An American Girl in Munich

January

, Cecy mia, get out your hood and fur coat and start! But before you go, let me tell you that I have a deep-rooted conviction: namely, that you can find no more entrancing spot on the globe than Meran. For Meran, you must know, lies exclusively apart from the rest of the world, deep down in the valley of the Adige

marvellous than this same Brenner Pass in winter. There has been a heavy storm for some days and it left the whole country half buried in a white cloak. Snow, snow everywhere, covering every mountain, stretch of valley, and hill! It is a grand sight. We were so enchanted with the scenery that we forgot to mourn the lack of holiday festivities. Then, too, we did have one important feature of the season

te a little about him. She says he is very erratic in his teaching and never gives a lesson twice alike. Sometimes he paces up and down the room while the pupil is playing. Often he gazes abstractedly out of the w

that better than anything. He draws up a chair and sits close beside the pupil, fo

he hill overlooking the town. The servants greeted us at the gate, and the dogs came bounding out with enraptured barks. Turning into the path leading to the house I had my first good look at the villa. It is square, and constructed of yellowish stone. Between the windows are frescoes representing the goddess of plenty, the gra

ether; on the heights at the right rises an old, crumbling tower, the remnant of a once splendid castle; on the left stretches out the valley, and far away there in the distance, so far that the blue of the sky becomes misty, one s

t the foot of the hill we cross the most picturesque of stone bridges and find ourselves at once on the broad walk, which, lined with fine old poplars, runs straight along the bank of the river. At eleven o'clock the walk is crowded. Meran is not only a fashionable resort in winter, but a favorite spot for invalids on account of the perfection of its clim

Carl Zerrahn. You remember the time when he was such a prominent conductor and musician in Boston, do you not? We had sat

alas, almost blind now, and cannot re

ic Hall and sweeping the Handel and Haydn Society along in those great choruses of the "Messiah" and "Elijah." His hair is n

e were within a few feet of him, we introduced ourselves as old friends whom he had, perhaps, by this time forgotten. I

is my home, and I shall go back there in a year or so. I worked

nich opera, and was so thoroughly kindly and interested in everything pertaining to his a

quaintest of streets, whose sidewalks are built under arcades. When we enter, the girl in attendance always says "Küss' die Hand." The first time I heard this I frankly put out my hand to be kissed. A laugh from them all made me blushingly draw it back again. I learn

e German fashion, held the bundle, a huge thing clumsily done up in white paper. The older of the two little girls, who could not have been more than five, shyly advanced. In a high, excited voice she recited a little poem about the New Year. Her sister, no less thrilled by the occasion, recited very rapidly two more verses about Freude (joy) and Glück (happiness). As a finale they together took the bundle and with the prettiest of courtesies handed

s make a dreadful uproar if their beer is not forthcoming, and the cook insists on several bottles a day. I should think this might be de

ung peasants sitting on the stone wall, or leaning lazily against it smoking meerschaum pipes. The splendor of their costumes was quite startling. Their funny little round hats, usually severely plain, we

"Isn't it odd that some of them choose red and the oth

rm you immediately, my dear young lady, that those whom you see before you in red waistcoats are married men, while those in green are bachelo

is color-bli

een living for four months on a German pension diet. Why, after so many foreign menus, I feel like the poor soul who "near a thousand tables pined and wanted food." Yesterday we actually had muffi

nder the circumstances. I did not get a full look at his face. It was the swaggering walk and the little fat hand raised to salute a brother officer that made me start and look again. By that time he had almost passed. Nonsense! Probably this very minute he is at the pension accepting a cup of tea from

ck, Jan

ound ourselves here, in this most fascinating of houses-for, Cecilia, we are actually living, eating, sleeping in a castle, a real, bona fide castle, once the hunting lodge of the Emperor Maximilian. I see you start and you

old dining-room, hung with ancient portraits of the royal house, still remains; that the carved balconies with their worn railings overlooking the rushing stream of the Inn, the

he darkness of the place blinded me, coming as I had from the brightness of the outer house. Then I saw more clearly there were people, yes, actual, live people, kneeling on the stones and telling their beads within touch of my hand. No one noticed me as I stood by the door. As I looked about me I saw that I was in a chapel all of stone. Before me was an altar decorated garishly with paper flowers. The light of the sacrament burned dimly above, and cast a shadow on the rough c

rship. On a second visit I discovered that on the right, just after entering the chapel, is a tiny square room which at a first glance looks like a cell. In the rough stones of the wall a square

every nook and corner is alive with memories of the past? I could stay

uar

him or herself as delighted to see us back, with all that cordiality

urally I expected he would thank me, but I was hardly prepared for what followed. As at his "Herein!" I entered the smoke-wreath

g that it would not be my ill luck to push off to the floor any one of the dozens of cigarettes which always lie carelessly strewn about. Then I placed my fugue on the music rack. Whatever I bring, be it sonatina, invention, or merely a counterpoint exercise, Thuille daringly plays it out forte. This is so different from the way Mr. Chadwick does. He seldom

truments, including the corno di basetto and the contrafagotto. If you want a task, try to play it from score at sig

ssion; "I don't expect you to play it now like that. Study the c

d a number of loose manu

ce for orchestra I

n handwriting. Thuille's notes are very small, distinct, and closely written. Professor Paine has a large, firm hand. Chadwick's notes appear as though hastily dashed off, although perfectly legible. I remember distinctly the day he showed me the score of his brilliant Symphonic Sketches. It looked interestingly complex, althou

m, and Thuille asked me to bring Beethov

te

as before we went to Meran, and flushes nervously at the least excitement. Mütterchen, who

betrothed to an officer makes ready for a grand wedding in the spring? There is much to be d

uring look which met hers was that of a sympathizing friend. A second later the Poet's Wife was tactfully leading Frau von Waldfel to give her views on the new cooking-school, while Fr?ulein Hartmann abstractedly rep

euben are. Baedeker stars 'em three times,

akothek by Rubens," and gave them the directions to Barer-strasse. While they were commenting upon them, I wondered what could have happened during our absence to make Fr?ulein Hartmann and the Poet's Wi

part of my time,-I enjoy the lessons immensely. When we read at sight I find them especially interesting. We have been playing some splendid things for two pianos, among them those lovely Schuman

arly when one is familiar with the actual material of a work, and then in composition it is a

ach phrase a dozen times after her before I was allowed to sing it. Truly, I feel very young and irresponsible. Don't talk about musical temperament and feeling to me! My one idea is to get the vowels open enough and to pronounce these fiendish umlauts in the approved fashio

Gang, sein'

L?cheln, seine

r Rede Za

uck, und ach

gh. Then she said with cutting sweetness of tone, "The idea of this song is to make

ebellion stirred me. I wanted to tell her that I had not been born with a German throat, and that su

r's class," she said. "It will be of great benefit

up my music and went out, not having the faintest idea who

ed to me that Herr Müller was the Regisseur, that is, the coach for acting at the opera house, and that his class was the Aussprache, or dra

age," said I, quite startled

ur pronunciation is corrected by Herr Müller. It is just as good as a German lesson," she

in dignified solitude in the centre, and at the end, near the green porcelain stove, is a long table around which the class sits. Herr Müller has his place at the head. He is an interest

the people here detect our nationality. He motioned me to a chair, then slo

minutes, was past, he called on the next girl, a soft-voiced, shrinking creature in a low-necked blouse. She murmured haltingly that she had "Das Veilchen" (The Violet). "Ach! Das Veilchen!" lisped he, with his head on one side, in the same tremulous tones. The imitation was such a capital one that we all laughed. In the bare room

erse very slo

d plainly hear titterings from the girls, but I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the picture of Beethoven over the door. When I had finished, Herr Regisseur laid

lein aus Amerika," he said. "Repe

Bianci, only now I enunciated every syllable wi

shed, although his eyes twinkled. "

variably remarked the same thing. The chorus sang excellently, but were selected with absolutely no eye for beauty or grace. And how the Amazons did wear their armor! They reminded me more of tired waitresses after a hard day's work than the spirited war-maidens they were supposed to represent. Sparkle, vivacity, delicacy,-all these elements which make light opera what it should be,-were lacking. I

tion. At the farther end of it the International Hockey Team, composed of men from the University of Munich and the Polytechnic, was having a match with some strangers. The Germans skate very well and seem devoted to the sport. Th

fternoon and came bac

id

to tell you now that the plum pudding was not hurt a particle. The cook steamed it, and we invited all the pensionnaires to share it with us at dinner. If you could have but heard their compliments, you or your

ustom-house waiting to be called for. The office itself is in a large room like a hall, and full of all sorts of bundles, boxes, and burlap bags, which look like the accumulation of years. The blue-bloused Die

long line of people. It was certainly twenty minutes before I reached the scales, for all the packages are weighed, you know. Wi

red tape I fancied I should have to pay at least six marks, but when my turn came I found that only forty-five pfennigs were

taking an entrance examination. I stared at hi

ed and two

re," he announced

n the sacrifice of my real American candy, I followed him meekly into the next room, where he solemnly scribbled so

s all,"

escape seemed so near I

e pension. By this ridiculous proceeding I had lost just two hours on my counterpoint. The candy, however, is wonderful!

we have gone out for a glass of beer. We never miss but a few bars." The so-called symphonic Legende vom Golde, a symbolic pantomime, if I may so call it, which opens the third act, struck me as unutterably tawdry, but the last scene had a perfectly charming setting, and the climax was very effective. At the final curtain the composer was called out several times, but the opinion

up a large party for something, and of course I shall write you all about it. Louise and Edith are coming over to do ear-tr

e principal theme of the first movement of the Eroica Symphony. We sang it in the choru