MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2510, 10 July 1915, Page 9

MUSIC.

rEir Tubule Cisr.'J Baok from Belgium. Back from Belgium, young Haydn Beck, of Wanganui (who lias been financed tutorial!}' by a. committee of enthusiasts in his home town), talks interestingly of the Conservatoire at Brussels, where he spent a year and a lialf prior to tlio outbreak of the war. It is not generally known, for. example, that having passed an entrance'examination tuition at the Conservatoire was absolutely free to : all' Belgians, and stMents of othor nations only had to pay £3 a year. Wheal it is known that tuition from- so eminent an authority as M. Cesar Thomson was obtainablo at £8 a year, it- is liot surprising that violin students from all parts' of the. world rushed the Brussels Conservatoire. This fee applies only to class'instruction, that is, a class of from 20 t0.30 students is taken at once by M. Thomson. or tho other masters—four,-live, or. even six times a week. Many of the students were not satisfied with class, instruction, and paid good fees' to tho professors for private instruction. In Mr. Haydn Beck's opinion, the classes as they existed just before the war wero too large. Twenty students were quite sufficient for;any professor, to take in hand at.once, wlereas there were nearer thirty in his advanced: class. The Conservatoire, : under M. Dubois, is' run under a much better system than .formerly, and better results were' being obtained. There was a fine orchestra of between 70 .and 80 players, aiid occasionally advanced ■ students were given the opportunity of playing tho solo part in standard, concertos with orchestra to fit themselves for virtuoso work. Speaking about conditions of. living at Brussels, Mr. Beck thought that living . was about as cheap as' in',- London'.. A great many students went in for "rooming," and managed to live at the rate, of 90 francs a month, which was very' cheap. Returning to his experiences at Namur in the' momentous early days of August last .year, "Mr. Beck said that ■ a festival was -to -liave'been held there in honour of tho aunivfefsaiy of something or' other, and the' Queen was expected .to' be.prosent. .-, Among those staying at the Hotel do la Citadel was ;M. Saint-Saens,' tlier. eminent. French' Composer, who : was- to - play ;at the. fete. ■Mr! Beck had the honour of hearing the •Frenchman play. He- describes SaintSaens as "a funny , little ..'man. with .a big noso and a white board."-'

What's In. a Name? . . • llooently Mr.. John M'Cormack, 'tho eminent tenor,, purchased a song .written by Mrs. Sexton Hohne, on ltidiard Lo Gallienne's poem, . "She Is Somewhere 'In The Sunlight." She wired the news to' her father, the Hon. J. S. Sexton, as follows: "Mr. M'Cormack lias purchased'my song Pete'lias tho mumps." .The good nows was handed to . a pressman of no imagination, who announced the next.moruirig., in his •paper:.•'"Mr. John M'Cormack had been pleased- to . purchase: l ;-Mrs. Sexton Holmo's new song;; 'Pete ' Has ' The Mumps,' " And. -all, the' town wondered if M'Cor.uack had gone -into vaudeville as a, comic singer. Warning. ' ' Tho "Musical. Courier" .is in receipt of an official communication from, the German' Imperial. Embassy; at Washington warning! musicians not to-embark" for Europe on English or Allied ships travelling the ..war'zone,' as they aro in danger from the' German'' gubmar-, ines.—iN'btice in the "Musical Courier" (New York), of May 12.\ '. ■; . '-

Patierowski and Poles.,-..', ; ■ Count'" Alexander Beuckentiorif-,--.-tho Russian. Ambassador to Great Britain; Countess Benckcndorff, and "• ltiidyard Kipling have withdrawn, their" patronage lroni -t'ho Polish -Relief Fiiud organised by.'lg'iidce .Padei'ewskiyithe pianist, and for- whoso. furt'heranco-.vho 'now;in The reasons-.for.'-thd^with--drawal aro . given as-, being, , duq , to statements in ah appo'al. through the Press, which the Ambassador, his wife, and the;celebrated author regard as re-, llcctiug on-jtlio Russian' policy '•• and amy. Tho objectionable passages road as follow:— ' . ' ; . ''Lot us try to bring this Polish tragedy closer to our mind's eye'. WoTiaVe only to imagine Great Britain vanquished and divided between three Powers, : shackled,' freo no longer-in- speech or religion. Sho ceases .to be'a State, yet remains /a nation, papsioiiately devoted to; tho remembrance .of lier past, to faith in her future. "Suddenly the ' three;.. Powers, who havo remained at v peac& only because "they dared not let. the captive go, turn upon one another, and oii ; her very body engage in ,mortar L combat. Tho Poles have'to bear it.' ' ■ ; "Thoro is a ray "of light on tho picture. When, peace comes Poland will bo free; Russia has promised it, and she will keep her word." ' : When Paderewski arrived in -America, recently ho announced that part of 'his plan'to raise money for.the succour of the Poles was, to go to San Francisco, and ask the directors of tho- Exposition 'to donate a day's receipts, to ' the. Polish Relief Fund. / In connection with' this, matter, t-ho Philadelphia "Public Ledger" of recent date writes, as follows:-^ "It is—literally—-disconcerting to [earn from tho pianist that it is not his intention to; play'the piano -at all while jmohg-'us:.-; It. is'' hopedthit"' tfie'Polish .virtuoso,-will 'see a-: great-'light, and' .forthwith! amend.-his attitude; "For. Mr. Paderewski reads his title clear to - popular esteem .primarily; on his magnificent attainment-as a musician. The public acknowledges, tho artist's estimable character as a man, but it' wants to hear him play, and is not, particularly interested- in, his appearance as ,-speakei)'or. in .his. litorary dissertations. Let him put his chief talent at the service of his land. If lie desires to raise a fund for relief, of his afflicted countrymen,, why should ho not employ the eloquent appeal of tho piano to move tho hearts and loosen the purse-strings of tho susceptible?"'

She was German! ' \ : _ M. - Camilla Saint-Saeiis, 'the -eminent ; .trench pianist,-organist, and composer,• arrived "m New-York on. May 11. en 'route to -San; Francisco, whero'lie is to" IT ,3, senos of :recitals;:;'-Tliis { 'wbnder-, ,tul old' man, who was a contemporary of Berlioz, 'Rossini, - Verdi. t 5{ J - a S n or, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Rubinstein, and Liszt, was mot by a host of Pressmen . and admirers. Among tho latter ,was a very : effusive lady who spoko French with a pronounced German accent "Allez-vous en I \ ous etes Allemande I"—"Get out I You are German!" he exclaimed, as the lady rushed, to greet him. Those were the first words iSaifit-Saens spoke, on •American soil, and at once showed how he felt about the war and France's ancient and modern enemy; Just as the special emissary of the "Musical Courier was about'to interview' the Frenchman he had all his plans frustrated by a roturn attack of the lady friend to assure Saint-Saons that. she was hurt by his rebuff, and that she- really was not German at all, as lie could easily, see if lie would examine t'he papers' she had taken the precaution to bring with her. She spoko the languago of Racine and Moliorc, and alio emphasised her statements with "Ja, ja!" But t'ho old French - composer was obdurate. He would not listen to her appeal or receive her. "Get out! You are .German I" ho repeated, waving his hands before his face like an orchestral conductor wlien the. bass tuba plays -a D flat in a, muted violin passage in E.