Selected Content
from the Miscellaneous Department 
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Our Staff Improvement. - November, 1887
The Etude staff has been increased by the engagement of Mrs. Helen D. Tretbar, who has been editor of The Item, which, unfortunately, will be discontinued with the November issue. Read More
Hints and Advice. - November, 1887
Translated for The Etude from The Klavierlehrer. Read More
Publisher's Notes. - November, 1887
The Etude can be procured through any newsdealer. If your newsdealer does not keep it on sale ask him to do so. The Etude does not want for admirers when it has an opportunity of presenting itself. Read More
Edison's New Phonograph. - November, 1887
For musicians the phonograph is going to do wonders, owing to the extreme cheapness with which I can duplicate phonograms and the delicacy with which the apparatus gives out all musical sounds. Read More
New Publications. - November, 1887
THE ROSE. By Anton Strelezki. H. B. Stevens, Agent, Boston, Mass.Good song, with simple but attractive melody and easy accompaniment. Will go with "Dreams" and ''Wooing," by the same author. Highest note "F#." LOVE'S SUNSHINE. LOVE'S CONFIDENCE. By Jules Jordan.... Read More
Wisdom of Many - July, 1891
No practice and no study, should be the rule when the mind is weary and begs for rest. Remember that nature firsts warns, then implores, then demands.—Thomas Tapper. Inattention is the pupil's worst foe. The interest you exhibit... Read More
About Runs - July, 1891
How often do pupils complain, "I cannot play a fast run!" Groups of short values, and especially runs, mean something as a whole, in their totality; the short values have little quality, and must not be singled out by... Read More
The Thumb in Scale Playing - July, 1891
I noticed in last issue of The Etude rules for fingering scales, which has moved me to give you the rules used by myself in teaching scales. I have found them exceedingly easy to remember, and they have made... Read More
Publisher's Notes - July, 1891
Music students who desire to enlarge their musical library will do well to look over our premium list, and by getting a few subscribers, they can obtain some of our books as premiums. Send for premium list. We... Read More
New Publications - July, 1891
Root's New Course in Voice Culture and Singing: for the Female Voice. Published by Root & Sons, and the John Church Co., Chicago and Cincinnati. This work is a new departure in vocal methods. Mr. Root has made a... Read More
Worthy of Comment - July, 1891
TEACHING AS AN ART. The practical turn of the American mind is stirring itself to meet a demand that has long been vaguely felt, but only recently put into a working form. It has first found expression in the... Read More
Man Created Music - July, 1891
Music is the most original of all the arts, being, more than any other, the special creation of the human mind. The sculptor and the painter can find their prototypes and models in the forms of beautiful men and... Read More
Music as a Bread Winner for Girls - July, 1891
BY LOUIS LOMBARD. In the musical profession woman stands on a par with man. She is never underpaid simply because she is a woman. Can this be said of young women who earn a precarious living as book-keepers,... Read More
The English Registration Bill for Teachers - July, 1891
The English Parliament is considering a "Teacher's Registration Bill," in which English teachers and musical societies are extremely interested. This Bill provides for the examination and licensing of teachers, much in the same manner as is done with... Read More
The Tone-Softening Devices - July, 1891
The "piano nuisance," as it is called, is being severely dealt with in some European cities. In one instance the authorities will not allow the outside windows of a room to be open where a piano is in use.... Read More
New Publications - July, 1891
We have recently received from the author, Edmund J. Myer, f. s. Sc. (London), a work on the voice entitled "Vocal Reinforcement.'' This is a book for vocal teachers and pupils. It is very cleverly written and takes up... Read More
Committing Music to Memory - July, 1891
BY HERVE D. WILKINS. The ability to read music mentally "to one's self," as we say in speaking of reading a book or a paper, is far more general than we suppose. First there are the composers—they... Read More
An Elegant Design for a Piano Cover - July, 1891
A very beautiful piano cover is made of dark blue cloth, Indian red or maroon broadcloth, worked with a border of sunflowers, which is set on a band of broadcloth inserted between narrow bands of the material used for... Read More
Life-Rests - July, 1891
"There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the... Read More
Sound Sensations. - August, 1891
Professor Bain, distinguished sound considered as sensations into three classes: The first, comprises the general effect of sound as determined by quality, intensity, and volume or quantity, to which all ears are sensitive. The second, includes musical sounds, for which... Read More
Time For a Lesson. - August, 1891
BY CARL E. CRAMER. The following schedule, which has been dictated by many years of experience, may be of some use to young teachers. It is, of course, applicable only to children of average capacity. For geniuses and blockheads, special... Read More
Thorough Practice. - August, 1891
It is said that one of the most eminent lady American pianists (Mme. Rive King) owes her great command of the resources of the keyboard to a somewhat strange and rigorous style of practice. The system seems to be also... Read More
Cultivate the Imagination. - August, 1891
BY H. SHERWOOD VINING. In musical composition every phrase has a meaning, and in order to bring it out clearly, every tone must have a meaning, and must fill its proper relation to the preceding and following tones. The pupil... Read More
Theory As Related To Piano Playing - August, 1891
BY EDWARD MOORE. Many teachers of the present day ignore theory entirely, claiming that it is unnecessary, and that so long as the pupil is taught technically there is no need of going into an explanation of the more profound... Read More
Leigh Hunt On the Piano. - August, 1891
A pianoforte is a most agreeable object. It is a piece of furniture with a soul in it, ready to wake at a touch, and charm us with invisible beauty. Open or shut, it is pleasant to look at; but... Read More
Worthy of Comment. Music by Telephone. - December, 1891
I once spent a large share of the night with a telephone operator at Worcester, and know that there are many pleasant things connected with the business. Generally after twelve o'clock the calls are few and far between, coming chiefly from the newspapers and doctors. It is the custom of some of the operators to make the circuit of several places and tell funny stories. Read More
Letters From a Music Teacher Thirty Years Ago. - July, 1893
In looking over a trunk containing old letters a few days ago, I found a package carefully tied with ribbon and marked, "From Nellie, the Music Teacher, 1863." The envelopes were of every hue, shape, and size imaginable, an indication of the mood of the writer at the time they were sent. Instantly memory rushed back over the many years, to the days when Nellie Phillips and I were room mates in a large boarding school near Philadelphia, and I seemed to see her in her rôle as prima donna as plainly as though she stood before me. Read More
Publisher's Notes - April, 1895
A man by the name of Ben. Abelsted has been representing himself as an agent of The Etude, having taken subscriptions and never turned them over to us. We would warn any one from having business relations with him. He... Read More
A Rhapsody. - April, 1895
BY LAURA HULL MORRIS. Music is not a play game, or sensuous pleasure merely to tickle the ear; it means something. The world is awake to its importance. We want intellectuality in music; nothing more develops the imagination and perceptions;... Read More
Fingers and Finger-Rings. - April, 1895
A STORY BY JOHN ORTH. I was once sixteen years of age. This was some twenty odd years ago, and, I am sorry to say, may never happen again. It was about this time that I was presented by a... Read More
What Is Classical Music? - April, 1895
BY WILLIAM MASON. Music which through prolonged usage has proved its possession of those qualities which entitle it to be taken as a standard of excellence, and which has come to be acknowledged, first by competent judges, and subsequently by... Read More
A Practical Talk With Girls. - April, 1895
BY R. C. TEMPLE. We are living in an age when people want practical thoughts, and it is just such a talk I want to give to the girls who may happen to read this paper. I am afraid, girls,... Read More
A Fantasy. - April, 1895
The scene is supposed to take place in a garden of the planet Phonos; a Paradise especially created by the Omnipotent as an eternal home and resting place for all musicians and vocalists of genius or talent, after their demise... Read More
The Value Of An Artist's Testimonial. - April, 1895
W. F. GATES. While operatic rivalries may furnish food for public enjoyment, there are other interesting musical conflicts which are not without their ludicrous side. The competition of instrument makers, notably piano manufacturers, has been so warm at various times... Read More
Reminiscence of Bülow. - April, 1895
Mr. Makower pays a tribute to the real kindheartedness which underlay a rather brusque manner, and he tells us that Bülow all his life long did many acts of unostentatious charity, such as the helping of old and poverty-stricken musicians.... Read More
A New Note On The Piano. - April, 1895
The French humorists, who often lack material, like American writers of the same guild, have of late been turning their attention to the piano and the young ladies who make that cumbrous instrument a specialty. This is a well-worn subject... Read More
Musical Talent. - May, 1895
BY E VON ADELUNG. How often do parents ask us the question: Do you think my daughter has musical talent? Talent, what is talent? Is it as I. G. Lehmann, in his book on harmony and composition will have it—the... Read More
The Amateur Musical Society. - May, 1895
ACCOUNTS OF MUSICAL SOCIETIES, PROGRAMMES, NOTES OF WORK, LISTS OF BOOKS, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. All communications to the Department should be addressed to Cora Stanton Brown, 134 St. Mary Street, Indianapolis, Ind. The following is a sketch of the... Read More
Nuggets. - May, 1895
Activity is essential to success. He who stops, stagnates, and, like a piece of machinery, rusts to his death. If one stops, nothing is done; if one moves, something must be done. When a person engaged in music says he... Read More
Philosophic Reflections. - October, 1895
Sincere appreciation is generally silent; the person who least understands a famous symphony is the one most likely to blister his hands by applauding. Read More
Hints and Helps. - October, 1895
—Common sense is not as common as it should be. —Are you thinking of doing great things some day, then you would better begin to-day. —To recognize and acknowledge true greatness in others is a stepping-stone to greatness in ourselves.... Read More
Gleanings. - October, 1895
—At his benefit a popular singer in an opera house of a Rhenish town, deeply moved, put his hand on his heart and exclaimed: "Never shall I forget what I owe this town and its inhabitants." And the leading beer-saloon... Read More
Worse Than Wasted. - October, 1895
There is no one factor of success stronger than that of having acquired good habits of work. Having once formed these, we are left free to look beyond the mere details of the work, and to see how best we may accomplish that which we have undertaken. It is like playing the piano. At first we have to study the music and the keys, and each note we strike requires a separate and distinct effort of the will, but in a little while we begin to read the music readily, and as our fingers wander over the keys we are not conscious of guiding or directing them. Read More
The Lecture Recital. - October, 1895
With the growth of an interest in good music, there has come about a widening of the field of the ambitious teacher of music, and the fashion of the musical lecture or lecture recital. There are, I believe, many communities... Read More
Suggestions for Musical People. - October, 1895
An important suggestion is in regard to the care of a piano. Presuming that you have a good instrument, one which you prize for its workmanship and finish, as well as for its musical qualities and companionableness, it is worthy... Read More
An Account of the Gavotte. - October, 1895
The gavotte, or gavot, originated in the dance of the Gavots, or men of the Pays de Gap, who inhabit a town of that name in Upper Dauphiny, in France, so says an exchange. At a certain period, as a... Read More
Notes From a Professor's Lecture. - October, 1895
I would ask every student of art to remember this immutable law, that every ill treatment of the body is infallibly followed by deterioration of thought and of feeling. Every motion you make, every thought you think, every emotion you feel, is destructive of a certain amount of tissue, which must be renewed by the nutritious elements of the food circulating in the blood; cease to supply the blood with nutriment, and the brain is powerless to think, and the muscles are powerless to act. Supply the blood with nutriment, but divert the greater part of it to some particular organ, and you starve all other organs. Read More
Woman and Music. - October, 1895
The London "Lancet" is sufficiently ungallant to utter the following: "There is no room here for the contention that, as compared with the boy, the girl has not had fair play; that opportunities for cultivating the art have in her... Read More
Woman and Music. - October, 1895
The London "Lancet" is sufficiently ungallant to utter the following: "There is no room here for the contention that, as compared with the boy, the girl has not had fair play; that opportunities for cultivating the art have in her... Read More
An Interesting Interview With Verdi. - October, 1895
A correspondent of the London Morning Advertiser recently interviewed Verdi and succeeded in getting from him the following entertaining article:— "France is not playing a very brilliant part in music just now," said the veteran composer, turning to his old... Read More
Creed of the Well-Taught Pupil. - October, 1895
Inasmuch as music is a message, or a picture, from the imaginary world of the ideal, it follows that there must be great differences in the quality of pieces of music, according to the nobility and purity of mind in composers, and according to the especially noble mood of a great composer at the moment of writing some choicest work. And it shall be my endeavor to know as many as possible of these pieces of music best with knowing; and when I know them, to play them with all possible appreciation and in such a way as to induce my hearers to love them and enjoy them. Read More
Absent-Minded Musicians. - October, 1895
A. von Winterfeld has gathered a number of anecdotes relating to prominent composers and musicians who were as much distinguished for their absent-mindedness as for their musical talent. Read More
The Musical Listener. - January, 1897
"How did Liszt teach you?" said I. "Can you sift down his method into a tangible form?" Read More
One of Bob's Tramps. - January, 1897
For an instant he stood before the door, bent low with unspoken apologies; then placing his hat on the floor, he fumbled nervously in the breast pocket of his coat, from which he drew a letter, penned in an unknown hand and signed with an unknown name. Bob read it, and passed it to me. Read More
The Musical Listener - April, 1897
People ought to prepare themselves for Wagner in a literary way--read the "Nibelungen Lied" in translation, if in no other way, or study librettos--before trying to understand heroic love and soul tragedies sung in a foreign language conveyed by tonal progressions unfamiliar and startling to the novice. Read More
Hearing Colors - April, 1897
"It is an undisputed fact that many people associate tone with color. As is always the case, this sense of perception is more acute in some than in others." Read More
The Musical Listener. - May, 1897
Among the many conversations and discussions about things musical The Listener indulges in, few have proved as interesting and instructive as the little talk he arranged especially for The Etude with Mr. B. J. Lang, of Boston. Read More
An Anecdote of Liszt. - June, 1897
BY SILAS G. PRATT. The great pianist-composer had such a kind heart, was so generous and approachable, that he was not infrequently victimized by the designing and unscrupulous. An incident that tested his forbearance and gentle manners occurred, during my... Read More
Folk-Music - By J. C. Fillmore. - June, 1897
The time has arrived when musical historians and students of the history of music can no longer afford to ignore the study of folk-music. It is common to begin our musical histories with a meager reference to the music of... Read More
The Musical Listener. - June, 1897
The labor of love carried out by Frau Cosima Wagner in glorification of her husband's highest ideals is well known to the world, but comparatively few realize how earnestly and with what enthusiasm Robert Schumann's wife, friend, and intimate co-worker... Read More
On the Virtues of India-Rubber. - October, 1897
Now, a bit of india-rubber used by my teacher at the proper time would save all that, and really, after toiling and moiling as I do, plodding through a piece for weeks and weeks and practicing my hardest, I do n't like to be made to feel small. Read More
The Musical Listener - December, 1897
Eight out of every ten do not yet pronounce Paderewski properly, putting an f in the place of the w, or De Reszke with a t where stands the s, and the prospect of committing to the general memory a half dozen more like those given above during the coming year is discouraging; but, as we agreed at the start to be cheerful in this issue, we must laugh over our own mistakes as well as over everybody else's. Read More
Enthusiasm; Energy; The Only Short Road To Success; The Divinity Of Music. - December, 1897
Musical literature covers a field of genius, intelligence, and emotion which, it seems to me, can be equaled by no other literature in the world. Hardly a thought which the mind of man has conceived but has been focused and set to music. Read More
The Musical Listener - March, 1898
Amateurs, unless born with these same dramatic instincts, seldom make a clear-cut pause--they end a phrase after the time and begin ahead of the beat; their rests are consequently slovenly and without meaning. The pause, in all rhetorical utterance, from the early Greek and Roman days, has been treated not only as a punctuation, but also as an instrument to conviction. The orator knows the power of his periods, commas, and semicolons. Why should not the pianist likewise reveal the strong significance of his whole-rest, half-rest, quarter-rest, and so on, through the whole gamut of musical rhetoric? Read More
Poor Old Blind Tom. - May, 1898
Blind Tom, the weak-witted, sightless negro, whose phenomenal gifts as a pianist and whose unnatural powers made him a wonder of the world some years ago, is now a gray-headed, infirm old man, living in retirement in a little cottage... Read More
Those Four Neglected Keys - July, 1898
It is hardly necessary to say that I refer to C-sharp and C-flat majors and their relative minors, the omission of which in scale manuals, tutors, and elementary (or advanced, for the matter of that) theoretical text-books must often have struck the thoughtful teacher. Then, where not absolutely ignored, they are generally mentioned slightingly, as "identical with the scales of D-flat and B majors, B-flat and G sharp minors, and, therefore, unnecessary to be learned separately," or "to be printed in full," or "and the fingering is the same." Read More
Marvelous Musical Memory - July, 1898
When Mendelssohn played on the piano or the organ, the listener felt the great musician and composer in every bar. The man's musical memory was marvelous. Sir Charles Halle, who, in 1843, spent several weeks with Mendelssohn at Frankfort, describes,... Read More
The Musical Blues - July, 1898
BY BLANCHE W. FISCHER The musical blues are prevalent to an alarming extent. It is a well-known fact that the spiritual strain of any art has its reactions, and this is especially true of music; the exalted state of mind... Read More
The Wit Of Composers - July, 1898
Never, surely, was composer more witty than the master who gave us an immortal setting of "William Tell." Rossini's whimsicality extended even to his birthday. Having been born in leap year, February 29, he had, of course, a birthday only... Read More
"Anybody Can Teach a Beginner." - July, 1898
BY ROBERT D. BRAINE. What can be done to get the insane notion out of the heads of thousands of our respected fellow-citizens that "anybody can start a beginner in music," and that "later on will be time enough to... Read More
No Time For Study - July, 1898
It is a common complaint made by the music lover who must toil eight or nine months of the year that the time for personal study is so limited. At the end of a day's hard work spent in teaching... Read More
What Thought Can Do - July, 1898
MADAME A. PUPIN. There is a great deal of grumbling about the drudgery of learning the piano. Teachers complain that pupils do not like to practice; and pupils shirk, as much as possible, the irksome task of repeating, day after... Read More
Logic in Music - July, 1898
LOUIS C. ELSON. To the layman in music, even of the more cultured sort, our art often seems to be a series of sentimental impressions merely. Even Fetis gave the definition of music thus: "Music is the art of moving... Read More
The Relation of Pupil to Teacher - July, 1898
W. F. GATES. A good deal is said and written about the relations of teacher to pupil, and but little on the other side of the question—the relations of pupil to teacher. Perhaps the reason is that writers know their... Read More
The Mordent - July, 1898
PERLEE V. JERVIS. The value of the mordent for technical practice is not sufficiently appreciated. When played with all combinations of fingers, the daily practice of the mordent and inverted mordent conduces rapidly to flexibility, limberness, lightness, and muscular development.... Read More
The Intellectual Spark - July, 1898
CARL W. GRIMM. In the race for improved methods one great leading thought seems so often to be forgotten—namely, that the development of technical ability does not include spiritual growth. It may be overlooked, because thousands can teach how to... Read More
How One Boy Practiced - July, 1898
BY J. S. VAN CLEYE. The other day I was visiting the family of an educated gentleman, who is, in fact, a superintendent of public instruction in a good-sized Illinois city, and I chanced to overhear, and consequently to observe,... Read More
Professor Quack. (A Sketch From Life.) - July, 1898
BY ALFRED H. HAUSRATH. Professor Quack was a man of short stature, crooked legs, round shoulders, pale face, and weak eyes, whose sight was assisted by powerful glasses, through which he peered as though he were making frantic efforts to... Read More
Music Study Abroad - July, 1898
In an article in a recent number of "The Musical Record" Mr. Ward Stephens says, among other interesting things: "I believe in study abroad, and when one intends to follow the career of a professional musician, the sooner he goes... Read More
Old Fogy Redivivus - November, 1898
Of course, Daddy Liszt began it all. He had read everything before he was twenty, and had embraced and renegaded from twenty religions. This volatile, versatile, vibratile, vivacious, vicious temperament of his has been copied by most modern pianists who have n't brains enough to parse a sentence or play a Bach Invention. The Weimar crew all imitated Liszt's style in octaves and hair dressing. Read More
Old Fogy Redivivus - December, 1898
A day in musical New York! Not a bad idea, was it? Read More
Old Fogy Redivivus - September, 1899
ON A VACATION TRIP TO EUROPE-THE "OLD FOGY" ATTENDS THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL. Bayreuth, August 5, 1899. Before I went to Bayreuth I had always believed that some magic spell rested upon the Franconian hills like a musical benison... Read More
The Organ Contest at Kipley's Corners - February, 1900
BY FRANK B. MELVILLE. The melodeon which for so many years had rendered feeble, but faithful, service to the church at Kipley's Corners was about worn out; and the church had voted to buy a large cabinet organ. The selection... Read More
Schumann's Sayings. - March, 1900
COLLECTED BY CAROLINE MATHER LATHROP. If fertility be a distinguishing mark of genius, then Franz Schubert is a genius of the highest order. Whatever he felt flowed forth in music. * * * Experience has proved that the composer is... Read More
Honor to Whom Honor is Due. - March, 1900
BY JAMES M. TRACY. How few think of the great ability and fecundity for writing piano studies and sonatas possessed by that once great pianist Clementi. Many students have worked at his preludes and exercises, his gradus and his sonatas,... Read More
Humoreske. - March, 1900
BY H. M. SHIP. An amusing incident was once told of Catalani. She was rehearsing at the Paris opera-house, and finding the piano "too high," told the accompanist so. Her husband, overhearing the remark, promised to attend to it. After... Read More
Chord-Playing. - March, 1900
BY PERLEE V. JERVIS. Clear, incisive, resonant, and powerful, or beautifully shaded chord-playing is not very commonly heard. In addition to the proper muscular conditions and the mode of attack, which should be carefully considered, good chord-playing requires a proper... Read More
Music Sketches. - March, 1900
BY THEODORE STEARNS. Wagner and the White Elephant. One of Hermann Ritter's favorite anecdotes about Richard Wagner comes from the time when, the requisite sum still unraised to complete the Beyreuth theatre, Wagner had sent for Ritter to play first... Read More
Musical Nuggets. - March, 1900
Without diligence, upon which one cannot lay stress enough, one cannot accomplish anything in ordinary life even; how much less, then, in art, which is concentrated accomplishment and life intensified. Without diligence the greatest talent will grow rusty, as many examples warn us. Read More
Some Neglected Etudes. - July, 1900
BY ALFRED VEIT. Very little is known as to Raff, the pianist. The career of the composer is familiar to everyone, but as to his ability as a pianist his contemporaries have scant to say. And yet Raff has written... Read More
Pseudonyms of Musicians. - March, 1901
COMPILED BY MYRTA L. MASON. Stephen Adams is the pseudonym of Michael Maybrick; A. L., Mrs. A. Lehmann, mother of Liza Lehmann; Albani, Emma Lajeunesse. Julius Becht, Charles Kinkel; Helen Blackwood, Lady Dufferin; Blind Tom, Thomas Wiggins; John Braham, John... Read More
A Piano Orchestra. - April, 1901
Philadelphia has been the subject of many quips on account of alleged somnolence. A recent event would seem to show that, if she is still asleep, it is not for lack of effort to waken her. Ex-Postmaster-General Wanamaker, known as... Read More
Musical Calendar. - July, 1901
COMPILED BY WALDEMAR MALMENE. July 1. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, eldest son of J. S. Bach, died at Berlin, 1784. July 2. Christoph Willibald von Gluck, dramatic opera composer, born at Weidenwang, 1714. July 3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher, author, and composer,... Read More
Long Hair and Pianism. A True Story. - July, 1901
BY LEO HAENDELMAN. Among my professional acquaintances is one who, in his own opinion, deserves sympathy more than any other one in the world. He is very short and very thin, his eyes are weak, and his head very bald.... Read More
That National Type! - July, 1901
BY MRS. HARLOW WOLCOTT. We are all familiar with tine expression: “America has no literature!” We maintain a golden silence when one from across the seas remarks: “You Americans have no school of music—no national type!” Composers of merit cannot... Read More
How To Avoid and To Correct Mistakes. - December, 1901
BY WALDEMAR MALMENE. Mistakes of wrong notes and incorrect fingering are unquestionably the result of careless preparation, young pupils and even older ones not being as careful as they should be in these respects. To practice each hand alone,... Read More
A Thought on Habit. - December, 1901
BY CHARLES W. LANDON. Teachers seldom fully comprehend the great power of habit. We notice its strength when we have learned some mechanical movement wrong, but often forget that its power is as great to lead the player into careful... Read More
Publisher's Notes - December, 1901
RENEWAL OFFER FOR DECEMBER. As a special offer for the month of December, to those of our subscribers who desire to renew their subscriptions during that month, we make the following offers. It is not necessary that your subscription expire... Read More
New Publications - December, 1901
MUSIC AND ITS MASTERS. By O. B. Boise. J. B. Lippincott Company. $1.50, net. This work, by an American musician, formerly resident in Berlin, but now Professor of Musical Composition in the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., is a study as... Read More
The Helping Hand. - December, 1901
BY HERBERT G. PATTON. It would, indeed, be a lamentable condition were the best educated and most highly-cultured to confine their associations to their equals. We are too ready to commend the resolution to shun inferiors and to associate only... Read More
The Tendencies of Music. - February, 1902
It is true that new styles involve new difficulties, but is it not also true that new difficulties are not necessarily greater difficulties? To think Mozart simple of execution is to reveal your ignorance to the observing. The virtuoso who has mastered Brahms is not necessarily master of Bach. Read More
Reading Notices - May, 1902
Dr. Henry G. Hanchett will conduct a six weeks’ course of music-study at Point Chautauqua, N. Y., opposite the Chautauqua Assembly. There will be classes in musical analysis and interpretation and private instruction in piano-playing, as well as a series... Read More
A Gospel of Humor. - May, 1902
BY LOUVILLE EUGENE EMERSON. Our Puritan ancestors were lacking, to a certain extent, in the saving grace of a sense of humor. There is a sublime ridiculousness in condemning one for not letting you think as you please, and then... Read More
The Best School for Expression. - May, 1902
BY ROBERT D. BRAINE. If a teacher has in his class “dull and muddy mettled” pupils who seem to be hopelessly destitute of taste, feeling, expression, and enthusiasm, he cannot do a better thing than advise them to go to... Read More
Borodine's Account of Liszt's Playing - July, 1902
As late as 1877, when Liszt was about sixty-six years of age, the Russian composer, Borodine, had the good luck of hearing him at a concert given in Jena, where something of Liszt’s was produced. After speaking of Liszt’s conducting,... Read More
Wait Until Ready To Teach. - October, 1902
...the student of music who enters the profession before his studies are completed has only two courses open to him: Either he must go through life in the lowest ranks of the profession,--the musical hewer of wood and drawer of water,--receiving the poorest prices for his work, or else he must try to carry on his studies in addition to doing his professional work. Read More
Old Fogy Abroad - December, 1903
He Revisits the Paris Conservatoire I feel very much like the tutor of Prince Karl Heinrich in the pretty play "Old Heidelberg." After a long absence he returned to Heidelberg where his student life had been happy—or at least had... Read More
Publisher's Notes - March, 1904
Do not forget that our new number is 1712 Chestnut Street. Do not forget that the removal of our immense stock, which was done at a great expense of time and trouble, was to facilitate our filling of orders.... Read More
New Publications - March, 1904
MUSICAL FANTASIES. By Israfel. Imported by Charles Scribner's Sons. A collection of pen studies of musicians, among whom may be mentioned Wagner, Richard Strauss, Tschaikowsky, Chopin, Liszt, Grieg, Coleridge-Taylor, Paderewski, de Pachmann, Ternina, Ysaye, and Kubelik. The word... Read More
Self-Culture - March, 1904
Addison said: "The mind that lies fallow but a single day sprouts up in follies that are only to be killed by a constant and assiduous culture." Adding to mental and moral stature is worthy one's best endeavor.... Read More
His St. Cecilia - March, 1904
BY KATHERINE MORGAN. Andrew Bowman, to his pupil, Irving Leighter:— Philadelphia, Pa., December 31, 19—. My Dear Pupil: Old time is ringing a doleful knell for me; but for you time strikes his merry chimes. My... Read More
Old Fogy's Comments - February, 1905
Fifty years of Chopin on the shelf! There's an idea for you. At the conclusion of this half century's immurement what would the world say to the Polish composer's music! That is to say in 1955 the unknown inhabitants of the musical portion of this earth would have sprung upon them absolutely new music. The excitement would be colossal, for colossal, too, would be the advertising. And then? Read More
Musical Conditions on the Pacific Coast - June, 1905
Queer as it may seem, climatic conditions have a good deal to do with the musical as well as the physical atmosphere. Read More
A Fancy For Dissonant Chords. - July, 1906
Berlioz on Dissonance Read More
The Piano - July, 1906
Poetry by Archibald Lampman. Read More
Things Which Count. - July, 1906
The concentrated work of ten minutes (dearly bought) is worth a day of half-hearted labor when time is at a discount. Such effort leaves an impress of strength and a habit of research upon a man's life, which counts in his struggle for success. Read More
A Soirée at Richard Wagner's - July, 1906
Suddenly Liszt interrupted the animated conversation. The Countesses Schleinitz and Usedom led him toward the piano. He did not seem to resist at all, but rather wished to go. With daring I forced my way through Liszt's encircling clouds of tulle, gauze and other transparent fineries near by the instrument, so that I stood directly by his side. The Duke of Meiningen did the same, also Niemann, the hero- tenor. A breathless silence followed. Read More
Music By the Ton - May, 1908
SOMEBODY once said that it requires more force to sound a note gently on the piano than to lift the lid of a kettle. A German musician has just proved it. He has calculated that the minimum pressure of... Read More
Facts About the Famous Italian Musicians. - January, 1910
Bellini's most famous opera, "Norma," was a failure at the first performance, as was Rossini's "Barber of Seville." Busoni, the Italian pianist, made his début at the age of eight. Cherubini wrote, in all, 29 operas. Cimarosa's... Read More
Benjamin Franklin's Unusual Musical Instrument - May, 1910
Books have been written about the many-sided Franklin. His omnivorous and practical mind seemed ready to attack any new branch of science with the same earnestness. Music did not escape him, and he actually invented a musical instrument that was... Read More
Some Famous Conservatories - June, 1910
The name conservatory is derived from the Latin word,conservare, which means "to preserve," and was used to denote the idea of preserving music from corruption. The idea of a school of music for this purpose emanated from Italy, the... Read More
Educational Epigrams. - August, 1910
BY ROBERT SCHUMANN. "Above all things, persevere in composing mentally, not with the help of the instrument, and keep on turning and twisting the principal melodies about in your head until you can say to yourself, 'Now it... Read More
Do You Know? - August, 1910
That the Mexicans have a wind instrument called Ac'ocotl, which is played by inhaling through it instead of blowing upon it? It is made of the dried stalk of a plant. That any sound with more than 4,224... Read More
Musical Thought And Action In Europe - June, 1911
In the Revue of the International Society is an article on an almost unknown composer, Erik Satie, signed by a modest J. E., which suggests Ecorcheville. Some have heard faintly of the composer's name in connection with certain mystical works, but the majority have not known of his existence. Read More
Musical Thought And Action In Europe - July, 1911
This is a strong plea for the subjective in program music which modern composers would do well to heed. Strauss, and with him Nicodé and Ritter, have led the world too far into the objective field. When music tries to picture definite objects or events it is always at its weakest. Read More
Why Rubinstein Wrote "Kamennoi Ostrow." - April, 1912
One of Rubinstein's most popular pieces is his Kamennoi Ostrow, Opus 10, No. 22. This is one of a set of pieces named after an island in the Neva river, Russia. The following short article from Musical Trades gives an excellent idea of the source of Rubinstein's inspiration. Read More
Liszt and Dr. Mason's Eyeglasses - November, 1913
No virtuoso was ever more careful than Liszt over personal appearance. He had quite enough of the "showman" in his make-up to realize how much clothes help to emphasize a great personality. He was not only particular over his own... 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
Musical Thought and Action in the Old World. - October, 1914
While mediaeval music was confined to monasteries, the women had little share in it. But when it became a more popular affair, they began to play their part in creative work as well as in performance. The Troubadours are remembered as men; but such famous women as Eleanor of Acquitaine and the Countess of Champagne were held to belong to their ranks. Read More
Rates of Tempo in the Past and Present - February, 1918
Electrocuting Chopin - Should Chopin be played in accordance with the spirit of the time in which he lived; should his works be played in the tempo in which he played them, or, because electricity has brought about so many changes and has enabled us to do so many things much more rapidly than formerly, should Chopin's music be electrified, or, as it seems to me, electrocuted? Read More
Seven Hours of Music - October, 1919
An American captain, returned from France, tells an interesting story of the way in which our men went up to the front just before the first battles in which American troops participated. He was conducting transport trains to the front... Read More
Musical Notation, New and Old - September, 1920
The reason why new notations cannot be introduced is simply that there is a capital interest in the old notation represented by millions and millions of dollars spent by the publishers in existing publications and in musical plates. One can hardly expect the publishers to "junk" this valuable property for the sake of a few changes. 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
Saint-Saëns and Mendelssohn - May, 1922
There is a curious resemblance between Saint-Saëns and Mendelssohn which may have been racial. Where they agree they are very much alike; and where they differ they do so antithetically Both possess keen musical intellects, superbly trained. Read More
A Chronological History of The Etude Music Magazine and the Theo. Presser Company - October, 1923
1848, July. Theo. Presser born in Pittsburgh, Pa. 1864. Clerk in leading Music Store, Pittsburgh, Pa. 1866. Manager of same Music Store. 1869. Music Teacher in college in Ada, Ohio. 1869. Student and Music Teacher... Read More
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach Sets an Example - April, 1924
If Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, the most distinguished woman in American music and also one of the busiest, can take time to foster a musical club, should not others follow her example and fine initiative? Read More
America's Oldest Civic Band - April, 1939
Realizing that a player does not belong to himself, but to the community in which he is privileged to live, the real musician feels somewhat like the missionary who is guided by the urge to "teach all nations." From such heroic beginnings are handed down through the ages great reminders of the struggling past. Such a fair memory must belong to The Allentown Band, coming down to these days in an unbroken line and standing before us as perhaps the finest monument and tribute to the perseverance of a few performers who boasted only primitive instruments and a great love of music. Read More
And the Band Won! - April, 1939
The band has its own trade mark, duly registered. It has two large busses and an instrument truck for transportation to music festivals and football games. It has a wardrobe and property department. Thirty-five volumes in its scrap book library tell of the value of the band as a means of publicity. Read More
