PAGE TWO THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1-923
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1923 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
IMUSIC AND,
MAX'
A TALK WITU ALFRED CORTOT
If the composers of the new music
have any weakness for epigrams they
may take some comfort in the Balzac-
Saltus dictum that "'mediocrity may be
praised, but it is never discussed."
Certainly modern music is getting a
lion's share of discussion these days
from critics and public. One can find
out easily and periodically what Mr.
Rosenfeld is thinking of Szymanowski.
And nothing is more plentiful than the
opinions of the counterparts of that
facile lady in "Zuleika Dobson" who
so confidently repeated: "I dont know
a thing about music, but I know what
I like!" But the interpreting artists
themselves-a formidable band in the
music world-are not heard from with
any conspicuous frequency. Has any-
one ever read what -Jascha Heifetz
thinks of Korngold. Or what Florence
Easton thinks of Milhaud? I, for one,
have not. But everyone must know
that these intelligent artists must have
some note inconsiderable critical opin-
ions. What does Alfred Cortot, one of
the most serious and scholarly of
pianists, think of the whole company
of modern writers for the pianofortc?
It was to learn this that I approached
him on his recent visit to Ann Arbor,
and did not shun such a blunt, six
word question form as "What do you
think of Satie?" And his equally
pointed and concise answers I will re-
produce here for the benefit of those
interested.
"Satie, His music is interesting
and different, but it is a meal?" And*
the shrug with which Cortot accom-
panied this remark led me to believe I
he does not take his Satie too serious-
ly. But he went on to say that there,
is much promise in the younger
French ultra-modern, the extraordin-
ary group of composers3 in Paris
known as The Six. "They are very
clever and gifted musicians." he said,
"but- we must wait a little."
In his rating of Scrialin, Cortot -was
pot very explicit. The only opinion
he expressed was that Scriabin's
music is a little too esoteric to ever
achieve a great popularity. 'His{
works will never he loved like thos of
STI 1OTHY TUBBY SUPPRESSED 'had used the adjective-adverb
I i Eitglaud .the court has sustained' "bloody""here and there through the
M SI CIA N S rthe action brought against the author I book. This, it was held, was going too
of Timothy. Tubby's Journal because far. An.offer by the English publish-
EWING of his latest novel, "Heaven's Holo- ers to replace the offending wod with
caust." The novel may not now be "milk-and-watery" was rejeci*d iby
sold in the British Isles or on shipsfy- the court, on the ground that the
hing the Red Ensign. The court held change would be unduly conspicuous.
Each season he marks a growth in that most of the so-called daring pas- Tubby now goes down to posterity
appreciation. It is his opinion that a sages in the novel were quite all right with James Branch Cabell and D. H.
Ministry of Fine Arts and Music would but then pronounced adversely be- Lawrence, . but may, of course, come
do much to hasten this growth. "There cause in his effort for realism, Tubby up again.
is enormous musical activity in Am-_
erica, but it is in all directions; it is
not centralized. Someone is needed to
take the lead. What is necessary now
is for the United States to find its own
musical language. Many phases of
American life are distinctive a n d
characteristic of the New World, but
the American music is still imitative.
It does not express America. And'
music to be truly great must be ex
pressive of the spirit and feeling orf
its creators."
New York he likened to a kind of
musical Wall treet, comparable toj
Berlin before the -sar. In spite of the
fact that the overwhelming majority!
of our musical events take place in
New York, he finds no greater love for'
music there than in many of our other
centers., Questioned as to his opin-
ion of musical criticism in New York -
he said that while the Gotham critics
are highly conscientious and "true to
their own minds", they are a little
over-concerned with the matter of!
technique at the expense of feeling.
He can overlook this however when WarmtApparel
he considers the inhuman number of"
concerts they are forced to attend-
often as many as five a day. To goI
through a profound aesthetic exper- !
ience five times a day Cortot finds too I
much to ask of even a music critic. and other winter sports
It is inevitable, but none the less de-
plorable, he finds, that they should SWEATERS, SPECIAL AT $5, $10, $15
come to consider the concerts object- SKIRTS, $9.50-$17.50...........NOW %A
ively as "things out there." KNICKERS................$7.50-$10.50
The interview over, Cortot thanked SCARF AND HA SETS.$5
me half humorously for not havingS
asked him how he liked America. "It SKATING SOCKS. ..... . $3
is a foolish but omnipresent question",
he said. But I think we may takes
what he went on to add as an answer tnc
to that question anyway. "This Is my ix v s~ s
fifth, consecutive season in this coun- 124 SOUTH MAIN
try", he said, "and I do not come here !
simply for business reasons. It is un-j
necessary to ask me how I like Amer-
Aica."
jAlfred Cortot off-stage has the most
bf what is toicome, although here and over the possession-and exploitation surprising virility in the memory ; over women 11
there certain lines- give us a hint -of 'of cerfain prophecies, the battle be-} and pride of his earlier gained reputa- had vanished. C
the possibility of better work. tween hostile interests for power- and Ition.. And in . these reminiscences bnemories could
There is much that might be quoted conquest. Such novels, however, ac- Schnitzler carries out the two-fold his. glance, - still
as illustrative of the -points which we tually present little more than the plah of the book.. Besides completing this, his presew
have made, but limit ourselves to a old irstinct for personal.-supremacy in the story 4f the Memoirs he fecon-. tere f. His day
few lines from the last mentioned po- new adventures-among the institutions structs-tle earlier Casanova; for those No, he had no r
em, lines -which clearly exemplify the of modern business, so:that even tle of us who find it impossible to obtain such a life as no
poetic promise of Mr. Dos Passos: use of words ot war-like ancestry and the. actual work of Casanova de Sein- tore him; and c
How they swing the green bronze terms of martial sound may fail to galt, himself. . it after his own
bellk wake in. some of us a living interest in This reconstruction is of the paras there remained1N
athwart olive twilights of Cas- such bloodless warfare. Mr. Garet gon of adventurers. But the plot o' even though the
tile- Garett's book, "The Driver," is old the work at hand is of a different quite so crazy at
till their fierce insistent clangour wine in new bottles, but wine is not tempo; and the keynote of the book Besides the vit
rings down the long plowed slopes always good because it is old, nor do lies in this passage: "Was there any ter the translatic
breaks against the leaden hills bottles Improve its taste because they good fortune reserved for him other manner. It is di
whines among the trembling art new. than this, that he should have a home that lends auth
poplars "The Driver" is a biographical no- once more? It was long since in for- eenth century
beside sibilant swift green rivers. f vel, a narration of the rise of a rail.- eign regions he had been able to-com- will like this be
G. H. 1. .:road genius to power. Obviously Galt, mand enduring .happiness. He could { exciting plots a
the chief character of the book, and still at times grasp happiness, but for ati whose eyes
COMMAND, by William MeFee. Don. the only character worth the name, is ,, moment only; he could no longer alert fo real ar
bleday, Page & Co. $1.90. modeled upon perhaps the greatest 11old it fast. His power over his fellows
The canons of impressionist criti- railroad executive the nation has ever
cism demand that the practitioner of known, and the cony-is so studied that
this school give vent to his impres- the original is unmistakable. In its
sions of the book under judgement. Mr. account of , Galt's obsession for rail
McFee's "Command" does not give rise roads and railroad matters, in its de-
to a very exalted type of impression. j scription of his methods in the reha-
It is a good book, a more authenti-- bilitation of tottering lines, in its por-
cally good book than the works of trayal of . the man's character as it
most of Mr. McFee's contemporaries. reveals in all conditions, the book is
Yet it seems to indicate more definite- interesting. In its interweaving of -
ly than any of his previous books that other characters frith that of Galt, in
he is what we call, for lack of a more . its excursions from the, main them(
particular term, a second-rater. -But for the sake of a love interest, and in
even in -his second-rateness Mr. Mc- its account of Galt's private life, the o
Fee is rather better than the fellows boom is not merely weak, it is irr-
o2 his class on this side of the water. tating. It has both the possible weak-
He is perhaps on par with Mr. Wal- nesses of a biographical novel---to SPECIAL SERVICE FOR PARTIES
pale and Mr. McKenna on the other ( clca an adherence to actual fact, and TEA DAILY
side. But enough of this literary Dunn to,, much freedom of fancy (improb- DINNERS BY APPOINTMENT
and Bradstreeting! -able as that may sonnd). OPEN ALL HOURS
The inevitable tendency in reading The writer tells the story as if he
"Command" (Or any of this author's were Galt's secretary, and the method
books) is to extract comparisons with is not a good one. Before the last ON THAYER JUST BACK OF HILL AUDI
Conrad, to the disadvantage of Mr. page is turned the infliction of this
McFee. This is unfortunate because combination of Boswell and Tumulty --
it gets you no further as criticism upon the story leaves one inwardly
than will a placid ingestion of pub- exasperated. Private secretaries have
hishers' blurbs. 'little public appeal, even those who
The only reason for mentioning the ' marry the. daughters of railroad mag- YOURT FRIENDS AT
result of such a comparison is its in I nates, as this one did.Y URexhibi
evitability. But this is what Mr. Mc- 'In places the book exhibits some
Fee must expect. He is a follower thing of the dynamic force and nerv will be interested in vie
of the sea as Conrad was; he takes ous power of the railroad ruler it por- a djh
for his scene the sea and those am- trays, usually when dealing with the the campus and of the n
phibious cities which are termini of man himself. There are sketches, of
the sea-ways. But over against this oalt the dreamer and of Galt the man Mch an activities.
broad similarity lies his dissimilarity of action which leave him clearly up-
of method. Conrad's prose is plan- on the memory. And there are other home s o m e pictures
gent as the tone of a struck shield. I characters as nicely caught by his
miss this in McFee; and miss too pen. Several scenes, too, have dra-
ACUwinning of Gallic personailties. He
Chopin", he ventured. But over the is a student, and .a serious-minded
piano works of the youngest Russian I musician, but never a pedant. No
insurgent, Serge Prokfieff, he was academy dust blurs the vision of this
enthasiastic. He admires particularly pianist. He is a whole-hearted sym-
tbeir rhythmic life and :-iirit, and pre- pathiser with the modern movements
dicts that they will live. Ile was in music. And the only thing one
warmly appreciative too of Leo Orii- I could ask of him more is that in his
stein whom he admires not only as an programs he might give us just a little
intelligent and talented composer, b)1t of this new music, a. bit for instance
as a pianist of high attainments. of that "Sacre du Printemps" which he
Cortot's greatest enthusiasm how- admires so much, and which we so
ever was saved for Szymanowski, sorely long to hear. For the Balzac-
Stravinsky, and Schoenberg, Szyma- Saltus aphorism might be juggled
nowski, of whom he -voke almost re- I with to make a new one more or less
verently, as being "wonderfully gift- true in these parts, which would read:
ed", he hails as one of the big coming "The new music may be discussed,
figures in. music. I recalled a state- but it is never -heard."
mnent of Burton Rascoe's to the effect'
that "Szymanowski is the most con- Another book by Stuart P. Sherman
siderable musical apparition which
has arisen in twenty years." Scarcely will follow his "Americans," which
accepting this statement, Cortot hast- has just been published by Charles
ened on to praise Stravinsky, whom he Scribner's Sons. . The new volume,
considers one of the modern giants of "The National Genius," will appear
composition. He deplored the small next Spring and will also bear the
number of Stravinsky pieces for piano. Scribner imprint.
It was with very palpable pleasure! __________________
lat he told me of how Stravinsky had
made a transcription for a mechanical, EDITORIAL STAFF,
)producing piano of some of the:
t.-ic from his ballet, "Le Sacre de Delbert Clark, Editor
Printemps" ,a transcription so diffiicult Donald Coney, Literary Editor
ha ino human pianist, Stravinsky - Leo L. Niedzielski, Dramatic ,
f itaned, could play it. Cortot{ Editor
played it for him last summer in Paris Max Ewing, Music Editor
uch to the wonderment of the isom-1 William M. Randall, Exchange
poser: le was the first pianist to Editor
it rd ce th'; works of Arnold Schoen- Bethany Lovell, Staff Artist'
h gto Paisian audiences. "I love James House, Jr., Caricaturist
ehaex beig", he said, and although Virginia Vaughn Tryon
this ti ibmm was short, it was paid W. Bernard Butler
with sueli sncr ~-devotion that more -Saul Carson
'wor'ds wi e su' luous. The works John P. Dawson
Of the )nipo niy schools of com- . Jane Ellingson
o " ; -ves to be of not only M. A. Klaver
assi-;, hut Isting importanc3. IYe Helen G. Lynch "
c;mpa -ed them to lh stones where- Hortense 0. Miller
W.it 0 great new bui-iding is being Dorian G. Sayder'
hulT The master architect will come Rgular staff meetings will be {
m cr. held at five o'clock every Morn-
t'oncernXg the general musical cul- day. Attendance of all M.aga-
ture of America the pianist said that zine writers on these meetings is
it bad undergone "a wonderful im-: imperative._
provement" during the short ime in
MIA
-!\_
++Aa - 0 A llll "A AI , V ,
those intuitive descriptions which are matic in
inclusive and complete as a gesture But I
that reveals the whole racial history when I
ywhen I
of an individual. McFee is pedestrian noel.
by this standard. novel
nterest.
would rather read biography
want to read biography. And
wish to read a novel, I like a
Or if writers must join the
theit use imagination for ce-
LYNDON AND COME
719 NORTH_ UNIVERSITY
His method is that of realism. Per-
haps it is because he is an engineer
while Conrad was a sailor, as one
says, before the mast.,r
The story is concerned chiefly with
the cooling of Reginald Spokesley's
character into the mold of command.1
two, let
ment, judiciously.
. A.+K.
CASANOVAIS HOMECOMING, by Ar-
thur Schiutzlar. Thomas Seltzer.
TH E TROJAN LAUNDRX
Boudoir Lam psin
Artistic Shapes
Worthy of the finest room
D ISTINCTIVE in design, color, fin-'
ish; far superior to the lamps
one ordinarily finds. Shades are beau-
tifully decorated. The most charming
small lamps made.
"His metier, when he was fully awake, In recent court proceedings against
was simply watch-keeping, which is three books published by Thomas Selt-
a blend of vigilance, intelligence, and zer, Judge George W. Simpson of New
a flair for being about at the critical York City rendered the following ver-
moment. Out of this is born the fac- dict, in part: "I have read the books
ulty and the knack of commanding with sedulous care. I find each- is r.
men. 2 1 distinct contribution to the literature
Aside from the heterogeneous and of the day." No matter how greats
anomalous Dainopoulos the most in- their contribution to the literature of
teresting and attractive character is the day had been, it then increased one
that of Evanthia Solaris. She is a hundred and fifty percent, in a bound.
lineal descendant of pCaptain Mace-;-For this was the first real blow to
doine's daughter and faintly related I his honor, Mr. Chas. Sumner and his
in quintessence to Dona Rita in Con- New York Society for the Suppression
rad's "Arrow of Gold." Daughter of a. of Vice in Books -and, Picture Post
Balkan bandit, elemental, unlearned Cards. May many follow upon its
in the devious sophistries of the civil- heels.
ized mind, seductiveness raying from But to one of these books itself
her amber eyes, she is the comet (and "Casanova's Homecoming" by Ar-
a whole constellation) of, romance in thur Schnitzler is a fictitious comple
Mr. Spokesley's life. tion of the life of Casanova, that ad-
McFee has been to a lot of interest- j venturous beau of the eighteenth cen-
ing places and he writes about them tury. I say completion, meaning that
well, if not as one inspired. You can I he has taken up the life where Casa-
be sure that any book of his will be nova's own Memoirs drop it. It could
more than average in interest. Hune- be assigned as the thirteenth volume.
ker said in a postscript to H. L. Menc- of the memoirs but for the fact that it
ken in 1916 "McFee is a big fellow- is written in the third person.
not an artist yet." And as yet he has Schnitzler has used but vaguo ru-
set no rivers afire. mors and one or two facts from the
Coney Venetian records in finishing the story !
e° Casanova. After the many years of
THE DRIVER, by Garet Garreft. E. P. adventurous wandering, hectic amours
Dutton & Co. $2.00. and political forays which the -Me-
Every so often someone attempts to moirs relate, concerning his life while
portray, by means of the novel, the exiled from Venice, Schnitzler pic-
"romance" of "big business." By ro- tures one final amorous intrigue and.
mance is meant, evidently, the essen- his return to Venice in the employ of
tially primitive s/ruggle between man the municipality, as a spy.
and man for empire in the financial The sketch is that of a wizened
world, the clash of opposing wills - faced old man, living and sustaining
DOES BETTE'
Now-a-days people don't send their laundry j
They know that they might better take the tro
ing a good laundry and not have to buy new cl
And then it is so nice to have your clothes con
spotlessly clean and faultlessly ironed. Of coi
at the Trojan art standard.
THE TROJAN LAUN
PHONE 1981-R
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