Music Teachers' Licenses A YEA R or so ago one of TH E ETUD E readers sent in a copy of a license issued by the City of Los Angeles to music teachers in tha t city. W e could hardly believe our eyes. Wer e musicians to be licensed like fish peddlers or pawnbrokers? Her e is a copy of the license issued: CITY LICENSE JANUARY 1920 ^R, «> CITY O F LOS Axi^ ^ r-c _ IWfc y n a lOaffr cant penalty for tftllnquaney 7 ; <v l .having paid (|LJipt^ -into the City Treasury, is hereby grafte d License to transact \ 101 > ) City of'Lo s Angeles for the term of THRE E MONTH S from ti e first^lay*of J^nary , 1^20, to the first of April, 1920, in conformity with the provisions of O^dinahce rfiimfer 3S430| (Ne w Series) and all Ordinances amerhd.atory thereto. It> ; NOTE:—Ten per cent penalty I* added'to all quarterly llcense^flfemafnlng unpaid af\ec the; 10th of the month when due. ' / QUARTERLY CITY AUDITOR. CITY CLERK. PLACE THIS JN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE A recent number of the Pacific Coast Review (San Fran -cisco) contains an editorial upon the introduction of the license plan in tha t city. Th e editor of tha t pape r feels tha t the license is a very good thing, as it makes the musician feel tha t his pro-fession is par t of the tax-payin g population of the city. There the ta x is regulated in the following manner: Anyone with an income of $3,000 a year or less pays $3.00 ; thence u p to $5,000 a year, $4.50, thence to $7,500 a year, $6.00. Th e editor then explains tha t the existence of this license is due to the fac t tha t the City of San Francisco sustained grea t losses in revenue when Prohibition stepped in. If this license grant s any worth while protection to the teacher or serves to establish his worthiness to practice his pro -fession, as the bar examination does to the lawyer, we can see the advantage. However, the privilege of payin g the state or the city two or three dollars a year jus t because another body of citizens have foregone their highballs is hardly a jus t reason fo r shouldering the burden upon music and music-teachers. W e cannot fo r the life of us see how a license of this kind really benefits the teacher, and we would be glad to have our California friends explain it to us. Again, it seems a pit y tha t musicians should be singled out to pa y the penalty fo r pro -hibition, unless it is fo r the reason tha t musicians will gain more income by the introduction of prohibition. W e honestly feel tha t prohibition is constantly creating a large r and large r demand fo r more music and better music. Bu t why transfe r the license from the barroom to music? Put sunshine into the lives of others or you will never have any in your own. Put music into the lives of others or you will never have any real music in your own. 798 The Musical Renaissance in Spain SPAIN , while not undisturbed as yet by the grea t war, was in a peculiar position regardin g music. The musical workers of Catalonia have fo r years shown a most interesting development. Their composers, particularly of intricate choral works, have produced compositions which indicate a notable Renaissance. Mr . Kur t Schindler, whose initiative is respon-sible fo r bringin g much of this excellent music to America, feels tha t the condition in Spain is more hopeful than in any other country striving to produce music of its kind. All over the country the works of native composers are being promoted, and we may be sure tha t in years to come the world will have treasures from this old-world land which may be known as the Spanish School of the Twentieth Century. Unfortunately , apar t from the few works of Albenez, Granados and others, this music is not of the character tha t will become widely known in a very short time. Make It Concise THE music teacher should remember tha t this is the age of directness. Make your lessons concise. Come righ t to the point. Some teachers think tha t they gain interest by approaching subjects indirectly. There never was a greater mistake. Children are bored by such a proceeding. They want the facts, and they want them in the most palatable and direct manner in which they can be served. Yet the musical trainin g of the child must not be skimped. One of the reasons why a grea t deal of the musical education of the youn g in America is poor is tha t the teacher, prodded on by mistaken parents, jump s from grade to grade before the child has a chance to get his feet firmly fixed on the ground. Remember the warning of Epictetus, "Practic e yourself, fo r heaven's sake, in little things and then proceed to greater. " Train your will. Immanuel Kant, the great philosopher, despite a frail body, boasted that his servant had never called him twice in the mornings during thirty years. He always arose instantly. In music there are innumerable disagreeable things that can only be overcome by <(will energy Luck and Music OF course you do not believe in luck as the basis of success in music ? Neither do we; tha t is, altogether. Luck does have a part , of course, but it usually enters to escort only those who have worked hard to prepar e themselves to ascend the ladder of success. Many of the greatest performers attribute their success to some fortunat e incident, when, as a matte r of fact, their fortun e was in being ready when the opportunity came. Tet-razzini, for instance, happened to be in the audience one eve-ning, afte r many years of waiting a-dreaming, when the soprano of the opera company was taken suddenly ill. This gave Tetrazzini her chance, and she made the best of it. Harol d Bauer, who had trained himself to become a violin virtuoso, was forced to become an accompanist on a tou r throug h Russia. Th e pianist of the part y was taken ill and Bauer (who had previously played second piano part s to Paderewski, when the older virtuoso was practicing, and thus was virtually a pupil of Paderewski) had built u p a repertoire all his own. H e went on as the solo pianist, and made a bigge r hit than the man of large r reputation. I t is said tha t G. Campanari, the grea t baritone, was playin g as a 'cellist in the opera orchestra when some singer was indisposed, and he thus go t his chance to make a grea t name for himself. There are dozens of such instances which we might quote, but remember tha t it is not luck tha t did the trick in itself, but rather the. fac t tha t the artist had worked fo r years to prepar e himself. Luck provides the opportunity , but it does not pro-vide the preparation. Too late at forty-five! Too latef Think of lulius Caesar. At that age anyone could have proved that his whole previous life had been the opposite of what that of a general shoidd have been. Yet he became one of the great generals of history. You may never be a great virtuoso but there are countless things in music in which you may be successful after forty-five if you will only go after them hard enough. A Christmas Blessing Rev. J. H. Jowett, M. A. MAY Xmas be with thee all the year round! May its music sing on in th y soul! Ma y its flowers bloom on in thy mind! May the Xmas bells hush all our discords. Impar t unto us the spirit of self-forgetfulness, and may we find a holy de-light in other people's triumphs. Gran t tha t the sacred light of Xmastide may shine throughou t the year. Amen. mmm
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