VOCALIST AND JOURNALIST.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 13, 17 January 1910, Page 7

VOCALIST AND JOURNALIST.

MR KENNERLEY RUMFORD AND THE TIMES. LONDON,, December 3. An incident which is exciting great interest in musical circles occurred oil Tuesday evening in the vestibule of the Queen's Hall, when Mr Kennerley Rumford boxed the ears of Mr Collis, the musical critic of The Times. Mr Rumford strongly resented the following remarks concerning Madame Clara Butt in Mr Cbllis's notice of a symphony concert in the Queen's Hall last Saturday: "No doubt the apathy of its reception war, partly due to the fact that the audience was largely made up of the admirers of Mme. Clara Butt, who are not generally interested in symphonies or other forms of serious music. Her performance of some of Elgar's 'Sea Pictures,' two songs by Beethoven, with of course, Donizetti's 'II Segretto' as an encore, apparently satisfied them." It seems that Mr Rumford went to the Queen's Hall and saw Mr Collis, who admitted that he was the author. Mr Rumford thereupon expressed strong condemnation of the reference to his wife, which lie contended was of a personal character and beyond the bounds of fair musical criticism. The critic replied that if that was the opinion of Mr Rumford his proper course was to write to the editor. Further discussion ensued, and finally Mr Rumford boxed the critic's ears. The following correspondence has since passed on the subject. Mr Moberley Bell, the managing editor of The Times, wrote : —"Sir, —We are informed that last night, at the Queen's Hall, you committed a gross assault upon a member of our staff, Mi- H. D. Collis, on account of some criticism which appeared in The Times. We are very unwilling that questions connected with our criticisms should be brought into the Police Court, but unless you tell us you are prepared to apologise to Mr' Collis, we cannot refuse to allow him to adopt this course." Mr Rumford's reply was as follows:—''Sir,—l should not dream of apologising to Mr H. D. Collis. My wife and I take no exception to unfavorable criticism, but your critic's notice was not criticism at all. It was an impertinence on his part. He said that the symphony was badly received by the public because the audience was composed of admirers of my wife, who were unable to appreciate and understand music. I thoroughly agree with you that it is unfortunate that these matters should be the subject of Police Court proceedings. If, sir, you are sincere in the expression of your opinion, the trouble is easily remedied by your instructing your critics to confine themselves in future to criticism and not to persistent and personal abuse. Had such so-called criticism been directed to me I should have treated it with the contempt it deserves, but as it was directed against my wife and is one of a series of sustained attacks upon her in your newspaper, I am now compelled to take strong measures to put a stop to the annoyance. My solicitors are Hilder, Thompson, and Dunn, 36 Jermyn street, who will accept service on my behalf." Mr Rumford left London for Bristol with his wife on Wednesday, and in his absence Mr Boosey, managing director of Messrs Chappell and Co., explained that Mr Rumford had no objection whatever to criticism. If The Times' critic had said that his wife had sung badly he would have taken no notice whatever of it. What he complains of is the suggestion that Madame Clara Butt's admirers do not appreciate serious music. "But this is not an isloated instance. Mr Rumford says that objectionable notices respecting his wife have been appearing in The Times for three or four years. On one occasion the critic said that she had taken a breath in the middle of a phrase—which was not really a fact—and on another he had taken exception to the distribution of some of her encore songs among an audience at the Albert Hall." [We have since been informed by cable that Mr Rumford apologised, and legal proceedings were abondoned.]