Chopin and Other Musical Essays - Softcover

Finck, Henry Theophilus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1975756010 ISBN 13: 9781975756017

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

Synopsis

The chief reason, however, why musical authorities have so long hesitated to acknowledge that Chopin is one of the very greatest explorers and pioneers in the domain of their art, is to be found in what, for want of a better term, may be called æsthetic Jumboism. When the late lamented Jumbo was in New York he attracted so much attention that his colleagues, although but little inferior in size, had "no show" whatever. Everybody crowded around Jumbo, stuffing him with bushels of oranges and apples, while the other elephants were entirely ignored. As elephants are intelligent animals, is it not probable that Pilot, the next in size to Jumbo, went mad and had to be shot because he was jealous of the exclusive attentions bestowed on his rival? In æsthetics, this Jumboism, this exaggerated desire for mammoth dimensions, seems to be a trait of the human mind which it is difficult to eradicate. It is a suggestive fact that the morbid, sham æstheticism which prevailed in England a few years ago, chose for its symbol the uncouth sunflower.

About this title

About the Author:

Henry Theophilus Finck (September 22, 1854 – October 1, 1926) was an American music critic, a leading promoter in the United States of Richard Wagner and his musical theories. Finck was born at Bethel, Missouri, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he was taught piano and violincello. He taught himself Latin and Greek so thoroughly that he was able to enter Harvard as a sophomore in 1872. At Harvard, he studied philosophy, the classics, and music. He graduated in 1876. He attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1876, of which he wrote accounts for newspapers and magazines. The Harris fellowship from Harvard being awarded to him, he spent three years (1878–1881) in the study of physiological psychology in Berlin, Heidelberg, and Vienna. He became musical editor of the New York Evening Post in 1881 and was on the editorial staff of the associated journal, The Nation. He was connected with them for forty years. While at the Post, he also served as the epicurean editor and reviewed all the new garden books.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1975756010
• ISBN 13: 9781975756017
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152