"After an exhausting illness she was so near death that the sacrament was administered. From that moment recovery set in, and in five days she walked three-quarters of a mile to the church, and three days later, on Friday, she found blood flowing from a wound in her side, and a week later her feet were marked, and still in another week blood came from the backs and the palms of her hands. Some months later the marks of thorns appeared on her brow. For four years on every Friday the hemorrhages continued, and during each time she lost about seven-eighths of a quart of blood." The case of Louise Lateau was carefully examined by such emi-nent European scientists as Warloment, Lefebvre, Schwann, Virchow and others, all of whom, according to Dr. Holmes, "agreed that imposture was impossible. The marks were either miraculous or due to some neuropathological condition." Dr. Holmes also quotes another case of stigmatization in our own Middle West. . We have quoted these instances at length in TH E ETUD E to stimulate an interest in a question very dear to the hearts of many of our readers: "Can I really remake my musical self to become what I aspire to become?" There come times when young musicians get hopelessly down in the dumps. Apparently everybody is succeeding but them. They begin to doubt their own gifts—their chances of success. They have never studied the careers of other great musicians closely and do not realize that the masters have really made themselves successes by clinging to their ideals and working with might and main until success came. Thousands of men and women have been reborn through the force of the will united with the spiritual uplift that comes from striving to do the bidding of the Master in producing some great work for the good of mankind. Upright Criticism AMERIC A may well be proud of the greater body of music critics in this country. There is never any suspicion among fair-minded, experienced persons that the greater number of critics are likely at any time to barter their opinions for money. We know only too well that in a few disgusting instances it has been possible to secure in print any kind of criticism desired, upon payment of hard cash. There have also been cases, too, where musicians have been blackmailed by heinous attacks (or by the still more feared threat of completely ignoring work that should be recognized) into giving up large sums of money to villainous journalists. The unfortunate phase of this subject is that the criticism that can be influenced by mercenary means is usually absolutely worthless and musicians who worry because they are at-tacked or are not attacked are usually not injured in the least except by the ogre of fear. Papers that bear the stain of black-mail have literally no influence. The hyenas of journalism at-tack only the dead and-dying, howling long and loud; but the sound soon dies out upon the desert air. Yet in many conti-nental cities we are told that artists are held in more or less abject fear of what may appear in print about them. Really the only thing that happens is that their own peace of mind is disturbed—quite without reason. Ernest Newman, one of England's most read critics, satir-izes the continental corrupt critic in the following amusing manner by demanding that English critics be paid. England would, of course, make quick work of the critic who sold the one thing which makes his services of any value to the public—his honest, well-balanced, experienced judgment. Mr. Newman says : " I do not think that the music critic objects, as a matter of principle, to being bribed—if I may be permitted to describe in the crude language of the vulgar what ought to be a very delicate and charming operation ! I, for my part, certainly do not; all that I expect is that the bribe shall be big enough to be worth taking. I have my price, like other men, and have no intention of lowering it. A whiskey and soda or a cigar from a tenor, or a sweet look from a soprano, is not sufficient. If they will offer me as much as I might win in a football guessing contest—a motor car or £1,000 a year for life, or a villa at Brighton—I shall consider it. After all, why be honest, as the cant phrase goes, when by a trifling relaxation of the moral tension you can not only benefit yourself, but give pleasure to a very large and deserving class of men and women ?" Alas! some day in the future in some literal land Mr. Newman's remarks are sure to be taken as an indication of the lax morals of the press in the early twentieth century! If great wealth is a sign of corruption we can at least say that most of the critics of leading cities do not show any evidences of con-tamination. Our critics are a splendid body of free-thinking, unbiased men who have had to suffer many times for their inde-pendent opinions—taking abuse from unsuccessful artists who, if they could, would in many cases gladly buy the critic's opin-ion. Only last month we heard an artist long past her prime describe a New York critic as an absolute musical ignoramus. The critic in question was a graduate of one of the leading American universities, had written many noteworthy books, had studied music with fine masters, and heard the best music of the world as his profession for nearly fifty years. The position of critic is surely not that of reclining on a bed of Jacqueminots and Maman Cochets! An Amazing Condition THE basic economic law of supply and demand has again come into music with an altogether unexpected and surprising force. The increased number of symphony orchestras in America, the great number of players for the new moving picture orchestras (which in many instances are symphony orchestras of altogether unusual size and quality), and the restrictions placed upon alien performers by the musical unions —these factors have created a demand for orchestral players that is quite unprecedented. Some years ago, for instance, $27.00 a week was considered good pay for a fine oboe player. Now the first oboeist in a large orchestra receives $100 a week and has opportunities to earn more money "on the outside." The demand for fine wind players is so great, and the supply so limited, that T)r. Walter Damrosch has established three free oboe scholarships at a foremost New York institute of musical art. In addition, each scholarship carries with it the sum of $400 for the student's support. Of course, there are thousands of players of string instruments, but the number of superfine performers is limited, and the demand is growing greater every minute. With the minimum union rate of $50.00 a week continually tending to increase, orchestral employment is becoming a very lucrative occupation. But it is all a matter of supply and demand. If the supply of players were adequate, these rates would go down with a thump. However, under present conditions they are far more likely to go up than down. Fifty to one hundred a week is a mighty good income in com-parison with the average income of all professional people. Catalogs IN any business house of considerable size there is usually one man (sometimes a whole department) given over to what might be called Catalogs. It is very necessary to be able to find where to buy certain things, what those things cost and the proper name or number by which to order the desired article. The active music teacher should have just the catalogs he needs and have them so that they are kept in order and imme-diately accessible. We know of one teacher who kept his catalogs in a cheap small box letter file. Too many catalogs are confusing—better have one set of one leading firm and then use the firm to order^ pieces not found in their catalog if necessary. Your catalog should be strictly up-to-date. Especially at this time when prices change so very rapidly it is necessary to have the latest catalogs to save mistakes and correspondence. "Order right and save postage" is a good rule. Business firms spend thousands of dollars in time and money to help you. Take advantage of their enterprise and get the right catalogs.
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