W£r.m ntj GIFT OF Sir Henry Heyrnan #y.:"fe^ C '^md/^ K/^ C4^mu^ /}] J i MUSINGS MAXIMS FOOD FOR THOUGHT 1 Genius does not need Talent, Enaudi, famous cal- culator, never studied mathematics. (He told me so.) Talent is acquired. Genius is the gift of God. 2 Ideals are innate not acquired. 3 Where there is aptitude for the Violin, the person- ality will manifest itself naturally. 4 Science and Art are not Sisters. Mathematical cal- culations are not Art. 5 Great Masters of Harmony and great Fuguists are often mediocre composers. Science and Inspiration, combined, produced the great works. 6 Technic can be reasoned, but must be acquired physically. 7 Memory pertains to the Mind; and must be trained by exercising the brain when very young. 8 The success of a player depends on something not taught by books, namely the personal conception and inspiration of the artist. 9 In Violin playing the left hand is only the workman, the mechanic. The right hand, the bow arm, is the artist. It is through the right arm that the virtuoso can give polish to the Technic, color to the inter- pretation, and expression to the inspiration of the moment. 10 Michael Angelo said: "Who acquires the habit of following will never lead." 1 1 Be yourself. N. B. — Regarding these maxims in connection with a life devoted to music, 1 venture to say, vk'ithout self- exaltation, that the study of them will not only prove beneficial to artists but to everyone, more so indeed, than any book written about the violin's mastery. ^ OVIDE MUSIN. MY MEMORIES <^^. ==^ MY MEMORIES BY OVIDE MUSIN Fonndei of the Belgian School of Violin in New York, 1908; Officer of the Beleian "Order of Leopold;" Commander of the "Order of Nitham Iftikar" (French); Officer d'Academie (France); Ordre da Merite (Holland); Officer of the Order of the Bolivar (South America), etc. A HALF-CENTURY OF ADVENTURES AND EXPERIENCES AND GLOBE TRAVEL WRITTEN BY HIMSELF NEW YORK MUSIN PUBLISHING COMPANY 51 West 76th Street \9Z0 Copyright, 1920 By OVIDE MUSIN (lift $-/ L\A imuu^ /Uifiuau I / J*\ TO MY WIFE ANNIE LOUISE HODGES-MUSIN ^)i)''d^^ i i> INTRODUCTION Many of my friends have said to me frequently, " You who have traveled so much and have made so many people happy by your music, why do you not write your experiences? They would assuredly be of interest not only to artists but to the public in general." Thus urged I decided to write this book, simply as a raconteur with a pretty good memory, and tell as succinctly as possible in an unpretentious way some of the phases of my ar- tistic life, impressions, episodes and reminiscences, com- prised in a career of upwards of fifty years. My letters to the paper " La Meuse " of Liege, Bel- gium : my diary kept from time to time when visiting new countries, and my lectures on the History of the Violin, given in French and English, have been a great help to me in writing these " Memories." OVIDE MusiN. New York Dec. 25th 19 19. Note The fac-simile of the autographic letter of Leopold II of Belgium to his sister Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, dated 1866, which appears on page 268 was nearly pro- phetic of the war of 191 4, and, had this Monarch been alive at the time, it is possible that the war would not have taken place; for his advice was listened to by every Monarch of Europe, and in fact Leopold II was called " The Diplomat of Europe." CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Early Life i II First Consciousness of Music 9 Eugene Ysaye 15 Cesar Thomson 16 Rouma, the Remarkable Violonist 17 III An Experience in England 20 IV Anecdotes 24 Siegel Program 2^ Ostend 28 Trio Humoristic 32 When I First Heard Vieuxtemps 35 V My Entrance Into Paris 37 Jean Faure 51 VI Engagement with Colonel Mapleson ... 58 Leonard at Liege. 1870. Some Pupils ... 60 House Warming in Rue Jacob, No. 28, Paris . 62 Brindis de Salas 65 Experience in a Balloon 66 Two Disagreeable Experiences, of My Early Life in Paris 68 Early Incident in Paris Life 70 VII " Carmen " 71 France, 1878 74 French Authors ^7 A Near Fiance 78 ix X CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VIII England 80 Arrigo Boito 86 Harrison & Harrison Concerts. Patti Incident . 91 London About 1880 92 England and the Englisli Language .... 94 IX Incident in Copenhagen, Denmark .... 96 Touring in Russia 99 Concerts in Germany 103 X How I Came to America 105 My Impressions of America — New York , . 105 German Music Lovers 118 Singers, with Whom I was Associated in Eu- rope and the U. S 128 XI Some Odd Experiences 137 Fargo 138 Kansas City 139 San Francisco 140 XII Westward 143 First Letter to La Meuse 143 Second Letter to La Meuse 151 Third Letter to La Meuse — Appeared July 29, 1892 — New Zealand 158 Fourth Letter. Wellington 162 Fifth Letter to La Meuse — Wellington . . . 164 Sixth Letter to La Meuse 168 Seventh Letter — New Zealand 174 XIII Australia 184 Eighth Letter — October i6th, 1892 . . . .184 Sydney and Environs 186 XIV Mexico 191 XV Japan 211 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER PAGE XVI Shanghai 220 Manila 225 Singapore 227 XVII Java 230 The Baraboedoer Temple 232 XVIII Australia Again 244 XIX Homeward Bound 252 XX Return to Belgium 260 Concerts of Dumont Lamarche Fund .... 265 Doutrelon de Try 267 Letter of Leopold II. XXI Violinist Reflections 271 Paganini 273 Belgian School of Violin Playing 275 Some Historical Facts 275 The Belgian School of Violin 277 My Ten Commandments for Young Aspiring Violin Students 278 Essentials 279 The Violin 279 The Bow 281 Felix Renard's Berceuse 284 Misleading Advertisements 287 XXII Agreeable Recollection 288 Cardinal Mercier's Reception 289 Albert, King of Belgium 292 ILLUSTRATIONS Ovide Musin Frontispiece PAGE Nandrin Village 9 Musin at 14 years of age 12 Statue of Gretry at Liege 17 Trio Humoristique 33 First letter of Saint-Saens 50 Groupe of Five Artists 98 Queen Liliukalani 147 Two Maori women 164 Sr. James Nuno 204 Temple of Baraboedoer, Java 232 Statue of Charlemagne, at Liege 260 Concert Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Liege . . . 262 Class of Musin pupils at Liege 264 Doutrelon de Try and wife 267 Letter of Leopold II 268 Mrs. Ovide Musin 270 Henri Leonard with his music and signature 278 Second letter of Saint-Saens 282 Class of New York pupils 287 Ole Bull and Miss Doremus 293 xm MY MEMORIES WRITTEN BY MYSELF CHAPTER I EARLY LIFE In 1799, William Cockerill, an English mechanical inventor, settled in Belgium as a manufacturer of spin- ning and weaving machines. His son John joined him there later and through his own industry and the help of William I, King of the Netherlands, founded in 181 7 the great iron works of Seraing. Cockerill and William ist were joint owners of these foundries for thirteen years, when in 1830 John Cockerill purchased the King's share and became sole proprietor. My father, who was an engineer, was employed by this company for many years, first in Belgium and later in the south of France, but finally, wishing to retire perhaps into a less active occupa- tion, he returned to Belgium, built a house in the village of Nandrin, in the Province of Liege, and set himself up as a merchant of grain and wine. My father was born at Avins near Huy, Province of Liege, but it is probable that he settled at Nandrin be- cause it was only three miles from the castle of Sothrez in which my mother was born. In former days, the de Milles, which was my mother's maiden name, were an important family in these parts, my grandmother having even a private chapel attended by all the peasants in the neighborhood, and it is likely that Nandrin appealed to 2 MY MEMORIES them as being the nearest town to my mother's old home. I was born at Nandrin, on the 22nd of September, 1854. I was the youngest of five children, and with the excep- tion of the eldest, we were all born in the house which my father built at Nandrin. We were a comfortable provin- cial family, stoutly clad and shod, well fed, but with the frugal habits one finds in all old countries. We had what we needed but no more. There was no waste and as the children grew up they were expected to help in the per- formance of the household or other family labors, until old enough to find outside occupations. This was so everywhere in Belgium, except in the richest families. Money was so hard to make that all must help in trying to make it. On the farms the daughters worked at the churn, and took the butter to market with the eggs of the chickens and pigeons. Sometimes they helped in the fields, the sons always. All labored together for the com- mon good. In this country, the United States, it seems to me, the children of the farmers often think themselves above farm work, often the farmers seem to think so too, and, in consequence, their money goes for piano lessons and for the purchase of cheap automobiles. No one would dream of indulging in extravagances of this kind in Belgium. Indeed, farming there is considered im- possible without a large family of sons and daughters, as, if it were necessary to hire labor it would be too difficult to make it pay. I remember being caught one day in a sudden storm. I was still a young lad and was so absorbed in my occupa- tion of the moment, the catching of trout, that I did not notice its approach until a sudden growl of thunder and EARLY LIFE '3 a gust of cool wind caused me to look up. The storm, with its dense masses of heavy clouds, was almost upon me, and, picking up my fish, I began to run toward a farm house which stood on the other side of the field. It came so quickly that I had barely reached the house when torrents of rain began to fall. My own concern was simply to avoid a drenching, and I was, therefore, amazed to witness the despair to which the storm had reduced the family with whom I had sought shelter. They were on their knees, weeping bitterly and praying that their crops might be spared. If it brought hail, and that was what they feared, it might mean the total ruin of the result of many months of labor. Each felt this equally, young and old, of both sexes, because all had done their part, and it made me understand, young as I was, precisely how they felt ; that with all their unremit- ting toil, their shrewd industry, they were after all de- pendent for success on the fortuitous circumstances of nature. The hail did not come, I am glad to say, and their crops were spared. But although all work hard, once a year, for three days during the month of October, a fete is held in which the whole countryside takes part. The usual regimen of bread and cheese is abandoned and tarts are baked — tarts of plums, of apples, of rice and eggs, tarts of every description ; a fair is held. The young men have saved money during the year to spend on their sweet- hearts and the sweethearts have saved some too, to spend, I am afraid, on themselves. There are games, dancing and music. One of my earliest recollections, I must have been very young, is of listening entranced on one of these 4 MY MEMORIES occasions, to the music of an " orgue de barbaric '' or, as it is popularly called, a hurdy gurdy. The first I had ever heard. We had, as I remember, not too many pastimes, but one which I indulged in whenever opportunity offered, and which I still enjoy, was that of fishing. There were a number of small streams in the neighborhood of Nan- drin which contained trout, and I have caught many of them, some weighing as much as two pounds, not with a rod, for at that time I had never seen one, but with my bare hands. I knew the pools where the trout were to be found, and creeping cautiously to the edge of one, behind a screen of grass, I would wait until a fish came within reach, when I would begin very gently to tickle its belly, working up gradually toward the head, when I would seize it suddenly with all my might and throw it on the bank. Not many years ago I paid a visit to Nandrin. I could find very few of the neighbors I had known before, but the village priest, now an old man, was still there in his little house close to the church, where as an altar boy I had served mass, swung the censer and poured the wine. He greeted me with real joy and announced that I must dine with him, adding ruefully, after a moment, " But there is no fatted calf to kill. Monsieur, I am sorry to say ! " Then a thought struck him, " You who used to catch trout so skillfully, do you think that you could catch one now ? " I answered that I would do my best, and going out with him to a stream which ran close behind the vicarage, I rolled up my sleeves and began to creep toward the edge EARLY LIFE 5 of the pool which I had chosen for my operations. I was not as slender as on my last fishing expedition thirty years or more before, the recumbent position which I used to assume without a thought seemed strangely uncomfort- able, breathing was not easy, and I was sure that I was in momentary danger of a rush of blood to the head. But I persevered and within ten minutes had landed a fine trout weighing a pound and a half. We had it for dinner with a hot butter sauce sprinkled with chopped green herbs, cold meat, bread and cheese, salad, and a bottle of fine old Burgundy — a meal fit for a king. So my first recollection indicating any especial love for or appreciation of music, aside from the incident of the hurdy gurdy at the fair, had to do with a small toy violin which my father gave" me at Christmas. I was about six at the time. My interest in this instrument was so pronounced and so sustained that it attracted my father's attention, and a little later he bought me a larger one. I derived a great deal of pleasure from manipulat- ing it as well as I could, but I soon realized that I must in some way acquire the rudiments of the art before I could accomplish anything at all with it. The problem of where to discover a teacher in a place as small as Nandrin was not easy, but I thought at last of an old man, the village cobbler, who sometimes helped to make up a small orchestra, recruited from neighboring towns, for the purpose of playing at dances. The cobbler played double bass. In the shop of this old man I re- ceived my first lessons, the cobbler cobbling while I stood before him with my violin, He taught me the first notes 6 MY MEMORIES and how to tune the vioHn, and with this equipment, I taught myself to play by ear. As I became more proficient, I grew more attached to my violin, and devoted more and more time to it, some- times perhaps to the annoyance of my family, for as it was not a small one and as the time I had formerly spent out of doors was now taken up indoors in practice, I was probably often in the way. It was an effort to obviate this difficulty perhaps which resulted in my frequently playing my violin sitting on the floor under the table which stood in the center of the big front room of the house. By this arrangement, I was in nobody's way and, as I was only seven, the space under it was quite large enough. One day, a professor of the violin who lived in Liege, but who happened to be in our village, heard, in passing the open windows of our living-room, the notes of a violin issuing therefrom. The windows opened directly on the street, and as he glanced in he was surprised to see that there was no one in the room. Except for the musical notes which filled it the room was empty. The professor of the violin, naturally surprised at this phenomenon, thrust his head in at the window and looked cautiously about, only to find the mystery more insoluble than ever. The notes sounded louder and more distinct than before, but of the player there was not a trace, and he was be- ginning to fear that he was the victim of some form of mental derangement, when my mother happened to enter the room, and after a word of explanation, made the matter clear by lifting a corner of the table cloth and revealing myself fiddling away behind it. EARLY LIFE 7 This incident had an important bearing on my future, for the professor, insisting on hearing me again, under conditions savoring less of the supernatural, liked my playing well enough to advise my father to give me a musical education. The professor's praise finally re- sulted in my going to Liege with my father to attend the examination of candidates who wished to enter the Con- servatoire. My family had arrived, by this time, at a tentative decision. I was to go to Liege and play before the judges. If my application was refused, there was no more to be said for the present at any rate. It would be time enough to decide definitely in case I should be ac- cepted. That spring therefore, a very frightened, small boy, standing in the Examination Hall in the Conserva- toire at Liege, before a small company of judges and ap- plicants, played a composition of his own. The small boy was myself, — the composition which I played secured my admission, and my parents found that they must decide definitely whether I was to enter or not. Since I have come to know, later in life, what difficul- ties young aspirants for careers in any of the arts often have to overcome in the way of family opposition, I am more thankful than I was then that every member of mine had a genuine love of music. And yet, as was natural, when my parents finally determined to follow the pro- fessor's advice, their decision was mixed with a good deal of apprehension at the idea of my leaving home, — I was eight at the time — and to live in so distant a place as Liege, fully twelve miles away. My mother indeed, at first, felt that she could not consent to such a scheme, and it was only on my father's discovering that a friend of 8 MY MEMORIES his who kept a small but very good hotel there would be glad to take me under his care, that the matter was finally settled. It being decided to send me, preparations were begun at once. The village tailor made me a suit of clothes. The village cobbler abandoned his lessons, and fell to fabricating a pair of shoes for me. A small trunk of yellow tin was unearthed and packed with my belongings, and on an early day in October, my father and I climbing to the top of the diligence, began our journey to Liege. As we passed out of the village, a delicious and well- remembered smell floated to my nostrils — the smell of baking tarts; tarts of plum; of apple; of eggs and rice. The fete was to begin the next day and I was not to be there. A sudden regret assailed me, but after all, what did it matter? Had I not become a man of the world, destined to see many things more wonderful? X CHAPTER II FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC The awakening of my consciousness of music or, in reality, a subconsciousness of the charm of music suffi- ciently tangible to enable me to recall my impressions, was in connection with the music of the Church and that of the celebrations of the Feast Days in the village of Nandrin. As will be seen from the picture, the village church stood as you face it just to the right of my father's house, where I was born, and it was there that I learned to sing the Latin chants and responses to the intoning of the priests in the services in which I acted as altar and choir boy. I must have had a pretty fair voice, as child voices go, and been able to carry a tune, as the expression goes, or I would certainly not have been called to the position. I do not recall that I ever had any difficulty in learning the music, no doubt grasping the musical idea by instinct, or, if you will, more with a psychological sense than in any other way. I have an idea that even at an early age, I had a clear idea as to pure, free tone and correct intonation for very often the thick, nasal tones of the priests, badly out of tune, were either quite painful to me or suggested ideas which were so amusing that I could hardly keep my face straight. 10 MY MEMORIES One of the priests sang something which sounded to me more hke omelette — o — rum — fricandum (Gigo- tum Cressonem) and which, at early mass, aroused my appetite for breakfast. But this in no way detracted from my reverence for the holy fathers who were always most kind to me. Then, on the Feast Days, I, like other children, absorbed the music of the folk-songs and the Cramignon. The Cramignon seems to be peculiar to the Province of Liege and the race of Walloons, for I have never seen it or heard of it in any other country. The Cramignon is not, strictly speaking, a country dance, but more properly a march, which may be a remnant of some very ancient religious ceremony dating from the time of the Druids. Relics of this order are still to be seen around Liege in the Dolmens scattered here and there. At any rate, the Cramignon must have originated in times so ancient that the country was still covered with vast extents of forests where the Dolmens were erected and the people worshipped not only in their temples but in the groves. This may account for the curious serpen- tine windings and coilings of the long line of marchers as they twine in and out among the trees, or might this peculiarity be traceable in any sense to the serpent? The Cramignon begins in this way: A young man, the leader, carries a bouquet in his right hand and, with his left, he takes the right hand of his lady, her left hand being taken by the gentleman following, and so on, couple following couple as, one after another, they join in the march which is done side-wise, with arms extended. The leader starts a song, singing the first line, which FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC n is taken up and repeated by the marchers in chorus, and so on during the whole song or chant, which is kept up as the march continues, the leader sometimes coiling them into a solid group and then uncoiling again, twining and turning this way and that as the line trails its way through the street, until all are quite out of breath, when they disperse. We all learned to sing the Cramignon, and some Bel- gian composers have taken the ancient themes and woven them into compositions of real merit. Debefve wrote a Symphony on one of the themes which was pnoduced at one of the concerts of the Royal Conservatoire of Liege with grand orchestra. I was only eight years old when I left my home in Nandrin to begin my studies at Liege. But it was not as if I had gone out into the world alone. The Tourne- mont family with whom I went to board — a good kindly people — were, as I have said, friends of my father's, and it was there the stage coach stopped in going to and from Nandrin. My father came very often to the ex- change in Liege. I saw him once or twice a week, and often went home to visit my mother. The inn was on the quai des Pecheurs, which was burned by the German soldiery in their passage through Liege in 19 14. The Germans claimed that the people there shot at the soldiers, but it has been proven that it was not true. I often used to watch the men who were fishing from the quays. This was in one of the most ancient parts of the city near the oldest bridge, the Pont des Arches. There were two bridges by which I could cross the Meuse in going. from where I was living to the Conservatoire. 12 MY MEMORIES The nearest was the Pont Neuf. But it was a toll bridge and one had to pay three centimes, either way, going and returning, thus costing six centimes. I thought the matter over carefully and decided to expend this amount to my personal advantage, instead of enriching the town of Liege to that extent. I walked about a half mile down the river to a bridge which was free of toll. An old lady cake vendor was established near this bridge, with her little stove for frying the cakes. They cost just three centimes each, and I regaled myself. And as I embraced the opportunity every time I crossed to the other side of the city, both the old lady and myself were mutually gratified. Since that time a third bridge has been con- structed — it is called " Passerelle," and is only for pedestrians. I never had time to play, like most boys, as I had to learn my lessons for the Conservatoire, as well as for school, and thus I was at work most of the time. Later on, when I studied harmony, quartette, and violin, I had to get up very early in the morning and work at my music before going to school. In order to provide very young pupils with some edu- cational advantages, there are in Liege night classes for instruction, outside of music, so that the daytime could be devoted entirely to musical study. In these classes four subjects were laid down as essentials: — the French language, grammar, literature, history, geography and mathematics. I, however, attended the Royal Athenee, or day school which is like the American high school, where I followed only three branches: — French, mathe- matics and history, each session being of one hour and OVIDE MUSIN 14 Years of Age FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC 13 each with a different professor, as well as the Conserva- toire. This arrangement of night classes for artist stu- dents was a fine thing, for in that way a boy could get a general education and his musical education at the same time. In the United States, however, no such provision is made for artist students. Schooling must come first, and music afterward, as best it can — which explains why there are not as many American artists as there might be. Our Belgian Government, and also that of France appreciates the fact that to become an artist one must have the chance to specialize in the study of music and his chosen instrument. Altogether, I spent nine years at Liege. During that time I won the second prize — that was in 1867 — in 1868 the first prize, and in 1869 the gold medal for violin and quartette playing. It was in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war. that Henri Leonard, the celebrated violin virtuoso and peda- gogue, left Paris and came to Liege, where he was ap- pointed head of the violin and quartette department of the Royal Conservatory. During this time a public audi- tion was arranged for Cesar Thomson and myself. I think the program will be interesting. Cesar Thomson played. The whole Concerto of Mendelssohn, Prelude and Fugue in G minor, by Bach, for violin alone, Seventh Quartette in F major by Beethoven. I played : — The whole Concerto of Beethoven the Chaconne of Bach, and the Quartette of Beethoven, number ten (called the Harp Quartette). 14 MY MEMORIES The seance began at two and lasted until nearly six; but the Salle d'Emulation was crowded from the be- ginning to the end. I have just heard that the Salle d'Emulation was burned by the Germans in 19 14. It was in that Concert Hall that Chopin, Thalberg, Tausig, Liszt, Rubinstein, Vieuxtemps, Leonard, Joachim, Wieni- awski, and hundreds of others have appeared in Liege, and where I gave my farewell concert in 1872. Among the students who entered the Conservatoire about the same time as myself were boys who are now very well known. I have mentioned Cesar Thomson. Then there were Martin Marsick, Eugene Ysaye and Guillaume Remy (now of the Conservatoire Nationale at Paris) and some others even more talented — Simon Mauhin, for instance, and Lechat, considered a genius. Lechat died, however, before graduation, from typhus fever. His remarkable genius was admired by the whole Conservatoire. Martin Marsick, the great violinist virtuoso, who has traveled as soloist in America, and all over the world, was the second of a family of seventeen children. The father was a cobbler. The mother went to private houses, as a scrub woman, picking up a franc here and there when she could. The oldest of the family was Louis Marsick, just as talented as his brother. But, in order to bring home bread as soon as possible, he played his violin on every occasion, — at balls, receptions, and in orchestras. I must say that he was a good son and brother, for he devoted himself to the education of Martin and the comfort of the family. They lived in a small house, in Rue Vertbois, near the Church of St. Jacques, FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC 15 one of the oldest churches in the town of Liege (Thirteenth Century). I could not see where that immense family could all sleep, in so small a house. They were divided into two sections for their meals. When the first " bunch " had finished, the second came in, for the room downstairs was not big enough to accommodate them all. It was a prob- lem that I could not solve, that on such a small income, such a large family could be brought up, and all kept in good health. Martin, the virtuoso, had a beautiful voice. He was the soprano soloist of the Cathedral of St. Paul, and other churches, whenever they could use his services. For a Mass he received three francs (about sixty cents). So, at fifteen years of age, he was making good money and, like his brother, Louis, bringing home all his earn- ings. But to bring up a family of seventeen children, and that means nineteen to feed — this still remains a problem to me ! Eugene Ysaye Ysaye and I were at the Conservatoire together when we were boys, and we had our second prize for violin the same year — 1867 — at the Salle Gretry, Liege. I lost two bottles of champagne because I bet it was in 1866. But in 1866 we had an epidemic of the cholera in the town from which many people died. The Conservatoire decided not to have any contest that year. This fact I had forgotten, but like an American, I paid my bet, and enjoyed the champagne just the same. Ysaye's father was a good musician, and had been for many years the conductor of the orchestra of the Pavilion i6 MY MEMORIES de Flore, a vaudeville place in Liege, where the students of the university and the people of the town would come and enjoy a comic song, and an operetta. Eugene and I were at the same stand, and this was my first experience in an orchestra. I was fifteen years old. The brother of Ysaye, Theo Ysaye, was also a very gifted pianist, and composed several works of distinction. Cesar Thomson His father was a cobbler, in the Rue des Recollets, Liege. Cesar had a sister, and also a brother who was a hunchback. Besides being a cobbler, the father played double bass at dances, and made good too, every Sunday with his instrument. Thomson's brother, the hunchback, was a good musician, and very witty. I wish I had a penny for every joke of his that made one laugh until he cried. Cesar Thomson, too, was a queer fellow, with ideas of his own. This will illustrate him at a glance. Once, going in a boat with friends, for a pleasure trip on the river Meuse, he said to them, " I can walk on the water as Jesus did." He tried it, but took a bath, and he was lucky that his friends were able to get him into the boat again. He left Liege to be concertmeister to Baron Derevis, who had an orchestra in his castle on Lake Lugano. (This castle has been purchased by Louis Lombard of Utica, New York.) It was there that he met the young Italian lady who became his wife. Baron Derevis was very wealthy, and a lover of music. He had his own orchestra in winter at his castle near Nice, as well as at Lugano in the summer. Since we were at FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC 17 the Conservatoire at Liege, in the class of Leonard, the next time I met him was at Nice, in 1876. I was then a member of the Jean Faure Concert Company. He intro- duced me to his wife, a very pretty lady, and I compli- mented him on his choice. But I found that he had some very queer ideas. For instance, he would say that " France ought to have less heart, and more wisdom." And that " Corneille was a vile courtier of Louis XIV," and so on. I cannot re- member all, but he had been reading Schopenhauer, and endorsed his doctrines. RouMA, THE Remarkable Violinist Rouma, son of Auguste Rouma of Liege, that revered teacher of Henri Leonard, to whom Leonard dedicates his celebrated method for the violin, was one of the most interesting musicians of Liege : from the physiological point of view, as well as in artistic appearance ; for he seemed to be Richard Wagner " redivivus." Small of stature, the head large — the mask both in profile and full view being the counterpart of Wagner. Rouma's home, where he was born and where his father lived be- fore him, was in a house in that part of the town nowadays called " Vieux Liege," with solid oak floors, beams, etc., quaintly interesting. Here the father had amassed a wonderful collection of old manuscripts and musical instruments. He was a charming old gentleman, and I often visited him to hear him converse about old days, and see his collections. He lived in the Rue Vertbois, near the ancient thirteenth century Church of St. Jacques. i8 MY MEMORIES It is well that the old man did not live to see his dear old city bombarded by the Germans. Leonard's dedication of his didactic works to Rouma's father, Auguste Rouma, which I give below, shows the delightful sympathy which existed in most cases, between master and pupil, in my time, and long before. He says in his dedication (translated literally), " To my master and friend, Auguste Rouma, of Liege. Receive, my dear master, this affectionate remembrance from your pupil. In writing these studies for young violinists, I have often thought of the happy days of my childhood, and of the paternal counsels thou gavest me, together with the musical instruction. This work con- tains the fruit of thine experience, united to mine. May it attain the object I proposed in writing it. " (Signed) H. Leonard." In 1872, the Franco-Prussian war being ended, Leonard resigned his position at the Conservatoire, and went back to Paris. He had advised my father to allow me to continue my musical career. To that end it was decided that I should go to Paris, and in October of that year I gave a farewell concert under the patronage of the Governor, and of the Mayor of Liege. This concert was a great success financially, and I cleared over two thou- sand francs. It was thus that I was launched on my artistic life. But it was while I was still at Liege that I made my first appearance in public — outside of the public exami- nation of the Royal Conservatoire. I remember distinctly I was about twelve years old. FIRST CONSCIOUSNESS OF MUSIC 19 The concert was given by the Fanfare of Gemeppes, a town quite near Seraing, where the celebrated John Cockerill Steel Works are located. I played on that occa- sion the Seventh Concerto of de Beriot. About forty years after I met on the street in Liege the Director of that Fanfare which still existed. I told him that in view of his being the first musical society to introduce me in public, any time he might require my service, I would be at his disposal. He took my offer up at once and ar- ranged a concert for the benefit of the society. The hall could not contain the crowd, and needless to say every- thing was en fete. At my first appearance I do not recall if I was nervous, but later on in life I found that every artist suffers more or less from nervousness in playing in public. While I was still at the Conservatoire, I was called on sometimes to play second violin in a quartette headed by a wealthy amateur of Liege. And the mania of this amateur was the tuning of his violin. He usually spent a quarter of an hour, with someone to give him A about a hundred times. He played pretty well, but for one reason or another, or for none at all, he would stop the playing, and say — " Let us tune up." I remember that once in an adagio of a Haydn Quartette, which was going very well indeed, he stopped the piece, broke us all off short, saying, " We are not in tune." Then every one had to take the A again, and thus it went. This happened a long time ago, but it was so striking a char- acteristic that I have a vivid recollection of the difficulty we experienced in getting through even one movement, tiot to mention a whole work. CHAPTER III AN EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND In the summer of 1870, Cesar Thomson and I were playing in the orchestra at Ostend (always a fashionable watering place), and among the pranks we young fellows played was the following. Mr. Bidlot, the engineer of the S. S. Marie Antoinette, plying between Ostend and Dover, and a Liegeois, was a friend of ours, and to our great pleasure, he invited us to make the trip over and back free of cost. We decided that we v^ould avail ourselves of the occasion to pretend that we were street musicians, and play to people congregated in the parks, and in imagination we could see the astonishment they would manifest at discovering violin artists in disguise. A great joke we promised ourselves. The program was arranged — we would begin with the duet for two violins by Leonard, then while Thomson passed the hat, I would play the Arpeggios, for the violin alone, by Prume. Thomson would then take my place and play something whilst I passed the hat and so on. As we paid for our rooms at the Hotel de I'Univers at Ostend by the month, we ventured to ask the landlady to put us up a basket of sandwiches as we expected to be gone all day. I found an old suit of clothes, and an old hat and a pair of shoes with holes in them, and Thomson arrayed himself in equally disreputable habiliments, and when we 20 AN EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 21 boarded the steamer our friend the engineer scarcely recognized us. We got to Dover about three in the afternoon, and at once took our violins out of their boxes and started from the pier for the town. Not far from the pier is a large square and we started playing there. Some boys gathered around us and a few people stopped to listen, but doubt- less being in a hurry they did not stay to hear the end of the duet. This was disheartening and I told Thomson that open air concerts did not seem to be popular in Eng- land ; but Thomson, still undaunted, proposed that we try some of the cafes ; thinking these in Dover would be like ours in Belgium with tables and chairs and so on. Farther on we saw a place which we took to be a cafe, but when we got inside there was only a long bar with every man standing as he drank, with a lot of girls behind the bar talking to the men and serving their drinks. Once more we started our famous duet, but the first few notes were interrupted with " No, No, no music here, gow auwai, gow auwai," bawled out by a big voice somewhere in the rear of the bar. This meant that we were unmistakably put out of the place. What a blow to our visions of an entranced populace gratefully pouring guineas, shillings, and six- pences, even the humble tuppence by handfuls into the cap held out by Thomson who would bow gracefully and smiling sweetly say, *' Merci, Mesdames, merci, Mes- sieurs, merci, merci." Our joke was most decidedly a boomerang, which hit us in a very tender spot, i.e., our artistic amour-propre. Thoroughly disgusted as to the artistic discernment of the British (when taken unawares, 22 MY MEMORIES at any rate), we went back to the boat and told Mr. Bidlot of our experience. We, figuratively speaking, would gladly have shaken the dust of Dover from our feet (which had literally sifted into our shoes through the holes) had it not been impossible to leave immediately. The hour for the return trip was not until eleven at night, and to pass the time our friend the engineer took us to see a music hall. The orchestra at this place consisted of four pieces, one piano, one double bass, one clarinet and a fiddle. Behind the orchestra, seated on a stool high above the heads of the public was a man with a hammer in his hand. His business was to announce the numbers as there were no programs, to act as prompter, and to assist in the applause. He would begin by making a noise with his hammer to attract attention and then say, " Mr. (or Miss) So and So will appear next and sing such and such a song." These were invariably followed by a dance. It was a succession of songs and dances. If the artist or the selection was a favorite with the public, the public would applaud by stamping with their feet, the man with the hammer joining in with his tattoo. One announcement was, " Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Almonte will appear next and sing ' White Wings,' " when a voice from the crowd growled out, " She can't sing," — but the man with the hammer replied, " Never- theless, Miss Almonte will sing * White Wings.' " This was all so strange that it made a very weird impression on us boys from Liege. To find everything so different in a country just across the channel, and such weird music too. We were not sorry to get back to our boat AN EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 23 which had waited for passengers coming from London, on their way across the channel, to catch the express at Ostend for Brussels, Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, and perhaps on to Berlin, or to spend some time in Ostend, celebrated for its beaches, display of fashions, and the Ktirsaal, with its orchestral concerts. The nice basket of sandwiches given us by the landlady of the Hotel de I'Univers had not been touched, but on the boat we had eaten a real fried sole — a celebrated English dish. That was another thing to be remem- bered. Neither Thomson nor I did much talking, when we got back to the shelter of our hotel, but I am certain his private reflections were similar to my own, i.e., that we were not built to be street players. CHAPTER IV ANECDOTES At one time I remember hearing of four amateurs who were playing a new quartette for the first time, and they did not always go together. In the first part, the 'cellist, seeing the viola in trouble, whispered, " At the pause," and the viola said, " Already ? " At the repeat the same trouble occurred again, and the 'cellist whispered again, " At the pause." But this time the viola answered " only ? " I heard the story. I am glad I did not hear the quartette. I recall an experience of my youthful days which is amusing. The students have not much money to spend, and if we could occasionally pick up a little from playing at dances we felt very rich. So on one occasion a concert was to be given at a village six miles from Liege, to be followed by a ball. Cesar Thomson and I played in the small orchestra for the dancing. We left Liege on foot, as there was no communication with the village in those days, and walked for two hours to arrive in time for the concert, which began at five. It was on the 25th of October. The program began with a few concerted pieces and songs. This was interspersed by a ball. The long benches used for the concert were withdrawn and the people began dancing. The proprietor sent us ham and bread and butter with light beer at three different times. The ball ended about four o'clock in the morn- 24 ANECDOTES 25 ing, and we had more supper of bread and light beer. Then with the compensation of four francs, each one of the orchestra walked back to town in the pitch dark night, but as we came into the big square of Liege we felt that the whole town belonged to us each and every one individually, so rich we felt with those four francs (about eighty cents of American money). The annual concours or contests at the Conservatoire were a matter of intense interest to the people in town and the province, because the contests were judged by a jury composed of the Director as president, and four, six or eight members (according to the importance of the contest) taken from other Conservatoires — and as every pupil had his own coterie of friends and admirers, the rivalry was high and the excitement was great when the verdict of the jury was announced. The contests took place in the large concert hall of the Conservatoire, and after the seance for violin, which lasted two days with two sessions each day at 8 a. m. and 2 p. m. The first consisted of studies (at least three in number) for each pupil, and the afternoon session was for the sonatas of old masters, at least three in number ; selection to be made by the jury, in all of which the pupil must be prepared to play from memory. The first session of the second day was devoted to hearing the pupils in a piece of their own selection, and the second session in the after- noon consisted of the playing of an imposed work, either one or more parts, of a classic concerto, selected by the Director; and when you consider that there were usually between thirty and forty contestants, you can imagine the repertory which was played by the pupils, and had to be 26 MY MEMORIES listened to by the jury. At the end of the concours the jury retired to a private room and voted by secret ballot as to the degree of merits, distinction, prizes, etc., which they conferred upon each pupil. Their decisions were inscribed and posted in the large corridor of the Conservatoire where the crowd of pupils and people were waiting with the greatest anxiety. This describes an ordinary contest called " Concours Or- dinaire." For the Concours Superieur, or highest con- test, when gold and silver medals are awarded the com- petitors, each one must have a repertory of fifteen pieces, composed of four concertos and the balance of classic pieces and Morceaux de Genre, all played from memory, and from which the jury might make its several selec- tions. In these Concours Superieurs the number of pupils was very small, but the public interest was im- mense. For the contest the student had to know not only his repertory for his instrument, but also orchestration, transposition and the history of music, in which he was examined by the different members of the jury. The concert hall of the Conservatoire of Liege would seat two thousand people, and was in the style of the Opera Comique of Paris, with Royal boxes, etc., and a magnifi- cent organ at the rear of the stage. This stage could hold six hundred of an orchestra and chorus. This is the program of Louis Siegel who has toured in America, and who received the Gold Medal in my class in Liege, ANECDOTES 27 SiEGEL Program Concertos — i. Beethoven. 2. Mendelssohn. 3. Max Bruch-G minor. 4. Wieniawski. Sonatas — i. Chaconne, Bach, 2. Prelude and Fugue, Bach. 3. Sonata in E minor, Bach. Pieces of Virtuosity — i. Rondo Capricioso, Saint- Saens. 2. Caprice de Concert No. 2, Ovide Musin. 3. Airs Russes, Wieniawski. 4. Polonaise No. 2, Wieni- awski. 5. Romance in B minor, Paganini. 6. Romance in G major, Beethoven. Selection by the pupil — Concerto No. i in E major, Vieuxtemps, with orchestral accompaniment. Every one of the above numbers had to be played from memory, and the jury would choose certain movements and fragments from these works in order to judge of the pupil's command of the different styles, technical finish, interpretative powers, and special qualifications for the career of an artist and musician. The work of the pupils in preparation for such a contest was tremendous, and they usually grew thin at it. The interest and rivalry which existed among the professors was equally great. For my part, I am proud to recall that at the age of fifteen I carried off the Gold Medal " with greatest distinction " (this is the official term given for the Degree aw^arded). At the annual contest of the Concours Superior of the Conservatory, the Jury is augmented from five to seven members, and the house is simply jammed with interested auditors. I hope some time to have complete data as to the careers of my many prize pupils formed during my eleven years' service as Pro- 28 MY MEMORIES fessor of the Superior classe at the Royal Conservatoire of Liege. OSTEND In 1 87 1 I became Concertmaster of the Symphony con- certs in Ostend which were given in the old Kursaal, which has since been moved to Dunkirk, where, strange as it may seem, I appeared in it again in 1888. The old Kursaal at Ostend has been replaced by a magnificent new hall which will seat about ten thousand people; but the classic concerts at Ostend before the war of 19 14 were given in a smaller hall which seats about a thousand and where I appeared in the summer of 1902, playing the Damrosch " Concertstuck " in four parts (by Dr. Leopold Damrosch), my Caprice No. 2 and other pieces. The orchestra was the largest of any summer resort in the world and was conducted by Louis Rinskopf. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 did not put a stop to the concerts at Ostend, which was then also a fashionable watering-place and except for a few more modern hotels was the same as to-day. The work was light in those days as we had only five concerts a week of one hour and a half, the Kursaal being used on Sundays and Thursdays for military band con- certs. Singelee, who had composed a lot of music for violin and was formerly conductor of the Opera House la Monnaie, in Bruxelles, was the Conductor of these or- c'hestral concerts. Besides playing as soloist I had also to play with the orchestra, and I had a Quartette which gave seances every Thursday afternoon, of which Arthur Guide was second ANECDOTES 29 violin, Kurt was the viola, and Mariotti the 'cellist, I playing first violin. Eugene Ysaye was one of the first violins of the orchestra and sat at the same stand with myself. Arthur Guide, already a prominent violinist, asked me one day if I would give him a chance to appear, and I said : " Certainly, with the greatest pleasure ; " and it was arranged that he should appear as soloist in my place on a Wednesday, two weeks later; but the day before the date when Daveluy came to get the program, Guide was so nervous that he said he Would have to give it up. I said, " Very well, I will play ; but I should like to play the ' Airs Russes ' (Russian Airs by Wieniawski) but I have not the orchestration." Joseph Duysens, a member of the Symphony, and one of the boys from Liege, overheard the conversation and said, " That is not such a very long job, I think I could do it." That was at 9 p. M. on Tuesday, and at 9 a. m. the next day the or- chestration was finished and the parts on the stands for the rehearsal, three each for first and second violin, one viola, 'cello, double bass, and for all the wind instruments, etc., etc. Duysens had sat up all night to finish the score on time for the rehearsal. To say that I was delighted hardly expresses my feeling on the subject. An incident connected with this concert I shall never forget if I were to live a thousand years. After the con- cert was over Singelee, the Director, came to me and said : " Musin, here is some one whom you will be glad to meet; let me present you to M. Henri Wieniawski." Imagine my state of mind, for to us young violin artists Wieniawski was a god. I said that I was glad I had not 30 MY MEMORIES known of his presence before I played his beautiful work; for I would surely have been very nervous ; but the great celebrity complimented me on my playing of his com- position, and took me with him to his hotel. There was a long table in the middle of his large room and arm in arm we walked around and around it talking music and violin for hours. He also told me of his leaving St. Petersburg on account of his fight concerning Mario, the tenor of the Imperial Opera at St. Petersburg. Wieniawski told me that Vianesi, the Conductor of the Imperial Opera, did not like Mario, and Wieniawski, who was Concertmaster of the Opera orchestra and a great admirer of Mario, threw some flowers to Mario, which so enraged Vianesi that words finally led to blows. The Emperor heard of the encounter and Wieniawski had to leave the country within forty-eight hours. The Opera house in St. Petersburg at that time was considered as belonging to the Emperor, and any one causing a dis- turbance had to be punished. Wieniawski went home and told his wife to pack up what she could and to take the children and leave with him the next day. He after- ward came to America for a tour with Anton Rubinstein, Wm. Steinway backing the venture, and on his return to Europe he accepted the position of Professor of Violin at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels in the place of Henri Vieuxtemps, who went to Paris. I must not omit to mention the fact that Wieniawski asked me who had made the orchestration for his Russian Airs which I had played. I told him it was young Duysens and he said it was very good indeed. At that memorable meeting I had the hardihood to show this great Master my Ca- ANECDOTES 31 price de Concert No. i and played it for him, and it turned out that my composition had the great honor of being played by this master on his concert tour, the last which he made in Europe. Vianesi with whom Wieniawski had that quarrel came to New York in 1884 as first Conductor of the Metro- politan Opera under Henry Abbey's directorship. The second Conductor at that time was Campanini, afterward Director of the Chicago Opera. As I have already mentioned, my Quartet gave cham- ber concerts at Ostend every Thursday in the Concert Hall, and all four of us were living in the Hotel de I'Uni- vers. Besides our own rooms the landlady had given us a nice large room on the first floor for our rehearsals but on the condition that if any one should rent it we should have to take our music stands out and go some- where else for rehearsals. We accepted this arrange- ment with pleasure and everything was all right until one day an old man and his wife rented the room. When we were informed of the fact we were in despair for we did not know where to go. Having related our mis- fortune to one of our friends more clever than we were, he said, " I know a way by which you could get your room back again but for that you will have to follow my instructions which will be given to you to-night, at half past eleven, at the hotel." This was the time when the hotel was closed for the night and everything quiet. We were all very much excited and tried to imagine what our friend could have in mind but we were altogether in the dark about his plan. After the Kursaal Concert, which was finished at nine o'clock, we went home to the 32 MY MEMORIES hotel and waited for our friend to come. At about ten o'clock the old gentleman and his wife retired, and by eleven the lights of the hotel were all out; and then came our friend. In a very mysterious way we all went up stairs and at last our friend gave us the clew. " Come out into the halls," he said; " run up and down stairs and yell fire! fire! at the top of your lungs. Keep it up until the whole house is in an uproar." Thereupon we did as he directed and immediately there was the greatest ex- citement, the landlady, the old man and his wife and every one else rushing about to know where the fire was. Meantime we had sneaked quietly up to our rooms. The old man left the next day disgusted, and half an hour afterwards our music stands were back in the nice big room on the first floor. Trio Humoristic Leonard had composed a trio for three violins with orchestral accompaniment called " Trio Humoristique " which Ysaye, Guide and I played several times at the Kursaal at Ostend with great success. Leonard had arranged this composition from a Spanish theme which told the story of a maiden, her lover and the severe father. Ysaye took the violin part which represented the maiden, Guide that of the lover and I that of the severe father. I came across a faded photograph the other day taken of us three after one of those performances. Ysaye had evidently outgrown his clothes for the legs of his trousers are much too short and tight, and the sleeves of his coat allow his hands to protrude conspicuously, while my own •/,/>^,' .;. '?^no X'i'.mcristiquc de C£cvnar(l par JUL J/vsi7}y Jsoi/e et SvitU. ANECDOTES 33 coat was far too large for me and my trousers too long. Guide's appearance is much more sleek in this old photo- graph ; but this may be accounted for by the fact that his father was a tailor. Clothes did not count for much with us young fellows at that time, consumed as we were with artistic ardor and ambition; but I recall one of those days at Ostend when I felt very keenly in more senses than one, a mis- hap which occurred to a brand new pair of pearl gray trousers in which I was arrayed. It happened that we had gone to a restaurant for supper, when a violent thunderstorm came up. During a lull we ventured out to make a run for home, when a thunderbolt struck just near us and we were all thrown to the ground and into mud-puddles to boot. We were all stunned for some moments and one of our party lost his eyesight for several hours, and my new trousers were ruined. From that day to this I am decidedly nervous when a thunderstorm comes up. Speaking of thunderstorms reminds me of an experience I had while on a visit to the Adirondack region. I never went through such a period of nervous- ness, or witnessed such perpetual displays of lightning, or heard such constant growling and explosions of thunder; day and night and night and day, just one storm after another for several weeks. At night I would nearly suffocate, buried under the bedclothes, with hardly a wink of sleep to be had. By day it was to run and close the windows, pull down the shades and light the gas. One time we had been trout fishing and hunting — my nephew and I — and we had our rifles along which lay in the bottom of the open wagon in which we were 34 MY MEMORIES riding on our way home long after dark. Of course it began to rain in torrents, with lightning flashing about us with crashes of thunder. Under such conditions, and considering the proximity of the gun barrels as con- ductors, we thought it wise to seek shelter in a farm house which we saw by the road. The driver stopped the horse, and we, seizing the robes, held them over our heads and made a dash for the door of the cottage. For a moment or two there was no response to our knocking, but finally a woman cautiously opened the door a bit and peered out but quickly shut it again in our faces. After considerable explanations and pleading, through the crack of the door, we were allowed to enter ; but the woman had two men folks with her. It seemed that our appearance was such as to frighten the woman, who thought we were vagrants, robbers or possibly murderers. On finding us really harmless and unarmed they treated us hospitably and allowed us to remain until the storm had passed. Although I had excellent sport and made many charm- ing friends up in Malone, and at Paul Smith's and at other resorts in the mountains and on the beautiful lakes, the thunderstorms which prevail thereabouts have since deterred me from making further trips there. To return to the subject of the " Trio Humoristique," I should mention that Arthur Guide's brother was formerly Director of La Monnaie, the Royal Grand Opera at Brussels. Guide was a warm friend of mine, and whenever we met we would have many a laugh together over the boyish pranks of our young days. The ANECDOTES 35 last time I met him was in Paris, about 1902, when I was there for a Recital which I gave at the Salle Erard. When I First Heard Vieuxtemps The first time I heard Vieuxtemps, the great Belgian violinist, was in 1865, at a Concert in Liege, at the Theater Royal. The Concert was advertised by the manager Ullman, as the " Concert of the Ten Celebrities," and the artists were: Carlotta Patti, coloratura soprano (sister of Adelina Patti); Marie Cabel, soprano; Alboni, con- tralto; Evrardi, baritone; Jael, pianist; Vieuxtemps, vio- linist; Jacquart, 'cellist; Herman Leon, flutist; Bottesini, contra-bassist ; Maton, accompanist. Ullman, the Man- ager, did everything on a big scale and managed the greatest artists, throughout Europe, for many years, also in the United States. My father came expressly from Nandrin to Liege to take me and to hear this great concert himself. The Theater was packed, the prices for seats and boxes were tripled, and many people were turned away. Although I was only eleven years old at the time, I remember distinctly two pieces of that program. One was the " Kreutzer Sonata," played by Jael and Vieux- temps, and Vieuxtemps' " Ballade and Polonaise," played by the composer himself. I also remember the furore created by Bottesini, with his playing of the double bass. That was the first time that a double bassist had ever appeared as a soloist at a concert in Liege. The second time I heard Vieuxtemps was two years 36 MY MEMORIES later at one of the concerts of the Royal Conservatory, given at the Salle d'Emulation. I played second violin in the Orchestra. Vieuxtemps played his Fourth Concerto, and his " Fan- tasie Appassionata." Shortly after this, Vieuxtemps be- came paralyzed in one arm and could no longer play, and several years later, when I went to Paris, I used to go to see him at his house in the Rue Blanche, situated in that quarter of Paris called Notre Dame de Lorette. I used to play his compositions, for him to hear, and offer remarks ; but he was unable to illustrate by playing, and Ysaye and other violinists younger than myself never heard Vieuxtemps play; he taught only by remarks. CHAPTER V MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS My dear mother had prepared a basket for me full of good things, enough for a long journey. This she gave me before I started. But, as the train for P'aris left at 2 A. M. and arrived at 8 a. m., six hours, I did not open it. Still I clung to the basket, carrying it to my lodg- ings where, after several days, its existence was made manifest by the odor it exhaled. On my journey I scarcely slept. I was too excited and full of joyful anticipation at the thought of going to Paris, the great metropolis and unique center of all that is artistic. Leonard had left Liege a week before, and as soon as I had located my lodgings, I went, of course, to see him. He was then living in an apartment on the sixth floor of a house in the Rue Chauchat, near the center of Paris and near the Rue Lafayette. Leonard arranged to move into another apartment in the entresol. Rue Condorcet, where he had nice large rooms in which he entertained and had musical evenings every Saturday. There I was thrown with all the great artists, musicians, painters, sculptors, men of letters, etc. Pauline Viardot-Garcia used to come there frequently. She was a cousin of Mrs. Leonard, whose maiden name was Antonia di Mendi. The latter was also a prima 37 38 MY MEMORIES donna who traveled for many years with her husband in his concert tours in Europe. Saint-Saens had just resigned as organist of the Made- leine and had been succeeded by Theodore Dubois. Cesar Franck was organist of St. Clotilde, Raoul Pugno of St. Eugene and Vidor of St. Sulpice. Halansier was director of the Grand Opera, Rue le Peletier, which was burnt in 1874, and Carvalho, director of the Opera Comique, burned in 1887. An extraordinary coincidence was that Gabriel Faure, who succeeded Theodore Dubois as organist at the Made- leine, succeeded him also as director of the Conservatoire. When I arrived in Paris, the Commune had just been beaten by the government under the Presidency of Thiers. In stature Thiers was a small man, but in in- tellect he was a giant. He wrote perhaps the most inter- esting history of France. Many signs of the destruc- tion wrought by the Paris Commune were visible. The palace of the Tuileries was in ruins, largely caused by fire which was fed by the firemen, who used petroleum in the fire extinguishers instead of water. In the upper part of P^ris, called La Villette, just near the Gare du Nord, the houses were riddled with bullets, etc., although the great fighting took place between Paris and Ver- sailles. In Paris itself life was quite normal, the only per- ceptible difference being the tax on matches, of which we were given but tzuo with which to light our candles to go to bed, and generally neither of them would strike. We soon learned to lay in a stock to assure a light with which to find our way to bed. The matches were so bad MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 39 we used to make bets, and the first one who would have a match which would strike would win the bet. Even up to 1908 the French people suffered from the restric- tion of matches. A few stray boxes overlooked by cus- toms officials would find a welcome from visitors in France. Tobacco, of course, was also taxed. It was a government monopoly yielding a large revenue. My first lodging in Paris was in the Rue Buffault. I had a pretty good room for fifty francs a month. The lessee of the house was a wine merchant who sold his wine in the store while he rented the rooms above. He used to pass most of his time at a cafe nearby playing cards and dominoes, and his daughter was left in charge of the business. I found her a very pretty and interest- ing young lady, and occasionally, while resting from my violin practice, I would go down for a few minutes' chat. The father thought it would be a good scheme to arrange a marriage between us, and one day he said to me : " M. Musin, you are a musician. I myself have been a musician. I used to play the bassoon; but there is nothing in it. Now," he said, " I see that you are not in- different to my daughter and she likes you. Why don't you marry her and we will be associated together in busi- ness But as I was elsewhere engaged that week, I had to leave the house and was living in another quarter of Paris, so that promising romance did not materialize. During the first weeks of my visit to Paris, from October to the middle of November, it rained every day. I had to cross the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre in go- ing out of the Rue Buffault in order to go to the great 40 MY MEMORIES boulevards where, among the crowds of people, I was surprised to see so many Parisian ladies wearing white stockings. Rather long skirts were then in fashion, and to avoid the mud of the streets, they lifted them quite high; thus this extraordinary display of white hose. It was a decided contrast to the mode in Belgium. But here in New York, with the fashions of to-day, there would have been no need for lifting the skirts, for they are short enough to withstand any and all disagreeble effects of the elements, except, perhaps, the cold ! At that time I used to go, quite often, to a little res- taurant on the Rue d'Aboukir and I was surprised to hear so many people talking German. They all claimed to be Alsatian or Swiss, but in reality they were genuine Germans. This was a recognized fact, for many of them were in Paris before the war of 1870. Then they went back to Germany to fight the French; and as soon as peace was proclaimed, they came back at once to resume their positions in German firms. But to the French peo- ple they declared themselves to be Alsatians, where the German language is used a great deal, and as before the war Alsace was French, they had the freedom of France. This subterfuge can never be employed again now that Alsace-Lorraine is once more French territory. It is a fact that, no matter how long a German is in France, he will always retain the German accent in his speech, so that any one with a little experience can detect the German. The same with the Englishman. It is only with the Russian and the Pole that one cannot readily dis- tinguish the difference from a real Frenchman when they speak French. MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 41 The paramount importance of the violin and the lesser importance of the viola are demonstrated in the fact that during my time of study at the Conservatoire of Liege there was no professor of the viola in the institution, for those who took up that instrument were usually those violinists who had not the requisite aptitude for carry- ing violin playing to the highest plane and, therefore, in the class for the quartette at Liege, the viola part was sometimes played by the first violin and sometimes by the second. In fact, the quartette was played by three violinists and the 'cellist, the violinists taking turns play- ing the viola part; and this is how I happened to learn to play the viola. (Now every conservatory has a viola professor.) I had been in Paris, in 1872, scarcely one week when I had my first engagement, not as a violinist but as a viola player. Leonard was asked to find a violist to play quartette with some amateurs out at Crenelle (just at the terminus of the omnibus line, Porte St. Martin Crenelle), and he advised me to go; but as I had no viola Leonard loaned me his, which by the way was a genuine Amati. I was to receive thirty francs (about six dollars) for every evening which was not at all bad in those days for a starter, or " pot boiler," as the painters say. The first violin, 'cellist and pianist were all amateurs and the piece chosen was the C minor quartette of Beethoven. There was first of all a heated discussion between the pianist and violinist as to which should give the signal to start, but in the end it was decided that the first violinist would count 1-2-3-4. Everything went well so far as 3, but 4 was more the 42 MY MEMORIES shriek of a wild animal than anything else, owing to his excitement, I suppose. This was more than I could stand and I was nearly bursting with suppressed laughter. The quartette was so bad that I bit my lips trying to keep a sober face, and I made a very bad impression. Leonard told me afterwards that they said they would have to have some one else and so I lost my job. Leonard asked me what I did to them anyway and when I de- scribed the performance, he burst out laughing too and said it is a curious fact that while it is easy enough to play an instrument and sing at the same time, to play and talk at the same time is very difficult, as one loses control of the speaking voice; which accounts for the wild shriek of the man counting four. When I arrived in Paris in 1872, the leading manager was Giacomelli, an Italian Jew. He had also been the manager for the series of Wagner operas at Brussels, many years before, an enterprise which was a financial failure and in which Franz Liszt, who was a great friend and admirer of Wagner, dropped a lot of money. Wag- ner at that epoch was not appreciated in Brussels any more than in Paris when Tannhauser was given for the first time in 1861, nor in Germany either for that matter. To come back to Giacomelli. He had the highest repu- tation as a manager for concerts in Paris and most of the leading societies in the Provinces wrote to him when in search of the best musical artists in Paris — even stars of the grand opera and opera comique. Giacomelli at that time engaged Leonard for a series of concerts in the West, to begin at Chartres, Angers, Nantes, etc. Before the beginning of the tour, Leonard was seized with an MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 43 attack of gout and could not walk. He told Giacomelli that a young Belgian violinist who was in Paris would be worth a hearing and the next day was fixed for hearing me play. I was informed by a note from Leonard that I should be at his studio with my violin at ten o'clock in the morning. I played the andante and finale of the Fourth Concerto of Leonard and the Hungarian airs by Ernst. After the audition, I was accepted. In this concert tour, Leonard had not been billed as the only attraction, for Marie Marimon, the great canta- trice, and Jael, the celebrated pianist, and Maton, the king of accompanists, were members of the company. But the name of Leonard stayed on the bill, although an an- nouncement was made on the night of the concert, tell- ing of his illness and announcing his substitute. I felt by the cold reception that I was not wanted, but this did not affect my playing because my will prevailed over my nervousness and I did my utmost to play well. And, I must say, the public was very demonstrative after my pieces. One year later, Henri Wieniawski, whom I have always considered to this day (1919) the great genius of the violin, was engaged by Giacomelli for a series of concerts in the North of France, to begin at Lille, then Dunkirk, Arras, etc. Wieniawski was suddenly taken ill at the Hotel Vendome and had to undergo an operation. At that time I had a small apartment. Rue Cadet, No. 20. The bell rang at six o'clock one morning and when I opened the door whom should I see but Giacomelli, who said: " You will play in Lille to-day at the Cercle du Nord, 44 MY MEMORIES and you'll take the seven-fifty train, Gare du Nord. I will help you pack your valise, for you''ll take the place of Wieniawski who has been suddenly taken ill and cannot go. There is an orchestra. Accurci, conductor of the Opera Comique, conducts and there will be as singers Mme. Marie Sass of the Opera and Jacques Bouhy of the Opera Comique, and it is at the Cercle du Nord, the leading society in France." As I was later often engaged by Giacomelli, I found that he used the same adjective " leading " no matter how small was the town. But this Cercle du Nord at Lille was really a fine organization, with its own orchestra, which Accurci came regularly from Paris to conduct. Marie Sass, soprano dramatique, had created the role of Selika in Meyerbeer's opera, L'Africaine. Here was another ordeal for me like that in which I had played in place of Leonard. Giacomelli helped me pack and I arrived at Lille just in time — one o'clock — for rehearsal. I had the same reception in the first con- cert that I had in Chartres, and I do not blame the public which, instead of hearing the great Wieniawski, saw a young fellow with black hair come out with his violin. But what helped was a little reception given me by the orchestra when I made my appearance. I remember that I played the Mendelssohn concerto and my first " caprice," both with orchestral accompaniment. It was certainly a piece of luck for a young artist ab- solutely unknown to appear with such great artists, and I must say that my star was in the ascendant. My third tour in France was the first in which I went with myself as a feature. Maurice Strakosch was the MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 45 manager and the star was Anna de Belloca, a Russian prima donna, exceedingly pretty and a high soprano. A big welcome was prepared for her, but her success was not great. An incident happened during the second week of our tour. We had one night free and as we had to pass through the town of Angers, where I had some friends, I asked to leave the company at that town and join it the next day. I met my friends there and had a good time as they were all from Liege and members of the orchestra there. When I arrived at Nantes the next day — we were having a concert there that day — I was climbing the stairs of the Hotel de France (there was no elevator in town) when I met Mdlle. de Belloca and complained of the cold weather. Most graciously she asked me to come into her sitting room where she ordered a glass of Madeira. At that moment in came Belloni, the secretary of Maurice Strakosch, who told me " my place was not in Madame's parlor." Miss Belloca, re- senting the remark, told him that no one but herself had the right to give orders in her apartment and asked him to leave the room. He did so, but at the end of the third week I was dismissed. After that I returned to Paris, glad to get back, and being human, I was not sorry when I heard the company had disbanded on account of bad business. In 1875, at the suggestion of Gustave Sandre, I or- ganized a quartette called the " Quartette Moderne," the idea being to play works by modern composers. Sandre was a pianist and a good composer. His quartette for 46 MY MEMORIES piano and strings is certainly remarkable. The seances were to be called " Quatuor de Musique Moderne." I am proud to say that this organization was the first to play the ensemble music of Johannes Brahms before the public in Paris. We played his two sextettes for strings, his quintette C minor, quartette with the piano and three of his string quartettes. At that time, 1875, his sonata in G was not written. These seances, given in the Hall Philippe Herz, were always crowded. It was not a large hall, seating about five hundred people, but ideal for chamber music. The first two rows were always reserved for the King of Hanover and his suite. After one of the seances, I was told by a friend that there was a man in the audience who would give one hundred thousand francs to see me, and he mentioned the King of Hanover. At first I was puzzled, but remembering that the King was blind, I did not find the price exorbitant. The king never missed a concert. The Brahms selections named above are con- sidered the gems of that composer's compositions for chamber music. Brahms in Vienna knew of these seances in Paris and when I came, in 1880, to play the Beethoven concerto at the Philharmonic, Hans Richter, conducting, we talked a great deal about the success of his music. At that time I also met in Vienna, Karl Goldmark, author of the opera " The Queen of Sheba," a most charming man and a great composer. His concerto in A minor for the violin was about being brought out by a great virtuoso. Miska Hauser was also a good friend. He was the violinist MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 47 composer who had a Stradivarius violin and who wrote of his concert tour in America. These seances of " Musique Moderne " becoming popular, I naturally reaped the benefit of this popularity. Among the composers of classic music, even Cesar Franck paid me a visit and asked me to play one trio that he had brought with him. We tried it and although I did my utmost to have it played, Cesar Franck being a compatriot of mine, my associate found fault and it was not played. This trio, for the piano, violin and 'cello, was not for a moment to be compared with the genial works he composed later. Cesar Franck, the great Bel- gian organist and composer, met the same fate in Paris as Curie, the inventor of serum. Both were killed in the streets by trucks, so absorbed were they in their ideals and day dreams. Thus, unfortunately, ended the career of two men of genius. Their death was an irreparable loss to music and science. In my time, an artist began by making himself known among society people where he would be invited to dine and play afterwards. No one put any advertisements in the papers, as in the United States, but when an artist had established his reputation in society, he would be in- troduced to the manager of a concert hall, who is usually an employee of the firm of a piano house. No charge was made for the hall, but 10% of the receipts are taken for the Droits d'Auteurs and 10% for the Droits des Pauvres, but as most of the tickets are distributed bv the artist among his friends and acquaintances, the number 48 MY MEMORIES of unsold tickets is unknown, and an agreement for a certain sum may be arranged by the giver of the concert, and in that way he is free from financial distractions during the performance. Assisting artists contributed their services free of charge, and as may be imagined, there was little beside artistic gratification realized by any one concerned save the Droits d'Auteurs and the Droits des Pauvres. The artist may play at as many musical evenings as he pleases without making a sou, but the custom of giving a benefit concert once a year often realizes a highly gratifying sum from the financial point of view, the price of a ticket be- ing ten francs. I remember that Raoul Pugno and I had been engaged together to play a number of concerts outside of Paris by societies in the provincial cities and he proposed to me that we give a concert in Paris together. I accepted with pleasure, dividing the tickets between us, and each one disposing of his share of them. A few days before the date my side of the hall was sold out, but Pugno said to me : " What a pity ! My tickets are selling very poorly." To which I replied : " It would be a pity for me to make money and you to make none." He said : "Don't we divide?" I said: "My tickets have been taken by my friends for whom I have been playing for nothing." The next day he took a cab and went about among his friends, with the result that the whole of the hall was sold out. This was at the Salle Pleyel, Rue Rochechouart. The concert hall of the Conservatoire National de Musique was very small, but the acoustics were consid- MY ENTRANCE INTO PARIS 49 ered better than those of any concert hall in the world, and the seats are handed down from father to son. No stranger could obtain a seat at any price. The orchestra is composed of the professors of the Conservatoire and its pupils who are laureates. All the stringed instru- ments are of Italian make and any musician who does not possess an Italian instrument has to use one belonging to the Conservatoire, all of which are taken care of by one of the leading violin makers of Paris who has the title of " Luthier du Conservatoire National." A repre- sentative of the firm attends all concerts in his official capacity to replace broken strings, etc. It was said by Hans von Biilow and Richard Wagner that to hear a symphony of Beethoven perfectly executed one must go to Paris and hear the orchestra of the Con- servatoire. There are concerts of the Conservatoire every Sunday during the winter season and three rehearsals for each concert. The programs are composed of works for orchestra ; very few soloists are engaged, but occa- sionally a work with chorus and soloists of international reputation is given. The artists of the grand opera and opera comique are nearly always from the Conservatoire, where they have spent at least four years in the study of singing, declamation and comedy, and this explains why all the French artists are such excellent actors. Gabriel Faure, now director of the Conservatoire, and Andre Messager, who created a furore in America with the orchestra of the Conservatoire, and myself were in- timate friends as far back as 1884 and remained so until I left for tours in foreign countries. Gabriel Faure wrote a concerto for violin which I played with Colonne so MY MEMORIES and his orchestra, — a beautiful work. Among others of his works, such as his sonata for the piano and vioHn, which I played with him, quartettes, orchestral composi- tions, songs, choruses, etc., there was a Berceuse for the violin with piano accompaniment, but I played it with the orchestra. Faure brought this piece to me and I put the fingering and bowing in as it was published later on. This little gem made a furore in Paris and its effect on such great artists and musicians as Camille Saint-Saens may be judged by the following translation of his letter written to me a few months ago : Translation of a Letter From Camille Saint- Saens TO OVIDE MusiN Feb. 5th, 1919. Lelammam, R'ithra, Department d' Alger, Feb. 5th, 19 19. My dear Musin : — Here is something which will surprise you. I dreamed of you last night, and how happy I was to see you again. I recalled you as you played the Berceuse of Faure at my house in the old days, with that tasteful simplicity, that inimitable naivete, and that natural charm which no amount of work is able to give. May I often have dreams like this. I am now eighty-three, and I do not believe I shall ever revisit America, and so I shall never see you again; and I shall never know Madame Musin whom I have never seen. I had, however, a great desire to go and present my respects to her; but you will remember the terrible heat during my sojourn in July, and my courage ?^ r ^^ ) Li^cr-t^ ^ iP^-f "W t-^-< ^/A-I^'W >^ s; ' e^e_B_ io ^„v^ e-t^,wr «-^-^ '^f- »-o>< « . >^7- //«' ^t^oZ. J^.yr /y^^. PROPIEDAD ASEG .URADA. MEXICO ^05 tied in New York as singing teachers, among them Eranni, Murio Celli, Agramonte, Capianni and others, who must have known Nuno. He was also a fine pianist and it was an inspiration to sing with him. Signor Nuno died July 17, 1908, in Buffalo, New York, at the age of eighty-four and the Mexican Consul asked, on behalf of the Federal Government, that his remains might be placed in the Cathedral beside Bo'canegra, but as he had been laid in the ground, it could not be done on account of a health law which requires that seven years pass be- fore a body may be removed. But this will probably be done when Mexico is once more normal. We left the City of Mexieo at the end of the month of March, 1896, for Puebla, where we gave three con- certs in three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This w'as my second visit to Puebla and I had already several good friends there. Puebla has about 130,000 inhab- itants and, like Brooklyn, New York, is called the " City of Churches." In former times it was known as " Puebla de los Angeles" (City of the Angels). It is only one hundred and twenty-nine miles south of Mexico City, but it takes about six hours by train to reach it. Puebla is enshrined in the heart of every patriotic Mexican, for it was there that General Zaragoza on the 5th of May, 1862, defeated the French army which ultimately resulted in the establishment of the Mexican Republic. The in- spiring words " Cinco de Mayo," for Mexicans, finds an echo back in 1776, on the 4th of July, of the people of the United States. The fifth of May is annually set aside by the Mexicans for national celebration. 2o6 MY MEMORIES Having digressed, caused by the Cinco de Mayo, we now returned to Puebla and its memorable celebration, al- most every town in Mexico keeping the date in com- memoration by naming one of its streets after it. I was booked as far as Vera Cruz, but hearing that yeljow fever was there and remembering my former terrible experi- ence after Tampico, I was afraid of another mishap to my health and so I gave up Vera Cruz, and went as far as Cordoba, the last town before Santa Cruz, lying 2,500 feet above the level of the sea and renowned for its fruits and flowers, as well as for its fine coffee, of which there are many plantations in the vicinity. In Cordoba, we gave one concert, thence to Orizaba, situated in the mountains about four thousand feet above the sea. The scenery is wonderfully beautiful and it is a great health resort for Mexicans who, during the season of yellow fever in the pestilential coast cities, take refuge there. We gave two concerts here, both being very well attended, and then started back on our way north by the broad gauge railroad towards El Paso, giving concerts in all the principal towns, arrangements having been made in advance. My time was limited as I had to take a boat at San Francisco on the nth of May for a second trip to the Antipodes. Our first stop was at Guanahouato, called the Silver City, on account of extensive silver mines about there. The catacombs of Guanahouato are one of the sights of this place. The catacomb is merely a large vault under the cemetery where bodies previously buried, which have mummified under peculiar action of the soil and air, are wrapped in linen, and stand up i:i MEXICO 207 rows about the walls. The question seems to be what to do with the bones of the dead, for graves in general are only leased for a term of years and at the termination of the lease, they are removed from the graves and the bones piled up in vaults. It is a fearful sight and an evil smelling place. The mummies wore an expression of face they may have had when the person died. Some had a ghastly grin and some wore whiskers as in life. Decidedly this was a vision one would do well to forget as soon as possible. To go from Mexico City to Guanahouato, we had to pass through Queretaro, where occurred the lamentable death of the Emperor Maximilian and his two generals, Miramon and Mejia, who were shot by decree of Presi- dent Juarez. I visited the very spot where the execution took place. Juarez had captured Queretaro, where Maxi- milian and his followers had made a last stand, and they were tried by courtmartial and condemned to death in spite of a protest on the part of the Government of the United States and the efforts of Maximilian's Empress, Carlotta, who had gone to France to implore Napoleon III to send another army to Maximilian's aid. She also pleaded with the Pope without success. Her anguish of mind and grief at Maximilian's death shattered her health and her mind gave way. It is one of the most pitiful stories in modern history. Maximilian was the brother-in-law of Leopold II of Belgium, Carlotta being the sister of Leopold II. The question is why did not Napoleon III, who suggested Maximilian as Emperor, and the latter having accepted on the condition that Napoleon should give him military 2o8 MY MEMORIES aid as long as it should be necessary — why, I should like to ask — was he left alone and the French army with- drawn? Maximilian was under the evil influence of Marshal Bazaine and made the mistake of undertaking things which he was not strong enough to carry out, and what a great pity it was that he did not retire from Mexico when Napoleon recalled the French troops. A sad, sad story in which all parties had to suffer. After this, we went on to Leon where we had the sur- prise of our lives. Think of a town of a hundred thou- sand inhabitants without a newspaper! Such was Leon. Any town in the United States of less than five thousand would have at least two newspapers, but here there were none, except such as came in from Mexico City. But we managed to give two concerts in Leon with a large at- tendance. Leon is said to be the birthplace of the cele- brated matador, Alfonzo Nagoa. Irapuato came next and to us this name has instantly been associated with strawberries. Such berries — every one large, luscious, perfect with their perfume and flavor such as we had never before tasted and such quantities and so cheap. This pretty little town is in the center of a rich farming country and strawberries are plentiful all the year round. In the morning and in the afternoon Indian women came to the Plazas and, seating themselves in the shade, they spread out a tempting array of baskets of the fruit. Other fruits are equally plentiful and many of them de- licious. We gave a concert here, of course, with good financial success, for the Mexicans love music, and then we went on to Aguas Calientes, so-called from its famous hot springs. This town is up in the mountains about six MEXICO 209 thousand feet, is a health resort and has good hotels al- ways filled with people coming for the baths. I did not miss the opportunity of trying the waters and enjoyed them immensely. Here is a great center for the needle work called drawn work, of which my wife bought quite a number of pieces of fine work. It is made by Indian women and is highly appreciated by the ladies, but the artistic industry is dying out on account of the Germans, who manufacture coarse imitations of it by machinery and send it to be sold there under the very noses of the Indian artists as the real thing, and tourists, many of them, are none the wiser. I must not forget to mention San Luis Potosi. We gave two concerts and spent four delightful days there. In Aguas Calientes I visited the great smelting works just out of the city at San Pedro. The whole place was surrounded by high stone walls. Owing to the immense amount of capital invested in the mines and other products, this city is very prosperous and populous as well. It is a fine city, very clean with wide streets and, on the whole, is picturesque with its white houses, flower gardens, old churches and the people in native costumes. We were now on our way to El Paso, where we were booked for a concert at Chopin Hall, and the last two concerts in Mexico would be given in Zacategas. These were the culmination of a most delightful tour which, having begun badly, turned out to be highly satisfactory from the financial as well as artistic point of view. In Zacategas, which is a wealthy place, having an im- mense income from the silver mines, I made many friends whom I shall never forget and I hope they will not for- 2IO MY MEMORIES get me either, for some day I expect to revisit Mexico. In certain respects, it is a Paradise if one keeps away from the coasts, and a marvelous country where Nature perpetually smiles with very little coaxing. The people are charming, artistic and great lovers of music. Let us hope that soon there will be an end to all political dis- turbances there and the people be left in peace to cultivate the wonderful natural resources of the country where there is enough for all the inhabitants of the world. One word as to the Indians. There is a very strong Mongoloid strain in some of the tribes and in one of the ruins there was the ubiquitous Chinaman with his queue, sculptured on one of the bas reliefs, nearly obliterated by age, however, for the ruins are thousands of years old. There was a strong association in my mind with the hoary ruins of Mexico and those of Baraboedoer in Java. Mexico is wonderful ! CHAPTER XV JAPAN Of course we were highly excited at the prospect of seeing Japan, and although it was midwinter at the time of our visit, we were not discommoded by disagreeably cold weather. The climate was rather mild and some- what misty, for we caught a glimpse of Fujiyama, that wonderful volcano, only twice. We missed the season of the cherry blossoms on the trees; but these flowers were to be found in every home and shop. One's first impression of Japanese cities is that of or- der and cleanliness. Then the neat little houses and shops. These shops were different from anything I had seen in my travels in all parts of the world. Small, com- pact, neat, — order carried systematically to the highest plane of development, combined with artistic arrange- ment. Love of the beautiful and wonderful in nature is characteristic of the Japanese, even in the shops. On the counter your attention will be attracted by a wonder- ful miniature garden, full grown trees an inch high, a diminutive cherry tree full of minute blossoms, or farther along, in a space two or three feet long by one or more wide, cut out of the floor, you will see a wonderful landscape ; mountains, hills, fields, rivers, lakes, trees and verdure, and flowers; all real, living and growing, but dwarfed from what would cover many miles in extent, 211 212 MY MEMORIES to a matter of inches; one is transfixed with astonishment and admiration. The houses have nothing of what we call furniture about. It seems as if the Japanese had reduced the proc- ess of living to the scientific system of having everything essential, and the elimination of everything non-essen- tial. The home is a place for repose, restful for the eye as well as the mind. When one has felt the relaxation and relief of an interior after Japanese ideas, it is dis- tracting and nerve-racking to encounter, as in American and European homes, quantities of furniture, bric-a-brac, pictures and what not ; every item of which must, although subconciously, arrest attention, tax the sense of sight, and fatigue the mind. Then there is the impression of quiet decorum, politeness and peace, except for frequent disturbances in the form of earthquakes, to which for- eigners cannot accustom themselves, and I must say they are very trying to one's nerves. We disembarked at Yokohama, and found excellent accommodations at the Club Hotel, managed by a Bel- gian, with Japanese service. A unique arrangement here was that when you registered at the Club you were also registered at a hotel in Tokio. At so much per week you could have your breakfast in Yokohama at the Club Hotel and your dinner at the one in Tokio, and vice versa, all for the same price. We were naturally very tired after a voyage of thirteen days from Honolulu, and were sur- prised in the morning to hear that a violent earthquake had occurred, which had lifted our hotel several feet in the air, setting it down again, piff, paff, precisely intact. The rumbling noise did not awaken us, and if we felt JAPAN 213 the motion we no doubt dreamily attributed it to the rolling waves of the Pacific; but every one else was labor- ing under the after-effects of the exciting experience when we met at breakfast. We had barely arrived at the Club Hotel when an in- terviewer from the " Box of Curios " sent up his card and demanded, " Are you the Musin who wrote Musin's Mazurka? " I was astonished to find my first composition had gotten as far as Japan, and, my identity being established, the interviewer w^axed in interest, and from that time on the " Box of Curios " spared no effort in making known the arrival of our concert company. The hall was en- gaged and all the preliminary arrangements made in short order, and we found that we would have no com- petitors in the field, due to the rarity with which artistic attractions visit countries at such a distance as Japan. My second visitor was the Chevalier de Wapenhard, Belgian consul at Yokohama, a charming gentleman, who escorted me to the different legations in Tokio, where I left my cards. The Chevalier also immediately issued invitations to a dinner for us, at his artistic residence in Yokohama, with a reception to follow the dinner. It was an exquisite affair; the menu European, with choice wines, as a matter of course. One lady besides my wife was present, and the gentlemen were titled diplomats rep- resenting the French, Russian, Austrian and Italian gov- ernments. After dinner the American Consul arrived with his family, and many other guests. We had a royal time and a charming introduction to the social life out there in Japan, where it is the custom for each and every 214 MY MEMORIES guest to do his or her part in contributing to the enter- tainment by " singing a song," " telHng a story " or " speaking a piece," according to their talents or accom- plishments. My wife was surprised, when we talked it over afterwards, to find that in such an assemblage of titles, there had existed such good fellowship without pretense or ostentation, and that she had been escorted to dinner by a Russian prince, whose wife, the only other lady at dinner, was a Grecian princess. Lobanoff de Rostofif and the princess were amateurs of music, and at their house we passed some very pleasant hours. An incident which shows how relatively small this world is, after all, occurred some years after our visit to Japan, when on going to Spa to play at a festival at the Salle des Fetes, a hand was waved above the crowd and a voice called out " Musin, Musin!" and who should ap- pear but these same friends of ours. One day on a Broadway car in New York a gentleman stepped up to me and said : — " How do you do, Mr. Musin ? I had tht pleasure of hearing you play way out in Singapore and felt that I must shake hands with you." Such encoun- ters are very pleasant and by no means rare occurrences to artists who have traveled far; but the most amusing inci- dent of the kind occurred when I was out in Java. I met a gentleman who said : — " Mr. Musin, I heard your father play in Amsterdam several times, many years ago." " But," said I, " my father was never a violinist ! It was I whom you heard." His astonishment might have been attributed either to the early age at which I began my career, or might I attribute it as flattering my still youth- ful appearance? At any rate this little incident helped JAPAN 215 to fill our concert hall, as the gentleman related his mistake to people he happened to meet, — but to return to Japan. The cards which I had left for the dignitaries at the different legations brought theirs in return to my hotel, and soon the concerts and social affairs were in full swing in Yokohama and Tokio. Baron d'Anethan, Belgian ambassador at the capital, notified me that by order of his Majesty, the Mikado, we were to appear at the Royal Palace at a certain hour of an afternoon. It may interest my lady readers to know that Mrs. Musin ordered a new gown in honor of the oc- casion, the material of which was white Japanese silk crepe, artistically embroidered with ivy leaves and the blossoms of a flower resembling the daisy. This material, which was very expensive, was made up into a dress, a copy of one of her Paris gowns, by a Chinese man dress- maker in twenty-four hours, without a fitting. The fact is that the Chinese are so expert that when given a model they copy it exactly, to the smallest detail (including the holes, it is said). At any rate the dress was a great suc- cess, but we found out afterwards that my wife, by choosing white, had clothed herself in mourning, accord- ing to the Japanese custom, which came from ignorance on our part. However, there was a mantle worn over it of white brocade, lined with rose, which relieved our minds somewhat. We arrived at the hotel in Tokio and were notified that the carriage of the Mikado would come for us, in which we would be escorted to the Palace by an official of the Court. On the way our attention w^as attracted to passers-by who, on seeing the carriage, suddenly dropped on their 2i6 MY MEMORIES knees. What could that mean? Could it be an honor paid to the itinerant musicians inside? On arriving at the entrance to the P'alace, the doors were opened, and we were ushered into a long and lofty hall, on either side of which were lines of lackeys or footmen, clothed in red coats, white satin knee breeches, and white stockings (standing about 12 feet apart), who saluted profoundly, one after the other, as we passed through to a reception salon beyond. These men were very tall, handsome Japanese people and, by the way, one of our first impres- sions of the Japanese was that they were by no means the " little people " in stature which we had expected to see, from common report. In the reception room there were a few pieces of furniture of exquisite workmanship, the ceiling and walls paneled with marvelous brocades or embroidered silks, the draperies of the windows being equally rich. The general tone was subdued, not gaudy, and artistically perfect. We waited there for a time until the Master of Ceremonies came to conduct us to the Grand Salon. This was a neat room, well lighted and remarkable principally for the ornamental woodwork of walls and ceiling. An immense dark blue vase was on our right as we entered, and on our left a Steinway Grand Piano, the case of which was elaborately decorated — a Steinway master-piece. The ladies of the court were seated on one side of the room and the gentlemen stood on the other side, a hundred perhaps in all. A golden chair placed somewhat back of the center of the room awaited the Empress, and when their Majesties appeared the company made obeisance, and the Master of Cere- monies advanced and requested us to begin. Our pianist JAPAN 217 played first and did full justice to the Steinway Grand, but silence was his reward. If my violin awoke a re- sponsive chord in the breast of their Majesties, no signal was given for applause, and neither to the singing of my wife, who warbled away like a bird notwithstanding the icy atmosphere. This chilly atmosphere was due to court etiquette, and we were requested to give several more selections, which proved that they were interested at any rate. The Master of Ceremonies thereupon came and escorted us one after the other to a certain distance from their Majesties where we salaamed profoundly and repeatedly as we retired walking backward to our place. On glancing up while arising from our last salutation, we saw the golden chair was vacant. Their Majesties had disappeared. The ice broke with a crash, a babbling of voices arose and we were surrounded by charming ladies clothed in beautiful dresses of a mode at least ten years earlier, and the gentlemen in regulation afternoon costume, all speak- ing French or English, or both, with ease. All doubt as to their interest and pleasure at our music was dispersed ; and we were ushered to an adjoining salon where a col- lation of delicious food and rare wines and tea was served with bountiful hospitality. This unique and de- lightful experience was capped by a present from the Mikado, presented to me through the Master of Cere- monies, a package done up in Royal Vellum and sealed with the Royal Seal which, when opened later, I found to contain a goodly number of Japanese bank notes. The money was spent; but we kept the vellum as a preciQUs souvenir. The Baron and .Baroness d'Anethan 2i8 MY MEMORIES took us home with them to dinner and this was followed by a charming reception. In a day or so Lord Sutton, the British Ambassador, invited us to another grand reception at his place, and so it went, round after round of delightful entertainment. We shall never forget the many friends who gave us such good times in Japan. At another dinner and reception given us by Vicomte de Labry, French Attache Mili- taire to the Crown Prince (the present Mikado), sev- eral princesses and others of the Japanese nobility, distinguished generals, etc., were present. While stay- ing that night as guests we were awakened by a terrible noise, comparable only to the roar and clatter of several express trains at once, approaching and rushing over an iron bridge, with characteristic crescendo and diminuendo. The floor of our room rose and fell in waves so that as we jumped from bed it was almost impossible to keep one's feet. " An earthquake ! " we exclaimed, and it surely was * some ' quake. Everything was serene in the morning, however, and the people were calmly at work as though nothing had happened. We gave concerts in several other places in Japan, and then went to Shanghai by boat, stopping long enough in the harbor of Nagasaki to give a concert which was well attended by foreign residents and the officers from the men-of-war of different nationalities gathered in the harbor, including many from the American Asiatic squad- ron. We dressed for the concert in our cabins aboard ship, descending the ladder to crawl, nearly on all fours, under the hood of the small boats called sampans, to be JAPAN 219 paddled ashore ; from that into jinrikshas, pulled by one Japanese runner and pushed from the rear by an- other, and we quickly arrived at the hall. The ship, a fine one of the Japanese line, was not to leave for Shanghai until the next afternoon, and this permitted us to see Nagasaki in the morning. While the town, the harbor, filled with men-of-war of all types and nationalities, the view of the coast, were highly picturesque, the things which claimed our closest attention were the shops where the gorgeous display of art, in bronze, ivory, jade, silver, gold, cloisonne, lacquer, silks and embroideries and paintings done with silks and pigments, was in such profusion and transcendental beauty, impossible to describe, that we could tear ourselves away only with great difficulty. Marvelous artists, the Japanese ; no one who has not visited the shops in Naga- saki can form a conception of the almost overpowering beauty and richness of the display. The shops, here as elsewhere in Japan, are not large, nor are they built in the style of department stores ; but the artistic grouping and sequence in material, color and form, leads one on fairly hypnotized. And then the difficulty in making a choice ! — better by far to carry the whole establishment away with us. But time and tide wait for no man, nor woman either; and promising ourselves to return sometime, some- how, we made a plunge for the sampan and were paddled back to the ship. CHAPTER XVI SHANGHAI The night before, while asleep in her cabin, my wife had a prophetic dream. In the dream she was lying in the lower berth of this identical cabin, which was on the upper promenade deck, was commodious and comfort- able; our steamer trunks and valises arranged as they were in reality, about the room — when the vessel seemed to roll heavily to one side. She could hear the waves strike the ship, the waters apparently dashing over the decks, slapping against the door. After a little the ship rolled so far over that water soused in under the door, and rushing with a hissing sound over the carpet, rose so high, that the baggage began floating about. How it came out Mrs. Musin does not recall; but in the follow- ing experience the dream storm became a reality. We left Nagasaki in the afternoon, steaming calmly out along the picturesque coast, the sun shining brightly and agree- ably warm from toward the west. As we got farther out from land we saw small sailing vessels, with very high round prows, rising and falling, turned this way and that by a choppy sea. Their shape enabled such very small boats to go far out to sea without danger. We sup- posed the wind would go down by sunset ; but on the con- trary it grew stronger and the waters more troubled, until those inclined to be ill discreetly sought their cabins, and at last the captain and I were the only ones left in 220 SHANGHAI 221 the smoking room on deck. We had about three days and nights of rolHng and tossing on the Yellow Sea, be- fore we reached Shanghai — heavy seas breaking over the ship and flooding the cabin and floating the baggage about. The Japanese stewardesses and stewards won our gratitude for tactful, indefatigable attentions. The cap- tain brought Mrs. Musin around from her sea-sickness by giving me a few drops of very old brandy with which he told me to moisten her lips. This seemed to rally her forces, so that we were on deck as we approached our new stopping place. In Shanghai the weather was still wintry. The China- men of means were wearing rich furs, or silk coats lined with fur, ornamented with quantities of sable tails hang- ing from the border in a fringe. They are big men, some of them very, very tall, as high as seven feet, I should say. The coolies and runners for the rickshaws, who go with their throats and chests bare, even in winter, are strong fellows. The rickshaws are double the size of those in Japan. Two people, not too bulky, can ride comfortably in one, whereas in Japan each person had his own baby carriage. We gave a series of concerts here. There were a greater number of foreigners to at- tend the concerts, but the Chinamen were not attracted as were many Japanese of the cultured class, and Chinese women are rarely seen anywhere. Chinese architecture is more massive than Japanese and peculiar to itself. There are beautiful gardens, tea houses, and the interiors of private houses are gorgeously furnished and decorated. A strange new world to us ; and the people are extraordinarily intelligent ; but they are 222 MY MEMORIES given at times to drawing their own conclusions in a way quite disconcerting when they do not correctly interpret our language. As an instance, we started out one morning to visit the shops. On this occasion we got into palanquins in- stead of rickshaws. The strong young fellows who were to bear us nodded and smiled knowingly at the directions given, and started at a brisk trot away from the direc- tion in which we supposed the shops to be; but, feeling confidence in their knowledge of their own town, we said nothing as they trotted up one street and down another, until quite out of breath, they deposited us in front of a door which stood open, giving a view through a corridor into a garden at the rear. We entered, but no one was in sight, neither the piles of silks, satins and beautiful grass linens we had expected to see. A Chinese woman came from a door on the side, leading a child whose nose was half eaten away by cancer. Horrified, we were about to leave, when a young Chinaman appeared who asked if we wished the doctor. " The doctor? Oh no! We want to do some shopping." " But this is a hospital," he said. Our palanquin bearers looked rather sheepish as the young doctor explained where we wished to be taken. We, no doubt, looked pale and fatigued, my wife at least, after such a terrible voyage, and they, thinking that she wished to see a doctor, promptly and obligingly took her to the hospital. From Shanghai we took a boat down the coast to Hongkong. For a description of this great city and that of Canton, it would be better to read a guide book; SHANGHAI 223 for my impressions and observations were necessarily casual and limited to a few days filled with a rush of visitors, entertainments and dinners, besides our concerts. We were suddenly plunged into summer weather, and light clothing became a necessity. Chinese tailors pre- sented themselves, took measurements, and in the space of a few hours a dozen new suits of linen and silk were ready for me to wear! They must be magicians, these Chinese tailors! for without the fatiguing process of try- ing on, cutting off, taking in or letting down ; without de- lay, there you are, fitted exactly and everything to your satisfaction, including the price. What a paradise as to clothes! Where would New York tailoring establish- ments be, were a few such Chinese to establish themselves here, with their scientific and economical system of measurement and cutting, their energy and dispatch, not to mention their skill with the needle. The most intricate stitches in embroidery have no secrets for the needlemen of China. Masterpieces in screens, portieres, panels,"table covers, shawls and other articles of dress, are the work of men who copy the beautiful in nature with fidelity to form, perspective, color and shading, simply ravishing to behold. A wonderful people! What learning one must needs possess to comprehend something of the history of their development in past ages, — in religion, philoso- phy, science and art, the beginning of which, according to Chinese chronology, goes back a hundred thousand years. Of course there will always exist a degree of knowledge and culture possessed only by the few and as long as the world lasts all men will never become equal. No doubt the Chinese people in ancient times attained 224 MY MEMORIES as near as possible the ideal of universal peace, universal as far as their vast country was concerned, after ages of development, by the inculcation of the religious and moral ideas of Taoism and the teachings of Confucius, aided by the practical measure of building the great Wall to keep out barbarian trouble makers. It is not to be doubted that in other countries the example and teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles have gradually raised hu- manity very largely to a higher spiritual plane in the aggregate ; but when one thinks of the vast ages of human history that have rolled slowly past and realizes that even now in the twentieth century mankind is still to a large extent dominated by the animal, in the same old struggle for existence, one can only ask an explanation from the psychologist. It seems to be a law of nature that every living being born into the world must begin, each and every one, at the beginning, and is able to learn only what it is taught, physically, morally, mentally, rising to a certain degree of development, while possibly the next generation may swing down and back, in the perpetual motion of the wheels of time. Classes will always exist, and in China to-day, in spite of ages of development, there are parts of the country where it is dangerous for foreigners to venture. Take Canton, for instance. We were advised not to go alone outside the foreign settlements. We saw thousands of people living in boats in the Canton river, by means of fishing, where they were packed together like sardines. We went from Hongkong up to Canton in a fine side- wheel steamer. While we were in Hongkong there was an epidemic of bubonic plague. An American doctor was SHANGHAI 2^5 there studying the disease. When we took a boat over to Manila (a very small, uncomfortable one too) after a tiresome voyage, we were held up in quarantine for five insufferably hot days, out in the harbor, on account of the plague in China. No one had been ill, but the crew were Chinese — we were under suspicion, and not permitted to land. It was a very wearing experience, particularly as the captain took that occasion to go on a terrible spree, and badly frightened the lady passengers. He came to himself, however, just as we were accorded permission to disembark. Manila It was very hot in the town and there was little com- fort to be had and little pleasure either. The American Consul at Barcelona had been killed and it was reported that we were an American company. We were advised not to give any concerts for fear of an antipathetic demon- stration. We had an occasion to see how badly the people could treat even Spanish artists at the theater on the night of our arrival. The prima donna soprano of the Zarzuela company had not been paid and she refused to go on until the money was forthcoming. The theater was packed and the people waited patiently for a time ; but losing pa- tience at the delay, they began to get angry, calling out and stamping their feet. At last the manager appeared before the footlights and explained that the prima donna refused to appear. Thereupon the wildest sort of an uproar followed which finally brought the lady singer to the stage; but at the sight of her the uproar doubled in violence, with hootings, hissings, cries of " De fuera! 226 MY MEMORIES de f uera ! " and insulting remarks flung at her from all quarters. The lady stood perfectly still and with bent head took it all. When the storm of abuse had ex- hausted itself the orchestra struck up and she began her part, and she happening to be a favorite, they soon'forgot their anger and applauded her as heartily as they had just been cursing her a few moments before. The audience did not propose to be cheated out of their entertainment, irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the prima donna. At any rate they gave us an inkling as to what that public could do if in an ugly mood and we were half tempted to abandon our plans, but as our attraction would appeal only to the cultured class we decided to risk it. We concocted a scheme of retaliation, however, in case we were assailed by rotten eggs or the like. Nothing dis- agreeable happened, however, and on the contrary we found the usual cultured cosmopolitan crowd, polite and enthusiastic. Those of us who had first to face the au- dience had no idea, of course, as to what sort of greeting they would receive, and to tell the truth we were a little disappointed, for our blood was up for a fight; and my wife was especially so, for she had placed a small Ameri- can flag in the front of her dress and had learned a little speech in Spanish which she intended to hurl at the roughs, while waving the flag under their noses, if they dared to insult her country. Affairs being in such an unsettled state in Manila we decided to hasten our departure. Three or four things impressed me at that time, first the insignificance of the Spanish men-of-war in the harbor (the units of the squadrons of other nations being busy at the time watch- SHANGHAI 227 ing one another like cats over in the harbor of Nagasaki) ; second, the heat ; third, the native women, walking along smoking immense black cigars ; and fourth, the cigars. I received presents of choice manilas in boxes by the hun- dreds. A veritable cargo we took away with us. The trip over to Singapore was necessarily on a small dirty boat, there being no other available. The pumps had to be worked night and day to keep us afloat. One day there would be a bad list to one side and the next day to the other so that most of the time it was impossible to walk on deck. Luckily no storm came up or nothing could have prevented our going to the bottom. Singapore This large city impresses one at once as being clean, well built and in the style of the British, very orderly and sanitary. The streets of the foreign quarters and shop- ping district are wide and there are wide verandas to the hotels ; and plenty of small lizards running over the walls of the rooms, hiding behind pictures, and suddenly darting out to devour an insect of one sort or another; but there are no mosquitoes. Freedom from this pest is due to the lizards, which are harmless to humans but the deadly enemy of flies and mosquitoes, and for that reason these little beasts of prey are not molested or killed off. In Honolulu where the small lizards have been so largely exterminated mosquitoes are a fearful pest. The weather is very warm and moist in Singapore, but the concerts were given to packed houses, and as this city is the concentrating point of ocean traffic from Japan, Java, Australia and the West by all the big liners an(| 228 MY MEMORIES smaller ones from localities nearer at hand, one might count on a crowd at every concert, not to mention the residential. Nothing out of the ordinary transpired here. We met a lot of charming people socially and were much inter- ested in noticing the immens'e variety of races seen on the streets gathered from a-ll the countries round about. The usual bevy of Malay boy swimmers paddled about our boat, diving for money thrown to them into the water, when we took our departure for Java on a wonderful old boat, one of the earliest built for steam navigation. If I remember rightly it had been an ocean liner, but in its old age had been transferred to the more peaceful waters between Sumatra and Borneo to ply between Singapore, at the tip of the Malay peninsula, and Batavia, on the Is- land of Java. The trimmings of this ship were of teak wood and the brass highly polished, and the deck was as large as a ballroom ; where, under canvas, we could sit all day long and enjoy the passing panorama, or cast an eye into the engine room and watch the rhythmical move- ments of the mechanism all highly polished and ever}^- thing as neat as wax. The cabins just below the deck were immense. Ours had berths running both length- wise and crosswise of the ship, the idea of the designer being that if a sea were on which would make the ship plunge with her nose in the waves, rising and falling, one could use the berths running lengthwise; and if the ship were rolling from side to side one could shift to those which ran crosswise of the ship, and thus be in a position to adapt the body to the motion and thus withstand sea- sickness. This is the secret of avoiding " mal-de-mer,'' SHANGHAI 229 In the cabins of modern ocean greyhounds aside from the cabins de luxe no such foresight for the comfort of passengers has been taken into account, but one may have resort to a long deck chair which can be turned in any direction desired, in ordinary weather at least. Here we were once more crossing the Equator. It is a curious fact that we found it not so warm just on the line, but the heat increased rapidly at about 8 or 10 degrees on either side of it, in the torrid zone. We were in sight of land much of the voyage, sailing between islands whose spicy fragrance was wafted towards us; and beyond were distant mountains. All was beautiful — very, very beau- tiful. The waters would take different tints, suddenly changing from limpid green or blue to a clear dark coffee color. CHAPTER XVII JAVA We reached Batavia very shortly, and were greeted with rumors of war. Troops were being hurried over to Sumatra to quell uprisings of the natives. Lying only a few degrees below the Equator one would expect the cli- mate of Java to be unbearably hot; but the wealthy Dutch merchants and their families have intelligently adapted their mode of life and dress to the conditions and by fol- lowing the customs of the natives wherever possible, one can be fairly comfortable. It was permissible to appear until tiffin in a loose jacket of white linen and a cotton shirt or native sarong, held in place by a scarf, straw sandals, and no stockings. Gentlemen wore pajamas un- til noon; in fact no one dressed until luncheon. Every one was up at a very early hour striding to the baths be- fore daybreak, after which some black coffee, very bad too, I recall, and then off for the morning constitutional, riding, driving or walking in the cool of the early morn- ing. The baths were an oriental contrivance of stone jars and cups, and were refreshing, surely. One would take a bath at least three times between morning and night. The beds were simply fine matting drawn between or attached to four posters over which linen sheets were thrown. A few pillows and mosquito netting finishes the picture. There are few troublesome insects where the 230 JAVA 231 lizards are not molested and I have no recollections of passing sleepless nights as I did in Honolulu, where the mosquitoes are a fearful pest. After lunch or tiffin the populace disappeared for a nap, after which the procession to the baths began once more and then one dressed for dinner and as lightly as possible, of course, although I saw several ladies (would-be leaders of fashion perhaps) arrayed of an aft- ernoon in dresses made of Scotch woolen plaid, and for the evening other ladies wore the heaviest satin brocades. Needless to say that they were sweltering, and I con- sider that this was carrying the vanity of dress with a high hand and a higher temperature. In the evening after dinner one resorted to the clubs or sat on the verandas in long chairs under the low thatched roofs, drinking cooling ades of one sort or an- other and listening to the lizards calling to their mates instead of the nightingales, when suddenly from the thatch above one's head a hoarse croak would be heard calling "TAC-KAW! TAC-KAW!" with downward inflexion ending in a click as the jaws of the creature snapped together. This made one who was not accus- tomed to such noises rather nervous, not knowing either but what one might light on one's head at any moment; but on reflection we decided there was little difference be- tween such lizards and frogs and both are harmless crea- tures. Arrangements had been made for our first concert in Batavia and the date announced when I had a mishap to my violin which forced me to postpone it a week. ]\ly violin had simply oozed apart, the moist heat being too 232 MY MEMORIES much for the glue of the temperate zone. Fortunately a gentleman had a wonderful glue suited to a tropical cli- mate and the pieces were put together again, but a week was necessary for it to solidify sufficiently. Meantime the mishap and the postponement, being noised abroad, worked to our good, and when we finally appeared it was in a theater filled to its capacity with the elite of the city. The Baraboedoer Temple Another event of immense interest was our trip to see the wonderful Temple of Baraboedoer, five square ter- races and three circular, together with the dome, having been excavated from the ground, where it had been buried for ages, and on which had grown gigantic trees. This is, no doubt, a temple erected by Buddhists, and, in fact, in hundreds of niches at intervals along the dif- ferent terraces are seated statues of Buddha resembling those of China and Japan, but minus the long enveloping robe which even poetic license would not allow in the warm climate of Java ; but having the same form of head- dress and a similar manner of holding the hands. But in the dome of the Temple, seated on an elabo- rately carved throne upon tufted cushions, is a statue of a god more than life-size, with a high crown, encrusted with jewels, and immediately in the front of it one can see a Buddha in miniature, set in like a cameo. Who was this God? Who was he ? Some one has said it represents Vishnu. But Vishnu had four arms, if I am not mistaken. This great Temple, like that of Solomon, was built JAVA 233 without cement, every stone being cut and placed together with marvelous exactitude. Perhaps the Chinese could tell us something of its his- tory and meaning. One large bas-relief represents a Chinese warrior on horseback, his spear poised, in a wild dash among warriors of another race. What was this Chinaman doing on the scene? While ver}'- little is actually known about this won- derful Temple, we might imagine that the beginning of its construction started with the advent of Buddhism instead of being a product of the eighth or ninth cen- tury, at the beginning of its decline. There is considerable mystery as to the originator of Baraboedoer. It is known, however, that a third great synod of Buddhists in the time of Asoka, about 264 b. c, decided to spread Buddhism abroad, and that Java came under its influence. In Java all was lovely and peaceful, where modern de- vices are in no way requisite to happiness. Here every- thing grows spontaneously with rich profusion without hard labor. Here the people could perceive the workings of the Creator in all things, from the shaking of the earth, the pillars of fire and smoke of their volcanoes, the perpetual motion of budding to ripening fruits, grains and flowers in a continual harvest; the transformative power given to insects to appear as leaves of plants, and fly away like butterflies; and others to appear, in the act of self-preservation, as the stem or twig of a bush, which we discovered to be an intelligent, living thing with big- eyes, when, as we touched it, its head was turned to regard us. And such delectable fruits. The mangosteen, inside 234 MY MEMORIES its shell frost white lumps of sherbet flavored with citron, strawberries and roses. The jelly of the passion flower! ambrosia of the Gods! in a snow-white chalice. The luscious mangoes and many other fruits unknown out- side of Java — a veritable garden of Eden. And why should it have been thought necessary to send Buddhist missionaries to save a people who were already in a heaven of their own? Is it not more reasonable to sup- pose that blessed as they had been with every earthly good, they were equally enlightened in a spiritual sense and that the religion called Buddhism originated there in Java? and that the missionaries went forth from Java to convert the world to the west, to the Indus, and north to China and Tibet and Japan ? spreading into other coun- tries on the way? It was the most salubrious climate in the world for the beginning of anything and everything, and with which no other country on the face of the globe can bear comparison. To my mind it is even more logi- cal k) suppose the Garden of Eden to have been located here, rather than in the Euphrates valley. There are ruins of many other temples in different parts of Java but we could not spare the time necessary to visit them. If I have given too lengthy a description of Baraboedoer, it is for the reason that it is called the eighth wonder of the world, and comparatively few people have seen it. A Tiger Feast was to occur shortly at a place to which we journeyed. At Soerabaya, while visiting at the pal- ace of the Regent, we were escorted to the garden where there was a collection of these wild beasts which had been caught in traps. As we stood by the cage of a gorgeous JAVA 235 young tiger, he suddenly became enraged at our intrusion, and with a fearful scream he hurled himself with terrific force against the bars. Thereupon it was a sprint for life by the whole party, the host in the lead. Fortunately the cage was strong enough, and we were not chewed to bits. Out in front of the palace is a great field, or green, surrounded by dense thicket and tall trees. At the feast time all the tigers which have been caught, are placed in cages in a line at the farther end of the field. Native sol- diers were lined up around the field, and when the cages were opened the tigers, knowing themselves at liberty, rushed out by leaps and bounds, and as they dashed to- ward the soldiers, they were received on the points of their spears. Of course, there were many more men than tigers; but it was, nevertheless, an exciting fight; and not all the men came ofif whole, but all the tigers were sooner or later exterminated. The true Javanese were literary and musical and have retained and cultivated the arts. There is the Topeng, maintained by native princes, and the native orchestra consists of sets of gongs, struck with wooden sticks and instruments made of strips of wood and metal of different lengths, mounted on a frame. The Topeng, a sort of classical lyric drama, accompanied by singing and orches- tra, and the masked puppet dramas, are said to have been in existence long before the invasion of the Arabs and Mohammedanism. Their music is harmonious, weird and sweet, very often in the minor key. One sees de- picted on the bas-reliefs of Baraboedoer the dancing girls, called hcdaya, as seen to-day, very graceful and charm- ing, clad in sarong and scarf. 236 MY MEMORIES An experience m Java occurred on the morning of the date on which we were to appear at the entertainment for the King of Siam, at Buitenzorg. My wife awoke feel- ing very ill with all the symptoms of the grippe. It was impossible for her to speak above a whisper. I asked the proprietor of the hotel to recommend a doctor and he said : — "Try one of these native doctors; they are wonder- ful." My wife was skeptical, but consented to try one, and in a few moments, in came a little native woman, who passed her hands gently about my wife's throat, chest and head. Turning her over on her face, the woman pressed her hands for a moment over the back of her head and neck. The whole treatment did not last even five minutes. When the woman had gone, I went in to Mrs. Musin and said : — "Well, how are you?" She replied in a voice per- fectly clear : "Why! I'm all right! I feel perfectly well," and, in fact, what would ordinarily have become an illness of a week or ten days was cured like magic. ^ My wife took breakfast and afterward began to sing, and in the evening was never in better voice. This ex- perience seemed to us really magical. Is this the healing spoken of in the Bible, " by laying on of hands "? The sequel is, that while the woman was pressing her hands 1 Abrams, in his work " Progressive Spondylotherapy," page 67, says " The Royal Touch, and the laying on of hands for the cure of disease may be regarded as mythical by those who are ignorant of the visceral reflexes and the potency of human energy." Albert Abrams, A.M., L.L.D., M.D. JAVA 237 over the head, my wife told me she thought for a moment that she must be dehrious, for she saw the strangest fig- ures rise before her eyes, figures of dark gray stone, Hke idols, stained with green. They seemed to be half hidden in dark green grass or undergrowth. Well, the day after as we were on our journey to Baraboedoer, we stopped in the heat of the day to take rest and refreshment, and in the cool of the afternoon we strolled over into the forest where hundreds of monkeys were climbing about. We continued along a path into the denser shade, when suddenly my wife paused and exclaimed : — " Look ! look there ! There are the strange figures which I saw when the woman was touching my head." We examined them closely, and they were no doubt idols or images of what are saints in the religion of the natives. Was the woman praying to the patron saint to cure my wife? and did she see telepathically the images in the woman's mind ? For a concert company to be successful in Java you have to appear first in Batavia, and if the criticisms are good there you will have big houses throughout the Island. The papers in Batavia are printed in the Dutch language, of course, and the opinion of the Batavian critics prevails in the other towns. The two largest and most important cities are Batavia and Soerabaya, both being seaports; but there are many smaller towns which can be played with profit on account of the clubs where the wealthy planters and commercial people congregate in the evenings, so that if the neigh- borhood is at all populous one is sure of a good house and 238 MY MEMORIES an appreciative audience as well, for the Dutch are music lovers and good musicians; and, furthermore, the clubs give a guarantee, and if, for any special reason, the re- ceipts are not up to the guarantee the sum is paid, and if the receipts are above the guarantee the club gives you the surplus, as there is no one in the club to profit from the affair. This happened to me several times and I must say the receipts were never once less than the guarantee but the amount paid me was several times double the guar- antee. This is an ideal arrangement for artists and prob- ably unique, as I never encountered it before in all my travels. The trains in Java do not run at night as the engineers and other employees are natives and the Government is very careful not to put themselves in danger of upris- ings and depredations from the native element ; and at night every Malay is obliged to carry a lighted lantern in going anywhere, or be fined. This regulation was estab- lished as many people were killed by the natives, who would hide themselves in the bushes, and taking one un- awares would step up from behind and stab the person in the back with their krises. We gave concerts in Batavia and might have continued them indefinitely with success had not the Society of Amateurs been giving their performance of " Faust," the date for which had been fixed before our arrival, so we could not have the theater. In fact, we were also carry- ing away considerable guilders which ought by rights to support the opera. Therefore, we left for other parts, but this amateur performance was extraordinary, as the principals, chorus, ballet and orchestra were composed JAVA 239 entirely of amateurs. I do not believe this could have been duplicated anywhere, but the Hollanders are very good musicians, you know. Certain experiences in Java stand out prominently in my memory, one the visit of the King and Queen of Siam and the Court. A grand entertainment was arranged in their honor at Buitenzorg, at which we appeared. His Majesty, the Queen and Court occupied the front rows of seats and there was a gorgeous display of toilettes and jewels. The Siamese ladies were chewing, not tobacco or gum, but the betel nut, which had so blackened their teeth that when they smiled or opened their mouth in conversation, one saw nothing but a black hole. The effect was very strange, and it was quite fascinating to watch with what grace and dexterity they would surrep- titiously expectorate into some be jeweled receptacle. The King was starting out on his tour of the world. He was dark-skinned, rather tall and slender, with a fine face and intellectual forehead. He smiled very genially at some of our displays of technic, and afterwards sent us some tokens of appreciation in the form of very ancient coins of pure gold, made into jewelry. We gave forty concerts in Java inside of two months, and then went back to Singapore on our way to Rangoon ; but for a week or more I had been tormented with prickly- heat, which is prevalent in the Island amongst transients not accustomed to the climate. You can buy a long stick with claws on the end with which to scratch your back, which is very comforting for the moment; but the only effective relief is the shower bath, in which I spent considerable time half a dozen times a day. Hearing that 240 MY MEMORIES Rangoon was even hotter than Batavia, I decided to can- cel Rangoon and find out if there was likely to be a steamer at Singapore going to Australia, where it would be the winter season. In this I was lucky, for a big steamer, coming from Calcutta and bound for Free- mantle on the west coast of Australia, would leave Singa- pore in two days. We took passage at once and when we got on board we found there were besides our party four other passengers (two were going to the gold fields of West Australia), and fifty-eight camels which were actu- ally in possession of the best part of the deck, just amid- ships, nicely covered over in case of bad weather. We had to accept cabins quite at the stern of the vessel and face the camels all through the journey, unless we resigned ourselves to riding backward with our faces to the rudder. This was a disappointing feature of the trip, although camels are interesting creatures; but to get rid of the prickly-heat I felt willing to make any sacrifice, even to enduring the camels. The practice with the claw scratcher was not bad for my bow arm, however; but I could get no sleep at night on account of the torment. Another thing which wore on the nerves of the whole party, including the camels, was a continual hammering on metal for hours and hours at a stretch. The mate had put some of the sailors to work chipping off the rust from the metalwork of the ship and this ear-splitting noise be- came unbearable ; but we had to stand it for several days until the job was finished. The journey from Singapore to Freemantle took nine days, eight of which were hot and very calm. We passed the time as best we could, two of the passengers and my- JAVA 241 self playing interminable rounds at cribbage. On the way down from Singapore, out into the Indian Ocean, through the Straits of Sunda, we passed by the volcanic Island Krakatoa, the eruption of which caused that terrible cataclysm of 1883 in which, we were told, sixty thousand persons were wiped out of existence almost instantane- ously. The captain of our ship was the first to navi- gate through those waters two days after the eruption of the volcano, which cast more than half of the Island to the bottom of the sea, creating a tidal wave which swept boats of all kinds, including ocean-going ships, high on the bluffs, leaving them there hundreds of feet above; the wreckage of some of them still remained. The captain said the water was several feet thick with volcanic dust and thousands of corpses of men and ani- mals, so that it was almost impossible for the ship to make any headway. We soon came in sight of the half of the Island which had not been submerged in the earth- quake and eruption, and the central cone containing the crater of the volcano was still smoking, sending up at regular intervals puffs of smoke, just as before the ter- rible explosion. The scene was superbly beautiful, the waters clear and calm, the coast once more covered with verdant vegetation, but the tall tower of the light-house nearly opposite, which was not destroyed, was still marked by the black line which showed how high the tidal wave had reached in that mad upheaval. One of the passengers who had been there at the time told how he escaped death. There had been some earth- quake shocks for several days previous to the great ex- 242 MY MEMORIES plosion, but the latter came without warning, he said. " It happened on a Sunday when everything was lovely and peaceful, and I had strolled up the hill away from my bungalow where I sat down to watch the boats out on the water. Krakatoa was peacefully smoking his pipe, and the waters smooth as satin; when I gazed at the boats they seemed to be rising as if on an immense swell of the ocean, but before I could grasp what it meant there came the explosion, half of the island fell into the sea, the whole heavens were black with dust and ashes and hot stones fell all about me in showers and the sulphurous gases nearly suffocated me. I must have lost conscious- ness but when I came to myself that peaceful scene had been blotted out and everything was a mass of smoking ruins, an Inferno in reality. I picked myself up after a while and crawled back inland, but not a living thing was to be seen for mile after mile — everything was destroyed, and covered with hot ashes. It is even to-day a mystery to me how I got far enough inland to be saved. The horrible transformation, wrought like the biblical * crack of doom ' ' in the twinkling of an eye,' was more than mortal mind could grasp at once and many a time the vision of the peaceful Sabbath morning comes back to me in contrast to that other of death and desolation." Well, there we were sailing past all that was left of Krakatoa, and from its crater went up regular puffs of smoke into the transparent air as the sun began sinking slowly behind the mountains. It was very difficult to believe the horrible tale of destruction wrought by the gods Chaos, Erebus, Vulcan, in a culmination of wrath upon helpless humanity. I had accounts at first hand JAVA 243 from two who went through the experience and they said the sky was as black as night in towns far away like Batavia and others. And yet in a few years Nature had obliterated all the scars and caused trees and flowers to grow and bloom again. On the ninth day of our journey the wind began to rise and the sea to roughen and we were evidently in for a storm. The night was rough but the next morning the sea was somewhat calmer, but as we approached the port of Freemantle the Captain told me he feared he would not be able to land, as the waters are shallow and it is dangerous for the ships ; but a smaller steamer came alongside ours to take off the passengers; however, to board it was not easy. We managed to transfer ourselves without mishap, but that small steamer danced, I can tell you, and we finally reached the quay without our trunks and only such small hand baggage as we could carry. We had to wait three days before the storm abated enough to get our trunks off the ship. The hotel was just near the port, and we could see our ship in the distance, fight- ing the waves, and feel the wind shaking our windows and rattling our doors. It was very cold, too, — winter weather, and my prickly-heat disappeared altogether. CHAPTER XVIII AUSTRALIA AGAIN The boat which took us from Singapore to West Aus- traha, landing us at Freemantle, went no farther along the coast of Australia, as it made the round trip from West Australia to Calcutta, and to get to other cities we had to take a train to Albany, the principal port of West- ern Australia. As the names of my concert company appeared in the papers amongst the list of passengers from India, the manager of the opera house at Coolgardie came to see me when we were in Perth (the capital of West Australia), and proposed that we should give a series of twenty or thirty concerts in that part of the country, and as he had no other attraction just at that time, he could devote his full time and attention to our tour. I accepted his propo- sition and we were at once booked for five towns, Perth, Freemantle, Albany, Calgoolie, and Coolgardie. Western Australia was dead before the discovery of gold at Calgoolie and Coolgardie, and we arrived at the beginning of the " big boom " of the gold mines which proved to be immensely rich. As we were well known, this being my second tour in Australia, all the newspapers gave us considerable free advertising and our arrival was widely announced, during the time that our trunks were dancing on the ship out in the harbor of Freemantle. I was really worried at the 244 AUSTRALIA AGAIN 245 violence of the storm which lasted three days; for had the vessel gone down all of our music and wardrobes W'ould have been lost; but on the third day the storm be- gan to abate and in time our trunks and the fifty-eight camels were safely landed. Our first concert was given in Perth, just one week after landing, and we then went back to Freemantle for one concert. We then returned to Perth for a second concert which was under the patronage of the Governor. The Opera House was packed from pit to dome and the audience most enthusiastic. We then left for the gold fields, where our living expenses were big; but as the prices charged for tickets were proportionately large the matter was evened up. One room — rather small — with a small fire cost $10.00 a day; but a small room with no fire and a petro- leum lamp at night, cost $5.00. The receipts at the con- certs were large, however, and as it was a difficult matter any way to find comfortable quarters in those mining towns we were well satisfied with what we got in the way of accommodations. The prices for the tickets to the concerts were a pound, ten shillings, and five shillings — (five dollars, two and a half and one twenty-five a seat). The mining towns of Calgoolie and Coolgardie were most orderly, there seeming to be no rough element what- ever; but those Britishers who were intensely interested in the gold question were (as the British are everywhere in the world) great lovers of good music, and there was no limit to the enthusiasm, having been so long deprived of hearing any in that far off country. 246 MY MEMORIES We gave eight concerts at the gold fields, and the night before we left, a reception was given in our honor, at the opera house. The chairs were removed and a ban- quet table installed, from which was served a magnifi- cent supper. Champagne flowed like water, and many- speeches were made complimenting our company, to which we responded with heartfelt thanks. They had not as yet heard enough of our music and requests were made for still one more program, which we gave with great pleasure; for there is nothing which will warm the heart of an artist like real appreciation. We left the gold fields and returned to Perth, where we gave a third concert which was again attended by the Governor and his family, and from there we went on to Albany where we gave a concert before taking the P. & O. boat to Melbourne, where we would appear under the management of Mr. Lohr. Messrs. Williamson and Musgrove were managers for theatrical companies, and when Lohr offered me a contract for the rest of Australia and New Zealand I accepted immediately, as he had brought some great artists from England to Australia and been very successful ; but my first tour of Australia was under the management of Williamson and Musgrove. I had hoped that Lohr would have us give the first con- cert at Adelaide, which would break the voyage from Albany to Melbourne; but he preferred to have us go directly to Melbourne, which was a sea voyage of three days, and there we gave six concerts. My contract with Lohr was for twenty-five concerts in New Zealand, and from Melbourne we went direct to Auckland in the north, playing in cities all the waj toward AUSTRALIA AGAIN 247 the south, to Invercargill. The horse-racing season was on in New Zealand, and Lohr made contracts with the directors of the races in the different towns in the western part of New Zealand, for fourteen concerts. We went as far as Hokitika, appearing in the evenings, after the races were over. In some places we gave only one concert, and in others, as many as the days the races would last. The journeys from one place to another had to be made by boat, as a general thing, and we were constantly in the society of jockeys, trainers and owners of the horses, as well as the horses themselves. As we " belonged to the show," we went to the races every day, and every day I would wager a small sum on one horse or another, faith- fully following the straight tip of this or that owner, and invariably lost money, until, on the last day of the races, I followed by own judgment and came out with enough ahead to reimburse me for the losses. This was the first time in my artistic career in which I had formed a part of a sporting program, and while such a thing was never done in any other country, in New Zealand it was all right, and we had a very enjoyable experience for the rea- son that lovers of the horse happened in this case to be lovers of music as well. From Invercargill we went back to Sydney, Australia, and gave two concerts at the City Hall, the largest in Australia. In another part of " My Memories " I de- scribed this hall and its immense organ, which was the largest in the world, until that at the Exposition of St. Louis was built. The " City Organist " was the official title held by August Wiegand, a graduate of our Royal Conservatory of Liege, We knew each other when boys 248 MY MEMORIES and we were very glad to meet at the Antipodes. Wie- gand's position netted him considerably more than the actual salary of one thousand pounds, as he had the privi- lege of benefit concerts, and certain other perquisites. Wiegand told me that he had played more than five thousand compositions for the organ in the weekly con- certs at the Town Hall. He was a great organist and was a composer as well. I would often go to the organ loft with him and play pieces with organ accompaniment, and the acoustics of the hall were so perfect that even in muted passages the tone of the violin would be heard in every part above the accompaniment of the organ. I added to my regular company a young lady harpist from New Zealand. The people of Great Britain and her colonies are fond of the music of the harp, and Miss Haverly's numbers furnished a pleasing interlude in our programs. I may say without boasting that I believe we broke the record for concerts in Sydney in 1897 with twenty-one in three weeks at the Bijou Theater — six concerts and matinee on Saturday, every week. One day I was at luncheon with Hazon, Director of the Philharmonic Society, and Marish, the manager of Paling and Co., the leading music and piano firm in New South Wales. The Philharmonic Society had for several years given the " Stabat Mater " by Rossini at the City Hall on Good Friday, and had leased the hall as usual for the coming Good Friday ; but they were now rehearsing " The Damnation of Faust " by Berlioz, and during our conversation Hazon said he was doubtful if he could give the Stabat Mater, as there would not be time AUSTRALIA AGAIN 249 to prepare it, on account of the work of Berlioz. I said at once, that if he could not use the hall on Good Friday he might let me have it. Marish insisted on this idea and we took a cab and went to the hall and changed the an- nouncement of the Philharmonic to that of the Musin Concert Co. Good Friday is the best day of the whole year for con- certs, as all the theaters throughout Australia are closed on that day for theatrical performances ; but they usually gave sacred concerts instead. The next day I met Wil- liamson and asked him if he intended giving a sacred concert at his theater, and he said he did. I told him about Hazon having given me that date at the Town Hall, and said that I feared that a sacred concert at his theater would hurt my affair. Williamson did not promise to close his theater ; but I could see that he was ready to be agreeable, and in fact his house was dark on that great day, and thanks to him, my company was the only at- traction in the whole city of Sydney. I had a few dates to fill in Queensland, at Brisbane, Maryborough, etc., but was back in Sydney the night be- fore Good Friday. I had engaged additional talent for the occasion, with Wiegand as organist, a contralto, and a baritone. The singers gave selections from oratorios, my wife and the contralto singing the great duo from the Stabat Mater, and Mrs. Musin also sang the aria " Let the Bright Seraphim " with organ accompaniment and trum- pet obligato, and the Gounod Ave Maria with violin obli- gato by myself. I played the andante and finale of the Mendelssohn Concerto, the Prayer from Moses in Egypt, 250 MY MEMORIES arranged for the G string by Paganini, and the air by Bach for the G string, and other selections of a character in keeping with the occasion. The hall was packed with people and hundreds were obliged to stand. The prices for tickets were at the popu- lar rate of one, two and three shillings, and as most of the money was in silver you can easily understand that it required four baskets to carry it, and, not to mention the time to count it, I had to have a couple of policeman to take it to the hotel. My expenses were not more than five hundred dollars and the net receipts were over six hundred pounds ($3000), which was a nice little purse; but to any artist the mercenary point of view is of minor importance. It was the thrill of the vast audience, the magnificent organ, the elevation of the spirit by the music, which left an impression never to be forgotten. From Sydney we went by train down to Melbourne where we gave two more concerts at the beautiful Town Hall of the city, and August Wiegand accompanied me to play some selections on the organ. From Melbourne we at last got to Adelaide, where we gave three concerts. Adelaide is a most beautiful city of a distinct type, very like Nancy in France, called "La Coquette." Here I bought tickets for Europe by the P. & O. liner Ormuz. My pianist decided to locate permanently in Australia, Miss Haverly returned to her home in Wellington, N. Z., and my secretary, Geyer, also decided to remain in Aus- tralia. My second tour of the world would end when we reached London and I felt that after playing nearly four hundred concerts, the decidedly hard traveling and so forth which we had undergone, merited one year of rest, AUSTRALIA AGAIN 251 and bidding farewell to our hosts of good friends and that hospitable country we sailed away on our return journey of forty-five days. CHAPTER XIX HOMEWARD BOUND We left Adelaide, South Australia, in a large vessel of the P. & O. line, the Ormuz. We settled down for a voyage of at least forty-five days before we would reach England. There were not many first class passen- gers, but down in the steerage were men from the East who gathered on the lower deck in the twilight and sang their peculiar songs, which require considerable vocal flexibility to do those roulades so characteristic of the music of India. We managed to wile away the hours with the usual routine, of bath, breakfast, bouillon, luncheon, nap, aft- ernoon tea, promenades and games on deck, dinner, music and games in the salon and smoking room, supper and nightcaps, reading and telling stories. The weather was fair nearly all the way to Ceylon, where we stopped at Columbo for a few hours to take on coal. Taking advantage of the opportunity to see something of Columbo, we drove to a large hotel and seating our- selves on the wide veranda we soon attracted a number of native merchants and necromancers who displayed their wares and their tricks, — both affording us entertainment. We were initiated into their way of doing business, which was to our disadvantage on that occasion, — the first we had experienced in dealing with people whose beauty of 252 HOMEWARD BOUND 253 countenance, calm, dignified, yet pleasing manners, in- spired the utmost confidence, but who were in reality past masters of the art of deception. We were interested in a display of very fine basket work, exquisitely woven, and I chose a particularly fine specimen. There were several of the merchants interested in the sale standing about, evidently in collusion; for when I had paid and received the article carefully wrapped in paper, I happened to open the parcel after going a few steps, and discovered that what they had given me was a poor specimen indeed of the beautiful work I had se- lected. I went back and said, " This is not the piece which I bought." The venerable prophet examined the article and with apologetic gesture took it back and, showing me the former piece, smiled sweetly, wrapped it up and handed it to me. Full of confidence I took the parcel a second time and walked away ; but a slight suspicion clouded my mind for an instant, and I opened the package to find the prophet had again substituted the inferior piece of work. I was indignant and went back to the man and demanded the perfect piece which I had bought. With a show of deepest regret he patiently took it back; and as he wrapped the right article, I watched him as a cat would a mouse, only to find on opening our parcels after getting back to the ship that the old rascal, who looked so much like a Prophet, had finally and with complete success dis- posed of his imperfect piece of work, and by his leger- demain had cheated me out of my purchase and the per- fectly good gold piece which I had paid him. Such legerdemain was comprehensible after another experience which we had in Columbo that afternoon, A 254 MY MEMORIES handsome oriental in turban and flowing robes, squatted himself in the path before us. Out of the intricate folds of his robe he produced a silk handkerchief, a bottle of water; and in the palm of his hand he showed us some seeds. Apparently the pits of a lemon. He made a little hole in the sand with his finger and planted a couple of the seeds; watered them after covering them with the sand and then spread the handkerchief over the spot. While we gazed to see what would happen next we noticed a slight elevation in the center of the handker- chief which continued to rise higher and higher. Taking the water bottle the man raised a corner of the handker- chief and cautiously sprinkled the ground underneath it. Evidently the seeds were growing rapidly, for in less than three minutes the handkerchief had risen over a foot in the air and when the man removed it with a flourish, there was a fresh green plant with large spreading leaves. How did he do it? Those magicians had evidently developed the art of dis- tracting one's attention to such a fine point, that by some slight and unobserved gesture they could divert one's mind from what they were doing at the moment, although one might suppose himself to be intently following every one of their movements. No doubt that plant was up the man's sleeve all the time, or he may have hypnotized us so that we thought we saw it growing; but, supposing he knew of some scientific solution whereby miraculously rapid growth might be promoted, what a godsend it would be toward solving the question of the high cost of liv- ing in these days! Of course this trick was nothing to what some of the cult are able to perform. HOMEWARD BOUND 255 But now to our ship and the continuation of our jour- ney, through the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, so called no doubt from the dusky red tint of the mountains along the west coast. On the east, as far as the eye could reach, were sandy desert waste and dunes; but as twilight approached, the air was perfumed with the spicy fragrance of Arabia. From time to time there came into view .the solitary figure of a Bedouin swaying along on the back of a camel. One evening as we sat on deck enjoying the balmy per- fumed air, watching the stars and listening to the weird, melancholy warblings of the singers in the forecastle, the captain strolled up and informed us that if we were on deck early in the morning we could see Mount Sinai. Think of it! the Mount where Moses received the Decalogue! I am sorry to state that with the best of intentions I missed it nevertheless. My wife was up before the sun, however, and described Mount Sinai as appearing like a crown of glory. The rays of sunlight streaming between the several peaks — which were dark against that piercing light — spread out in glorious illumination. It was a sight so awe inspiring that she did not wonder the Mount was called holy. The waters of the Red Sea began to grow shallower after a bit, and narrower. The place was pointed out to us where the Children of Israel crossed over on dry land when the waters were pushed back by the mighty wind, which providentially arose to enable them to escape from Pharaoh's pursuing army, which was completely de- 256 MY MEMORIES stroyed when the subsidence of the wind caused the waters to return and engulf it. At this place in the Red Sea we encountered a terrific head wind against which our big ship made headway with difficulty, and it was easy to believe the Biblical story as to the shallow water being driven away to form a dry place where the Children of Israel could cross to the other shore. At Port Said we stopped for a few hours ; but there was nothing of particular interest in the way of sightseeing except a place where roulette was going on. We fol- lowed the crowd and taking a sporting chance I ventured a gold piece, placing it on a number as I used to do occa- sionally at Monte Carlo. Luck was on my side and plac- ing the winning once more, I won again, and the croupier passed over to me ten gold pieces. This was enough, as I did not care to tempt fortune further. We returned to our ship and continued our journey to the Bay of Naples where we lay for some hours, watching Vesuvius smoking and occasionally catching a whiff of the acrid fumes which the wind wafted toward us from the crater. We had anchored early in the morning, and very soon we were visited by a lot of small craft, many containing musicians and singers who gave us over and over again the popular song " Funiculi Funicula." At times the boys in one of the boats would be playing and singing this song in a different key and measure from those in other boats, creating a confusion and discord which drove us nearly wild. There was no escaping it, for the port- holes were all open even if we sought refuge in our cabins, so we diplomatically bought them off one by one, and they HOMEWARD BOUND 257 rowed away satisfied with the coins which we threw to them. The vocabularies of all languages must have been ex- hausted in describing the beautiful Bay of Naples, and an attempt to do so on my part would furnish no novelty ; but of course this bay is unique, and leaves an indelible impression, in spite of the many entrancing pictures of scenes in different parts of the world, which we have stored away in memory's gallery, each and every one hav- ing marked physical characteristics and psychological ef- fects. Beautiful as is the Bay of Naples, there is, over- shadowing it, that menacing terror, Vesuvius, which needs careful watching; for, one must be prepared to flee when the monster growls and shakes with wrath, for fear that molten streams of lava will be emitted from its mouth and the earth be covered with ashes, as at the destruc- tion of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In marked contrast to this, the psychological effect of beautiful " Golden Gate," and of the harbor of Sydney, is that of charming tranquillity and peace. That of New York is of overpowering energy, vitality and daring. As a big ocean liner enters the harbor, a vast number of ves- sels of all sizes seem to be dashing towards it, plunging over the water, tossing the foam, and emitting loud, deep, and shrill barks from their black throats, like a pack of hounds unleashed by the hunter, and wild for the chase. All is rush! drive! The vast piles of towering buildings typify the height to which American ambition and enter- prise will carry even those who, a short time before, might have been leading a peaceful existence on the -other side of the Atlantic. 258 MY MEMORIES Here, all the impelling mental force of man has full sway, to conquer material obstacles, and a European, experiencing for the first time his landing in New York, feels as if a large amount of vitality had gone from him, to be absorbed by the strenuous atmosphere of this great city, and that a week's rest at least will be necessary, be- fore he feels himself again, and able to take a sane view of the outlook. But we must return to the Bay of Naples. Our ship is getting under way, and we are now counting on seeing the Rock of Gibraltar, this name being a corruption of Jebel Tariq (Tank's Mountain), who began to build a castle on the rock in 711, which was finished in 742. What Cyclopean force of nature cut this colossal rock almost clean from the top, which is more than fourteen hundred feet high, to the sea below ? In primeval times, the basin of the Mediterranean and the Strait may have been a valley between the Sierra Nevada range on the coast of Spain, and the Atlas range on the northern coast of Africa; but whatever the cause of the formation of this gigantic rock, which is two and a half miles long at its base, as one regards it from the deck of a puny ocean cockle shell of ten thousand tons, the effect is grandiose to say the least. This rock is there to stay, and we are glad that it is in the possession of an enlightened people who know how to put it to the best possible use. A mighty fortress and a formidable rampart it is indeed. Nothing could have pleased me more than to have gone ashore or rather on the rock, had we been permitted to do so ; but we were bound for England, via the Atlantic with HOMEWARD BOUND 259 its variable moods and movements ; and in fact we arrived safely in London town after a most enjoyable voyage of forty-five days. We rested there a bit and then went on to dear old Liege. CHAPTER XX RETURN TO BELGIUM As my last tour had consumed two years you can imag- ine that my mother and brothers were at the station wait- ing for us when we arrived. I had not been two days in town when I received a note from Mr. Pety de Thozee, then Governor of the Province of Liege, and also Presi- dent of the Administrative Commission of the Royal Con- servatory, which told me that Cesar Thomson had resigned and asked me if I would take the position. As related earlier in my memoirs, I had refused this position fifteen years or more before this, as I was then at the height of my career, and Thomson took the position ; since being married and having a family, he could better accept the honor. I replied to the Governor that I would consult with my wife; but I did not find her very enthusiastic on the prospect of settling in Liege, and I must say that I had never had the intention of so doing. I explained to my wife that Leonard, Jacques Dupuis, Heinberg, Rodolph Massart and other great violinists had occupied that position ; which would be a very easy one to fill, as I would teach only six months of the year and in the balance of the time we could make concert tours in Eu- rope and America, and my teaching would occupy but six hours of each week. I told her also that my mother was getting old (she was then 'J2) and that I felt I ought 260 RETURN TO BELGIUM 261 to stay near her a while, and persuaded my wife that after so many years of traveling a rest was really neces- sary. At last my wife consented to do as I thought best, to the great satisfaction of my family; but had it not been for the pressure brought to bear by the State and my family I would probably have settled in Paris. In that same year, 1898, I was by " Arrete Royal " nominated Professor with special salary and six months' leave of absence (including vacations) for concert tours in other countries. On Feb. i8th, 1898, I was presented as soloist at the second concert of the season, given by the orchestra of the Royal Conservatory and played three numbers, the Russian Concerto by Lalo, the Concerto by Mendelssohn, and the Folia of Corelli. The orchestra is composed en- tirely of the professors and laureates of the Conservatory, and numbers one hundred musicians, conducted by the Director of the Conservatory. The Grande Salle de Concert of the institution is not one which can be rented by any one or any society, being for the use of the institution exclusively ; and every season six concerts are given by the orchestra at which renowned artists appear as soloists. In the great hall, pupil-orches- tra concerts are also given during the winter and recitals on the large organ (built at the rear of the stage at the top of the tiers of seats for the singers in oratorios or other choral works) are given by the professor of the organ. In the large concert hall are held the annual public examinations which take place for all branches of music and last over one month, the boxes, orchestra chairs, dress circle and galleries being occupied by the public free of 262 MY MEMORIES charge; and the interest manifested by the pubHc of Liege, Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent in the annual examinations is as great as for a bullfight in Spain or a baseball match in the United States. The distribution of the prizes is a great event. The Governor and other members of the administrative com- mission, director and members of the Town Hall are seated on the stage before a long table covered with di- plomas, prizes and laurel wreaths, and as the names of the successful laureates are called, each one mounts the stage and on being presented with his or her prize, is congratu- lated by one or another of the distributors. For the subscription concerts the seats in the boxes, dress circle and fauteuil d'orchestra (orchestra chairs) are retained permanently from year to year by the same subscribers as at the opera. In 1898 there were more than seven hundred pupils, belonging to all classes of society, represented in the Con- servatory ; to whom instruction in music in every branch was given free of cost. There were about sixty or more professors whose appointments were on the plane of the University and, thus being financially independent of the pupils, the professor could exercise an authority and di- rect his work for their artistic advancement in a manner otherwise impossible, where the pupil is the employer and free to work as the teacher says or not, with full liberty to fly from one teacher to another, according to the fancy or whim of the moment or upon the advice of persons who may be paying for his instruction, who as a general thing know nothing as to what is essential to the formation of efficient musicians and artists. In my own case since I KUVAI, CONSER\'A rOKV Ol' lAKCE RETURN TO BELGIUM 263 started my own violin school in New York in 1908 I have had no cause to complain of pupils in the above re- spect; for every one came with the serious intention of making the career in one line or another as players or teachers or both and remained with me in many cases for several years or until their funds were expended. Never having been the recipient of an endowment fund or free scholarships for talented but impecunious students, my work has necessarily been limited to a certain extent as to the number of my violin students, facts which show plainly the value of an institution like those of Liege, Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent, which are not charitable institutions, but Government schools of music, placed above political and commercial considerations for the sole object of developing native talent for the artistic glory of Belgium. The Directors of the four conservatories in Belgium have always been Belgian musicians who are, as young composers, winners of the Prix de Rome, and have distinguished themselves as composers and directors of orchestras, directors of the opera, etc. The Conserva- toire of Liege has had four directors, Dausoigne Mehul, 1827-1862; Etienne Soubre, 1862-1871 ; Jean Theo. Radoux, 1872 to about 191 1, and the present incumbent, Sylvain Dupuis, formerly conductor of the Opera at the Brussels La Monnaie. The appointments of directors and professors are for life, with a pension on retirement for age or disability after twenty-five years' service. The faculty are thus secured from financial needs and enjoy a tranquillity which enables them to concentrate on their special calling for which they have been specially fitted by education and training. 264 MY MEMORIES The only thing required of a prospective pupil is natural aptitude, which is determined by the examination preliminary to his acceptation, industry, and progress. If a pupil should not make progress and make a good showing at the annual examinations he will be eliminated. Ambitious and diligent students are encouraged and re- warded by the acclaim of the government and the great public who regard the achievements of its artist musicians as an honor in which the whole nation participates. During the ten years of my professorship at the Royal Conservatoire of Liege, I would hold my violin classes from January 15th to the beginning of July, appearing occasionally in concerts with orchestral societies in Liege, Brussels, Antwerp and other cities and also giving my lecture on the history of the violin. At the Conservatoire there was no special professor of Esthetics and upon each teacher of the advanced classes, devolved the duty of instructing his pupils in this branch and the history of his instrument. My lectures to my pupils developed the subject of the lecture which I gave in public in two languages ; in French to audiences speaking French and in English to those speaking Eng- lish, as in New York City in 1908 at Mendelssohn Hall. My lecture began with the Ravanastron, 5000 years B. c, and traced the development of tlie stringed instru- ments down to the violin of the present day, being pro- fusely illustrated with pictures thrown on a screen, which I explained in detail. Besides the pictures of ancient and modern instruments, I showed the portraits of the an- cient and modern makers and composers, and interspersed AirSIX'S CLASS AT Till-. l.ll'.Cl'. K()\" \T. CONSl-.KX A Tom' RETURN TO BELGIUM 265 the discourse by playing selections for the violin, chrono- logically arranged. This lecture recital was something new and attracted wide interest. My lecture, as well as all the musical selections, was given from memory, without notes, and, although it took about two and a half hours to deliver it, my audiences were closely attentive from first to last and expressed their pleasure at the novel entertainment. An American manager was somewhat skeptical as to my ability to make myself understood in speaking Eng- lish to American audiences ; but I was gratified to find myself thoroughly well understood, as was proved by their sustained interest and the numbers of persons who came to compliment me after the lecture. As for my- self, I must say that I enjoyed giving this illustrated his- torical lecture as much as anything I have ever done in the way of artistic entertainment, and it was not fatigu- ing to me, as the program was divided between speaking, illustrating, and playing, and the time passed very rapidly. Concerts of Dumont Lamarche Fund At Liege there was a wealthy amateur of music who left a fund for four seances of Chamber concerts to be given annually during the winter season at which the most celebrated organizations, such as the Joachim, Bohemian, Flonzaley quartettes, appeared. These concerts were free of cost to the public and were given in the great hall of the Conservatory. It was always packed to the utmost and those who came a little late missed hearing the great- est quartette organizations of the world. 266 MY MEMORIES The Flonzaley quartette is composed of two Italians and two Belgians — Betti, Italian ; Pochon, Belgian ; Ara, Italian, and D'Archambeau, Belgian. This quartette is considered the most perfect, not only in Europe, but also in America. During one of the years of my professorship at the Conservatory of Liege, I received a visit from Arthur M. Abell, whom I had known in New York. Mr. Abell was formerly a pupil of Cesar Thomson in Brussels, a charming conversationalist and interesting writer on musical subjects. As a critic and analyst of violin play- ing he is thoroughly well informed. Abell had a strong desire to be heard in the town of violinists, and I offered to arrange a recital for him in one of the halls of the Conservatory. He accepted my offer and I invited the director of the Conservatory, and all of the professors, and many of the more advanced pupils. His audience was composed of the musical elite of the city, including the newspaper critics. Mr. Abell's program was quite classic. He played the G Minor of Bruch, some old classic sonata and two groups of pieces, entirely from memory. His audience was warmly appreciative and generous in their applause. Mr. Arthur M. Abell had been the correspondent of the Musical Courier in Berlin for many years, but this last year he has been in New York City and other cities. His articles on Music in the different countries after the War were highly in- teresting, and widely read. Oscar Doutreloii- de Try miza de Try LisTooriTie.June 19.1869 RETURN TO BELGIUM 267 DOUTRELON DE TrY Doutrelon de Try of Lille, France, was and is to-day, the best friend I had in Europe. Although a very suc- cessful business man, he was an enthusiastic devotee of music : a true amateur ; whose wealth was largely ex- pended in promoting musical societies and in helping artists; organizing festivals and in extending the hos- pitality of his beautiful Chateau de Lambersart, to many celebrities such as Massenet, Bizet, Christine Nilsson, and many others. On account of Doutrelon's munificence toward artists and the propagation of the art of music, we called him " le Mecene Lillois." I met Doutrelon the first time when I was in Lille with Faure, in 1876, and we have been the best of friends ever since. In 1901, at the great festival of all the singing societies of Belgium, Doutrelon was the delegate sent by France. He was also one of the judges of the great international festival which took place in Lille in 1902, and has been the recipient of many tokens of appre- ciation from our Belgian musical societies and from those of France as well. For his devotion to the cause of the art he has been decorated with distinguished orders of both countries. Doutrelon's wife is no other than the greatest lady 'cello player of all time, Eliza de Try, a Belgian, who, like her teacher, Servais, was considered the Paganini of the 'cello. Leonard, as well as Servais, was enrap- tured with her playing and her European successes were phenomenal. She came to America, to play at the popu- lar concerts given in the Grand Opera House in 1872 at 268 MY MEMORIES 23rd St. and 8th Ave., New York City. These concerts were suddenly interrupted by the death of James Fisk, who was killed by Stokes. The young artist had in her pos- session a letter of introduction from Leopold II, King of Belgium, to his sister Charlotte, Empress of Mexico; to which country she would have gone to appear in con- certs, had not the project been rendered impossible by the misfortune to the Royal family, by the execution of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. Leopold II's letter is most interesting and proves that this Belgian King, considered in Europe " the Diplomat of Nations,'' had foreseen the events which befell the Belgian Nation in 1914; for, in his letter to his sister Charlotte, dated 1866, he says, in French, translated: Chateau de Laeken, July 27, 1866. My dear Charlotte: I thank you for your last letter. I send you these lines by Miss de Try, a young artist, under the protection of Servais and Leonard, crowned with success in Paris, and first prize of our Conservatory. I have never seen or heard this young person ; but if you can, without disturbing yourself, be useful to her, perhaps you will do so. You know the events in Europe: that beautiful Aus- trian army destroyed, the Prussians are before Vienna and Presburg, all that in less than thirty days. Prussia is at this moment dominant in Europe. The Emperor Napoleon occupies the second place, Russia the third, and England last and even less than the last. Here in Belgium I am on my tour around the Provinces, lA fc^J^C^ /^^ tE^ateau ic 3fackfn. ^i^ ^^Cu\^ / ^ 2. c-«,, A / ^ •^'"^ ^ rc^J^ c-*. / « '^- / tA-*^ «-«-, / >^ .^-~ /- »«_ /.. J> t> ^^- < ^ ^«. «. **-«,..v-. '^ J^V /^ ^ 4" J-^. X- y- /- 4' ^•*, .,^ J< ''^-< ^^^ ^'— . CT — , A^^ A ""7^ ^ ~y^ ^ y^.^,' -. ^ *v,. ^ ^ ^^ t--^ ^!.*. ^ „/^ • * «— ^ RETURN TO BELGIUM 269' and everywhere I am received with the greatest enthusi- asm. Our public spirit has never been better or more national. The Regent in Antwerp remains disagreeable. Our powerful neighbors for the moment do not seem to take any interest in us. It is however difficult to hope that future great events will not affect us. I would like to have a Ministry completely united, to put our army on a good footing. Unhappily I cannot obtain it from the Cabinet, and our future is too de- pendent on the caprices of fortune. I kiss you tenderly. Signed, Leopold, Note — (It is a pity Leopold II could not have lived a few years longer, to have seen the powerful Prussians put to rout completely, and the future of Belgium assured by her gallant allies, thanks to the heroic stand taken by Albert, King of the Belgians.) The envelope of this letter was addressed by the hand of the King, To her Majesty, the Empress of Mexico. In 1907-8, I had the misfortune to lose my mother and I then decided, to the satisfaction of my wife, to send in my resignation to the Belgian Government and estab- lished my Belgian School of Music in New York. It is to my wife that I owe the fact that I was spared from being under the heels of the Germans who took possession of the town of Liege in 19 14, and made the inhabitants their slaves. 270 MY MEMORIES According to letters received from my brothers, what the Germans could not steal they destroyed and that, when they were obliged by the Allies to leave, the town was bare. My brothers say that there is no word in any language strong enough to express the atrocities com- mitted by those barbarians. \ MRS. ()\'IJ)K AR-SIN CHAPTER XXI VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS Not long ago, a former pupil wrote me to ask if the modern violin masters are superior to the old ones, and my answer was no. I take for example the Conserva- tory of Paris which had at its head Viotti, Rode, Kreut- zer, Baillot, Habeneck, the latest teachers being Remy, Berthelier, Lefort, Nadaud. I took .also for example the Conservatory of Brussels which had Charles de Beriot, Leonard, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, the teachers of to-day being Thomson, Cornells, Marchot and Van ZanVoord. To my knowledge not one of the younger generation has written either a study or a concerto, although Kreutzer, Rode and Fiorillo wrote their celebrated studies before they were thirty-five years old. Viotti, Kreutzer and Rode composed their concertos when about twenty years old and upwards. Vieuxtemps and Leonard wrote theirs when still very young and left to posterity works which made their names immortal. I have also been asked if the modern violin virtuosos are more skillful than those of old times. I replied that from the technical point of view some of the old masters must have been superior, judging by the composi- tions they wrote and played. First take Locatelli 271 272 MY MEMORIES (Pietro), born in Italy in 1693, died in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1764. He was the last pupil of Corelli and was the one to diverge the most from the manner of his master and by his originality and audacity he succeeded in creating extraordinary effects. It is surprising that so little is known of the life of Locatelli, while his compositions have given him so brilliant a reputation that his name is placed among the greatest of the old classic masters. No traces of his ca- reer can be found in the archives of the big European cities and we know only that after Corelli's death, he made frequently long concert tours and finally established him- self in Amsterdam where he died at 71 years of age. In his works " L'arte del Violino," his " Enigmatical Caprices and Concertos," he is considered by composers and violin virtuosos to be the pioneer of other great violinists. It is no wonder that violinists of his time could not do justice to his compositions, which they called " devil- ish," as they were much too difficult for them to play and understand. What placed the " Enigmatical Studies of Locatelli " still further above their comprehension, was that this master had a way of writing his music with ab- breviations. He would, for instance, write out one whole measure of a caprice as it should be played and the rest of the measures of the work would be abbreviated, which the player would have to solve, and as these enigma caprices, as they were called, required an experience equal to that of Locatelli himself in order to play them as he intended them to be played, we see why these works have been shelved to a large extent. But some of them are VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 273 now available for violinists to study with great profit and enjoyment. In some of them I have eliminated the abbreviations and carried out every measure to the full and every note is written out as it ought to be played, with the fingering wherever necessary. In this work I must thank my brilliant pupil, Miss Anna Moya, for her excellent and patient assistance. The labyrin;h and the study in D Major for extensions of the third and fourth fingers in double stoppings, I consider the very best written and the most profitable to study. Locatelli has been to modern violinists from Paganini down what Hector Berlioz was in orchestral ef- fects to Wagner, Liszt and younger composers for or- chestra. Paganini Born in Genoa in 1784, died in Nice, France, in 1840. So much has been written about this great genius that I shall relate only a few incidents which are not in any encyclopedia. Camillo Sivori, the only pupil of Paga- nini and at that time the most celebrated Italian virtuoso, was a friend of Leonard, and I met him often at Leon- ard's home in Paris, and although much younger than he, Sivori took some liking to me and we were together pretty often. He was living in Rue de Trevise in a hotel and I was living in Rue Cadet, just one block dis- tant. I used to go to see him very often when he was in Paris and I always turned the conversation to Paganini. He told me how charming the great violinist was to him and also about his Guarnerius del Gesu given to him by 274 MY MEMORIES an amateur and how he tuned his vioHn just half a tone higher than usual to F-Bb-Eb and Ab, instead of having his violin tuned as we do to E A D G, and he used very thin strings. In his concerto in D the orchestra was playing in E^ The effect was striking for the other violinist, also for the public. I read a few critiques on Paganini by Guhr, a German violinist and critic who criticized him for his tone al- though recognizing his wonderful technique. It is only comparatively recently — a few years — that a violinist virtuoso could dra,w a good house in Europe or in America. For example, Vieuxtemps, Sarasate, Wil- hemj, Wieniawski, had to get the help of a pianist of repu- tation or a cantatrice of renown. Paganini made all Eu- rope run to hear him no matter in what capitals or towns of any size he appeared. Sivori told me that his tone was powerful and luscious and that he played all his pieces as he wrote them. Sivori's " piece de resistance " was the finale of the 2nd Concerto of Paganini, called " La Clo- chette," but Sivori was a small man with short fingers, and he was obliged to arrange many things in the double har- monics and when the stretching was too big for his small hands. He showed me how Paganini fingered the scales which I have adopted in my revision of the Belgian School of Violin. Other great virtuosos of the olden times were Hein- rich Ernst, born in Austria, and Ferdinand Laub, a Bo- hemian violinist, whom I heard once in Liege, when I was a boy, and who left a tremendous impression on account of his stupendous technique. He was at that time teacher VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 275 at the Conservatory of Moscow. I remember that many- years after the vioHn teachers were still talking about Laub. Belgian School of Violin Playing An unscrupulous musician wrote about three years ago in a musical magazine that the Belgian School of Violin playing did not exist, and to refute the assertion I took down my old books and hunted up historical facts to prove that the Belgian school had existed since very ancient times and also published four books of the Belgian School from the first principles to the highest virtuosity. Some Historical Facts When we say a school is French, German, Italian or Russian, what is meant by the term? A " school " means the disciples of a man of genius, superior knowledge and of new ideas, the value of which he demonstrated and taught to his pupils who handed down their knowledge to succeeding generations. It is true that a Belgian school exists and has existed from ancient times and furthermore that other schools were derived from the ancient masters who went from the low countries to Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria and even to the Court of Peter the Great in Russia, where they demonstrated their advancements in the science and art of composition, singing and playing of musical in- struments, and where they founded schools which were the source of our- modern development, irrespective of T^ationality. Charles de Beriot, born in Louvain-, Belgium, was the 276 MY MEMORIES teacher of Henri Vieuxtemps. With very few excep- tions, all the greatest violinists since De Beriot have been graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Liege or have been taught by masters of this school. Among the products of this school may be listed such artists as Henri Leonard, Lambert Massart, Eugene Ysaye, Martin Marsick, Cesar Thomson, Emile Sauret, Fritz Kreisler, Jeno Hubay, Jacques Thibaud, Carl Flesch, etc. Going further back into musical history, a few names will serve, to prove the antiquity of the Belgian school. A monk named Hucbald, 840, of the Convent of St. Amand, near Tournai, Belgium, is called the father of primitive or ancient harmony. But the true founders of the first school of music in Rome (1549) were the two musicians from the Netherlands, Arkadelt and Goudi- mel. From this school came Palestrina, Animuccia, Nanini, Allegri, composer of the celebrated " Miserere," who was a pupil of Nanini. This was before the violin, as we know it to-day, had appeared, and from one hun- dred to two hundred years before Corelli, Tartini, Loca- telli and Viotti were born. In 1540 appears Jean de Ockegem, born in Hainaut, Belgium. One of his pupils was Josquin des Pres (called the father of modern harmony), Chapel Master of the Vatican, Rome. Another illustrious representative of the ancient Belgian School in Italy, was Rolland de Latre (also called Orlando Lasso), born at Mons, Belgium, 1520. At twenty-one, he was Director of the Church of St. John Lateran at Rome. He traveled in France, VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 277 in England, and in 1557, was called to the court of Bavaria where he died in 1594. Franco, called in Belgium Frank, of the Cathedral of Liege (1066) was the inventor of modern rhythm. Dumont, born in Liege (1610), was the first to use thorough bass in his compositions. The above brief sketch of a few historical facts from authentic records should settle the question of the ex- istence of the Belgian school in music from antiquity down to the predominance of the Belgian school of violin since 1827. The Belgian School of Violin My edition of the Belgian Violin School in four vol- umes from the first principles to the highest virtuosity by Leonard, with additional studies of my own, has been so far a very big success and is used by hundreds of teachers all over the world. In revising somewhat these studies, I did so with no idea of improving upon Leonard's school (which could not be in any respect bettered by any one) but to facili- tate their comprehension by the student and render easier the task of the teacher. Leonard was called chief of the Belgian school for the reason that he so perfected the science and art of bowing as to produce a more voluminous and singing tone, and the use of the whole bow from frog to tip and vice versa. Furthermore, his books cover the whole field of violin instruction. There are many authors who cover certain phases, but Leonard was the only master who 278 MY MEMORIES / covered the entire field from A to Z in a concentrated form, comprising every essential, but eliminating every non-essential as a great waste of time. Leonard was not only a great, if not the greatest of all pedagogues, but also a great player. He was the first to play that classic, the Mendelssohn Concerto, in Germany at Berlin, with the illustrious composer himself conducting the orchestra. Leonard's method was designed to develop equally and with uniformity the bowing, technic, style, musical knowledge and comprehension in order to make a com- plete artist, which cannot be accomplished where one fea- ture such as technic of the left hand is specialized to the detriment of the bowing. The three reasons why the great works of Henri Leon- ard (called Hubert Leonard in many encyclopedias) are less known in the English-speaking countries are : 1. His books are in French. 2. The markings of Fingering and Bowing are very few. 3. Being European editions, they are very expen- sive. Furthermore, by my new edition, the work of the teacher will be made much easier by the fact that he will not have to lose time in marking the fingerings and the easy second violin accompaniment will enable him to keep his eyes on the pupil all the time. My Ten Commandments for Young Aspiring Violin Students 1. Begin young. 2. Seek a good teacher. ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ yfr -.y^ X^ ' vi^ > ; '^^ f-i-'r u 7 Y-js/iiii ii '^ J i il VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 279 3. Take at least two full lessons every week. 4. Practice from three to five hours every day. 5. Practice mentally, as well as with the fingers and bow. 6. Practice scales every day. 7. Practice slowly (for control, flexibility, strength and endurance). 8. Listen to yourself. 9. Exercise your memory from the very beginning. 10. Learn the science of music, solfeggio, harmony, sight-reading (indispensable). Essentials Natural gift for music. Aptitude for the violin. Love of work. Perseverance. Self-control in public. A good instrument. The Violin It was in the i6th century that the violin suddenly ap- peared in its present form. As to the subject of the in- ventor everything is contradictory. Of conjectures there are a plenty but of certainty there is none. The antiquity of the violin has always been a subject of dis- pute among savants. Whence came the violin ? No one knows. Who made it? We are equally ignorant. Some say that it was Duiffoprugar at Bologna. Others that it was Caspar da Salo at Brescia, and still others that it was Andreas 28o MY MEMORIES Amati at Cremona. All however agree that in the 1 6th century two large schools of instrument making were formed; one of them at Brescia, having as its chief Caspar da Salo, and the other at Cremona, founded by Andreas Amati. These two schools immediately arrived to a de- gree of skill in making instruments of the violin family which has never been surpassed or ever equaled, and the violin seems to have been born perfect. The violin which the Apollo of Raphael plays is for shape and size the same as it is now. See what progress has been made in modern times by makers of other instruments. See how piano manufacturers have improved the shrill, pitiful thin tone of the spinet, the ancestor of the piano; and what a revolution has taken place in wind instruments, in con- trast to what they once were, when the art was in its infancy. As much as modern pianos, cornets, clarinets, etc., are superior to anything formerly made, so are the violins of the Amatis, Stradivarius, and Guarnerius su- perior to the best work of modern makers, which is a contradiction to the doctrine of progress; for the violin as it appeared in all its perfection in 1550 has not been improved upon in more than three centuries, and no one has ever arrived to the same degree of perfection in stringed instrument making as the old Italian masters. All the scientific problems essential to their perfection of form and tone had been worked out to a perfect solu- tion by the inventor whoever he was. On the back of one of the Duiffoprugar 'cellos was inscribed the follow- ing: " I lived in the forest until I was slain by the VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 281 relentless axe. Whilst alive I was silent, but in death I became sonorous and melodious." There is much food for thought in this allegory, which seems to point out what the puny creative power of man may accomplish, from the material aspect, and from the spiritual point of view, demonstrates the continuity of the soul of man after death. The Bow For over a thousand years the bow remained in a rudi- mentary shape, being highly arched. During the i6th century it still retained the form of an arc and was called I'arco. Corelli in the 17th century made it more flexi- ble and Tartini at the beginning of the i8th century improved it also, but it was Francois Lupot, the father of Nicolas Lupot, who during the i8th century sup- pressed the arc for a stick almost straight. Then Francois Tourte flattened the hair, made the bow more supple and solid and bent the stick toward the hair. J. B. Vuillaume, of Paris, invented the fixed frog, and the efforts of Tourte united to the invention of the fixed frog gives the perfect bow of to-day. I can not resist telling an amusing description of the violin and the bow given in the exclamation of a fiddler of ancient times, who said, " Heaven reward the man whoever he was who first hit the idea of sawing the insides of a cat with the tail of a horse." 282 MY MEMORIES An Interesting Letter of Tartini Teaching by Correspondence. This is a translation by Dr. Burney in 1779, of this remarkable Tartini letter to one of his pupils, addressed to Madelena Lombardini. Padua, March 5, 1760. My very much esteemed Signora Madelena : I shall begin the instruction you wish from me, by let- ter, and if I should not explain myself with sufficient clearness, I entreat you tell me your doubts and difficul- ties, in writing, which I shall not fail to remove in a fu- ture letter. (This letter, which takes at least eight pages with a few examples in music, proves that the violin in the eighteenth century was taught by correspondence). There were others before Tartini. Monteclair, in 171 1, and Dupont, of Paris, who in 1740, wrote " Prin- ciples of violin playing by questions and answers, whereby persons may learn by themselves to play the instrument." Naturally pictures and exercises on perfect intonation are absolutely indispensable. Letter from Camille Saint-Saens Translation of a letter from Camille Saint- Saens to Ovide Musin, 57 West 76 Street, New York, dated April 15, ipip, Rue de Coiircelles, 8j bis, i/th Ar. My dear Friend : I have written so many letters lately that I cannot re- U i>^^ /j /^ u ^/ /y/f e^ /.•a--^/•v^ ,x^a-v ^^u.v^ ^^^.-. ^,V-ft>- -^A . ^.. ^.. ^.v.. 'V *.!/*- t(? cu~'h^ jLc cuS^'Ji^' * ^y^ - sia'oxi) lilttj-'.k of s.vix'r-SAi'iNs •f^ JU- ^ .^.> A /.^ J'^.^^,^.^^ ^ -;i- ^' ^ c/- B VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 283 member exactly if I have written to you or if I only had the intention of doing so. It seems to me though that I told you the great pleasure your letter gave me and my regret that the excessive heat prevented my making a visit to Mme. Musin during my last sojourn in the United States ; but I do not remember to have written you about my Concerto in B minor. Schirmer has made an edition of it arranged by Sauret. He thought no doubt that this Concerto, written by a pianist, needed a violinist to give it the last touches. He (Schirmer) evidently did not know that this Concerto was written for Sarasate and was entirely under his control, and that it does not con- tain one detail which was not approved by my illustrious friend Sarasate. The inscription " Authorized " put on the title page, leads one to suppose that all the changes made by Sauret were also authorized, which was not the case. Schirmer was authorized by Durand, Paris, to pub- lish my work, but he had no authority to go any further. The French edition only is authentic. Sauret was not satisfied in changing the bowing alone, but he has com- pletely modified certain passages which, with my own fingering, produce a very original effect. For instance, by substituting he has made a change which is ordinary and easier to play, but which does not produce the effect I intended at all. Play it my way and you will see that it produces a glis- I 284 MY MEMORIES sando which is an altogether different effect from the other, which is banal. So there it is. As I have already told you, and I repeat it, I have never forgotten the old days and you will always remain one of my favorites and you will be received with open arms if you should have the happy thought to come to Paris one of these days. Your old friend, C. Saint-Saens, Felix Renard's Berceuse In line with this subject (Saint-Saens), which has given European composers and their publishers cause for com- plaint against American firms, is an affair the truth about which I now take occasion to state. A friend of mine, Felix Renard, of Huy, Belgium, a violinist and former pupil of Leonard, wrote a Berceuse which was published by Gevaert, a publisher of Liege. Renard asked me to play it on my American tours and I used it as an encore selection during several of my tours in the United States, and as these were each year on dif- ferent routes and the Berceuse always made a hit with the public, every one who could fiddle a little was playing it, and the sales, it seems, were quite large. I had used a manuscript copy for my pianist and was surprised to learn, in a roundabout way, that an American music house had published an American edition and was making the sales and naturally the profits, while the European pub- lisher and the composer received nothing. One summer, when I was back in Liege for a visit, Renard came to see me, in company with his wife, and with Mrs. Musin present, went over the matter of his Berceuse. VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 285 " Here am I, the composer," he said, " and Gevaert, the publisher. You made it popular in America and it was taken away from us by others without leave or li- cense and they make money on it in America and we get nothing. What shall I do about it ? " We agreed that the only way would be to have an American firm publish it in a new form, with certain changes as it was played by me, with my name included on the title page as a reminder that it was the Renard Berceuse played and made known and popular by Ovide Musin. I agreed to have Breitkopf and Hartel make the new edition. Renard gave me carte blanche as to arrangements, title, etc., with the publishers, with a view to securing to him some returns on his work. On coming over from my tour, I left the matter in the hands of Breitkopf and Hartel and started traveling. With the best intentions in the world toward Felix Re- nard, I must confess that his Berceuse did not occupy a paramount place in my mind, as I had plenty to do in attending to my own tour, traveling every day, and I was glad to board the ship for Belgium, scarcely stopping a day in New York, so that it never occurred to me to call on Breitkopf and Hartel to see how the Berceuse was selling. I should say further that previous to my arrangements with Renard as to the new publication, I had not played the piece for some time, having compositions of my own on my programs and as pieces for encore, so it will be readily understood why the matter slipped from my mind. 286 MY MEMORIES I got back to Liege and one day on the street I saw the Renards, but they did not seem to see me. I thought nothing of it, however, until, on later occasions, it be- came evident that there was a decided intention on their part to cut me. I was puzzled, but it did not disturb me and it never occurred to me that the Berceuse was the cause. I knew, of course, that Breitkopf and Hartel would send along their annual statements and on receiving them, Renard would come in for his share of anything over and above the cost of publication. But one day I received a letter from Renard which was positively insulting. It conveyed the idea that he felt he was being robbed by me, that I was gathering in shekels of wealth derived from sales of his composition, and demanded an accounting. I wrote at once to Breitkopf and Hartel telling them to send a statement to Renard as to the expense of pub- lication and receipts, together with the engraved plates and remainder of unsold copies. Renard received these in a short time and the expense fell on me, as the sales consisted of only 35 copies. This was a terrible blow to Renard in view of his suspicions of my honesty which I had reason to know he had not kept to himself but which had been a matter of gossip among his friends. At any rate, Renard did the right thing in the end, for, at a public examination at the Liege Conservatoire, when a number of the professors and members of the jury were gathered in the foyer, as I came along he rushed up and embraced me and with tears in his eyes, begged my pardon before the crowd. Uj ■Tl O o VIOLINIST REFLECTIONS 287 I must say that, although I forgave Renard, it is more than likely that no one in America would ever have heard his Berceuse except for me. Still I have not forgotten his misjudgment of me which was quite inexcusable, as we had been friends from boyhood and companions at the Conservatoire. Misleading Advertisements There are teachers who advertise themselves as repre- senting some prominent teacher: as though such a thing were possible, and many students are duped by this false idea. A great teacher has his knowledge and experience which he uses to the best advantage for the pupil, according to the requirements of each and every one. I quote from one of the oldest pupils of Leschetizky, who said " noth- ing irritates the old Master so much as this expression — Leschetizky Method or system " and he said " only charlatans use it." A professor of a University, for one hour's teaching, is often obliged to study his subject for two days in order to prepare the subject matter for that hour; but in the case of a teacher of piano or violin it is only from what he hears the pupil do during the lesson, that he will be able to make his observations and corrections, and every pupil being different, his system or method will change accord- ing to the pupil he hears, so no one can say with truth that he or she represents a Master teacher. This is a catch-penny way of getting business, and is used only in America, by persons who have no records of their own to show, of an artistic career, or as players before the great public. CHAPTER XXII AGREEABLE RECOLLECTION Among the thousand and one concerts at which I have played, there is one which I shall never forget, for the reason that it afforded me perhaps the greatest amount of artistic satisfaction of any one of them. This was my appearance in Vienna at the Philharmonic Society, in 1880. The affair was a contribution to musical his- tory, in that the " Academisch Overture " of Brahms was played for the first time. The program was composed of three numbers only: 1. Academisch Overture, (ist audition), Brahms. 2. Concerto for Violin, Beethoven. 3. Symphonic No. 4, Volckmann. Although the concert began at noon, the hall was packed. The Philharmonic Orchestra was considered the best in Europe, Hans Richter was the conductor and it was an event for any young artist to appear with this society. The next day I received a letter from the Board of Directors of the Philharmonic Society, signed by Hans Richter, which complimented me on my performance of the Beethoven Concerto, which explains my artistic satis- faction. The Overture of Brahms was well received; also the Symphony No. 4 of Volckmann. 288 AGREEABLE RECOLLECTION 289 Cardinal Mercier's Reception His Eminence Cardinal Mercier's reception for the Belgians at the Hotel Astor, New York, on the evening of Sept. 19th, was the occasion never to be forgotten by those who could get into the hall to hear the Cardinal speak. The Belgian Bureau of New York, through its chief, Monseigneur Stillemans, sent invitations to the Belgians of the city to attend the reception, and I need not say that the large room was crowded to its utmost capacity to welcome the great Belgian. Monseigneur Stillemans introduced His Eminence to the audience in an eloquent address, and when the Car- dinal arose to reply, the applause was such that for fully ten minutes it was impossible for him to utter a word. When the enthusiastic demonstration, aroused by the actual presence of this heroic man, had finally subsided sufficiently to enable him to be heard, the Cardinal ad- dressed the people in three languages, English, Flemish and French. In English he said in part : " I come as a Belgian, in the name of the whole people, both Catholic and Pro- testant, to convey to the people of America their grati- tude and my admiration and love because of what you have done for us all. I feel that my arrival here is one of the greatest events of my life, and I only wish that I could at least adequately express the gratitude of Belgium to America and her people." Cardinal Mercier then went on to say : " My people wish to begin to work for themselves again. They want 290 MY MEMORIES to take up their industrial life as soon as possible. We know that America will help us to help ourselves, to get back our industry again," and further, " I hope that our two nations, one so weak and the other so strong, will walk together hand in hand, the weak supported by the friendship of your wonderful Republic. " I would like to go everywhere in America to express my thoughts to the people; but I cannot go everywhere, and the newspapers must convey my message for me. I have followed the magnificent records of your armies. We knew God would not forsake us. We knew the hand of America would strike on our behalf, and our faith, our supreme faith which held us intact during the darkest hours of depression, was not shaken. " The kind words and great compliments which have been given me are almost too much. I accept them not as though they were meant for me ; but because I am representing Belgium." The second speech was in Flemish, of which I did not understand one word; but judging from the applause there must have been many Flemish people in the audi- ence. The third address was in French and described the events of the war from 1914 to the collapse of the Ger- man power. In concise language His Eminence told of the German invasion of Belgium at the small town of Vise, where they massacred civilians, women and chil- dren, setting fire to the houses, so that what was once a peaceful town is now but a mass of stone and brick. He told us of his visit to Dinant, formerly a town of six thousand inhabitants, where six hundred and fifty AGREEABLE RECOLLECTION 291 civilians, women and children were killed, on the pretext that they had fired on the German army. This the Cardinal denied. He told us of so many cruelties it is impossible for me to even begin to enumerate them. Fifty-nine priests were killed in Belgium during the war, for no reason whatever but as a part of the ruthless campaign of utter destruction which the enemy had adopted from the start. When the Germans began expatriating the Belgians, they were told that to all who would sign an agreement to become German, an allowance would be given to their families; but all of these brave Belgians adopted the slogan " I will not sign." Their wives went out to a hill past which the train would go which carried their hus- bands away, and shouted to them, " Do not sign ! Do not sign." The Cardinal also told of the little paper called " La libre Belgique " (Free Belgium). Although every ef- fort was made to suppress that paper,, by spies and ar- rests, imprisonments and killings, it still appeared quite regularly and the enemy were never able to discover where it was printed or by whom ; but very often the Ger- man Governor would find it on his desk. Although His Eminence used no dramatic gestures and did not raise his voice, what he told us was often so ter- rible that the whole audience shivered with horror, and no one could have doubted for an instant that this great man told the simple truth as to the hideous way the Ger- mans conducted the war in Belgium, 292 MY MEMORIES Albert, King of Belgium On Thursday, Oct. 3rd, I was called to the telephone to receive a message from the Belgian Bureau, that the King of the Belgians would be there at five p. m. It was then four o'clock and I had just time to dress and take a taxi in order to be present at the reception. The offices of the Belgian Bureau are at 431 West 47th Street, and it was in a large room there that this impromptu gathering took place, and owing to the short notice given of the visit of the King, there were not many- present; but what we lacked in numbers was made up for in enthusiasm, and the moment the King appeared, lusty Belgian throats shouted, Vive le Roi ! Vive la Bel- gique ! Vive le Roi ! King Albert was visibly touched by the warmth of sentiment and devotion of his subjects thus expressed in their greeting, and said, " I am deeply touched by this manifestation of loyalty. As soon as I arrived here I wished to come among my countrymen living in New York. I am proud of them, and I thank you for your devotion. I hope that the Belgian colony here will im- prove the prosperity of Belgium under those who preside over this free country." The King took this opportunity to decorate Monsieur Pierre Mali, our Consul General in New York, with the order of Commander of the " Order of Leopold," and upon Mgr. Stillemans he bestowed the Order of " Knight of the Crown," a very impressive ceremony. King Albert remembered me very well and told me so. The last time I played before His Majesty was at Brus- AGREEABLE RECOLLECTION 293 sels in an official concert at the opera house, La Mon- naie, when he, as Prince Albert, and all his Ministers were present. Eugene Ysaye was there also, on his way from Europe to Cincinnati, and as we had not seen each other for some years, we left the reception together and chatted of old times and when we were boys at Liege. We were so under the patriotic spell caused by the visit of the King and the gathering of our compatriots, that as we parted we simultaneously exclaimed : Vive le Roi! Vive la Belgique! et Vive l'Amerique ! INDEX Abbey, Henry, 105, 128 Abell, Arthur M., 266 Accurci, 44 Adelaide, Australia, 250 Albert, King of Belgium, recep- tion in New York, 292 Anethan, Baron d', Belgian ambassador at Tokio, 215, 217 Artists, list of world's greatest contemporary, 119 ff. Australia, letter from, to La Meuse, 184 ff. Avins, Belgium, birthplace of author's father, i Baraboedoer Temple, Batavia, 232 Barnby, Joseph, 87 Barnum, P. T., 84 Beecher, Henry Ward, 122 Behrens, Conrad, 97 Belgian school of violin playing, 275 ff. Benedict, Sir Julius, 84 Bennett, James Gordon, 127 Bernhardt, Sarah, 90 Bisaccia, 97, 99 Bizet, 71 Boito, Arrigo, 86 ff. Bottesini, 35 Bouhy, Jacques, 71, 73 Bow, the, 281 Brahms, 46 Biilow, Hans von, 103 " Carmen," opera, failure and success of, 71 Carvalho, 38 Chapuy, Mile., 71, 73 Christchurch, New Zealand, 169 ff. Cockerill, John, founds iron works at Seraing, Belgium, i 295 Cockerill, William, I Columbo, Ceylon, 252 Conservatoire at Liege, 7 Coquelin the elder, 90 Cowen, Fred H., 81, 87, no Cramignon, the, lo-ii Damrosch, Walter, no de Belloca, Anna, 45 de Beriot, Charles, 275, 276 Del Puente, 81 de Mille, family of author's mother, i Depret, Camille, 62 Derevis, Baron, 16 de Rosstoff, Lobanoff, 214 de Salas, Brindis, 65, 66 de Try, Doutrelon, 267 de Try, Eliza, 267 Dubois, Theodore, 38 Dumont Lamarche fund con- certs, 265 Dunedin, New Zealand letter to La Meuse, 174 ff. Dupuis, Sylvain, Director Liege Conservatoire, 263 Duysens, Joseph, 29, 30 Faure, Gabriel, 38, 39 Faure, Jean, 51, 54 Franck, Cesar, 38, 47 Galli-Marie, 71, 73 Ganz, W., 82, 83 German music lovers, 118 Giacomelli, 42, 43 Godard, aeronaut, 66 ff. Godowski, 100 Goldmark, Karl, 46 Grieves, Wallace, in; letter from, n2ff. Guadalajara, Mexico, 197 ff. Guide, Arthur, 28, 32, 34 296 INDEX Halansier, 38 Halevy, 76, TJ Harrison & Harrison concerts, 91 Hauk, Minnie, ^2, Tz Hauser, Miska, 46 Haverly, Miss, 248, 250 Hazon, Director Philharmonic Society at Sydney, 248 Heyman, Sir Henry, 140 Hodges, Captain, 108 Hongkong, China, 222 Honolulu, letter from, to La Meuse, 142 ff. Indianapolis Star, article from, 117 ff. Invercargill, New Zealand, 246 Iron works at Seraing, Belgium, I Irving, Henry, 90, 92 Jaell, 43 Japan, 211 ff. Java, 230 Joachim, 60, 61 Johnston, R. E., 191 Ketten, Henry, 51, 52, 53 Krakatoa, volcano, 241 Kreutzer, Rudolph, 63 Kurt, 29 La Meuse, letters to, 142 flf. Langtry, Lillie, 85 Laub, Ferdinand, 274 Leonard, Henri, 16 ft., 37, 42, 60, 61, 260, 267, 271, 273, 276, 278 Leopold II of Belgium, letter from, 268 Liege Conservatoire, 7 et seq., 260, 261, 263 ff. Lind, Jenny, 84 Locatelli, Pietro, 271, 272 Lombard, Louis, 16 Manila, 225 Mapleson, Col., 58, 80, 86 Mario, 30 Mariotti, 29 Marsick, Martin, 14-15, 276 Massart, Lambert, 63, 64, 276 Maton, 43 Mauhin, Simon, 14 Maximilian, Emperor, 207 Mehul, Dansoigne, Director Liege Conservatoire, 263 Melbourne, 184 ff., 250 Mercier, Cardinal, reception for Belgians, in New York, 289 ff. Mexico, 191 ff. Mexico City, 203 ff. Mikado of Japan, private concert before, 215 ff. Marimon, Marie, 43 Moya, Anna, 273 Musin (Jacques), father of au- thor, engineer at Seraing iron works, I ; settles at Nandrin, i Musin, Ovide, birth and early life, 2 ff. ; first lessons with the violin, 5 ; examination for Conservatoire at Liege, 7 ; goes to Liege to study, 1 1 ; prizes won, 13; first appear- ance in public, 18; at Ostend, 20; an experience in England, 20 ff. : anecdotes, 24 ff. ; con- cours at the Conservatoire, 25 ff.; concertmaster at Os- tend, 28 ; first hears Vieux- temps, 35 ; entrance into Paris, 37; first engagement in Paris, 41 ; organizes " Quartette Moderne," 45 ; letter to, from Saint-Saens, 50; concert tour with Jean Faure, 51 ; engage- ment with Col. Mapleson, 58; experience in a balloon, 66 ff. ; two disagreeable experiences, 68 ff. ; a near fiance, 78 ; in England, 80 ff. ; Saint-Saens composes concerto for, 83 ; concerts in London, 82, 83 ; Harrison & Harrison concerts, 91 ff. ; member of Regency club, 92; in Scandinavia, 96; in Russia, 99; concerts in Ger- many, 103 ff. ; accepts engage- ment in New York, 105 ; im- pressions of America, 105 ff. ; letter in N. Y. Herald, Nov. 6, INDEX 297 1918, 122; singers associated with in the United States, uS; article in N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 12, 1913, 130 ff.; some odd ex- periences, 137 ff. ; in Honolulu, 141 ; letters to La Meuse, 142 ff. ; concerts in New Zea- land, 158 ff.; a rough night at sea, 166 ff. ; in Australia, 184 ff. ; in Mexico, 191 ff. ; in Japan, 211 ff.; plays before Mikado, 215; in China, 220 ff. ; in Philippines, 225 ff. ; Austra- lia again, 244 ff. ; voyage to England from Australia, 252 ff. ; return to Belgium, 260 ; Professor by " Arrete Royal," at Royal Conserva- tory, Liege, 261 ; lectures, 264 ; violinist reflections, 271 ff.; letter from Camille Saint- Saens, 282 ff. ; appearance in Vienna, 1880, at Philharmonic Society, 288 Nandrin, Belgium, home of, i ; birthplace of author, 2 Naples, Bay of, 257 New York Tribune, article in, 130 ff. New Zealand, letter from, to La Meuse, 158 ff. Nilsson, Christina, 86 ff. Nuno, James, 204, 205 Omaru, New Zealand, letter to La Meuse from, 168 ff. Paganini, 273 "Pas Lu " (Unread), Club of the, 77 Patti, Mme. Adelina, 89, 91 ff. Port Said, 256 Pueblo, Mexico, 205 ff. Pugno, Raoul, 38, 48 Radoux, Jean T., Director Liege Conservatoire, 263 Rangoon, 239 Redding, Jos. D., 141 Redewill, Eugene, letter to, iii Regency Club, 92 Remy, Guillaume, 14 Renard, Felix, berceuse by, 284 ff. Richter, Hans, 46, 288 Rinskopf, Louis, 28 Ritter, inventor of the large viola, 103 Rouma, 17 Rouma, Auguste, 17, 18 Royal Conservatory at Liege, 260, 261, 263 ff. Ruben, Louis, 105 Rubinstein, Anton, 90 Saint-Saens, 38, 50, 83, 88, 89; letter from, 282 ff. Samoa, letter from, to La Meuse, 151 ff. Sandre, Gustave, 45 San Luis Potosi, Mexico, 209 Sarasate, 90, 274 Sass, Marie, 44 Sassoon, Sir Ruben, 85 Schurz, Carl, 115 Seligman, Alfred, 115 Sembrich, Mme., 128 Seraing, Belgium, iron works at, I Shanghai, China, 218, 220 ff. Siam, King and Queen of, 239 Singapore, China, 227 Singelee, 28, 29 Sivori, Camillo, 273, 274 Sothrez, castle of, birthplace of author's mother, i Soubre, Etienne, Director Liege Conservatoire, 263 Steinway, Wm., 115 Stephane and the station master, 75, 76 Strakosch, Maurice, 44 Sutton, Lord, British ambassa- dor at Tokio, 218 Sydney, Australia, 186 ff. ; 247 Talmadge, Rev. Dr., 124 Tartini, letter from, 282 Ten Commandments for aspiring violin students, 278, 279 Terry, Ellen, 90 298 INDEX Thiers, President, 38 Thomas, Theodore, no Thomson, Cesar, 13, 16-17, 20, 24, 260, 266, 276 Titiens, Theresa, 58, 82 Tournemont family, 11 Trebelli, 87, 97, 98, 99 "Un Violoniste aux Antipodes" (A Violinist in the Antipo- des), letter to La Meuse, 141 ff. Vianesi, 30, 31 Viardot-Garcia, Pauline, 37 Vidor, 38 Vieuxtemps, 35 ff- ; 271, 274 Violin, the, 279 Wapenhard, Chevalier de, Bel- gian consul at Yokohama, 213 Wellington, letter to La Meuse from, 162 ff. Wiegand, August, 187, 247, 248 Wieniawski, Henri, 29, 43, loi, 271, 274 William I, King of the Nether- lands, and iron works at Seraing, Belgium, i Yokohama, Japan, 212 Ysaye, Eugene, 14, 15-16, 29, 32, 276, 293 Ysaye, Theo, 16 14 DAY USE J RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED J MUSIC Lr" ■ •:¥ 1 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. -J.-- "-■'^-D k .■II- TTkoi rn^ TO 'fii General Library ^-fclY^fsmht' Universuy^ofCaliforoia ML418.IVI9.A4 C037203816 llliliniHffiL^^ LIBRARIES <:0375D3flib 552519 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY DATE DUE Music Library University of California at Berkeley m ml ( I ! :| ili!!!: iiilii I I ill ii m m m i i I'iii ilii I'dliiiH i 1 III ! Ilii!!nmi!m'i!l!