Selected Content from the Editorials Department

Content is listed chronologically in the order originally published by "The Etude".
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Defective Education of Musicians. - November, 1887

If the professors of music show any deficiency in dignity of mind, below other professions, the cause is less in the necessary devotion of their time to the acquirement of the technical and mechanical dexterity requisite to the practice of their art, than to the dissipation of valuable hours in other ways. Read More

Listeners. - November, 1887

Nobody--unless they have experienced its effect--can know the peculiar annoyance to which a mere whisper will subject one, and from the farthest point in the room can it be heard. Read More

The Bearings of Literature Upon Music. - November, 1887

The arts are at bottom one. They may be called the converse of the senses; for as we have various organs which hold commerce with the physical world, bringing in from divers quarters their freightage of impressions, so the human soul, by a mystical law of its nature, returns itself to the outer world in that buoyant recoil which we call art. Read More

Expression and its Conditions - July, 1891

BY EDWARD DICKINSON.   One of the most interesting questions in musical study and criticism is, What is the basis of expression? In other words, what is the essence of that quality by which one player makes a deeper... Read More

Melody and Pedantry - July, 1891

BY W. H. NEAVE.   The musical sky is so much obscured by the pompous arrogance and dicta of pedantry, and the insincere, rhapsodic vaporings of affectation, that frequent gales of common sense are needed to dispel the dense... Read More

Paying the Price - July, 1891

BY CHAS. W. LANDON.   Savage and uncivilized peoples live only in the present. To-day they feast, to-morrow they starve. They depend on luck and chance for the means of existence, therefore they never become wealthy, they never grow... Read More

Careless Beginners - July, 1891

BY CHAS. J. ROCKWELL.   A careless teaching of the elementary principles of any science or art will cause its results to be felt throughout the entire career of the student, and the baneful effects of such a course... Read More

Editorial Notes - July, 1891

A HINT FOR POOR TIMISTS. Poor timists need to exaggarate (sic) the accents in whatever they are studying. When learning a piece, all accents and points of emphasis need to be particularly overpowered. But this does not imply piano pounding.... Read More

Professional Versus Amateur Music Teachers; or Low Tuition Fees and How to Raise Them - July, 1891

BY CHAS. W. LANDON.   [An Essay delivered before the New York State Music Teachers' Association, at Utica, July 2d, 1891.]   While teachers should be free to charge such prices for instruction as they think best, nothing but harm... Read More

Editorial Notes. - August, 1891

TYPES OF PUPILS. Inattention, it is said, is the pupil's worst fault. There needs to be an effort made from the first lesson to teach the pupil to grasp a thing and not only to understand it, but take such... Read More

Shall I Compose? - August, 1891

BY HENRY T. FINCK. In the preface to the collection of "National, Patriotic and Typical Airs of all Lands," recently published by order of Secretary Tracy, of the Navy Department, the compiler, Band Master Sousa, says that it was his... Read More

Types In the Concert Room. - December, 1891

Among students the most severely critical are those who, living remote from the influence of the concert room, are guided solely by the ideas of their teachers or their own too often distorted views on interpretation; the most appreciative and discriminating those living in the larger towns where opportunity is constantly offered and improved for hearing not only the best, but the various pianists. Read More

Editorial Notes. - December, 1891

Amateurs are a most valuable factor in an art, when they keep themselves from encroaching on the field rightly held by professional artists. An amateur musician is out of his place when he spends his days in an office, store, bank, etc., and plays an organ on Sunday for a salary that should be given to a professional musician, for he gets his subsistence from his clerkship, and the musician from his music. Read More

The Classical Music Fad. - July, 1893

The apparent admiration for classical music is simply a fad--a fashion born of cowardice, conceit, and ignorance. There is ignorance on the part of the public, many of whom do not know what really good music is, and they are too cowardly to express an honest opinion as to what pleases or displeases them. Read More

Music and Money. - April, 1895

I don't remember ever hearing any one call music and money twin sisters. They are so seldom seen together that one would suspect no affinity between them; yet we know they are very fond of each other betimes. Wealth always... Read More

The Comic Side Of Music. - May, 1895

BY FRANK L. EYER. I do not want any one for a single instant to get a wrong impression from this article. I have the utmost respect for all the great tone poets and their works, and I ardently believe... Read More

What Constitutes Success? - May, 1895

BY M. M. CHURCHILL. "The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do, without a thought of fame." First of all, then, it is what we do. It must... Read More

How I Read the Etude - October, 1895

The "ads" in a musical journal show how the country is making musical history, and give an idea of the necessity of being wide awake in the musical profession, as well as other lines of business, in this hustling age. Read More

Reform Needed. - October, 1895

The world is coming to a higher standard of morality every day, and what would be winked at twenty-five years ago will not be suffered now. Read More

Extemporization. - October, 1895

ach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Hummel, Mendelssohn, and many other possessors of honored names in the musical Temple of Fame, delighted and astonished contemporary audiences both of the general public and of musical experts. It is recorded of Bach that the lengthy "Vorspiele" and "Zwischenspiele" on the chorales with which he was accustomed to edify the congregation of St. Thomas, Leipzig, on more than one occasion brought down on him the protests of the clergy, who considered the services interrupted thereby. Read More

That Other Teacher. - October, 1895

How often is the pupil making such a change told by the new teacher that his former instruction was altogether wrong? That he made a very serious mistake in putting himself under that other teacher's direction? Read More

The Other Side of the Story. - October, 1895

Technic--technic--technic! We never can get too much of it, and although with a good method a moderate technic may be obtained--sufficient to bring the greater part of good piano literature within the reach of every earnest student--we must give a hearty welcome to any improvements, be they mechanical or otherwise, by means of which we may advance the development of technic. Read More

Art and Artlessness. - October, 1895

Art without technic is artlessness, a Raphael who did not know how to draw, to mix his colors, or to use his brush might be filled with inspiration and yet stand idly helpless before his canvas. Read More

The Modern Musical Crank - October, 1895

Of all the cranks in the world, there is none so objectionable as the old, fossilized musician. Why an artist should isolate himself from the rest of the world and become a freak with long hair, and possess all sorts of eccentricities is beyond my conception. Read More

Wanted--A New System of Musical Notation. - January, 1897

BY C. L. CAPEN. Few musicians are to any extent reconciled to the prevailing system of musical notation. It is a system no less complex than incongruous against which a true indictment of many counts might be drawn; yet, while... Read More

Editorial Notes - April, 1897

It is a pleasure to observe what an increasing amount of attention periodical literature is giving to music. The popular and standard magazines are competing with one another in their articles about our art. The daily and weekly papers are giving more and more space to musical affairs, and even some college professors brag about not "knowing one tune from another" less than formerly. Read More

Editorial Notes. - May, 1897

Monotony is the foe of expression. The cultivated ear can not endure an unchanging sameness. Hence, accent in music is an inherent necessity. But the fathomless extent and influence of accent has not yet begun to be comprehended. The rapidly revolving wheel does not reveal its single spokes to the eye, except as a more or less indistinct blur. If the spokes are large they make a greater impression upon the eye than if small. Read More

Infants at the Piano - October, 1897

LOUIS C. ELSON. If there is anything that can turn the milk of human kindness sour in the bosom of the mildest of musicians, it is to have the children at the summer hotel get at the innocent, unoffending piano, and... Read More

The Monomaniac In Music. - December, 1897

Mr. Stanley Whitman, the eminent English sociologist, in one of his works makes reference to what he claims to be a well-known fact: that a musician may have a recognized position among his fellows and still be quite a fool in the eyes of the world. I am a little surprised to see so able an author commit himself in this manner. Read More

What a Music Teacher Ought to Know. - December, 1897

It is scarcely a generation ago that there existed a genus of music teacher in America, a strange, tone-producing animal, who knew very little. To this homunculus the word "harmony" meant a knowledge of the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords; for him the circle of the keys became a semicircle, extending from three flats on the one side to three sharps on the other. This compound of arpeggios and arrogance was always called "Professor," and would have parted with his head rather than with his title. Read More

Editorials - December, 1897

The cry to give the American composer a chance is heard periodically. It may be true that the public like best that music that has a flavor of -ski, -off, -ini, -ade, etc., but it is difficult for an impartially-minded judge to believe that it is only a predilection for "importations" that causes this state of affairs. Read More

An Apology For the Piano - December, 1897

BY HENRY T. FINCK. Professional musicians have an inveterate habit of decrying the pianoforte as being inferior not only to the human voice, but to the violin and other orchestral instruments. In this allegation there is some truth and... Read More

Editorial Notes - December, 1897

But, perhaps, the worst sin of the amateur is that he ''plays'' at playing the church organ on Sunday, taking the position from a good professional because he underbid him. The professional lives by and through his music, while the amateur lives by activities outside of music. Read More

Moral Influence of Music. - December, 1897

The eminent musician is necessarily subject to a thousand seductive temptations of which the average burgher never even dreams, and to which his peculiarly sensitive, impressionable, nervous organism renders him exceptionally susceptible; but his temperamental vulnerability would not be lessened, indeed would probably be increased, by forcing him in early life into some other less congenial occupation, and so denying to his extreme moods this natural and legitimate channel of expression, while his temptations would be just as great and as numerous if he were equally eminent in any other line. Read More

Editorial - February, 1898

What has the modern music world to give the general public to take the place of the old-time popular cantata for stage representation, a form of entertainment, it is true, crude in inception so far as stage business is concerned, given often without scenery, with nondescript costuming, music of no great value, perhaps, no dramatic contrasts, little or no cohesion of idea and workmanship, yet popular and useful despite all that might be said by way of arraignment? Read More

Editorial Notes - March, 1898

"There is something fascinating about the music life!" said a student one day. "A man or woman who takes up that work must have many happy hours in the course of a life-time. I have so many even in my modest part of a dilettante." The cynical musician smiles, but grimly, when he hears such outbursts from pupils. Read More

Editorial Notes - March, 1898

Should artists marry? is a question that has often been propounded. Some people question if a man of the true musicianly type can be a good husband. His art must ever be dearer and closer to him than any wife, they argue; his thoughts, his real being, will be so much absorbed by the Muse that he will be careless, even neglectful, of the one who bears his name. Read More

The Overcrowded Musical Profession - Roie Adams Grumbine. - March, 1898

I do not believe that in art, whatever may be true in the purely utilitarian pursuits, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Whatever ministers to the sum total of human happiness is a good thing, and I wouldn't dissuade the ignorant darky lad from playing the bones if it made him happy--and he was out of my hearing! Read More

Editorials - May, 1898

Art does not, of necessity, emasculate its followers; the rather does it cultivate that spirit of fixity of purpose, that reckless, dashing enthusiasm that leads a possessor to heroic deeds that succeed beyond all reason. The artist's fiery earnestness and self-devotion are part of the stuff of which heroes are made. Read More

Advantages For Music Students in Various European Centers - July, 1898

BY EDWARD BAXTER PERRY. VI. BERLIN. A wise philosopher has said, "A man may fancy himself in love many times and be mistaken, but when he really is in love, he knows it beyond all question." It is much the... Read More

Expression In Playing and Its Conditions - July, 1898

BY EDWARD DICKINSON. A newspaper clipping recently sent to me for comment contains a somewhat disgruntled expression of surprise at the unsatisfactory nature of the playing of many piano students who are rated as possessing talent and technical skill. "It... Read More

Mechanical Musical Instruments - July, 1898

BY W. F. GATES. During the past few years much ingenuity has been displayed in the structure of automatic musicians, so to speak, and it is possible that the cheapness of these instruments may in some degree affect the income... Read More

The Value and Practice of Advertising Among Professional Musicians - July, 1898

BY J. FRANCIS COOKE, MUS. B. BEHIND THE SCENES. It is often surprising to note the ignorance of the general public regarding the importance of advertising. I have known people to stand in open-mouthed wonder when they hear for the... Read More

The Use of the Metronome - July, 1898

S. N. PENFIELD. Teachers differ widely and unaccountably in the value they place upon the use of the metronome. I say "unaccountably," for it does seem that the value and the limitations of the little machine must be evident to... Read More

Individuality and Spontaneity in Musical Expression - July, 1898

GEORGE H. HOWARD. There is no more hopeful indication of musical progress in America than the evidence of increasing effort on the part of the most thoughtful teachers toward developing the minds of their pupils along lines of individual and... Read More

Editorials - July, 1898

  We wonder sometimes at the eccentricities of great musicians, and the frequency with which they give evidence of mental aberration. Many of the great composers have been thought partially insane; and almost any one who has visited various parts... Read More

Critical Comment. - November, 1898

BY LEONARD LIEBLING. The time is past when our public marveled at the amazing performances of infant-phenomena. Nowadays these prodigies are so plentiful that, if a youngster can not recite a poem, sing a song, or play a piece on... Read More

Editorials - December, 1898

Elsewhere in this issue may be found a malignant attack by "Old Fogy" on the music and memory of the late Peter Illitsch Tschaikowsky. We say "malignant'' with sorrow, for, despite his occasional acerbity, our contributor is seldom personal, although rather old-fashioned in his judgments. Hence our surprise at his rather frenetic outburst on the subject of the works of the great, dead Russian. Read More

Rag-Time Music. - June, 1899

That rag-time is musically effective, nobody denies. Watch its effect on any audience, if you happen to think differently about it from everybody. Nevertheless is ragtime of the earth, earthy; rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub; of the lower, lowest earth, earthy; though Beethoven employed it; and, with a questionable artistic taste in the foregoing example, be it said, even touching that god-like master. The more one studies, and the higher one gets, with Beethoven, Wagner, and Dante, into the empyrean, the more will he chafe at rhythmic cabining and cribbing. Heaven surely has no baton-wielder, time-counter; for time, of all kinds, is, or will be, no more there! Read More

On Harmony Teaching - September, 1899

By Homer A. Norris.   It is true that during the past fifteen years an extraordinary interest has developed in this country in the study of harmony, but the statement that we take this study more seriously here than... Read More

On "American" Music - September, 1899

By E. R. Kroeger.   One of the critics who attended the recent convention of the Music Teachers' National Association, at Cincinnati, wrote that, of the eighty-seven compositions by American composers rendered, there was but one that might be... Read More

Musical Comments by Emil Liebling - September, 1899

The recent death of Mr. Frederick Brandeis, of New York, removed from our mundane sphere a very capable, earnest, and conscientious musician, and yet he illustrated during his life the anomaly of a thoroughly good but not especially successful... Read More

Thought and Effect - September, 1899

By Dr. Robert Goldbeck.   Musical thought corresponds to thought in language. Words are verbiage when the life-giving thought is lacking; they are meaningless. Words may be flowery, beautiful in their association, but when they convey no idea affecting... Read More

The Musician's Marriage - September, 1899

A Study of Matrimony and Music. By Louis Arthur Russell.   II.   To appreciate fully the possibility of a devoted lover, husband, or wife being also a true artist, one must know that constancy of love for one's... Read More

Our Musical Atmosphere - September, 1899

By George Lehmann.   All the world over the musician is a more or less happy-go-lucky fellow who concerns himself but little with what the morrow may bring forth. His temperament—using the term in its commonly accepted sense— is... Read More

The Protest of the Individual - September, 1899

By Harvey Wickham.   When one begins to be taught by science, he begins to realize his personal insignificance. In so many millions of atoms one atom more or less seems of no particular consequence. A man sees things... Read More

Editorials. - November, 1899

Many writers in the press refer to the epidemic of "rag-time" music, in which we are now well along into the second year, as if "rag-time" were something new. On the contrary, it is old as the hills. There is hardly a composer, ancient or modern, but who has repeatedly made use of "rag-time'' effects in his works. Read More

The Teacher of To-Day. - March, 1900

Upon the teacher of to-day rests the responsibility for the popularity of the musician of the future. Let the teacher see to it that the pupil is encouraged to search for the scientific reason of things. The idea that music is not a science is false. It is the oldest, the greatest, the most exact of them all! To no other cause can we attribute the high standing of the "art." Read More

The Choice of Music as a Profession. - March, 1900

Talent being the first essential required in the successful pursuit of a musical career, everything else follows of its own accord. Nor must love of music be mistaken for talent. No doubt, love of music presupposes some ability for the art. In many cases the practiced eye can discover latent talent where only love of the art is perceptible. And every musician knows that talent of that order properly nurtured and carefully developed may produce most excellent results. Read More

Why We Are Not More Musical. - March, 1900

At the recent public meeting of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, Horatio William Parker, head of the musical department of Yale University, spoke of the undeveloped state of musical composition in America. No art has yielded so few... Read More

Æsthetic Versus Structural Analysis. - March, 1900

Knowledge of and insight into musical form is necessary to the player, but not to the listener, even for the highest artistic appreciation and enjoyment, just as the knowledge of colors and their combinations is essential to the painter, but not to the beholder. Read More

Something About the Popular Music of To-day. - March, 1900

The craze for "coon" songs, as they are familiarly known, began about three years ago, and shows little sign of abatement at the present time. Not content with "rag-time" songs, marches, two-steps, and even waltzes have also been subjected to this syncopated style of treatment by composers, in order to appease the seemingly insatiable thirst for that peculiar rhythmic effect produced by successive irregular accent. That the production of coon songs and two-steps has been carried to an extreme no one can question, but out of the many thousands of publications of this character, but a very few, by comparison, have enjoyed really large sales. Read More

The Real Value of "Recommendations." - March, 1900

BY E. A. SMITH. Nearly all musicians have dealt with the "testimonial" question at some period in their career, and it is a question of no small concern. A recommendation from a teacher is either worth something or it is... Read More

To the Would-Be Musician. - March, 1900

BY HARVEY WICKHAM. I am in receipt of a letter from the Editor of The Etude asking for an expression of opinion regarding the necessary qualifications for a musical career. I would not like to advise anyone to undertake the... Read More

Success in Music. - March, 1900

The musician of the present, as the artist in any branch, will find it more and more difficult to preserve an uncorrupted, correct idea of the term "success," because the undue preponderance of commercialism in these days has well nigh altered the meaning of that word into "acquiring an undeserved amount of money." Read More

Editorials - March, 1900

In our awe and admiration at the greatness of the genius of the world's musical creators, we are sometimes prone to fall into a rather silly way of talking of them as if they were demigods not marked with human foibles, and not to be pardoned when we learn perhaps that they possessed such weaknesses. Read More

Editorials - April, 1900

The tendency in the musical world to demand that musicians shall be "specialists" in what they profess to do is becoming more marked every year, and many musicians have fallen by the wayside in their attempts to do too much.... Read More

Editorial Notes - June, 1900

Too many young people who are very musical in their make-up have a decided objection to giving time and effort to studies outside of their limited musical curriculum. Every once in awhile we hear of this one quitting school to study music, and that one dropping out of college to give "all my time to my practice." Read More

Music in the Twentieth Century - January, 1901

LOUIS C. ELSON. PROPHECY is, in general, a very hazardous undertaking, and in the field of music it is especially so, for, while the other arts have their fixed rules, composition has not a single law which may not... Read More

Editorials - April, 1901

“He has had a long experience as a teacher, but isn’t he getting a little old?” This is the remark one sometimes hears concerning a teacher whose name is well known in the community. The same thing happens to the... Read More

Artistic Temperament -- Angelo de Prosse. - July, 1901

BY ANGELO DE PROSSE. Artists, it is said, possess a temperament of a peculiar kind, without which they could never reach the Parnassus of their profession. Webster defines temperament as “the peculiar physical and mental character of an individual.” Webster... Read More

Editorials - July, 1901

Much is being written in the press of the country on “Success.” We are all interested in knowing how the various successful men of the world have made their way, and we hope to find some principles to help us.... Read More

Editorials - November, 1901

Music-students, and especially those of the feminine sex, are prone to allow music to consume all the time of study. Concentration is one thing, but narrowness is another, and it is unquestionable that he who narrows down to one side of anything kills it entirely. There is no breadth, there is no spontaneity, there is no inspiration, there is nothing that breathes of actual genius. There is nothing but the clang of the hammer and the evidence of drudgery. Read More

Editorials - December, 1901

We have devoted this number of The Etude to a study of the great genius of music, Mozart, the in­comparable. The oft-quoted statement that historical movements are like the swing of a pendulum may be reiterated here. Signs are not... Read More

Editorials - May, 1902

In another month a number of young men and women will be graduated from the scores of schools and conservatories of music of this country. It is not possible to say what proportion of these grad­uates will take up the... Read More

The Necessity For Business Adaptability. - May, 1902

BY J. FRANCIS COOKE, M.B. At the completion of a course of preparation cov­ering several years, during which time the student is so isolated that business of any kind is looked upon as a foreign matter, it is not surprising... Read More

A Study of Successful Musicians. - November, 1902

The average percentage for artists who have gained early fame is only fifteen, while the average age of eminent artists is forty-five, the same as for musicians. Although the infant artist does not so "frequently figure on our bill-boards," yet it is a nice question whether the percentage of famous artists who displayed precocity is not as great as in the case of the musicians. Read More

Hobbyists - November, 1902

By J.S. VAN CLEVE   We all know them. There is the religious hobbyist, who, having caught a glimpse of one of the myriad flashes of God's infinite light from some pinnacle of thought, goes about insisting upon throwing... Read More

Mistaken and Deceived. - November, 1902

It is most pitiable to see some one who has spent perhaps fifteen years in studying the technic of an instrument coming before the public with well-developed mechanics and nothing else. And what is quite as sad is the... Read More

Wagner on the Piano - February, 1903

BY W. J. HENDERSON.   THE dust and turmoil of another season of music obscure the vision of music-lovers, not too clear at the best of times. Piano-virtuosi ravage the land with fire and the sword of technic, and... Read More

The Music Festival and its Influence - June, 1903

It is within the power of every teacher to interest her patrons in the matter if it be properly presented. The trouble is that too many teachers recognize no duty further than an hour spent by the side of a pupil, during which time the pupil is told a few things concerning time and tune, and perhaps the position of the hand. Read More

The Esthetics of Modern Music - August, 1903

BY DR. HENRY W. GILES. KUBELIK, the celebrated violinist once said: “Man longs for something—he don’t know what it is; I supply that want.” He might have named the composer as coadjutor with himself in filling this want. Apropos... Read More

A Cardinal Fault of the Music-Student. - October, 1903

BY J. S. VAN CLEVE.   I suppose nothing is more disheartening to a teacher of the art of music than to discover that ideas which have been slowly and with pain as well as painstaking imparted to the... Read More

Editorials - October, 1903

IT is hard to get young people to realize the oft-quoted statement that this is a day of specialists. There is much talk about general education and a broad foundation and all that; talk that is sensible and well meant and that to a certain extent should be heeded; but what we want, after all, is a building, not alone a foundation. That man who goes on forever building foundations in his own education may find as the result that he has on hand a fine assortment of stone walls and cellars and has reared nothing on them all. He is as bad as the Irishman who dug a lot of post holes and wanted to put them on the market. Posts are more marketable than post holes. Read More

The Etude. A Monthly Journal for the Musician, the Music Student, and all Music Lovers. - March, 1904

The Etude. A Monthly Journal for the Musician, the Music Student, and all Music Lovers. Subscription, $1.50 per year. Single Copies, 16 Cents Foreign Postage, 72 Cents. Liberal premiums and cash deductions are allowed for obtaining subscriptions. Remittances should... Read More

The Art of Criticism Indispensable To Musical Education - March, 1904

BY EMILIE FRANCES BAUER.   Perhaps the most neglected side of the study of music is one which is most necessary to all who are interested in music whether directly or otherwise, and that is the ability to criticise... Read More

The Necessity of Contrast in Art - March, 1904

BY EDWARD BAXTER PERRY.   One of the commonest of the many misused stock of phrases so often heard is, "So and So has a lovely tone, a beautiful touch; I should know him by it anywhere." As is... Read More

Mental Practice - March, 1904

One common mistake made with regard to all mechanical devices to secure technical skill is that they are looked upon too much as royal roads the use of which will secure superlative results with the least possible mental effort,... Read More

The Pianoforte Legato - March, 1904

BY EDWARD DANFORTH HALE   The legato treatment of the pianoforte is a tradition as old as the instrument itself. Now, traditions have their value. They stand in the breach when we are in imminent peril of persisting at... Read More

Conservatism in Piano Program Construction - March, 1904

BY W. FRANCIS GATES.   To anyone who has attended a number of artist piano recitals during a given season, there must come a suspicion that the performers are in league to keep the formal construction of programs and... Read More

The Astronomy of Music - March, 1904

BY JACQUES DE LYONS.   The ancient Egyptians speculated upon astronomy as the "Harmony of the Spheres." They theorized a systematic relationship between the seven-toned diatonic scale, as they formulated it, and the seven planets; the ratio between the... Read More

Suggestions Regarding Music Study and Interpretative Technic - April, 1904

BY WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD.   This is the age of specialties. It is said that composers have exhausted the resources of melody and harmony, but not so of rhythm. So there is still a chance to combine melodic and... Read More

The Repertory of Pupils. Why, How, and What? - April, 1904

BY W.S.B. MATHEWS   By repertory I mean a collection of pieces which, having been taken as lessons, one after another, have been thoroughly learned and are retained by the pupil in such a way as to be played,... Read More

Taste Versus Prejudice - April, 1904

BY EDWARD BAXTER PERRY   The ancient adage that "there is no accounting for taste," is founded upon a substratum of truth. Strictly and logically speaking, there is not; but as a matter of surface fact in daily experience,... Read More

The Infant Prodigy. - September, 1904

One of the most difficult and trying things in the life of a professional musician is the frequent attack of "infant prodigy." Hardly a week passes that he is not exposed to a more or less virulent form of it, and no antiseptic or vaccination yet devised renders him immune. He must submit with as good a grace as he may--accept it as a necessary evil and be pleasant about it. Read More

Making Up a Chopin Program - January, 1905

By EMIL LIEBLING THE proper making of any concert program is a matter of considerable difficulty, and involves much thought. Many vital factors are to be considered; the prospective audience and its probable characteristics, the locality of the musical... Read More

Quality of Chopin's Genius - January, 1905

BY H. A. CLARKE, MUS. DOC.   If it be one of the surest tests of genius that its possessor has many imitators but no successors, then must Chopin be in the foremost rank of the favored few,—not very... Read More

On the Probability of a Distinct American Note in Musical Composition - July, 1906

It is probable that, through natural and unconscious development, music composed by Americans will come, gradually, to possess characteristics differentiating it from that written by Italians, Russians, Bohemians, etc. This will not be brought to pass just by wishing, or by conscious striving; such things do not so happen. Read More

On Decrying the Music of Sunshine - July, 1906

One may sneer at the alleged "shallowness" of Mozart and the formal elegance of Mendelssohn--and these composers here represent the whole school of writers of this style--but they help to maintain the balance and to restrain the art from toppling over into psychic disquisitions and gloomy ponderosities. Read More

The Free Summer Hours - July, 1906

THE free summer hours should be used by the teachers to "brush up" on one or more subjects connected with their work, such as harmony, analysis, the literature of piano playing, biography and history. Read More

On Europe as a Summer Music School - July, 1906

JUDGING from the number of teachers, players and freshly graduated pupils who go abroad every summer, Europe may become a great summer music school for American musicians. Read More

On Transient Musicians and Teachers - July, 1906

THE past two or three years have brought to this country a number of musicians and teachers who will, for a time at least, be connected with American musical education. Read More

On Developing the Musical Taste of the Public - July, 1906

We present the thought that so far as music is to interest the great public the taste of the latter must be gently and tactfully led, not antagonized and forced upward. Read More

The Value of Imagination. - July, 1906

The imagination is not confined to artists and poets alone, but is possessed by all mankind; therefore it must have its part to play in our lives; this being admitted, it follows that the imagination needs a proper and careful training and cultivation. Read More

A Plea For Broad-Mindedness. - July, 1906

BY CHARLES E. WATT. Don't imagine that what you know on any topic is all that any one could possibly know, and don't believe for a moment that your way of doing a thing is the only effective way. There... Read More

The Great American Composer. The Where, the Why, and the When - July, 1906

What will be the distinguishing marks of the American composer, when he actually reaches us in a complete way? Will he speak a dialect peculiarly American? Will he stand out as a reformer? Will he confine himself to American subjects? Will he address himself to the popular taste or to those who really know music? Read More

What Does the Layman Hear in Music? - July, 1906

How does music sound to the other man? This is a question which musicians may find it profitable to ask themselves. If it is possible to find an answer, it is obvious that much information of value to the artist, the teacher, the writer on musical subjects, and to the layman and amateur, from whose ranks such representative audiences as those which gather from week to week at the Thomas Orchestra concerts are so largely recruited, may be disclosed. Read More

Like Tracks In The Snow - August, 1907

By THEODORE STEARNS   SULTRY summer sunshine, like the dull days of winter, does not promise much work, neither is it a particularly inviting incentive to the student of music. The vacation period, with its enchantments of balmy weather, genial... Read More

Editorial - February, 1909

It is well for teachers of music to realize that in advising their pupils to take the stage as a career they are urging them to enter a life that any unbiased observer will describe as an extremely undesirable existence. Even when stellar honors come to reward the actor who climbed up the rickety ladder of theatrical fame, he is confronted with a homeless, nomadic life of eternal appeal for that most fickle of all things--Public Approval. Read More

Respect Your Rival - April, 1909

Doubtless one of the worst mistakes that the music teacher can make is that of openly underestimating his rival teachers. It almost always reflects upon the teacher himself, and the greater the animosity he arouses the more he will be injured. Read More

Develop Your Own Individuality - April, 1909

Teachers without attempting to create adapt the business methods of their rivals with the same boldness with which an oriole takes the nest that some other bird has worked to build. The imitator always loses in the end. Read More

The Retirement Of Sembrich - April, 1909

During Mme. Sembrich's artistic career in New York many singers have come and gone. Some of them have had phenomenal voices, others have been remarkable actors, but none has had this singer's remarkable magnetism and personality, with the possible exception of Mme. Schuman-Heink. Read More

Salome And Musical Education - April, 1909

Remarkable as Strauss' music undoubtedly is, it must be admitted that its educational influence is limited to the large cities. His principal works require the machinery of the theatre and the employment of huge orchestras. Even the advanced musicians will find the pianoforte study of most of his scores tedious and aggravating. Read More

Home Work vs. Practice - April, 1909

Long distance educational advice is rarely profitable or advisable, but in some matters governmental control would be advantageous. Read More

Getting Something For Nothing - April, 1909

It seems impossible that there are still people who believe that they can "get something for nothing." Read More

The Mother's Part - April, 1909

The position of the mother in the American home has been revolutionized by the American magazines for women. From the silent, submissive factor of our former American life she has been raised to a new station. Read More

Attractive Recital Programs - May, 1909

With all due respect to printers, we would advise you to depend upon your own originality and ingenuity for any novelty you may desire to incorporate in your program. If you leave the matter entirely in the printer's hands you will doubtless have as a result some commonplace arrangement that the printer will assure you is "all the go" and which will really go into waste paper baskets. Read More

Attempting The Impossible Brings Ridicule - May, 1909

Americans have the reputation for possessing excellent common sense. Moreover we congratulate ourselves upon our knowledge of the fitness, the appropriateness of things. We think we know "what is right" and "when to do it." Read More

Books For Self Help Students - May, 1909

"I am contemplating making a list of a few books that could be put on a five foot shelf the reading of which for ten minutes each day would in time give a man a liberal education." Read More

Is Instruction Really Necessary? - May, 1909

...musical instruction is necessary unless you are obliged to take the chance of failure that those who depend entirely upon their own efforts always assume. Much can be accomplished without a teacher provided you are on the right track. Read More

Your Opportunity To Succeed - May, 1909

Have you ever thought of your wonderful opportunities? Don't say that you haven't any, for you have. No matter how or where you are, you always have the opportunity to do your best, and that is the greatest opportunity in the world. That was Lincoln's opportunity, Read More

Enthusiasm And Music Students - May, 1909

In the vernacular poems of this country we find a wealth of optimism. These poems represent the spirit of American success. They teem with enthusiasm, wholesome good judgment and optimism. The verses of Will Carleton, James Whitcomb Riley, Eugene Field, Edmund Vance Cooke and Bret Harte come a great deal nearer to the hearts of most Americans than do the verses of Whitman, Poe and Emerson. Read More

Helping the Dull Pupil. - January, 1910

By Florence Ruella Kelly.   One of the great successes of the past theatrical season has been a play known as "The Climax." This play is in reality a kind of dramatized music lesson. In it the old music... Read More

What Music Owes to Italy - January, 1910

It is with a deep feeling of reverence that we commence these paragraphs upon the marvelous benefactions of the astonishing little peninsula which, jutting down into the Mediterranean Sea and continually making us aware of its existence by earthquake,... Read More

Old Traditions and New Ideas, by Mark Hambourg - February, 1910

By Mark Hambourg.   Traditions, pedanticisms, yes, I consider them musical chloroforms which deaden the soul and the emotions. But, before saying anything more, I wish to state that if I venture to talk a little about some views... Read More

Why Woman Loves Chopin - March, 1910

[Editor's Note.—The following is part of an article which appeared in the New York Sun and was written by that paper's well-known critic, Mr. W. J. Henderson. As with all of Mr. Henderson's work, every paragraph is interesting and suggestive... Read More

Eminent Musicians on Chopin and His Works - May, 1910

Selected and arranged for ETUDE readers from an excellent symposium which appeared recently in the London Musical Times. Chopin had little fondness for the English people and for England. In fact, upon one occasion while returning from that country to... Read More

The Message of a Great Master - June, 1910

The musical world is stopping for a little while to pay its homage to Robert Schumann. It seems odd to think that had Robert Schumann lived to the age of one hundred years he would have heard musical works... Read More

The Measure of Musical Fame. - August, 1910

BY D. C. PARKER.   In a recent publication fame was defined as "not being published at sixpence during one's lifetime." The remark is not without its substratum of truth. It serves to remind one how fickle is the... Read More

Have Women Had Just Opportunities in Music? - August, 1910

In a recent issue of the London Musical Times Mr. Ernest Newman, the eminent English critic, has been discussing the ever-interesting subject as to why there are no great women composers. He points out the fact that women have... Read More

Some Musical Don'ts. - August, 1910

Don't thump.   Don't begin to play until you are ready.   Don't count to your playing, but play to your counting.   Don't jerk your hand when you put your thumb under.   Don't play one hand after... Read More

What Women Have Done For Music In Russia - August, 1910

Whether the popular prophecy that the music of the future will come from Russia is fulfilled or not, the musical accomplishments of the country which covers far more territory than any other in the world have been so astonishing that the musical world is looking to the land of the Czar with eager interest. The writer of this article has long been a resident of Russia. She is a close observer and most interesting writer. We are sure that our readers will be glad to know something of the part women have had in Russian musical development. In the March issue of The Etude M. S. Rachmaninoff, under whose supervision all the conservatories of Russia are conducted, gave our readers some splendid opinions upon piano playing. Read More

Laurels Long Delayed - August, 1910

The crusty old bachelor who said that the popular toast "The Ladies— God Bless 'em!" would soon be turned into "The men—Lord help 'em!" may have been unnecessarily sour, but we would like to know if it isn't time... Read More

Strengthening the Weak Spots - August, 1910

Very few of us are not conscious of our weak spots. The man who is ignorant of his weak spots is in a pitiable state. Not until the great weakness is realized and remedied is success possible. Some make... Read More

The Fall Recital - August, 1910

We have repeatedly urged our readers, both the teachers and the pupils, to adopt the plan of giving a recital as early as possible in the fall. This plan has three advantages and we are so firm in our... Read More

The Unknown Masters of To-Day - August, 1910

We recently received from a foreign publisher in Germany a list of musicians whom he considered composers of the first rank who are living in Europe to-day. These composers have gained sufficient fame to warrant the preservation of their... Read More

A Musical Decade In England - August, 1910

The death of King Edward has brought to our attention the somewhat unique fact that music has advanced in England during the last decade with greater rapidity than at any time since the days of Purcell. Queen Victoria was... Read More

The Survival of the Fittest in Music - November, 1910

How the Great Works of the Tonal Art Remain Through the Centuries, While Those of Less Value Are Doomed to More or Less Certain Oblivion.   By LOUIS C. ELSON.   [Editor's Note.—Mr. Elson's article is upon one of... Read More

What Is Music? - March, 1911

Scarcely a week passes that does not bring to The Etude offices an article entitled: "What is Music?" The writers of these articles attempt to express in three hundred, or three thousand, words what the poets, historians, lexicographers, physicists, and... Read More

Understandable Music - March, 1911

At a recent meeting of the "Musical Association" in London the leading address was made by George Bernard Shaw, he of the hydrocyanic acid tongue, the incandescent mentality and the Dantelike foresight. It was expected that Mr. Shaw would throw... Read More

Is It Too Late To Start? - March, 1911

Dear friends—you who have written to us asking whether it is too late to start at eighteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, even forty and fifty years of age—you have no idea how close the bond between you and The Etude really... Read More

Planning for the Summer - April, 1911

This Etude, coming to you on the door-step of Spring, finds both the teacher and the pupil in the most interesting part of the season. While we all welcome vacations, it seems unfortunate that this interest is not carried throughout... Read More

The Spare Time Bank - April, 1911

One of the large correspondence schools has gotten out an advertisement, with a cover in facsimile of a bank book. On the cover is printed: "THE SPARE TIME SAVINGS BANK IN ACCOUNT WITH AMBITIOUS AMERICANS." The idea is, of course,... Read More

The Music of the Fatherland - April, 1911

Das Deutsche Lied ist unser Hort,Und unser Sprach. Ein Mann, ein Wort. This peculiarly idiomatic and untranslatable German verse embodies the very essence of all that our German brothers hold highest. The nearest we can approach to it in English... Read More

Buying a Piano - July, 1911

Our attention has been continually called to various schemes to induce unsuspecting purchasers to buy worthless pianos. Read More

The Fruits of Thrift - July, 1911

A dollar--what is it? 'A piece of paper,' says one. No, more than that. Read More

The Only Real Help - July, 1911

The Etude is now starting what its editors consider one of the most important works it has yet undertaken. This is a campaign to help those who are trying to help themselves. Read More

Real Protection for the Child - November, 1911

If you, Mr. Teacher, have been teaching music in a hum-drum, dry-as-dust manner, expecting the pupil to take an all-consuming interest "on general principles," you should realize that the moment your back is turned that very pupil will seek the excitement and interest which you have not provided for him. He will turn from his scales to The Hobo's Picnic, he will desert his Czerny for The Pirate's Bride, he will leave his octaves and arpeggios to stare at the lurid posters of "The Queen of the Opium Slaves." Read More

Selecting the Right Teaching Piece - November, 1911

One of the best ways to tell a good teacher is to observe how much time and thought the teacher gives to selecting the right teaching piece. Read More

From the Hill-Tops - November, 1911

Above all things, do not stop climbing. Perhaps your path may be along new work in musical theory, technic, musical history, interpretation, study of the plastic arts, literature or biography. Whatever it may be, you will find the real pleasure in the climbing. Read More

Musical Taste in Modern Times - May, 1912

By the Distinguished French Master CLAUDE DEBUSSY.   The sense for the mysterious is gradually disappearing in these days in consequence of the irrepressible desire to prove everything, to explain everything; yet there is something which will always remain mysterious—and... Read More

Truths for Singing Teachers and Students - October, 1913

By the most renowned teacher of Singing of the Past Century MME. MATHILDE MARCHESI Prepared in co-operation with her daughter Mme. Blanche Marchesi   [The name of Marchesi is so well known in the musical world that it seems... Read More

Impressionism in Music - January, 1914

MUSICAL THOUGHT AND ACTION ABROAD. BY ARTHUR ELSON   IMPRESSIONISM IN MUSIC.   IN Die Musik Walter Niemann has written on the impressionism of Debussy and his contemporaries, while in the same number Hans Pfeilschmidt treated the subject of... Read More

Why Not A Practical Piano Chair - February, 1914

BY MINNIE OWENS. ANY one who has ever sat for hours upon the conventional piano stool, a kind of huge revolving mushroom, realizes how uncomfortable a seat ninety per cent. of the piano students must put up with. Why cannot... Read More

A Significant Inaugural. - October, 1914

From time to time the readers of The Etude have been acquainted with the progress of the new building of the Home for Retired Music Teachers at Germantown, Pa. Read More

What Is the Good of Books? - October, 1914

Musical books might be classified in many ways. Let us try one grouping which may throw light upon their intrinsic worth. Read More

Tomorrow. - October, 1914

With the navies bursting in the air and sinking in the deep, with cannons drinking the life blood of the nations, with armies devouring the riches of centuries, whence will come the support for the Schuberts, the Daudets and the Brownings of tomorrow? Read More

Chopin and the Music of Poland - February, 1915

By SIGISMUND STOJOWSKI     CHOPIN'S QUALITY. Chopin! these two syllables breathe a magic spell. Whoever has laid his hands on a piano, nay, whoever has listened to a piano, whether it be in a concert hall or in... Read More

Tragic Poland and its Musical Glory - February, 1915

The centuries old morning hymns, the quaint Hajnalys, chanted from the towers of old Cracow, waken the people to a new day in the pathetic history of one of the most wonderful countries of the world. Within her borders... Read More

Pegasus Flies Across Parnassus - September, 1915

By: James Huneker Third and Last in a Most Excellent Series of Articles in which Mr. Huneker Has Covered the Field of Pianoforte Studies in His Own Inimitable Fashion. The Previous Contributions Appeared in the March and in the... Read More

"Old Violin" Stories Dying Out - November, 1915

The "Old Violin" story seems to have outlived its usefulness so far as the daily papers are concerned. Not so long ago every violin found in a garret or hidden in the cellar was a valuable Stradivarius or an... Read More

The Artistic Musical Temperament - November, 1915

And What a Few Kings Did in the Tonal Art   By Louis C. Elson   Etude Readers will find the noted Boston critic in his happiest mood in this very readable and instructive article   Some years ago... Read More

Beginnings of Modern Instrumentation - November, 1915

By Arthur Bird   It takes much time to discover the waters of the musical seas, but still more to learn to sail on them.—Berlioz.   The dream, of almost every student of music is, or most certainly should... Read More

Franz Liszt--The Last Word in Piano Playing - November, 1915

Although the standard in this art has grown and is continually growing better, the highest excellence of several decades ago has not been maintained, nor is it equalled by any of the present day piano virtuosos. Read More

The Power of Suggestion in Music - November, 1915

AN ESSAY By EDWARD MacDOWELL   [Editor's Note.—The excellent essay upon this page is from the volume known as "Critical and Historical Essays,' published by Arthur P. Schmidt. These discussions of various phases of musical education, history, science and... Read More

Organization Among Teachers - November, 1915

Beginning December 28th and continuing for three days the Music Teachers' National Association will hold its thirty-seventh annual convention in Buffalo, New York. This Association, started by the founder of The Etude with the aid of a group of... Read More

Welcome - November, 1915

Twenty years ago Americans were praying that America might become the music centre of the world. Two years ago we were protesting that it already was that, but to-day we are overwhelmed with riches. The war has exiled most... Read More

Music All the Way - November, 1915

It is very gratifying to note the number of men who are making an avocation of music. By starting to learn the art in their youth and giving just a little time to it every day or so they... Read More

MacDowell - November, 1915

Ten years have passed since the cloud which tragically obscured America's foremost composer began its gradual descent. To-day we find the fame of Edward MacDowell greater than ever. THE ETUDE has for some time planned the publication of a... Read More

After To-morrow, What? - May, 1916

To-morrow, and to-morrow and to-morrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. —Macbeth. After to-morrow, what? That is... Read More

Will the Music of Ultra-Modernists Survive? - May, 1916

A Symposium By Eminent Musicians    Arthur Foote The eminent American composer makes an interesting discrimination which will interest Etude readers. The progress of music has so far been through evolution, not by means that negative all that has... Read More

Sanity and Insanity in Modern Musical Composition - May, 1916

Written Expressly for The Etude by the Eminent British Composer SIR CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD   "Man is all symmetric, Full of proportions, one limb to another." —George Herbert.   It has been said that the dividing line between genius... Read More

Let Us Recognize Music in Our School Histories - August, 1916

By C. Nearing  [Editor's Note.—The Etude has long been interested in the campaign to gain wider public recognition for music, and has urged its readers to lose no opportunity to induce others to give it that recognition. We have recently... Read More

Musical Poppycock - August, 1916

Art, religion and music seem to have suffered dreadfully from a kind of jargon purporting to represent ideas, but in reality nothing more than the outlandish gibberish of charlatans inventing words to substitute for their ignorance of real learning. In... Read More

Sleep and Nerves - August, 1916

"There are more ways of opening a door than kicking it open," said a dear old lady. We hear in these days of all sorts of wonderful treatment for disordered nerves. Medicines, baths, exercises, psychoanalysis, tonics, and dozens of other... Read More

A Revelation - August, 1916

The Etude has recently been conducting a careful audit of 150 recital programs given by teachers in all parts of the United States. These were taken just as they have come to us. Some are from the leading conservatories in large Eastern and Middle Western cities. Others come from towns and villages "everywhere." Read More

Common Sense in Pianoforte Touch and Technic - October, 1916

To say that Common Sense is the most uncommon sense that we possess, is to repeat, not only what numerous writers have expressed in language of varying intensity, but to echo the thoughts of every one of us who work out art problems of any kind. Read More

Is the Symphony Played Out? - May, 1917

Is the Symphony Played Out?   By HENRY T. FINCK   The distinguished Author and Critic asks a significant question and then gives some very informative answers   It would be foolish to ask: "Are symphonies played out?" We... Read More

Can Ugly Music Be Beautiful? - February, 1918

If beauty depends upon natural laws, then the ugly also must depend upon them. At present, there seems to be taking place a reaction from the pursuit of the beautiful to that of the ugly. Read More

Editorials - February, 1918

From the hour of birth until 21 years, when a man becomes of age, there is a span of 184,000 golden hours. That is the area of his youth and in that area he may build his structure in which he shall achieve his greatness or meet his failure. Of those 184,000 fractions of eternity, it is said that only about 7,000 are spent in school--a very small contribution to so important a matter--about one-twenty-fifth of the whole glorious time of youth. Read More

Editorials - November, 1918

America is proud of its musical women, proud not only of those who promote music, through such wonderful organizations as the hundreds that are included in the National Federation of Musical Clubs, but to the fine body of women music teachers, the women performers, and to the greatly increasing number of women composers, many of whom have gifts of which any nation might be proud. Read More

Appreciations of Rachmaninoff from Famous Musicians in America - October, 1919

Harold Bauer Sergei Rachmaninoff once said to me that he loved everything   that Tschaikowsky had ever written. I doubt if any single phrase could better illustrate the character, the tendencies, the modesty and generosity of the distinguished composer who... Read More

An Encouraging Failure - October, 1919

Musicians like to think that the tendency in mankind is away from the brutal toward those things which are ennobling, because music at its best appeals to the higher side in man.   It is, therefore, interesting to note... Read More

Amerikanischer Marsch - October, 1919

Here is an amusing office incident which many of our readers will enjoy. In the first package of manuscripts received from Germany since peace came were the compositions of a widely-admired composer whose works have been played by thousands... Read More

Chopin Opus 35 - October, 1919

In an inquiry conducted some years ago, a number of great pianists, speaking independently of each other, gave the Chopin Opus 35—the great Sonata in B flat as their favorite composition—the piece they liked to play best of all.... Read More

"Acclaimed by the Orient" - October, 1919

It has been the custom for years for pianists about to embark upon the golden seas of the American concert tour, to forward their European press notices. Now comes one, Podolsky by name (as yet unrecorded in any of our... Read More

Technic To-Day and Yesterday - October, 1919

Tausig, according to the say-so of the editor of his Studies, Heinrich Ehlert, had very strict ideas upon certain phases of pianoforte study and technic.   As near as we can get to it from written records, Tausig used... Read More

Upward Music - October, 1919

The progress of the reformatory and prison systems during the last century has been one of the encouraging signs of human development. From the crudest kind of cruel discipline in the management of miscreants, we have advanced toward the... Read More

Rachmaninoff - October, 1919

This is the first issue of The Etude which has ever been devoted in great part to a living composer—a Rachmaninoff issue. Editorial binoculars often look far into the distance, but cannot even focus upon men and things nearby.... Read More

New Conceptions of Popular Music - February, 1920

We have to revise our notion of what constitutes “popular” music when we see the thirty-cent motion picture houses advertising orchestral programs composed largely of Tschaikovsky, Dvořák, Rachmaninoff, Wagner, Grieg, Debussy and Massenet. A few years ago such an... Read More

Editorial Notes - September, 1920

It is a matter of comment at the present time that musicians seem to make no provision for their families in case of the sudden death of the husband and father. The recent sudden death of Prof. H. C. Banister, in England, is a case in point. His widow was left entirely unprovided for, and yet Prof. Banister had a good clientele. Other examples could be quoted, and no doubt many of our readers know of similar cases. Read More

Editorials - January, 1921

Behind the Scenes The success of many ventures is due to the silent workers behind the scenes. The inspiration for some of the greatest masterpieces of music has come from men who are themselves forgotten. The excellent Italian musical periodical... Read More

Lingering Lovingly on Details - April, 1921

By HENRY T. FINCK Why is Paderewski the greatest of living pianists? Because, more than any other, he lingers lovingly on beautiful details in the music he is playing. There are other reasons, but that is the principal one. Lingering... Read More

Twelve Foundation Stones for Your Record Collection - May, 1921

By Smith C. McGregor   "Unbalanced" record collections are a common failing among phonograph owners. You probably know several people who have expensive phonographs and plenty of records, but who do not seem to get full enjoyment from them.... Read More

Editorials - January, 1922

The music life is like a mighty current. Its enthusiasts find themselves carried down the stream of their artistic en­thusiasm by a force so great that only the most powerful can survive. If the composer is satisfied to wade in calmer waters he knows that his artistic results will be proportionate. It is the mighty struggle, the terrific fight of man with the psychic and cosmic forces of the age in which he is working that pro­duces the great master. Read More

Why Not a Stradivarius Piano? - May, 1922

By Andrew Ross   LAST night I saw a Stradivarius violin that cost its owner $15,000.00. It poured forth a beautiful tone and it was a work of art in every sense. Reposing upon a grand piano of one... Read More

Editorials - September, 1922

Fifty Galloping Horses The measure of mechanical energy is horse power. The greatest thrill of motoring is the consciousness of power, the feeling that one has twenty, thirty, forty, fifty galloping horses ahead, tense on the bit, pulling one out... Read More

The Mystery of Beautiful Piano Tone - December, 1923

Your editor, for over a quarter of a century, has been in close personal communication with practically all of the great pianists of the world. He has observed minutely their playing in public and in private, innumerable times. He has noted that those who have been famous for their lovely tone have, either through carefully thought-out principles, or through instinct, played in the manner we have described. Read More

What the Metropolitan Music Critic Looks for Most - By Henry T. Finck. - December, 1923

In order to pass muster with real critics you must therefore convince them that you are an artist and not a mere night or day laborer. If you are that and noth­ing more, you cannot hide it from an expert one mo­ment. You may make money--and since that's what you are after, it ought to satisfy you--but you cannot expect to be admitted into the inner circle of genuine musi­cians. Read More

Editorials - January, 1924

If the makers of Jazz desire to continue their success and provide musical entertainment that is inspiriting without being offensive, they may take a lesson from experiences like this which are likely to increase in number with the accumulating public indignation over the evils of Jazz. Good Jazz can be a wholesome tonic; bad Jazz is always a dangerous drug. Read More

Editorials - April, 1924

The city of Philadelphia has at present, in General Smedley D. Butler, "The Fighting Quaker," a chief of police who attracted national attention in a day. All honor to him and to his drastic methods of rooting out crime. But, at the best, General Butler and all like him correspond to "swatters" in a campaign to get rid of flies. He can capture a few criminals and imprison them, but in order to clean out the breeding places of crime, we must begin with the education of the mind of the little child. Read More

Editorial - August, 1925

To have friends, you must first of all learn to see the better side of others and condone weaknesses. Many are without friends because they are too exacting; they look for perfection. If they were criticized themselves as they criticize others they would be highly indignant. If you wait for gods in order to make friends, you will spend a very lonely existence. See the beauty in the frailty of human nature that calls for a brother or a sister. Your friend needs you most when he is in trouble. You must learn to forgive your friend's weaknesses as well as admire his virtues. Read More

Editorial Notes - September, 1925

Honorary Distinctions There is a misty legend, undoubtedly apocryphal, but none the less pointed, that a famous master (was it Handel or Haydn?) went to a great English University (was it Cambridge or Oxford?) and there, after having received a... Read More

An Incredible Mental Achievement - September, 1928

An Incredible Mental Achievement   FOR many years THE ETUDE MUSIC MAGAZINE has been stressing the great advantages of music study as a mind trainer. We have contended with the late President Eliot of Harvard that “Music properly taught... Read More

Music and Madness - March, 1929

Music and Madness   PHILIP THE FIFTH of Spain had the chronic blues or, pathologically speaking, melancholia. He sat in his sumptuous palace at Madrid brooding over the loss of Gibraltar, the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Sardinia and Naples. He... Read More

The Piano as a Broadcasting Instrument - April, 1935

The Piano as a Broadcasting Instrument By HARVEY GAUL   Mr. Harvey Gaul, noted American organist and composer, is a native of New York City. After studies abroad he was active in New York and Cleveland; after which in... Read More