THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 21354, 7 March 1933, Page 3

THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

[By L.D.A.]

“ Music gives tone to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything."—Plato. One roads frequently a statement by this or that writer to the effect that America is not a musical nation; Americans themselves arc constantly saying it. Jazz is, of course, made the invariable scapegoat, hut it must never be forgotten that all cultured Americans —and there are millions of them—deplore the vogue thereof quite as heartily as any outsiders. 1 am reminded about this by a recent announcement concerning the forthcoming World Exposition in Chicago—always supposing that the constantly changing economic factors permit the arrangements to go forward. Chicago's last World’s Fair, in 1893, if I remember rightly, was responsible for starting the ragtime craze which, some twenty years later, developed into jazz. There are those who consider ragtime much more expressive of true negro musical idiom than jazz. The eminent French critic Stephen Chauvet is emphatic on this point, and adds; “ Nothing less specifically negro, nothing less resembling, real African negro music than jazz can be imagined.” * * * * However this may be, I do not intend to labour the matter here. The journalist nowadays must take tilings as he finds them; ho may express his opinions as forcibly as his editor allows, but only where such expression does not lead him into tedious technical terminology. One finds by experience that the columns of a daily newspaper are unsuitable for lengthy dissertations upon musical relativity—a, mistake often made by reputable critics. Even Mr Ernest Newman, entertaining scribe though he invariably bo, errs sometimes on the side of austerity, and is rather*loo, prone' to place music on the dissecting table. There may bo room, in the more severe type of musical journal, for purely professional pedantry, but I doubt, even here, whether the modern pedagogue is as straitlaced as his predecessors-—despite occasional evidence to the contrary, such as this paragraph, for instance, from an English periodical: “An exceptional young violinist, who plays the most difficult works for his instrument with consummate case and finish, on being asked the signature of the key of C sharp minor, had to confess ho did not know. Subsequently he was asked into what chord the chord of the second resolves, and again he admitted his ignorance. The moral is obvious.” * ' • • * Yes, the moral IS obvious, but not the moral implied by the writer. Personally I cannot sec that it matters twopence whether a really talented performer should bo conversant with the jargon of musical grammar cr not; one might just os well ask Dame Sybil Thorndike, after an inspired delivery, say, of Portia’s immortal “ Mercy ” speech, to parse those sublime lines. 1 have often indicated my own dislike for the people who persist in trying to parse music—to pull it to pieces. Wo admire the chemist in his endeavours towards splitting the atom, but a musical analogy is repugnant to every sensitive mind. Wc all know that fine music is based upon laws net less exact than those of the Mcdcs.nnd Persians. What the musical grammarians overlook, however, is that music itself create:! these laws—the laws did not make the music. And if 1 began enlarging, in this column, upon the intricacies of Debussy’s handling of the chord of the minor thirteenth, no doubt the editorial blue pencil of Damocles would do its fell work, accompanied, perchance, by some injunction similar to the following, from an American source:,—“ We don’t wanna know how Beethoven sowed his rolled oats; cut the cackle and come to the ’esses.” * # • * Which brings mo back to our transatlantic brethren. You cannot teach them anything about publicity methods, or the art of writing interesting news matter, musical or otherwise: and if they deem it necessary at times to administer instruction, they gild the pill with an ,art that compels our admiration. A study of American musical columns shows this very clearly, coupled with the irrepressible “ breezincss n of style, and constant aim at variety, characteristic of nearly all journalists in that great country. A few quotations may be furnished in illustration : “ It is strange that women composers do not invade the field of jazz music, but leave it entirely to men. Perhaps the female has more dignity and a deeper contempt for debased art.” “ Everybody : agrees that grand opera is on the decline, but grand opera itself has nob heard about it. The great works are as great as ever, but, if the truth must he told, the poor works sound worse than ever.” “ The music critic of the 1 New York Times,’ wrote an essay lately on Gounod’s ‘ Faust,’ to the effect that the work is really an excellent one and quite deserves its popularity. The public now feels itself vindicated.” * * * * A few more excerpts: “ Women still run our music clubs, while men rule the golf clubs. The former expand the mind and develop the emotions; the latter strengthen the emotions and reduce the abdomen. .Many women, however, arc seen on the golf course, though few men take the music course.” “ Washington’s birthday reminds ns that the Father of His Country bcquested 100,000dol for the founding of a National Conservatory of Music. Where is that 100,000? And where is the conservatory? Why is our Government so shy about doing anything for art? H half the energy and money were expended on music that are now wasted upon Prohibition enforcement wo would soon be the greatest musical combination on earth.” , “ A leading fashion export has announced that opera pumps will be the vogue this year. The only opera pumps wo know are those snooping reporters who go around trying to extract advance opera information —and usually don’t get it.” And here is a slap at one of the most advanced modern composers: “The old conundrum, ‘ What is worse than a flute concerto.?’ used to ho answered: ‘ Two flute concertos.’ That answer has now boon revised. It is; ‘ Hindemith’s Organ Concerto.’ ” What could be neater, or more concise? « » * * A paragraph which had a special interest for me was the following:— “ The late Henry T. Finch never tired of insisting that the separate movements of most symphonies and sonatas have no generic relationship, hut are joined together haphazardly, much as in the fashion of suites. He advocated the performance of detached sections of such works, omitting the

dull or otherwise unimpressive movements. It is undeniable that some of the movements of symphonies by the great masters could be inter-transposed without harming the nature, symmetry, or purpose of those compositions.” This is exactly what I myself havo advocated on several occasions. The performance of a complete symphony is purely an arbitrary concession to etiquette which, while possibly interesting to the student, not infrequently bores the average listener stiff. Miiny symnhonies in their entirety reek too much of midnight oil to enthuse even ardent music-lovers - , whereas isolated movements from the some works would undoubtedly fend to dispel the atmosphere of chilling gloom wb'''b now surrounds many of them. There is no room iu tlm world to-day for nuisu; •that is merely dull. Promoters of sp 11 " phony concerts please, note. |