possibilities of the art
of musical composition have by no means been exhausted. While I feel
that in a certain sense, very difficult to illustrate with words, one
great 'school' of composition for the pianoforte ended with Liszt and
the other in Brahms, nevertheless I can but prophesy the arising of many
new and wonderful schools in the future. I base my prophecy upon the
premises of frequent similar conditions during the history of musical
art.

"Nevertheless, it is yet my ambition to give a lengthy series of
recitals, with programs arranged to give a chronological aspect of all
the great masterpieces in music. I hope to be enabled to do this before
I retire. It is part of a plan to circle the world in a manner that has
not yet been done." When asked whether these programs were to resemble
Rubinstein's famous historical recitals in London, years ago, he
replied: "They will be more extensive than the Rubinstein recitals. The
times make such a series possible now, which Rubinstein would have
hesitated to give."

As to American composers, Reisenauer is so thoroughly and
enthusiastically won over by MacDowell that he has not given the other
composers sufficient attention to warrant a critical opinion. I found
upon questioning that he had made a genuinely sincere effort to find
new material in America, but he said that outside of MacDowell, he found
nothing but indifferently good salon-music. With the works of several
American composers he was, however, unfamiliar. He has done little or
nothing himself as a composer and declared that it was not his forte.

AMERICAN MUSICAL TASTE

"I find that American musical taste is in many ways astonishing. Many
musicians who came to America prior to the time of Thomas and Damrosch
returned to Europe with what were, no doubt, true stories of the musical
conditions in America at that time. These stories were given wide
circulation in Europe, and it is difficult for Europeans to understand
the cultured condition of the American people at the present time.
America can never thank Dr. Leopold Damrosch and Theodore Thomas enough
for their unceasing labors. Thanks to the impetus that they gave the
movement, it is now possible to play programs in almost any American
city that are in no sense different from those one is expected to give
in great European capitals. The status of musical education in the
leading American cities is surprisingly high. Of course the commercial
element necess