e entertaining reverence for the older masters, is very
progressive, always on the alert to discover a new trend of thought, a
new composer, a new gospel in musical art. He did much to make known and
arouse enthusiasm for MacDowell's compositions, when they were as yet
almost unheard of in America. In an equally broad spirit does he
introduce to his students the works of the ultra modern school, Debussy,
Rachmaninoff, Florent Schmitt, Reger, Liadow, Poldini and others.

"My students like to learn these new things, and the audiences that
gather here in the studio for our recitals, come with the expectation of
being enlightened in regard to new and seldom heard works, and we do not
disappoint them. Florent Schmitt, in spite of his German surname, is
thoroughly French in his manner and idiom, though they are not of the
style of Debussy; he has written some beautiful things for the piano; a
set of short pieces which are little gems. I rank Rachmaninoff very
highly, and of course use his Preludes, not only the well-known
ones--the C and G minor--but the set of thirteen in one opus number;
they are most interesting. I use a good deal of Russian music; Liadow
has composed some beautiful things; but Tschaikowsky, in his piano
music, is too complaining and morbid, as a rule, though he is
occasionally in a more cheerful mood. It seems as though music has said
all it can say along consonant lines, and regular rhythms. We must look
for its advancement in the realm of Dissonance; not only in this but in
the way of variety in Rhythm. How these modern composers vary their
rhythms, sometimes three or four different ones going at once! It is the
unexpected which attracts us in musical and literary art, as well as in
other things: we don't want to know what is coming next; we want to be
surprised.

"Of the classic literature, I use much Bach, when I can. I used to give
more Mozart than I do now; latterly I have inclined toward Haydn; his
Variations and Sonatas are fine; my students seem to prefer Haydn also.
I thoroughly believe in the value of polyphonic music as a mental study;
it is a necessity. And Bach is such a towering figure, such a rock of
strength in musical art. Bach was essentially a Christian, and this
element of devoutness, of worship, shines out in everything he wrote. I
do not believe that music, without this element of worship, will live.
Tschaikowsky did not have it, nor Berlioz, nor even Mozart, for Mozart
wrote merel