MUSICIANS AND COMPOSERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 82

MUSICIANS AND COMPOSERS.

— Herr KuK&lifc, the great violinist, says*' that he oan remember •as a boy practising' on his father's violin < with, such- vigour -that I at last it fell to pieces; and', they were 'too -poor to purchase another for, some time: ' — The powerful contralto voice of the Princess of Wales is inherited from, her mother, the Duchees of 4 Teck> wlio ' sharedthe labours- of; the- younsfPrinoess's singing .master, aurV en^otirasred ner--I}y;sJnging!duaW- ' with' her,"\it times "wne)i"sppranp'Avas-' vfithinf the compass ai hey voice.- '-' '** -> i — A number' of songs "sting* di~. the",.prescntj' time in" Ijondon wmmand ' a. big. sale. "Do r liko love?" and' "X love ' you.' iuvtlvcb," two songs sung^by. 3£r/ Maurice Farkoa in VLarly Madcap,!' have both: won,, jiopulaTity." 1 ajid-'aKo.-.&ejlingi everyj month.* in tens :oL'. thousands £ 'SvhJlel "Tho Spring] Chick*en," at Ihe Gaiety, includes several i r.ore soiiga equ.illy succeesfull . i — The craze, for ccon.- songs, although it -lias waned som-exhat now,, brought, forhuies | to several' writers of. this kind; of" music > vjlule it lasted. Ifc is estimated that a ' quarter of a milion of money was spent J by the public in- purchasing various coon I songs duringr tho two years when the craze ! was- at jts height, and, as quite a few composers were z-esponsibta for their production,,,.ifc will be? seen, 'hat some nice h'ttle nest-ejgs must have been^ laid by out of i royalties alone. j — Mr Santley, the veteran baritone, says j thai- hi» most humiliating recollection is j that once, as a youth,, he failed' to produce any sound at all" in trying to reach a low E, iv imitation of his special' musical hero, Herr Formes, whom he tried in his early days to copy in everything, long hair included. This episode occurred in church, and the cause of the disaster^ was that the organ happened to be too low in pitch. —Of all the King's sisters. Princess Christian, recalls most vividly the rich, melodious strains of their mother's voice. Carefully modulated- by -long .training, 'her , Royal TJiglmess's speech is essentially musical, -and she Jtnows how to 'be axclv and how to be. demure, in conversing, with- her , friends. The fuller and. stronger voice- of Princess Beatrice is. at its best? when she is engaged^m opening; a' charity '^bazaar, an&> ' its- deep, penetrating note is always,' -heard, to the fartliest/limifc of the building.- . — Of all professions in the world that of principal basso ■ is tlie- mosi-. difficult and < the least remunerative. Lndios, of cource, op a rula cannot adopt it, Mother Nature in her matronly care for her own sex baying paid some little attention to that matter. In spite of the case of Jean de Resuke-, tenors cannot sing bass; and de R-eszlw, after all, was never anything but a baritoSi©. But those «vho possess bass voices am sorely tempted to "try fortune and thepublic by warbling gruffly in public places — "quires and places where they ping.*' — and iv 99 oases in 100 they meet with only disapiiointment. The bass has not the tenor's eliajios of displaying his manly form, his hair, his romantic moustache For his sins — for the em of being a bas=s — h-e is usually gifled with a burly frame; while rarely growing so stout as the average tenor he gives the imuression of being stouter, more unwieldy. Contrariwise, let bin. grow his hair ever so long it never looks really long, never romantic. Above all, his voice, bo it ever co fine and resonant, has not the seductive quality that make 3 him the darling- of all the youngest and the oldest ladies. His voice requires the most careful training ; there arc so. many passable basses ihat engagements are difficult to find, and as a con6equepc© when the engagements aa-e- found they are badly paid. Prom beginning to end of his, career the bass has no career; has in no way^any luck; he gets litle money, no social position, and no coddling. He is born an unfcrtunate- wretch, doomed to be damned. ' We axe all born under sentence of death, but the bass finds it out sooner than -the rest of us. He usually gets relegated to the grave long ere he is dead, and spends long yea-re in the obscurity of a cathedral bown, where only the least desirablo of =lderly ladies show him the smallest respect. When he sings "Why do the nations," 1 c may win a round of applause from tie t>a£i heroes of ilie Lqc_al choral society y .

)■ this is -mentioned in ■ tfie next v issue ot th* local nevrspapef, and then; the v bass lapses back, once- more -> into 'tho -Vdaxkiiegs -from - ', which' appai-ently.- Natura- never/ ini'<>ndad him to- emerge.^ His share in the cathedral ' service is only a cause of sorrow andLof anger to th© many and resigned discontent to the few. — J. F. Runciman, in- the Satur- ; day^ Review. ' " :\ " A GREAT PIANO TEACHER/ L ' -(T. P.'e Weekly.); . An interesting- addition ~ to/ ths series- <sS 1 "Living Mastery of Music" is. Theddor tescheti^ky, by ATinette* Hullah " (Liaaje, 2s ~ b$ not). The great teacher -of the' piano> was- born in Poland- 'some- 75 >■ years 1 ago, his father- being= a Bohemian and his mother a Pole., At the age of 22 ho decided to tempt fortune in St. Petersburg, which' at that time* was by no meani'Vfl Eldorado for nnssdoianß. The extraordinary ignorance of ths mass of the people- isivrelK illusfcratetl by a story -LeschetizKy is fond of'.telHhgl A. rich tradesman 11 of "St. Petersburg once' asketf him his - terms foe giving piVnoforT<L Itssons to. his daughter, and he , mentioned his ordinaTy price.", "Well," remarked tto ; tradeeman. "Oiafc certainly- is expensive, hut; ■ does ifc include the black keys as well' as th© white?" - .\ ! :- „-, . " —Concert master at, Courts— ■" A But,, Jie very, happy., in" his ■' .Russian - life,' andK'amoiig^ Jiis yfrienda-'was"" Ruliin.- - stein: with,- wh6m>ho« 'had; play«d{ as .a- boy. ■ 5 in:-<X.ienna.,'- Rubinstein^. waa-J then -concert- A .Cmasfer^at tKo,^ Court -of* "the Cza'r's^.eister, - ".'the" ."Grand- 1 Diieliess "'Helen,- and*- "when, ho r< wei/jt^" oa toui^JSjseheHzky ;' agf^eed? to^aic ". Bi&^p'lare. v ; Ariibngr'-tl?©" Grand* Duchess's ifiaids"'-bf i li6G«u'r"Wais\i[dlle. N cle. Frideboprgv ~ ,who .wa^ afi«f i^ards-IjeschetrzKy's v/lfe.-. - ,JEli^'«!Qcon<3 wiEj^.vasA^netterJlssipoffj ,wJii» came to h'ia as a pupil' when sho was only 32, years old, and 1 of. whom he said, "i would' have giveu- my life could it hay© brought h-sr nearer tho *§oal. She had -r tulenti ihat is-,met- with once -in a> lifetime. Oh,, if you could but- ha vo heard' how sho plaj'ed- to m«; sometimes I" — h\ Eng-aad. — H:s first visit to England was in 1864j\when extremely long, concerts were fashionable. > Mr Kuha; was nn_ ovoc-generclts^impresario . in this fespect, and; on .one _ occasion Bescheti/ky ran down (c BrightoiL to at- - tend" ono, of his concerts— However;- when, , the tim« .coma the- great pianist was , to<> j comfortable- to leave his armchair. Th» next rhocnihgi Air- Kuhe mot him- on ihe» parade,, and ( said, reproaohfully, • "Why did youc not come to >my conoerfe last nighti™ - lioschetiakyr stared* at v him< in. apparent amazement. "The conos-rfc !" he exclaimed. "Gcod hoa-vens, you don't- mean' to- say.rb--is' over- already !" , Ke- came to. London.,t«c ' fchreo times afferwards, but -nevor r stayed" long, as he found? tho" atmosphere, in all seises^ depressing. In- 1878:' he k left .St., Petersburg for- Vienna, where; he, .became one of- ihe central figures im the musical world. He caw more of" Brahms, however, ■ at Ischyl than in "Vienna, and ,he relates how/, • one -mornihg-'whin, -he- "was at his/ piano;. Bralxma. earned; jf and lookpd",;over i-fs shoulder::^ ."Hal! V^bataiscrt^'d'f-tliinge <vr«-; writing t "iliiß ; '" morrtjng.?~' Vl',;^ee — qmu. j ililrle: tKihgs; littW 3hJngs^ of.- coiirse, yesj* . 'To ■ which" l Theodoi',^^ Lceehetiglcyy ret6rted, , - "JLifctle . things?,,: ;-Ycs, .they/ are, -but "ten timos s !nore amusing- than youne/T tarn tell, you." / , - - ' - v \ -