Page Four
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, February 24. 195 7
v VN , l V , /
he Music ayman
A Review of Vincent Sheean's New Book, 'First and Last Love'
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"FIRST AND LAST LOVE" by=book is the evolution of his oer-I He briefly mentions, and atI
Vincent Sheean; New York ,tic awareness and taste. The once discards, such contentions
Random House; 305 books distinctive quality shat as William James' idea That mu-
itts autihor hasIhactht e ensviabie
$4.75. opportunity to see and hear opera sic must justify itself by inspir-
in all its native and not so ntve in the listener to some ethically
By A. TRIOLO habitats throughout the W'rtc-rn good deed. The act of listening to
N HIS latest book versatile writ- world during his long career as music for its own sake without a
er Vincent Sheean undertakes free lance writer and correspon- thought of practical pur pose or
a real and deeply personal labor dent. result, he tells us, is a relatively
of love which is to give testimony He begins by recalling-rather modern phenomenon in the his-{
concerning his life-long commit- murkily, I fear-his earliest. frag- tory of man and furthermore it
ment to music as a listener. He mentary contact with opera dur- is restricted to Western culture,
does not admit to ever having en- ine August Cha iiia time in It supporters are growing in
gaged actively in the making of P.na, Illinois, and subsequently number and in breadth of appe-
music of any sort. His purpose is we see his development in Chca- tite. How has this come about?
therefore to represent the point go. New York and Europe. He Mr. Sheean poses the question but
of view of the intelligent layman. give himself free rein in tie mat- hardly dares even to adumbrate
It must be said it once that te: of the reflections and impres- an answer.
the book has a special focus. At sions which his experiences sug- He knows and values his Freud
the outset Mr. Sheean readily test. The book's form is there- but is not happy with the general
concedes that f all the forms of foi quite free despite its tunder thory of "sublimation" as an ex-'
music which he has come to s ing chronoloical framework. planation. Whatever ths answer
know "the most normative and BEING neither professional mu- may be, he is content to fall back
enduring was the 'impure' form, sician, psychologist, sociolo- upon the belief that we have
the quasi-muscial and quasi-dra- gist, nor philosopher Mr. Sheean achieved an additional dimension
natic, the distinctly literary and does not pause long over theor- of experience and the possibility
indirect invention known as etica1 speculations on the mean- of a better being as a result of
opera." ing and value of music-listening. the development. He makes an
It is not that he does not ex- The question, however, is a fas- act of faith in the value of music
press genuine regard for sym- cinating one and as a sensitive as an agent impregnating our,
phonic music, chamber music, observer of the contemporary modes of thousht and feeling,
German lieder, or pay homaee to scene Mr. Sheean is vitally inter- widening and deepening our per-
J.S. Bach, but the essence of the ested in the role of mu . ceptions.
I There is, of course, nothing
new or startling in these gener-
alities but Mr, Shteea i'spuipose
is not to attempt profound aisaly
sis but rather to offer a sort of
free association biography to his
readers hoping that it will shed
some light on the retatiorship of
music to liie.
0UR author conesses himself to
have been from his youth a
chronic sufferer of the disease
called Schwarmerei. He defines it
as one "prevalent in opera houses
and concert halls, which shos
itself in breathless and senseless
adoration of either artists in gen-
eral or some artists in particular."
Principal among the artists
whom he has singled out for ad-
miration are Madam Lotte Leh-
mann and Arturo Toscanini. To
Lotte Lehmann, who became his
personal friend, he dedicates his
book. His very warm ad endur-
ing regard for this great lady is
everywhere apparent. So awed
was he of Toscanini that he was
never able to oriinate a emark
in the presence of that musical ti-
tan. These artists and many oth-
ers - outstanding among svhom
are Mary Garden, Frida Leider,
Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Ander-
son, Chaliapin and Bruno Wal-
ter - appear over and over again
as Mr. Sheean describes, and gives
his impressions and convictions
on operas, performances, person-
alities, opera houses and cities. He
recreates the musical atmosphere
of Milan, Vienna and Salzburg
effectively if not magically, for
Vincent Sheean the political
writer is never quite out of the
picture even in a book on music.
He has much that is of interest
to music, musicians and the total-
itarian state. He defends the rec-
ords of the vast majority of musi-
cians during the Hitler-Mussolini
era. What is more significant is
his insistence upon considering
the musician as a non-political
person, almost by definition, and
therefore one who cannot be
judged by political standards. He
takes a strong, even impassioned
stand against what he calls the
"Star Chamber justice" and the
"ghoulish vendetta" which char-
acterized the post war period. Such
things as the effort to keep Furt-
wangler from conducting the New
York Philharmonic or similar
demonstrations against Geiseking
and Von Karajan are utterly re-
pulsive to him.
The pages dedicated to the elu-
cidation of this position by a man
who fiercely prides himself on his
early conceived and lasting hatred
of Hitler and scorn for Mussolini
are of no little interest. The con-
troversy belongs to the very re-
cent past.
We have touched upon only a
few of the questions which Mr.
Sheean discusses at greater or less-
er length. We might have said
more of his disquisition on Wag-
ner or his views of the problems
of American singers in learning
operatic repertoire, or those on
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his style is somewhat journalis- atonal music, and the role of the
tically flat. It will surprise no gramophone in our time. Let him
one that Mr. Sheean's mature who will take up the book and
taste fastened upon late Wagner, read. There is surely something
late Verdi, Mozart, Der Rosenka- for almost everyone.
valier, Fidelio and Wozzeek. -A. Triolo
curve conscious?
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