discriminating audience. One won ders, when hearing Gabrilowitsch, how he finds time to conduct an orchestra, and to play the piano with unfailing mastery as he does."
W. J. Henderson, music critic of the New York Herald, expressed himself as follows, after one of Gabrilowitsch's New York recitals: "As is usual at Gabrilowitsch's recitals, his audience filled the hall. His playing of the Bach and Beethoven compositions was mas terly. His various readings showed poetic feeling, technical bril liance and a rich diversified palette of tone colors."
Gabrilowitsch himself says: "The three men who have ex erted the strongest influence upon my artistic development were Rubinstein (whom I first heard play when I was a boy of sixteen), Mahler, and Leschetiszky, the incomparable teacher. Mahler, who had read, as it seemed to me, everything, was one of the great minds of the modern period. The extent of his culture was simply amazing. Whatever engaged his attention became practically a part of himself."
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One day Gabrilowitsch was to play in a town which, although "short on art was long on cash." To the citizens of the town Ossip Gabrilowitsch was simply another of those Russians with the unpronounceable names. Then somebody discovered his il lustrious family connection (for Gabrilowitsch is the son-in-law of Mark Twain). The men of the town woke up and hustled to the concert. Every man who had ever white-washed a fence or read the other homely adventures of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn was curious to see anything that touched him, Mark Twain, no matter how distantly.
When Gabrilowitsch stepped out on the stage, he was aston ished to find a huge audience overwhelmingly masculine. But half-way through the program he overheard a comment that en lightened him, when one man whispered loudly to another: "He may be Mark's son-in-law, but he sure can play!"
As Gabrilowitsch quaintly remarked, "That particular recital represented to me the triumph of music over literature, for at the end of it the audience undoubtedly was liking me for my music and not simply because of my illustrious American affiliation."
Up to a few years ago, Gabrilowitsch gloried in the most spectacular head of hair barring perhaps Paderewski's, since Sam son's time. But after an experience with a cigar lighter, when a part of his locks were unceremoniously singed, he sacrificed himself on the altar of "safety first," and was shorn to normalcy.
Although he bears a name that all too few on this side of the Atlantic find it easy to pronounce (the accent is on the lo) , Gabrilo witsch is as thoroughly American as naturalization papers can make him. He has a little girl, Nina, who finds life a serious affair trying to live up to her famous parents, to say nothing of her celebrated grandfather.
The home of the Gabrilowitsch family is in Detroit, and is one of the show places of the city. But it happens to be little more than an interlude in Gabrilowitsch's life. Between his duties as conductor of the Detroit Orchestra and his activities as a concert artist he has all too little time for home.
The Fall of 1925 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Gabrilowitsch's debut in New York. On this occasion the old Carnegie Hall in TSFew York was the scene of gala festivities. Leo pold Stokowski conducted, and Gabrilowitsch played Tschaikow- sky's "B minor Concerto," the same as he had played at his debut, and with the same Philadelphia Symphony orchestra whose soloist he was twenty-five years before.
Gabrilowitsch has written a number of songs, an "Elegie" for 'cello, and some charming pieces for the piano.
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GOTTFRIED GALSTON
A DISTINGUISHED place in the pianistic world belongs to Gottfried Galston, the eminent pianist. Born in Vienna on August 31, 1879, Gottfried showed in his childhood a great inclination towards music.
He studied with LeschetizM from 1895 till 1901, and for one year (1899- 1900) with Jadassohn and Reinecke, at the Leipzig Conservatory (in theory, counterpoint and composition).
He held a professorship at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin from 1903 to 1907.
His wide tours as solo pianist in cluded Germany, Austria, Spain, Aus tralia, New Zealand, France, Russia, America (1912), and many other coun tries. His performances are regarded as models, for not only is he an out standing technician but a deep and earnest musician, and a man of uncommon intelligence. In 1904 Galston settled in Berlin, having been appointed professor of a higher class at the Stern Conservatory. Demand, however, for concert appearances by him caused him to relinquish this post in 1907, the year in which he first gave his cycle concerts devoted to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. He has received signal honors, including the title of professor ex traordinary at the Imperial Conservatory of Petrograd, and was invited to play at the concerts of the Paris Conservatoire without having made the customary application in writing. In memory of his great success there, the Conservatoire had a special medal cast for Galston. Among other orchestral appearances for him have been those in Paris under Colonne, Lamoureux and Messager ; in London, under Richter; in Berlin, under Nikisch; and in New York under Walter Damrosch.
Not only as a pianist, but as a pedagogue Gottfried won a pre eminent place in the musical world of the continent. In Planegg, near Munich, Gottfried with his wife, Sandra Drucker, established a music center in 1910, and they are attracting a great number of pupils from all parts of Europe and America.
In 1909 Galston wrote a Studienbuch, which is an analytical note-book to a series of five historical concerts.
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ALEXANDER GOLDENWEISER
ALEXANDER GOLDENWEISER, Russian pianist and composer, was born on February 26, 1875, in Kischineff, Russia. His first teach er was his mother (who was herself a great pianist), then he became a pupil of Pabst and Siloti (1889-1897) in piano, and of Arensky, Taneieff, and Ipoiitoff Ivanoff in theory. He received the gold medal of the Moscow Conservatory in 1897. From 1904 to 1906 he was professor jof piano at the Music School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society. From 1906 till now he has been professor at the Moscow Conservatory, and in 1922 became direc tor. He was a friend of Leo Tolstoy and has written a diary of days spent with him. He has also published many songs and piano pieces.
LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
LEOPOLD GODOWSKY was born in the ancient town Vilna (in the Lithuanian province 9f Russian Poland), on February 3, 1870. The ruins of the old castle which stands above Vilna have staunch ly withstood the storms of many cen turies. It was in this old-world atmos phere, in this town of talmudical semin aries and debating cabalists, that the child spent the first decades of his life. Here, at the early age of nine, he gave his first public concert, having shown an extraordinary aptitude for music since he was three years old.
Apparently, at that time, the youth already possessed definite opinions about pianoforte teaching, for when in 1883 he attended the Hochschule in Berlin, he found the instruction so dull and con ventional that he left after a few months, entering upon an American tour when but fourteen years of age. In the United States he concertized with Clara Louise Kellogg and Emma Thursby, also appearing a number of times at the Sun day Orchestra concerts given at the New York Casino. He sub sequently toured the United States and Canada with the violinist, Ovide Musin.
But the young pianist's wish was to study with Liszt, who was then in Weimar. One can imagine with what sadness and dis-
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appointment the boy learned, after arriving in Europe, that Liszt had just died. This was in 1886.
A year later he was presented to Camille Saint-Saens who, having heard Godowsky play his own compositions, took the warm est personal interest in his musical education. Unfortunately,
Saint-Saens' restless spirit led him fre quently to foreign countries, and this pre vented the eager student, who remained in Paris for three years, from fully avail ing himself of the advice of the dis tinguished master. Thus Godowsky is practically a self-taught musician.
Returning to the United States in 1890, he married Frederica Saxe of New York, in 1891. After a sojourn of sev eral months in Europe with his young wife, he again set sail for America. He soon appeared at the Lenox Lyceum Or chestral Concerts, conducted by Theodore Thomas, with such success that he was offered numerous engagements, followed by an extensive tour during the succeeding seasons.
At this time he was appointed instructor of the piano teachers at the Broad Street Conservatory, in Philadelphia. This was the beginning of his career as pedagogue. He did not neglect his con cert engagements, for it was his ambition to co-ordinate these two lines of artistic endeavor. Thus it was natural that he should accept an offer to direct the piano department of the Chicago Conservatory in 1894. Here, at the age of twenty-four, he took up the duties relinquished by William H. Sherwood, the famous American pianist.
Like Saint-Saens, Leopold Godowsky is of a restless spirit. In 1900 he decided to challenge European opinion. The most dis tinguished pianists of the day had long urged him to do this. His debut in Berlin on December 6, 1900, will forever remain memor able in the annals of the piano-playing world. In one night Godow- sky's name was firmly established in the musical firmament. There followed nine years of concertizing throughout the world, meeting everywhere with the greatest possible recognition of his stupen dous talents, until in 1909 he resumed his pedagogic activities by becoming director of the Master School of piano playing at the Imperial Conservatory in Vienna. This post was previously held by Emil Sauer and P. B. Busoni. In 1912, he returned to the United States and established a reputation as the greatest piano pedagogue on that Continent.
Godowsky is a firm believer in work. "The fault with many students/' he says, "is the erroneous idea that genius or talent
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will take the place of work. They minimize the necessity for care ful, painstaking consideration of the infinite details of technique .... But this is not all. Individuality, character, and temperament are becoming more and more significant in the highly organized art of pianoforte playing. Remove these, and the playing of the artist again becomes little better than that of a piano-playing ma chine. . . ."
The one thing in the world to which Leopold Godowsky ob jects most emphatically is being called a pianist! This seems strange in view of his world-wide reputation as such, but an ex planation from Godowsky himself throws a new light on the matter. A pianist, according to him, is one whose sole medium of expression is the keyboard, one whose instrument is the be-all and end-all of his existence, and the end as well as the means of his artistic expression. Godowsky, on the other hand, has a broader concept of art ; and while the piano has served him as an excellent medium, he finds an equal, if not surpassing, satisfaction in com position and travel. Back from the Orient, where he concertized again during the season of 1924-25, just long enough to complete his "Java Suite,5* he made ready to leave New York once more in September of 1925, this time for a tour of Egypt, Assyria, and Palestine.
"I consider/' he said, "that the years I spent in teaching were an unfortunate choice of my early career. Of course teaching is a noble profession, but I have found that the results are not in proportion to the time and effort spent. It is so futile to teach where there is no pure gold — like preaching in the wilderness. Great genius is exceedingly scarce, and I have not yet found one supreme talent. It is discouraging to realize that there is not one Chopin or Liszt living today who has created a new art for the piano."
And so, since the average pupil is in the majority, Godowsky has always favored class-teaching, as this involved a lesser ex penditure of the teacher's time and has many advantages for the pupils. He believes that a group of pupils will make a greater effort to be intelligent than a single person with no competition. When Godowsky was director of the Master School of the Imperial Royal Academy in Vienna, he taught only in classes.
"It is more inspiring," he insists, "for the teacher to talk to a group. I had forty in my piano classes, fifteen who played, and twenty-five who listened. It was a wonderful master-class, the quintessence of piano playing in Europe. The pupils who played received the benefit of the criticisms from the others. Also, we were able to cover a greater field of compositions when everyone was learning a different work. Thus, class teaching is the only means of embracing a lar^e repertoire. Also it is an incentive
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to ^ the student to distinguish himself. There is a competitive spirit, a feeling of friendly rivalry, that causes a class pupil to put forth a greater effort than a private pupil who has no basis of comparison for his work. There is a certain amount of alertness in classes, while I have always found that private lessons are bound to drag. It is more difficult to go beyond the mere mechanics with a private pupil. For one or the other, self-consciousness stands in the way, whereas aesthetics can prevail in a large class.
"And that leads me to say that I have no use for the convex tional type of class teacher, the horn-rimmed type so academically stiff ! Perhaps it was this which caused me to make musicians and artists out of my pupils, rather than pianists. I am also in favor of class lessons in the field of composition. The pupil gets a better perspective of his own work. And speaking of composi tion, I am tempted to confess that my greatest wish is that I had begun earlier to realize the tremendous satisfaction derived from this angle of music as an artistic outlet."
Godowsky as a composer is quite as delightful as he is in the role of pianist. His "Triakontameron," "Renaissance," and "Waltzermasken," to say nothing of his prolific transcriptions, are features of almost every piano repertoire today. In August of 1925, the three first volumes of his newest work were brought out.
Since he is of the opinion that travel is one of the finer arts and also that music can be descriptive, he has put two and two together and, with his usual ability as a jongleur de mots, has in vented a synonym for sound journeys and named his new compo sitions, "Phonogramas."
"In order to eliminate the cheap clap-trap endings to pro grams, sending the audience away with a little melodramatic excitement," says Godowsky, "I am doing a series of travelogues, ranging from 'Java' to "jazz/ The 'Java' Suite is now complete and will be heard on many programs.
"Next I shall record my musical impressions of Egypt, As syria and Palestine, as well as those of several European countries. Then I shall come back to America and start on the American suite I have already planned. This American suite will begin with a polyphonic sketch entitled the 'Melting Pot' in which early America is shown as a combination of Old World elements. There will be a skyscraper movement to denote the energy and power of America and its significent aim to reach the skie§. A descrip tion of Niagara Falls will symbolize the momentum of American life, and there will be local descriptions involving the Negro rhythms of the South and the Indian color of the West. Such ele ments as the cowboy and miner will be treated carefully. The final sketch will be my conception of glorified jazz."
It has been six long years (1921-27) since New York has heard
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Godowsky play, and it will be at least one more before re will play there again. It is not because he is giving up his pianistic career. On the other hand, he gave concerts in all parts of the world, some near and familiar, others remote and strange, because he prefers to absorb the ideas, musical and otherwise, of the entire universe rather than to stay in one little circle in New York.
"For instance," he says, "a visit to Java is like entering an other world or catching a fleeting glimpse of immortality. Mu sically, it is amazing. One cannot describe it because it is a simple sensation as difficult to explain as color to a blind person.
"The sonority of the 'gamelan' is so weird, spectral, fantastic, and bewitching, and the native music is so elusive, vague, shim mering, and singular, that on listening to this new world of sound I lose my sense of reality. It is the ecstasy of such moments, pos sible only through world travel, that makes life full of meaning and raises art to the pedestal of the Golden Age."
When Vladimir de Pachman made his sensational re-appear ances in the United States in 1924, he was asked by an inquiring New York reporter whom he considered the greatest pianist. To this the old master replied in his characteristic way, "Next to my self comes Leopold Godowsky."
Godowsky is known to be temperamental at times, and eccen tric. In 1915 or thereabouts, the American newspapers sent out an alarm at his sudden and mysterious disappearance. A week or two later, he reappeared as if nothing had happened. To all ques tions he simply replied that he had needed quiet and peace in order to compose, and had gone away for a few days.
Godowsky is not only a great pedagogue and technician but an outstanding and prolific composer. A partial list of his composi tions follow:
Three concert studies for piano, opus 11; Studies of Chopin's Etudes (1904) ; a Piano sonata (1911) ; "Renaissance" — a free transcription of old music for piano (1911) ; "Triakontameron" — thirty moods and scenes for piano (1920) ; "three Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Johann Strauss, for piano ; twenty- four "Waitzermasken" ; "Educational Adaptations" for piano (1915) ; "Phonograms in four books" and twelve "Tonal Journeys" (1924-25) ; "Miniatures" — for piano, in four hands; three Suites for Piano; "Ancient Dances"; "Modern Dances"; Transcriptions of works of Chopin, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Carl Bohm, Al- beniz, and others ; two cadenzas to Mozart's Concerto in E flat for two pianos; Bach's Sonatas and Suites (consisting of famous works for violin solo and cello solo, unaccompanied), freely transcribed and. adapted for the pianoforte ; and many others, published and in manuscript.
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GITTA GRADOVA
IN THIS day ^ when all of the great pianists of the world are in America during the musical season, it becomes increasingly dif ficult for a newcomer to win recognition. Gitta Gradova made
her debut in New York, in a year notable for its number of piano concerts and achieved one of the most striking and individual successes o*f recent years. Al though Gradova is one of the younger American pianists (she was born in 1904), she is already accorded a place with the most interesting artists of the time. She is regarded by critics as an authoritative exponent of Seriabin's mu sic, but her repertoire is an eclectic one, 'ranging from Bach to the moderns. Gradova has at her command almost everything in the piano repertoire, and her programs are considered models of their kind. Her interpretations are most individual. Regarding them one of America's foremost critics, H. T. Parker of Boston, wrote: "Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, Liszt, each with a thrill, each with the stamp of a personality upon the music."
Because of her pronounced pianistic talent, her general educa tion was obtained at the Lewis Institute in Chicago where she could study music as well as English, classical literature, ethics, French, and philosophy. She began her study of the piano at the age of seven under local teachers. When twelve years old, she gave a program of three concertos, accompanied by a small orchestra. In the Spring of 1920 she became the pupil of Mme Djane Lavoie-Herz, a friend and disciple of Scriabin, with whom she has continued to prepare her programs. Mme Lavoie-Herz insisted on four years of concentrated training and forbade concert appear ances during that time.
Gitta made her debut "in New York in Town Hall on November 20, 1923 and won a gratifying success, which was confirmed in her second New York recital on January 28, 1924. The press com ments show how quickly she captured the New York public and critics.
W. J. Henderson of the New York Herald-Tribune, wrote: "She is in many respects one of the best and most talented young pianists heard here in some time. Virility and great power, musi cal insight, an astounding command of finger technique, together with feeling and imagination, were qualities observed in her style.
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The Dante Sonata of Liszt performed with much bravura, brought 'bravos' from the audience."
The story of Gradova's parentage is one in which the air of romance predominates. One is impressed with the sense that she is indeed an exotic personality and, in a mysterious way, a true child of the muses of music and drama. Her parents were highly endowed musically and possessed exceptional dramatic and artistic powers. For many years they performed in Russian, German and Yiddish plays in Southern Russia, Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor and Turkey, and the Balkans. In their devotion to the arts, they lived a nomadic life of which they at length tired. They settled in Chicago twenty years ago, and continued their work in the theatre, appearing in the leading Chicago Yiddish Stock.
Gitta, like most great pianists, showed her gifts for piano play ing at a very early age, but she escaped the fate of most musically precocious children. Her parents and her friends realized that a premature plunge in the musical waters would be harmful, and she studied consistently until the time for her New York debut arrived. The wisdom of the course was proved immediately by the amazing reception which came to her.
Although Gradova has studied the liberal arts and is a well- educated young woman, she naturally devotes most of her time to music. Her study has been intensive and she has an amazing knowledge not only of the Rusisan music in which some hold her as a specialist, but of the music of all times. She knows her Bach as well as she knows her Scriabin, and she is conceded to be one of the foremost exponents of the great Russian master.
Gradova has made rapid strides in her art since her first New York recital. In her two subsequent recitals in the metropolis, and also in her appearances in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal, and other cities, she has been acclaimed as one of the most gifted of the younger pianists. Her first appearance with orchestral forces was with the Cincinnati Symphony in Cesar Franck's "Variations Symphoniques," on March 25 and 26, 1924. She also played the Griffes "Sonata" at the concert of the Franco- American Musical Society in Aeolian Hall, New York, on January 18, 1924, and appeared during the same year in two colleges of Virginia.
Gradova believes strongly in what Shaw has called "the sanity of art/' and her aim is to reveal as clearly as she can the messages of the composers whose music she interprets. Scriabin ceases to be an enigma when she plays his works, Bach is not "heavy," and Chopin is not maudlin. Gradova does not look on a page of printed music as an assortment of symbols corresponding to keys on the piano. To her it is the composer's thought, and her brilliant technique goes entirely to turning this thought into tone. Con sequently, her interpretations are uniformly sound and interesting.
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OTTO GOLDSMIDT
OTTO GOLDSMIDT, though he walked in the shadow of his incom parable wife, Jenny Lind, was not only distinguished as "a gentle man of the highest general culture/7 but as an accomplished mu sician, co-worker with Sir William Benedict in the development of music in London, and in the founding of the Bach Society in that city.
Otto Goldsmidt was born on August 21, 1829, in Hamburg, and died in London on February 24, 1907. He was a pupil of Jakob Schmitt and Frau W. Grund in Hamburg. Later he entered the Leipzig Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Mendelssohn, and in 1848 went to Chopin in Paris. He then proceeded to Lon don where he made his debut at a concert with Jenny Lind in 1849. In 1851 he went with the diva to America where he married her a year later. During 1852-55 they lived in Dresden, and from 1858 in London. Goldsmidt directed the Diisseldorf Music Festival in 1863, and in Hamburg in 1866. In 1863 he was appointed di rector of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and founded the Bach Choir which he developed to high perfection. With Bennet he edited the Choral Book of England in 1862. He also composed the biblical idyl, "Ruth," a piano concerto, a trio, some songs, and sundry other pieces.
ALFRED GRUNFELD
LIKE HIS younger brother (the 'cellist Heinrich Grtinfeld), Alfred was, according to E. Hanslick, a virtuoso who by his bravura and fierce temperament could captivate his audiences completely. Griin- feld was one of those extraordinary pianists who could play the classics and the modernists equally well. He was well versed in almost all schools of music, and his programs were many- colored and extremely varied. All those who knew him intimately speak of him as a man genial, intelligent, and of rare kindness.
Alfred Grunfeld was born in Prague on July 4, 1852. He received his elementary education in the local conservatory of Hoyer, under whom he studied the piano. Later he studied under Theodore Kullak in Berlin.
He began his public career when still very young, and soon at tracted the attention of connoisseurs and critics. Most often he appeared with his brother, the famous 'cellist; they were after wards called the "inseparables."
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Grtinfeld was honored by the title of Prussian Court Soloist, as well as the title of Austrian Chamber Virtuoso.
He enriched piano literature by a number of melodic and mu sical pieces, excellent from the technical point of view.
Like his brother, Alfred was the friend and chum of many celebrities of his day, as well as of crowned heads.
HEINRICH (HENRI) HERZ
AMONG NATURALLY gifted virtuosi is Heinrich Herz, or as he pre ferred to be called in Paris, Henri Herz. He was born January 6, 1806 in Vienna. Like his teacher Franz Gurstein, he became a
naturalized Frenchman.
At eight he made public appearances. Later he, as well as his younger brother, the pianist Jacques Herz, became a pupil of the Paris Conservatory. He succeeded so well that he was awarded the Premiere Prix. Having finished the course at the Conservatory under Ignaz Moscheles, Herz met everywhere with an enthusiasm which in this day of calm and dignity is hardly imaginable.
From 1846 to 1850 he toured the United States and South America. Par ticularly interesting is the book he wrote about his travels, published in 1856. Not counting his tours in America, his principal residence was Paris. He became one of the best piano professors at his Alma Mater in that city.
^For a long time Herz was famous as one of the greatest tech nicians of his time, and one of the most prolific composers for the piano. His compositions have now been shelved, but it is a fact that in his lifetime he was unusually popular, and that his many variations, fantasies, rondos, and other salon pieces could be heard in courts and concert halls.
Aside from the above-mentioned activities, Herz also became one of the founders of a large piano factory. In the beginning he made many sacrifices, but thanks to his intelligence, energy, and enterprise, succeeded in bringing this business to such a level that his pianos finally could compete with the best of his time, and at the World Fair in Paris, 1855, were awarded first prize.
Herz died January 5, 1888, in Paris, leaving eight "concertos for piano, over two hundred salon pieces, the book Mes Vvyages, and the very well known Piano Exercises, under the title Hanon.
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MARK GUNZBURG
THIS EMINENT pianist and teacher was born in Kharkov, Russia, on April 18, 1879, and received his first lessons from Schulz-Evler. Later he went to the University of Moscow, where he studied natural sciences. At the same time he continued his piano training at the Imperial Conservatory with Pabst, Sapelnikoff, and Kwast, passing all the examinations with distinction. In 1905 he con tinued his studies for two years with Emll Sauer in Vienna, under whom he won the First Austrian State Prize, this being a competi tive examination at the Piano Master School Giinzburg then taught successfully for ten years at the Klindwort-Scharwenka Conservatorium in Berlin, his piano classes having the reputation as the best in that Institute. Giinzburg distinguished himself not only as a teacher, but as an excellent concert pianist, as well.
In April, 1921, he went to Mexico City, where he was en gaged by the Mexican Ministry of Instruction as Professor of the Conservatorio Nacional, as pianist-leader of the quartet "Cuarteto Clasico Nacional," and as standard soloist of the Symphony Or chestra Concerts.
In 1923 he became head of the piano department at the Detroit Institute of Musical Art.
MARK HAMBOURG
ONE OF the best known of contemporary Russian pianists, Mark Hambourg, was born on June 1, 1879, in Bogutschar, Southern Russia. He is the son of Michael and Catherine Cecilie Hambourg,
and brother of Jan and Boris Ham bourg. Mark studied the piano with his father in London and with Lesehetizky in Vienna.
He made his debut with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in 1888, and has appeared with the Vienna, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), and Lon don Philharmonic Orchestras; also at the Colonne and Lamoureux concerts in Paris, and with Ysaye in Brussels. In the course of his career, he toured Rus sia, Switzerland, Australia, South Af rica, the United States, and Canada.
Mark Hambourg was a wonder-child in his day, and made many successful appearances as a prodigy.
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The fact that he also developed into a mature pianist and artist of rank is undoubtedly due to his parents' wise precautions in with drawing him from public appearances for a number of years to develop his general education.
In 1907 Mark Hambourg married Dorothea, daughter of Sir Kenneth Muir Mackenzie, Permanent Clerk of the House of Lords.
He has composed "Variations on a Theme of Paganini," "Im promptu Minuet/' "Komance Espieglerte," all for the piano, and also written a book, How to Become a Pianist.
"Mark Hambourg's brother Jan, the brilliant violinist, was born in Voronetz, Russia, on August 27, 1882. He studied with Wilhelmj and Sauret in London, with Kikermann in Frankfort, with Sevcik in Prague, and with Ysaye in Brussels. He made his debut in Berlin in 1905, and has since toured widely alone and with his brothers.
MYRA HESS
MYRA HESS is a pianist who can be heard, with unalloyed pleasure. One may marvel at her beauty of tone, her command of nuances, her ease in dismissing technical difficulties, her range of senti ments and emotions, her irresistible grace and dash, her 'aesthetic intelli gence, but one is always conscious that with her the chief aim of her perfor mance is to reveal the spirit of the com poser.
She is of the line of world-distin guished women pianists, which includes Teresa Carreno and the late Sophie Menter, of whom she may be accounted the successor. Miss Hess was born in Hampstead, London, thirty-two years ago, the youngest of four children. Her parents so quickly perceived the child's exceptional talents that they made her begin her studies at the age of five. Two years later she passed her first examination at Trinity College, London. From the age of seven to twelve she was a student at the Guild-hall School of Music, after which she went to the Royal Academy of Music, where she became a pupil of Tobias Mathay. Here she had a distin guished career, winning the gold medal for pianoforte playing and subsequently being made Associate and Fellow.
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She gave her first piano recital at Aeolian Hall, London, on January 25, 1908, with such success that before the year was out she had played at important orchestral concerts at the Royal Al bert Hall and Queen's Hall and on the Continent.
The foundation of her success is an unusual mental comprehen sion and artistic acumen. Her readings, far more than her bril liant executive fluency, make her performance memorable. They are interpretations in the fullest sense of the word. Her playing has none of the brutality of man and none of the weakness of woman. Her playing is herself.
She is impressive and yet winning, with plenty of f orcef ulness and the ability to preserve the musical beauty of her tone through all the mazes of technical intricacy. She seems to feel musically in every fiber, so that her expression upon her Instrument is spontaneous and natural and has the quality of inevitableness inherent in great art.
Recently Myra Hess was asked whether she is of Jewish ex traction :
"Not only that," she answered, "but I was brought up in an orthodox home. My parents taught me Hebrew when a child, but I have since forgotten it. It is impossible for an artist to keep up the Orthodox faith. Besides, one's ideas do change. I look at life a little differently now."
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ, the eminent pianist, was born on October 1, 1904, in Kieff, of a well-to-do, artistically inclined Russian family. At an early age he showed remarkable pianistic gifts, encouraged by , , his parents who recognized his great tal ent. Entering the Conservatory of Kieff, he studied under Professor Blumenfeld, and graduated with the highest honors. The first years of his professional career were spent giving concerts in the prin cipal cities of his native Russia. In 1924, a boy of twenty, he started on a tour of Europe, conquering in quick succession Germany, Holland, Italy, France, Aus tria, and Spain. An indication of his standing as a pianist is the fact- that Leo pold Stokowski has engaged him to make his debut as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Vladimir Horowitz comes to America in the Autumn of 1927, preceded by an unusual reputation,
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His first American tour will undoubtedly be a repetition of his triumphal march through the music centres of Europe.
In the New York Times of December 19, 1926, Henry Prunieres, editor of La Revue Musicale and one of the Continent's leading critics, wrote in a dispatch from Paris: "The event of the week was the reappearance of the great Russian pianist, Vladimir Horowitz. Horowitz is twenty-three. He is without question the greatest pianist of the rising generation. Berlin critics unani mously hailed him as the successor of Busoni. His first Paris con cert last year was a revelation. He has all the technical gifts in addition to an exquisite musical sensitiveness. He excels in the interpretation of Bach and Liszt, but he can play Ravel and De bussy to perfection. From the start this young artist has been classed among the pianists of the first rank; one can only com pare him to Paderewski or to Busoni. Those who heard Anton Rubinstein think that they have rediscovered the Russian pianist in Horowitz. Horowitz is conquering Europe with startling rap idity, without adventitious publicity. His tour in Germany was a triumph and at the Concerts in the Conservatoire here, he received an endless ovation."
IGNACE HILSBERG
IGNACE HILSBERG was born in Warsaw, Poland, on July 8, 1894. While very young, he displayed such remarkable aptitude and tech nical command of the piano that at the age of nine he was soloist
with the Warsaw Philharmonic Sym phony, playing Beethoven's second con certo.
When Ignace was eight years old, he was given his first teacher, Oberfeld. His appearance at the Symphony Or chestra having won him a scholarship at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He studied there for three years with the Professors Essipoff and Vengerova, con tinuing after the former's death with the noted Professor Dubasoff. On his graduation he was summoned to play before the Imperial family.
He moved eastward from St. Peters burg to Tomsk, Siberia, where he accepted a professor ship, in the Tomsk Conservatory. After a year in that city, he started toward the Orient, giving many concerts en route. In China he
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was Invited to play before the President in the Palace at Peking, and was awarded a medal as Chevalier of the Chinese Republic.
Vienna welcomed Hilsberg on his return from the Orient. He became a friend of the world-famous Professor Sauer, with whom he spent much time in study, absorbing the best of the master's methods. On Sauer's suggestion, he journeyed to Athens, hold ing for two years a professorship at the Royal Conservatory, and frequently playing for the king.
He came to America in the Summer of 1923 at the height of his artistic power, after having established so enviable a reputation abroad as a pianist of great sincerity, understanding, and beauty. A year after his arrival there, he was selected by the Stadium Committee from among hundreds of applicants to be soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lewisohn Stadium, and proved beyond question his appeal to musicians of discrim inating musical taste.
Since his arrival in America, Hilsberg has appeared as soloist with the symphonies of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, New York, Buffalo, Newark, and other large musical centers. In March of 1924 Bruno Walter, the famous conductor, gave Hils berg this recommendation : "Ignace Hilsberg is a pianist with ex cellent technique and sincere feeling — a rare musician."
JULIUS ISSERLIS
JULIUS ISSERLIS, who is one of the most outstanding of the many pianists Russia has given to the world in the present gen eration, was born in Kishineff, Russia, on October 26, 1889. His
studies began when he was four years old, In his eighth year, his teacher, a Mr. Koleze, sent him to Professor Pachulsky of the Conservatory in Kieff. Elated with his talents, Pachulsky taught him until he was eleven and then brought him to Saf onoff in Moscow.
In his thirteenth year, Isserlis ap peared in a Symphony Concert in mem ory of Anton Rubinstein, playing Chop in's "Polish Fantasy," with Safonoff conducting.
In 1905 he graduated as gold medal ist from the Moscow Conservatory and left for Berlin, where he concertized with great success. He then went to Paris, where his talents at-
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tracted Dlemier, the head of the Paris Conservatory. At the same time he also appeared as soloist in Switzerland, and in Paris under Safonoff.
In 1907-08 he was invited by Modest Altschuler to come to New York, where he played with enormous success at the concerts of the "Russian Symphony Society," under Altschuler and Safonoff.
It was in 1913 that he accepted the position as Professor at the Moscow Philharmonic School, where he remained until 1918. After resigning from that post, he devoted himself exclusively to concerts. He toured all over Russia, Vienna, Prague, Belgrad, Germany, and France.
At present this eminent pianist is living in Vienna, where he is very active both as concert-performer and pedagogue.
ALBERTO JONAS
ALBERTO JONAS, celebrated piano virtuoso and teacher, was born in Maedrid, Spain, on June 8, 1868. He is the son of Julius and Doris Jonas, who came to Spain from Germany. Alberto Jonas
studied music with Olave and Mendizabel at the Conservatory in Madrid, the Brus sels Conservatory, and with Rubinstein in St. Petersburg.
He made his debut in Berlin in 1891 with the Philharmonic Orchestra, and then made extended and very successful concert tours in Germany, Austria, Hol land, Belgium, Russia, Spain, England, Central America, the United States, and Canada. Jonas played before the Em peror and Empress of Germany, and the King and Queen of Spain. From 1894 to 1898 he was instructor in advanced piano playing at the Music School of the University of Michigan, and later became president and di rector of the Michigan Conservatory of Music in Detroit. From 1898 to 1904 he was head of the piano department of the Klind- worth-Scharwenka Conservatory of Music in Berlin, but resigned because of the demands of a large class of private pupils. Two of his "wunderkinder," including Pepito Arriola, appeared before the courts of Germany and Spain.
Like all musicians who have won fame, Jonas showed his genius for music in early childhood. His first musical studies were not made with the object of following a professional career,
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for his father wanted him to become what he himself was — a suc cessful business man. For this purpose he was sent by his father to England and France in order to study the business methods of those countries. His love for music, however, grew from day to day and finally conquered the opposition of his father, as well as all other obstacles.
He entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. When he was examined, those who had charge of the piano class told him there was little hope for his achieving success, as he was "too old to begin." He was then eighteen. In 1888 he won the first prize in open competition, against nineteen competitors, in the presence of the Queen of Belgium and an audience of 2,000 persons. He also won the first prize for theoretical and practical harmony, counterpoint, and reading of orchestra scores, as well as the Rubin stein prize in St. Petersburg in 1890.
During the next three years he studied piano by himself, de veloping and applying to his own playing a system that later gave him fame in Berlin, where he taught from 1904 to 1913, as one of the greatest pedagogues in the world — a system that is embodied in his work, Master School of Piano Playing and Virtuosity.
Alberto Jonas has played during two decades with immense success all over Europe and North and Central America. His name is known and respected in the musical circles of all coun tries. Jonas is the teacher of many famous pianists. He is also well known as a composer, his piano pieces being featured on the programs of many virtuosi. In his four-fold capacity of piano virtuoso, pedagogue, composer, and writer, Alberto Jonas stands out today as one of the dominant figures of the musical world.
Since 1914, Alberto Jonas has been living in New York City where he devotes himself to pedagogical activities, (his handsome home is the mecca of talented students from all over the world) , and to the completion of his book, already mentioned. This work, the most elaborate and complete work on piano in existence, has the unique distinction of having the collaboration of practically all the greatest living piano virtuosos. Their own technical exercises are contained in the Master School. It is published in six books, of about 250 pages each, by Carl Fischer, the New York publishers.
This book was written with the collaboration of Fannie Bloom- field-Zeisler, Ferruccio Busoni, Alfred Cortot, Ernst von-Doh- nanyi, Arthur Friedheim, Ignaz Friedman, Ossip Gabrilo- witsch, Rudolph Ganz, Leopold Godowsky, Katherine Goodson, Joseph Lhevinne, Moritz Rosenthal, Emil Sauer, and Sigismund Stojowski. It embraces all the technical and esthetic elements re quired for the highest pianistic virtouosity. It gives excerpts from all the best pedagogical works extant, and approximately 1,000 examples, instructively annotated, taken from the entire classic and modern piano literature.
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In breadth of scope, originality, and clearness of execution, the book is unprecedented. It has been written by its author in Eng lish, German, French, and Spanish, and is being introduced in every musical country.
Following is a partial list of Jonas' compositions: "Fantasy Pieces," opus 12; "Northern Dances"; "Toccata"; "Valse in C sharp minor" ; and many songs.
He has also translated into Spanish Gevaertjs Instrumentation (1903) and Pianoscript Book (1918).
A cosmopolitan in every sense, Alberto Jonas has the distinc tion of being a member of the Eed Cross of Belgium and of Spain.
RAFAEL JOSEFFY
RAFAEL JOSEFFY, whose father was rabbi of Pressburg, was one of the most talented pupils of Taussig. He was born on July 3, 1852, in Hunfalu, Hungary. In boyhood a pupil of Brauer, in
Budapest, Joseffy studied later at the Leipzig Conservatory under Wenzel in Berlin, and under Liszt in Weimar. He made his debut in Berlin in 1872 and was hailed as Taussig's successor. Dur ing the next five years he gave concerts in the principal musical centers of Europe. In 1879 he visited New York, playing at an orchestral concert given by Dr. Leopold Damrosch in Chickering Hall (October 13, 1879) ; he later played with the Philharmonic Orchestra and with Theodore Thomas. He settled in New York as concert pianist and teacher, where his outstanding technique and broad catholicity of taste brought him an unusually large number of engagements and pupils. He was also one of the first exponents of Brahms in America. His public appearances were rare, but those that he made were regarded as events of the musical season. Joseffy had almost completed editing the works of Chopin when he died in New York on June 25, 1915. As a teacher, Joseffy was in great demand. He developed a great number of the pianists who now occupy leading places in the artistic world and undoubt edly exercised a far-reaching influence on the present generation, not only of America, but of other lands as well.
Joseffy left several works of great importance. Among these are his School of Advanced Piano Playing. Besides the pianoforte works of Chopin, he also edited the pianoforte studies of Czerny, Henselt, Moscheles, Schumann, etc.
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HARRY KAUFMAN
HARRY KAUFMAN, pianist and accompanist, was born in New York City on September 6, 1894, of Russian parents, being the youngest of thirteen children. His father until the age of eighty-
* two taught Hebrew to the fast-growing generations of American Jews of the neighborhood.
On being graduated from public school, Harry entered the City College and also the Institute of Musical Art (as a scholarship pupil under Sigismond Stojowski), and studied harmony there under Percy Goetschius. In 1913 he went to Germany. There he studied harmony and composition under Kreutzer. Lack of funds forced him to return after a year. He secured a position playing with an orchestra in Boston's finest hotel. This experience afforded him excellent training in ensemble playing. He continued to study music by himself, giving several hours daily to intensive work at the piano, and virtually teaching himself Russian, French, and German. He now speaks these languages with no trace of foreign accent, and coaches singers in enunciation. He is exceedingly well read in the literature of these languages as well. Of course, the traditional Yiddish and Hebrew has been familiar since childhood.
In 1919 Kaufman was playing in a hotel in Atlantic City with the violinist Beerman, the uncle of Toscha Seidel. When young Seidel arrived in America, his uncle recommended Harry Kauf man as his accompanist, but Kaufman had too little self-confidence to accept. Not until his friends packed his grip, bought his ticket, and engaged a substitute for his orchestra position did he travel to New York for a hearing. He was engaged at once, for he gave evidence of being a thoroughly equipped musician, technically and artistically balanced for the work of accompanying a violinist. For two years Kaufman and Seidel toured the United States, and for the next two years played with Ef rem Zimbalist. The list of those artists whom Kaufman has accompanied, and with whom he appeared as co-artist in public and private, reads like a musical Who's Who. It includes the late George Hamlin, Charlotte Lund, Carl Flesch, Carlos Sedano, Felix Salmond, Pablo Casals, Jascha Heif etz, Mischa Elman, Erika Morini, and many others.
332 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
In the Summer of 1922, Harry Kaufman was one of the two pianists of a list of 745 applicants to win the Stadium Audition of the year. At the Stadium that summer he played the Liszt "E flat major Concerto" with the Philharmonic Orchestra. In Oc tober of the same year and in the same month of the following year, he was heard in recitals, receiving excellent notices from the metropolitan dailies.
Kaufman has since been engaged by the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia as the official accompanist "of that institution, and also as teacher in the piano department under Josef Hofmann, with whom, by the way, he is a great favorite.
LEONID KREUTZER
LEONID KREUTZER is an outstanding Russian pianist and conduc tor. He was born on March 13, 1884, in St. Petersburg, Russia. At the age of five he commenced the study of piano with Blum- berg, from whom he secured his first serious conception of theory and piano playing. It is curious to note that in his childhood he studied the violin but that the piano predominated as his chosen in strument. His father, a lawyer by pro fession, did not permit his son's educa tion to be neglected and sent him through preparatory school, after which the young Leonid entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory, studying piano under the famous Mme Essipowa, and composition under Glazounoff.
Kreutzer's debut was made in 1905 with the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where he played Rachmaninoff's "Second Concerto/7 making a tremendous success. Shortly after, he left Russia and settled in Germany (first living in Leipzig, and after 1908 in Berlin). Since 1906, Kreutzer has been concertizing extensively over the Con tinent and has appeared as soloist with practically every leading European orchestra. It is worthy of notice that he is known, not only as a pianist of the first rank, but also as a conductor, having conducted the first performance of a number of Reger's orchestral works. His debut as conductor was made in Leipzig in 1908, since which time he has conducted on various occasions.
In 1921 Kreutzer was appointed professor of piano at the Staat-
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liche Hochschule f iir Musik in Berlin, where he holds an esteemed position in the pedagogical field.
He is the author of two books on piano-playing, Das normale Klavier-pedal (Leipzig, 1915), and Das Wesen der Kla/viertechnik (Berlin, 1923). He has made special editions of Liszt, Chopin, and other composers.
Kreutzer has also found time for composition, being author of the pantomime "Der Gott und die Bajadere" (performed at the Mannheim and Berlin Opera Houses), and sundry other works.
On January 1, 1927, Kreutzer made his American debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Mengelberg, scoring a great success, after which he appeared also with the Detroit Symphony under Gabrilowitsch, and with the Cincinnati Symphony under Fritz Reiner, as well as giving numerous other recitals and con certs.
ALEXANDER LAMBERT
ALEXANDER LAMBERT (son of Henry and Salomee Lambert), eminent Polish pianist and teacher, was born in Warsaw, on Nov ember 1, 1863. His father was a musician of reputation, and
under him the boy began began his mus ical studies at the age of ten. He was then, by the advice of Rubinstein, sent to Vienna, where he entered the conser vatory, and after completing his studies under Julius Epstein, was graduated at the age of sixteen with the gold medal of the Conservatory. He afterwards spent some time at Weimar studying un der Liszt, and in due time was heard in concert in Germany. He then came to the United States and, though he ap peared almost unheralded, met with the most flattering success.
Lambert was heard first in the Schu mann G minor Piano Sonata, and with this gained the admira tion, not only of the audience but of the critics. He appeared at Steinway Hall, New York, with Remenyi, sharing honors with the Hungarian violinist. His touch was described as bold and free, his attack sure and daring, his tone large and round, and his con ceptions just. His dexterity was noted as well as his earnest con scientious work. Like so many musicians of his nationality, he astonished with his brilliancy.
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He went for a year to Germany. In Berlin, where he was first heard, the critics spoke in high praise of his work, as revealing a beautiful pearly technique, naturalness, and freshness in his con ceptions.
During his sojourn in Germany, he met and spent much time with Moszkowski and later with Joachim, who engaged him for a tour through Germany.
Lambert accompanied Joachim as far as Kiel, where he played before the Prince and Princess of Schleswig-Holstein. Then he filled an engagement to take part in Terisina Tua's concerts. Af terward he was invited to play by the Philharmonic Society of Berlin on the occasion of the anniversary of Beethoven's death. By the advice of Hans von Biilow, he gave the great composer's C major and C minor concertos, with the original cadenzas. The choice was an exceedingly happy one, and he won the interest of the Berlin public and the praise of the Berlin press in a season that had been made remarkable by Rubinstein, Hans von Biilow, D' Albert, Scharwenka, and Clara Schumann.
Leaving Poland, Lambert paid a visit to his native city, War saw, where he made the acquaintance of the violinist Sarasate, with whom he afterwards concertized. Thence he went to Wei mar, where he spent four months in daily communication with Franz Liszt, Mme Montigny-Ramaury, Mme Alfred Jaell, Siloti, Friedheim, Felix Weingartner, and Saint-Saens. Of this sojourn, Lambert says: "He who has enjoyed the distinction of being the object of the Master's solicitude, knows how precious is every word of Liszt's while one is playing for him."
Returning to New York, Lambert resumed his work in the musical world. He had added much to his repertoire, and made his second entree at one of the concerts with the G minor piano concerto by Saint-Saens. He played with his accustomed bril liancy of technique, with added poetic charm, and complete beauty of tone, "a clear and silvery touch" full of color as occasion de mands, and a delicacy of delivery that was very fascinating. He began to fulfill the predictions of his earlier admirers. Of an other appearance a critic wrote: "Lambert played the Liszt Hun garian Fantasie with tremendous power and dash. We have few pianists who could so stir up an audience without resorting to trickery of any kind."
Subsequently there followed engagements with America's lead ing symphonic organizations under Damrosch, Seidl, and others.
At the age of twenty-three, Lambert settled permanently in New York City. He became head of the New York College of Music and remained director thereof for eighteen years. By his unwearying energy and devotion he has brought this institution to a very high place.
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Lambert is now one of New York's acknowledged great piano teachers, and to his classes flock pupils from all over the country.
Among his pupils are Mana-Zucca, Nadia Reisenberg, Julia Glass, and Beryl Rubinstein.
Lambert has to his credit among other works: "Etude and Bourree" and "Valse Impromptu" both for the piano. He has also written Piano Method and Systematic Course of Studies.
WANDA LANDOWSKA
THE BIOGRAPHY of this illustrious artist is the story of a person ality. From earliest childhood she showed a pronounced passion and love for the music of Bach. Born in Warsaw in 1877, Wanda
Landowska studied the piano, first under Michalowski and Noskowski at Warsaw Conservatory, and completed her studies under G. Urban in Berlin.
Coming to France in 1900, she evi denced a love for the masters of the harpsichord (Clavicembalo) of the sev enteenth and eighteenth centuries. Mas ters of the harpsichord have found in her an original interpreter, for she has added to their works that particular col or we find in beautiful paintings.
From 1900 to 1913 she was teaching harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum in Paris ; then she went to Berlin as prof es- sor of that instrument at the Berlin Hochschule, and after the war returned to Paris.
She has published among other works: Bach-et Ses Interpretes (1906), and La Musique Ancienne (1908).
Wanda Landowska is one of the rare woman virtuosi, who do not seem to imitate the playing of men. She has had the intelli gence to conserve for art all the intimate character of her feminin ity. Her interpretation is profound, as if she herself had composed the music. France recently paid tribute to her genius by naming her a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
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TINA LERNER
OF THE eminent young pianist Tina Lerner, Joseph Hofmann once said, when he first met her in 1905 : "If she plays as well as she looks, it will be splendid/' Soon after hearing her, he predicted
for her a brilliant future. She was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1889, and is the daughter of very cultivated and accom plished people. Her father is a journal ist, and both her mother and her grand mother were musicians. Her talent was discovered by her grandmother, who on arriving home one day heard some one playing a difficult study. As this com position happened to be one which she had herself vainly tried to master, she was overjoyed on entering the room to find that the performer was her wee grandchild, aged seven.
"I began my music when about four years old," Tina Lener says, "by playing on a toy piano consisting of eight keys, which had been given me. My older sister, who was studying the piano, noticed this, taught me a little, and I learned to pick out little tunes on the real piano. Finally one day my sis ter's teacher, Rudolf Heim, a pupil of Moscheles, was coming to the house mainly on my account.
"Soon after this I was taken to the Professor's studio. He ex amined me, considered I had talent, and thought it should be culti vated. My real musical education then began when I was five."
Soon afterward the Lerners moved to Moscow, where Tina was sent to the Philharmonic School; in four years she accomplished what some students do in nine years, which is the time required to complete a full course.
Her teacher, Professor Pabst, predicted a brilliant future for his pupil, and proved a reliable prophet, for Tina Lerner is now recognized as one of the most outstanding pianists of both conti nents, winning the enthusiastic praise of the critics and the musi cians.
After her graduation from the Moscow Conservatory with high honors, she went to the great master and pedagogue, Leopold Godowsky, with whom she studied for several years.
After a joint concert in London in 1908 with Kubelik, Tina Lerner received quite as great an ovation as the "great Kubelik." When these two young virtuosos appeared later in Brighton, Eng-
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land, one of the critics said : "Tina Lerner did not use her piano as an excuse for indulging in wild Saturnalian orgies of most un musical sound, but, on the contrary, made her instrument a vehicle for limpid purity, symmetry, and purling sweetness of tone. She wove arabesques of dainty fancy in the treble over which De Pach- mann himself would have smiled and gurgled approval. . . . Tina Lerner at nineteen has risen to a commanding position in the musical world.5'
Tina Lerner made her American debut in November, 1908, at Carnegie Hall, New York, when she appeared as soloist of the Rus sian Symphony Society's first concert of the season, under Modest Altschuler. She played Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto. The Musical America of November 21, 1908, wrote:
"The interest of the large audience that comfortably filled the hall was concentrated upon the debutante, and the general verdict was of the most favorable nature. The little pianist with the Madonna face demonstrated that she is the possessor of not only a finely developed technique with at times a peculiarly caressing and liquid tone, at other times a surprising sonority and brilliance of color, but also of true musicianly feelings and taste and an indi vidual charm of style."
H. T. Finck wrote in the Evening Post: "Miss Lerner is a true virtuoso. In the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Concerto the pianist rose to a splendid climax.
Max Smith of the Press wrote : "Miss Lerner made a decidedly agreeable impression even on those who did not listen to music with their eyes. . . . The little pianist, with her gentle, refined touch, revealed an excellent techinque. In soft passages her scales and arpeggios rippled like strings of liquid pearls."
After her first American piano recital at Mendelssohn Hall, New York, on December 4, 1908, the New York Herald wrote: "Miss Lerner's playing showed rare taste and a high degree of digital facility." Musical America said: "That there is a wide spread interest in the work of this young artist was made evident by the size of the audience, which completely filled the hall. It was furthermore an audience which expressed deep sympathy in the work of the performer, and the applause which followed each num ber left no doubt as to the nature of her success. Mme Luisa Tetrazzini of the Manhattan Opera House, one of the most dis tinguished of the young Russian pianist's auditors, led in the hand- clapping."
Tina Lerner appeared as soloist with most of the leading or chestras and all the pre-eminent chamber-music organizations of both continents.
Lerner's is a truly musical nature, endowed with unusual talent. Her touch is singularly beautiful and she has at her command as a colorist a great variety of nuances.
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Aside from her purely musical endowments, Tina Lerner is a woman of rare charm and intelligence.
Together with her husband, the noted conductor, Vladimir
Shavitsh, she is now living in Syracuse, New York, where they are
both members of the faculty at the university of that city, and
* where Mr. Shavitsh is the conductor of the Syracuse Philharmonic
Orchestra.
MISCHA LEVITZKI
MISCHA LEVITZKI, whose art combines the perfect technique of the experienced genius with the virile fire of enthusiastic youth, is a commanding figure in the pianistic world of today. His in terpretative gifts are so remarkable that they recall the stories told of the pre cocity of Handel, Mozart, and other mas ters, and the miraculous results which they obtained from the spinets and harp sichords of their day.
His poise and assurance are extra ordinary. During the first three seasons that he was before the American pub lic, Mischa Levitzki played with prac tically every orchestra of importance in the country, including the Boston Sym phony, New York Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Toronto, and Kus- sian Symphony Orchestras, not once but many times. During the season of 1919-20 he was heard five times with the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch, twice in New York and once each in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, repeating the triumphant tour which he had made with the Damrosch players the season previously.
The impresario of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra was one of the first of American managers to recognize Levitzki's great gifts; she has included him among her musical offerings every season since the first one. Since she now has an orchestra, the new Cleveland Orchestra, under her own management, she has engaged him for no less than three appearances during the past season, twice in Cleveland and once in Oberlin. Levitski also played again with the Minneapolis Orchestra in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, and with the Detroit Orchestra under the baton of Ossip Gabrilowitsch. Both the San Francisco and Los Angeles
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Orchestras were bidders for his services, but owing to the fact that his stay in the United States during that time was a rather short one, on account of the long Australian tour he was made to undertake during the season of 1919-20, the Pacific Coast cities had to wait for him until the following season.
Mischa Levitzki is an American although he did happen to be born in a town near Kieff in Southern Russia. His father had previously resided in America and had become fully naturalized before returning to Russia on a business trip. It was during this stay that the child was born, and the first eight years of his life were passed in the land of the late Czar. It would seem to have been a fortunate chance for him, for his personality and his play ing show that the inherent reserve and intensity of the Russian character have been tempered by the freedom and spontaneity of America.
Mischa was born in Krementschug on May 25, 1898. At the age of three he showed a remarkable sense of rhythm, playing the drum in an orchestra made up of his three brothers. Neither of his parents was particularly musical, and they were not at all anxious for a musical career for their son. However, on the insistence of a local pianist, he was taken to Warsaw, where he studied with A. Michalowski (an excellent routine teacher), from 1905 to 1906. At the age of eight, his parents brought him to New York, where he studied at the Institute of Musical Art under Stojowski for four years.
His outstanding talent caused friends of the family to advise that the boy be taken to Europe for further study. With his mother and younger sister Bertha, he arrived in Berlin, his heart set on becoming a pupil of Ernest von Dohnanyi. He telephoned immediately on his arrival, only to be told that Dohnanyi was out of the city for several days. He was extremely anxious to play for the master, for he knew that the classes in the Hochschule fur Music were being formed and that Dohnanyi, as usual, was limit ing himself to sixteen pupils. Each prospective student had to demonstrate the possession of extraordinary talent before he could hope to be accepted, and the boy coveted the honor more than anything else. He learned that already twelve others had qualified who had influence and were leaving nothing undone in their efforts to be chosen. He telephoned Mme Dohnanyi every day and at last learned that the teacher had returned. Over the telephone Dohnanyi held out little hope and tried to put the boy off by saying that perhaps there would be a chance the following year. How ever, Levitzki was insistent and pleaded for a hearing and at last an appointment was given him for the next evening after dinner.
When Dohnanyi came out from his dining room the following
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night, he found awaiting him a small boy in knickerbockers. He was not only amazed but annoyed. His was the master class, and all of his pupils were of maturer years. He had no time for beginners as he supposed the child to be.
"Are you the new student from America," he asked, none too graciously.
"Yes sir/' answered the boy whose feet scarcely touched the floor when he was seated.
"Don't you know that we don't admit pupils under sixteen to the Hochschule?" began the pianist, and before Levitzki could answer he added, "and I personally have never taught children," this with a perceptible emphasis on the last word.
Levitzki was determined not to be dismissed in this summary fashion and asked that he be allowed to play one piece. Dohnanyi at length consented and the boy played "La Fileuse" by Raff. When he had finished, Dohnanyi without other comment asked him to play something else. Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" followed.
"Come tomorrow morning at eleven to the Hochschule for the entrance examination," said he, as he gravely bent down and shook hands with the boy.
The next morning Levitzki was confronted with no less than fifteen examiners.
"What do you want to play?" he was asked.
"The Mendelssohn Concerto in G minor," was the astounding reply.
"But that requires an orchestra or at least a second piano for accompaniment," answered one of the judges.
This act of consideration inspired the boy to do his very best. When he had finished he was unanimously voted a member of the Dohnanyi's master class. There he spent three years, between 1911 and 1915. In 1913 the youth received the Mendelssohn sec ond prize, and in 1914 the first. In March of the same year he made his Berlin debut, capturing the city, and later during the same year played in several Belgian cities. From 1915 to 1916 Levitzki appeared in Germany once more, then in Austria and Norway. At that time Germany was confident of victory, and Berlin enjoyed one of the greatest musical seasons in its history. The youthful pianist became a great favorite there, but he longed to return to America. He made his American debut in Aeolian Hall in 1916, and immediately established a reputation as a finished master of the piano, in spite of his extreme youthfulness.
We have already mentioned the fact that he was soon engaged as soloist with America's leading orchestra. Meanwhile, Mischa made tours over the country until 1921, when he made a tri umphant tour through. Australia and New Zealand, returning to America by way of Europe the following season, when he was
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again received with enthusiasm by both audiences and press. "Mr. Levitzki is a musician of fine intimacies, delicacies and reserves/' said the New York Times. "His style is individually his own, as is his technique exceedingly finished, unfailing in its correct ness, endless in its minute gradations. His tone is of an exquisite purity and opalescence."
"Levitzki has grown with somewhat confounding quickness from the position of an unusually gifted boy to that of a young master. The authority with which he plays is impressive," said the New York Sun. The Chicago Examiner eulogizes Mischa Levitzki as follows: "A great figure in the pianistic world is Mischa Levitzki. He combines something of the authority and superlative pianistic mastery of Busoni with more than an echo of the romanticism of Paderewski."
Mischa Levitzki is ingenuous and frank. With him there is no suggestion of either pose or pretense. His hair is no longer than it would be were he a business man, and he walks to his instrument in as matter of fact a way as a banker would approach his desk. To make his audience feel the message which the composer has written into the music is his mission, and he suc ceeds in such a measure as to efface himself.
Many a pianist has given a recital from the pulpit platfrom of a church in cities which boast no other concert halls, but there are few who have been called upon to replace the preacher by giving a sermon in harmony. Yet such was the task which was set Levitzki by the minister of one of the large New York churches.
Dr. Christian Reisner, pastor of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, has the reputation of being a preacher of the simple gospel, but he also believes in making use of every honest means to draw men to his church. He evidently agrees with the belief of Charles Wesley who once said: "The devil ought not to have all the best tunes/' and so he invited Levitzki to play a short pro gram which included the Gluck-Brahms "Gavotte/' a Chopin Bal lade and a Liszt Rhapsody. The effect on the large congregation was such that the church rang with applause.
But this was not all. Levitzki drew something more than applause. After he had finished, Dr. Reisner made an appeal for funds and when the collection plates were emptied the sum totalled over $5,000. "And your playing had more to do with it than anything I was able to say/' he told the pianist afterward. "It was a direct response to the message which you gave them. They knew that it was something bigger and greater than a mere display of technique — that you were there to unfold to them the ideas which the composers had concealed within the notes as they had arranged them. It was the preaching of the gospel of music and beauty and power, just as surely as any words of mine pro claim the gospel of salvation."
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Mischa Levitzki is the composer of a number of small piano pieces, in waltz and gavotte form.
He has three older brothers, the oldest of whom, Dr. Louis Levine, is a famous professor of economics and journalist; his younger sister, Bertha Levitzki, is a gifted pianist and accom panist. It is worth while mentioning the reason for the dis crepancy in the names of the family scions. The original family name was Levitzki, but when the family moved to New York from Russia and were naturalized, they assumed, for some reason of their own, the name of Levine. But Mischa uses his original name.
HENIOT LEVY
A PLACE in the American musical life has been quietly and securely won by Heniot Levy. As a composer he is well and favorably known in America and abroad. Germany and France, as well as
his native city of Warsaw, Poland, have bestowed honors on him. In 1907, in a contest of international composers, his trio was given highest award by the Concours International de la Musique, in Paris. As a teacher his gifts gather about him a coterie of enthusiastic and brilliant young players.
It is said he was born to the mu sician's life, his father having been a composer and teacher. His natural gifts were early developed and educated. He was born on July 19, 1879, in* Warsaw, a part of the world which has furnished a number of distinguished musicians. He is, however, cosmopolitan, for though Polish by birth, he was edu cated in Germany and New York, lived for a time in Norway and England, and for the past twelve years has lived in Chicago.
He studied with Raif and Earth at the Royal High School for Music, in Berlin, from which place he was graduated in 1897 ; and composition with Max Bruch at the Master School of the Berlin Academy. He made his debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin, in 1898. He then toured through Southern Europe and Germany, Norway and Sweden. In a competition in Warsaw, in 1901, he won first prize for a violin sonata.
Heniot Levy seems to be the possessor of a dual musical per sonality. He has successfully solved the problem of escaping the fossilization process that often overtakes the busy pedagogue, for he has remained a valuable concert giver.
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Levy appears frequently in recitals and as soloist for sym phony orchestras in Chicago and the surrounding towns. He also played in London and other European cities, meeting with marked success. Aside from the prize-winning trio, Levy has written a number of works for the piano, among them, "Poeme de Mai" and "Petite Valse."
JOSEF LHEVINNE
JOSEF LHEVINNE is one of the few representatives of that great virtuoso school of piano playing which came into vogue in the latter days of Liszt and Rubinstein, and as such has established
himself in the realm of pianistic art as a supreme master of the instrument. To play the piano as Lhevinne does, requires a sympathetic unison of mental and phy sical power.
His style is brilliant and clear, his tone and conception replete with poetic feeling and imagination. His ease and flawless technique have caused him to be called Rubinstein's legitimate suc cessor.
How to become a pianist without a piano was the problem that faced Josef Lhevinne at the beginning of his career. The Lhevinne family lived in a small town close to Moscow. There Josef was born in 1874. His father was a trumpet player in the Royal Opera, but was too poor to indulge in any luxuries, much less a piano. By chance, a brother- in-law sent them an old square instrument to keep for him. The father put his son through a test to ascertain if he possessed any great musical qualifications. He was astonished at his talent which included an uncannily sense of pitch.
How to secure instruction was the next problem, for none of the family could play the ungainly piece of furniture that had been looked upon as a white elephant, but which proved a blessing in disguise. Josef knew several conservatory pupils who con sented to teach him the elements of playing. At the age of six he could sing melodies and play the accompaniments to songs of Schubert, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. But though Josef loved music, and liked to play for fun, he found it so easy to express himself freely in music that he did not understand the importance of learning or the seriousness of art. He did not like work — a
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disposition that clung to him until he had played before Rubin stein and been inspired by the great master's playing.
Josefs first teacher was a Swede named Crysander, a student at the Conservatory in Moscow. After a short period of study with him, Josef conceived the clever idea of giving a concert to raise funds for his tuition, but his father opposed such measures on the ground that it would be better to wait until he had com pleted his studies. Nevertheless, the boy got his wish through peculiar circumstances. A certain colonel who was a friend of Josef's teacher had arranged a soiree in honor of the Grand Duke. Through this connection, the youth was chosen to play at the function, which was a most brilliant affair, held in the palace and attended by the elite of the city. In spite of his youth, Josef was not a bit flustered by the lights, brilliant attire, and court ceremony. He performed Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," and the Wagner-Liszt March from "Tanhauser" with such power and skill that he deeply impressed the Duke, who then and there ar ranged for a certain banker to take the young artist under his patronage.
When, therefore, the boy was brought to study with Safonoff, the director of the Conservatory, he was surprised because he taught only master classes and certainly Josef was far from ready to take his place there. But Safonoff took a fancy to the lad and accepted him because of his great promise, and gave him daily private lessons for several months so that he might catch up. This course was tedious but wise, though it necessitated forsak ing his Liszt, Beethoven, and Chopin for a season of technical work. At the end of six years, Josef, then seventeen, was grad uated with the highest honors, even with s.uch stars in the class as Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, winning the conservatory gold medal and later the Rubinstein prize at Berlin from among thirty- two contestants.
Before his graduation from the conservatory, Josef appeared at a concert conducted by Rubinstein, playing Beethoven's "Fifth Concerto."
After a period of concert touring throughout Europe, Lhevinne became professor of piano at the Imperial Music School in Tiflis, and later at the Moscow Conservatory, which post he held for four years (1902-06). But a year spent in military service proved a setback to his work and a serious delay in his musical progress.
Lhevinne came to America for the first time in 1907. His ap pearance then caused something of a sensation and his visits became yearly events till the outbreak of the war, when he was interned in Germany. He returned to America in 1919, opening his season in New York at the Hippodrome before a vast audience with triumphant success. He toured the principal cities of the
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United States, returning to New York City several times for re citals and for appearances as soloist with the leading symphony orchestras. Each season since has been devoted by the great virtuoso to touring the United States and Mexico.
When Josef was nineteen years old, he met a young lady, Rosina, a little younger than himself at one of the numerous house parties of the neighborhood in Moscow, where he lived. Both played the piano and became close friends. Rosina went to Safonoff at the Conservatory and, like Josef, finished the course by winning the gold medal, being the first girl to achieve that honor. She wanted to continue her studies and the director advised her to coach with Lhevinne. This led to a romance, but the formalities required in Russia at that time had to be complied with, so they could not marry until after his service in the army. After this another tour of a year, made necessary by a contract, was fulfilled. Finally the marriage took place, and the couple took up residence in Tiflis, where Josef had been engaged as professor in the conservatory. Here they spent three years, during which period the plans for their joint recitals and his world tour were launched and perfected.
Josef Lhevinne is a powerfully built, heavy-set man of a kindly disposition. His hands are extraordinary, even for a pianist. He can reach four keys beyond an octave without effort and bridges with first and fourth fingers an interval as large as most players can do with first and fifth. His octave-playing is brilliant and perfect. His fingers have natural cushions of unusual size to which is partly due his exquisite touch and tone quality. It is a powerful forearm that produces the titanic tunes. His mastery of the instrument also owes much to his remarkable sense of pitch and his powerful imagination. Lhevinne classifies great piano playing as a combination of physical material, hearing, tempera ment, and imagination.
While a believer in technique, Josef Lhevinne considers in dividuality the secret of artistic success. "But it must be limited by the canons of correct art," he says, "or it is neither artistic individuality nor the expression of the artistic. By study and re search that develop mental equipment, by devotion to absolute beauty, and a perfect form or art through the inspirational fervor that flares up as the soul is filled with the fire of the composer's genius, one may hope to attain an individuality of style in inter pretative power that will have warmth as well as symmetry — an individuality that will do justice to the composer above all.
"By intensive study and with a properly focussed aim, any thing within the realm of possibility may be accomplished. Of that I am sure, and I am equally sure that not one of us ever attains his birth-right, because we are mentally lazy when it comes to training the will.
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"We don't mind spending an hour every day in some gym nasium to put our muscles in prime condition, but who ever heard of a mental gymnasium? It is so much easier to wish than to will. I became interested in the possibilities of this power we possess, but use so little, after an experience on one of my tours. A few hours before the concert, a tooth started to jump and broadcast pain. I could not find a dentist at that hour, so de termined to play anyway. I said to myself, "Just imagine you like it and enjoy the sensation." Strange to say, as the concert pro gressed, the pain seemed to subside. The incident led me to study this great force and I found it just a method of practicing life as one practices the piano — putting aside a certain portion of the day for thinking practice. Thus, in time, one acquires the habit of concentration, reasoning, self -perception, and self-control. Tremb ly nerves respond the speediest to this regime. You will soon find that you mind yourself, which really means that you are your will, and that your mind is only the servant who takes orders. The subconscious mind is one of the greatest factors in life and we use it the least."
It was on his second concert tour in Mexico that a remarkable scene followed his final concert in Mexico City. On his first ap pearance there, he came unknown, giving his debut concert mod estly in a small hall. Before he left, a big theatre was needed to accommodate the enthusiasts thronging to hear him. However, even this was surpassed on the next visit to Mexico City. The Mexicans love music ; Lhevinne gave seven concerts in their capital before they would part with him. At the final one shouts, cheers, pounding on chairs and the floor with canes, marked their frantic approval. When at last he had no more strength left to play en cores, people from the audience followed him outside, unhitched the horses from his carriage, and drew it themselves to his hotel — a token of exuberant enthusiasm usually reserved for a great prima donna.
A great musician becomes doubly interesting when we know more of his personality, and especially of the charm of his home life. Josef Lhevinne now lives in a particularly lovely suburb near New York. His home is on a hill, overlooking many villas and a great sweep of rolling country. The living-room has many windows, letting in the sunlight, more an outdoor than an indoor room. Lhevinne and his talented pianist wife are not only artists in the best sense, but parents in the best sense too. Their two children, a' boy, Constantine still in his teens, and a girl Mariana, five years old, find that their parents are their best companions in sport, tennis, skating, and tobogganing, for which the hill on which they live offers a splendid opportunity. The education of the children is considered; and Mariana, like her brother, speaks four languages, English, Russian, French, and German.
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Josef Lhevinne and his wife have become intimately associated with the musical life of the new continent. They conduct master- classes in pianoforte playing in New York City, Chicago, and other large centers of the United States. Lhevinne is without a doubt one of the outstanding pianists and teachers of our time.
This celebrated artist does not scorn to play pieces that people love because they already know them, but he plays those numbers in a way so completely different, searching out fresh beauties and giving them new life, that they grow to be delightful novelties.
GEORGE LIEBLING
GEORGE LIEBLING occupies an outstanding place among those pian ists who bring fame to German music, not only in England and the United States, but wherever he appears.
He was born on January 22, 1865 in Berlin. He studied piano under T. Kul- lak and F. Liszt, and theory with Hein- rich Urban, Wusst, and Albert Becker. He was a great favorite with all his teachers. From his earliest childhood he was a precocious pianist. Having studied as a boy under Kullak, he was made, when a pupil of sixteen years, a professor of master piano classes. This was at Kullak's suggestion.
He toured the important centers of Europe, and won fame as an excellent pianist of unsurpassed technique and refined taste. At one time he lived in England for a number of years. Queen Victoria was much de lighted by the virtuosity of his playing on August 4, 1908.
Like Ossip Gabrilowitsch, and Ignaz Friedman, George Liebling belongs to that group of fortunate artists who can play the classics and the modernists with equal ease and perfection.
His interest in playing is a subjective one. He wishes to play as a composer felt when he first conceived the music, and not as the writer afterwards thought of it. In public performances, he follows his impulse, and does not imitate. After public appear ances, he regularly meets friends and chats with them. Liebling says it is not until an hour or two later that he can recall faces and conversations which have taken place.
Contact with great musicians placed Liebling in an intermedi ary position between the old and new schools. He knew Rubin stein, Brahms, Grieg, and Tschaikowsky. Arthur Nikisch, Mar-
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cella Sembrich, and Emil Sauer were his early friends. He toured with Adelina Patti and is acquainted with Siegfried Wagner. His personal contacts extended to Busoni and Sgambati, and his con temporary acquaintances number Pizzeti, Alfano, Respighi, Au- gustini, Hindemith, and many younger members of the new Euro pean schools.
As a composer and pianist, he combines the qualities of two periods. Indeed, it is his conviction that all art must incorporate both the best belonging to the past and those things which are just being recognized.
In 1890 Liebling was appointed local court pianist in Coburg.
From 1894 to 1897 he was piano professor in his school in Ber lin, which has won wide renown. In 1898 he was teacher of the Guildhall School of Music in London, and in 1908 again opened a school of his own in Munich.
His works for the piano are a distinct contribution to piano literature. They include:
Concerto, opus 22; Pieces: for Piano, Violin and Piano, and cello ; Violin Sonatas, opus 28 and 63 ; Songs ; Orchestral works ; the opera "The Wager" (1908, Dessau) ; and a mystery, "St. Kath- erine" (1908, Cologne), etc.
On October 11, 1925, at his recital at the Aeolian Hall, New York, Liebling played his new piano concerto, "Concerto Eroico," • which won high praise from critics and audience. The first per formance of the composition in the United States made an event of importance, and to this tlie press comments were largely de voted.
Olin Downes, music critic of the New York Times, said: "The work is written by a mature musician, but one who prefers to follow the models of the romantic composers rather than speak in the modern idiom . . . Three small pieces also by Mr. Liebling,' dedicated to Ossip Gabrilowitsch and marked 'new' on the pro gram, served to exhibit another more popular angle of his musical fancies." Pitt Sanborn, in the New York Telegram of October 12, said: "The concerto (previously unheard in this country) is in the three movements of classical tradition. The music is melo dious, impetuous, romantic in spirit. Mr. Liebling, being a pianist, is not ashamed to show his affections for Chopin, and many a rhapsodic page breathes ardent devotion to the memory of his master, Liszt. Needless to say, Mr. Liebling's performance of his own music had the authority of authorship, as well as all the requisite dash. The orchestral part was on this occasion en trusted to a second piano, presided over by the composer's nephew, Leonard Liebling/'
Liebling comes of a family of musicians, several of whom are well known in America. His brother Emil became a distinguished
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figure in the musical life of Chicago, where he long played the piano and taught.
His nephew, Leonard, is editor of the Musical Courier, New York, and his niece, Estelle Liebling, is a noted singer and vocal teacher, in New York.
YOLANDA MERO
MME YOLANDA MERO, famous Hungarian pianist, was born in Budapest, in 1887. Her father, a musician, was her first teacher. At the age of five, she began to receive training under one of the
most famous of Liszt's disciples, Augusta Rennebaum at the National Conserv atory. There she remained for eight years.
At the age of sixteen she made her debut in Vienna and was hailed as one of the greatest women pianists that city had heard since Essipova was at the height of her fame. The next few years she was traveling from one part of the Continent to the other, and finally ap peared in London. Her success there was one of the sensations of the season. The following autumn (1910) she came to America. Here she has spent the greater part of her time in recent years, not only because America found in her a very great pianist and a charming woman, but also because she married here.
Several seasons ago she ventured on a tour of South America for the first time. Her success there was equal to that which she had enjoyed in the United States and in Europe. Returning to America, she was confronted with a formidable list of engage ments for orchestral appearances and in recitals. She played with the Boston Symphony, the New York Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Min neapolis Symphony Orchestras.
Yolanda Mero is ranked among the foremost interpreters of Liszt's music. When she plays his rhapsodies, she is in a sense playing her own music, for it belongs to her as it belongs to every one of Hungarian birth. She feels that strange exultation, that wild, tempestuous fire that sets a crowd of Hungarians singing, laughing, weeping, shouting and dancing when they are listening to this music. What a difference racial feeling may make is well illustrated by comparing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies with
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Brahms' Hungarian Dances. The latter uses much of the same material as the former, and yet, beautiful as they are, how different they are! And again, see the difference when a Hungarian plays these dances of Brahms, and when they are played by a pianist of some other nationality.
It used to be said of Carreno that her art contained the best that came from men, and combined with it the best that can come from women. The same comment is made on the part of Mero. She has all the strength, fire, and vigor of the greatest men pian ists, and with it she has the delicacy, grace, and fineness of the woman.
Yolanda Mero is now at the peak of her ripened and matured powers. She has all that tremendous verve and fiery temperament which marked her as a most exceptional girl, but the last ten years of normal maturing have brought qualities of repose and certain intellectual traits which one cannot expect to find in tempestuous youth.
During the season of 1923-24, Mero appeared as soloist with the America's leading symphony orchestras, and the foremost conductors as well as in recitals and concerts. Few women pianists have elicited so much enthusiasm from public and press as did Mero at those appearances, for not even Schumann-Heink has a greater gift of reaching out and making enthusiastic personal friends who hear her.
One of the most notable traits in the playing of this great Hungarian pianiste is her remarkable command of color, combined with the lovely singing tone which she produces from her instru ment. Since she first came to America these characteristics were strongly present in her performances, and with passing years they have combined to place her among the foremost pianists of our time. The pedals are all important in the production of the singing tone and the color, and Yolanda Mero studied them long with great profit to herself and to her art. Moreover, the singing tone denotes great strength and absolutely perfect command of arm and wrist, both of which the artist has in an unusual degree. She can strike the keys with the force of a powerful man and the next instant can bring forth a singing pianissimo which is almost a whisper. Between the two extremes are an infinite number of dynamic degrees cunningly drawn from the strings.
She has an abiding faith in the classics, and although she often includes some representative works in her programs of the modern school she declares she finds her greatest pleasure in play ing the older works.
"I fear I am very old-fashioned when it comes to music," she says. "I frankly admit that Debussy and Ravel are about as far as I can go with the moderns. What is good and what is not is
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always a matter of taste, subject to constant change. Some of the best music that has been produced in recent years has come from the pen of American composers. I refer to John Powell and Ernest Schelling, both of whom are extraordinarily gifted and have composed works of outstanding merit, and like many com posers of the past, will probably receive more recognition in the future than they do now."
Yolanda Mero is an artist as conservative and quiet in her home life as she is tempestuous and revolutionary in her art. Certainly no one ever accused this "whirlwind" pianiste, as she has been called, of being unoriginal.
"The musical world needs to be shocked," declares this mu sically unconventional woman. "I even go so far as to say that if a musical composition is worth nothing except as an aesthetic shock it has value, for a shock every once in a while is essential to awaken the dormant intellectuality and emotions of those who have per mitted themselves to be moulded into set forms so far as musical appreciation goes."
It would be difficult to find a person among the "temperamental ly artistic ones" with a more sparkling sense of humor or a keener appreciation of the funny side of life than Yolanda Mero.
BENNO MOISEIVITSCH
BENNO MOISEIVITSCH calls himself philosophical — a rather unusual thing for an artist who has been considered one of the most in dividual pianists of late years. He has little patience with "tem perament." The temperamental artist, according to this Russian genius, is "spoiled by too sudden or too easy suc cess," which largely accounts for the recognized difference between instru mentalists and singers. The latter, says Moiseivitsch, "are born with their in strument and seldom have much difficulty in learning to use it effectively." It is different, however, with instrumental ists. Moiseivitsch belongs to the line of 'intellectual' pianists. By the exercise of the intellect, rather than by spontane ous play or responsive temperament, Moiseivitsch seems to apprehend and dis till the particular beauty of voice or mood that the composer wished to awaken. As to his technical means, they are the ex-
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ercises of a penetrating, precise, perfecting mind. His tone is richly sonorous without a trace of roughness. It is luminous with out a hint of the hardness of an over-crystalline touch. His tone achieves both beauty and power, being of many colors and accents, yet always in proportion.
Just how much heredity has to do with musical genius seems difficult to calculate when one learns that Moiseivitsch has eight brothers and sisters, only one other of whom showed any particular taste for music.
Benno was born in Odessa, Russia, on February 22, 1890. He studied at the Imperial Musical School of his native town, receiv ing the coveted Rubinstein prizes at the age of nine.
When Benno wa's fourteen years old lie entered the Vienna Conservatory, studying under the famous Leschetizky for four years. It was not long after his entrance there that he was looked upon as the best student in the institution.
Benno is unique in never having been a "boy prodigy." He was a regular boy and grew up with as much interest in games and playing "hookey" as in music. His artistic growth was sane and natural ; at no period was it forced, nor were his other studies neglected because of it. Only when he had reached the age of fifteen was a musical career decided upon. Looked at logically, this is as it should be, and Moiseivitsch's accomplishments as a pianist, certainly prove that an artistic genius need be by no means a one-sided individual cut off from all other natural interests and broadening influences. Today this young man stands with the biggest pianistic talents of modern times, a distinguished musical personality and at the same time an engaging, quiet young gentle man, interested in a host of subjects unrelated to his art.
He made his European debut in Town Hall, Reading, England* in 1908, and played in London at Queen's Hall in the Spring of 1909, achieving instantaneous success. In 1919 Moiseivitsch made a profound impression at his New York debut, and his second concert in Carnegie Hall brought the city to his feet. With the close of his first tour he had the unusual distinction of being re engaged for a score of concerts the following year.
Technically, he dazzles ; musically he charms with the very ease and clarity of his interpretations. He adds a new touch to every thing, seeing even the coldest and sternest of classics in a fresh light and from unexpected and always delightful angles. As he himself says, no two interpretations can or should be alike; per formances must reflect the artist's mood and his ideas, and these from a natural human necessity are constantly varying. Just as no individual ever feels exactly the same on different days, so ought his playing never to be exactly the same on different occa sions. If he attempts to make it so, he is neither true to himself
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nor to the public. This fidelity to mood is unquestionably a strik ing feature in Moiseivitsch's playing. His individuality is always present ; he never poses nor invents effects for the sake of causing an impression.
The season following his American debut, Moiseivitsch made a tour of Australia. It was stated that this Russian was the first pianist who had ever arrived unknown and had instantly become famous. Of course, reports from America prepared the profes sional circles for unusual performances, but the layman knew nothing of the unassuming dark-complexioned pianist until his debut in Sydney.
A few days later, however, the name of Moiseivitsch was on every music lover's tongue.
Moiseivitsch's subsequent appearances in the United States during the season of 1922-23 were even more sensational than his debut.
Since his English debut, Moiseivitsch has made wide tours over New Zealand, Canada, France, Belgium, Austria, and Ger many, aside from the United States and Australia. In the United States he appears regularly every season since his debut and re turn from the Antipodes, and his reputation there is always on the increase. "The return of a Russian pianist, Benno Moisei vitsch/' said the music editor of the New York Sun, "was heralded in Carnegie Hall yesterday afternoon by a large audience and a number of distinguished masters of the keyboard. His tone was always translucent, beautifully resonant, and skillfully colored. His familiar grasp of rhythm and his fine sense of melodic line and structure were everywhere revealed."
The extraordinary brilliance of his playing of Bach's "Chro matic Fantasie and Fugue" centered the attention on the per former rather than on the composer, on the same occasion. One feared that such high pressure could not be maintained indefi nitely, but it never faltered. Moiseivitsch swept victoriously on.
Among the modern piano compositions introduced to New York by him, was the Tscherenin "Concerto in C sharp minor," which he played with the New York Symphony and Philadelphia Orches tra. It is a tremendously difficult work, the cadenza alone being eighteen pages long. Moiseivitsch also introduced it in England when he played it in London with Sir Henry Wood's Orchestra in 1923. Modern piano literature in general finds a ready place in his repertoire, but it by no means encroaches upon the territory of the classics. He admits that much of the ultra-modern com position fails to impress him at all ; many of the twentieth century writers, he says, seem to compose entirely for effect and not be cause they have something musical to record. In fact, so he be lieves, they are continually attempting to be "smart," to invent
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strange impressions which do not ring true. In England, Moisei- vitsch was an enthusiastic member of an artistic organization which had as its object the promotion of sane, legitimate art, both in music and painting, and at its frequent semi-public gatherings, the members introduced numerous new works which they thought were the results of real inspiration and worthy of serious atten tion. The society, known as "The Fresh Air Society/' has done much towards exposing and combining the modern trend of bizarre and insane art, at the same time encouraging what is genuine and beautiful.
MIECZYSLAW MUNZ
How EASILY success can be obtainable, how simply and unpredict- ably good fortune can steal upon a youth and make a lofty goal and easy seizure, is illustrated by the career of Mieczyslaw Miinz,
gifted pianist.
Young Miinz, though still in his twen ties, is one of the most successful claim ants for pianistic honors that has ar rived in the United States in a long time, His success has some of the elements of a fairy tale, where fate takes no cogniz ance of hardships or obstacles, but makes them all serve glamorously toward the desired happy end. The stage seems to be set for such youths, and all the winds favorable.
Miinz was born in Krakow, Po land, in 1900, and began the study of the piano at the age of nine although he had played by ear ever since he was able to reach the piano. Though he appeared occasionally in concerts in Krakow and neigh boring cities, his parents justly decided it would be best for him to go through a thorough course of study before appearing in the great capitals. At fourteen he went to Vienna, working with Balewicz at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, and later was accepted as a pupil of Busoni.
Although Miinz played in concerts in Krakow at the age of ten, his formal debut was made in Berlin in 1920, when he appeared as soloist with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, on which occasion his program was three piano cencertos — Liszt's "A major/' Brahms' "D minor" and Franck's "Variations Symphoniques." Following this performance, he played five times in Vienna, twice
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with orchestra and three recitals ; two recitals in Rome ; and then toured throughout Poland and Hungary. In Vienna he played at one of the subscription concerts of the Symphony Orchestra, under Titl.
Arriving in the United States in 1922 in the proverbial manner of European prodigies, full of a volume of praise but with little else materially, Miinz found the roadway of conquest, which breaks so many, a gay and exciting adventure. He arrived without money and without friends, but soon, and all unaccountably to him also, he had both money and friends.
''When I came here," says Miinz, "I knew nobody, but I went around to people and told them I would like to give a concert. I had no money but I had very fine criticisms from Europe. I just went around and told them I would like to give a concert, and everybody was nice to me. That was all there was to it. I did not have so many difficulties.7'
After playing privately in a few places, a group of New York business men arranged a recital for him at Aeolian Hall. He played there on the evening of October 22, 1922 and woke up the next morning to find himself famous. The newspaper accounts were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the playing of the new arrival, and the popular acclaim was such that a second recital was arranged for shortly afterward which resulted in an engagement to appear as soloist with the New York Symphony Orchestra.
The New York music editor, H. E. Krehbiel, said of his playing in the New York Tribune : "Pianof orte playing of a higher order than that disclosed at Aeolian Hall last night will probably be heard at some, but not many, recitals and concerts this season. It will come from not more than half a dozen men who have long ago been acclaimed as master musicians as well as virtuosos/'
His second New York recital strengthened his position in the musical life of the metropolis, and stamped him as an outstanding stellar attraction in the pianistic world.
In the summer of 1924 the leading impressarios of China, Japan and Australia combined to bring him to their shores, and he toured those countries with a success which duplicated his American triumphs.
In Japan he played seven times at the famous Imperial The atre and played several times in other Japanese and Chinese cities ; he was recorded a most unusual reception in the Orient.
In Australia his first concert was attended by a list of notables which included Dame Nellie Melba. He was so enthusiastically received by the public there that he played seven recitals in quick succession before going on to Melbourne and other cities where new triumphs awaited him.
The author of these lines was present at Miinz's recital in
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Carnegie Hall, New York, on October 22, 1926, and at the concert of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra tinder Willem Mengel- berg, where Miinz played the Brahms "Concerto." On both oc casions he received tumultuous applause. He played the lengthy Brahms- "Concerto" with breadth and brilliant tone. The noted critic Olin Downes, thus described Munz's playing, in the Neiu York Times of October 23, 1926:
"The many delightful and sparkling pieces that Domenico Scarlatti created for the keyed instruments of his day might well be given more attention by modern pianists. Six of his sonatas opened the recital of Mieczyslaw Miinz last night at Carnegie Hall. They are full of melody and liveliness ; the writing has rare spontaneity, and an admirable invention of motives and figures which anticipate virtuoso effects of today. For these composi tions the clarity and fleetness of execution and the well-sustained legato which Mr. Miinz has at his command served well. The pieces were fortunately chosen, from the point of contrast and key- color. They were effective, even in the spaces of Carnegie Hall.
"Mr. Miinz turned from these compositions to that monument of nineteenth century romanticism in music, the Schumann C. major Fantasie, of which he gave a fiery and genuinely emotional performance — 'sempre f antasticamente ed appassionatamente.' The composition has everything that is greatest and most poetic in Schumann, and very few of his limitations. The artistic stature of the piece is so noble and it has such a wide arch that the only interpretative boundaries for the pianist are those that reside in himself. Miinz played with the enthusiasm of his years, his temperament and his virtuoso instinct.
"His program was fortunately not too long. The maxim that too little is better than too much applied. After Scarlatti and Schu mann there were pieces by Labunski, whose Minuet was played for the first time here, Medtner, Faure, Chopin. He understands the elegance of Faure and is one of the pianists to whom Chopin remains a supreme poet of his instrument.
"A large audience insisted on many encores, and the pianist was generous. The concert was thus prolonged into the night."
ALFRED MIROVITGH
ALFRED MIROVITCH, noted Russian pianist, was born in St. Peters burg (Leningrad) in 1884. He was educated in the gymnasium and university of that city, and upon graduation entered the St. Petersburg Imperial Conservatory, where he studied for seven years under the famous piano pedagogue, Mme Essipova. In
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1909 he was graduated, receiving the gold medal and the Rubin stein prize, in the form of a concert grand piano.
Then followed successful tours throughout Europe and Rus sia, lasting from 1910 till 1914. The war having interrupted his European engagements for 1914 and 1915, he accepted an offer from the Orient, where he played almost without interruption for five years, visiting Japan, China, Manila, Java, Sumatra, India, Australia, New Zealand, Siam, etc.
Mirovitch made his American debut in 1920 and was im mediately engaged as soloist by all the important symphony or chestras. In 1922 he founded the now internationally famous Mirovitch Master Classes in Los Angeles, which have since at tracted students and teachers from many countries.
On February 23, 1926, Mirovitch made his New York reappear ance in Chickering Hall, New York, for a series of three recitals.
Mirovitch is also a talented composer. Among the most popu lar of his compositions are: "Minuet," "Spring Song/' "Humor- esque," "Valse Gracieuse," the first two of which are published for piano and orchestra.
LEO ORNSTEIN
"LEO ORNSTEIN may be ahead of his time. In fact, he may be ushering in a new epoch in music ; that he is employing his genius towards the attainment of a new musical expression — an expres sion which, perhaps not permanent in itself, must play an important role in the development of the music of years to. come. . . His music is color — for that is the basis on which he builds."
These words were said about Orn- stein by another Jewish-American com poser, Walter A. Kramer, who is perhaps equally important in another phase of America's musical art — songs.
Leo Ornstein to many represents an evil musical genius wandering without the utmost pale of tonal orthodoxy, in a weird No-Man's land haunted by tortured souls, wails of futuristic des pair, cubist shrieks and post-impressionistic cries and crashes. He is the great anarch, the iconoclast, the destructive genius who would root out what little remains of the law and the prophets since Scriabine, Stravinsky, and Schonberg trampled them under foot.
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An article by this young composer in the The Seven Arts on "The Music of New Russia" not alone emphasized this attitude of mind, but also threw an interesting light on his own philosophy of tone. What he says of Moussorgsky, for instance, might be quite as well applied to himself. "The distinctive quality of the new im pulse in art has been the need of expression through direct contact with the emotions — a rediscovery and restatement of men's ex periences. Art has torn itself from the admitted routine and hon ored idioms; it has come to realize the inadequacy of conceiving modern life according to the old and accepted formulae!"
And again: "Music has become too finished, too mechanically perfect. So little has been left to the imagination of the listener that he is no longer required to create towards the artist. In all epochs of great musical art — the epoch of Bach, the epoch of Cesar Franck, for instance — it was realized that the province of art was not to instil a passive pleasure in the listener. Great music must wake in us a creative impulse. Unless it does that, it has failed to fulfill its destiny."
Ornstein's music is, in the words of Waldo Frank, "the full- throated cry of the young Jew in the young world, background of the old passion of storm and repression. But upon it breaks of fire, interstices of flight, America's release. The weight of sor row of the Jew like a loading atmosphere about him. And the Jew's intricate response, reasoning and wailing. The birth of faith, the tidal energy of faith. New hope, new dream, new life. An answer to the lamentation of the Jewish fate is in Ornstein's music; a sort of angry joy, lust of a new conquest, Hebrew the seed, American the fruit."
Leo Ornstein was born in Krementschug, Southern Russia, on December 11, 1895. His recollections of his early childhood are vivid. Krementschug, an important commercial town of nearly 60,000 inhabitants, is situated on the Dnieper River in a flat, dreary countryside, and before the war was the centre of the tallow-trade with Warsaw. The Government of Poltava, in which it lies, was included within the pale of settlement first established in 1791, by which a great Jewish population was held down in a congestion which worked terrible destitution and misery, and reduced them to a condition of abject poverty and despair.
Leo was only three years old when he began to study music, encouraged and taught by his father, a rabbi, who himself had acquired fame as a synagogue cantor when only eighteen. Unlike some other children whose musical talent is developed along the lines laid down by the originators of pate de fois gras, he was not driven to consume ceaseless hours in practice. On the contrary, so eager was he to make progress that he would beat his older brother with his fists in order to drive him from the piano when he thought
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the latter had pre-empted it over-long. When no more than five he not only played on the piano a Russian folk-song which he had heard sung for the first time, but also followed it up with a series of improvised variations. Although his father was opposed to his , studying music as a profession, his brother-in-law, M. Titiev, a violinist, overcame his opposition, and as a result the lad was taught the elements and put through a thorough course of scales and five-finger exercises (Kuhlau, dementi), and the easier com positions of Bach and Handel.
When Josef Hofmann came to Krementschug in 1902, young Ornstein played for him. He was praised, and received a letter, recommending him to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Some time later the boy sought out Vladimir Puchalski, played for Mm, and was accepted as a pupil at the Imperial School of Music at Kiev, of which Puchalski was the director.
The death of an aunt, however, interfered with his plans of study at Kiev. He was obliged to return to Krementschug and work with local teachers. Gabrilowitch, who gave a concert there in 1903, also heard him play, and gave him a letter to Alexander Siloti, at the Moscow Conservatory. But the boy had not as yet made up his mind definitely where and with whom to study. Mere ly to gain self-confidence (Ornstein, even yet, is far more diffident than he is supposed to be), he took an entrance examination for the Conservatory of Poltava, but disappeared as soon as he was offered a scholarship. Meanwhile, his father had decided for him. He was to go to St. Petersburg in 1904. Before he went, he en joyed his first real contact with native music at an old-fashioned provincial wedding at which a wealthy merchant celebrated the nuptials of his daughter with a week of dancing and festivity. Balalaika orchestra and folk-song choruses were a feature of the affair and woke that interest in Russian folk-song which has since been reflected in the composer's earlier "Russian Suite" for piano, the "Russian Impressions" for violin and piano, and, more re cently, in new Russia songs and choruses. At St. Petersburg Leo played for Alexander Glazounoff, director of the Conservatory, and was at once accepted as a pupil. At the test he gave un awares an exhibition of his possession of "perfect pitch."
Ornstein studied piano theory and harmony with Medem (though Mme Essipova had expressed a wish to teach him) ; at tended all rehearsals and concerts of the Conservatory orchestra, directed by Glazounoff, where he became acquainted with the works of Moussorgsky; frequented the opera, the ballet, concerts, and recitals, and drank in music through every pore. His marked tal ent soon made him a favorite of those aristocratic salons of St. Petersburg where music was cultivated, and he was spoiled and petted to a degree by the music-loving society of the Russian capital.
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The boy was an eye-witness and very nearly a victim of the Russian Revolution of 1905. While attending his classes at the Conservatory, young Ornstein was earning a living by coaching aspiring singers in operatic roles. Thus he came to know much of the standard repertory — Aida, Faust, Onegin, Mefistof ele, Sam son and Delilah, and others. Before he was twelve years old he had begun to devour Tolstoy, Andreyev, Chekhov, as well as Shakespeare, Balzac, and other non-Russian classics in transla tion. He was rudely interrupted by the revolutionary cataclysm. Leo was then taken from St. Petersburg to his native city, and thence, soon after, the entire family fled to America, arriving in 1907.
On the lower New York East Side, on Attorney Street, Leo Ornstein gradually sloughed his Russian skin and became an Am erican boy. He went to school, he practised — for he had no in tention of giving up his music — he played with other boys in the block. He attended the Institute of Musical Art, where he had been given a scholarship, and also the Friends' Seminary. His teachers in theory and harmony at the Institute were Dr. Percy Goetschius and R. Huntington Woodman. He was graduated in due course.
A kindly lady, Mrs. Tapper, herself an excellent pianist and pedagogue, became exceedingly interested in the boy, and took him under her wing. In the Spring of 1910 she took him to Europe. This first visit to the Continent was a comparatively brief one. From Dresden, where they had stopped, they returned to New York, and there the boy gave his first public concert in that city at" the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 5, 1911.
Arthur Brisbane, in an editorial in the New York Evening Journal (June 11, 1910) had already spoken prophetically of the extraordinary promise displayed by the pianist in a concert given by the Institute of Musical Art in Mendelssohn Hall a few days before, and paid a deserved tribute of appreciation to this teacher. He said in part: "We believe that this boy, providentially saved from Russia, brough up in the poverty of a great city, will stand with the great musicians of the world."
In the Summer of 1913, Ornstein once more crossed the ocean in company with Mrs. Tapper and went directly to Paris. It was here that the sudden and overwhelming projection of Notre Dame on his consciousness had such an effect on him that it evoked the two "Impressions" which bear that name. Later he went to Switzerland, whose scenic beauties inspired him for another set, "Quatre Impressions de la Suisse," for four hands. Here he wrote a quartet and quintet for strings.
From Switzerland he went to Vienna, where he first realized that, aside from his earlier, more conventional style and his new
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manner, he was in addition the possessor of a third, and began the "Vienna Waltz" and "The Night."
In Berlin, Ornstein made the acquaintance of Ferruccio Busoni, whom he admired as "a great intellect in music," and thence went to Norway, practising where he could, composing on trains, and making his debut in Christiania as a concert pianist with a group of Chopin pieces and the Liszt E flat major Concerto. He also played some of his own newer compositions for the first time, and drew from critics the statements that "it was amazing that Mr. Ornstein should have decided to play a little joke on the public and transfer it from the concert hall to the dental parlor," and that he was "a young man temporarily insane."
From Christiania, Ornstein turned to Denmark, and in Copen hagen gave the Danish publisher, W. Hansen, his more than con ventionally attractive "Russian Suite" and "Cossack Impressions" for piano. He went to Paris to meet Harold Bauer and from there he went to England.
After two recitals Ornstein returned to America and continued to work at composition and as a concert pianist, until January, 1915. It was during January and February of that year that he gave the now celebrated series of recitals at the Bandbox Theatre in New York, in which he braved conventional program-making by presenting four programs made up entirely of ultra-modern piano music, his own, and that of others.
On December 15, 1915, Ornstein gave another New York re cital at the Cort Theatre, and in February, March, and April of the same year he gave a series of four "Informal Recitals" in New York at the residence of Mrs. Arthur M. Reis.
The aim of these unconventional programs was to illustrate the actual process of divergence by which pianoforte composition had moved away from the art forms of the romantic composers to find its present contemporary mode of expression.
The Summers of 1916 and '17, Ornstein spent at Deer Isle, Maine, composing, practising, and reading proof on various of his compositions in press at the time. His work as a concert pianist during the winter of 1916 and the Spring of 1917 may be said to have placed him well within the rank of contemporary piano virtuosi.
As a composer Ornstein has often been spoken of as an imitator of Schonberg. As a matter of fact, despite surface resemblances, the two have little in common. As Ornstein says: "It is but neces sary to compare a page of my music with that of Schonberg to see the vast difference between their concepts and methods of ex pression."
"Nothing," says Ornstein, "irritates me more than to have a composer claim the modernity of his music as a virtue, A state-
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ment of the kind is rank heresy, since the sincere composer does not choose a medium — the medium chooses him. He is compelled to use it If I had found it possible to express all that I thought and felt diatonically, I should not have had to resort to the 'radi cal' idiom which those who do not understand condemn. When a composer feels deeply he cannot convey his feelings in weak and anaemic sentimentalities, draped in all sorts of diatonic reticences, but gives them as they are — in all their pathos and poignancy, naked and unashamed."
Ornstein's harmonies are the natural and unalloyed result of his unfettered creative impulse, innocent of any preconceived the ory. "When I began to compose," he says, "I had practically not been influenced by any current music." For him there exist no actual chords or discords. His chord combinations are not the conscious reflexion of a definite theoretic basis, but the outcome of the impulse for a richer, fuller tonal coloring, one which ex tends the possibilities of pure harmony far beyond the limits of the diatonic system.
He never composes 'at the piano/ His whole intricate and complete harmonic and rhythmic scheme is developed in his mind, and often he dares lose no time in setting it down on paper before its outlines grow dim. Many of his compositions are pro grammatic; yet he often hesitates to give them too definite a title, since "to others my piece may suggest something entirely different from the picture or mood I had in mind when writing it ; and their imaginings may be quite as appropriate and legitimate as the one I had intended. I am even free to say that I have heard certain interpretations of my compositions by other pianists, which struck me as being more fine and effective than my own concep tion of the same pieces."
Ornstein's "diatonic moments" are not his only lyric ones. He has written much music essentially lyric in his later manner : the Sonata for violin and piano, opus 26; "The Arabesques"; the "Poems" (1917) ; and the Sonata for 'cello and piano, opus 45. "It is when I am in search of softer and gentler color effects that I resort to the use of the diatonic scale," he states. "The vital issue is to write music which is sincere, which has in it the germ of individual emotional vitality; for after all, emotional comprehen sion is localized within the individual consciousness."
Ornstein is frank in saying of his "second manner" of musical speech: "I honestly find this the most logical and direct idiom through which to express my musical impulse, thought, and feel ing. I cannot help contrasting it with one representing a com promise with traditional formulas which often react unfavorably on my spontaneity of inspiration. I find that existing tonal idioms do not allow me the perfect expression of all that I wish to say
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musically. And I have had to find a language of my own. Yet I feel that, once its underlying basis is understood, this language will be listened to, and my work will be clear to many who do not grasp its meaning now."
Ornstein is by no means narrow in his musical sympathies. His stand is in keeping with his whole theory that the brother hood of man (at present, alas, so far from being realized!) has an analogy in a corresponding brotherhood of tone: that there is no one tone, no combination of tones but which is related to all others. It is merely a question of discovering their connecting ties. To quote Ornstein once again: "Perhaps these affinities cannot be mathematically demonstrated ; this does not mean to say that they do not exist for there is an inner physical, emotional relationship which transcends all others in importance."
Of course, those who dislike Ornstein, the music he plays, and the stir he makes in what should be a tranquil, elderly world, will call him insincere. The listener, whose mind is open only to mu sical thought expressed with positive logical continuity, and in accord with certain accepted rules of presentation, cannot grasp the vital potency of a mood inspiration whose logic is perfectly emotional, which carries away with it the spirit attuned to its keynote of absolute abandon of sequential arrangement. But those who understand Ornstein's tonal language — and their num ber is increasing — are as enthusiastic in their admiration of his accomplishments as his detractors are scornful of its value and significance.
Ornstein is an experimenter in new forms of musical art. and exponent of the modern futuristic movement. Among the music-loving public ever alert for the novel and unusual, he has created for himself a substantial reputation.
Charles L. Buchanan speaks of him as possessing "to a large extent that indefinable clairvoyant quality that is present in all vital art," yet expresses the fear that Ornstein's music shows ten dencies which seem to him to be dangerously in the direction of an exclusive preoccupation with mood at the expense of thought." And he puts*the question, "Can a substantial, authentic musical message proclaim itself through a medium essentially suggestive rather than definite?" Perhaps the best answer to this question has, unconsciously, been given in advance by Paul L. Rosenfeld. In discussing the movements entitled "Love," in the piano sonata, opus 25, Mr. Eosenfeld says: "It tells its tale: it is silent; and while one speculates whether it is music or not, one discovers that he has heard real episodes out of the life of the composer, and perhaps through him, episodes out of the lives of a whole up- growing generation."
Qrnstein's fame and reputation a$ a piano interpreter, in par-
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ticular of the great modernists in music, has grown independently of his fame as a composer. Of his pianism nothing need be said but that he plays superbly, in a manner that leaves no doubt as to his position among present-day virtuosi. But he is more than that, he is personality, Leo Ornstein at the piano has often been limned in picturesque phrase. Huneker wrote: "Yet I do be wail the murderous means of expression with which Leo Orn stein patrolled the piano. He stormed its keys, scooping chunks of slag and spouting scoriae like a vicious volcano." He attests : "I was stunned, especially after glissandi that ripped up the key board and fizzed and foamed over the stage" — feeling no doubt, like another commentator on whom Ornstein's playing had made "the unique impression of a grand piano frothing at the mouth."
Of his playing, Ornstein expresses himself in the following illuminating manner : "Quite often in playing my own pieces I use the palm of the hand. But I use it merely as a matter of con venience, since in many cases it would be physically out of the question for me to play the chord in any other way. And often, I secure a heightened brilliancy, which I may desire. Strange to say, the body of chord sound produced in this manner is less harsh than would be the case if the notes were played with the fin gers, for in throwing the whole palm of the hand on the keys my invariable tendency is to relax."
"His color sense, his marvelous mastery of touch graduation and tonal nuance and shading in playing, his absolute control of the pedal possibilities and his successful exploitation of every elusive and colorful keyboard means; his singing development of what have been termed "the head-tones of the piano," his use of "a pressure touch in pianissimo," the glow, the plangency of a piano tone whose "long sweep, sustained volume and reverberent climax have become more and more supple in the play of ornament, more even and transparent in runs, more liquid in arpeggi, more crisp in octaves," have been exemplified not alone in the playing of his compositions.
But we will let Ornstein speak for' himself with regard to two important phases of his technique: "One of the most interesting statements I have ever heard anent pianoforte playing was Leschetizky's remark to me that 'half a pianist's technique lies in the pedals/ It took a long time before I thoroughly understood what he meant. It was while experimenting with the music of Debussy and Ravel that I first realized how impossible it was to give a satisfactory performance with the fingers only. For months I labored until I had devised a system which established absolute sympathy between pedal-work and finger-work. And then I found that the color possibilities of the instrument were practically limit less. By delicate manipulation of the pedals, I found I could melt
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shade into shade in infinite variation of the dynamic tone-palette. But first I had learned to breathe with the music, so to say, to let the pedal pulsate with my own emotional perception. It is not enough to thrust down the pedal with the foot and change with new harmonies. I found that by using half and even a quarter of my pedal I could produce the most delicate things. The psy chological moment comes when you strike the key, after having prepared your attack by lifting and shutting off the damper. It it a very delicate process, and months passed before I had secured absolute co-ordination of finger- and foot-work. Relaxation and manner of attack also have much to do with a varied tone-produc tion ; yet fundamentally I believe that the preparation of the pedal to receive the stroke of the finger is the most important factor."
Ornstein's original compositions for the piano cover a wide range of mood and expression of style and type. Among them are the numbers of his ''first manner," in which the lyric element pre dominates, whose keynote is a certain simplicity of means and which, without pretending to the more complex thought content or technical elaboration of his later writing, are all in a degree touched with an individuality that makes itself felt.
His "Piano Sonata," a fine, imaginative work, has been rec ognized as one of the significant productions of recent American music.
Of more modest proportions, but of undeniable value, are three new numbers from his pen, one entitled "Prelude Tragique," and two lyric pieces: "Barcarolle" and "Waltz." The "Prelude" is conceived, harmonically, in a manner that seems strangely in telligible for a composer who is supposed to think in the most in tricate idiom of the day. As a matter of fact, Ornstein is merely concerned about thinking musically, whether it happens to be tinged with modernism or classicisms. -He has evidently settled down to a genuineness of expression that takes what form it will. In other words, he is sincere.
The "Prelude" has brilliancy and a strong emotional appeal. The "Barcarolle" and "Waltz" are in lighter vein, but they ring true. They are full of color, tender, bright, as their shifting moods demand ; and too, they have all the Ornstein originality and skill. Pianists will miss something of unusual worth if they overlook these numbers.
Ornstein's work presents a notable harvest of inspiration to have been gathered by one still so young. Yet youth, intellectually and emotionally, is sometimes a relative concept — Schubert wrote his "Forellen-Quintet" at the age of seventeen. We may be as old as our feelings or as young as our thoughts. Mental and emo tional development is not invariably a matter of years, and Orn stein is one of those exceptions which go to prove the general rule.
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In his case youth lends him the fiery energy, the passionate con centration, the intense belief in his aims and ideals which inform the musical maturity of his inspiration with so triumphant an accent of sincerity, so eloquent a feeling of truth. His creative work is the logical outcome of his ideas, the spontaneous fruition of absolute conviction, the irrefutable evidence of his artistic honesty, whether or not we accept it, together with the doctrines of which it is the outcome, the fact of its existence as the true and legitimate musical materalization of definite trends and con sistent ideals in compositions and expression cannot well be gain said. Ornstein possesses in a supreme degree the ability to trans mute into art, by means of a powerful and lucid imagination the life of his time.
During the season of 1925-26 his Second "Piano Concerto" (or iginally written as a sonata for two pianos) was performed by the composer, with the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra under Stokowski, in Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities. Although its thematic material was not new, it was otherwise with the or chestration in which much of the interest of the piece lies. The score is by no means without comprehensible plan — it is rich in individualistic instrumental devices, informed by imaginative virility and a wealth of savage and even brutal beauty.
Its Slavic flavor is unmistakable, and there are moments when the idioms of Stravinsky and Borodin are strongly suggested. Much of the work has the flavor of Tartar dances, with somewhat the same compelling rhythms that prevail in the once much- discussed piano portraits of the "Wild Men."
Ornstein has been for a number of years, and still is, teaching piano at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
In conclusion, we may say that Leo Ornstein's activities in the field of composition have been sufficiently varied and extensive to develop a technique and a grasp that place him in as dis tinguished a position among composers as that which he enjoys as a pianist.
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VLADIMIR DE PAGHMANN
VLADIMIR DE PACHMANN was born in Odessa, Russia, on July 27, 1848. He first studied under his father, who was professor of Roman Law at the Vienna University, and an amateur musician of
considerable attainment, for he wrote a manual on harmony. Vladimir was the youngest of thirteen children. (None of his brothers or sisters are living.) Next in importance to the great pianist was Simon, professor in the Petrograd Uni versity, who died in Russia at the age of eighty-seven. Besides being a great jurist, Simon was also a musician and a clever player on the violin.
Vladimir exhibited a decided musical tendency from earliest childhood, and at the age of six began to study the violin under the loving tuition of his father. But by the time he was ten, he developed a strong desire to study the piano, and under the same guidance, began to play on the instrument which was to reveal his powerful genius. One day, when barely twelve years old, his playing of Handel's "Double Fugue in C minor" attracted the attention of a gentleman who was passing his window. This man, Dr. Morgan, wanted to know the name of the able performer of the difficult piece. He was greatly astonished to learn that this perfect pianist was a child.
At the age of eighteen, De Pachmann had already given public proofs of the talent and skill which had gained the universal admi ration of Odessa, Many among his chief admirers, being aware of Vladimir's longing to pursue his musical studies, and that his father, burdened with the support of a numerous family, could not gratify this longing, decided to make a collection for him. Many of the aristocracy contributed, and by this means sufficient funds were raised to enable Vladimir to enter the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under Dachs and Bruckner. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, he applied to Professor Dachs for admission to the higher class of the Conservatory. Dachs pointed out that ac cording to the rules of admission to this grade, pupils were required to be good musicians and to be able to play the pianoforte. He in vited him to return the following day to aff ord due proofs of his ability.
With a punctuality rare among artists, Vladimir hastened the
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next day to keep his appointment, and assisted at Professor Dachs' lesson to his pupils. When the class was dismissed, he was request ed to open his music roll and choose the piece he preferred to play. Vladimir replied that he had brought no music, but that if the pro fessor would name any musical composition he would try to play it from memory. Dachs, turning a stern and almost reproving glance on the youthful Vladimir, objected that the conservatory was no place for wasting time, and still less for joking, ending by directing him to play whatever he liked, but never to appear again without music. Thereupon young De Pachmann seated himself at the piano and played Liszt's arrangements of Verdi's "Rigoletto."
He had no sooner finished playing than the wonder-struck pro fessor, bereft of words, ran to call the head of the conservatory, Professor Helmesberger. De Pachmann, on turning around, was struck with dismay at the professor's disappearance, which in his anxious state of mind he attributed to his own faulty execution of the piece. The professor, however, soon returned, accompanied by the director himself; both were loud in their congratulations of De Pachmann. They made him play again, to the wondering delight of the two teachers. Dachs then requested the youth to prepare two studies of Chopin for the following day. Vladimir returned punctually, but again without music, and expressed his willingness to play the twenty-four studies of Chopin in any key that might be required by the teacher. The professors having seated themselves, De Pachmann played as he alone could play Chopin. When the divine strains were hushed, Dachs, much affected, embraced him, saying : "I have heard this played by Chopin himself ; your playing is perhaps better, and he could not but be flattered by your perfect rendering." It will not be difficult to imagine the enthusiastic reception of De Pachmann at the Vienna Conservatory, where he remained from 1867 to 1869. Not to study the piano, however, Dachs, after a few short lessons, having frankly admitted that the pupil, having excelled the teacher, had no further need of his lessons. Instead, Vladimir studied harmony and fugues with Bruckner, his success being such that at the final trial he was awarded the large silver medal.
On leaving the conservatory young Vladimir returned to Odessa where he began to give lessons and also a few local concerts which excited general admiration. In 1870, in Odessa, he first heard the famous Tausig, who impressed him greatly with his technique. Tausig urged him to still further endeavors. He studied alone for eight years. In 1878 he went to Kerson, barely five hours distance from Odessa to give a concert with the pianist Herscheck. It was a failure financially, and his aged father was under the necessity of proceeding to Kherson to fetch young Vladimir, who had exhausted his resources.
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On completing his thirtieth year, Vladimir, having lost his father, removed with his sister Elizabeth to Leipzig, where under the management of Carl Reinecke he gave a concert which won a complete success. Leaving somewhat later for Berlin, the youthful artist gave a concert in the Architectural Hall which was enthu siastically received and very favorably reviewed. He returned to Vienna with the intention of giving a series of concerts. Happen ing one day to be playing a Chopin ballade in Bosendorfer's piano repository, he chanced to be overheard by Herr Waldmann, a mu sical connoisseur, who after the first few notes introduced himself to De Pachmann and in rapturous terms signified his desire to organize a series of concerts on his behalf. It may be said, there fore, that his career as a pianist had its beginning from that day.
He played at the Philharmonic Society with enormous success, receiving the warmest praise from Professor Hanslick, one of the most celebrated musical critics of the time.
From Paris he proceeded to London, meeting with like success, and exciting a warm sympathy which has never to this day failed to greet the great artist. In London after one of his concerts he formed the acquaintance of a young lady pianist, who became one of his pupils, and whom he subsequently married in 1884. Her name was Maggie Oakey.
Full of honors, Vladimir returned to Vienna and then left for Budapest, where he became acquainted with Liszt, who expressed great friendship and admiration for him. A. lady who accompa nied Liszt to one of De Pachmann's concerts, said later that the veteran master had declared great admiration for De Pachmann, whose execution was such, he added, that he had never been so moved before. Liszt and De Pachmann were much together, and great was the friendship and admiration of the latter for the aged master.
In 1890 Mr. and Mrs. De Pachmann gave a number of concerts in Europe and America, visiting the United States for the first time in 1892, and were everywhere received with the greatest applause. At that time De Pachmann had a house in Paris, where it might be said he passed the major part of his married life. His wife bore him three children, the first of whom was born and died at St. Petersburg; tlie other two were born in London. One of these two surviving sons is now professor of harmony at the Paris Con servatoire.
De Pachmann also visited Italy, but much to the regret of true lovers of music, only two towns, Milan and Florence, were favored with his visit. Of 'Florence, especially, De Pachmann retains poetic memories.
Vladimir de Pachmann's playing always excites the greatest admiration. His style is so varied that no one ever tires of hearing
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him; his concerts are crowded to excess wherever a love of music prevails. The country in which De Pachmann is best appre ciated and where he no doubt plays with greatest pleasure is Eng land, whose people, while fully alive to the excellence of his pow ers, make every allowance for his eccentricities, cherishing the man quite as fully as the artist. De Pachmann, thoroughly realiz ing the sincerity of this admiration, happily mounts his stand to address a few words to the public of whose friendly welcome he is fully assured.
De Pachmann is today, as years are counted, an old man. By his own confession, made on a multitude of European stages in recent seasons, he is nearly eighty years of age. Yet to writers in Europe where he has been playing annually there seems no dif ference at all in appearance and playing between De Pachmann of 1926 and De Pachmann heard fifteen or twenty years ago. De Pachmann is short, rotund, jovial, with a head of such pictur- esqueness as has not been seen on our stages of recent years. His playing is still that of one who loves above all else to play the piano.
He literally makes love to his instrument; he kisses his hand to the instrument as he enters the stage. His hands wander over its keys in caresses of joy. No lover ever went to his lady with greater joy or with a heart so bounding with expectation than De Pachmann goes to the pianoforte on which he is to give his immor tal message of beauty.
Vladimir de Pachmann as an artist links the present with the past. He played piano recitals when Liszt was still the living giant of the pianoforte. In Cracow, when De Pachmann was a success ful recitalist, he was visited by the student, Paderewski, and his advice solicited. One of his earliest tours was made through Ger many in joint recital with Marcella Sembrich. But where the older artists have passed and the young have grown to maturity, even in some cases also to pass, De Pachmann has continued, a sort of eternal phoenix whose life and vigor know not apparently the ordi nary ravages of time. Busoni one time expressed no surprise over the report of De Pachmann's continued youthfulness as a pianist. The great Italian is reported to have said : "Why should there be wonder over De Pachmann's defying age? He has lived for his art alone; therefore, his art is to him eternally faithful."
As a master of Chopin, De Pachmann has ever been without a rival. The Polish master's works are transfigured under his fingers by his exceptional temperament and unbridled individuality. To De Pachmann, Chopin is a god; his music the emanation of divine effulgence. Pachmann approaches a Chopin composition as a Catholic goes to St. Peter's in Rome, a Mohammedan to Mecca, a Buddhist to the river Ganges.
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The secret of De Pachmann's youthfulness lies, as he himself tells all audiences, "in my new method." By such technical facility does he manage, without fatigue, to play with all the esprit of a young man. In his own words, "Playing the piano never tires me. At the end of a recital I feel ready to give another program/' The number of his encores bears vivid testimony to the truth of such a statement.
Not so long since, when his managers objected to his giving so many additional pieces, De Pachrnann begged "to play just one more." Being permitted, he went before his audience and played an entire Beethoven sonata.
On his seventy-fifth birthday, De Pachmann said to his friend, "During my three score and fifteen years, I have heard many times all the great pianists of the day." (De Pachmann is in the habit of talking simultaneously in English, German, French, and Italian.) "I have watched them closely. Liszt himself attended my first concert in Budapest. He sat in the first row. (After the concert we had supper together in my quarters.) At the end of the concert he came upon the stage and congratulated me most effusively, even going as far as to say : 1 wish that Chopin had heard you play.' Later in the day I played his arrangement of 'Auf Fliiglen des Gesanges/ and he said with great enthusiasm : 'So I like it!' Liszt then played his arrangement of Chopin's 'Chant Polonnaise.' It was like some wonderful voice singing, for Liszt was transcen- dentally the greatest of all pianists. I shall never forget it! He played like a god! . . . Later I met Liszt at his home in Rome, when Richard Wagner was staying with him. I had the honor of playing for both of them. I played the Chopin Ballade in G minor and was again overwhelmed by the generous praise of both. Liszt insisted that I played it better than Chopin, who had mannerisms in his playing at times."
De Pachmann lives in a world of his own, and knows no other world, no other composers than those who serve his needs, no other pianists than those who fulfill his ideals. Worshipping beauty in the absolute, he compromises with no one, not even with himself. "If I should make an ugly tone," he said, "I would shut down the piano." Knowing no other law than that of genius, he does not hesitate to pass sentence on himself. "Before I discovered my new method," he declared, "I played like a pig. Now I play like a god." And he proved it. "Come over to the piano," he called, "and I will show you what I do. First, I play scales, like this, for sixteen minutes every morning. No one can play scales as I do." And no one can! "Then," he continued, "I practice Godowski for technique. Every morning I give to Godowsky, and a few octave- studies of Joseffy for legato." Here his fingers melted in some octaves. "And now, listen to this, and look at my fingers. My tone is like velvet, Nicht wahr! My fingering is colossal! Liszt
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told me that he wished Chopin could hear me; I played his Noc turnes so beautifully. He also told me that not even Rubinstein had as beautiful a tone as I. Liszt was then seventy-three, about my age now," he added parenthetically, "and I was a young man of thirty-four or five. But I can play some of his things now even better than he could/'
De Pachmann is universally known for his eccentricities. He will, for instance, stand no interruption in his recital. He has been known to grow indignant over late and noisy entrances ; a situation he once met by calling a friend to his side and saying, "I will play for you. . . . The others are pigs." Again in London, when a late arrival peered upon him through her lorgnette, he quite discom fited her and pleased the rest of his audience exceedingly by mak ing faces at the offender.
De Pachmann's greatest object of detestation is the 'cello. He cannot bear the sound of the violin's big brother, and when through pique or for some other reason, threatens not to appear at a sched uled recital, he has never failed to be won over by his manager's telling him, "0, very well, I've an excellent 'cellist who can take your place."
In a recital given in Cambridge, England, in December, 1922, De Pachmann played a Chopin Etude. Its end was greeted with loud applause. The pianist held up his hand, quieted the audience, and said:
"None of you knows anything about piano-playing. I really played that very badly. Now, I shall play it again, and if I play well, I shall tell you."
He did play the composition a second time. Then kissing his own hand with a "Bravo, Pachmann," he asserted:
"That was truly magnificent, Kaphaelesque. Now applaud." And the audience burst forth into true Pachmann cheers.
On April 13, 1925, Vladimir de Pachmann gave his farewell American all-Chopin recital, in Carnegie Hall, New York. The author of this volume still remembers how wonderfully De Pach mann played ! The hall on the occasion was packed to capacity, the stage seats and even standing room having been sold out, and many hundreds clamoring for admission turned away.
De Pachmann will, no doubt, continue to play in Europe and cast his spell there as no other living pianist can. It is his dread of the ocean voyage that deters him from revisiting our shores.
Yladimir de Pachmann played his farewell recital in Carnegie Hall before a crowd that overflowed upon the stage in such num bers as to leave barely room for himself and his piano.
Vladimir de Pachmann is the recipient of the Order of Dane- brog from the King of Denmark (1885), and the Eoyal Philhar monic Society's Medal of London, bestowed upon him in 1916.
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LEFF POUISHNOFF
POUISHNOFF COMES of an aristocratic Russian family. His people were affluent members of Russian society. The boy's aptitude for music became evident when he was only three years old. He
always wanted to "play with" the house hold piano, and seemed awe-stricken when anybody performed on it. At such times he would sit in rapt silence, with an expression unusually serious for a baby.
Mme Essipova-Leschetizky accepted him as a pupil, developing his piano technique. He studied theory and compo sition under the eminent composers Rim- sky-Korsakoff, Glazounoff and Liadoff. In 1910 he completed his studies at the Petrograd Conservatory and was award ed the Gold Medal of that famous insti tute of music. He also won the Rubin stein prize, which carried with it 1,200 rubles for a tour of Europe. That year he made his first concert tour with the celebrated violinist Professor Leopold Auer, and soon began giving unassisted concerts of his own. He played for the first time in Germany in 1911, winning marked success. Several tours were making him famous in that country when the world war broke out. This com pelled him to return to Russia, where from 1914 to 1920 he spent most of his time as a professor of piano in the Tiflis (Armenia) Conservatory, giving occasional concerts.
Leaving Russia in 1920, Pouishnoff concertized in Rome, Milan, Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, and The Hague. The London Musical Courier wrote, regarding his return engagement there :
"Leff Pouishnoff has returned to England from a continental tour which was a series of unchallenged successes. He was the first pianist of rank to tour the British broadcasting stations and this tour was so successful that he was immediately re-engaged."
Pouishnoff made his bow before American audiences in 1924, in New York City. The following tribute was paid him by the dean of America's music critics, W. J. Henderson:
"This player effected his entry into New York in a quiet and unheralded manner, but by his performances he at once made it clear that he is one of the finest new pianists heard in this city in a long time. ... No finer piece of pianistic management of dy namic and tone coloring has been heard in Aeolian Hall in many a
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day than Mr. Pouishnoff displayed in the opening passage of the concerto. . . . His playing was a widely varied and fine demonstra tion of rare musical talent admirably developed."
A tour of the United States followed ; it included Chicago, Day ton, Boston, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and many other large American cities.
Pouishnoff appeared as soloist with the New York State Sym phony under Casella on February 23, 1926, playing Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3. In Boston, where Pouishnoff played several times, he was likened by the critics in that city to Paderewski and Hof- mann. One critic remarked on Pouishnoff s "beautiful tone, al together adequate technique, extraordinary command of nuances, keen sense of rhythm and convincing interpretative power/'
MAX RABINOWITSCH
MAX RABINOWITSCH, Russian pianist, was born in Libau, Russia, on January 24, 1891. His father was a merchant, and the eleven-year- old boy began studying piano with Mme Yazdovskaya, and later with Mme Hollatz, a former pupil of Leschetizki. Pursuing his academic courses at the same time, Rabinowitsch was graduated from the Libau Gymnasium at the age of nineteen, when he entered the University of Yuriev, and later of Petrograd. In the latter city he attended the Conservatory as well as the University, studying piano for three years under Mme Essipova and Barinova, and the ory with Leff Zeitlin and Schteiman, He was graduated from the Conservatory in 1913. Three years later he was also graduated from the University of Petrograd.
At the age of fifteen, Rabinowitsch appeared in Riga as soloist under Eibenschiitz, playing Mendelssohn's Concerto, and later ap peared under the conductors, Ignaz Newmark, Fitelberg and others. He came to America on November 1, 1922, and immediately established a reputation as one of the foremost accompanists. In the course of his career in that branch of the art he has accompa nied, and also appeared as assisting artist with such celebrities as Heifetz, Chaliapin, Smirnoff, Isadora Duncan, Davidoff, Jeritza, Hidalgo, Anna Case, and many others. In 1926 he accompanied Chaliapin on a tour of Australia.
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MAURYGZ (MORITZ) ROSENTHAL
A VIENNA critic once said that Moritz Rosenthal was a piano trick ster and a piano acrobat. He is certainly the greatest piano tech nician living. The attempts of some of his followers to place him
above Anton Rubinstein are not without basis.
Moritz Rosenthal was born in De cember of 1862, in Lemberg (Galicia), where his father was professor in the Chief Academy. From him Rosenthal obtained the philosophical turn of mind for which he is noted.
At eight years of age, the boy began the study of pianoforte under a certain Galeth, whose method was curious in that he permitted his pupil absolute freedom in sight-reading, transposing, and modu lating, not paying much attention to the systematic development of his technique. By the time he was nine, the boy manifested such a love of and a determination to learn the piano that he conquered all the difficul ties of Weber's music, with its brilliant passages.
In 1872 Carl Mikuli, an excellent interpreter and editor of Chopin, who was then director of the Lemberg Conservatorium, took charge of RosenthaPs education, and within the same year played in public with him Chopin's Rondo in C major, for two pianos.
All this time, however, nothing had been determined as to RosenthaPs ultimate career, and it was only on the urgent advice of Rafael Joseffy that the parents consented to his becoming a pianist.
When in 1875, the family moved to Vienna, Rosenthal became a pupil of Joseffy, who set to work systematically to train the boy on Tausig's method. The results were astonishing, since Rosen- thai played at his first public recital in 1876 Beethoven's thirty-two variations, Chopin's F minor concerto and some Liszt and Mendels sohn.
There promptly followed a tour through Roumania, where at Bucharest the king created the fourteen-year-old lad Court-pianist. In the next year Liszt came into RosenthaPs life, and henceforth, until the master's death, played a great part therein. In 1878 and subsequently, they were together in Weimar, Rome, Budapest, and Vienna. Rosenthal then appeared as Liszt's pupil in Paris, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere.
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Meanwhile, the philosophical studies were by no means neg lected by him, for in 1880 Rosenthal qualified at the Staats Gym nasium in Vienna for the philosophical course at the University where he studied with Zimmerman, Brentano and Hanslick (musi cal aesthetes). Six years elapsed before he resumed public piano forte playing. Then there followed in quick succession, after a triumph in the Liszt- Verein at Leipzig, a long series of concert- tours in America and elsewhere, which brought him ultimately to England in 1895 and to America again later, where in the Spring of 1907 he made a remarkably successful tour.
Rosenthal, like Hofmann and Paderewski, owes his universal fame to America where, beginning in 1887, he gave a long succes sion of brilliant concerts.
He was considered a rare phenomenon in the field of piano tech nique. This reputation for unrivaled technical mastery spread over the world. However, his playing always wakes the highest admiration, not on account of the perfect technique alone, but because of the deep expressiveness of the pianist.
"Seldom has there been heard in San Francisco a pianist of greater technical gifts," said the San Francisco Bulletin, "or of more virile power. It is, of course, as a technician that Rosenthal has been known. But added to this was also so much sincerity, in tellectuality and beauty as to make of the performance a truly dis tinguished memory."
Rather short, heavy set, with dark skin, quick brown eyes, and thin dark hair, Moritz Rosenthal is the type of personality whose presence is always felt. He is quick in his motions, and his short stubby hands are never still ; yet he is by no means a nervous type and has none of the languishing/ dreaming mannerisms which some associate with musicians.
Rosenthal is also a writer. His style is crisp, caustic, and con vincing. He has had numerous battles with critics and has gener ally come out the victor. He has contributed to many prominent reviews, and in collaboration with Ludvig Schytte, the Danish composer, has written a book on the technique of the piano which has been translated into nearly every living language.
It is said that no man has ever been so fast and .yet so accurate in the transmission of thought from his active mind to the sensi tive muscles of his finger tips. Columbia University professors who examined him to ascertain the length of time for a thought to pass from his mind into action on the piano keyboard, found that Rosenthal was phenomenal in that it took less time for the thoughts to pass down his head, the length of his arms and into his fingers than could be gaged by the stop-watches of the professors.
Few artists evoke such superlative praise from critics as does Rosenthal. "He radiated and glittered and chiseled filmy filigrees
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and thundered exciting fortissimos. His utterance has softened and mellowed. A marvelously sustained legato and endless shades of color are his. And he no longer makes the impression of resist ing tender sentiment with an overplus of masculinity. He reaches for the hearts of his listeners." Leonard Liebling wrote these words in the New York American on December 15, 1923.
Though in the last seventeen years there have been many pian ists heard in New York, distinguished for many things, there have been few, even among the younger generation, who could equal him.
Having missed the great triumvirate, Liszt-Chopin-Rubinstein, the pianists of the younger generation must learn from him who has had the privilege to study with these pianistic and musical giants.
BERYL .RUBINSTEIN
THE NAME of Rubinstein has stood for greatness in the music world for many years. Beryl Rubinstein, American pianist and composer, proves himself worthy of the name. It would seem that he has
been sent into the world for the purpose of playing everything that was ever writ ten for the piano, for he seems to possess a natural technical equipment that re joices in difficulties.
Beryl Rubinstein was born in Athens, Georgia. His father discovered his tal ent at the age of six and taught him until he was twelve. During these years he toured the country, appearing as an infant prodigy. At thirteen, under the tutelage of Alexander Lambert, he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House. Follow ing this he went to Europe, studying under Da Motta in Berlin, and being a frequent visitor at the home of Busoni. He studied composition under May-Kenost. As a mature artist he made his New York debut in 1916, following which he made many recital tours of the United States. He appeared in numerous joint programs with Ysaye and also played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Stransky, and with other leading orchestras. He also toured as assistant pianist with the Duncan dancers.
Beryl Rubinstein has composed works for the piano, voice and violin which have been published. His recent works include a sonata for piano, which was performed in New York two years ago, and a concerto for piano and orchestra, which had its premiere
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with the Detroit Symphony at the program of all- American works that was given in February of 1926, on which occasion Rubinstein appeared as soloist. He is at present engaged in teaching, being a member of the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Musical Art (formerly under Ernest Bloch) .
Beryl Rubinstein belongs to the elect among pianists, for he possesses dexterity, power, and imagination to a high degree. He plays beautifully and with a singing tone.
NIGHOLAI RUBINSTEIN
NICHOLAI RUBINSTEIN, the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein, was born on June 2, 1835, in Moscow, whither his parents had moved from Bessarabia, and established for himself a place as an
outstanding pianist and social worker. Although his fame never reached the pro portions of his immortal brother's, it would nevertheless be unjust not to give full value to his useful activities.
From his very earliest years Nicholai Rubinstein manifested unusual talent. At five he possessed technique on the piano and composed small pieces. His first teacher was his mother; later he studied under Gehel. In 1844 his mother took her two sons, Anton and Nicholai, to Berlin, where Nicholai began to study piano with Kullak, and theory and com position with Dan. In 1846 the mother and Nicholai moved back to Moscow, where he continued his studies with the pianist Willman.
In 1856 Nicholai Rubinstein went to study law and mathematics at the Moscow University, but he gave most of his attention to his playing and won great renown as a pianist. According to the opinion of his countrymen, he was a great pianist, like his brother Anton. During his annual concerts in St. Petersburg, Nicholai, like his brother Anton in St. Petersburg some years before.
A great part of his social activities was performed in 1860, when he established a branch of the Russian Music Society, founded by his brother Anton in St. Petersburg some years before.
In 1866 he established the Moscow Conservatory, of which he was director and piano teacher until his death. He not only under took the directorship and professorship of the Conservatory, but conducted the symphony concerts at the same time, and was known as an excellent conductor.
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In 1868 he gave a series of Russian concerts at the World's Fair in Paris and gained tremendous success. Aside from these activi ties he made a number of concert tours over Europe, and it is note worthy that many concerts were given by him for the benefit of his poor colleagues.
Nicholai also played a great role in the life of Tschaikowsky and aided him in his activities as composer.
He died in the flower of his life, at the age of forty-six, on March 23, 1881, in Paris.
Leopold Auer, friend and associate of Nicholai, says the follow ing of him in My Long Life in Music:
"Nicholai Rubinstein was a genuine artist, and showed himself most encouraging and admirable to every unknown young colleague whom chance had thrown in his way. There was nothing about Nicholai Rubinstein's personality which recalled his brother Anton, unless it was his hands — hands which were enormous — and his great thick fingers, each finger-end upholstered on its inner side with a veritable cushion of flesh. He was gay and cheerful. Nicho lai, like his brother Anton, was very generous by nature, and re garded money merely as a convenience for giving pleasure to others and to himself. . . .
"Nicholai Rubinstein often came to St. Petersburg, where he gave annual concerts, though since he was director of the Music Conservatory and conductor of the Russian Symphony concerts in that city, besides teaching his own special piano class, he was con tinually engrossed with the administrative affairs which brought him to the head of the Imperial Russian Musical Society in the capital. He was young, jovial, generous, btit in him were united the most opposite traits of character, for in his office at the Conser vatory, on the conductor's stand, and at the piano he was the seri ous and most capable artist, like his brother Anton. He was an ex ceptional musician as well as a master pianist. Anton was always full of admiration for his great talent, and often remarked that Nicholai was the better pianist of the two — and vice versa. There was never a hint of jealousy between them, and to tell the truth, there was no occasion for it."
Regarding Nicholai's death, Auer continues : :
"A year after Anton had died, I went to Moscow to attend the funeral of Nicholai Rubinstein, the news of whose death had horri fied me in Paris. Some months before, stricken with a serious mal ady, he had fought it with all his strength. He could not be ill, he said ; he had no time for illness. Yet in the end he was obliged to give up the unequal struggle. The devotion of friends made it pos sible for him to be brought to Paris to consult some of the most famous physicians there, but there was nothing to be done for him, and he died after several weeks of suffering.
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"AH Russia was grieving profoundly and Moscow went into deep mourning. The streets through which the funeral procession passed — it was on a bright sunny morning — were closed to traffic, and everywhere lamps were burning behind thick walls of crepe. Hundreds of carriages and thousands of pedestrians followed the hearse, which was hidden by flowers. When the inventory of his estate was made, it was discovered that while Nicholai Rubinstein had lived like a prince, he had died in the poverty which is the lot of the majority of musicians."
Many of Nicholai Rubinstein's pupils became famous pianists. Like his brother Anton, he was continually given honors and medals.
NADIA REISENBERG
Music IS a thing of lights and shades, of moods and emotions, and Nadia Reisenberg is one of the few young pianists whose playing reflects the underlying thoughts and feelings of the great com posers. Technically she is nearly fault less, but what first-class pianist is not, in these days of great virtuosity?
Paderewski attended her debut to hear her play his Polish Fantasy and described her playing as "exceedingly beautiful." Joseph Hofmann has de scribed her as "charming and talented" ; De Pachmann has expressed his "admira tion for her pianistic talent"; Mischa Elman has praised her for "her great talent and beautiful playing."
Nadia Reisenberg was born in Russia on July 14, 1904. She studied the piano at the Imperial Conservatory of St. Pe- terburg under Leonid Nikolai ev. After the Revolution she left the land of her birth, and following an extensive concert tour in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Germany, came to America. In New York she became an artist pupil of Alexander Lambert.
Nadia Reisenberg has given several recitals in New York City, and has appeared with great success as soloist with the New York Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Walter Damrosch, and with other prominent organizations, including the City Symphony Orchestra, the League of Composers, and the Society of the Friends of Music, of New York, under Arthur Bodanzky.
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ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN
"THE ILLUSTRIOUS Anton himself," said Herman Devries of the Chi cago Evening America, "could surely not surpass the talents, the accomplishments, let me say, the genius of this young giant of the keyboard. Like his predecessor, Anton, Arthur plays the piano by no rule or formula, but according to the dictates of his own inspira tion. He has never devoted his time to the finger exercises gener ally deemed necessary for a mastery of the keys, but he works out each composition by an instinctive grasp of its potential effects.
This insight has endeared Arthur Rubinstein to many living composers, some of whom, including Stravinsky, have written works for his special interpretation, with the understanding that none else shall perform them for a period of years. In spite of his neglect of those exercises, Arthur Rubinstein is nevertheless de clared to be a sterling virtuoso, who combines great technical skill with refined musical qualities, an innate instinct for accent, and a sense of beauty in tone coloring and with a personality which in stantly grips the attention of his audiences.
Rubinstein is self-taught to a large extent. His only teacher, when a child, was R. M. Breithaupt of Berlin. Rubinstein devotes the bulk of his attention to the works of his contemporaries.
He was born in Lodz, Russian-Poland, on January 28, 1886. At the age of seven he made his first public appearance in Warsaw, and has since made many extensive tours in Europe and America.
He is an intimate friend of Paul Kochanski, the celebrated vio linist, with whom he has made many concert tours, particularly in Spain and South America.
DAVID SAPERTON (SAPERSTEIN)
DAVID SAPERTON, eminent American pianist and pedagogue, at present one of the chief instructors of the famous Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, was born on October 29, 1889, in Pitts burgh, Pennsylvania. He is the son of the physician Nahum Lenn Saperstein and his wife, Nathalie (nee Michalowski). Prior to becoming a physician, his father was a well-known basso and teacher of singing, and his grandfather was a tenor and famous cantor.
Saperton studied music with his father and later with Joseph Git- tings in Pittsburgh and August Spanuth in New York, Theory and composition he studied with Hugo Kaun in Berlin. Saperton played the Mendelssohn Concerto with orchestra at the age of ten, in Car-
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negie Hall, Pittsburgh; his New York debut he made in Mendels sohn Hall in 1905. He also played at the Metropolitan Opera House during the same year, and subsequently appeared in joint recitals with Geraldine Farrar, Rita Sachetto, and other famous artists. Saperton is a truly musical nature, endowed with unusual talent. He is now one of the most acknowledged piano teachers not only in Philadelphia but also in New York. On his many tours through Europe, Saperton was honored at many European courts. He gave a concert series in New York from January to March, 1914, and another in January of 1915, playing on six successive days several Busoni transcriptions and Karol Szymanowski's Sonata (opus 21). Saperton is married to the daughter of Leopold Godowsky.
HAROLD SAMUEL
HAROLD SAMUEL, the distinguished English pianist, who has won great success the world over with his incomparable interpretations of Bach's music, comes of a distinguished musical family. His
father's uncle was a well-known singing teacher and composer, and a great friend of Lord Byron. On his mother's side Samuel is descended from a well-known Baltimore family. He was born in Lon don, May 23, 1879.
Samuel has played the piano as long as he can remember. He learned the notes from his sister in one lesson, and then had a rapid succession of other teachers. At one time he planned to study with Theodore Leschetizki in Vienna, but his health broke down and he had to re turn to England. He received the bulk of his piano training from Edward Dannreuther of London (a brother of Gustav Dannreuther of New York) . It was he who inspired Samuel with his interest in Bach. Before going to the Royal College, Samuel studied for a short time with Albeniz, Schonberger, and Michael Hamburger. After grad uation from the Royal College, Samuel gave his first public recital at the age of twenty-one in Steinway Hall, London. After an absence of several years, during which he devoted himself to theory and composition, as well studying Bach exclusively, he returned in 1919 to the concert stage, giving the same program (the thirty variations) that he had given in his first public recital. It was an outstanding success. He was hailed immediately as one of the
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great pianists of England. In 1921 Samuel attempted something which had never been tried before ; he gave six recitals in six suc cessive days, devoting them entirely to the music of Bach, playing all of them by memory, and never once repeating — not even in encores — a single composition. The risky venture proved an enor mous success, and he has repeated it many times, not only in Lon don, where it is now an annual affair, but throughout England and in New York.
In the Autumn of 1924, Samuel paid his first visit to America, coming at the invitation of Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge to play at the Berkshire Festival. He intended to give only two re citals in that country, both in New York, but his success was so extraordinary that he also gave one in Boston. He appeared with the Beethoven Association in New York and was engaged to play at Yale, Bryn Mawr, and Vassar Colleges before returning to Eng land. Few artists have ever received such universal and unquali fied endorsement. All the New York critics and the concert public insisted on hearing him.
From the leading orchestras came requests for his appearances, but he had to return to Europe, where he was engaged for a tour of Belgium, Spain, Holland, and Germany. His tour of the United States during the season of 1925-26 was an answer to numerous demands.
Samuel is almost the only one among pianists to have as great resources in phrasing as a violinist has perfect command of the bow. So his audience has the easiest time imaginable. It requires no conscious effort of concentration to listen. One is carried along, marveling at the beauty of each dance tune in the "Partita Suite," compelled to the enjoyment of the argument of each fugue, and sur prised afresh, however well one knows them, by the way in which the "Preludes" forecast the romantic period.
It is hard to recall any other pianist indeed, even among the greatest, who makes Bach quite so winning, so human, so convinc ingly beautiful. The academic face of Bach glows with warmth and humor as Samuel elucidates this or that cunning little bit of counterpoint or obstinately repeated sequence which the old master has employed with obviously playful purpose.
Samuel's programs should be of particular interest to music stu dents, for his programs are of rare intelligence and scope.
He is the recipient of many signal honors, and is on the piano- teaching staff of the London Royal College of Music.
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EMIL SAUER
EMIL SAUER is one of the greatest pianists of our time. His indi viduality is almost as well defined and as fascinating as that of Paderewski or Hofmann, and his technique is marvelously perfect.
This man with the sympathetic face has everything necessary for the pianist Dignity, breadth and depth are evident. He has temperament enough for ten play ers, but wonderfully controlled.
Emil Sauer was born on October 8, 1862, in Hamburg. His mother (nee Gordon), who was from Scotland, was his first teacher in piano. But Anton Rubinstein heard him play when quite young, and recommended his being sent to his brother Nicholai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory, where he re mained for two years (1879-81). Later, he made the acquaintance of Liszt, who became his friend and counsellor, and with him he studied at Wei mar (1884-85). He paid his first visit to London in 1894, and his first appearance in America was made in New York in 1899.
In the course of his extensive tours he has received a great number of tokens of royal and official appreciation. In all, he is a member of over twenty orders, including the French Legion of Honor. As a composer, Sauer, like Chopin, has devoted himself almost exclusively to the piano. The most outstanding of his com positions are two piano concertos, two piano sonatas, twenty-four etudes for piano, and also songs.
DAVID SGHOR
DAVID SCHOR, pianist, was born in Simpheropol, Russia, in 1867. He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Amenda, Van Ark, and later at the Moscow Conservatory with Safonoff.
Schor has become famous through the Moscow Trio, which he organized with Alexander Krein (violinist) and Modest Altschuler ('cellist). This organization gave many concerts throughout the Russian empire and in Europe.
He is now living in Tel Aviv, Palestine.
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ARTHUR SCHNABEL
ARTHUR SCHNABEL, the eminent pianist, composer, and pedagogue, was born in Lipnik, Checko-Slovakia, on April 17, 1882. At the age of six he was a piano pupil of the famous Hans Schmitt, known
to all piano students for his numerous exercises for the piano. In 1888 the boy was placed under Leschetizky in Vienna, where among his fellow-students were Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Mark Hamburg. He was graduated from these classes in 1897. During those years Schnabel de- vofed himself to a virtuoso's career, spe cializing particularly in the music of Brahms.
Few contemporary pianists have suc ceeded so thoroughly in substantially es tablishing themselves with the musical publics of Europe and America as has Arthur Schnabel. He appeared repeat edly as soloist with the world's leading orchestras, under such mas ters of the baton as the late Artur Nikisch, Weingartner, Mengel- berg, and many others. His interpretations of Brahms and Bee thoven are considered superb examples of their order,
Schnabel has also devoted considerable attention to the study of theory, pursuing his courses under the famous musicologist, Euse- bius Mandgzcewski. He has composed a string quartet, a dance suite for piano, a sonata for violin alone, and numerous other works.
As a composer, Schnabel belongs to the Expressionistic School. Together with Carl Flesch, Schnabel edited Mozart's violin sonatas for the Peters Edition. With Flesch and Hugo Becker, he organ ized the famous trio, which toured all over Europe.
He had taught on previous occasions, but from 1919 has de voted himself almost exclusively to teaching. Many of the younger generations of celebrated pianists are his pupils.
Schnabel has an erudite and highly cultured personality. Kind and genial, he is the beloved and esteemed friend of most con temporary great musicians. Brahms was one of his admirers, as well as the late Anton Rubinstein, of whom Schnabel cherishes, the fondest memories.,
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GERMAINE SCHNITZER
ALTHOUGH OF Austrian parentage, Germaine Schnitzer, the cele brated Viennese pianist, was born on May 28, 1888, in Paris, where she began her musical training at the age of six. At eight she could
transpose Bach and others by sight. She went to the Paris Conservatorie, where Marmontel and Raoul Pugno took charge of her studies. Later she moved to Vi enna and studied with Emil Sauer.
She soon appeared in public and everywhere was acclaimed as an unus ually gifted pianist. Both press and au diences were not slow to realize that they were making the acquaintance of a talent of the first order.
Her first American debut was made at Chickering Hall, Boston, on December 13, 1906. Her success was enormous. Musical America of December 22, 1906, wrote: "Miss Schnitzer is a musician in the narrow meaning of the word; she is also a poet. That she is the former was revealed at once in her admirable reading of Bach's prelude and fugue, while in her playing of the 'CarnavaP she was romantically poetic. The capriciousness, the whimsicality, the tenderness, the brilliance, the dreaminess of Schumann's music were expressed with the spon taneity of an improvisor."
The New York Journal wrote : "To say that she achieved suc cess is to put it mildly. Hers was a blazing triumph, a complete conquest. This girl is without question the greatest and most im portant new voice in pianoforte playing that has sounded upon us for a decade at least."
Five days after her successful debut in Boston, Germaine Schnitzer made her first appearance in New York, at Mendelssohn Hall. It is of interest to quote a few press comments :
The New York Tribune said: "She came without the loud trumpetings which usually herald foreign artists or those of native birth who have gone abroad for a foreign hallmark, and her success was for that reason all the more emphatic and convincing."
"She has a superb tone, big, sonorous, rich, and wide in range," said the critic of the New York Sun.
The New York World wrote : "In addition to her brilliant tech nique she commands a singing tone, and a virile one, which has a certain admirable nobility."
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After this she returned to Europe to fulfill her engagements there, appearing in recitals, as soloist with many of Europe's lead ing orchestras and with prominent chamber-music organizations.
Her second reappearance in New York was made on Thursday, January 14, 1909, as a soloist with the Russian Symphony Orches tra under Modest Altschuler at Carnegie Hall. She played the "Ukrainian Rhapsodie" by Liapunoff, rose to the technical de mands and extraordinary power, and gave a most perfect perform ance of the work.
On January 30 of the same year she played Schumann's A minor Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Saf onoff at Car negie Hall, New York.
A noted critic said: "Germaine Schnitzer played the Schu mann Concerto with breadth, authority and musical appreciation of its beauty."
Since that time Mme Schnitzer has become a favorite of both continents. She has played with practically all the leading or chestras and under the most famous conductors. She played six times with the New York Philharmonic, three times with the New York Symphony, five times with the Boston Symphony, twice with the Chicago Symphony, three times with the Cincinnati Symphony, twice each with the Detroit, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and San Fran cisco Orchestras, the Pasedeloup and Colonne Concerts in Paris, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Kon- zertverein, the Vienna Tonkiinstler Orchestra, Warsaw Philhar monic, Stockholm Konzertverein, Budapest, Christiana and Bergen Philharmonic, etc. This shows how popular she is.
Germaine Schnitzer at present occupies a prominent position and is one of the most interesting among the celebrated interpret ers of pianoforte literature.
Technically, she has splendid assets, finely developed finger velocity and pleasing tone qualities, especially in pianissimo pas sages, in which she uses a delightfully feathery touch.
KAROL SZRETER
KAROL SZRETER, the Polish pianist, is one of the new stars that have arisen on the new musical horizon. He was born on Septem ber 29, 1898, in Lodz, Poland. He took his first lesson at the age of seven, his first teacher being Wachtel. His first appearance was held in Warsaw, in 1909. From 1912 to 1914 he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, under Professor Dubassoff ; and from 1914 to 1918 under Professor Petrie. He made his Berlin debut in 1915, and has concertized in Germany, Holland, the Scan dinavian countries, Italy, Poland, Roumania, and Cheko-Slovakia.
388 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
He is the possessor of a brilliant technique. His tone is noble.
During- the past few seasons, Szreter also toured as accom panist to Franz von Veesey, the famous violinist ; Arnold Foldesy, the 'cello virtuoso, and other celebrities.
ALEXANDER SKLAREVSKI
EDUCATED AT the University of Warsaw, Alexander Sklarevski, the eminent pianist, first studied piano privately. He later entered the Conservatory of St. Petersburg, where he was graduated in 1908,
his teacher being Mme. Benno. At his graduation he was given the gold medal for musical proficiency.
Sklarevski then went to Paris to be gin concertizing, but just as he was about to set out, the Russian government of fered him the post of professor at the then newly founded Conservatory at Saratov, which he accepted. He finally became director of that Conservatory.
With the coming of the great war, Sklarevski was prevented from return ing to Paris, and so left Russia for Amer ica in the Autumn of 1918, intending to appear there in concert on his arrival. But again he was unable to do what he had intended. The Spanish influenza was then raging, and his concert plans were so affected by it that he left Vancouver for the Orient. There he gave a series of more than 100 concerts in Japan, China, the Philippines, Singa pore, the French and Dutch Indies, and Java. He made a sensation in these places, his performances being considered the greatest pianistic exhibition ever heard in those remote parts.
On his return to America in 1919, he gave a concert at Van couver, where he was hailed as one of the greatest piano virtuosi of our day.
Sklarevski made his debut in New York City on March 18, 1920, at the Aeolian Hall, and was received with much favor by press and public.
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KARL TAUSIG
KARL TAUSIG was a Jew from Poland, whose Jews were very bit terly denounced by Wagner, chiefly because the orthodox among them wear beards and gaberdines. Nevertheless, It was Tausig
who devised the plan by which 300,000 thalers were raised for the building of Wagner's Bayreuth Theatre.
On a level with Liszt, Rosenthal, An ton Rubinstein, Hofmann, and Paderew- ski, Tausig was one of the greatest tech nicians on the piano, and one of the greatest interpreters ever known. Un fortunately, Tausig's life was short, like that of Schubert's and Mozart's. He died at the age of thirty. But in this short span he succeeded in reaching great heights. It can be said without exaggera tion that as a virtuoso he stood second to no one of his generation, Tausig's techn nique was perfect, in a class by itself. By technique we mean not that nimbleness of fingers that conquers difficulties, but the art of producing elegantly and purely each separate tone. In this art there is something marvelous, something the mind cannot perceive. Great was Liszt's respect for Tausig. He once said about him: "Being considered one of my best pupils, he exceeded me by the soulfulness and warmth of his playing. He possesses a great in nate musical talent,"
Karl Tausig was born on November 4, 1841 in Warsaw. Till the age of fourteen he studied with his father, Alois Tausig, an excellent pianist and teacher, and a pupil of Berkley and Thalberg. The years 1859 to 1860 Tausig spent in Dresden, after which he lived for two years in Vienna, where he made a furore not only by his piano playing, but as a conductor of the most complicated or chestral compositions of Liszt, Wagner, and Berlioz. In 1865 Tausig, on the invitation of his friend Hans von Billow, went to Berlin, where he received the title of Court-pianist and founded a high-school for piano playing, which he however forsook in the Fall of 1870. Among his numerous pupils who afterwards became fam ous was the pianist Sophia Menter, who was called by Anton Rubinstein the "queen of all keyboards and hearts."
During the last years of his life even the most sensational suc cesses did not make Tausig happy. He became a wretched, melan choly individual This change in him some try to explain by his
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unfortunate marriage to the pianist Wrabelli, from whom he soon parted; others attribute this change to his deep philosophical meditations and speculations.
Tausig died on July 17, 1871, in spite of the vigilant care of Countess von Krakow. Countess Kukhanova Nesselrode, pianist and friend of Richard Wagner, visited Tausig during the last week of his life, endeavoring to convert him to Christianity, but the patient did not respond.
As a teacher Tausig exercised a great influence on the younger generation of pianists. Of the compositions he wrote, only a few have been published; but his piano arrangements of Wagner's operas, dementi's "Gradus ad Parnassum" and his own famous "Deux Etudes de Concert" present a degree of refinement and bril liance hardly rivaled in contemporary piano literature.
ISABELLA WENGEROVA
ISABELLA WENGEROVA, noted pianist and pedagogue, was born in Vilna in 1879. At the age of five she performed on the piano in public. Her first teacher was Goldenweiser (pupil, of Mojesko, in
Odessa) ; at fourteen, the girl entered the Vienna Conservatory, studying there under Professor Dachs (teacher of De Pachmann) for three years, and from 1896 to 1900 with Leschetizki.
In 1905 Wengerova was engaged by the St. Petersburg Conservatory to take the place of the famous Mme Essipova. Two years later she was made a Pro fessor at the Conservatory and kept the post until 1921, when she came to New York to establish her own piano studio there.
Wengerova's father, Afanasy, was the director of the Minsk Bank. Her mother, Paulina, published a book at the age of seventy, under the title of The Memiors of a Babuschka. Isabella is not the only musical celebrity in her family; her brother Vladimir is a gifted 'cellist, being a pupil of Zeiffert in St. Petersburg. Isabella's brother Semyon was professor of literature, critic, and writer, while her sister Zinaida is a writer of repute and critic of foreign literature in Russia,
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SARA SOKOLSKY-FREID
THE PRAISE of fellow artists is ardently desired by all artists. To Sara Sokolsky-Freid, this has been accorded in generous meas ure for her brilliant achievements as pianist and organist. Rafael
Joseffy called her "a remarkable talent" ; Vincent d'Indy declares that she "pos sesses an absolutely sure technique and I consider her a brilliant virtuoso" ; and according to Maurice Moszkowski "she is remarkably talented and can be rated an artist of high attainments."
Sara Sokolsky-Freid was born at Korytki, Poland, on April 7, 1896. She received her education in the public schools of New York City. Rusotto was her first teacher in music; later she studied composition with Eugene Bern stein, Marie de Levenoff, Raphael Joseffy and Guenther Kiesewetter; organ at the Royal Academy of Music, in Germany, under Corbach and Ludwig ; and the history of music at the Sorbonne University under Romain Rolland, and also Moritz Moszkowski.
Her debut occurred in April of 1909, at the Mendelssohn Hall, New York. The next five years saw extensive concertizing in Europe, which included appearances as soloist with philharmonic orchestras in Berlin, Paris and Vienna.
Since 1916 Sara Sokolsky-Freid has devoted herself to con certizing and teaching in the United States. Many artist pupils of hers are now prominent in the concert field. She is a contrib utor to many art publications.
Of her playing, the New York Evening Post said: "Mrs. Sokolsky-Freid proved herself an organist of almost Saint- Saensian stature, yet her touch on the piano was good, too . . . She played like a born musician, with intelligence and feeling, being indeed at her best in the one number on her programme which was the most difficult — not to play but to interpret. Her reading of Beethoven's sonata, opus 111? was most engaging/'
SINGERS
MAX BLOCH
MAX BLOCH is one of the bright lights of the New York Metro politan galaxy. He possesses a lyric tenor of extraordinary sonor ity and beauty. Born in Germany about forty-five years ago, he
studied there under Mrs. Keva Pockal, an American lady from St. Louis. Bloch obtained his first engagement with the Komische Opera in Berlin, under the management of Hans Gregor. From there he went to the Kunstwerke Opera, in the same city, and for more stage ex perience, he accepted an engagement at the Municipal Theatre for one season. This was followed by another season in the German metropolis, after which he was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York.
He was engaged for the Summer sea son of 1926 with the Colonne Theatre in Buenos Ayres, where his success was pronounced.
SOPHIE BRASLAU
SOPHIE BRASLAU is one of fortune's favorites. She has reached a foremost position among the great singers of the world and is counted as one of the finest artists on the stage. She has succeeded
in opera and in concert, having "arrived"
at an age when most singers are still in* the midst of their studies. A serious student in her art, untiring in her efforts to advance, she has mastered the singing of songs and their interpretation as few singers have at the end of a long career. The possessor of a beautiful voice, a con tralto of rare quality, she is equally for tunate in her personality. She is beauti ful and has a stage presence of charm and dignity. She seems to radiate wholesome- ness, sanity, right thinking and right do ing.
Sophie Braslau does not, like many great singers, merely sing beautifully: her voice gives every deli-
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cate shade of emotion and poetic value. In this she is like Chalia- pin, Buffo, and Bori. With their voices alone they are able to give us the emotions and the dreams of the composer even as Pavlova interprets them with her exquisite body.
She sings with perfect diction, in addition to her native Eng lish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew, some of her songs in ancient Hebrew and modern Jewish being among the most remarkable things she does.
Having a voice of uncommon range and flexibility, her musical repertory is much more comprehensive than that of most singers. Although her voice is a true alto in its lower register of the true diapason quality which one always hopes to hear and so seldom does,it carries easily to high B flat, and the entire literature of the mezzo-soprano is within its range.
One of the most distinguished successes that Sophie Braslau has had in her brilliant career was the performance of the title- role of Bizet's "Carmen" at Ravinia Park in Chicago. The part was written for a mezzo-soprano and its tessitura is high, so that it says much for the wide range of Braslau's voice that she was able to sing it without any difficulty whatsoever. On the contrary, she sang it with consummate ease and gave the music a warmth and glow of color which only a rich voice such as hers can impart. Her singing, for instance, of the "Habanera" always stirs an audience to great enthusiasm.
When the King of Belgium was visiting New York in 1920, it was Sophie Braslau who was chosen to greet him with her songs.
Pitts Sanborn, one of New York's chief critics, regards her as "one of the exceptional singers of our day." W. J. Henderson characterized her voice as "one of the most beautiful voices now before the public."
The Braslau tone quality is exceedingly pleasing, pure, and robust, and projected as only the seasoned concert artist can pro ject it.
The only child of Dr. Abel and Alexandra Braslau (nee Goodelman), who emigrated to America many years ago, Sophie, who was born on August 16, 1892, in New York City, of Russian parentage, received her general education in the public schools of New York, at the Wadleigh High School, and from private tutors. She started her musical work at the age of six, devoting herself to the piano. It was not until several years later that she began her vocal studies. In 1910 she took voice lessons with Buzzi-Peccia, studying for three years with him. Since 1913 she studied with Gabriele Sibella. That same year she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera Company when she played the role of Feodor in "Boris Godounoff" (with Didur as Boris), following which she appeared in leading contralto roles, creating the role of "Shane- wis" in 1918, at the premiere of Cadmaij's opera.
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Her concert debut was made in 1913, when at short notice she replaced Mme Homer as soloist of the Kichmond Festival, imme diately gaining recognition for her splendid singing.
Following this introduction, she has appeared in concert and recital throughout the United States, being heard with such leading organizations as the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia, the New York, and Cincinnati Symphonies, and many others, as well as at the important festivals, including the Worcester, Ann Arbor, and Cincinnati festivals.
She finally decided to devote herself to concert-recitals and ap pearances with symphony orchestras.
CHARLES DALMORES
ONE NEVER knows when the Muse is going to touch one on the shoulder and show one how one should go. Giuseppe Campanari, the great baritone, began his musical career as a 'cellist, as did
Toscanini and Campanini, the greatest Italian conductors. Charles Dalmores, the eminent French tenor, jumped from obscurity to prominence by forsaking the French horn and 'cello. '. It is perhaps not generally known that this illustrious tenor began his mu sical life as a student of the violin, 'cello and French horn. When he was twenty- three years of age he became a professor at the Conservatoire at Lyons, where he gave lessons on the violin and French horn. "When I was teaching," he says, "I considered myself rich if I made two dollars a day. It is to M. Dauphin, the celebrated basso, that I owe my position today. He had sung at Covent Garden for fifteen years, and had heard me singing snatches of music to my pupils. He pointed out a new road to me."
Charles Dalmores was born in Nancy, France, on January 1, 1872. His musical instruction commenced at the age of six. He studied first at the Conservatoire at Nancy, intending to make a specialty of the violin. For a time he also studied the 'cello and managed to acquire a very creditable technique upon that instru ment.
Then he had the misfortune of breaking one of his arms. It was then he decided that it would be better to study another in-
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strument. He chose the French horn. This he did with much suc cess. At the age of fourteen he already played second horn in a theatre at Nancy. With the financial help of some citizens of his native town, he entered the Con servatoire at Paris, where he studied very hard and succeeded in winning the first prize for playing the French horn. For a time he played under Colonne, and from 1878 to 1894 he played in Paris with Lamoreux Orchestra.
All this time he had his heart set upon becoming a singer, but the very mention of the fact that he desired to become a singer was met with ridicule by his friends, who evidently thought that it was a form of fanaticism.
Notwithstanding the success he met with his instruments, he was confronted with the fact that he had before him the life of a poor musician. His salary was low, and there were few, if any, opportunities to make extra money, outside of his regular work with the orchestra.
In his military service he played in the band of an infantry regiment, and when he told his companions and friends that he aspired to be a great singer some day, they greeted his declaration with howls of laughter, and pointed out the fact that he was already along in years and had an established profession.
At the age of twenty-three he found himself appointed Pro fessor of the French horn at the Conservatory of Lyons.
It is of interest to mention that Dalmores tried a few times to enter the classes for singing at Paris. His voice was apparently liked, but he was refused admission upon the basis that he was too good a musician to waste his time in becoming an inferior singer. "Goodness gracious!" he exclaimed in an interview. "Where is musicianship needed more than in the case of a singer? This amused me, and I resolved to bide my time."
Where there is a will, there is usually a way. He devised all sorts of "home-made" exercises to improve his voice as he thought best. He listened to singers and tried to get the best points from them.
"I played in opera orchestras whenever I had a chance, and thus became acquainted with the famous roles. One eye was on the music and the other was on the stage. During the rests I dreamed of the time when I might become a singer like those over the footlights." -" Gradually, if unconsciously, he was paving the way for the great
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opportunity of his life. It came in the form of an experienced teacher, Dauphin, who had been a basso for ten years at the lead ing theatre of Belgium, fourteen years in London, and later direc tor at Geneva and Lyons. He also received the appointment of Professor at the Lyons Conservatory.
"One day/' he says, "Dauphin heard me singing and inquired who I was. Then he came in my room and said to me, 'How much do you get here for teaching and playing?" I proudly replied, 'Six thousand francs a year.' Then he said, 'You shall study with me and some day you shall earn as much as six thousand francs a month/ "
Dalmores could hardly believe that the opportunity he had waited for so long had come !
Dauphin had him come to his house, where he gave him lessons free of charge.
Besides studying with Dauphin he also studied in opera reper toire with Franz Emerich in Berlin. He was also a prize pupil of the Paris Conservatoire, where, as it is known, he was at first refused admission to the singing classes. They found that he was "too good a musician to waste his time becoming a mediocre singer."
During the first Winter he studied no less than six operas. During the second, he mastered one opera each month, and at the same time did all his regular work, studying and improving his voice, disregarding the foolish remarks of his pessimistic advisers.
"I sang in a church and also sang in a synagogue to keep up my income/' he says. "All the time I had to put up with the sarcasm of my colleagues, who seemed to think, like many others, that the calling of the singer was one demanding little musicianship, and tried to make me see that in giving up the French horn and pro fessorship at the Conservatoire I would be abandoning a dignified career for that of a species of musicianship which at that time was not supposed to demand any special musical training.
"I, however, determined to become a different kind of a singer. I had a feeling that the more good music I knew the better would be my work in opera. I wish that all singers could see this. Many singers live in a little world all of their own. They know the music of the footlights, but there their experience ends. Every symphony I have played has been molded into my life experience in such a way that it cannot help being reflected in my work/'
After long and hard study, he finally made his successful debut as a singer in Rouen, in 1899. Later he sang at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Covent Garden, etc. His American debut he made in 1906 at the Manhattan Opera House, under Oscar Ham- merstein, when that theatre was opened. There he remained till 1911, after which he went for several seasons to the Chicago Grand Opera Company.
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On January 3, 1908, he sang Jullen in "Louise" at the Man hattan Opera House, New York. One critic said: "Dalmores' voice was frequently of compelling beauty. The French tenor was in good form and, especially in his dramatic singing of the Aria, proved himself well adapted, both vocally and temperamentally."
Another critic said: "His 'Julien' is of individual, complete and powerful characterization."
Of all music, that which most appeals to Dalmores is Wag ner's. He says it is the most difficult, but also the most superb. But of all he loved to sing was Julien in Charpentier's "Louise" perhaps dearest to his heart because it could not but bring back the old, passed happy days when he and Charpentier were together.
Charles Dalmores is regarded as one of the most distin guished tenors now living. His reputation is widespread, for he has excited admiration in Bayreuth, Vienna, P'aris, Italy, the United States and most of the chief cities of Europe. His voice is a noble organ, manly, tender, and always sympathetic. He sings with great skill and always as a musician, and he is an accomplished and impressive actor.
LEOPOLD DEMUTH
DURING THE Bayreuth Festivals in 1899 a young baritone of the Im perial Vienna Opera, Leopold Demuth, attracted wide attention. He sang with extraordinary success Hans Sachs in the "Meister- singer," and the hunter in the last part of the "Niebelungen King." The beauty and resonance of his voice charmed all connoisseurs and lovers of singing.
Leopold Demuth was born on November 2, 1861, in Briinn, Czechoslovakia. He received his musical education under Pro fessor Hensbacher in Vienna, and tried his luck for the first time at the Halle City Theatre, and at the Queen's Opera in Berlin. In 1891 he was engaged by the Leipzig Stadttheater, where he soon showed himself in full glory. From Leipzig, Demuth went to Ham burg, where he soon established a reputation as a first-rate artist by his singing of "Wolfram," in which he made his debut there on September 1, 1896.
His playing in "Der Fliegende Hollaender," "Kurwenal," "Graf Almaviva," "Don Juan," "Rigoletto," and others, were masterly creations of their kind. Gustav Mahler immediately engaged him for the Vienna opera when he first heard him. There he made a colossal success, and soon became Vienna's favorite singer. He died on March 4, 1910, in Bernowitz.
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ELLEN DALOSSY '
ELLEN DALOSSY is a young soprano from Prague. She comes from the land which gave birth to Maria Jeritza and Emmy Destinn. As a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York,
she has sung many roles with success and is considered a most valuable mem ber. She is also an excellent linguist, speaking most of the dialects of Central Europe, besides French, Italian, and Ger man. Her musical training was with the best masters in both Berlin and Milan. For several years she studied with Nicho las Rothmuhl in Berlin. At fifteen she made her debut in "Haensel and Gretel," after which she sang in many parts of Germany and Austria, from where she went again to Milan to study with Sibella. Dalossy came to America in 1917 for the German production of "May- time," in which she made such a success that the Shuberts (famous theatrical managers) made her a most flattering offer. She refused it in order to join the Metropolitan Opera Company. She was cast to create an important part in the operatic version of "The Blue Bird." Since the revival in 1921 of "Boris Godounoff" with Chaliapin, Miss Dalossy has sung the role of the Princess in that opera with great charm and feeling.
Ellen Dalossy is one of the most promising of the younger sing ers of today, one who can look forward with confidence to a brilliant future.
SELMA KURZ
SELMA KURZ, one of the most outstanding coloratura sopranos of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was born in Bic- litz, Silesia.
A great figure in her day, she made her debut at the Frankf urt- on-Main Opera House. Subsequently, she sang with great success in all the large centers of Europe and America. At the Vienna Hofoper she sang under Gustave Mahler, whose special favorite she was, and who contributed largely to her great advance and successes.
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NANETTE GUILPORD
A NEW name to the concert stage but one already prominent at the Metropolitan Opera House of New York is that of Nanette Guil- ford, the young American soprano who attained eminence at the
age at which many singers have not yet made their debut. At the opera house, she is called the "baby." Nanette was only eighteen when she joined that cele brated organization, but she has already had triumphs which many a more experi enced artist might be glad to claim. Her career shatters the old tradition that great singers must be made in Europe, for Guilf ord is wholly American in birth and training.
The young soprano was born in New York City in 1906, and was educated there, principally under private tutors. Piano playing and a fluent command of French, German, Italian, and Spanish were some of her early ac complishments which stood her in good stead as it became evident that she was to be a singer. Her voice is a heritage from her mother, and she is the first in her family to appear in public on the stage.
Her voice won recognition when she sang at a war benefit, and she was engaged immediately, at the age of sixteen, for a musical production. The young artist's goal, however, was the Metropoli tan Opera House, and she abandoned the field of light music in order to prepare herself for the opportunity which was soon to come. With this purpose, she undertook serious study under the guidance of Albert Clark Jeannote, and with him studied for two years. An audition was then arranged for her at the Metropolitan, and a contract followed shortly afterwards. Like most young sing ers, Guilf ord had a start with minor roles, but it was not long be fore she was singing such important parts as Musetta in "La Bo- heme," Micaela in "Carmen," and Olga in Giordano's "Fedora." • Guilford's voice is a treasure emphatically worth possessing, and her use of it is skillful and artistic. It is a rich soprano of great range, and capable of all manner of tonal coloring. As an interpreter of song she is versatile and accomplished, and whatever that indispensable and indefinable quality of "personality" is, Guil- f ord has it in abundance. She is not only a beautiful young woman, but her charm communicates itself easily and naturally to her audience.
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During the season of 1925, Guilford was heard as Juliette in Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette," and as Nora Burke in Perollo's "La Veglia," which she sang at a performance given privately for the Manufacturers' Trust Company. She made her concert debut in New York on February 10, 1925, in the Town Hall, when she was assisted at the piano by Giuseppe Bamboschek, conductor of the Metropolitan. She was also heard in Boston on March 16, 1926, as soloist with Vannini's Symphony Ensemble at a concert given under the auspices of the Boston Athletic Association.
She won a triumph as the star of "Cena del Beffe," produced in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1925.
"I much prefer tragic roles to coquettish ones/' she says. "I am never so happy as I am when I am sad, portraying the Micaela or Juliette. Perhaps it is because my life has always been so full of joy that I must find an outlet for emotions never experienced. Perhaps I read too many morbid Russian novels or Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. But such harrowing literature does not affect my life in any manner. I go on being jolly and carefree. It is only when the blue footlights cast their reflection over me and it is my turn to break the stillness of the audience with a melancholy aria that my pessimistic reading, on the fringe of my consciousness, comes to the fore and aids me in a sincere expression of tragedy."
Her favorite role is Manon, because it involves such a mixture of conflicting characteristics, variety of moods and strange blend of love and wickedness. "It is fun to play being wicked," she con fesses, "and I sometimes think I should like to help Micaela win back her lover's affections. As you see, I have a dreadful imagina tion and sense of the dramatic/' American drama is her chief delight, next to the opera. "I have never been abroad to study and I am proud of it," she says. "I was born in New York and have lived there all my life, and ever since I was six years old I have been going regularly to the theater. I used to think I could watch it grow, and several years ago when Eugene O'Neil came to the fore I waxed very eloquent in my youthful praises."
Most of Guilf ord's spare time has been spent in studying Ger man, as her aim is to enlarge her repertoire to include leading roles in Wagnerian music dramas.
Walking through New York's famous Central Park on a warm sunny day, one may pass this golden-haired girl who dwells as a soul apart. "Only once in a while I get into a mood of solitude," says Nanette. "I am not chronically 'the melancholy Jacques.' When I walk and philosophize I really do it because it tickles my vanity. One part of me always stands a little distance away and "watches "
Miss Guilford, already at the peak of her career, will probably remain there or rise even higher, due to her intelligence, ambition, and the modesty so necessary in a young artist.
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ALMA GLUCK
ALMA GLUCK is one of the most succesesf ul of the newer school of American singers. She made her debut in New York City at the New Theater in 1909 as Sophie in "Werther." The story of her
rise to celebrity is most interesting.
Alma Gluck was born in Bucharest, Roumania, in 1886, and came with her parents to New York when a small child. Her maiden name was Eeba Fierson, and she is said to have been employed as a stenographer in the office of a young lawyer in New York previous to her mar riage with Mr. Gluck, which took place when she was still quite young. It is said that one summer, when she was in the Adirondack Mountains, in New York State, her singing as an amateur at tracted the attention of a gentleman, who advised her to go to Signor Buzzi-Pecia for lessons. This she did, but with no idea of an operatic career. She merely wanted to learn to sing well, and with that idea worked hard. In three years she had a repertory of ten operas. In 1909 her teacher suggested that she sing for Mr. Gatti-Casazza, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera House. To her surprise he offered her a contract for five years at the Metropolitan Opera House, which she at once accepted.
During her first season at the celebrated institution she sang eleven different roles, appearing in "Boheme," "Pique Dame," "Stradella," "Orfeo," "Maestro di Cappella," "The Bartered Bride," "Faust," "Rheingold," and others. Her opportunity to sing "Marguerite" at Baltimore came about through the illness of Mme. Alda.
Constant demands for appearances on the concert platform induced Gluck, as is the case of her colleague and close friend, Sophie Braslau, to abandon the operatic boards and devote her entire attention to that field.
Possessing a tone of rare, penetrating quality, smooth and easy in production, and full of that "soulfulness" which is the heritage of the Jewish people, she is furthermore an interpreter of extraor dinary intelligence, and finds a response among the laymen as well as the cognoscenti. She is particularly happy in her rendition of airs of the country of her adoption, and in this field stands to this day without a peer. It has become a tradition after the presenta-
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tion of her regular program for her to seat herself at the piano and sing such tunes as "Annie Laurie/' "My Old Kentucky Home/' and other airs dear to American hearts.
Alma Gluck is a woman of charm, intelligence, and culture. In 1915, after divorcing her first husband, she married the celebrated Russian violinist, Efrem Zimbalist, who often appeared with her as her accompanist. Mme. Gluck-Zimbalist is the happy mother of three children, the oldest of whom, a girl, was married in 1924. Having devoted much of her time to the education of her children, Mme. Gluck has for several years neglected her concert appear ances, but in 1925 again appeared in New York City and on tour.
Alma Gluck and Zimbalist make their home in New York City. Their home is the center of that city's aristocratic, musical, and cultured circles.
ARNOLD GABOR
ARNOLD GABOR, baritone of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, was born in Budapest, and studied singing in Berlin and in Italy, his art being a blending of two schools.
He made his first appearance in 1912 at the Opera in his native city, after which followed many appearances in Germany in 1915. He sang there until 1923, when he was engaged for the Met ropolitan Opera Company in New York. Gabor is the possessor of a beautiful voice. Critics declare him to be a true artist with a voice of genuine operatic quality.
His popularity is not confined to his operatic roles at the Metropolitan. He is also in great demand as a concert singer in recitals throughout the country.
406 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race ISIDOR GEORG HENSCHEL (Sir George)
HENSCHEL BELONGS to the group of great singers of our time excel ling particularly in oratorio and concert. At the same time he is one of the leading conductors and composers. His powerful, sym pathetic and pleasant baritone produces a particularly deep impres sion in oratorio, a field in which he remains to this day almost with out a peer. Henschel is hailed everywhere as being of refined, cul tured taste.
Isidor Georg Henschel was born on February 18, 1850, in Bres- lau, the mother city of the Damrosches, Otto Klemperer, and other great musicians. From 1867 to 1870 he was at the Leipzig Conser vatory, where he studied singing under Franz Gotze and theory with Richter. His further education Henschel received in Berlin under the guidance of Adolph Schulze (in singing) and Friedrich Kiel (in composition).
In 1879 he settled in London, where he became professor of singing at the Royal College of Music. He revealed his talents as conductor when he brilliantly conducted the symphony concerts in Boston from 1881 to 1884, after which he returned to England (1885) to direct the London Symphony Concerts until 1896. He was also first conductor of the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow. In 1890 he became a naturalized Britisher. His services in the cause of English music were duly appreciated by King George V, who knighted him in 1914. Sir George developed into one of the most cultured musicians of his generation.
His first wife was Lilian June Bailey, a popular concert singer (born on January 17, 1860, in Ohio; died November 5, 1901, in London). She was a pupil of her uncle, Charles Hayden, and Mme Viardot-Garcia, and later of her future husband, whom she married in 1881, accompanying him on her concert tours. Their daughter, Helen, sang soprano, but retired on her marriage to W.- Onslow Ford.
Following is a list of Henschel's compositions: Canon suite for string orchestra; Psalm 103, for chorus, soli, and orchestra; Stabat Mater (Birmingham Festival, 1894) ; Hamlet Music (Lon don, 1892) ; the operas, "A Sea Change" (Love's Stowaway, 1884) ; "Frederick the Fair" and "Nubia," both performed in Dresden in 1899; "Requiem/' opus 59 (1903) ; String quartet in E flat major, opus 55 ; many songs for solo and choruses, etc.
Aside from musical works, Henschel also wrote Personal Recol lections of Brahms (1907), and his own reminiscences, under the title Musings and Memories of a Musician (1918). Sir George Henschel has resided for many years in Scotland at Allt-na-Criche, Aviemore.
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HERMANN JADLOWKER.
HERMANN JADLOWKER, who first appeared at the New York Met ropolitan Opera House on January 22, 1910, as Faust, was born in Riga in 1879, and was intended by his father for a busi ness career. This was not quite in ac cordance with the views of the youth, who accordingly fled from Russia. He was then but fifteen years of age. He succeeded in reaching Vienna, where he became a pupil of Ganse. Later he con tinued his studies in Italy, and eventually secured an engagement at Cologne, when he was twenty years of age, taking a small part in a German opera, "The Night Watch of Granada."
He later sang for a short time in Stettin, but first attracted attention by his work at Karlsruhe, where Emperor William heard him and invited him to sing at the Royal Opera House in Berlin. A contract for five years Resulted. This was followed by a similar contract at Vienna, through the help of the Grand Duke of Baden.
Triumph followed triumph all over Germany, England, France, and other continental countries.
From 1910 to 1913 he sang with the Metropolitan Opera for three successive seasons, gaining a reputation as one of the fore most dramatic tenors that had ever reached these shores.
Jadlowker is thoroughly schooled in the finer ways of music drama. His supple figure and attractive face serve him well in romantic parts. His movements are free, his gestures intelligent, and h£ avoids the trite conventionalities of operatic pose. He truly sings, with justice to intonation, with heed to melodic design, with musical shapeliness of phrase, with unforced and intelligently ordered quality of tone.
In 1912 Jadlowker left the Metropolitan Opera Company, hav ing been engaged by the Royal Opera in Berlin. His contract was said to be for five years, and his salary the largest ever paid in Germany to a tenor. Yet it was intimated that by the terms of his contract he might be able to return to the Metropolitan in 1914. But war intervened and Jadlowker has not been in America since. While in New York, Jadlowker created the chief tenor parts in the American premieres of Humperdinck's "Konigskinder" (1910) and Thriller's "Lobetanz" (1911),
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Paul Kalisch and his wife, Lilli Lehmann
PAUL KALISCH
IN 1882, at a soiree at the houses of Paul Lindau, Paul Kalisch sang in the presence of Adelina Patti, Nicolini, Albert Neuman, and others. The famous Pollini, also a guest at the soiree, rang
Kalisch's bell at eight o'clock the follow ing morning with a five-year contract in his pocket, which he offered to Paul, and which the youth accepted immediately, forsaking architecture to devote himself to Orpheus. He promptly went to Milan, where he studied under Leoni, and made his debut in 1888, in the part of Edgard in "Lucia," in Varese. The debut brought him engagements at all the large thea tres in Italy. He sang at Milan, Flor ence, Venice, Rome, Naples and Barce lona. Following that he went to Berlin, where he played Raoul in "Les Hugue nots." His excellent interpretation in duced von Gulsen to engage him for the court opera. His singing in "The Hu guenots" and "Traviata" made such an impression that he was engaged for five years. In Berlin he met Lili Lehman, with whom he went to London. There they appeared at Her Majesty's Thea tre in the parts of Florence and Alfred. They became engaged in London and were married in America in 1888.
Kalisch's famous wife, who undoubtedly had a great influence over her husband's artistic development, appeared during their early meeting in Berlin as a colorature soprano. Not till they were in America did she begin her career as a dramatic artist in Wag ner's operas. Both wife and husband remained in the United States for six winter seasons, also touring the larger cities in con cert, arousing everywhere great enthusiasm by their splendid voices and artistic singing. Upon Kalisch's return to Europe, he sang in Vienna, Budapest, Paris, London, Cologne, and Wiesbaden, later signing a contract with Julius Hoffman as singer of "heroic" parts. Kalisch's best roles were considered to be Tannhauser, Tristan, Florestan, Raoul, Otello and Eleazar. He helped considerably in spreading the gospel of Wagnerian opera.
Paul Kalisch was born in Berlin on May 6, 1855. His father, David Kalisch, was a composer of modern couplets and farces.
In Wiesbaden, where Kalisch often sang at court, the Emperor presented him with a diamond pin. He was also honored with the title of Kammersanger by Duke Ernst Saxen von Altenburg.
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ALEXANDER KIPNIS
ALEXANDER KIPNIS, the famous bass-baritone of the Chicago Civic Opera Company, was born in Zhitomir, Southern Russia, in 1890. The story of his life and his early struggles afford an interesting
insight into the obstacles he surmounted before he reached his present rank among the great singers. Kipnis says of him self:
"My parents were very poor, but they gave me the best education possible un der the circumstances. They were not musical ; in fact, music in any phase was unknown in our home. Until I reached the age of sixteen, I had not even seen a piano. What I did see was poverty, dis tress and hunger (of which my native Russia can tell so many heart-rending tales). Hunger made me sing; hunger was the tyrant that brought forth the singer. When I was twelve years old, my father died and I was forced to carry on his business (he was a merchant) . I could not endure this long. The longing for music became stronger and took possession of my body and soul. I ran away from home and joined a small Russian opera company which traveled from one province to another. I was happy as long as I could breathe the air of the theatre. I fell in love with the Daughter of the director, but it was an unrequited affection. My life during this period alternated be tween sorrows, hunger and work — work in every branch that a small company demands. I was ticket-taker, wardrobe master, stage-hand, wigmaker, singer, and actor. Finally, the police inter fered with us, and our troupe disbanded. Again I faced hunger. I reached Warsaw, studied music there and sang in the choirs, not to become an artist, but only to earn money to live and study further. I was graduated from the Conservatorium as conductor. Then my voice was"discovered. I took the first train out of Warsaw, allowing it to assume the responsibility of my further fate. Its destination was Berlin. There I studied four years with Grenzebach.
"The World War broke out and I was put under arrest. In 1915 I signed up for my first engagements in Hamburg, and during five years there and at the Royal Opera House in Wiesbaden I gathered my opera experience and successes."
After this period, Kipnis appeared in concert in Berlin. His first appearance created a sensation. Henceforth, he was a favorite
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soloist at all the great concerts in Berlin. He sang under the direc tion of Nikisch, Weingartner, and Furtwangler, the latter acting as his accompanist at a concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
In 1922, as a member of the Berlin Opera, Kipnis made his first great tour over the United States under the auspices of the, Wagner Festival Company, associated with Leo Blech. The New York press was unanimous in its praise of Kipnis as an artist of unusual ability. The prominent critics, among them W. J. Henderson, compared his voice to that of Eduard de Keszke. It was at this time that Mary Garden and Georgio Polacco of the Chicago Civic Opera heard the great baritone. Kipnis was immediately engaged for their organ ization, of which he is at present one of its most valued members. Since his appearance with this organization he has been dividing his time and talent between the United States and Germany, where he sings every season.
Kipnis, in reviewing his life, his childhood, his early struggles and hardships, and later achievements, voices the opinion that it was not accident which mapped out a singer's career for him. To use his own words, "It is never by accident that singers become singers. Singers are born."
His roles with the Chicago Opera Company during the season of 1925-26 have included Ochs in "Der Rosenkavalier," Wotan in "Die Walkiire," Escamillo in "Carmen," the Cardinal in "The Jewess," Arkel in "Pelleas et Melisande," King Henry in "Lohengrin," and Albert in "Werther." During the summer of 1925 he married Miss Mildred Levy of Chicago, daughter of Heniot Levy, the noted pianist.
Kipnis is a great concert favorite in America and frequently concertizes throughout the great musical centers of both continents between his operatic appearances. He is frequently compared to Chaliapin.
After a concert appearance in San Francisco on April 24, 1925, the Daily Herald said that "Kipnis got and deserved an ovation for his four Russian folk songs: 'The Rainbow/ 'The Log/ 'The Night/ and the well known 'Volga Boatsong/ He revealed last night a far finer artistry, a much greater depth of feeling than in his previous appearances. As an encore he sang Schubert's 'Seren ade' and made of it a thing glorious almost beyond recognition."
In June, 1925, Kipnis gave a series of concerts in Berlin with the utmost success. Later he concertized with the same results in Paris and other European centers. On March 18, 1926, he gave one of his New York recitals in Aeolian Hall and was enthusiasti cally received.
Kipnis has one of the most lovely voices now being heard either in concert or in opera. Its lower register is a true bass, the upper register is like a baritone. Its range is very wide. He sings the
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lightest and purest pianissimo as well as the strongest and heaviest fortissimo with equal ease and no loss of beauty. What is equally if not more important is that Kipnis has a real musical gift. What he does by way of interpretation could never be learned were the musicianship, the temperament, and the gift of strong feeling not inborn. He accomplishes the highest vocation of art, which is to communicate feeling. Kipnis' voice is most wonderful material in the most cultured state. He has excellent taste, to which is added the gift of penetrating to the core of the significance of his songs.
ISA KREMER
ISA KREMER, widely known as the "International Ballad Singer," is a unique figure on the concert stage today. No other living singer brings so much vividness, realism, and charm to her interpreta tions as does this inimitable singer. Gift ed with great histrionic qualities, her concert presentations assume a lifelike- ness that is altogether lacking in the interpretations of her more stiff and con ventional colleagues of the concert plat form.
Miss Kremer is particularly happy in her Jewish, Italian, and Russian songs, although she is equally great in the other languages in which she thrills her audi ences. She cannot help feeling at home in every language, cannot help respond ing to the throb of every nation's tune. Odessa, her native town, has a tradition that is an embroidery of many cultures. There was?a time when even the street-tablets there were printed in Italian as well as Rus sian; the theater was Italian, the first newspaper French.
No wonder then that her singing carries her vast audiences in all parts of the world back to their native lands. Possessed of a voice that is not of extraordinary range or volume, she succeeds in extracting so much feeling from the music by her profound grasp of its significance. No "golden voiced" prima-donna receives greater applause.
At the age of seventeen Isa Kremer left Odessa for Italy, where she studied in Milan with the famous Professor Ronzi. Four years later she made her debut as Mimi in "La Boheme." Called back to Russia, she sang the title role in "Yolande," Tatiana in "Eugene Onegin," Marta in "The Czar's Bride," Madame Butterfly, Manon, etc.
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In 1916 at the apogee of her success she abandoned the opera for the concert field. Her debut in Moscow made her celebrated all over Russia. Her career since then has been one repetition after another of the first success. She left Russia in 1919, sang in many European capitals, and came to America in October, 1922. Those who were in Carnegie Hall on that occasion will never forget this marvelous and unique afternoon. The critics declared her a true artist with a voice of real operatic quality, rich and expressive.
Isa Kremer is now living in New York, where she is one of the most popular artists before the public.
HULDA LASHANSKA
A PUPIL of Marcella Sembrich and a devoted admirer of the lovely art of that great singer, Hulda Lashanska, is accounted more than any other singer of our day the best example of the fine traditions
of the art of bel canto.
Like her great teacher, Madame Lashanska has thoroughly studied the ancient classical airs of the older Italian composers.
She has a voice of pure and limpid beauty and fine musicianship, recalling Mme Emma Eames.
Lashanska's recitals in New York, which are an annual event, are always a signal for the outpouring of one of New York's choicest audiences. Musicians and singers are there in full force, paint ers, sculptors, writers, and men of the professions as well as the most distin guished amateurs in music that the city possesses. No singer since Sembrich has been able to gather an audience of such quality.
^ This brilliant American soprano has sung with most of the principal orchestras of America, for she is one of the rare lyric sopranos whose repertoire is such that she can "fit into" a sym phony programme. It so happened that Lashanska's appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra was at the same pair of concerts where Mengelberg was the conductor, and even the excitement caused by that notable leader did not prevent due credit being given to the lovely art of the singer.
Hulda Lashanska was born in New York of well-to-do parents and was fortunate in having no financial struggles. But she had
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nearly all the other difficulties which beset the paths of ambitious would-be singers. Her parents objected to her becoming a musi cian. As a young girl she had visions of a career as a pianist and worked arduously for several years to that end. With the rapid development of her voice, she felt she would prefer to become a singer, and the piano was degraded from a "major" to a "minor" in her list of studies. But the work she did as a girl was not wasted. It gave her a thorough foundation in musicianship which has been of inestimable value to her in her art. This musicianship is apparent in every measure she sings.
Hulda Lashanska is thoroughly American, being trained en tirely in this country. The girl was the favorite pupil of the great diva Sembrich, who gave a private concert in Aeolian Hall for "my best pupil."
That was really the beginning of Lashanska's brilliant career. The next season she made her formal debut in New York and was most warmly received. Before another season had passed she was singing with the principal orchestras and giving song recitals to crowded houses — was in fact a great artist, secure in her position.
Hulda Lashanska was forced to absent herself from the concert stage for nearly a year. But during this time she never ceased to study and to practice. On March of 1925 she made an appearance as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski con ducting, in Philadelphia.
Lashanska brings to the stage an uncommon charm and grace of manner. There is a refinement, a delicacy of feeling, and an artistry which is fully up to the standards of the most outstanding singers of today. Her voice is clear and fresh, and she has the vim and fervor of youth.
PAULINE LUCCA
PAULINE LUCCA, who was in her days a star of the very first mag nitude in the operatic firmament, was aptly designated by Oettin- ger a "prima-donna di primo cartello." So great was her fame and so mighty her powers, that Meyerbeer composed especially for her "his immortal and perhaps most popular opera, "Le Pro- phete." It was undoubtedly due to Lucca's great vocal and histri onic powers that this opera at once established itself in the favor of countless audiences. To this day it remains the favorite French opera of the modern repertory.
Pauline Lucca was born in Vienna on April 25, 1841, and re ceived her vocal and musical training from Uffmann and Levy, in Vienna. For practical experience, she joined the chorus of the
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Hofoper, while continuing her studies. In 1859, she was leader of the Jungfern chorus in Weber's "Freischiitz." She first appeared in solo parts at Olmiitz, during the same year, and immediately afterwards appeared in Prague. In 1861 she was given a life con tract with the Berlin Hofoper, and soon became the favorite of the Prussian capital.
Lucca's best roles were in "Don Juan/' "Fra Diavolo," "Car men," and "L'Africaine." In 1869 she married the Baron von Rhaden, but divorced him two years afterwards, marrying a cer tain von Mahlhoffen.
Lucca broke her Berlin Hofoper contract in 1872, whereupon she played and concertized for many years with the utmost success in England, America, Paris, St. Petersburg, etc., until 1882. From 1874 to 1889 she belonged to the Vienna Hofoper, of which she was an honorable member.
The great diva died in Vienna on February 28, 1908.
LILLI LEHMANN
LILLI LEHMANN, the famous German dramatic soprano, was born in Wurzburg, Germany, on November 24, 1843., She was taught singing by her mother (nee Low, of Jewish origin), who was for merly a harp player and prima donna at Cassel, under Spohr, and was the orig inal heroine of several operas written by that master.
Lilli Lehmann's position in the oper atic world was not won suddenly. She made her first appearance in Prague as the First Boy in the "Zauberflote," after which she filled engagements in Danzig (1868) and Liepzig (1870). In the lat ter year she also appeared at the Berlin Opera House. In 1876 she was appoint ed Imperial Chamber-Singer (Kammer- sangerin).
She now began to sing in Wagner's operas, taking the parts of Woglinde and Helmwige. She sang the bird music in Wagner's trilogy at Bayreuth. In 1880 she made a successful appearance in England as Violetta in "Traviata," and again as Philine in "Mignon." She also sang at Her Majesty's Theatre for two seasons. In 1884 she went to Covent Garden, and made a substantial success as Isolde. The following year she vis ited the United States, and for several years was frequently heard
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in German Opera, acquiring a great reputation. In 1892 she was taken ill and returned to Germany. At that time the condition of her health was such that it was feared she would never sing again, but in 1896 she reappeared and was engaged to sing in Bayreuth, where she electrified the world by her magnificent performances. One of the critics wrote regarding the event: "Lehmann is the greatest dramatic singer alive. Despite the fact that her voice is
no longer fresh, her art is consummate, her tact is so delicate, and her appre ciation of the dramatic situation so accu rate, that to see her simply in repose is keen pleasure."
Like all the greatest Wagnerian sing ers, her reputation was made in work of a very different nature. It wasa, indeed, because of her ability to sing music of the Italian school that she was so high ly successful in the Wagner roles, and it may be said that her long career is sufficient refutation of the oft-repeated assertion that Wagner operas rapidly wear out a singer's voice. In 1888, Lilli Lehmann married Paul Kalisch of Berlin, a highly regarded tenor. The marriage took place after an engagement of several years and was carried out in a most informal manner in New York. Kalisch telegraphed one afternoon to a clergyman to the effect that he was coming at five o'clock to be married. The clergyman held himself in readiness, the couple arrived promptly, and the knot was tied. During the few years of retirement, Frau Lehmann-Kalisch resided in Berlin, where she devoted her time to teaching the vocal art, but since her Bayreuth appearance in 1896, she has revisited America, and renewed her former triumphs. Walter Damrosch, then a young man, and assistant conductor of the New York Metropolitan Opera House, is responsible for first bringing Lehmann to America in 1885. A close friendship be tween the conductor and the prima donna ensued, and Damrosch freely acknowledges in My Musical Life his debt of gratitude for the many points of advice she gave him. He says in part :
"Lilli Lehmann, at that time forty years of age, had sung prin cipally the coloratura roles, and with these had made a great local reputation throughout Germany and Austria. She had sung the First Rhine Maiden at Bayreuth in 1876, and an occasional Elsa in "Lohengrin/' but it was not until she came to America that she began to sing the Brunhildes and Isoldes which made her one of the greatest dramatic sopranos of her time. Curiously enough, she insisted on making her first appearance in America as Carmen, a
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role to which she gave a dramatic, tragic, and rather sombre sig nificance, but in which the lighter, coquettish touches were perhaps not sufficiently emphasized.
"Great credit belongs to her for her indomitable will and per severance. Nature had not given her originally a dramatic voice. It was a wonderfully clear and high coloratura soprano, but by persistent practice she developed an ample middle and lower regis ter and made it equal to the emotional demands of an Isolde or a Brunhilde.
"Her acting was majestic. In the first act of "Tristan" and in the second act of "Gotterdammerung" her anger was like forked flashes of lightning. I suppose that her technique of acting would be called old-fashioned today, as those were the days of statuesque poses, often maintained without change for long stretches of time.
"On the afternoon of days that she had to sing "Isolde," she always sang through the entire role in her rooms with full voice, just to make sure that she could do it in the evening. Compare this to those delicate prima-donnas who, on the days when they have to sing, often speak only in whispers in order that their precious vocal cords may not be affected. . . .
"Having achieved so much through her own energy and tri umphed over so many obstacles, she thought that she could similar ly transform her husband, Paul Kalisch, from a lyric to a dramatic tenor. How she worked over and harassed that poor man! She certainly was the stronger of the two, and while his entire inclina tion was toward easy and delightful companionship with others, she forced him to study and to sing for hours at a stretch, but with only partial success as far as his transformation into a real dra matic and 'heroic' Wagner tenor was concerned. It simply was not in his nature to become 'heroic/ and when, as sometimes happened, he committed some blunder, some false entrance while singing Siegfried in the "Gotterdammerung," the glances which Brunhilde cast upon him on the stage were so terrible, so pregnant with pun ishment to come, that from my conductor stand I used to pity the poor man thus compelled to swim around in a pond which was so much larger than he wanted ; and often after such a performance I would find him moodily seated all alone at a table in the restaurant of the hotel with a pint bottle of champagne before him and with no desire to go upstairs and face the anger of his Brunhilde spouse."
One of the brightest and musicianly personalities in the field of her calling, Lilli Lehmann has lived to see a ripe old age. Sur rounded by pupils from all parts of the world, in her home near Berlin, where she now lives, Lilli Lehmann perpetuates her art in the young aspirants. One of her pupils was Marion Telva, the
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successful young singer of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. She has also published her methods in her standard works on the voice. Her book How to Sing is considered among the most valuable works in that field. This book, which was originally writ ten in German, has been translated into English, and has since its first appearance in 1902, seen many editions and translations. In 1913 she wrote another equally valuable book, My Way.
Although Lilli Lehmann's father was a basso of some standing, it was from her mother that she inherited her great musical and histrionic gifts, together with the Jewish blood. Lilli Lehmann speaks in her reminiscences of those far-off years in the following manner :
"I was brought up in Prague, where I made my debut at eighteen years of age. My mother was my first teacher and con stant companion. She was herself a dramatic soprano, well known as Maria Low, and my father, too, was a singer.
"It was in the 'Magic Flute' that I appeared in one of the lighter roles ; but two weeks later, during the performance, the dra matic soprano was taken ill, and I then and there went on with her role, trusting to my memory, as I had heard it so often. My mother, who was in the audience, and knew I had never studied the part, nearly fainted when she saw me come on the stage in the role.
"I appeared not only in many operas, but also as an actress in many plays. In those days opera singers were expected to be pro ficient in the dramatic, as well as the musical side of their art, and were called upon to perform in all the great tragedies. But nowa days this would be impossible, since the operatic repertoire has become so tremendous. The divine art, like nature, has its various works, and Wagner and Bellini represent two extremes."
ANNA MEITSCHIK
ANNA MEITSCHIK, the Russian contralto, has an unusually deep voice, so deep that she has even sung baritone airs. It is related of her that once, at the fair at Nijny-Novgorod, where a perform ance of Rubinstein's opera "Demon" was to be given, the baritone to whom the title role had been assigned was taken ill. Miss Meitschik sang the part and saved the performance.
Anna Meitschik was born in St. Petersburg on October 25, 1878, and was graduated from the Gymnasium at the age of fifteen. A year later she entered the Conservatory, where she studied voice- culture under Carolina Fermi-Giraldoni. At the age of twenty she began her artistic career in Odessa and Tiflis as an operatic singer, and shortly afterwards appeared in Kiev, Kharkov, and Moscow.
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Meitschik has a repertoire of over fifty standard operas, all of which she performed in Russia and abroad in the course of her long career. Her favorite roles are Delila, Fides, and Martha in "Kho- vanstchma." From 1907 to 1914 she sang leading parts at La Scala (Milan), Lisbon, the San Carlo Company of America, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, under Toscanini and Mahler. In the latter organization she made fifty-five appearances, among them Tschaikowsky's "Pique Dame," the Niebelungen Ring of Wag ner, '11 Trovatore."
Since 1912 Meitschik has devoted herself principally to concert, oratorio singing, and teaching, and is at present in New York, where she maintains a vocal studio.
Mme Meitschik's interpretations of the Countess in "Pique Dame" is one of the foundation stones of her reputation in Europe as well as America. She is a thorough artist, and brings an indi viduality into her representations that makes them quite unforget table. Her voice, as well as her acting, is full of rich and individ ual character.
JEAN LOUIS LASSALLE
JEAN Louis LASSALLE is regarded by some historians as being of German extraction (his father's or grandfather's name has been Lasal), but he was thoroughly acclimatized in Paris. His name is
linked to the grand period of the Paris Opera, when Faure, Roge, and other great singers held sway over the operatic boards. Lassalle, the possessor of a great baritone voice, was a product of the Ital ian school of bel canto, which enabled him, like Battistini, to sing to a very ad vanced age. He was a splendid actor as well.
Lassalle was born on December 14, 1847, in Lyons, and made his debut in Liege in 1869, as St. Brie in "Manon," and sang in Paris for twenty-three years, creating many new roles, and oc casionally making tours to other parts of Europe and to America. In Berlin he made a sensation in the parts of Vasca da Gama in "L'Africana," "Don Juan," and others. In 1903 he became professor of singing at the Paris Conservatoire.
This great singer who conquered both continents with his beau tiful bel canto, died in Paris on September 7, 1909.
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GIUDITTA NEGRI PASTA
ALAS, so short-lived is the fame of the great singer that even the name of Pasta, the paragon of dramatic singing of the nineteenth century, who has had more written of her divine art than any of her contemporaries, is now but a dead letter, known to but a few students and lovers of singing. So supreme was the art of this singer, who unfortunately had but a short career, the peak lasting only ten years, that when on the wane of her career she gave a farewell concert in London, the scene of some of her greatest triumphs in 1850, Mme Viardot, daughter of the famous Manuel Garcia, exclaimed, with tears in her eyes: "Her singing is like the 'Last Supper' of da Vinci — a wreck, but still the greatest in the world !"
Giuditta Negri is known to history as Pasta, by reason of her marriage to an obscure singer of that name. She was born of Jewish parents in Como, near Milan, Italy, in 1798. Little is known of her early life and surroundings except that she studied first under the chapel master, and five years later, at the age of fifteen, entered the Conservatory of Milan, where she studied under Asioli.
Pasta made her debut in Brescia, singing a little later in Parma and Leghorn, without arousing any enthusiasm for her voice or art. In 1816 she was in Paris as one of Catalan!' s "puppets/' and in 1817 in London with Feodor; but she made no impression in either city and returned to Italy, practically as unknown as when she left it.
After two years of hard study, in 1819-20, she sang in Milan and Rome with success, and in 1821-22 appeared in Paris, where even the most critical now accepted her as the greatest dramatic singer of the day. Her principal roles were in "Otello" by Rossini, "Tancredi" by the same master, "Romeo et Juliette" by Zingarelli (in which she took the part of Romeo), "Nina" by Paisiello, and "Medea" by Mager, in all of which she was held to be incom parable.
In the tragic parts she had a capacity to thrill her audiences profoundly. The majesty of her carriage and the sweep1 of 'her ges^- tures were superb. She was the "classic artist" par excellence. For six years she alternated between London and Paris, 'then re turned to Italy. Bellini wrote for her "La Sonnambula" (1831) and "Norma" (1832), in both of which she achieved memorable successes. Into every part she played she poured her creative powers so generously that her impersonations made the roles seem real.
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In 1833 she returned to Paris, and wan a fresh triumph in "Anna Bolena," which Donizetti had specially written for her. The capacity always to express the intentions of the composer was Pasta's to an unusual degree and raised her above all the singers of her time, even above Malibran, who possessed a greater voice and was her only rival.
A strange and impressive parallel can be drawn between those two singers who dominated the operatic stages of Europe during the same time. Malibran, endowed with a natural voice and musi cianship in fabulous measure, squandered her gifts on unimpres sive ornament and selfish display, while Pasta, poorly endowed with scant gifts, lifted herself from mediocrity to heights in her art never before approached.
In 1829, Pasta bought a villa near Lake Como, which became her permanent home. There, surrounded by friends and family, she lived quietly until her death on April 1, 1865.
MAURICE RENAUD
MAUEICE RENAUD, considered one of the most outstanding singers in the world, was born at Boreau in 1862. He studied at the Con servatoire in Paris, then under Gevaert and Dupont at Brussels.
, His first appearance was made at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels. He re mained in the latter city for ten years, occasionally making visits elsewhere in the interims of his engagements.
On October 12, 1890, Renaud made his debut as Karnac in "Le Roi d'Ys" at the Opera Comique, Paris, and the fol lowing year at the Grand Opera as Ne- lusko, having previously, in Brussels, created the roles of the high priest and Hamilcar in Reyer's "Sigurd" and "Salammbo" respectively. He was en gaged from 1883 to 1890 in Brussels.
Telramund, Wolfram, De Nevers, Beckmesser, lago, Hamlet, Scarpia, Athanael, Rigoletto, Valentine, Herod, Escamillo, etc., are some of the numerous roles he is said to have acquired.
In 1897 he was a favorite at Covent Garden, and in 1907 at the
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Manhattan Opera House, New York, under Oscar Hammerstein.
Renaud's voice is of full, rich baritone quality, capable of wide and very adroitly modulated range of tonal color, from delicacy to power, from lyric smoothness to piercing poignancy. His sing ing and his characterization in opera seem to be the result of long and penetrating study and of adroit and subtle imagination. His is always a singularly acute intelligence. Every detail is polished and adjusted to its due place in the musical and emotional -whole of the part of song. There is romance as well as reflection in his temperament.
Among his most famous impersonations are Mefistot'ele in Boito's opera of the same name, Rigoletto in Verdi's opera, the monk Athanael in Massenet's "Thais," and Scarpia in Puccini's "Tosca."
The following criticism of Renaud's interpretations of the role of Scarpia and his comparison with that of Scotti will be most in teresting : "The essential difference is the stress that Renaud lays on the cruelty of Scarpia ; Scotti, a hard, unscrupulous, passionate man, who can be cruel as he can be almost anything else that is evil, when occasion and disposition prompt. To Renaud's Scarpia, cruelty has become a second nature and an essential pleasure. He is cruel for the perverse sensual pleasure of cruelty. Renaud's Scarpia suggests a man of far more acute mind than Scotti's."
When the ill-informed and provincial Heinrich Conried suc ceeded Maurice Grau at the Metropolitan Opera House he found in his desk a contract which would have bound Renaud to that theatre for a number of years, but, being ignorant of operatic affairs and of those pertaining to the French stage in particular, he had never heard of Renaud, and let the contract go by default. Oscar Hammerstein, better informed, sought Renaud and kept him as one of the chief ornaments of his company as long as he con tinued to manage the Manhattan Opera House, New York.
One of the leading critics in New York wrote of him in 1910 : "There are as many Renauds as the actor has characters. . . . He is a singer by dint of intelligence and knowledge as well as by grace of voice and labor. . . . He is in possession of an exalted speech that often is more poignant and vivid than the spoken word."
The Musical America of January 4, 1908, wrote: "The out standing feature of the week at the Manhattan Opera House was the revival of 'Don Giovanni,' with Maurice Renaud as the wicked
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heart-crusher. This was one of the most remarkable impersona tions the French baritone gave in New York, and once again it was an impressive demonstration of the singing actor's art." The same journal wrote a month later (February 15, 1908) the following on the occasion of Renaud's farewell appearance at the Manhattan Opera House before leaving for his French engagements:
"The departure of Maurice Eenaud, the French baritone, who made his farewell appearance at the Manhattan Opera House last week, has robbed New York of one of the brightest lights of its operatic stage. All of the New York critics, including the most hypercritical of them, have united in acclaiming the art of this distinguished singing actor with a unanimity they so rarely exhibit as to make it of itself the most eloquent tribute an artist could receive."
GIAGOMO RIMINI
GIACOMO RIMINI, the eminent Italian baritone of the Chicago Opera Company, was born in Verona, Italy, in 1889. Toscanini chose him for the title role in Verdi's "Falstaff," which he con ducted at Milan several years ago. Be fore joining the Chicago Opera Associa tion, he was a member of the Dal Verme Company in Milan. After making his debut in his native city, he sang in the opera houses of Padua, Roviga, and other cities of Italy. His success led to engagements in Venice, Palermo, Naples, and Rome.
For several seasons Rimini has ap peared at the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires. With the Chicago Grand Opera Company, Rimini has scored a big suc cess in "Rigoletto," "II Barbiere di Siviglia," "Falstaff/' "Pagliacci," and other roles of the Italian school.
During the summer of 1917 he was immensely successful in Mexico City. Critics have declared him one of the best interpreters of "Falstaff" ever seen on the operatic stage. He is the possessor of a sonorous voice, somewhat marred by a vibrato. He is a good actor, and shows a fiery temperament in the characters he portrays.
With his wife, the famous Rosa Raisa, he often gives joint re citals, singing arias and duets.
Rosa Raisa and Giacomo Rimini
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ROSA RAISA
"ONCE UPON a time there was a little girl who wanted to be a prima donna. She was very, very poor, but a kind lady came along and gave her the money to go to Italy. She went to a great teacher,
who mothered the little girl and saw that she had enough to eat and showed her how to sing. And then she grew up and sang in a big opera house and made such a success that she went around the world singing in one great city after another. And whenever there was a new part to sing in a new opera they sent for her and she traveled all the way back to sunny Italy to gain new triumphs. She not only won success, but found romance, for she married a handsome young baritone, and they went to the opera house to gether, and sang together, and lived hap pily ever after." "It sounds like a fairy-tale, does it not?" says Rosa Raisa. "But it's really true. I am more surprised at it than anyone else. Everything seems to be coming to me, but I have worked for it for long years."
In speaking of her years in Italy, where she studied under Mme Marchesi, Rosa Raisa said: "I was sent to Italy to study and I was given forty lire a month by some people who were interested in my voice. That was for food, room, clothes — everything. Some times I would have to go without breakfast and sometimes without lunch. One day I fainted and Mme Marchesi began to investigate. She told me not to worry and went to these patrons and told them of my needs. She told them that I must have plenty of food and a room with a piano and lots of air and one woolen dress for the winter and one thin one for the summer. If they could not give me the money, she would herself. They did, and after that I had enough to eat. It was not so easy, but it was good for me. When we are young we can starve and live in garrets. It does not hurt us and it makes success all the sweeter."
Rosa Raisa was born in Bielostock, Russian Poland. Her father's name was Herschel Burnstein. Like many another true genius, she advanced herself under the most discouraging circum stances. A dramatic experience of her early life was her escape from the pogrom that led to the cruel massacre in Kiev. She fled to Italy^ where she studied with Marchesi. In August of 1913 her
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teacher brought her to Parma, Italy, for an audition before Maes tro Campanini, who engaged her immediately for the Chicago Opera Company.
Raisa's debut was made at the Teatro Reggio in Verdi's first opera, "Oberto," the occasion being the centenary celebration of the composer's birth. Her success destined her to be one of the great singers of the time. Later she sang Aida and created the role of Queen Isabella in "Cristoforo Colombo."
Raisa is an accomplished linguist, speaking fluently French, Italian, Russian, Polish, Spanish, German, and English. During her first two years in opera, she mastered twenty-five leading roles in the Italian and French schools. For two seasons she sang with great success at the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires, where she created the leading role in Zandonai's "Francesca da Rimini" and Giordano's "Andrea Chenier." During the 1918 season with the Chicago Opera Company, she appeared in "Falstaff," "Aida," "Ballo in Maschero," and "Norma," which was especially revived on account of her exceptional talents.
Ro^a Raisa does not act like a prima donna. She says: "That is what Mme. Marchesi taught us. She was not only our singing teacher. We lived with her and she planned our lives like a mother. She taught us not to act like the proverbial opera stars, to be sim ple and natural above everything. And she taught us to save money. She used to point out singers of another day who passed their last years in terrible poverty because they had spent all their money recklessly in their youth. She made us realize that the number of years you can sing is limited, and that when you are through you should be able to live comfortably and happily, not keep on singing after your voice is gone because you need the money." Raisa has taken all her teacher's maxims to heart and has already bought a villa (it is the show place of Verona) for her old age. But now that she has achieved success she does not stop to rest on her laurels. She is looking always for new parts to sing, new fields to conquer. So in 1924, she created the part of Asteria in "Nerone," in Milan, and the name part of Puccini's "Turandot" at La Scala.
"This is how I learned Asteria," Raisa narrates : "It was the most terrible experience I ever went through, bub it taught me one thing, that one can drown sorrow in work and that often you do better work for your sorrow. Maestro Panizza went with us when we sailed from America to Italy, for I was to coach with him aboard ship the part of Asteria. I got my part just before I sailed. The third day out Mrs. Panizza died. It was terrifying. She slipped away before our eyes. We had eight days more on the boat. I had to learn my part before we landed. We worked day and night, Maestro Panizza and I. I could hardly stand the strain, and I
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really don't know how he did. And this is the way I learned Asteria. I was ready for the final rehearsals when we arrived."
"I love Italian opera/' she confesses, "I would rather sing it than anything else. I do sing Wagner, of course, but it has not the lyricism that I love so in the Italians. Italy was my second home. I went there when I was fourteen. I was not so happy in my native Russia. I have never been back. Last summer I started, got as far as Vienna, and then turned back. Maybe next year, after the Scala season, I will go there, but only for a visit. I do not want to stay. I only want^ to stay in Italy and in America. I wish I could be in both lands a"t once. That would be perfect bliss."
Since Raisa has become a member of the Chicago Opera Com pany, she has the longest record of service with that organization next to Mary Garden. Seldom has a first performance elicited so warm a personal feeling of the interest which amounts in an audi ence to co-operation as did her Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's opera. It was gratifying to observe the smoothness with which the perform ance had been performed and executed. Raisa's singing, like her acting, sounded new depths of genius. As she has found new graces of characterization, so she had found new refinement of vocal style. As she brought into the role an occasional profundity of tragic force, ever so delicately indicated yet still new to tradi tion, so her use of her unmatched soprano voice gave the score a breadth and fullness it surely has never before known.
"The richness of her voice, like the sound of a prodigious flute, was familiar and was welcome. What was still more welcome was the inference that Raisa has at last found the road to a new sort of study, to the searching for new and subtle means of artistry, to particularization, to imaginativeness, to growth."
In the above words spoke one of Chicago's best-known and fair est critics. It points the fact that Raisa, ii> spite of her enormous successes, is still studying the significance of her art, and is con stantly bringing new improvements into her performances. This is probably the greatest praise that can be given any prima-donna. Rosa Raisa is a gorgeous example of feminine beauty and aristoc racy. She acts with skill and sings with a style and absorption that makes at times even weak music seem worth-while. Her singing is vital, richly colored, almost insolently exuberant. She pours into her music an extraordinary emotional appeal, a limitless volume of glowing tone, and into its histrionic delineation an equal ly passionate emotional sincerity.
Raisa's performance of "Norma" (an opera which was, by the way, written especially by its composer for another Jewish singer of the nineteenth century, the greatest singer of serious roles that ever lived, Guiditta Negri Pasta) electrifies her audiences. In it she gives the most thrilling exhibition of vocal art that has yet been
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heard from any woman singer in over two decades in America. We doubt whether there is one singer who could sing "Norma" half as well as Raisa does. In spite of this great art of Raisa, her greatest glory still remains her voice, a voice that sweeps from the warm sonorities of a contralto to the fine-spun graces of a lyric soprano, that sounds the depths of tragedy, or exults in florid joy, that swells into vibrant gold, ear-filling, heart-searching, compell ing, or tapers into filigree of silver, delicate as a gossamer thread. Rosa Raisa is the wife of the well-known Italian baritone, Gia- como Rimini (whose biography the reader will find on another page of this book) , with whom she often gives joint concerts and appears jointly on the opera stage.
MARIE RAPPOLD
MARIE RAPPOLD, one of the distinguished American singers, has achieved an enviable reputation in both concert and opera. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1880, and studied singing
with Oscar Saenger in New York City. During the early years of her career as singer, this gifted girl sang in church and in concerts in Brooklyn.
In 1906 she was heard by Heinrich Conried in a festival concert in Montauk Theatre and invited to sing for the im presario of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She was immedi ately engaged for the part of Sulamith in Goldmark's opera, "The Queen of Sheba," newly staged in 1907, and made her debut with sensational success, re maining a member of the Metropolitan forces for several seasons. During that time, she sang the roles of "Aida," "Desdemona" in Verdi's "Othello," Marguerite in "Faust," Leonora in "II Trovatore," Euridice in Gluck's "Orfeo," Elsa in "Lohengrin," Venus and Elizabeth in Wagner's "Tannhauser," Micaela in "Carmen," the Forest Bird in "Siegfried," and Inez in Meyerbeer's "L'Af ricaine." Rappold has also created the part of the Princess in Thille's "Lobetanz," and sang at the Bucharest Opera for the season of 1908, receiving the medal for Arts and Sciences from the Queen Carmen Sylva; she was the first singer to attain that distinction. Some years ago Rappold temporarily abandoned the operatic stage in order to devote herself to the study of concert literature.
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She traveled on the Continent in search of novel additions to her already large repertoire. On her return, she again joined the Metropolitan forces, of which she is still a member. In the course of her career, she has made several tours of the United States and Europe.
During the season of 1908 she sang in Paris; in 1911 in Milan, and in 1916 with the Elis Troupe. She was separated from her first husband, Dr, Julius Rappold, in 1906, because of his objection to her artistic career, and in 1913 married the late tenor, Rudolf Berger, with whom she appeared jointly in concerts and at musical festivals.
Despite her continuous professional career, she manages to find time to continue her work with her first and only vocal teacher and coach, Oscar Saenger. In June of 1925, Marie Rappold created the leading feminine role in Frank Patterson's new American opera, "The Echo," at the biennial of the National Federation of Music Clubs in Portland. From Oregon she hurried to New York to sing Aida at the Yankee Stadium. In the summer of 1925, Marie Rappold again went to Europe, returning the following autumn to take up an extended schedule of concert and opera engagements.
ODA SLOBODSKAYA
ODA SLOBODSKAYA is a dramatic soprano whose vocal gifts are of a high order. A stage presence of dignity and serenity is added to her vocal accomplishments. She has a high, powerful, and clear soprano which she uses with skill and musicianly knowledge.
She was born in Russia. After completing her musical studies she became leading dramatic soprano with the former Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg, singing for four successive seasons. Since her resignation, she has given recitals in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Milan, Zurich, Central and South America, and has been heard on two coast-to-coast tours of the United States, re ceiving unusual praise from press and public. While in Paris, she was chosen by Stravinsky to create the leading role in his opera "Mavra," in which she was called a "sensational success."
She sang several times in New York, including the occasion of the debut of the "Clavilux" (light organ) at the Metropolitan Opera House in November of 1926. Here she was greatly ap plauded and gave many encores.
Oda Slobodskaya is a woman of intelligence, personality, and appearance. She is now living in New
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OSCAR SAENGER
OSCAR SAENGER, baritone and eminent teacher of singing, was born on January 5, 1872, in Brooklyn, New York, and is the son of S. Karl and Louise (nee Gresser) Saenger. He began to study the
violin at the age of six and when four teen years old played in concert. As a boy he had a fine contralto voice, which he kept to the age of fourteen. A few years later, his contralto voice changed to a baritone and his father gave him his first voice lessons. Having won a scholarship at the National Conservatory of Music, he studied there under Jacques Bouhy, in singing, taking up dramatic art with Frederick Robinson, the Eng lish actor, also stage action with M. Bibyran (famous dancer). To accom plish his musical education he took courses in theory and harmony with Bruno Oscar Klein.
Saenger sang in church and concert when eighteen years old and made his operatic debut with Heinrich's American Opera Company in 1891, where he sang leading roles. He then made a successful tour of Germany and Austria. For several years af terwards he taught at the National Conservatory in New York, and since 1892 began teaching privately. His pupils were among the first American trained singers (without European study) to make their debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Among his famous pupils are Josephine Jacobi, Marie Rappold, Paul Althaus, Mabel Garrison, Henri Scott, Orville Harold and others.
LJOW SIBIRIAKOFF
IN RECOUNTING the glorious days of the Russian operatic stage of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, we must put down the name of Ljow Sibiriakoff in that Golden Guard in whose midst belonged such singers as Tartakoff, M. Medviedieff, A. Davi- doff, and Oscar Kamyonisky, whose golden baritone rang through the length and breadth of Russia, and whose interpretation, in par ticular of the role of Figaro, were models for all contemporary bar itones.
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Sibiriakoff s voice is a very large basso, skilfully directed, ca pable of emotional significance.
Of all the Jewish names mentioned on the roster of Russia's Golden Guard, only to Sibiriakoff and to Davidoff was it granted to sing at the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg without the humili ation of baptism. Although an old man now, he is still very active on the operatic stages of Western Europe, particularly in Paris.
JOSEPH SGHWARZ
JOSEPH SCHWARZ was one of the greatest operatic baritones, and one of the very few who were equally great on the concert plat form. Possessing a voice of extraordinary compass and penetrat ing beauty and sonority, Schwarz was furthermore an artist to his finger tips, besides being blessed with an appearance which would be the envy of a cinema leading man. Few operatic singers there are who can grasp and transmit the finer shades of Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Singing, and others of the roman ticists, or the stern realism of a Mous- sorgsky, as did this inspired singer.
Joseph Schwarz was born in Riga, and as a boy studied piano. During his youth he sang for a number of years in the synagogues and cathedrals of his na tive city. It was not long before his voice developed an excellent quality. In 1901 he left for Berlin to complete his studies. Soon after, he made his operatic debut as Amonasro in "Aida" at a performance given in Linz, Bohemia. Two seasons at Graz and at Riga brought him gratifying prom inence and an engagement to sing with the Royal Opera Company of Vienna under Gustave Mahler. His fame spread, and after six years at Vienna he was called to Berlin by the Royal Opera Com pany of that city and became its leading baritone.
In 1921 Schwarz came to America where, after a series of successful concert appearances, he was engaged as a member of the Chicago Civic Opera Company.
During the season of 1923-24 he devoted himself chiefly to concert ; he therefore appeared at the Chicago Opera only in guest appearances, but the management of the same Opera Company re-engaged him for the entire 1924-25 season. He has appeared
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in "Traviata," as lago in "Othello", as Scarpia in "Tosca", as Rigoletto (in which role he made his Chicago debut), Wolfram in "Tannhauser," Tonio in "Pagliacci", and in many other parts.
Schwarz gave recitals in Chicago and New York and was soloist with the leading American orchestras.
During the symphony season of 1923-24 Schwarz appeared with the New York Philharmonic, singing the baritone part in the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, and during the season following filled operatic engagements in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and London, signing also an engagement to sing in Milan under Toscanini.
Joseph Schwarz possessed great histrionic power in addition to his musical gifts. His portrayal of Rigoletto, for example, is a model of modern operatic playing. During his 1924-25 London appearances in that role the press was highly enthusiastic over his prowess as singer and actor.
"A mighty fine singer was heard as 'Rigoletto' last night at Covent Garden/7 said the Daily Mail.
"The new baritone, Joseph Schwarz, came to us from Riga by way of Berlin and New York. His voice is of a dark rich bass-baritone type, magnificently ample, and his is a fine dra matic art. He had a serious grip of the grim part of Victor Hugo's buffoon. He was something really Chaliapinesque. No other Covent Garden Rigoletto of these years has been so big a tragic figure. Instead of leaving as usual after the quartette, the audi ence stopped to see his passion in the scene of Gilda's death, and were rewarded."
Schwarz was as great, if not greater, in his favorite Wagner- ian roles.
On February 11, 1922, Schwarz married in New York, Mrs. Clara Sielcken, widow of the late Herman Sielcken, known as the "Coffee King." His first marriage was to Mrs. Hannah Radon of Vienna in 1907, whom he divorced one year later.
This excellent singer succumbed to death in Berlin, November 10, 1926, following an operation for kidney trouble.
LAZAR S. SAMOILOFF
ONE OF America's best known vocal teachers, the operatic and con cert baritone, Lazar S. Samoiloff, was born on January 12, 1877, in Kiev, Russia. He is the son of Samuel and Fannie Samoiloff, who educated the boy at the Gymnasium of Kiev. Later he at tended the medical school in Vienna. With a strong musical pre dilection from his early childhood, it did not take him long to be graduated from the Vienna Conservatory, as well as from the
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Teacher's College in Milan. Samoiloff also received private les sons from August Brodgi. Since then he sang in the leading Rus sian cities, as well as in Vienna and Italy. Samioloff is now one of New York's acknowledged vocal teachers, and to his classes flock pupils from all parts of the country.
Samoiloff has coached and taught such artists as Rosa Raisa, Rimini, Isa Kremer, Curt Taucher, and a host of others. He also conducts * 'Master Classes" in the cities of the Pacific Coast during the summer months.
ERNESTINE SGHUMANN-HEINK
LIKE LILLI LEHMANN and Busoni, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, the world's greatest operatic and concert contralto, inherited the musical gifts of the Jewish race from her mother Charlotte (nee
Goldman) Roessler.
To put into words the art, career, and life of this incomparable singer is a task for a master of belles-lettres, plus a music reviewer.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink was born in Lieben, near Prague, on July 15, 1861, and was educated at the Ursuline Con vent in Prague. Her family had no faith in her future as a singer. Later she studied singing with Marietta von Le- clair, in Graz. The girl made her debut at the age of fifteen, singing the con tralto solo in Beethoven's Ninth Sym phony, with the Akademie Gesangsverein in Graz. The young singer then sang for the director of the Vienna Opera, in the hope of securing an engagement, which might prove to her father and mother the wisdom of her choice of a life work. But here she was roughly discouraged. Nevertheless, the young lady persisted, and opportunity finally came in the form of a debut at the Dresden Royal Opera, as Azacena in "II Trova- tore." She remained a minor member of the Dresden Opera until her first marriage, which caused her to lose her position.
She resumed her musical career as soloist at the Court Church, meantime studying under the guidance of Krebs, Franz Wiillner, and Frau Kreb-Michalesi, to whom belongs the honor of having so splendidly prepared her for the long career that was to follow. Fraulein Roessler, now Ernestine Heink, by her marriage to her first husband (in 1882), accepted a minor position under the
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new name in 1883, when she substituted as Carmen without a rehearsal, at the Hamburg Royal Opera House, and scored a de cided triumph. Mme Heink turned this chance to such account that she was soon thereafter presented in the role of Fides in "Le Prophete." Not long thereafter she was invited to become first contralto of the Berlin Royal Opera and attracted great attention as guest at Kroll's Theater in Berlin (1888). In 1891 we find her triumphing in Scandinavia; in 1892 in London; in 1893 in Paris; in 1898 at Covent Garden, London ; and again at the Berlin Royal Opera from 1899 to 1904, alternating with appearances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
Of particular significance during that period were her appear ances as first contralto at the celebrated Bayreuth Festivals, reg ularly from 1896 up to the World War which brought those Fes tivals to a temporary close.
It is worthy of mention that Mme Schumann-Heink made her formal American debut, not with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but with the Chicago Opera on November 7, 1898, as Ortrud in "Lohengrin." It was from there that she was immediately enticed into the ranks of the New York Metropolitan Opera House.
The story of Ernestine Schumann-Heink's triumphs in the United States, where she now makes her home, would make a long story. It is one filled with recognition of a sort which comes to only a chosen few in any generation. Her immediate acceptance by the critical patrons of the New York Metropolitan Opera House was a tribute which predicted to a large extent the future of this exceptional artist. Those early days at the New York Metro politan found her an artist completely routined in the great tra ditions of opera ; an artist with a voice conceded to be one of the finest heard, and used with a technical perfection few singing voices^ have revealed. Then there was the emotional warmth, coupled with an intellectual understanding, which made her inter pretations unique.
Time passed, and little by little the concert stage beckoned to this illustrious singer. Back and forth across the American con tinent, Europe, and Australia, went the singer. City after city, and country after country was visited, then revisited time and again. She had developed her own faithful legion, which turned up loyally whenever she appeared.
The evolution of Mme Ernestine Schumann-Heink's name de serves a few words of explanation: Born Roessler, she appeared up to 1883 under her maiden name. After her first marriage to Ernst Heink (by whom she had four children) she appeared under the name of Ernestine Heink. After her second marriage to Paul Schumann, the actor (to whom she bore three children), she com bined the names of her two husbands, and began to appear under
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the full name by which she is now known to the world. Her third husband's name is William Rapp, Jr., a Chicago attorney.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink created the part of Clytemnestra in Richard Strauss's opera "Elektra" in 1909. This not only re quires an exceptional voice but histrionic powers of an extraor dinary degree, both of which were found in ample abundance in this unusual personality.
Schumann-Heink is considered one of the very greatest Wag- nerian contraltos. After many years' absence from the operatic stages, the New York Metropolitan created a momentous stir in operatic circles by bringing her back to its illustrious roster in February of 1926, the occasion being that diva's golden jubilee.
On that night (February 25, 1926) Wagner's "Reingold" was given, on the eve of Ernestine Schumann-Heinle's fiftieth year as a public singer. The recipient of this signal and unique honor appeared in the role of Erda. Well might Erda have borrowed the words of Brunhilde, "Lang War Mein Schlaf." The great contralto sang with an astonishing volume of tone and enunciated the words with all her old-time mastery and expressiveness. There are few singers in the world who can deliver music in the grand manner she does. Her Erda had all its old dignity, its familiar command of the great style of the Golden Age of Wagner. Her ability to color her tones with the mood of the dramatic moment contains a lesson for younger interpreters of Wagner. Of course, she was greeted as an unforgettable and most welcome friend.
As a climax to her '"farewell" golden jubilee of the United States, she appeared as soloist in two concerts with the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch, on December 16 and 17.
At the matinee concert a feature was the presentation of a jeweled brooch to Mme Schumann-Heink from the directors of the Symphony Society, Harry Harkness Flagler, president of the so ciety, making the presentation speech. The audience stood up to welcome Mr. Damrosch and Mme Schumann-Heink when they ap peared, and remained standing during Mr. Flagler's address. Mme Schumann-Heink was given a "tusch" by the orchestra.
Mr. Flagler's speech of presentation to Mme Schumann-Heink was as follows:
"My dear Mme Schumann-Heink:
"You are celebrating this year the fiftieth anniversary of your first appearance on the concert stage by a golden jubilee which is carrying you through the length and breadth of this land.
"Everywhere grateful hearts again respond to the magic of your voice and art, but New York claims a special price in this noteworthy year, in that it was the scene of your early triumphs in the operatic world.
"Those of us who were fortunate enough to hear the great
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Wagnerian performances of the early years of 1900 at the Metro politan Opera House can never forget the wonderful impersona tions which you called into being. Your Ortrud, Fricka, Bran- gane, Waltraute, Erda, made a gallery of operatic portraiture which quickly became, and remained, the standard one.
"Today you return to us in the splendor of your matured art to renew the joys of the past, and to give to the younger genera tion an example of singing and interpretation in the truly grand style.
"The Symphony Society has had evidence in the past of your generous and warmhearted interest in its welfare, and today it is again honored by your appearance at this concert.
"On behalf of its officers and directors, I have the pleasure of presenting to you this brooch, in token of their gratitude and affec tionate admiration, with the hope that for a long time to come the world may be made happier and better by your beautiful art."
It was some moments before Mme Schumann-Heink could reply, not only because of the emotion which plainly held back her words, but because the audience. — standing like the orchestra — applauded vigorously and long. Then she referred to her singing for "her boys," the soldiers, and pledged that as long as she lived her art would be available to help "your girls."
"I have been told I am interested only in the boys," she said. "Well, maybe I am. But now I am going to be interested in the girls, too. I will give to them all my help I can."
There were characteristic shrugs and gestures, an orchestral player was patted on the shoulder, another smiled as a finger was shaken under his nose, and it was possibly five minutes after the gift had been acknowledged before the applause subsided.
Friday evening's audience again rose in homage for Mr. Dam- rosch and for the favorite singer when she entered, regal and benign as ever, in a white gown. Mr. Damrosch kissed her hand. At the conclusion of her second solo a huge testimonial wreath in gold was carried up to the stage. There were not a few touches of informal good humor in the impromptu address which George Barrere, first flutist and one of the older members of the orchestra, made in conferring honorary membership in the orchestra upon the singer. He paid tributes to her great artistic achievements and her personal charm and womanliness, saying, "We are all your pupils" — with a gesture including the house.
Mr. Barrere presented a hand-engraved parchment scroll wel coming her as a member of the orchestra. The inscription on the scroll, which he read, was as follows:
"WHEREAS, Mme Ernestine Schumann-Heink is a great singer, whose art after fifty years of triumph remains perennially young ; and whereas Mme Schumann-Heink, having received them at first
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hand, has faithfully preserved and inspiringly transmitted to the present generation the purest Wagnerian traditions :
"WHEREAS, Mme Schumann-Heink is scarcely more renowned for her artistry than for her personal charm and her womanliness ; and whereas during her recent appearances as soloist with the New York Symphony Orchestra in Washington, Baltimore, Phila delphia and New York, Mme Schumann-Heink especially endeared herself, by virtue of her unsurpassed Wagnerian interpretations, her amiability and her personal magnetism to the members of the New York Symphony Orchestra.
"RESOLVED that as a token of their homage to the artist, and of their admiration for the woman, the members of the New York Symphony Orchestra, whose names are hereto subscribed, do here by confer upon Mme Schumann-Heink honorary membership for life in the New York Symphony Orchestra."
The orchestra played the Valkyrie's theme. Mme Schumann- Heink acknowledged the tributes with characteristic gestures of humorous depreciation, and she made a brief but hearty reply in which she said that "she had previously been a mother to all the boys of the United States Army, but now she found that she was to be mother also to a whole symphony orchestra. " She concluded with a pledge that she would always be ready to aid any member of the orchestra who should bring any sort of difficulty to her. She was recalled again and again to the stage.
At the luncheon on Tuesday, December 14, Henry W. Taft, chairman of the League for Political Education, presided. Mme Schumann-Heink was given a souvenir testimonial in a hand somely engraved portfolio. The testimonial contained tributes from the board of governors of the Town Hall and, in addition, from many leaders in the world of music. The singer was pre sented with fifty-one roses in honor of her golden jubilee by Mr. Taft.
The formal testimonial from the Town Hall read: "We pay tribute today to the beauty of a glorious voice, but even more to the beauty of a noble character. We do homage to a great artist, but even more to a great soul.
"The ideal use of a rarely precious gift, work — patient, brave persistent work, unselfishness, self-denial, self-sacrifice, faithful ness to the duties of motherhood, devotion to the country to which allegiance had been pledged when it cost much — it is for these things that we honor you.
"We give you our hearts' love. We wish you many years to come of triumph and happiness. May your ways be ways of pleas antness and all your paths be peace."
The guests included Geraldine Farrar, Mrs. Theodore Roose velt, Jr., Antonio Scotti, Josef Hofmann, Artur Bodanzky, Harry
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Harkness Flagler, Richard Aldrich, Frances Alda, Mrs. William H. Bliss, Ernest Schelling, Francis Rogers, Harold Bauer, and Frederick Steinway. Testimonials also were sent by Giulio Gatti- Casazza, William J. Guard, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Marcella Semb- rich, Mary Lewis, Frederick A. Stock, and Leopold Auer. The speakers were Mrs. Robert Erskine Ely, Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Walter Damrosch, James Speyer and Mr. Flagler.
When the final pages of musical history are written the name of Ernestine Schumann-Heink will appear conspicuously. And there will be attached to that name a record extending over half a century of artistic achievements; achievements in both opera and concert, in which voice, interpretative resources and human kindliness have combined.
Mme Schumann-Heink had a particularly unfortunate role as mother in the World War, for one son had enlisted for Germany in 1914, and another for America in 1917. One of these was killed.
She is a devoted mother and grandmother; yet retains more vitality in her old age than many a young girl. She is extremely sympathetic, kind, and charitable to a fault.
HEINRIGH SONTHEIM
How FEW of us know the names of the great tenors of a generation ago. Yet the name of Sontheim was famous as that of a real singer and the possessor of a heroic tenor of marvelous strength and beauty. It is a pity the phonograph was invented so late, otherwise we would even now have the delight of listening to his voice, as we listen to that of the immortal Caruso and others.
Heinrich Sontheim was born in Lebenhausen on February 3, 1820. He first studied the violin under Plessner in Gopenheim and made great progress on that instrument, but nature apparently intended him to be a singer. To the Wurthenberg minister Fel- nagel, fell the lot of "discovering" him. He sent the boy to Stutt gart, where he found a patron in the wealthy Joseph F. Kaull. Sontheim lived at his patron's home and was coached in various operatic parts by the two court singers, Geser and Kunst (of the Italian school), and the baritone Kramer, engaged by Kraull. Two years later (October 18, 1839) Sontheim made his debut in the part of Sever in "Norma," in Karlsruhe, and was immediately en gaged for the season. Later he played with great success the part of Othello. On one of his successful concert tours (1850), he was offered a contract for life in the Stuttgart Opera. There he re mained till 1872.
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During his long career Sontheim sang under more than fifty conductors, among whom were Spohr, Meyerbeer, Abt, Suppe, and Proch. Sontheim made his farewell concert tour to South America in 1878, together with the famous negro violinist, Brindisi de Sal
Sontheim received many decorations and medals from kings and princes throughout the world.
He died in Stuttgart, August 2, 1912, at the age of ninety-two.
MAURICE STRAROSGH
THE NAME of Maurice Strakosch, singer and impresario, will always be mentioned with those of the famous divas of the nineteenth century, particularly with that of Adelina Patti, whose brother-in- law he was; Emma Thursby, whose protege he was; Minnie Hauck, Christine Nilsson, and other celebrities, whose vocal powers he could turn to practical and financial advantages as few others could.
Maurice Strakosch was born in 1825 in Lemberg, Moravia. He was a close relative of the poet Alexander Strakosch, and a cousin of Ludwig Strakosch, the famous singer. Maurice Strakosch was such an excellent pianist when a boy that when but eleven years old, he gave a public concert in his home town, and later toured the large centers of Austria and Germany. Later in life he discovered in himself a voice and was engaged as tenor in Agram, but the scanty wage of thirty florins did not satisfy him, and he went to Italy. There he met and made friends with Giuditta Pasta, who initiated him in the ten commandments of the bel canto maestros, material which he later incorporated in a special work.
In 1845 Strakosch came to the United States to try his luck in the land of dollars. The Italian opera in New York was then pass ing through a dire crisis, and its director, Salvatore Patti, father of Adelina and Amelia, was on the verge of bankruptcy. Our young pianist and tenor, who never hesitated to take a chance, invited Salvatore Patti's troupe for one concert, which took place on Octo ber 2, 1849. The successful results of this concert gave Strakosch courage to continue his activities as impresario. From that con cert (he was then only twenty-five) dates his career in this field. After two years he married Charlotte Amelia Patti, the older sister of Adelina. The latter, then only eight years old, already appeared at these concerts of her brother-in-law, who seriously began to develop her splendid voice. It was undoubtedly due to this early guidance and training under such a musician as her brother-in-law that the diva became one of the most popular singers of all times.
In 1859 Strakosch took the directorship of the Italian opera in
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New York, together with another famous Jewish impresario, Uhl- mann. On November 24 of the same year, Adelina Patti made her operatic debut under his directorship. The girl met with such extraordinary success that Strakosch agreed to share profits on a half-and-half basis. Under this condition Patti made her famous triumphs in London, St. Petersburg, through the United States, and all over the world. This unheard of success could not be ex plained by the genius of the singer alone; the inventiveness and skill of the impresario Strakosch, who made such skilful use of advertising, helped not a little towards that end.
Maurice Strakosch was an impresario of the old school, shrewd and polished in his manners, who very cleverly advertised the high personal character of the young singers and especially their great "purity," vowing that acquaintance with them, hardened old sinner that he was, had made him a better man. When Adelina Patti married the Marquis de Caux in 1868 (adjutant to Napoleon III), a complete break ensued between her and Strakosch, who was out spokenly against this marriage. Peace between them was signed in 1878, when she was already married to the tenor Nicolini, at which time Strakosch consented to undertake her management.
By his shrewdness and masterful business ability, he increased his fortune to such proportion that in his latter years he lived like a prince. In 1869 he presented "Petit Mass Solennelle," a post humous work of his close friend Rossini, and this brought new profits. Alboni, who was invited to sing in the Mass, received dur ing the three months' engagement the fabulous sum of 240,000 marks. To Rossini's widow, Strakosch paid in royalties 80,000 marks.
The impresarionic activities tired Strakosch in his latter years, and he found pleasure in giving free singing lessons to gifted stu dents. He died on August 4, 1902, in Paris.
Together with his brother Max, he managed the Apollo Theatre in Rome, and the Salle Ventadour in Paris from 1873 to 1874. He was also manager of the Baltimore Music Hall.
JOACHIM TARTAKOFF
JOACHIM TARTAKOFF, Russian bass-baritone, was born in South- Russia in 1860. In 1881 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with the silver medal, and the same year joined the Palscha Operatic Company in Odessa as first baritone. From 1882 to 1884 he was a member of the Marinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and later sang in the Russian provinces. In 1894 he was again engaged by the Marinsky Theatre, where he sang with great success, till his sudden death came.
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He also^ appeared in Berlin, Copenhagen, Manchester, Liver pool, Birmingham, and many other cities of Europe.
Tartakoff's art was unusually musical and impressive, and he was justly considered one of Russia's greatest, vocally as well as histrionically. He received many signs of approbation from Europe's royalty and was a universal favorite with all who knew or heard him. He died in an automobile collision in St. Peters burg in 1920.
JAMES WOLFE
JAMES WOLFE, beloved basso of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, was born in Riga on the Baltic, in 1890. His musical history began when he was a mere child, playing truant from
school to dance in the Riga Opera. His family destined him to follow the career of all its men, and to become a director of the Riga Stock Exchange, as his father and grandfather were before him. But music was James' life, and the Riga Opera discovered his voice and educated him to sing.
Wolfe gives the following brief but characteristic account of his early days and the opposition he had to overcome: "I was born in Riga of very religious parents. Until I was twenty I did not eat 'treif e,J because I had no occasion to, My first appearance on the opera stage was as a child, in the Ballet, and that was all right. But when I decided to sing, then the trouble began. It took me years and years to convince my parents that singing was not in a class with horse-stealing or some other such business."
While still a youth, he travelled to Berlin, and there took les sons from Professor Ott. In that city he made his appearance in the ''Magic Flute" in the role of the Priest. There followed three years of growing success in Berlin Opera, with summer en gagements in concert and oratorio which took Wolfe into Austria, Holland, England and France and finally to Switzerland, where his success was so great that he was engaged as leading basso in the Berne Opera. During the five years that he was with the Berne Opera he became Switzerland's most famous visiting singer, and sang throughout the country in opera, concert and oratorio. But the chaotic conditions in his native country, and the revo-
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lution which made Latvia a republic, together with the sufferings he had witnessed as a Red Cross worker during the war, con vinced him that his future was not in Europe, but in America. So he refused an offer to become leading Wagnerian basso with the Paris Opera, and set out for America with the first of the Russian Opera Companies to come to that continent after the world war. The company failed, but the critics acclaimed Wolfe when he sang the Cardinal in Halevy's "La Juive."' And though the young singer was a stranger in a strange land and did not know a dozen words of its language, he began to prepare himself for citizenship and to study the language.
For a few years following, after a period of hardship such as many artists have had to endure, Wolfe sang a season with the Mexican Centenary Opera, a season as leading Wagnerian basso of the Chicago Opera, and summer engagements with the Ashe- ville and St. Louis operas. He was finally engaged with the New York Metropolitan Opera Company as one of the principals in 1923, and has already completed his third successful season with that organization.
It is of some interest that Wolfe's rise to prominence in Amer ica is due to an enterprise of a few nationalistic Jews in New York, who decided to give a performance of several of the standard operas in the Yiddish dialect. They had decided on "La Juive" of Halevy, as being a representative work that would suit the nature of their enterprise. Wolfe sang the part of the Cardinal, and so impressive was his impersonation of that evil genius of the play, that he was almost immediately signed up with the Chi cago Opera Company. Although the enterprise on the whole has failed, and no more operas were given, the undertaking has served this one purpose of bringing a great Jewish singer to the fore in America.
James Wolfe is an artist of fire, intelligence and imagination. His deep bass voice has ringing baritone notes on its upper register, and vibrates with basso profundo on its low tones. His voice is rich and beautiful and has range and power.
With the spirit and intelligence to sing a rollicking march song so that the audience feels inclined to join in the chorus, James Wolfe has the taste and musical understanding to bring reverence and deep emotion to his rendition of sacred song and oratorio. He is a fine actor and a musician of cultivated taste and knowledge. His success has been growing in America and may surpass that which he sacrificed when he left the capitals of Europe to come to the country of his choice.
In 1925 James Wolfe married Miss Lillian Lauferty, a famous New York journalist, who writes in one of the metropolitan dailies under the nom-de-plume of Beatrice Fairfax.
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HERMANN WEIL
FEW CONTEMPORARY German singers have won such wide popular ity as the baritone Hermann Weil, who was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on May 28, 1878. He is the son of Manuel and Barbara (nee Hoerr) Weil. Hermann received his education in the Stutt gart Gymnasium, and began his musical studies early under Mottl. Later he began studying the intricacies of the vocal art with Adolph Dippel. In 1900, the young singer's debut was as Wol- from in "Tannhauser," in Baden, where he made a deep impres sion. He has since been heard in Bayreuth and at the Prinzregen- ten Theatre, Munich, as well as in London, Milan, Vienna, Am sterdam, Budapest, Berlin, and many other cities.
Weil came to New York as a member of the Metropolitan Op era Company in 1911, and is said to have been "discovered" by Siegfried Wagner, son of the illustrious Richard Wagner, who heard the young singer in the part of Sachs in "Meistersinger" at the Royal Opera in Stuttgart, in 1910.
Weil created many new roles in Germany and America. He specializes in Wagnerian heroic baritone parts,, but he also gives much attention to songs and oratorio. His striking qualities as an artist are the power of .his delivery and the rich amplitude of his voice.
Hermann Weil has been the recipient of the honorary title of "Koniglicher Kammersanger" from the king of Prussia, as well as of four other high orders.
He is furthermore a fine composer, having to his credit many songs of rare distinction.
OTHER INSTRUMEN TALISTS
SIMEON BELLISON
SIMEON BELLISON, clarinet virtuoso, was born in Moscow, Russia, on September 4, 1884. He manifested musical talent at an early age and at eleven began to study the clarinet with his father. The
next year he was heard by the late Saf- onoff, the great Russian conductor, and at the time director of the Moscow Im perial Conservatory. Safonoff was so impressed with the talent of the boy that he placed him in the clarinet class of Professor Friedrich. Upon graduation with honors from the Moscow Conser vatory, Bellison was appointed solo clar inetist of the Opera House as well as a member of the Moscow Symphony Or chestra. He remained with the two or ganizations for a period of ten years, during which time he played under prac tically every famous European conductor visiting Russia.
A great love for chamber-music prompted him to participate in every leading ensemble organization in Moscow and finally to organize his own ensemble, which eventually toured throughout Russia. In 1910 he became a member of the symphony orchestra of Koussevitzky, the present conductor of the Boston Symphony. In 1915 Bellison passed the competitive examination for member ship in the orchestra of the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera, the erstwhile goal of every orchestra musician in Russia.
Simeon Bellison has from 1900 to this day been one of the most active members in the cause of Jewish National Folk Music, particularly as regards its instrumental aspect. Together with Engel, the father of the movement, he did more than his share in collecting, editing, and arranging Jewish folk-lore.
In 1902 he organized the "Moscow Quintet for National Jewish Music," and gave a whole series of concerts throughout Russia, Poland and Latvia. In 1918, when musical activities in Russia were at a standstill, Bellison nevertheless organized in St. Peters burg a second Jewish ensemble named "Zimro," and under the flag of the Russian Zionist Organization started a pilgrimage over the world. During the three years of its existence this ensemble played Jewish music in the Ural, Altay, in all large Siberian cities, China, Japan, India, Canada, and finally in the United States. In 1925 Bellison organized in New York the "String Wood
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446 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
Ensemble," consisting of six musicians, and following the policies of the erstwhile "Zimro."
Bellison is practically the only clarinetist who has appeared as soloist on the classic stages of Europe and America, particularly in Jewish music. He was also and still is active in universal sym phonic music. While still under the Czar in Russia, he was one of the founders of the "Moscow Orchestral Union/' and under Kerensky organized the "Ail-Russian Union of Orchestras." For ten years he managed several symphonies and operatic orchestras. Bellison is furthermore active in the establishment of a Conser vatory in Palestine, and is going to present it with his great col lection of wind-instruments. He is the owner of an invaluable library of Jewish music, which he has promised to donate to the proposed Conservatory.
Since his arrival in America in 1921, Bellison has been solo clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Men- gelberg, Furtwangler, Toscanini, Reiner, Socoloff, etc., continuing at the same time his propaganda for Jewish music in an educa tional sense.
In the two years of its existence, his "String Wood Ensemble" has already established for itself a permanent place in the musical life of America, for this ensemble is not limiting itself to the execution of purely Jewish music (although it does give more attention to this than any other existing organization of its kind in the United, States), but plays with equal facility and perfection the chamber music works of the past and present masters of all climes: Brahms, Mozart, Glazounoff, etc.
This ensemble is a welcome addition to musical offerings in the country of its founder's adoption. There are quartets, trios, little symphonies and various other chamber music ensembles of all sizes and musical physiognomies in this country. Some of them have been too stereotyped to appeal to large classes of music lovers, others too unwieldy to offer a program of real musical worth and at the same time of wide variety. In organizing the "String Wood Ensemble," its members feel that they have limited themselves to an ensemble of the right size for the successful up building of a permanent musical organization, which would have at its disposal an unlimited repertory of musical works and would be in a position, through a sincere devotion to a common musical purpose, to serve the highest ideals of ensemble music.
The several highly successful concerts and illustrative pro grams already presented by this fine organization have already won it hosts of enthusiastic friends.
The other members of the ensemble are: Joseph Stopak, first violin; Samuel Kuskin, second violin; Michail Cores, viola; Abra ham Borodkin, 'cello; and Arthur Loesser, piano. Since August of 1927, the first violin chair has been assumed by S. Kotlarsky.
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THE GHERNIAVSKY TRIO
LEO, JAN, AND MISCHEL CHERNIAVSKY received their initial les sons in music from their father, Abraham Cherniavsky, a musical scholar and conductor in the Ukraine. When they made their
first tour of Russia at an incredibly early age, the premature development of their fine faculties and the really extraordin ary brilliance of their work made their name a household word. They achieved success without a parallel in the musical history of their country, and then, en couraged by the highest praise of critics, decided that there were other spheres to conquer.
Since 1901 they have ranged every quarter of the globe, and have been ac knowledged in five continents as belong ing to the first rank of executive artists. In Germany, Austria, England, the United States, Canada (where they were naturalized as British subjects on the first of May, 1922) , Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, China, Japan, and South America, they have mus tered a vast following of enthusiasts.
In 1906 they delighted London as infant prodigies; in 1912, on their second visit, an appreciative press proclaimed that they had more than fulfilled the promise of their childhood. And now that childhood and boyhood both passed by, they have justified even the rosiest expectations.
The most striking feature of the Cherniavsky work is that three powerful and temperamental artists, all individuals, should appear to such perfection as a trio. Each one is the exact comple ment of the other two. There could not be greater understanding, sympathy, and unity of purpose than exists between these brothers. The artistic feeling of the Cherniavskys was inborn; their fluency, skill, and mathematical precision were acquired through hard and continuous study together, often extending into the small hours of the morning, even in their boyhood.
Among music lovers, it is often a matter of interesting discus sion as to what constitute the essential points that go to make up a fine trio of musicians. The most important quality is undoubt edly sympathy. The members of the trio must be in complete ac cord, not only in their work but in all their relations with one another. There must be no friction or jealousy, either in their
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private or public life. The second essential quality is ensemble or unity of idea and expression in interpretation. This can only be acquired by years of constant association and practice together. Brought up side by side, taught that what belongs to one belongs to all of them, playing not only trios but solos for twenty-five years — all these factors blended with genius and intellectual and emotional enthusiasm, have produced in the Cherniavskys, a trio which is quite incomparable.
Mischel, the 'cellist, was the sixth of nine extraordinarily gifted children. He was born in Uman, in the province of Kiev, in 1893. When -four years old, Mischel Cherniavsky began to study the vio lin; but he yearned so ardently for a 'cello that his father was obliged to give him one and teach him how to manipulate strings and bow. He studied 'cello with Verzbilovitch, finishing with Pop per. He formed a trio with his brothers, Jan (pianist) and Leo (violinist), and toured Russia for three years; Germany, Holland, France, Vienna (1904), London and the English provinces (1906), South Africa (1908-09), and London again in 1911. In 1912 they toured India, New Zealand, and Australia, until 1914, and made their American debut in New York on October 17, 1916. During the season of 1917-18 they remained in the United States, arousing praise by their concerts from connoisseurs and critics.
Saint-Saens considered Mischel Cherniavsky's rendering of his magnificent Concerto in A minor perfect and prophesied a golden future for him. Nesbitt, that celebrated Epicurus of music, went further and wrote on one occasion : 'In little Mischel Cherniavsky the world may one day recognize its greatest 'cellist."
Mischel looks upon his beloved instrument as almost the per sonification ,of music, and in this he makes his listeners feel with him. His superb bowing seems to call voices, more than human, from the strings. Sometimes the simplicity of his touch is sweet and ingenuous ; sometimes he awakes a whirl of emotions in a single harmony.
Jan, the pianist, made his entrance into the world in Odessa, Russia, on June 25, 1892. From early infancy, when he played rhythmic games on the drums of his father's orchestra, it was ap parent that he was destined for a musical career. He passed from the tuition of his father to Mme Goldenweiser, a pianiste of great distinction in Odessa, and then to the Conservatory of that city. The Conservatory took particular pride in the young enthusiast who had a genius for hard work and a vitality which enabled him to rise at four o'clock in the morning to practice at his chosen in strument, the piano. He labored prodigiously, and made his first Concert Tour with his brother Leo at the age of seven. Some years later in Vienna, under the guidance of the wonderful teacher, Leschetitzky, he perfected his already brilliant technique and ac-
Other Instrumentalists 449
quired the musical knowledge which has placed him among the greatest living pianists.
Leo, the violinist, was born in Odessa on August 30, 1890. He was first presented to the public as a violinist at the age of six, when his remarkable performance, clear and facile in intonation and flawless in execution, made him something more than a nine days' wonder.
Leo studied violin under Wilhelmi. Before he was past adoles cence, he had played in almost every country in the world. His exceptional technique is never sacrificed to his splendid tempera ment ; nor is his individuality lost in perfect execution. Admirable as he is in great violinistic works, when he interprets an Adagio or a Romance, the violin is forgotten, and one seems to hear only the human voice. He has that magnetism which may make the simplest little air an enchantment, and he can weave a new spell into an old melody.
Revering the life-work of the Cherniavsky Trio as a hallowed and beautiful thing, it is not surprising that the Cherniavskys have reached the high pinnacle on which they now stand.
MIKHAIL JOSEPH GUSIKOFF
ONE OF the most interesting virtuosos is Mikhail Joseph Gusikoff, born in 1809 in the little town of Schklov (Government of Movilev, Russia) . He constructed for himself an instrument of wood and straw, and conjured from it such tones that he aroused great en thusiasm in his audiences among musicians. His father, a poor flutist, was the boy's guide and teacher.
In 1831 Gusikoff fell a victim to tuberculosis, to which he finally succumbed six years later. He abandoned his flute, and took to playing the instrument of his own invention. His fame spread over all Russia. In Kiev he met the famous Polish violinist Lippinski, then concertizing in those parts, who once said to him: "Frankly, you are a greater artist than I; I make use of a ready medium, whereas you are creating your own."
In Odessa, where Gusikoff gave concerts at the Italian theatre, he met Count Vorontzov, in whom he found a patron, and who in vited him to his palace. There he played in the presence of the famous Lamartine, then traveling in those regions. In Vienna, where he played, the young man created a veritable furore. The artist died like a warrior on the battle-field— at the theatre with his instrument in his hands.
GOAL SAJLESKI
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
BY MAURICE M. ALTERMANN
It was none too easy to secure Mr. Saleski's consent to have his own biog raphy included in this volume. He first protested against being included in his own volume, but was ^finally prevailed on to permit himself to be verbally photographed. ^ He is entitled to a place in this volume, for he is an unusually talented musician and a performer on the 'cello, with innumerable successful appearances both here and in Europe to his credit. I have therefore prepared the following sketch.
GDAL SALESKI, internationally celebrated 'cellist, and author of this volume, was born on February 11, 1888, in Kiev, Southern Russia. His father, Joseph, was a jeweler. Like most of the musically
gifted, Gdal showed his predilections for music at a very early age. When about six or seven years of age he had a fine soprano voice and could sing the songs and melodies that he chanced to hear by ear. When eight years old, his voice growing stronger, his father took him to the cantor Feibisch for a hearing. Gdal was immediately accepted in the choir. But his father was far from being satis fied with this musical beginning, and at once took measures to give his son an all-round education. Though in modest circumstances, he hired the best teach ers he could find, and the little boy studied Russian and academic subjects, as well as the traditional Hebrew.
Gdal sang in Kiev to the delight of the various congregations until he was fifteen years old, when one day he found himself half basso and half soprano, and unable further to participate in the choirs. What profession was he to pursue? The ambition of his parents was that he should be graduated from the gymnasium, and then attend the University. But this was not as simple as it may seem to the American reader, for during those days there was such a thing in Russia as the "Norma," which practically excluded Jew ish pupils from the higher institutions of learning.
The last three years of his vocal work Gdal pursued at the fa mous Brodsky Synagogue, where at that time the cantor was Koret- zki, and the conductor A. Dzimitrovski, a highly intelligent and learned man who had been educated and brought up in Vienna. He was an excellent connoisseur not only of sacred choral works,
451
452 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
but of music in general. Under his guidance, Saleski began his musical education, studying theory, harmony and solfeggio.
He lent Gdal a 'cello, assuring his father that the boy had un common musical talent.
Professor von Mulert at once accepted Gdal without special preparation in the Kiev Imperial Music School. There the boy studied from January of 1903 until October of 1905. When the whole family went to Leipzig, due to the October pogroms in Kiev, Gdal of course went with them. Arriving in that city in the direst financial straits, the boy was forced to accept a position as 'cellist in one of the cafes, in order to earn a livelihood for the whole fam ily. After hearing him play, Julius Klengel accepted him at the Leipzig Conservatory as a scholarship pupil and even volunteered at once a stipend, which Gdal received for five years, up to the time of his graduation from that famous institution. KlengePs relation ship to Gdal was very friendly. He never lost a chance to have him appear as soloist at concerts and the Conservatory functions. At the Conservatory, Saleski also studied theory and harmony under Stephan Krehl.
During the five years at that school, Saleski played for three successive years at the famous Gewandhaus Orchestra under Arthur Nikisch. This was arranged for him by the same Klengei who had the right of choice to select his best pupil once every year for that orchestra. The fact that he appointed Gdal for three suc cessive seasons speaks at once for the solicitude of the one and for the talents of the other.
Nikisch also patronized the talented 'cellist and gave him the following letter of recommendation (March 23, 1909) : "Gdal Saleski is a very accomplished 'cellist-virtuoso. His great talent leads to hopes that through further perseverance and study he will bring his art to a high degree of perfection."
Early in the Summer of 1910, the agent of the famous conduc tor, George Schneevoigt, sent a letter to Klengel, in which he asked him to recommend him one of the best 'cello pupils as solo- 'cellist for the Symphony Orchestra in Kiev. Klengel asked Saleski if he would like to go there. He was only too glad to return to the city where he spent his youth, especially because he knew that the Summer Symphony Concerts in Kiev were of a high order. He accepted the position and went to Kiev, where he had also to appear as soloist with that orchestra under Georg Schneevoigt, receiving highly favorable notices from the press for his robust warm tone and fine technique.
From Kiev he returned to Leipzig, where he had to study for another year. On March 17, 1911, he successfully passed the final examinations, playing Dvorak's 'Cello Concerto with Orchestra. He graduated from the Conservatory with a prize. In the Summer
Gdal Saleski 453
of 1911 Gdal Saleski became first 'cellist in the Symphony Orches tra in Odessa, Southern Russia, during the World Fair. During that period he gave a number of concerts and appeared jointly with other artists, receiving highly enthusiastic reviews from the critics of that city for his brilliant performance of the Haydn and Lalo concertos.
It was during that Summer that Saleski met for the first time the celebrated violinist, Jascha Heifetz, then a boy in knee-pants, and appeared with him at two successive gala-concerts (September 1 and 2, 1911) . He then left for St. Petersburg, where he entered the 'cello classes of Abiate, at the Imperial Conservatory, and studied there until the Spring of 1915. There he also took composi tion under Kalafati, Schteinberg, and the director of the Conserva tory, the famous composer, A. Glazounov, and joined the chamber- music classes of Leopold Auer, Blumenfeld and Glazounov. Gdal was a special favorite of Glazounov, who treated him with the greatest kindliness and sympathy. To this day, one of Saleski's most cherished possessions is a recommendation from Glazounov:
I herewith testify that the newly entered student into the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the Autumn of this year, the 'cellist Gdal Saleski, is the pos sessor of outstanding gifts. He possesses finished technique, a beautiful tone, and a highly refined taste and temperament in his interpretation. I unhesi tatingly recommend him as a concert soloist, an excellent player of chamber- music, and an experienced pedagogue who has already had much experience abroad.
A. GLAZOUNOV. November 18, 1911.
During the Summer season of 1912, Saleski appeared as solo 'cellist with the Warsaw Symphony at the Dolina Szwajcarska. The Summer of 1913 he spent in Germany, and in 1914 was con nected with the Symphony Orchestra in Pavlovsk, near St. Peters burg. During the winters of the three years spent at the Conserva- . tory, Saleski concertized widely and successfully throughout Rus sia, while attending to his work at the school.
After the first year of the World War, he left Russia for Scan dinavia, giving his first concert in Stockholm on November 18, 1915, where Prince Carl (brother of the reigning King), and his wife, Princess Ingeborg, were present. The reviews of that concert were particularly favorable,Saleski being pointed out as an artist of the first rank. For a whole year he concertized in the largest musical centre of Sweden, and in September of 1916, received an invitation to join the famous "Arve Arvesens String-Quartet" in Christiania, Norway, for that season. He settled in that city, and taught large classes as well as concerting widely. This was not an easy matter for anyone, for those years of the war saw a verita ble invasion of Scandinavia by world-famous artists, on account of the neutral position of those countries. In spite of this, Saleski
454 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
became one of the favorites of the Land of the Midnight Sun. To compile all the complimentary reviews of the newspapers would fill a good-sized volume.
In 1917 he was appointed first solo 'cellist with the Bergen (Norway) Phil harmonic Orchestra, "H a r m o n i e n," which post he kept for four successive years, until his coming to America. Nor way, the famous world-music-center, the home of Ole Bull and Eduard Grieg, be came the center of Saleski's numerous activities as concertant. He toured every part of that picturesque country, which three times took him as far as North Cape. Those years are among the most treasured periods in his memory. In Bergen he also organized a String Quar tet, which prospered under his intelli gent and musicianly leadership.
Gdal Saleski came to the United States in September 1921 During the season of 1922-23 he was leading 'cellist with the City Symphony Orchestra in New York under Dirk Foch. He appeared with this organization on November 18, 1923, as soloist in Saint- Saens' Concerto. Terminating his year with the City Symphony, he went to Kochester, New York, where he assumed his duties as first 'cellist at the Eastman Theatre and the Rochester Philhar monic Orchestra under Albert Coates, Eugene Goossens, and Vladi mir Shavitch. For three months, while in that city, he pursued his -studies in conducting, in which he was vitally interested, with Coates, and composition with Selim Palmgren, making much prog ress. He then returned to New York, where he concertized in re cital and in chamber music ensembles, and in October of 1925 he joined the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch, in which capacity he is at present engaged.
On April 2, 1926, Saleski gave a concert at Steinway Hall, New York, playing Saint-Saens' Concerto in A minor, and some of his own compositions. This concert was commented on favorably by the press, one reviewer remarking that "Saleski's performance dis closed a fine tone, technical fluency, and musical intelligence." An other called him "a capable 'cellist and a gifted composer," while still another declared: "As a 'cellist Mr. Saleski has a warm tone and excellent command of his instrument; by this is meant that there is a firmness and assurance in his playing which makes a good background for his somewhat plaintive style. The interpreta tions were of a rather luscious character, and on the whole one had
Gdal Saleski 455
the impression of rich, deep coloring. As a composer the artist has a graceful style which he is able to suit to many different moods." On December 1 of the same year he gave his second recital in the same Steinway Hall. He played among others the Haydn 'Cello Concerto in D. The New York Times of December 2, 1926, wrote : "Mr. Saleski's tone had a rich warmth, and his command of the in strument permitted him to produce all the gradations of sound of which the 'cello is capable."
Saleski became vitally interested in the creative art of music while still a young boy. Having received such excellent training and possessing a creative gift of uncommon qualities, he was able to write and arrange a number of excellent works, most of which are for his chosen instrument. A partial list of them follows. (Most of them have been published in Scandinavia, where they are popular.)
"Hungarian Rhapsody," "Reverie Triste," "Evriken" (A Nor wegian Fantasy), "Souvenir de Melbo," "Suite Antique" in C, "Elegie" (Kudrin), "Fiametta" (Minkous), "Kuyawiak" (Wieni- awski) "Air et Corrente" (Eccles), "Poem" (Fibich), "Reverie," "Adagio Consolante," and "Dedication"; an album of four pieces for 'cello, "Chaconne," Duet for violin and 'cello, "In Springtime" for piano, and others. Except "In Springtime," all his composi tions are for 'cello, or violin with piano.
Gdal Saleski is popular and is admired by his colleagues and friends. Vitally interested in Jewish music and musicians, he has in the course of his various associations and travels, diligently col lected material for this volume, a task to which he gave countless hours of works, but "con amore." During his stay in the Scandi navian countries he contributed to a number of periodicals, writing in the language of those countries, with which he made himself familiar.
Gdal's brother, Hermann Saleski, is a gifted and accomplished violinist with a fine reputation. He came to America in October of 1922. In 1923 he accepted the position of first concert master at the Rialto and Rivoli Theatres, New York, under the direction of Hugo Riesenf eld, and from November of 1926 on has been engaged as leading violinist at the Paramount Theatre, New York, where Nathaniel Finston and Irwin Talbot are the directors.
ADDENDA
YEHUDI MENUHIN
SINCE THE biographical sketch of Yehudi Menuhin for this volume was prepared during the summer of 1927, prior to his appearance on November 25 and 27 with the New York Symphony Orchestra, and since additional material unexpectedly delayed the appearance of this volume, I gladly utilize the opportunity to add some new facts about this unusual genius.
Young Yehudi Menuhin, who can be considered the greatest violin genius since Mozart, played Beethoven's magnificent violin concerto on the two occasions mentioned above, under the con- ductorship of Fritz Busch. His playing seemed to me superhu man ! Still I can remember the brilliant playing of Jascha Heif etz at nine. And I can yet remember Mischa Elman's exquisite per formance at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, under Arthur Nikisch, in 1905, when young Mischa was thirteen. I vividly recall the deep impression made on me by the interpretations of such violin ists as Ferenc von Vecsey, Toscha Seidel, Milstein, Stephan Partos, and other talented prodigies. But none stirred me as did young Yehudi.
As a member of the New York Symphony Orchestra, it was my privilege to listen to him play the Beethoven concerto four times : two of them rehearsals, and two concerts. I must confess that I can with difficulty convey the effect on me of his divine play ing. There stood a youngster of ten, looking for all the world as if he had just escaped from a kindergarten to amuse himself sol emnly with a toy fiddle ! And there he was, playing the concerto whose glories Ysaye and Kreisler have evoked on that self-same august stage. He was dressed in a white shirt with short sleeves, black velvet knee-breeches and socks, the time-honored costume of all child prodigies with the possible omission of a velvet jacket with collar and cuffs of lace. Yehudi handed his violin to Mr. Gussikoff, the concert master of the orchestra, who tuned the instrument properly, and, amid a breathless silence, Mr. Busch began the long first tutti of the Beethoven concerto. While the tutti was in progress the boy stood quietly, without the slightest evidence of concern, until one began to fear he would miss his entrance. But a moment or two before the violin solo appears in the score Yehudi as quietly adjusted a good-sized black pad which dangled from his violin, tucked his fiddle under his chin and began the most musically difficult piece of violin music ever written.
I shall reprint some of the comments of New York critics that appeared the following day.
Pitts Sanborn wrote in the Telegram:
"Yehudi Menuhin conquered the hearts of the crowd right
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Addenda 457
away. . At the end of the first movement— indeed, some time before the end-people burst into frantic applause, and when the piece had been played to a finish the audience indulged in a friendly not of considerable dimensions.
"If it didn't exactly storm the stage, it rushed down numer ously to the edge of the platform, and pounding of sticks, approv ing whistles and shouts of 'Bravo!' joined the merry din of beaten palms. Young Yehudi came out again and again to make quick, jerky bows and wave his hands in funny little twisting ways. Once somebody tossed him a bunch of violets and once he hopped upon the conductorial podium. The orchestra applauded him as heartily as did the house.
."Besides an amazing technical facility, the child possesses the secret of a truly golden tone— singularly transparent in its bright ness and touched with a fine, pure resonance. There can be no doubt, furthermore, of the richness of his native musical endow ment."
Olin Downes wrote in the New York Times :
"There was an extraordinary demonstration when the 11-year- old violinist, Yehudi Menuhin, played the Beethoven concerto with the New York Symphony Orchestra last night in Carnegie Hall. The hall was crowded to capacity with an audience which had gathered with curiosity rather than belief that a child could ade quately interpret such a composition, even if he were able to deal with its technical demands. But when the bow touched the strings it was evident that an exceptional musical intelligence and sensi bility, as well as uncommonly good technical groundwork, were behind the performance. There was the silence that betokens the most intent listening until the cadenza of the first movement, when applause broke out and threatened to stop the performance.
"He felt and he conveyed very beautifully the poetry of the slow movement and his playing of the finale was of refreshing taste and simplicity. When it finished hardened concert-goers applauded, cheered and crowded to the stage. The orchestra applauded as loudly.
"Menuhin has a technic that is not only brilliant but finely tempered. It is not a technic of tricks, but one much more solidly established, and governed by innate sensitiveness and taste. It seems ridiculous to say that he showed a mature conception of Beethoven's concerto, but that is the fact. Few violinists of years and experience, known to this public, have played Beethoven with as true a feeling for his form and content, with such healthy, noble, but unexaggerated sentiment, with such poetic feeling in the slow movement and unforced humor in the finale.
"His tone is surprisingly sonorous, refined and rich in color. This was the case even though a boy whose small hands made it- difficult for him to tune his instrument, which he frequently passed
458 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
to the concert master for this purpose, was playing on a Gran- cino fiddle, three-quarters size. This violin had limited capaci ties, yet the tone carried to the uttermost limits of the hall."
Mr. Samuel Chotzinoff declared in the World:
"From the first broken octaves with which the violin sails into the concerto it was at once apparent that Yehudi Menuhin was an authentic violinistic genius.
"It was the beautiful, mature musical instinct of the young virtuoso that made this weary reviewer sit up and marvel. From the fingers of this child of ten the Beethoven concerto flowed in all its nobility, its unbounded repose, its thoughtful, subjective beauty. Surely this plump little boy was not possibly experiencing the ma ture sensations he was communicating to a sophisticated audience, yet what he did with his fiddle was too fresh, too true, to be an imitation of something drilled into him by pedagogues.
"With all that, Yehudi Menuhin is, at present, at the mature age of ten, one of the few great violinists appearing in public to day. If he continues to progress as he has he will arrive at a point where he will have only one or two competitors in his chosen, or rather, chosen-for-him field."
Mr. Lawrence Oilman wrote in the New York Herald:
"Young Menuhin played yesterday Beethoven's violin concerto with a ripeness and dignity of style, a sensitive beauty of concep tion, an easeful brilliance of technique, which brought great names involuntarily to the tip of the listener's tongue. It is the amazing and inexplicable peculiarity of Master Yehudi Menuhin, who achieved this miracle at yesterday's concert of the Symphony So ciety in Mecca Temple, that he reminds you not of other youthful prodigies, but of mature and eminent artists. What you hear is a wizardry of technical address, a poised and beautiful delivery, a fine-grained, poetic loveliness of tone, which take away the breath and leave you groping helplessly among the mysteries of the human spirit."
A few days ago I visited the Menuhin family at their hotel. Having enjoyed a long and sympathetic conversation with Yehu- di's parents, I take the liberty to add the following: Yehudi's father, Moshe Menuhin, was born in Gomel, Russia, and his mother, Marutha (nee Frumkin), in Alushta, Crimea. They left Russia while young children for Palestine. There they both studied at the high school until 1913, when they became engaged. In No vember, 1913, they arrived in this country; a year later they were married in New York City. At the same time Moshe Menuhin attended New York University, from which he was graduated in 1917.
The great genius Yehudi was born in New York City on Jan uary 22, 1917. Nine months later the Menuhin family left for San Francisco.
Addenda 459
Yehudi s parents love music. While they went to various sym phony concerts they usually took the little boy with them Yehudi was always quiet and serious at those concerts. He always used to point with his little fingers at the violin.
One day his father borrowed somewhere a small-sized violin and asked Louis Persinger, former concert master of the San Francisco Symphony, a highly cultivated musician, to teach little Yehudi, who was then five years old, A few months later, when Moshe Menuhin had sufficient money, he bought Yehudi a violin which cost twelve dollars.
After three or four months of study, Yehudi made his first public appearance. He played the "Menuet" of Paderewski at a soiree given by the Pacific Musical Society in San Francisco. At the age of six he played the "Scene de Ballet" by Beriot at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where the audience numbered over 9,000. On January 17, 1925, he made his New York debut at ^ the Manhattan Opera House, when prominent musicians and critics received him with distinguished consideration. He also played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra on March 4, 1925, under Alfred Hertz, Lalo's "Symphony Espagnole" and the Tschaikowsky concerto on November 16, 1926.
Instead of accepting any offers made for other appearances, the little violinist's father took him to Europe last January one year ago to study with Enesco.
Prior to Menuhin's appearance with the Lamoreux Orchestra in Paris on February 12, 1927, under Paul Paray, he had given a single recital in the Salle Gaveau. News of his performance on that occasion brought a sold-out house several days before he played with orchestra. Two hours before the concert a long line stood in waiting, only to be disappointed.
When that day's program ended, such a general rush was made for Menuhin on the stage that enthusiasts engulfed him. The orchestra players, generally hardened to the point of being unimpressionable, presented the boy with a golden plaque as a memento of their appreciation. His violin, of three-quarter size and adapted to his years, is a Grancino, said to bear the date of 1695, and valued at $10,000.
He studied with George Enesco during the summer vacation (1927), one month in Paris and about three months in Sinaia, Roumania (Enesco's summer residence).
Following his appearance with the New York Symphony Or chestra, and one single recital at Carnegie Hall on December 12, the Menuhin family left for their home in San Francisco, where Yehudi continues his studies with his teacher, Louis Persinger, whom he adores and worships, and who is solely responsible for the wonderful and careful guidance he gave to the greatest violin genius of our time.
460 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race
Menuhin is Anglo-Saxon in appearance, fair-haired and blue- eyed; he is calm in the midst of any excited demonstration he arouses ; thoroughly normal, and physically strong.
It is a pleasure to add that he appears genuinely absorbed in his task, and not in the sensation he was creating. From the first concerts of a career which began at eight, Master Menuhin has been carefully and admirably trained, and protected by his parents from educational "forcing" or public exploitation.
ALFRED HERTZ
ALFRED HERTZ, eminent American conductor, was born in Frank- fort«am-Main on July 15, 1872. He was a student at the Raff Conservatory in that city under Max Schwartz for piano, and
Anton Urspruch for theory from 1883 to 1891. From 1891 to 1892 he was assistant conductor at the Halle Stadt- theater, then became chief conductor in Altenburg, Elberfeld, and Breslau (1895). In 1902 he conducted German and English opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. There he led the first scenic production of "Par sifal" outside of Bayreuth (1903). In Los Angeles he conducted the first per formances of Parker's "Mona" (1912), Damrosch's "Cyrano" (1913), Parker's "Fairyland" (1915), and Strauss' "Salome."
During the Summer of 1910, Hertz conducted at the Covent Garden Opera House in London. In 1915 he was engaged to conduct the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, being succeeded at the Metropolitan by Artur Bodanzky. Hertz has been with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra since 1915, and has con tributed generously by his energy and enterprise towards the dis semination of good music on the Pacific Coast.
In 1914, Hertz married the famous soprano, Lilly Corn of Vienna. He is the recipient of the order of Art and Science from the King of Saxony.
Addenda 461
HERMAN HELLER
A CONSPICUOUS figure in the realm of motion picture music is Her man Heller. Heller differs from Riesenfeld, Rappe, Mendoza, Talbot and others prominent in the same field in that -he actually
composes music for motion pictures, whereas the others practice the occult art of "synchronizing" and scoring, for which purpose they take the music of others and adapt it to their needs.
Born in a small town in Austria-Hun gary in 1881, Herman Heller received his first violin instruction at the age of six. At eight, he gave his first concert with the result that it secured him free tuition at the Conservatory in Agram, Jugo-Slavia. Afterwards he studied technical engineering, but continued with his music when he went to the Prague Conservatory, where he studied with Franz Ondrichek and Karbulka.
With his violin under his arm, he first sighted the Statue of Liberty when he was seventeen years old. His first work in Amer ica was as an engineer at nine dollars per week. However, this work did not last long after he found he could get fifty for playing at a recital. His inability to speak English handicapped him, but he managed to drift into the musical world and obtained a posi tion in Philadelphia, where he played for four years. Then he be came a soloist with Creator's Band at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. Soon he accepted the position of concert master for the John C. Fisher productions and came to San Francisco in 1904 with Edna Wallace Hopper in "The Silver Slipper."
Whether because he liked the much-discussed climate of Cali fornia or because he was tired of traveling, Heller stayed in California until 1925. He led the orchestra of the California The atre in San Francisco for a number of years, after which he be came musical director at Sid Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre, the largest cinema house in California.
Heller has always been interested in bringing music to the peo ple. It was in this spirit that he left his excellent position in California, where his originality and mastery of technique won him national renown. He realized that by means of the Vitaphone he* could reach an infinitely greater number of peopl^ than his movie house in California could ever hold, no matter how crowded.
462 Famous Musicians of a Wandering Race '
And so in 1926, when Warner Brothers asked Heller to assume complete charge of the musical activities of the studio of the new Vitaphone, Heller accepted.
The training that Heller has had includes more than the great success he has demonstrated as an orchestral leader. He is an excellent violinist and is known as a composer.
Vitaphone feels that in securing the services of Heller as musical director, the very best man for the position in the country was obtained, his training and success making him eminently fit for the presentation of good music for the great body of people.
When Herman Heller came to New York to take charge of the musical activities of the Vitaphone he was no novice in the movie field. He had secured a thorough knowledge of picture making in Hollywood, On the other hand, there was nothing new for him in the formation and conducting of an orchestra. But there was no precedent for him in synchronizing pictures and music. New problems had to be met; new situations must be faced ; new difficulties were to be conquered. The technical prob lems of recording are enormous. The orchestra must be "bal anced," so that it will record properly. It is very easy to find the brasses overshadowing the strings, or else the first violins are too near the microphone, or perhaps the oboe solo is indistinct. Sometimes chords are "hollow" and must be filled in. Heller sup ervises it all and repeats passages again and again until he has them in proper shape for recording. Then he goes to the record ing room upstairs, where he listens to the orchestra over the wire. Even here he must phone instructions down every few minutes.
When there are stars singing and the orchestra merely ac companies, the balancing must be done all over again. The voices are brought near the microphone and the orchestra must be sub dued to its proper level, with the proper instruments outstanding. It is all infinitely intricate and only a person with the experience and musical genius of Heller could handle the tremendous amount of detail involved in arranging the musicians and handling them with the ear for the excellent results that have been obtained. He is musical to his finger tips. But he is vastly more — a born musical leader, with the leader's soul for the great masses. And because of this spiritual kinship he gives musical expression to the emotions of the great American public in soul-stirring melo dies that enrapture every audience.
Addenda
463
ARNOLD VOLPE
ARNOLD VOLPE, eminent Russian- American composer, violinist and conductor was born in Kovno on July 9, 1869, and since coming to the United States in 1898, has become closely associated with the
fortunes of music in the New World. From 1884 to 1887, Volpe studied violin at the Warsaw Musical Institute with Isidor Lotto, and in 1887-91 at the Petrograd Conservatory with Auer, fol lowed by work in theory and composition in 1893-97 with Solovieff.
In America, Volpe founded the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra, and in 1904 the Volpe Symphony Orchestra in New York. In 1910 he also undertook the direction of the orchestra of the Brook lyn Institute, and in 1910-14 and 1919 conducted a series of municipal concerts in New York. In 1916 he established his own music school. In 1917 Volpe founded, and for several years was regular conductor of, the Lewisohn Stadium open-air symphonic concerts, being the first conductor to direct an orches tra there. His institute has since blossomed forth and the concerts continue there before vast audiences regularly every Summer, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Volpe is considered one of the ablest violin teachers in America, a fact easily borne out by the important posts held by some of his pupils, for example Harry Weisbach, who was concert master of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for nine years ; Louis Edlin, of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; and Samuel Lif- schey, first viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In 1922 Volpe accepted the directorship of the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, which he held until 1925, when he accepted the post of head of the composition class of the Chicago College of Music.
Volpe is at present affiliated with the Conservatory of the University of Miami, and has been engaged to organize and conduct the Miami Symphony Orchestra. Before leaving for Miami, Volpe was invited to conduct two gala performances in honor of the Queen of Roumania, one by the Philadelphia Orches tra at the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition, and the other by the New York Symphony at the Metropolitan Opera House.
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