The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 9, 1902, Page 4

THE SUNDAY CALL. The Great Pianmist Tells fiow He Wrote “Manru” and Answers Some of His Critics. Wr one be a master of the must work work! Wealth Il work! learned from the he ope- 1 asked M Jan day recently how he * which abroad fah dreamed of it, while he d as & master of interpreta- he worked upon it, fifteen time he spent upon it ewriting, trying over and ew effects, until at last present it to the world 1 not be his 1 s more work in aggressive man who is prime of life en M jerewski 1 t se their hands fairly split again worn out receive the approv » came to the 1 when I ser e was much more to be d. ““We then found t not the work the e door and M s2id the valet suggestively. aid the comvoser in f thought had been hing,” I ve The one striking part of the * nild. He knows d know it t your work upon the opera?” I said. — These photos were taken at ’ | the first production of “Man- ru” ever given and have been | kindly loaned to The Sunday | Call by Will L. Greenbaum of | San Francisco. e —— finished and ready about I tried it. I thought it would Then my friends produced it at Dresden, and you know what has happened since.” “‘And u wrote!it over about three tin id Mr. Adlington. “Yes; about three times.” “And you spent eight years upon it?” sked ot all of eight vears,” he sald. “It about fifteen months in all. You can- do two things at once, you know. If ne must suffer. 8o I do not compose I am on my tours. I must then O the time. ki lighted another cigar- y threw aside the holder which many a fair ad- uld have considered almost price- was there i thing I would like to He was again inter- nt to the door. “Mad- ame e sald. It was evident that one of the compeser's guardians thought the terview was becoming too prolonged. I um coming,” said M. Paderewski. He : wished to say something,” I sug- He waited fo of 5. “Some ofie aid. Sc who had found suggestions, es and likenesses of former his work had wounded him. id there were suggestions “‘And not from him alone—from others,” 1 Mr., Adlington. ut there is no such thing as stealing a theme in music,” hq continued. He was & y defensive. * lity does t of the compo: gone be- t genius like Wagner jion to an idea it is not only not a silow it, but it is a duty to follow employing such a method it con- not so much the idea as its treat- musical way."” wski was evidently deeply in \"piece of music must be built e or a church’® he went on. ould not accuse an architect of copyist he put windows in a And yet he is merely ve done. Likewlise, s of the great accuse Browning or m if they used the as some one else? ghts you would consider and h their method. fferept from r. A sound in a work the method, some other music, & t down as not origir 1 look the prelude to the thi act in ‘Manru.” That has been ecriticized. There is one run, a little run, that re- is o e T knew it. 1 could not k of the s s to th Others geestion “Yet the first theme is not the same. second theme is n is not onc to throw that anytt one little run is borrowed. Yet for thi detail of method the prelude is con- demned.” P. rewski was becoming eloquent in defense of his work. “If 1 were to make an analysis I could show a likeness in the method among the greatest of com- posers. For instance, look at Schumann’s —_—— f LADEREWIAT AND 777 E/?V'C‘//‘H[ 7 z ey = concerto in A minor. The first theme i taken almost wholly in method from Men- delssohn. And Wagner in his first period, and even well into the second period, is not entirely original. One may easily find the influence of Weber and then of Meyer- beer. ‘“‘Beethoven.was not free from the influ- ence of other masters, for in his works we often find the suggestion of Mozart. And witness also the first concerto of Chopin. Is it not suggestive very strongly of Hummel? ‘“And ‘Carmen.’ Can we not find here an_enormous influence exerted by Gou- nod? And it not only reminds you ot Gounod, but some of the themes, as sung, are taken wholly from Spanish music. The ‘Habanero' is not even Bizet's, but in all the scores that are published is shown to be taken from a composer who was alive when the opera was written.” M. Paderewski let the subjact rest there, “How do you find time to, compose and how do you work?" I asked. “It is not really”— What he would have sald was stopped #by a knock. Again it was “madame”— this time imperative. M. Paderewskl looked at his watch. He had been talking about his opera almost three-quarters of an hour, He ain took my hand in his crushing grip and went ouf. A few .mo- ments later the piano in his room was trilling and executing a delicate run. “He will sit there until 8 o'clock,” said Mr. Adlington. “Then he will-dine. Then, maybe, he will have an hour of billiards. Then he will practice again. What time he will go to bed I do not know. It is work, work, work, all the time. He w feeling very well last night; was nervous, didn’t feel like sleeping, and kept me up till 6 o'clock this morning, and cven when I went to bed he was still stirring. He is always at the plano or composing. Sometimes the mood for composing ill not come for months at a time, but when it comes he writes music as quickl. as you would write a letter. Then he wiil go ‘over t he has composed and try it on the pianc. Then he will lay it away, and after a while take it up and go over it again. He polishes and retouches every- thing he composes three or four times, ;1 d never lets anything go until it suits im. “‘His best work is done at his summer home, the Chalet Riondbosson, on Lake Gen There he generally goes for four or e months in the year. He will arise at 9 or 10 o'clock, work at composing or at the piluno until about 1 o’clock, then take his first meal of the day. He will ain work until 6 o'clock, and then take alk in the garden or a swim, for he is a a fine swimmer. Then there will be a dinner at 8 o’clock, and afterward light amusement. But whether be {s at home or on tour it is always work."” 7