ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $2.00 THE ETUDE FEBRUARY, 1920 Single Copies 20 Cents VOL. XXXVIII , No. 2 The Voice of Beauty THE voice of beauty is a clarion in the morning of life. Stroll through the slums of any large city any midsummer day with a bouquet of flowers in your hand, and little children will clamor for them until your heart melts and your bouquet dis-appears. It is the voice of beauty in the child soul calling for its own. It is appealing for lovely flowers, lovely music, lovely thoughts, fairy dreams of better things. Deny this to the coming population and we shall cultivate some hideous monster —some Bolshevik Frankenstein that will destroy our very iden-tity. In almost every large city there are now high-minded self-sacrificing people in the less fortunate districts who are administering music in Settlement Schools, not so much for the art of music as for the good of mankind. These Beacons in the "East Side" are glorious testimony of the fine spirit of the times. They labor that the Voice of Beauty may be heard where it is most needed. Muscle and Matter CHOPIN, tired, sick and soul-weary, visited England and Scotland in his last days. His beautiful touch, never like the giant force of which Liszt or Rubinstein was capable, was more delicate than ever—yet there was a psychic intensity in his playing, a something relative that made his crescendos very impressive. It was the power of Chopin's dynamic mind work-ing over the enfeebled matter of his body. How much greater might have been the effect if Chopin had been a vigorous, healthy man. Many of the greatest pianists have had muscles like giants. One or two we know have such powerful shoulders and backs that they seem deformed. Let us not belittle the need for the strong, sound, well-exercised and well-nurtured body in pianoforte playing. Since every keyboard action must go through the mind and down through the fingers, passing myriads of cells, nerves and muscles, it is merely good sense to keep this human playing apparatus in the very best possible condition. Civic Music Commissions WHIL E thousands are convinced that music is a civic asset it has remained for Dallas, Texas, to take the initiative in forming a Municipal Music Commission. It should be re-membered that Dallas has for years taken an exceedingly active and wholly commendable interest in music, supporting opera, symphony and many different kinds of concerts in a way that has amazed other cities. The purpose of such a commis-sion is to advance the local interests of music in every conceiv-able manner. Mr. R. C. Tremaine, director of the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music, wTho has had this idea close to his heart for a longtime sends us an interesting address made by a member of the commission, Mr. B. Heyer, at a recent large gathering in Dallas. Mr. Heyer said in part: " A Municipal Music Commission is the natural product of a new era—the era of music. The war has demonstrated the value of music with absolute conclusiveness. It demonstrated the versatility of music, its unquestioned influence on both mind and body—health, energy, courage, determination. Music served every faculty of man. It enabled him to do his best, to be his best. Since the war, music has served mankind even more, for its field has broadened as people came to realize that it could serve all mankind in every phase of human life. Hence the Music Commission. It was as inevitable as a commission for any other subject of importance to the people. — — — • "Yo u have a Board of Education, because education is a matter of very great importance to the public. You have commissions of streets and highways, of parks, of buildings, of the fire department and many other departments because of their importance for the public welfare. W e have a Music Commission for the same reason. While I say the Music Com-mission is inevitable, great credit belongs to Mayor Wozencraft, for his broad and far-sighted vision which enabled him to recog-nize the trend of the times and bring to Dallas the prestige of being one of the pioneer cities to inaugurate a music commis-sion. "I f music were still regarded as the possession of the cul-tured few, as a luxury which only the refined could relish, and only boarding school girls should study, a music commission would be unnecessary. If music had even reached the stage where only its educational and recreational value were realized, and it was considered a legitimate course of the school curric-ulum for all children, a music commission wrould still be a super-fluous institution. But the day has come when music is not only enjoyed by millions, but when it is known that these millions are being mentally and physically, socially and spiritually helped by it; that, moreover, music bestows its benefits not only upon individuals, but also upon the group, the community—whatever the unit may be. Any force that can do this is a matter of public importance." Climate and Your Piano "SNAP!" goes the violinist's string on a humid night. Heat throws the wind instruments "off pitch." The whole orchestra seems out of sorts. What about the piano? Few piano owners know how seriously dampness and humidity affect instruments. Place a dish of salt near your piano. If the salt cakes or is moist in the least, close your piano at once when you are not using it. This is a very good test. In some climates, pianos of a special type are required to stand the dampness. Few pianos can endure the dampness of the seashore. The keys stick, the wires rust and the whole action of the instrument seems to suffer. The little dish of salt will tell the tale. On the other hand, continued dryness seems to be bad for some instruments. The remed}^ some employ is a bowl filled with water in which is placed a large sponge so as to hasten evaporation. This is located carefully in the instrument so that it will be impossible to upset the bowl. The Latest and Best Ho w much of his business success is due to the immediate office environment of the professional man is difficult to estimate. The reader knows, however, that the badly-kept, poorly-lighted, untidy, scantily equipped store, is usually the one with the fewest patrons. The war has shown thousands of soldiers and sailors the latest and best in medical equipment, and the doctors, upon returning, are demanding newT office equipment of the latest and the best. They find that it pays not merely through the impression made upon their patients, but because they can themselves do better work when surrounded with the proper apparatus, books, etc. If you have an old-fashioned, antiquated equipment in your studio, invest some of the money you are making during this prosperous season in buying the equipment which your position makes imperative. 77 ;: H ?m
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