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 ADDRESSES 
 
 MADE AT A SUPPER TO 
 
 MR. AM) MRS., EDWARD J. de COPPET 
 
 AND 
 THE FLOPiZALfeY QUARTET 
 
 NEW YORK, MARCH NINTH, 19 4 
 
 AT SHERRY'S 
 
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At the Guest Table, from Left to Right: — Mr. d'Archambeau; Mr. K: 
 Mrs. de Coppet; Mr. Holt; Mr. de Coppet; Mrs. Schelling; Mr. Ara; 
 Mrs. Kneisel. 
 
el; Mrs. Sveceiiski; Mrs. Bauer; Mr. Delano; Mr. Betti ; Mr. Schelling; 
 I. Pochon ; Mrs. Whitman; Mr. Svecenski ; Mrs. Holt; Mr. Wilson; 
 
ADDRESSES 
 
 MADE AT A SUPPER TO 
 
 MR. AND MRS. EDWARD J. dh COPPET 
 
 AND 
 THE FLONZALEY QUARTET 
 
 NEW YORK, MARCH NINTH, 1914 
 
 AT SHERRY'S 
 
 PRIVATHLY PRINTED 
 
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PREFATORY 
 
 On the evening of March 9th, 1914, the Flonzaley 
 Quartet completed its tenth season in New York at a 
 concert given in Aeolian Hall. 
 
 In acknowledgment of the distinguished services ren- 
 dered to the cause of chamber music by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Edward J. de Coppet in founding the Quartet, an 
 invitation was extended to them and to the members of 
 the Quartet to attend a supper immediately after the 
 concert. More than two hundred musicians and music 
 lovers assembled at Sherry's to do honor to the guests 
 of the evening, in the course of which presentations 
 were made of a silver tankard to Mr. and Mrs. de Cop- 
 pet, and gold watches and fobs to the members of the 
 Quartet. 
 
 After the supper, Mr. Henry Holt presided as Toast- 
 master, and the following addresses were delivered. 
 
 5ri<J44B 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mr. Henry Holt, Toastmaster 
 
 Opening Address 7 
 
 Reading of Telegrams 18 
 
 Closing Address 36 
 
 Mr. Edwin T. Rice 
 
 Address 10 
 
 Presentation of Cup 14 
 
 Mr. Julian Tinkham 
 
 Address, and reading of Letter from Mr. De Coppet 15 
 
 Mr. Nelson S. Spencer 
 
 Address, and presentation of watches to Quartet . 19 
 
 Mr. Ugo Ara 
 
 Address 20 
 
 Mr. Louis Svecenski 
 
 Address 25 
 
 Prof. Edmund B. Wilson 
 
 Address 31 
 
 Mr. John Jay Chapman 
 
 Poem 34 
 
A SUPPER TO 
 MR. AND MRS. EDWARD J. de COPPET 
 
 AND 
 
 THE FLONZALEY QUARTET 
 
 March Ninth, igi4 
 
 at Sherry's, Fifth Avenue and Forty-fourth Street 
 
 Mr. Henry Holt, Toastmaster 
 
 Mr. Holt: 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. de Coppet has just said 
 to me that he can't for the soul of him make out what 
 all this is for. He says he can't conceive what he has 
 done that should bring all of us here to greet him. Well, 
 his modesty is as remarkable as his other qualities. 
 I'll tell him why we're here. We have come to honor a 
 great philanthropist who has done great things for a 
 great Art; and we have come to honor a friend who 
 has probably contributed more than any other one man 
 in New York to our happiness and our spiritual develop- 
 ment. {Great applause.) 
 
 We have also come to honor four great artists 
 {Applause. A voice: "Five!"), and as the Kneisels are 
 with us, I think that while we are about it we may as 
 well call it eight. {Applause.) And now that we have 
 got so near to the number of the Muses, I propose to 
 pay our respects to the ninth, to the fifth of the Flon- 
 
 7 
 
8 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 zaley Quartet: I know you all want to drink the health 
 of Mrs. de Coppet. {Great applause.) I do not know 
 whether you young folks know it, but old soldiers like 
 Mr. Rice and me, who used to go to the de Coppets' 
 for chamber music pretty near thirty years ago, know 
 that if it had not been for Mrs. de Coppet there 
 wouldn't be any Flonzaley Quartet, and that is a pretty 
 important matter. 
 
 But now that we are speaking of the ladies, I suppose 
 we ought also to pay our respects to the Olive Mead 
 Quartet. {Applause.) But they have fallen into ways 
 which interfere with the regularity of practice {Laugh- 
 ter), and there are only three of them here tonight — 
 but I am happy to be able to report that mother and 
 child are doing well. {Laughter and applause.) 
 
 Well, I suppose that we are here not only because of 
 these dear and admired friends of ours, but because we 
 are all of us amateurs of the Quartet itself. At the 
 celebration of the Kneisel silver wedding with their 
 audience, some four or five years ago, Mr. Krehbiel 
 let out something I hadn't the pluck to say, but which 
 I believed and backed him up in afterwards — that of 
 all music, Beethoven's last quartets are the greatest 
 that was ever written, and I suspect that we honor our- 
 selves in honoring the Quartet. 
 
 When they want to throw into bold relief these great 
 artists, they select the very worst quartet player in 
 New York to preside on the occasion — that is univer- 
 sally admitted — but, badly as I play, I know one thing 
 about the Quartet which I don't believe any of the rest 
 of you know, and I am going to take three minutes, 
 late as it is, to tell you. I don't believe any of us, ex- 
 cept myself, begins to realize what a quartet can ex- 
 press. I am fortunate enough to live most of the year 
 in a little place where there is a very fine violinist, who 
 is also a fine theoretical musician, and we got up a sort 
 
The Toastmaster 9 
 
 of quartet — it would have been a mighty good one if 
 we had had a decent 'cello player — and I said to him 
 early last summer, "I miss orchestral music, living up 
 here the greater part of the year, and I have been trying 
 to get some sort of comprehension of Liszt's Preludes," 
 I didn't care to hear them on a piano: so I said: "Would 
 it be a crazy thing to arrange them for a quartet?" and 
 he said, "No, a quartet can express anything." I said, 
 "Try to arrange it." He said he would try a page, and 
 when we played it, it went first rate. Then we took 
 another page, and so on we went, a page or two at a 
 time, until we had the whole thing, and I can tell you 
 it was perfectly tremendous. Of course we were in a 
 small room: the room can hardly be too small for such 
 a purpose. I don't believe anybody can conceive with- 
 out trying it, what a quartet can do to give the spirit 
 of a colossal composition like that. It was not the soul- 
 less playing of the piano rendering: there was color in it; 
 in that beautiful arpeggio accompaniment, originally 
 played by the bassoon, the viola sounded like a bassoon; 
 and in the Pastorale the thing actually sounded like 
 an oboe. It is astonishing how the viola will take the 
 color from a passage. If you associate any instrument 
 with any passage, the viola will call up that association, 
 and somehow it seems, chameleon-like, to take the color 
 of anything it touches. I could talk two or three hours 
 more on the subject, but I won't. {Laughter and ap- 
 plause.) But if any of you want to try what a quartet 
 can express, I'll lend you my copy of the Liszt arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 {Turning to Mr. de Coppet, and raising his glass.) 
 And now, my dear old friend, here's to you! We all 
 want to drink to you ! May you live to see your children 
 gray! May you have returned to you a thousand-fold 
 all you have done for us ! {Great applause) and when you 
 go to Heaven, as you are sure to if anybody does, in- 
 
lo The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 stead of being received by the orthodox orchestra of 
 trombones and harps, may you be received by a string 
 quartet! {Laughter and applause.) 
 
 And now there is at least one man here who knows 
 better than I, the history of the circumstances which 
 led to the creation of the Flonzaley Quartet. That man 
 is Mr. Rice. I believe he played in the first piece of 
 chamber music at Mr. de Coppet's home, and he is to 
 have the pleasant privilege of presenting to our old 
 friend, a testimonial, a souvenir, an indication in a very 
 faint way, of our appreciation of what he has done as 
 a philanthropist and a lover of art, and of our gratitude 
 for what he has done for us as a friend. {Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Edwin T. Rice: 
 
 Mr. Kapellmeister^ Ladies and Gentlemen: The occa- 
 sion which first prompted the giving of this supper was 
 the one thousandth evening or afternoon of de Coppet 
 chamber music in New York, to which many of you 
 were invited some time ago. A certain musical anti- 
 quarian then discovered that by a happy coincidence, 
 the twenty-fifth season of de Coppet music also com- 
 pleted the tenth anniversary of the Flonzaley Quartet. 
 You have therefore been invited to this family party to 
 celebrate two family anniversaries. 
 
 The gentlemen of the press have not been bidden — 
 at least in their official capacity — and it is our purpose 
 to preserve the intimate quality — and may I also say — 
 the charm of the occasion, as Is appropriate to all that 
 concerns chamber music and the shrines In which its 
 divinities are worshipped. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of the temples erected 
 for musical worship here in New York, is that long 
 maintained by Edward and Pauline de Coppet; and 
 
Mr. Edwin T. Rice 1 1 
 
 we are now assembled as privileged worshippers at that 
 shrine to do honor to our high priest and priestess. 
 
 As perhaps the oldest of those worshippers now 
 present, it has devolved upon me to be your first spokes- 
 man — or shall I say acolyte. The occasion which we 
 are first celebrating is the silver anniversary — the com- 
 pletion by our guests of twenty-five seasons of musical 
 delight and hospitable welcome, of a full quarter of a 
 century of whole-hearted devotion to the noble art of 
 chamber music. 
 
 A few of you here present may remember the first 
 years of that family worship; more of you joined the 
 congregation in what may be called its middle period. 
 All of you have witnessed Its splendid culmination In 
 the founding of the Flonzaley Quartet, which for the 
 past ten years has made that shrine famous and dis- 
 tinguished not only In the musical annals of the City, 
 but also throughout the entire world of chamber music. 
 
 It was my own good fortune to become an active 
 worshipper at that shrine upon Its first establishment 
 In New York, and It has been my even greater privilege 
 to share In Its musical ritual without interruption, ever 
 since its services were first inaugurated. 
 
 If you will allow me for a moment to become reminis- 
 cent, I will take you back with me to a certain quiet 
 October evening rather more than twenty-five years 
 ago, the first of those thousand and more nights and 
 days of music, which have unspeakably enriched the 
 lives of those who have been permitted to share In their 
 delights. The program included the first of the trios of 
 Beethoven and Schumann. Mrs. de Coppet presided 
 at the piano — and to our great joy Mrs. de Coppet has 
 been the inspired and inspiring interpreter of all the 
 piano chamber music which has been heard in the 
 de Coppet temple during the past quarter of a century. 
 And that means that she has interpreted to us bril- 
 
I 2 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 liantly and sympathetically nearly all of the great 
 compositions which combine the piano with strings — 
 from Bach to Brahms — from Mozart and Beethoven 
 to Richard Strauss — a variety and range of exposition 
 that few other living artists could match. Long may 
 she continue in this divinely appointed mission and 
 permit us, her fellow-worshippers, to remain spellbound 
 and entranced by the inspired revelations of the beauti- 
 ful art to which she has devoted so much of her life. 
 {Great applause.) 
 
 The earliest of the violinists was Mrs. de Coppet's 
 brother, Charles Bouis, a gifted pupil of Cesar Thomson 
 and an artist of the greatest refinement and distinction. 
 Mr. Bouis had then just established himself in New 
 York, and for twelve delightful seasons he led the 
 stringed instruments in most of the chamber music 
 performed in the de Coppet temple. At times, he re- 
 signed the first desk in quartets to take that of viola — 
 an instrument which he played with noble tone and 
 vivid effect. We, who knew him well and loved him 
 no less as artist than as man, have missed him sadly 
 since his return to Europe, and in the affectionate re- 
 gard of his many New York friends his place will not 
 be filled until he himself returns to claim our allegiance. 
 
 When the trio became a quartet, as it did very soon 
 after that first evening, Julian Tinkham and William 
 Rachau, both enthusiastic amateurs, filled the middle 
 voices. Many so-called "festivals" were held in those 
 early days. The entire world of chamber music was 
 explored under the helpful guidance of our high priest, 
 Edward de Coppet. Each year, he assembled his 
 musicians for a dinner upon St. Cecelia's day, at which 
 the musical activities of his household were passed in 
 review, and upon which occasions he fired us with his 
 own kindling enthusiasm for the masterpieces of his 
 beloved art, and encouraged us to strive for better and 
 
Mr. Edwin T. Rice 13 
 
 more adequate interpretation of them. He brought to 
 us the fruits of rare musical experience, ripe judgment 
 and the keenest of musical consciences. Quality, re- 
 finement of tone, the most careful preparation, con- 
 scientious study of the composer's purpose — all of these 
 standards — counsels of perfection if you choose — were 
 held up before us as ideals to be striven for— and with 
 an effect which upon at least one of the humbler col- 
 laborators will never be forgotten. Our loving gratitude 
 is due to him for the opportunities he then afforded us, 
 for the patience with which he submitted to our short- 
 comings, and for the enthusiasm with which he inspired 
 us for the loftiest and best in musical literature and 
 musical interpretation. 
 
 A memorable event during this early period was the 
 first visit to New York of the Kneisel Quartet which 
 opened our eyes and ears to hitherto undreamed of 
 possibilities of beauty, due to perfection of ensemble, 
 purity and refinement of tone combined with loftiness 
 of artistic purpose. The Kneisels — happily long since 
 established in New York — have ever continued to be 
 an inspiration and help to all true lovers of chamber 
 music, and their ministrations in the de Coppet tem- 
 ple have been notable incidents in its history. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 What may be called the middle period of worship 
 at the de Coppet shrine, began about fifteen years ago, 
 and involved the collaboration of many artists, includ- 
 ing the brothers Jennison, Messrs. Karger, Volpe, 
 Mittel, Marum, Sanders and others. Then came the 
 memorable first visit to this country of a certain Alfred 
 Pochon. {Applause.) The following season saw the 
 establishment of the Flonzaley Quartet in Vienna, and 
 then that Quartet began its ministrations in that west- 
 side temple where we have during these ten seasons 
 past so often been permitted to share in its devotions. 
 
14 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 The work of the Quartet it does not fall within my 
 province to discuss. Their eloquence, tonal beauty and 
 marvelous vividness of color have been freshly im- 
 pressed upon you this evening, and will be praised and 
 discussed by those who are to follow me. 
 
 But in summing up this quarter century of art wor- 
 ship, let me sound again the personal note with which 
 I began. Nowhere than in this de Coppet household 
 has there been fuller realization of simplicity and charm 
 of living with the loftiest ethical and musical thinking. 
 Generous hospitality has been extended to us. The 
 masterpieces of chamber music have been presented to 
 us by many of the greatest artists of the day. Always 
 a spirit of altruism has pervaded the household, a desire 
 to increase the happiness of others — giving all, asking 
 nothing in return. So have our friends been and so 
 may they long continue members of that choir — not 
 "invisible" as in George Eliot's phrase — but visible 
 and audible 
 
 "Whose music is the gladness 
 of the world." 
 
 And in proposing their healths and presenting in your 
 names this piece of silver, I cannot do better than read 
 the illuminated address which has been composed by 
 Mr. Spencer, and which I hope you will all sign before 
 the close of the evening. 
 
 To our friends y 
 
 Edward and Pauline De Coppet: 
 
 We, who have had so many welcomes and kindnesses at 
 your hands, hope and believe that you already know the 
 depth of our appreciation. But it is very grateful to us to 
 tell you of it a little more formally, to make this record of 
 it — not lest we or you forget, but that it may, perhaps, be to 
 others, as well as to you, something of a living testimony. 
 
SILVER TANKARD PRESENTED TO MR. AND MRS. de COPPET 
 The height, including the pedestal, is nineteen inches. 
 It was made in the \ear 1783 bv John Scofield, who was registered at Goldsmiths' 
 Hall, London, in the Near 1778. The arms upon the tankard are those of the Preston 
 family, dating back to the year 1300. The motto is "Praesto ut prsstem." 
 
 The inscription upon the pedestal accompanying the tankard reads as follows: 
 
 To 
 
 EDWARD AND PAULINE de COPPET 
 
 a loving appreciation at the end of the tenth season 
 
 of the 
 
 FLONZALEY QUARTET 
 
 March 9th, 1914. 
 
Mr. J. Tinkham, Mr. de Coppet 15 
 
 It has not been given to many, as to you, to contribute so 
 much or so whole-heartedly to the higher happiness and 
 musical culture of the community. We are all better and 
 less worldly for what you have done, not alone because of it, 
 but especially by reason of the lovely spirit in which you 
 have done it. You have the satisfaction which comes with 
 success and, what is more worth while, you have also the 
 loyal gratitude of every one. In token of it, and in memory 
 of the thousand hospitable concerts you have given, it is our 
 delight, on this tenth anniversary of the beginnings of the 
 Flonzaley Quartet, to bring to you our greetings, our homage, 
 and, what we hope you will like best, our affection. 
 
 Mr. Rice then presented to Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet 
 the singularly graceful eighteenth century silver tank- 
 ard. Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet rose to bow their thanks, 
 and were kept on their feet some time by the enthu- 
 siastic applause. 
 
 Mr. Julian Tinkham: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. de Coppet 
 has asked me to read for him something he has written 
 In response to Mr. Rice's address. I shall do so with 
 pleasure, but I am sure you all regret as much as I do, 
 that he does not feel he Is able to read it himself. I can 
 give you Mr. de Coppet's words, but I shall be a poor 
 substitute for his own lips. Mr. de Coppet says: 
 
 ^^ Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends: About five weeks 
 ago vague rumors reached me that It was proposed to 
 offer a supper to the Flonzaley Quartet In celebration 
 of Its tenth birthday. I was much gratified at the plan, 
 and I felt a desire to be one of the prime movers In it. 
 But suddenly, what did I hear.? That Mrs. de Coppet 
 and I were to be Included in the celebration. This put 
 the matter In a completely different aspect. I said to 
 myself: 'Those dear friends! They mean well, but they 
 want to offer us just the kind of thing that we are not 
 
1 6 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 fitted for. Imagine me rising before a considerable 
 number of people and boldly stating that two and two 
 make four! I could not even do that. How much less 
 could I attempt to express any finer sentiment. And 
 they expect me to talk of chamber music! Why, have 
 they forgotten that chamber music is, so it is said, the 
 most intellectual side of the musical art.'' The thing is 
 unthinkable.' The practical result of it all was that 
 gloom spread over my soul, and that the thought oc- 
 curred to me: 'How would it do for us to visit the 
 Panama Canal about March 9th.'* {Laughter and ap- 
 plause.) Some people say it is well worth seeing.' 
 Meanwhile time was passing, and my sky was darken- 
 ing. But suddenly there was a change in my mental 
 attitude; something like a ray of sunlight broke through 
 my clouds. It came from the great sun of human kind- 
 ness and sympathy, and I felt its benevolent heat 
 warming my heart. I said to myself: 'These friends, 
 who are bidding us join them in this festivity, are not 
 going through a pure form. They have something in 
 their hearts which they wish to express.' And then I 
 saw it all. We personally were to be of no importance 
 in the matter. Even our friends 'the Flonzaleys' and 
 their fine ten years' efforts were to count for little. The 
 purpose was to be for us all to assemble as an expression 
 of undying love and devotion for the great art. {Ap- 
 plause.) Ah! That is another thing. Let me in, if you 
 please. And the first thing I knew I was fighting my 
 way to obtain a front seat. {Applause.) Yet, now that 
 I am here, I still feel quite incapable of expressing my- 
 self. There is only one way for me to do that, and it is 
 hardly a practical one. You would have to come one 
 by one (two at a time would cause me stage-fright) into 
 my little studio at home. There at my piano I might 
 enable you to look down into my heart and to see all 
 there is there of gratitude and appreciation of your 
 
Mr. Nelson S. Spencer 17 
 
 kindness. Mrs. de Coppet, foremost help in all of my 
 artistic endeavors, is one with me in this feeling, I can 
 assure you. 
 
 "And now a word of praise and of affection for our 
 artists. (You see I cannot help talking sentiment; it is 
 my misfortune as well as my blessing.) You know that 
 for an artist to really hold an audience, he must first 
 of all be a good musician. Secondly, he must have 
 mastered technic, which enables one to express oneself. 
 But lastly and principally, he must be a fine personality 
 and have a soul desirous to communicate to other souls 
 some emotions worth communicating. (Applause.) 
 On the size and quality of his soul the final result de- 
 pends. Well, I have complete confidence in the Flon- 
 zaleys. My dear friends, Betti, Pochon, Ara and 
 d'Archambeau are noble fellows. Ten years of almost 
 daily intercourse have steadily increased my admira- 
 tion, my regard and my affection for them. They un- 
 derstood from the first my idea of quartet playing, and 
 you all know what an edifice they have built upon that 
 foundation. They will continue, I firmly believe, to 
 strive for an ideal (without of course ever reaching it; 
 that would be an unfair trick on our friends, the critics) 
 (Laughter), and they will, I earnestly hope, be with us 
 long and ever remain as now: the very humble servants 
 of the Art. A propos: three cheers for — what do I say.'' 
 Three cheers.'' I mean three thousand cheers for the 
 Art. (Great applause.) " 
 
 Mr. Tinkham: 
 
 Mr. de Coppet has sent me a few more lines: 
 "When I sent that letter I did not know of the won- 
 derful gift Mrs. de Coppet and I were to receive. Pray 
 express our warmest thanks to all. 
 
 E. J. DE Coppet, 
 (Applause and cheering.) Pauline de Coppet." 
 
1 8 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 The Toastmaster: 
 
 There are three people in this world I am very sorry 
 for tonight. The best they could do to enjoy this oc- 
 casion was to send us some telegrams, which with your 
 permission I will read: 
 
 "Mr. and Mrs. E. J. de Coppet, 
 Care Sherry's, 
 New York. 
 Congratulations and best wishes to you and Flonzaley 
 Quartet. 
 
 Fritz Stahlberg." 
 
 "Adolfo Betti, 
 
 Care Flonzaley Quartet. 
 Regret that I must be out of town at your celebration. 
 Heartiest congratulations. 
 
 Rubin Goldmark." 
 
 Mr. Goldmark also telegraphs to Mr. de Coppet: 
 
 "Regret absence from town prevents my joining in tribute 
 to you. Many congratulations. 
 
 Goldmark." 
 
 We thought Mr. Whiting was to be with us and speak 
 to us. Great pity he wasn't! He made a most wonder- 
 ful speech at the Kneisel celebration four years ago. He 
 says: 
 
 "To de Coppet, Flonzaley: Hearty greetings to the 
 honored guests, and regrets that I cannot take part in the 
 celebration." 
 
Mr. de Coppet 19 
 
 Now, it is our privilege to give some souvenirs of this 
 most auspicious occasion, to the great artists whom we 
 have met to honor. And I think we are having a most 
 remarkable illustration of the humanizing eflFect of 
 music. We have known the myths about what Orpheus 
 did, and what Triton did with his wreathed horn, in 
 taming the monsters of the deep; but here, owing to the 
 influence of the quartet, we have actually got lawyers 
 engaged in giving away things. {Laughter.) One orna- 
 ment of the profession has already given this [pointing 
 to the tankard] to Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet, and now 
 another one, Mr. Nelson Spencer, has something to give 
 to the members of the Quartet. 
 
 Mr. Nelson S. Spencer: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: As everyone 
 who has preceded me has said we are here tonight to 
 pay our very best respects to Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet, 
 and we are here also as you have said and as Mr. de 
 Coppet also has said, not to forget the part which the 
 four members of the Quartet have contributed in the 
 past ten years, in their great sympathy with and their 
 great loyalty and their great devotion to the work 
 which Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet have done. We are 
 here such a very friendly, sympathetic company, that 
 it would be supererogatory for me to undertake to say 
 to them what we all feel and what we all think, and I 
 shall not attempt it. But we think we ought not to let 
 the occasion go by without making some record of the 
 distinctive contribution which they have made to the 
 occasion, and to the work which we are here tonight to 
 celebrate. And it is my pleasant duty to ask them, in 
 recognition of our appreciation, to accept the watches, 
 each one of them to accept the watch and the fob which 
 goes with it, which will be presently handed to him. 
 I wish to say immediately that this is intended to be 
 
2 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 no reflection whatever upon the "time" of the Quartet. 
 (Laughter.) But I can say, with perhaps more per- 
 tinence, that the time which these instruments are to 
 measure, we hope will continue to run as smoothly for 
 the Quartet as their music has and does run for us, and 
 that it will continue to be filled with as large a sum of 
 their friendship for us as we can assure them it will be 
 with our own friendship for them. {Applause.) 
 
 (Mr. Spencer then presented watches and fobs to 
 the members of the Quartet.) 
 
 The Toastmaster: 
 
 You have heard what I said about the flexibility of 
 that wonderful instrument the viola, how at one time 
 it can be a bassoon, and at another time a bagpipe, 
 and now you will hear it as a gentleman making a 
 speech. It will be played, as usual, by Mr. Ara. 
 
 Mr. Ugo Ara: 
 
 Mr. President: My English they say is not good 
 enough to allow me to improvise a speech of thanks 
 in answer to the delightful speech which you so kindly 
 have just delivered here. All I can do is to tell you that 
 my friends, my colleagues and I, are extremely grateful 
 to you for this new proof of friendship. [Applause.) 
 And that we hope that, supported by your sympathy, 
 and the sympathy of all the friends here present, we 
 may be able to accomplish what our father in New 
 York, Mr. E. J. de Coppet, has dreamed for us, namely, 
 to touch the heart of the people in telling them, simply, 
 sincerely and honestly, the message of the great masters 
 of music. {Applause.) And now will you allow me to 
 read a few lines which I have written for this occasion .f" 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: My colleagues and I have 
 been told that the aim of this delightful evening is not 
 only to celebrate the thousand and several musicals at 
 
Mr. Ugo Ara 2 i 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet's house, and their long and 
 brilliant career as Mecene and hostess, but also (and 
 for that we are extremely grateful to the kind promoters 
 of this occasion) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 
 the Flonzaley Quartet's happy life. 
 
 Happy life! The word has been often pronounced 
 and printed — Are you sure that it is the proper one? 
 
 Have you ever imagined the terrible slavery of these 
 four ^^ Siamese Brothers^' condemned to play, to bow 
 and to smile, to dine, to rehearse and ... to pose for 
 the photographer all at the same time and in perfect 
 tempo ? 
 
 Have you ever realized the crushing burden of this 
 triple married life in which every one of us depends con- 
 stantly and entirely on the good will, the moods and 
 the caprices of his better . . . '''' three quarters?'"' And 
 all our adventures with managers, agents, hotelkeepers 
 and with the public itself.'' A few examples will serve 
 as an illustration. 
 
 We started our public career some nine years ago 
 in Switzerland. Our first tour was engaged by an un- 
 speakable Genevese and the results were anything but 
 pleasant. In the French Swiss (where we had some 
 friends) things went decently, and in Lausanne the 
 papers had even some words of praise for "... the 
 nice little orchestra proceeded to charm the leisure 
 moments of a wealthy gentleman." 
 
 But in Zurich (where we didn't know a single soul) 
 we had quite an experience. Arriving there at the eve 
 of the concert we saw neither posters, nor window cards, 
 nor announcements. Next morning, very anxious, we 
 went to the local manager, Mr. X. For dignity's sake 
 we tried to preserve our incognito and merely enquired 
 about the programme of the evening's concert. "What 
 concert.?" — "That of chamber music." — "Chamber 
 music.?"— "Yes, In the Tonhalle."— "Tonhalle?" 
 
2 2 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 The clerk knowing absolutely nothing about it, we 
 asked him to call Mr. X. himself. He came, very dig- 
 nified, very imposing, very grand, and demanded very 
 gently: "What can I do for you, gentlemen.'"' — 
 "Mr. X.," we said to him rather impatiently, "have you 
 or have you not the arrangement of the Flonzaley 
 Quartet?" And he quite naturally replied: "For four 
 hands, perhaps, gentlemen.'"' {Laughter.) The man 
 had not only forgotten our concert, but even our very 
 name. 
 
 A few weeks later we went to Amsterdam, where we 
 had to play Hugo Wolf's beautiful and difficult String 
 Quartet. The first movement went well. But in the 
 beginning of the adagio, where we had to play some 
 very dangerous and complicated chords, I noticed a man 
 in the third row making evident signs of disapprobation. 
 Of course it disturbed me terribly and I determined not 
 to look at him again. But involuntarily, every time I 
 had something difficult to play I looked at my man, 
 and noticed with terror that he was making the most 
 awful faces. I was in despair, and my colleagues too. 
 But what was our surprise when in the artist-room we 
 found the man in question asking us very kindly to put 
 our signatures in his album and assuring us that seldom 
 had he heard such a beautiful ensemble and never in his 
 life a quartet playing so perfectly (gr ...!), but so 
 perfectly (gr ... !), but so perfectly (gr . . . !) in 
 time! {Laughter.) The man had a nervous tick — a 
 wonder that we didn't get one too! 
 
 In Chexbres, Switzerland, several years ago — Mr. 
 de Coppet, who used to give us frequent and precious 
 musical advice, for a long time said nothing about our 
 playing. One Sunday afternoon, after having played 
 at the Flonzaley the Debussy Quartet, and played it, 
 we thought, pretty well, I said to myself: "I wonder if 
 Mr. de Coppet liked this performance and if he is going 
 
Mr. Ugo Ara 23 
 
 to speak about it." I had just formulated this desire 
 when Mr. de Coppet called me to the terrace and when 
 we were there alone told me very courteously: "Ara, I 
 wish to congratulate you." — "Thank you, Mr. de 
 Coppet." — " Indeed," he repeated, " I must congratulate 
 you. I really think for years you didn't have such a 
 beautiful . . . *beard-cut' as now!" {Laughter.) 
 
 The honor of the barber was saved — that of the viola 
 player received a terrible shock! 
 
 In a small place near Boston, one evening after the 
 concert, we met at the depot a lady who wanted to 
 know all about our instruments — "What kind of in- 
 struments do you have.^" — "Old Italian instruments." 
 — "Oh, I thought so." — "And what about their 
 makers.?" — "Stradivari and Guadanini" — "Oh ... I 
 thought so. — And what about their age.?" — "Two hun- 
 dred years old." — "Oh ... I thought so." 
 
 "Madame," we said to her, "you seem to be quite a 
 connoisseur." — "Oh no," she answered very modestly, 
 "I am not. But it is easy to see that you have very 
 valuable instruments. It is extraordinary all I could 
 hear in your playing! Sometimes human voices. — 
 Sometimes bird songs. — And sometimes (and here her 
 voice trembled with emotion) and sometimes even . . . 
 ^ dogs harking.'' ^^ 
 
 In a small place in the Middle West we were very 
 much surprised, coming from the concert, to find the 
 hotelkeeper, who had received us very cordially on our 
 arrival, absolutely changed and directly angry with us. 
 We couldn't understand the reason. But very soon 
 he told us frankly: "You boys had a fine business, but 
 you put mine 'on the blink.' I run the moving-picture 
 show in this town. Everybody went to your concert 
 and I had an empty house." And soon after, as though 
 he had struck a glorious idea: "Now, boys," he said, 
 "Why can't we do business together.? What about 
 
24 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 playing for me three shows a day — one hundred dollars 
 a week?" 
 
 We were foolish enough to decline it. Why! Today 
 some nice little selections of . . . Schoenberg at the 
 "movies" would, perhaps, make quite a sensation!!! 
 {Laughter.) 
 
 Two years ago we toured a remote part of this coun- 
 try with a charming lady impresario. She was just as 
 kind as she could be and used to invite us for automobile 
 rides and suppers and walks. But about our playing 
 never a single word. We thought it strange. But one 
 evening after a concert in a certain place, where we had 
 had quite an exceptional success, she came just beaming 
 into the artist-room and shaking hands with us she 
 exclaimed with the greatest enthusiasm: "I am so 
 proud." We thought: "At last!" and bowed and 
 thanked. — "I am so proud!" she repeated. — We bowed 
 and thanked again. — "I am so proud" she exclaimed a 
 third and last time, "of my good . . . public!!" 
 
 And I shall close with a little adventure we had near 
 New York just a few weeks ago. 
 
 A lady, who had known the Quartet for years but 
 had never heard it, told me she intended to come to our 
 second concert at Aeolian Hall. Knowing the lady is 
 not very musical and we were going to play the Schoen- 
 berg, I said to her: "Oh, please. Madam, don't come to 
 that concert. We are going to have such an awful hard 
 programme!" And she said to me very gently: "Oh, 
 it doesn't matter, Mr. Ara, it doesn't matter at all. I 
 am not so critical!" {Laughter and applause.) 
 
 The Toastmaster : 
 
 You are evidently coming to appreciate what a 
 variety of tones the viola really has. Now I have a 
 conundrum to propose to you. The answer is very 
 simple, but I don't believe you will guess it. "Why has 
 
Mr. Louis Svecenski 25 
 
 New York probably the greatest two quartets in the 
 world?" Three more seconds will be allowed for an an- 
 swer. The answer is simply: "Because it has them 
 both." {Laughter.) I am surprised you did not guess 
 that: it is so simple! 
 
 They learn from each other, they stimulate each 
 other, and I do not believe that either of them would 
 be the great quartet it is, if they were not in constant 
 association with each other. The most beautiful har- 
 mony that I know in music, is the harmony between 
 these two quartets, {Applause.) 
 
 At the celebration of the Kneisel's twenty-fifth anni- 
 versary, the F'lonzaleys were there with their tribute 
 of respect and affection. And now at this most happy 
 celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Flonzaleys 
 the Kneisels are with them, and we will hear again from 
 the viola. Mr. Svecenski. 
 
 Mr. Louis Svecenski: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, and Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. Ara 
 said he spoke a very poor English. I wish to say I 
 speak an excellent English, but I wish I could prepare 
 a speech such as Mr. Ara has prepared. In fact, I have 
 prepared nothing, and I feel embarrassed, and I wish 
 Mr. Kneisel, and Mr. Letz and Mr. Willeke would 
 come and stand with me so that I should feel more 
 comfortable, but I know they won't. 
 
 I should like first to express in behalf of the Kneisel 
 Quartet our heartiest thanks to the gentlemen of the 
 Committee of Arrangements for asking us to come here 
 tonight. I wish to assure the Committee, and I wish 
 to assure Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet, and the Flonzaleys, 
 that It would have been a very great disappointment if 
 circumstances had prevented us from being here to- 
 night. When some weeks ago Mr. Rice told us about 
 the plan of having this delightful evening, we were very 
 
2 6 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 happy to hear of it, and when he told us that we would 
 be asked to come here as guests, we were more than 
 delighted. As to myself, I shrank a little bit when he 
 told me that I might perhaps be asked to say a few 
 words, because I at once felt aware of a certain con- 
 stitutional deficiency which always interfered with my 
 happiness whenever I had to speak to more than half 
 a dozen people, but somehow or other I llghtheartedly 
 got over it, and I gave myself to the happy perspective 
 of the 9th of March, and as the time drew near I began 
 to think about It, and I talked to my colleagues and 
 told them that I really did not feel up to speaking, that 
 I should only say a few words of congratulation to the 
 Quartet and Mr. and Mrs. de Coppet, but it seemed 
 that my colleagues did not believe In the ability to 
 speak without preparation. They charged me to pre- 
 pare a speech, take pencil and paper in hand, etc., and 
 I started, on our trips, and I thought that a speech 
 must have an introduction of some kind, and I thought 
 the best thing would be to relate how Mr. Rice came to 
 us and told us about this evening and that the 9th of 
 March had been chosen for the occasion, and that I 
 took at once my date book and looked and I found that 
 in all the weeks before the 9th of March, the 9th of 
 March happened to be free, and so I put that In the 
 best words I could, and looked it over, and I said 
 "This is not the very choicest introduction to the 
 speech, when we are to celebrate the Quartet which 
 after all makes a living from engagements, to tell them 
 that we had all the evenings engaged except March 9th." 
 So I crossed It out and started over again. I said, it 
 was not so, I didn't look at my engagement book, but 
 we at once accepted. And then I read It over, and I 
 said, "Well, that will not do, to say we had no engage- 
 ment, that we were free to accept at any time any- 
 thing;" so I crossed that out; and I said to myself, I 
 
Mr. Louis Svecenski 27 
 
 shall not make a speech, just come here and say some- 
 thing less ambitious, and that is what I am doing now, 
 ladies and gentlemen. {Laughter and applause.) 
 
 What I really want to say is that we are proud that 
 such an occasion has come, that an organization only 
 ten years old could have brought around so many of the 
 most discriminating, most earnest music-lovers to pay 
 their respects. I know the beginning of the Flonzaley 
 Quartet, I know their beginning in New York, and I 
 admire the spirit in which they began. They came here 
 as young artists, half or perhaps more advanced in their 
 career, fully equipped in their art, with diplomas of their 
 artistic maturity printed, and unwritten as by suc- 
 cesses with their audiences which they had in perform- 
 ing on various occasions by themselves — here they came 
 and got together to drop their achievements on their 
 various instruments, to devote themselves to try to 
 conquer an entirely new art that had nothing to do with 
 what they had been doing before. To play quartet, 
 the technique which you have acquired means almost 
 nothing. That sounds perhaps strong, but it is so, 
 ladies and gentlemen. To master your instrument 
 alone, and to master it in accord with others, is a four- 
 fold difficulty. The fluency, the intonation, all that 
 belongs under the name of "technique," is by far in- 
 creased in playing ensemble. So these four gentlemen 
 began and worked with a spirit that is most admirable, 
 they started to play Haydn's Quartets with the same 
 seriousness, they looked over their parts which seemed 
 like child's play for a virtuoso violinist, and studied 
 more seriously perhaps than they had when they 
 worked at their virtuoso pieces. It was a specially de- 
 lightful thing to observe how Mr. Bctti and Mr. Pochon 
 alternated (perhaps some of you don't know, but a 
 great many do) changed from the first desk to the 
 second, they didn't care where they were to sit, as long 
 
2 8 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 as they could play quartet; until finally each one got 
 into his own place, and they became what they are now. 
 
 Of course, the viola player interested me most of all. 
 He did not alternate with anybody; he was right, he 
 shouldn't. {Applause.) The viola player doesn't 
 change with anyone. He has to suflFer, while the first 
 violin — of course he has the enjoyment. The second 
 violin, if he is praised they say "he plays like the first, 
 you couldn't tell the difi'erence." But what does he 
 hear when the viola is mentioned .f* Once in a while 
 someone comes and says, *'Will you please tell me 
 'What is a viola .^'" Another one comes and says: "I 
 admired your playing very much. I used to hear the 
 viola, and I always found it a very nasal sort of instru- 
 ment. You can't hear the viola when you play!" So 
 his finest achievement with the viola is that he can't 
 be heard. The other comes and says: "Mr. Ara, I can't 
 tell you how I enjoyed your viola tonight; it sounded 
 like a 'cello." Work and work and work, until the 
 viola sounded like a 'cello!" On the next occasion 
 when they played the Schoenberg Quartet, I heard 
 someone thought Mr. Ara sounded like an oboe! — and 
 here Mr. Ara works all his life to do his best on the viola. 
 
 As to the 'cellist, I don't dare to speak about him at 
 all. They are very sensitive, the 'cellists — on evenings 
 when they are to play Bach's Sonata, and afterwards — 
 so I really will skip him. That is my experience with 
 'cellists. 
 
 I don't like to keep your attention too long, but I 
 must mention the time when such audiences as the 
 Flonzaley Quartet attract, and such gatherings, were 
 almost unbelievable. And it is not so very long ago, 
 I remember, that Mr. Kneisel, before one of our con- 
 certs here, while we were still in Boston, met, when he 
 was just getting ready to go to the concert, a manager in 
 the lobby of the hotel where Mr. Kneisel was stopping. 
 
Mr. Louis Svecenski 29 
 
 He casually asked the manager if he wouldn't come and 
 hear the concert, upon which this manager graciously- 
 said: "Now, Mr. Kneisel, you mustn't mind my saying 
 this, but I go to hear a quartet playing when I have a 
 well cushioned sofa or arm chair, and a good cigar, 
 otherwise you won't get me to that concert." Well, 
 Mr. Kneisel gave him the cigar. He didn't come to the 
 concert. A few years later after we had resigned from 
 the Boston Orchestra, Mr. Kneisel met the same 
 manager. Then he oflFered Mr. Kneisel a cigar, and 
 showed a great deal of interest in quartet music, think- 
 ing that Mr. Kneisel meant to ask him to take charge of 
 the business — which he didn't; he smoked the cigar. 
 
 But as to the achievements of the Flonzaley Quartet, 
 I think it is unnecessary to say anything. We are all 
 here to pay our respects. Their achievements are won- 
 derful, and what is more wonderful is that they achieved 
 all this in ten years only. We know every milestone of 
 the stony road which they had to travel in order to 
 reach the ensemble with which they surprise audiences 
 now in two continents, and their achievements, the mar- 
 velous speed with which they got where they are now, I 
 suppose was the reason that friends said it was time now 
 to halt and give expression to our admiration. 
 
 As to Mr. de Coppet, I have on other occasions pub- 
 licly told, and I often told him, and members of the 
 Quartet tell him, how much we appreciate the kindness 
 he has shown to us from the very beginning of our 
 Quartet. If he was not our father, he was just as good 
 as an uncle. {Laughter and applause.) In concluding, 
 I wish that Mr. de Coppet may be met in Heaven by a 
 string quartet. 
 
 The Toastmaster: 
 
 "Uncle" de Coppet wishes me to say that he 
 was present at the first Kneisel concert, and that 
 
30 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 he has been a subscriber ever since. {Laughter and 
 applause.) 
 
 Now this most pathetic account of accidents by field 
 and flood, reminds me of something interesting in con- 
 nection with our experiences tonight. There is extant 
 a letter of Wagner's in which he said that once when he 
 was travelling, he was delayed, very greatly to his an- 
 noyance, when in a hurry to get on, in a city he did not 
 particularly like, and he was bored nearly to death. 
 But he found compensation for there was to be a quartet 
 concert that night, and he went to it, and they played 
 what he called "my beloved adagio." That beloved 
 adagio of Wagner's was the second movement of the 
 Beethoven Quartet which the Flonzaleys played to- 
 night. And how they did play it! 
 
 Now in this Twentieth Century, there are two things 
 we can't escape. With a certain portion of the human 
 race as active as it is, we cannot escape politics, and I 
 hope you realized in my opening remarks, when I was 
 paying my profoundest respects to the noblest activity 
 in which the ladies' quartet is engaged, that I managed 
 to steer clear of the political implication. 
 
 The other thing which we can't escape in this age, 
 is science. The greatest American biologist has made 
 a worldwide reputation in his investigations of the cell, 
 and it is not far from the cell to the cello. I have often 
 wondered whether he would have reached his eminence, 
 if he had not in his leisure moments made some investi- 
 gations in the hair of the horse and the intestines of the 
 cat — I believe, to speak strictly, it is the intestines of 
 the sheep — but at all events America's greatest biologist 
 has a personal knowledge of catgut and horsehair, 
 and by using them in connection has found for him- 
 self that recreation which his great and profound and 
 successful labors have required; and if Prof. Wilson 
 will enlighten us a little more on that subject, I have 
 
Prof. Edmund B. Wilson 3 1 
 
 no doubt it will be greatly for our edification and en- 
 joyment. 
 
 Prof. Edmund B. Wilson: 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: I suppose these biological ref- 
 erences of our Chairman refer to the fact that I some- 
 times amuse myself, or used to amuse myself, by trying 
 to play a 'cello. Now it is a very curious peculiarity of 
 human nature, which has often been commented on, 
 that we are not nearly so proud of those things which 
 it is our business to do in life, and which we are supposed 
 to do decently well, as of those which we do by way 
 of recreation and amusement, and which it is quite cer- 
 tain that very frequently we do extremely badly. I 
 suppose it is perhaps for this reason that I am so much 
 flattered to be introduced to this audience as one who is 
 concerned with horsehair and catgut. I am certainly 
 proud to be admitted to that distinguished galaxy of 
 talent of which our Chairman this evening is himself 
 so distinguished an ornament, as also Mr. d'Archam- 
 beau, Miss Littlehales, Mr. Willeke, Mr. Rice, and per- 
 haps I may add Mr. Tuthill not to mention lesser 
 luminaries. I have been trying as I sat here this even- 
 ing, to recall how many years it is since I had the 
 pleasure of hearing quartets at the house of Mr. de 
 Coppet. I don't remember exactly, but I am sure that 
 it is upwards of twenty years. Perhaps that is long 
 enough to give me a sort of claim to an obscure corner 
 among the outposts of the old guard of the de Coppet 
 Quartet. Now I remember in those days that the 
 Quartet had a large sprinkling of amateurs, at times 
 was entirely composed of amateurs. We older members 
 of the circle have watched with great interest (perhaps 
 you will allow me to fall for a moment into the vernacu- 
 lar of my own profession, which happens to be that of 
 naturalist), the evolution of the de Coppet Quartet, 
 
3 2 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 we have witnessed the Inexorable mutation of the law 
 of natural selection, and the law of the survival of the 
 fittest. The first to fall hy the wayside were the am- 
 ateurs. (Laughter.) I remember distinctly when it was 
 first announced to one of those amateurs that he would 
 not be allowed to play any longer in the Quartet unless 
 he would promise to practice at least one hour a day. 
 He dropped out of the Quartet, as I remember. Now 
 later on there were, years after the elimination of the 
 amateurs, years of progressively broadening experience 
 until Mr. de Coppet had the genius to bring together 
 the combination of artists whom we all know so well 
 and of whom we are all so proud {Applause), almost as 
 If we had done it ourselves. The Quartet took the name, 
 a very charming name, of Flonzaley, but the name 
 which belongs to this Quartet, the name which Is right- 
 fully ours, the one by which I shall always think of it, Is 
 the de Coppet Quartet. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I 
 am somewhat embarrassed to know how to choose my 
 language as I proceed; because what I should like to do 
 would be to tell Mr. de Coppet exactly what I think 
 of him, and yet I know that would probably be the last 
 thing In the world that so modest a man as Mr. de Cop- 
 pet would wish to have me do, and In this dilemma I am 
 going to make use of words used by somebody else, 
 words said of somebody else. They were the words 
 used by Mr. Saint Gaudens, whose Reminiscences I 
 have recently read. In a letter addressed to Maxfield 
 Parrish, congratulating him on some of his artistic 
 achievements, I think they were the illustrations for 
 Milton's I'AUegro, which was published In the Century 
 Magazine. Mr. Saint Gaudens said: 
 
 "It is always an astonishment to me, how, after all the 
 fine things seem to have been done, and after all the pos- 
 sibilities of beauty seem to have been exhausted, some man 
 
Prof. Edmund B. Wilson 33 
 
 like you will come along and strike another note just as dis- 
 tinctful and just as fine." 
 
 Now this, or^something like this, is what I should like 
 to say about Mr. de Coppet this evening. He has done 
 a fine and distinguished thing for the great circle of 
 music lovers among his friends, and for the still greater 
 circles of music lovers in New York City, in America, 
 and in the countries beyond the sea. 
 
 Now I have two other things to which I wish in very 
 few words to give expression. I wish in the first place 
 to say once more, although it has already been said 
 several times this evening, I shall say once more for 
 my own part and on behalf of so many of my friends: 
 How many delightful hours, how many opportunities 
 for the cultivation of our musical tastes, we owe to the 
 ever ready and charming hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. 
 de Coppet. {Applause.) They have almost made us 
 forget how much we owe them, in the beautiful and 
 gracious way in which that hospitality has been ex- 
 tended. {Applause.) 
 
 And now the other and last thing which I wish to do 
 is to take off my hat to the de Coppet Quartet. We 
 have from the first felt their fine artistic qualities, and 
 we have seen them grow year by year in artistic stature 
 and mastery, until they have taken their assured place 
 among the great quartet organizations of the world. 
 I think if anyone has had any lingering doubts in regard 
 to this, they must have been dissipated in listening to 
 the magnificent exhibition which they have recently 
 given us of artistic mastery of technical virtuosity, of 
 complete command of the art of chamber music in the 
 remarkable performances which they have given us of 
 the Schoenberg Quartet; how much pleasure we all owe 
 to their delightful art! They have introduced us to 
 many new musical acquaintances, and they have con- 
 
34 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 tinually revealed to us new beauties even in our oldest 
 friends in the quartet literature. From Haydn to 
 Schoenberg is a pretty long road to travel. I will 
 confess that for me at least, there have been some 
 pretty rough spots on the way, particularly toward the 
 latter part of it, but we have been led along that path- 
 way, sometimes a little mystified, sometimes turning 
 to look back at the old, familiar landmarks, always with 
 delight, always with confidence in our guides, and for 
 this, ladies and gentlemen, we thank them with all our 
 hearts. To us, they are not merely the distinguished 
 artists whose triumphs we have followed and shall 
 follow hereafter, God willing, with so much pleasure 
 and with so much profit. They are our very good 
 friends, and we wish them all prosperity and all hap- 
 piness! {Applause.) 
 
 The Toastmaster: 
 
 Now, ladies and gentlemen, the last number will be 
 a little reminiscence of Parsifal. I have suspected that 
 part of the allegory of Parsifal was that the enchantress 
 was a stringed instrument, and almost everybody who 
 has spoken to you tonight has yielded to that enchant- 
 ment by becoming a player. There is here one gentle- 
 man of wit and eloquence who has constantly exposed 
 himself to the enchantment, but remains innocent, and 
 I am going to call upon him to give us an unprejudiced 
 view of all for which we have been declaring our worship. 
 I call upon Mr. John Jay Chapman. 
 
 Mr. John Jay Chapman: 
 
 Mr. Chairman^ and Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not 
 a degree I have handed to Mr. de Coppet. It is merely 
 a copy of a few verses. They are called "Chamber 
 Music" and their reading will occupy but a very few 
 moments : 
 
Mr. John Jay Chapman 35 
 
 "Silence: the sunset gilds the frozen ground 
 But here within all's curtained; stands are set 
 In the wide salon where gilt chairs abound 
 And eager listeners wait. The band is met 
 Whose tuning sheds a cheerful hum around: 
 Prophetic notes! the tapers brighten at the sound. 
 
 The scattered sheets of music on the floor 
 
 Reflect a lustre from the yellow flame. 
 
 My sight dissolves . . . Lo, Haydn at the door 
 
 Enters like some stiff angel from his frame, 
 
 Bearing the bundle of his latest score 
 
 Which he distributes, smiling, to the blessed four. 
 
 But is not Haydn dead? He dies no more 
 So long as these shall meet! The magic wand 
 Brings the old master through the shadowy door, 
 And upright in the midst his soul doth stand 
 While through the chords his sunny force doth pour. 
 — Ah, Haydn, has thou truly ever lived before i* 
 
 O intimate acquaintance! When we meet 
 
 The hearts of old musicians there is shown 
 
 A conversation deeper and more sweet 
 
 Than all but saints or lovers e'er have known. 
 
 Is there an earthly friendship so complete 
 
 As this that in a heaven-born passion hath its seat? 
 
 The gods and half-gods meet us everywhere. 
 But are at home in music. There they live 
 In privacy: Apollo suns his hair. 
 And Aphrodite to the stars doth give 
 The more-than-mortal eyes that almost stare 
 So wide they are, so open and so unaware. 
 
 And while the gods do strum and tune a lay 
 
 To please their godships— there comes creeping in 
 
 De Coppet with his crew to steal away 
 
 The secret flame. The trembling violin 
 
 Bratsche and cello, which his pirates play. 
 
 Bear the bright fire,— yes, undiminished re-convey. 
 
36 The de Coppet-Flonzaley Supper 
 
 We are those guests who knew the joy sincere 
 Of that Promethean plunder; and to-night 
 Are wiser for the start of many a tear 
 That chased surprised beauty in her flight, 
 And happier for those hours of inward cheer, 
 The thought of which, — dear hosts of many days, — doth 
 draw us here." 
 
 The Toastmaster: 
 
 And now at the risk of a bit of egotism, I want to draw 
 a useful moral lesson from my experience this evening. 
 Don't ever think that what appears to be a misfortune 
 is necessarily one. As I have been sitting here tonight 
 and thinking over those various experiences with the 
 viola, I thought to myself that it was a great misfortune 
 for me that I did not take the viola instead of the 
 violoncello. Well, if I had, perhaps I should not have 
 been the worst quartet player in New York, and if I 
 were not the worst quartet player in New York, I 
 should not have had the great pleasure of presiding on 
 this most felicitous occasion. 
 
 And now, I close as I closed at the silver wedding of 
 the Kneisel Quartet with their audiences. This is the 
 wooden, or tin, wedding, — which is it, Mrs. de Coppet.'' 
 (A voice: "Tin.") This is the tin wedding of the Flon- 
 zaleys with their audiences. I hope for them, as I hoped 
 for the Kneisels, that we shall all be at the golden wed- 
 ding — and if we are not there in the flesh, may we be 
 there in the spirit! {Great applause.) 
 
' RETURN 
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