The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 15, 1903, Page 6

THE SUNDAY CALL. pils. Great numbers flock to the sc here, people who have not the rea to become proficient in music, and are satisfled ‘with the superficial tion because they are superfl @&elves. If the great majority of these ple would give up musical careers, leav. Ing them to the few who have genuine ability, then it would be better for pro- gress. The spirit of the dilettant! 1s no tnepiration to good work. . Another fault which America guard against is that of impatience. You want to begin at the top of the ladder instead of climbing It painfully round by round. It is as hard to make you go elowly as It would be to hold down a vigorous, enterprising child who is learn- ing to walk and rushes headlong, galning many bruises in the effort. If you would only be content with playing simple things at first, improving little by little, you al should MERICA is so great a country that there must be a great future for her in all lines. Her music will develop in the vears to come. And let me tell you what the foundation of her national musie will be. It will be the negro melody, the plaintive, melodious chant of the Southern plantation. Are y u astonished? Let me tell you. At present there is no such thing as an American school of music. 1 realize this yourselves? but her possibilities are Americans ¢ young have sought to find one, but it does not exist. Do It is no discredit to America is limitless. you. alled American composers are mot American in the true sense of the German, rather. German school. A composition by I Had a Dove,” works of Busch. his name that This lack of all American to be an American school in ors study abroad, in Italy a training home and he is no exception to individuality which work adapt They “are have done their studying in Carl Busch i the words being by John He is the best of the American composers. the rule. accompanies youth in any art ake painting, for instance, and sculpture. There nd it for the most part of German de- Germany, that they belong to the on my piano now. It is called It is beautiful as are other But -you see by s0 Keats. not in evi- these To sure your painters France for the mocst part, but they to their native life. They work from arts. be mes, they work in an American manner. But this is not yet true sic be some day. your people show. They their enthusiasm It will that love at prese: is does not c cabbage. It So the Americans are hungry ces in the world, but they re at all the same to him. tion This is due to which will alter with art. Surely out many time. it there would One of the most unfortunate things You have so many g of art try true understan; many tries, but by coming t of accomplishment th. tic standpoint and their one aim the ingenuousness of this young an sical progress by their worthless i Amer! soon gain a | THEYOUNGWOMNTIOM= 1L N Paul's epistle to Titus there is a line of exhortation which has a very practi- cal bearing on the life and character of young women The aged men and women are so to govern their lives in a sober-minded and reverent demeanor “that the ing women to be sober-m keepers at home,” and *“good.” Home may well be looked upon as the center of our happifiess in this life and the outpost of heaven. It should ever be borne in mind that home is not to be de- fined by marble palaces, luxurious furni- ture and adornments and wealth. As the poet expresses it: Home's not merely roof and room, It needs something to endear it is where the heart can bloom, e there's some kind 1ip to cheer it. s home with none to meet, e to weleome, none to greet us? Home Is sweet—and only sweet— Where there's one we love to meet us! It is the wealth, fragrance and beauty of true hearts that make home. Such an institution is not made in a day, but only after long and careful planning and earnest endeavor. But it pays to so build, for mno other institution wields such wholesome and everlasting influence over us. It is to the young woman as daughter HE project to estab- lish a great Ameri- ean national thea- ter, which seems now to have taken promising form In both branches of Congress, meets with my hearty and unqualified approval. I am favorable to it not only as an insti- tution destined to elevate and dignify dra- matic art, but from a purely educational standpolnt. The great figures of literature can in no manner be so well studied as through representation on the stage by capable players. Any fair-minded reader of Bhakespeare, for instance, will admit that in the acted play beauties of which he had not dreamed have been discovered to him. To thoroughly know Shakespeare” you must read him, but you must also him acted. And what applies to Bhakespeare applies in relative measure to other writers. The drama as a business venture, equal- ly as an art, has suffered through the in- adequate and incompetent. It is a fertile field for preying Barnums, as well as an ¢ylum for hundreds of well meaning but misguided young persons who have been flattered by admiring friends into believ- ing that success in the playhouse is equiv. alent to a parlor conquest. They some- times find cut their mistake, but as a rule they go on and on, simply convinced that fate is cruel. If it were not for the mul- titude of such as they it would not be possible for discredited managerial hum- That is inevitable with all it, they like 1i whether he be given pate de fols gras or corned beef and He makes no discrimination. for music, are too easily pleased. They will accept the bad and the good and split their gloves over both. unfortunate circumstances Enthusiasm be no chance. is the lack of good teac! teachers and such How shall a people learn without teachers of your teachers are Europeans who have no standing in their own coun- re and exploiting a forelgn name and a large pretense following. inexy ruction. has many conservatories of music- the enthusiasm for music in time th will have it. of a starving man who want it, the “eraving enthusiastic crimina- the They most lack they are rcumstances, however, is a good basis upon which to build hers In this coun- of these have no > A great a large proportion They are nobodies from an s the American dollar. They impose upon rienced country and retard her mu- ~too many—and far too many pu- at home and her relation to her home that these lines are directed. Home should be brighter and better for her presence and influence. That it may be so how essential that these two prac- tical precepts heeded—‘‘keepers at home, good.” Knowing somewhat of the difficulty of 80 writing upon such a theme as to make any lasting impression, it is with some hesitancy that the venture fs made. This is not because young women are more hard-headed or legs susceptible to sound advice, but because the matter is more delicate, and ybung women, certain class at least, are so absent-minded as to soon forgets It was a saying of a wise man that we have one mouth and two ears in order that we may listen twice as much as we speak. We are informed by the Philadelphia Times of a teacher who once quoted this saying to her pupils, and not long afterward, to see how well they remembered her instruction, she asked: “Why is it that we have two ears and only one mouth, Frances?” Frances had forgotten the philosopher's explanation, but she thought the question not a very, hard one. ‘‘Because,” she said, ‘“‘we should not have room on our face for two mouths, and we should look too crooked if we had only one ear.” ‘“No, no,” sald the teacher; “that is ot the reason. Yoy know, don’t you, Rosy?’ *“Yes, ma'am; 80 that what we hear may go into one ear and out at fhe other.” It is to be hoped that Rosy was speaking only for herself. Is It asked, “Why did the learned Avpostle. give such teaching?” We are be bugs to launch their ventures. Through the two elements the public have been so deceived and mulcted that it is no small wonder that the theater is as popular as it is. Through a national theater the general public would be benefited in purse as well as in mind, because the standard of worth would become better understood. I am in favor of broadening the scope of the scheme by sending the productions of the subsidized theater on a tour following their allotted run at the home house. I should propose that the tour cover more particularly the citles in which are situ- ated the great universities of the coun- try, and that the study of each new play should be made a part of the college ccurse. It should not, however, be lec- tured or debated upon until after its per- formance. Commentaries on plays and playwrights, as well as on books and book writers, are as a rule useless and hampering, obscuring and befogging the beauty and power of the work they pur- port to_analyze. They mutilate meanings and read- problems into the text which spoil its symmetry and thwart its princi- pal object. In other words, they stand in the way of going straight to the author, 1 am convinced from conversation and correspondence which I have had that many of the greal colleges would be ready and willing to make an appropria- tion for the feature of the national thea- tér scheme which is here proposed. This would make the tour paying as well as useful. | I cannot sufficiently express contempt for’ the argument, or rather the lack of arpument, of those who oppose the plan for a national theater. Not LTOTO ST ¢ S OX ‘ safe In replying that, while his was not the age of the “new woman,” his day there was a tendenc women to forsake the sacred of home for other and le edifying haunts. He knew there was in young women an inclination to rebel against the restraints of home. The lesson is certain- ly very timely in these da f so much larger license and fuller to the fairer sex. The young woman needs the home be- fore she is prepared for the larger sphere of life in the world outside her hame. What she is now while at home largely forecasts what she will be in the years of her future, sterner life with its broad opportunities and insistent obligations. She is now said to be chameleon-like and very susceptible to influence. If ever her exuberant enthusiasms needed guiding by a wise and loving hand, it is now. How much she needs the environment of a pious home and the loving mbther-pro- tectorate in answering the many que tions peculiar to every young girl. “Just new,” says Margaret E. Sangster, “she needs more than ever the mother's lov- ing guardianship, and the wise mother keeps her daughter very close to her side in confidential affection, in daily inter- course, in the purest and most intimate association.” The life of the young woman at home is not a ceaseless stream of unalloyed pleasure; to many it is said to be “a time of restlessness, of quicksands and reefs, of romantie dreams which bring only dis- precincts liberty b 52 o i appointments and poignant pain to sensi- tive natures which are wounded because misunderstood.” Young women have their own perplexities and sorrows to meet. Then what villl questions press for solu- tion, such as what shall be her tions and who shall be her companions. Here at the fireside she is to receive her chief training, especially in moral and in- tellectual culture. The two best, most knowing and most confiding friends of the young woman at home should be her father and mother. Then the home needs the daughter in it; her helpful ministries and sweet spirit are essential to make any place home. Owing to what is called “‘the emancipa- tion of, womanhood” from the many trammels which this age has witnessed, it is claimed by some to have culminated in a “revolt of the daughters.” This, we must admit, is true to a certain degree. There are some young women who are not willing to bloom in the home, but who long for a wider career and larger kingdom than home offers. Their cry in these days of expansion Is “give us an equal chance wigh our brothers in bust- ness and professional life.”” They allow themselves to grow restless and dissatis- fied with what they consider the narrow bounds of the home circle; they claim the assocla- right to do what they please with their * lives. Is not this the controlling spirit of the age? In a way young women are not to be censured for partaking of this spirit, but when circumstances do not compel their going out as bread earners. would stand a better chance for growth. The schools are only one source >f education You do not have the opportunity of hearing the There are many operas produced in America to satisfy the ‘popular de- The work of preparing them is superficial. I find that there is an impression here that the here, too, you are handicapped. best. mand, but they are inartistic. best singers remain in Europe. The opera is another, and The greatést singers of Europe are brought here by the glittering prospect of large monetary rewards. the though T had a good contract. in Europe. Th brings some good on ning their descent. his is only one company. Amer old coun her own K But at last a glant arose. E Tschaikowsky said, “Ru created a Russian school of muslc to be sure, but That s all a mistake. the money made by artists in Europe, In South America even. that of America. So the temptation is rnot what you suppose it to be. st composer to come here and it was not money that tempted me, al- I like to travel. You would be surprised to learn of It far exceeds I am But more money is to bs made refore, the musiclans who come here are seldom the greatest. Mr. Grau s—some who have won fame abroad—but they are begin- They are no longer the greatest inthe world. And, besides, It is your best, and it contains the passe. 'a is to be compared with Russia In a musical way. Russia is & very she is young in music. ynote. She was merely imitative, knowing something of many schools. was Tscha'kowsky. must have a music all her own.” She felt about restlessly for Thereupon he That is what America needs—to have a giant of her own arise. And do you know what I belleve will be negro songs of your Southern States g0 far—her people music In his soul developed folk s her of a national talent. natural gift. Therefore, re all musical. He is the individual we must the inspiration of that giant when he com always comes from the peop No Italia The American people as a zace are different. s! This is the primary secret of the delay in musical progress A great composer does not spring up all of himself. ? The That is exactly why Italy has gone . no matter how ignorant, but has They have not He Is the outgrowth chosen by fate to represent the nation's look to the music of the American negro to be the inspiration of the yet unborn American school, for that Southern music is the only kind that is genuinely your own. It has struck me very forcibly. individuality of any nation’s music. Italian. When your giant arises he Its rhythm is all {ts own. This must be the There is a Spanish rhythm, a German, an The negro rhythm is full of pathos and charm. 3 Il interpret this Into the language of art and then shall your great country show the blase old world something new. they should not be in a hurry to throw off the restraint ef home. There are two kinds of young women. The one kind is for the public gaze and appears better on dress parade; its chief to cut a swell in dress, look pretty parties, rides, visits, balls, theaters; its chief delight is to shine like Venus in the social world. The other kind ap- pears best at home; it knows how to be useful and cheerful and to fill any p'ace, in the home where needed. The former is sald to be like a moth, con- suming everything about it; the latter, to a sunbeam, inspiring life and gladness all along its pathway. The former is a pretty wall flower; the other a living, growing, fragrant flower whose roots are deep rooted and whose beauty and sight s 2 joy forever. Says Mrs. Sangster: The princess royal, wherever we find her, is the girl whose office it is to rule her circle of kinsfolk by her soft invin- cibility and to serve them by virtue of her unwearied strength.” George Eliot furnishes an excellent pié- ture of a daughter’s devotion In the story of how Romola loved, cherished and as- sisted her old blind father. But poor blind Milton’s daughters were just the op- posite tosRomola. They were thoughtless and cruel to their father.!( Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Adelalde Proctor are excellent examples of filial devotion to parents. It is painful to think of such daughters who follow one slight and insult to their parents with another; they keep adding at class B> REV. FRANKC to the burdens alreally too heavy to be borne. There are daughters who are ashamed of their parents. Because they are not just up to the times in every- thing they are called “old fogies,” an are sald to be “way behind the times.™ If some parents are ‘“way behind the times"” in some things it may be because it has taken all their time and the fruits of their hard toll to keep their precious daughters up-to-date. Oh, the gracious indulgence of kind parents and the In- gratitude of thoughtless children! The best school of preparation for the trials incident to a larger sphere of use- fulness is the home. If young women will, like the Carey sisters, learn the dis- cipline of trial and suffering In their homes they, too, may be able to make happy the restless and discouraged in life’'s sterner conflicts, while earning for themselves the truest success. Young women should early in life vote themselves to God and the caus righteousness. Then shall they “be cornerstones polished after the similitude of a palace.” To God they owe their warmest love, their brightest and most useful days. Happy would be their lives if’ they would make the following Hnes the language of their hearts: de- of © God, my youth is thine, With all iis mirth and glee; The sweetest gariands love can twine 1 gladly give to thes. My happy, happy golden days To thee, to thee, O Lord, I give, And strive in all my youthful w: ¥or thee. fur thee alone to It TEA Yogical word has been sald against the proposition, but it has provided much ammunition for the Puritanicdl cranks who love to ‘“orate” agalnst the drama and its exponents. Thank God that so- clety at large no longer regards the actor as 8 mere mountebank. He has reached in the estimation of the better world his proper place. If he be great, his privileges .are as many as the great of other call- ings. If he be a fallure, he is relegated to the rear as in other walks of life. As for mediocrity, it Is tolerated, as it is else- where—perhaps more liberally. One of the greatest advantages of a national theater will be to ‘the native literary aspirant. None knows better than the producing star how numerous are per- sons who belleve, more or less well groundedly, that they can write good plays. Although it s generally known that I have adhered consistently to Shakes- pearean roles, yet I have received more than a score of manuscripts from embry- onic sources this season. I can frankly say I have read them, too—not merely ‘perused—but read. I figure that the man who honors me by selecting me as his Moses deserves at least the courtesy of a hearing. I have discovered many evi- dences of talent, sometimes dominant, oftener latent, in these maiden efforts. Others are hopeless. I really cannot belleve that managers ‘widely, known as in the market for new plays treat the manuscripts sent them by unknown authors with a very great de- gree of consideration or respect. They really have not the time, and even when they do perceive something good n sub- mitted plays they dislike to take chances, preferring tried foreign material. You cannot blame them entirely. They are merchants in a way, supplying the public with what they think the public wants. Their guesses are not always good, but they are based on what they think the signs indicate. But in the national theater there is hope for the American playwright. A board should be created which will devote itself entirely to the reading of new plays, pass- ing upon the merits of material submitted and advising the submitters. There should be a system of rewards Instituted and literary genfus should be encouraged In every possible way. Who shall say that the United States -has not in the background another Shakespeare or Mo- Here? There has been some debate as to location of the national theater. W ington, by all means. Not only Is country's capital the appropriate geo- graphical location, but from 'a material standpoint it is the proper place. The assurance of New Yorkers is not exceeded by any populace in the world, but in their bid for the national theater they rather surpass themselves. New York 1§ a great city, but its encouragement of the worst in the drama has done more to discredit the art than any one other thing. Girls, clothes and trashy music make up Gotham's Ideal form of theatrical entertainment. A national theater would be as out of place In New York as a fan lnLGreenluld. et us have the national theater in general scope, Iiberal in its lrenbur:;:g of American authors, encouraging to play. ers and in Washington. 3