Do not mention THE AMERICAN ORGANIST when writing to our advertisersmention our advertisers when writing to an American organist. III. March of the Gnomes Price, $1.50 (usual sheet music discount) This picturesque suite is worthy of Mr. Stoughton's high reputation as a composer of original and colorful organ music. The three movements are well contrasted-No. 1 is a dainty scherzo with curious harmonies; No. 2 a slow and sensitive reverie, but preserving the Elfin character of the whole; No. 3 is a weird and fantastic march. It is altogether a fine and novel set of pieces for the recital organist, or for the theatre. ORGAN Through the medium of the organ the melodious nature of these offerings may be expressively portrayed. Liebestraum-Liszt organ arrangement by Louis Falk-75c. The well-known beauty of this composition will make it acceptable to the organist. Melody-By J. A. West-50c. A theme of direct purity and graceful melody. Cantique d'amour-By Harvey B. Gaul -бос. Written for the organ-the possibilities for charm of rendition are especially adapted to the instrument. CLAYTON F. SUMMY CO. PUBLISHERS 64 E. Van Buren St., Chicago The American Organist 2-7 Advertisers, like men, are known by the company they keep. Just as THE AMERICAN Over 90 Years of Uninterrupted Success HOOK & HASTINGS COMPANY ORGANS OF HIGHEST EXCELLENCE AND DISTINCTION Most Approved Modern Methods MAIN OFFICE AND WORKS KENDAL GREEN, MASS. BRANCHES: CHICAGO MUSIC LIB. men, are the enemies they make. THE Magazines, like ARPARD E. FAZAKAS PIETRO A. YON CONCERT ORGANIST Designer and Builder of Church Organs Formerly assistant organist at the Vatican and Royal Chapel, Rome. Manager: Alfred Lauper, 853 Carnegie Hall, CUSTODIANS- GUSTAV F. DOHRING, organ builder, consulting ex. JOS. SLAWIK, organs built from experience; tuning, ORGAN MAINTENANCE 2899 Valentine Ave., Bronx, New York The American Organist THE BURR PRINTING HOUSE NEW YORK THE CHURCH-ITS MINISTRY-ITS CONGREGATION (276) A. W. LITTLEFIELD SUBSTANCE AND FORM IN WORSHIP CHURCH MUSIC IN GENERAL (285) EDUCATION GRANDFATHERS CORNER (290) STANDARDS FOR EVERY SUNDAY FRANCIS HOPKINSON (279) FIRST AMERICAN COMPOSER HERBERT SANDERS By ONE N. A. O. NEW JERSEY ANNUAL MEETING (294) KATE ELIZABETH FOX TEACHING: SOMe Problems anD A JOLT OR TWO (269) PALMER CHRISTIAN NOTICE: THE AMERICAN ORGANIST is the official organ of the American Guild of Organists for the pur- Clifford Demarest, F.A.J.O. Warden ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER, JANUARY 14, 1918, AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, 2-7 The American Organist Page 265 901 B EDITORIAL REFLECTIONS Eureka vs Voici EFORE the first Greek shouted Eureka an excitable Frenchman cried Voici, and Greek symphonies have been on the decline ever since. Now to find a thing is good especially if you want it badly, but to have it is much better unless you don't want it at all. When organ music is a delight instead of a disease it will be much better to have it in the memory than to find it in the library, and the Here It Is of the Frenchman is better than the I Have Found It of the Greek. Paganini had a fine violin and a great memory and the world crowned him famous; then Paganini and his great memory perished and the world paid a few thousand dollars for the fine violin. What would it have given if the fine violin could have died and Paganini lived? Such the worth of a man. A man can teach a dog to do tricks if he is brutal enough, and the next minute the dog will forget and forgive, but an elephant will eat peanuts without being taught at all. Eating peanuts comes natural to an elephant and to forget is the nature of a dog. The thing that differentiates mankind from the animal kingdom is his ability to develop a marvelous memory. A robin can find its nest in a forest of ten thousand trees and get home safely every night; it has an instinct that is akin to memory, but it couldn't memorize the covenant of the League of Nations to save its soul, neither could a man enjoy the robin's meal of fishworm nor keep his family alive thereon. Nature has endowed both man and beast with all the essentials of subsistence and has given man in the bargain all the essentials of development; the human race has done marvelously therewith, but the wool of our coats comes from a lamb of the same state of mind, the same ignorance, as its forefather whom Noah's family made. a pet of during the wet season. Animals have not progressed; man has. Animals have instinct; man has memory. The problem for the organist is not one purely of memory but in greater proportion of control. It is a simple thing to memorize many organ works and be able to play them under proper conditions; it is another thing to so memorize them that they can be played at say a metronomic rate of only a semiquaver to the second, but it is this extreme rate of slowness that is so sure a method of memorizing. In many works the hands will toss off arpeggios, chords, progressions, or whole sentences, without any conscious guidance of the mind and it is all safe enough till something happens; but when something happens the mind awakes with a rush and the subconscious muscular memory of the hands is interrupted by the conscious control of the mind; then it's Bolshevism. It would be insanity to suggest that a Heinroth or a Baldwin should play from memory; the limitations of memory work would be intolerable in their vitally important programs; but for the traveling recitalist and the church organist memory work has illimitable advantages. The purely personal embarrassment of being unable to play when brought suddenly face to face with one of the ever increasing examples of residence organs which the organist of the future will find in every residence where a grand piano is today sufficient, is only a surface manifestation of a more deadly inner deception, for, like the red nose of the inebriate, it does no harm in itself however il it looks to others, but it proves a lamentable lack of character; the man who shirks his duty to work properly is just as foolish and untrustworthy as he who shirks his duty of self control. Memorizing comes very easy when once it is intelligently practiced, and its rewards are numerous. Any man Copyright, 1919, THE AMERICAN ORGANIST. All rights reserved. |