Page 152* MARCH 1920 THE ETUDE from all the different parts of France where their regiments were quartered, at the rate of about fifty a week. I examined these men thoroughly, as regarded their general musical knowledge and capability in con-ducting, and was ably assisted by Monsieur Francis Casadesus, a distinguished musician and a charming man. General Pershing had sent me the band of the 329th Infantry, on which these young applicants could try their teeth The results were rather mixed. Many of them had absolutely no knowledge of the technic of beating time properly, and after one week's examination I saw that what was needed more than anything else was a school in which the most glaring lacks could be supplied quickly and properly. The School for Bandmasters "I returned to Chaumont and explained to General Pershing the necessity of immediately founding such a school, not only for the bandmasters, but also to supply the three very important instruments and players for the bands, which were almost totally lacking—oboes, bassoons and French horns. The General fell in very sympathetically with my suggestions, and after further consultations with Colonel Collins of the staff, I was ordered to go ahead and given full power to organize a school that should meet the needs of the situation. The great difficulty of finding proper instructors I overcame by applying to the French Ministry of War for vari-ous celebrated French musicians who were at that time in the Army, and whom I asked to have detailed as instructors at this school. I could have accomplished nothing, if I had not had the assistance of a French officier, Lieutenant Michel Weill, who was attached to our General Headquarters at Chaumont, as Officier de Liason. This gentleman, an enthusiastic music lover and amateur musician, was appointed to assist me in my work, and he proved himself so able and so willing a worker that in spite of the fiercest raging of the war at that time, and the inevitable hampering red tape which surrounds all army organizations, all difficulties melted like snow before a summer sun. In five weeks' time I examined over 200 bandmasters; graded them according to their capability; arranged for the refitting of an old mill near Chaumont as a home and school for about 250 of our soldier-musician students; obtained about eight famous musicians from the French Min-istry of war (all of them first prizes of the famous Paris Conservatoire) as instructors in conducting, com-position, instrumentation, oboe, bassoon and French horn. And while I had to sail for home at the end of August, by November first the school was in full opera-tion, with over 200 students working enthusiastically over twelve hours a day at their various tasks. "I may truthfully say that these six weeks were among the happiest of my entire thirty-five years of profes-sional life, but it is true that I had to work day and night, like a galley slave, in order to get the thing ac-complished and to work out the entire curriculum of the school in such a way that it could be properly started and carried through after my leaving for home. General Pershing was kind enough to want me to stay with him, and Colonel Collins, Secretary of the General Staff, asked me what inducements they could offer to have me stay. But while the temptation of wearing the uniform of the U. S. A. under the il-lustrious Commander-in-chief, Pershing, was very strong, I was not quite vain enough to believe that my remaining in France would "win the war," and so, after six hectic, but ecstatically happy weeks, during which I vibrated continually between Paris and Chaumont, I sailed for home to fulfill my duties at the head of the New York Symphony Orchestra, which meant ninety symphony concerts from November to April. "The music school at Chaumont was a huge success. It began November 1st, with over 200 students, re-placed every two months by a new batch, comprising bandmasters, oboes, French horns and bassoons. The French professors included such distinguished musi-cians as Messieurs Henri Caplet, Francis Casadesus, Jacques Pillois, and various "first prizes" in oboe, bas-soon and French horn from the Paris Conservatoire. These masters, together with our American soldier stu-dents, lived together as one happy family in an old mill, about ten minutes' walk from General Head-quarters, which the Army Engineers had quickly trans-former into a musical conservatory, consisting of lesson rooms, practice rooms, bedrooms and mess rooms. Our boys were so enthusiastic at the opportunity offered them that they worked twelve to fourteen hours a day, and the results were truly remarkable. At General Pershing's invitation, I returned to France last April to inspect the workings of the school, and I was amazed at the results obtained. One of the points which I had worked out in the school curriculum was that the stu-dents should attend once a week a chamber music concert, so that their hearing and appreciation of music might become refined by listening to the quartettes, trios and sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, Cesar Franck and so on. During my two days' inspection of the school last May I heard one of these concerts, which was a very moving spectacle—over 200 men in khaki listen-ing breathlessly to*an exquisite chamber music con-cert, played by the professors and some of the talented soldier-students, of works by classic and modern mas-ters. At this time Monsieur Caplet's place as teacher of conducting had been taken by a young American bandmaster, Lieutenant Albert Stoessel, a very gifted musician, a splendid violinist and altogether a man of greatest promise. "The relations between the students and their masters were peculiarly intimate, Monsieur Casadesus, espe-cially, having won their affection, not only because of his musical ability, but his evident desire to give them the best that he had to offer. A Great Need in America "On June 1st the school was closed and our musician-soldiers began to return to America, to be demobilized and to go back to their respective homes. I am sure that the experience which they gained at the Chaumont school will help them in their musical work in the Western and Southern cities, to which m?ny of them have returned. I hope that our Army will continue to interest itself in the improvement of its bands, and that the inspiration which General Pershing's authority and encouragement gave in France will be continued over here. What we need in this country is the encourage-ment of the study of orchestral instruments, especially the wood-winds and the French horns. W e have not nearly enough to properly equip the symphony or-chestras already in existence, and most of those we have are of foreign birth and training. There is no reason why these places should not be filled eventually by American-born musicians, and instead of the twelve symphony orchestras which we have at present, there should be at least 100. Every town of 100,000 in-habitants or over should have an adequate symphony orchestra of its own, and with the right kind of in-telligent financial support, and the proper training, this seeming miracle could be easily accomplished." The "Catchy As soon as a piece of music becomes very popular there is always some pseudo-theorist who is ready with the reason why it is popular. Many contend that its main outlines should be those of the pentatonic (Chinese) scale—that is, the black keys of the piano-forte. Other musicians (particularly some in England) are superstitious about the so-called "catchy fourth." The writer knows of one teacher who always taught his pupils the intervals by associating them with some well-known tune. For instance, he taught his pupils to identify the fourth by the well-known hymn Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Other famous melodies beginning with the "catchy fourth" have been cited in the Recollections of the popular English conductor, James M. Glover, who for many years was the Master of Music at the Drury Lane Theater in London, when he became the idol of the English theater-going public. These melodies are the famous See-Saw Waltz, which was all the rage thirty years ago— The bell song from Chimes of Normandy. Gounod's Soldier's Chorus from Faust. He might also have given Over There, with its char-acteristic interval of a fourth; La Marseilles, The Pil-grims' Chorus from Tannhauser, and many other fa-mous tunes, including the hymn Coronation. However, anyone who chose to do so might easily explode this theory by citing the number of very popu-lar successes which begin with intervals other than "the catchy fourth." Getting Ahead in Music YES, there is a technic of getting ahead in life, just as there is a technic in all other things. It is a matter of gaining more and more strength of all kinds with which to proceed. The athlete can measure his strength with apparatus indicating, in grams or pounds, his muscular advance. Every time the indicator advances one point, he is just that much ahead in physical power. More than this, the strength acquired gives the means whereby one may advance to the acquisition of more strength. In music practice the gauge is the triumph over dif-ficulties. Don't be afraid of difficulties. George Eliot gives this encouraging advice: "The reward for over-coming one difficulty is the strength to meet another." Anyone who has made a serious effort to study the Forty-eight Fugues of Bach, knows that the chief dif-ficulty lies in mastering the first few fugues. Do these and do them well, and the whole system seems to open out before you like a book. Overcoming difficulties thoroughly one at a time is the technic of getting ahead. Sets of SKILL is a constellation of habits. Habits are best formed slowly at first by repeated, well-understood, well-thought-out actions. The habit of walking, which every normal human being employs during the better part of his lifetime, was acquired only through weeks of preparatory stumbling when we were little tots. No one can take pleasure in driving an automobile until he has built up a set of habits in steering, changing the gears, etc. The skilled golf player enjoys the game only when his habits of play are well formed. In piano practice certain habits must be established before one really gets any fun out of it. For instance, we have the much-discussed subject of scales. There are teachers who insist that all so-called technical practice is unnecessary, that one ought to practice by taking out little passages from any piece to be studied and practicing those passages for the required technic. Habits Evidently their motto is "Sufficient unto the day is the technic thereof." Teachers of this class are usually virtuosi who have learned the art of playing at such an early age that their technical equipment was ac-quired almost unconsciously. On the other hand, there are certain technical habits which, in the humble opinion of the writer, can only be built up by making a set of habits. Take scales, for instance. Musical literature is filled with scales and scale passages. Not to have the scale habits well formed means that whenever one reads a new piece one must study it as an individual piece when a scale pas-sage is encountered. However, if one knows the scales as second nature, there is no obstruction, no interfer-ence, no obstacle. More than this, one knows the prin-ciple of the thing and has the confidence that comes only from understanding a principle both mentally and muscularly.
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