' CoRN ExcHANGE BANK TRusT Co. Established 1853 A Bank Statement that any Man or Woman can Understand Condensed Statement as of Close of Business September 30th, 1939 Due Individuals, Firms, Corporations and Banks . $329,420,341.29 To meet this indebtedness we have : Cash in Vaults and Due from Banks . $136,209,114.30 Cash Items in Process of Collection 15,465,034.91 U. S. Government Securities . 119,336,598.65 (Direct and fully guaranteed, including $3,051,000 pledged to secure deposits and for other pur· poses as required by law. Canadian Government Securities 4,978,312.34 State, County and Municipal Bonds 3,949,336.41 Other Tax Exempt Bonds 5,785,235.96 Railroad Bonds . 5,673,756.93 Public Utility Bonds 7,361,634.67 Industrial and Other Bonds . 2,925,146.46 18,000 Shares Federal Reserve Bank of N. Y. 900,000.00 2,499 Shares of Discount Corp. of N. Y. at cost 299,880.00 9,990 Shares of Corn Exchange Safe Deposit Co. 824,000.00 Sundry Securities 387,735.00 Secured Demand Loans . 14,817,093.34 Secured Time Loans 1,994,164.72 *Loans and Discounts Unsecured 9,935,871.40 *First Mortgages 17,945,685.86 Customers' Liability on Acceptances 864,671.91 *Banking Houses Owned 12,055,11 8.92 *Other Real Estate Owned . 1,955,575.45 Accrued Interest Receivable 1,124,412.62 Other Assets 148,676.12 Tot1l to Meet Indebtedness . $364,937,055.97 This leaves . $35,516,714.68 *Less Reserves. Capital, $15,000,000.00; Surplus and Undivided Profits, $20,516,714.68 We can act as your Executor or Trustee, issue Letters of Credit, Travelers' Checks and Drafts on Foreign Countries and provide every Banking and Trust Service. 7 4 Branches located in all Parts of the C.ity of New York. Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 2 Table of Contents The PROGRAM and MAGAZINE of BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC \ OL. XLIII. 0 . 4· ]A lARY 7th Lo 11th inclu:-iH? FRo TISPIECE: "The Gyp y," by Thomas 0. heckell 4 LAURITZ MELCHIOR: A APPRECIATIO r, h) Jonathan chiller - 5 MusiCIA TO THE WoRLD (Ja cha Heifetz) - 7 Music OTES: Webster Aitken 8 Chamber Music Guild - 8 THE J 00 BALLET - 9 EIRE' GoLDE AcE (The In titute Theater) 10 BuRTO HoLME 11 LECTURE OTES: Philosopher-Stale man (Hu Shih) 13 Russia and the Baltic (Maurice Hindu ) 13 American Poetry (William Rose Benet) - 111 Col\IMU ICATIO 15 CouRsEs FOR LAYME 16 Programs for Period o.f January 7th to 14th inclusive 13 THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES EDWARD C. BLu~!, Cltairma11 of the Board JAMEs G. ::\IcDo'l ALD, Prcsidc11t THE INSTITUTE AT THE 30 Lafayette Avenue TilE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC Brooklyn ACADEMY OF l\1U IC ] ULJUS BLOOM, Associate Director STerling 3-6700 HERBERT T. SWIN Managi11g S~tperintendcnt ADVERTISING OFFICES SIGMUND GoTTLOBER, 258 Fifth Avenue, New York City, or 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn CAledonia 5-6690 STerlini' 3-6700 WALTU H . MoitiN Cover Design by FREDA Rove~: Production Manager WILHELM METZIG Advtrtising Director 3 THE GYPSY Thoma& 0. Sheckell This is the fourth in a serzes of reproductions of works by ~n· structors m the Institute's art q,nd photol?raphy extension courses, LAURITZ MELCHIOR: An Appreciation by JONATHAN SCHILLER 1 AST year, when Columbia University Copenhagen Opera, sitting in a special L offered to the general public a course box underneath the stage. It wa re­ of lecture on "The Therapeutic Values quired of the blind tudents that they of Mu ic," specially de igned for the be escorted to the opera and thi duty phy ically handicapped, it turned not to Lauritz gladly fulfilled. oon opera be­ an inhuman, pedantic authority on this gan to make a tremendou impre ion on ub j ect a lecturer but to the world's him and, before long, he told hi father greate t Wagnerian tenor, Lauritz Le­ that he wanted above ever) thing el e to brecht Hommel Melchior, inger to the become an opera singer. Royal Court of Denmark. Like many other vocalist , it wa as The therapeutic side of mu ic is a a choir boy that he first drew attention study that especially concerns Melchior to his voice. He ang each Sunday morn­ because of a saddening, personal inter­ ing in the Engli h Church in Copen­ est. Hi older si ter, Agne , was born hagen. Soon after, enough money was blind. Melchior is thoroughly devoted scraped together to end young Lauritz to thi ister becau e it was primarily to the Copenhagen Royal Opera Hou e through her influence that, at an early School, where he received a thorough age, he became intere ted in mu ic and training in all branche of the dramatic ought it eventually a a life career. and operatic art. In 1913, at the age Today at the age of fifty, that career of twenty-three and after only a ) ear at ha admirably ju tified the time pent on the chool, Lauritz joined the regular it. Lauritz Melchior i recognized the Copenhagen Opera Company, not a an world over as an inimitable artist not interpreter of Wagnerian tenor roles but only becau e he po esses a powerful as a mediocre inger of mall baritone and beautiful voice, which he always parts. Of all thing , he made his oper- u e with intelligence, but becau e he atic debut a ilvio in "Pagliacci"! combine with hi vocal prowe a dra­ It i a far cry from the role of ilvio matic art equally moving, oftentimes to Melchior' pre ent ma terpiece, Tri - tirring. Today we naturally accept tan; over a period of year hi suc­ Melchior' art a an e Labli hed fact. ce s came gradually. lL wa helped along Too often, though, we are prone to over­ fa ter than it might have otherwi e pro­ look the long year of hardship and gre sed through the kindly interest of truggle that preceded hi pre ent fame. Mme. Charle Cahier, her elf a famou Melchior's career has been a highly un­ contralto, through the financial help and u ual one: it affords a fine object les­ sound advice of Hugh Walpole, the dis­ son of "inte tinal fortitude" for the tinguished Engli h noveli t, and finally, young, would-be inger. through the expert chooling of Frau Lam·itz Melchior wa born on March Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, the celebrated 20, 1890, into a di tingui hed Copen­ Wagnerian oprano. hagen family of educator , his grand­ It wa Mme. Cahier who percei\ ed m father founding and hi father then run­ the full two-and-a-half octaYe range of ning the famous Melchior chool for young Melchior' voice the flexibility of Boy . It wa at the Melchior school his high Lone and its unu ually soft that young Lauritz fir t received his quality. She felt he should attempt a musical education. The great impetus complete readjustment of his voice. This to hi musical tastes was afforded him, advice Melchior decided to follow and, however, by a boyhood association with with hi cu tomary en e of fortitude his blind sister, Agnes. he po essed and industry, he withdrew from the con­ a Lrong, innate love for opera. Along cert and operatic Lage to devote the with other blind tudents, Agne at­ next few years to additional voice train­ tended frequent performance of the ing certainly not a small decision for 5 an artist who had already appeared be­ fore the public. To Hugh Walpole, :vlelchior owes a debt of gratitude. Shortl after Mel­ TEACHERS chior had returned once again to the WHO ARE operatic tage, thi ~ time a a tenor ing­ ing the role of Tannhauser in a Copen­ INSTITUTE MEMBERS haget, production in ] 918, he was inYited MAY ATTEND ANY OF to London to appear a oloi ~ t with the THE FOLLOWING SERIES e'" Queen Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood. The author of "Rogue FOR ALERTNESS CREDIT Herrie " happened to be in the audience. • ~ · alpole wa greatl) stirred by the DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA clarion-like beaut) of Melchior' 'oice. Walpole immediately \\enl backstage Prof. PHILLIPS BRAD LEY, Chairman after the concert, introduced him elf, and Beginning Friday evening, after a hort talk offered Melchior his February 2 influence a a patron. It was principally SPEAKERS INCLUDE through the writer's uggestion that Mel­ chior then undertook to learn the T. V. SMITH, LEWI S MUMFORD, "weight)" Wagnerian roles that toda) he BRUCE BLIVEN, JOHN T. FLYNN, ha ~ o trongly indi, idualized. AND OTHERS If it wa \\ralpole' ~ sugge Lion, it was • Frau Anna Bahr-Mildenburg', strirt in- AMERICAN WRITING truction that put :vlelchior further on the Wagnerian map. For hour on end 1900- 1940 she coached him rigorou l) in Wag­ GORHAM B. MUNSON, Chairman nerian traditions and, only when Frau Beginning Tuesday evening, Bahr-Mildenburg wa completely atis­ February 6 fied with the re ult of her teaching, did SPEAKERS INCLUDE she allo"' Melchior to make further \Vag­ nerian appearance . Hi econd debut BERNARD DE VOTO, HOUSTON a a \Vagnerian finall) took place in PETERSON, ALLEN TATE, MILLEN London' CoYenl Garden "here in ] 924, BRAND, AND OTHERS under Bruno \Valter. Melchior ang the role of iegmund in '·Die \Valkuere" • without e\-en the benefit of a ingle re­ ART AND THE hearsal. COMMUNITY From Covent Garden the road was LAURANCE P. ROBERTS, comparatively easy. On the basis of his Chairman London succes , in July, 192·1,, he was Beginning Thursday afternoon, called to Ba) reuth to participate in the February 1 cu Lomary \Vagnerian fe Li' al .