[MS. Diaries; Munich; Music] Five volumes of autograph diaries, covering four 'seasons' studying under Bussmeyer, Beer-Walbrun and Schmid-Lindner at the Royal Academy of Music, Munich; with descriptions of concerts by notable musicians.

The present diaries paint a vivid and evocative picture of four 'seasons' of study at the Royal Academy of Music, Munich, by an intelligent, articulate, talented and ambitious female student, from a privileged Scottish background, and present an informative account of the musical milieu in Munich at the turn of the twentieth century, with assessments of various notable musical figures including Edvard Grieg, Ferruccio Busoni, Felix Weingartner, Joseph Joachim, Théophile Ysaÿe, Édouard Risler, Emil von Sauer, Aleksandr Abramovich Pechnikov, George Liebling, Frederic Lamond, Teresa Carreño, Bertha Marx-Goldschmidt, Eugen d'Albert, Elsie Playfair, Felix Mottl, Peter Raabe, Ernst Kraus, Fritz Feinhals, Georg Lennart Schnéevoigt, Anna von Gabain, Elaine Molle Feez, Hermine Bosetti, Clive Carey, Leonard Borwick, Alexander Dillmann.At the time of Tennant's arrival in Munich the Director at the Academy is Bernhard Stavenhagen (1862-1914), her awe for whom will soon turn to disillusionment. Stavenhagen leaves to start his own piano school, and is replaced by Tennant's piano tutor Hans August Hermann Bussmeyer (1853-1930), whose methods she finds too pedantic. She secretly transfers after one season to August Schmid-Lindner (1870-1959), while continuing to study composition with Anton Beer-Walbrun (1865-1929). During her time at the Academy she also attends'Musik Geschichte' lectures by Berthold Kellermann (1853-1926; like Stavenhagen a pupil of Liszt); and 'Chorgesang' under Joseph Anton Becht (1858-1926).Sheena Lilian Grant Tennant (hereafter ST) was the youngest of the six children of the wealthy Scottish industrialist James Tennant of Fairlieburne, Fairlie, Argyllshire, a nephew of Sir Charles Tennant of the Glen (father of Margot Asquith, wife of British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, who was hence James Tennant's cousin). ST was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, studied music composition in Paris under Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979), published at least nine piano pieces (including songs by W. E. Henley and W. B. Yeats) between 1908 and 1929, worked during the war and until her marriage as assistant to Major William Byam (1882-1963), Royal Army Medical Corps, at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Euston, and in Hampstead. On 31 July 1919 she married Herbert Moorhouse Kendall (1881-1941) of the P & O, previously of the 3rd Duke of Cornwall's Light Infrantry.512pp., 8vo. In five volumes. The diaries cover four Munich 'seasons': the first (Items One and Two below) from 20 September 1904 to 9 April 1905; the second (Item Three below) from 4 October to 21 December 1905; the third (Item Four below) from 22 February to 15 May 1907; the fourth (Item Five below) from 29 January to 2 March 1908. In good condition, with light signs of age and wear. The first four volumes in uniform green cloth bindings, each with 'S. G. T.' and 'München' on the cover (the first two also with the year on the cover). Text on the rectos throughout, with the first four volumes containing a total of 16 original photographs and 80 illustrations (mostly postcards) of musical figures (such as Stavenhagen and Feinhals) and German views laid down on various versos. ST clearly kept her diary in notebooks such as Item Five below, and subsequently had groups of these bound together into one volume, as Items One to Four. ONE: Green cloth notebook (labelled '5'). 20 September to 31 December 1904. 134pp., 8vo. Title on first page (with photograph of ST laid down): 'Music Study in Munich | Sheena L. G. Tennant | Sept: 1904'. Frist entry from 'Akademie Strasse. September 20th. 1904'. Three photographs, viz: oval photograph (17cm high by 12.5 cm wide) of ST standing outdoors, holding a balletic pose in bathing costume, loosely inserted; 'Swan at Nyphenburg. Taken by M.M.'; and portrait standing outdoors laid down on title page; and 35 illustrations. TWO: Green cloth notebook (labelled '6'). 1 January to 9 April 1905. 95pp., 8vo. First entry from 'Karlsruhe. January 1st. 1905 Sunday'. With 9 photographs: untitled portrait of a lady and 'A corner of my room. Taken by M. M.', 'Kunst Akademie | M. M.'; a pair: 'Joan Howson | M. T.' and 'Mary Johnson | M. T.'; four of a party of four ladies and one gentleman ['Miss Fergusson - Madge, Mary - Marje, Thurlow & I'], 'At Nymphenburg. Taken by M. M.' and 'At Nymphenburg. March 29th. M. T.'; and 12 illustrations. THREE Green cloth notebook (labelled '7'). 4 October to 21 December 1905. 100pp., 8vo. First entry from 'Blüthenstrasse 4. München.' Photograph of a domestic interior (presumably ST's room) and 23 illustrations. FOUR: Green cloth notebook (labelled '11'). 22 February to 15 May 1907. 136pp., 8vo. Title on first page: 'Sheena G. Tennant. | München 1907.' First entry from 'München. | Friday 22nd. 1907'. 3 photographs: violin and bow, and two of a woman seated at a piano; and 10 illustrations. FIVE: Waxed black cloth notebook: 29 January to 2 March 1908. Stapled. Ruled. 47pp., 8vo. First entry from 'Pension Nordland. Schellingstr: 3. | Wednesday January 29th.'In a note published after ST's death her son Hugh Tennant described his mother as aspiring to be 'one of the first women composers', and before turning to the other aspects of these volumes this description begins by emphasizing the powerful ambition by which ST was motivated. On 9 April 1905 she writes, in a review of her first season: 'And so here is the end of this diary - & the end of these happy seven months in München, "Happy" & altogether satisfying; Heaven be praised for Work - that is - most when your whole heart is in it - And even should all my work eventually prove to have no result, surely the earnest effort & sincere desire to get a little answer to the great heart of music - will not have been entirely wasted. Why should I dare to hope that anything can come out of me which would be worth anything in the way of music? And yet, even when I think how little hope there is I go on striving because - because I cannot help myself; because that one little feeble spark of talent which seems to have strayed into me - by mistake as it were - shall have its fair chance.' It not as a performer, but rather as a composer that ST hopes to excel, and her harmony tutor is full of encouragement: on 28 October 1904 Beer-Walbrun suggests that she take one of her compositions to a music publisher: 'I really mean it; it's not too long or too difficult - & makes quite a good "Salon Stuck"'. And on 7 December 1904 she records that she was 'rather despairing to-day about composition. Beer said, "The talent really is there - & I shouldn't say so if I didn't know it - but the thing is, no one can tell how it will develop"'. On 21 March 1905 Beer exclaims that she 'must have "come into the world with a talent for form"', and two weeks later (4 April) he says 'straight out, that if he were in my place, he certainly would go on with composition. He always says quite frankly that one can't tell yet how it may turn out, & whether such talent as I have will develop or not but as far as it goes at present he seems to think I should stick to it - So I think that settles it - & I simply must go on & if it does all come to nothing & is a failure, well - at least I shall have given myself a fair chance - Beer said "Don't you want to make something of it?" I think my answer was convincing!' On 2 December 1905, before an 'intensely interesting lesson', Beer-Walbrun told her that he has 'been "hearing my praises sung" - I asked by whom - & he said Schmid Lindner, & that he had said I appeared to be "sehr talentiert": "Da hab' ich mich sehr gefreut," added Beer - "und sagte ihm, ich kannte Sie sehr gut."' She received further encouragement from another source. On 25 November 1905 'no less a person than Herr Konzertmeister Weber [Joseph Miroslav Weber (1854-1906)] came to tea with us! Miss Wilson & Mary Brown also came; he was very anxious to meet the latter, as he took a great fancy to Gracie when he met her last winter. His & Mary's intercourse was of necessity rather limited, as he won't talk much English & she can't talk much German - But he certainly talked for all he was worth in his own tongue, & was very amusing & quite delightful. He jumps from one subject to the other with startling rapidity so that you never know what he is going to say next. After tea, he asked me to play something of my own, which I felt extremely nervous about doing before him, however I played the G minor Intermezzo & D minor Etude. He said very little - just a word of approval & a nod of the head. Soon after he got up & said "Nun, Fräulein Joan geben Sie mir Ihre Violine hier, und wir werden Frl: Tennant's Nocturne spielen." I nearly stood on my head with excitement, for it's a known fact that he will not play in private when he goes out to people, in fact announces beforehand that if he accepts an invitation he's not to be asked to play - & that he should offer of his own free will to play - & moreover play a girl's composition - well! it was something for me to remember. And oh! the tone he brought out of Joan's lovely violin, & the way it sounded in my high room - He didn't say anything in the way of commendation at the end, but he turned back & took it all through again, which was enough for me! Afterwards he just said "Gehen Sie nur weiter, und arbeiten Sie fleissig". | After he & the other two had left - Joan [the future Arts and Crafts artist in stained glass Joan Howson (1885-1964), who lodges with her] & I went out too - to buy a paper partly - but also because I wanted to cool my hot head!'Before giving examples of ST's assessments of the notable musical figures whose work she encounters in Munich, and of figures connected with her education (Stavenhagen, Bussmeyer, Schmid-Lindner, Beer-Walbrun, Kellermann, Becht), we will deal with the background to ST's visit. Despite finding the climate 'equal almost to Loch Goil at its rainiest', ST's time in Munich is a period of unalloyed pleasure. 'I must have got the Akademie fearfully on the brain just now', she observes on one occasion, 'I dream about it nearly every night.' For first two volumes she lodges at Georgenstrasse 22, with other boarders including 'the Gibsons & Miss Stockfeld' (possibly the 'Dorothea' who is her main companion over the period); for the third with Joan Howson, with whom she exercises at the gymnasium. At the end of her first 'season' (9 April 1905) she exclaims: 'München! you have indeed been kind to me, & when I look back on this winter I wonder when my gratitude can cease', and on 16 May 1907: 'And so I come to the end of my third Munich season - my perfect months of the year'. At the end of her second season (21 December 1905): Well, it has been a glorious time while it lasted - just the kind of time I always longed for but hardly expected to get! Miss Hawley has been kindness itself - & I love the flat & especially my big nice room - & Joan has been a splendid person to live with - & oh! the music - the concerts & my interesting piano lessons - & dear big kindly Beer! From the bottom of my heart I am grateful for this time, & shall always look back on it with infinite pleasure & satisfaction.' Among the sights ST visits are the Kunstakademie ('said to be the finest - for that purpose - in the world - & the worst managed') and the Alte and Neue Pinakotheken, the Walkensee, the Nymphenburg (where 'some princess or other lives'), the Glypothek, the Deutsches Museum. Among the events described are a 'hat trimming competition for men' at the English Church, a visit to a market and a 'scientific hairdresser', visit to Munich by the King of Spain, November 1905, the death of the King of Saxony ('I believe his successor is very unpopular.'), a trip to Innsbruck in April 1907, one of the 'Yolk Symphonie Concerts at the Rain Saal' ('really extraordinary - the reserved seats are 1mk. & 50 p/g [...] Fancy a concert for 6d!'). On 16 October 1904 she reports the return to university of the students, 'in full force, with their brilliantly coloured caps & duelling scars all complete'.The very first entry (Akademie Strasse, 20 September 1904) finds ST in 'comfortable quarters [...] only a ten minutes walk to the Akademie der Tonkunst, - about a quarter of an hour to the Hof Theatre - ten minutes to the English Church & altogether as far as position is concerned I am most conveniently situated here'. The entry continues with an account of the registration process: 'On the day following my arrival I went to the Akademie to pay my entrance fee, & present my certificates of birth, vaccination & good character. Of the latter, I do not believe the secretary could read a word, but I suppose he thought I looked respectable & was satisfied. The entrance examination for piano was on Saturday - It was rather an ordeal having to play before Stavenhagen & eight or nine solem [sic] - & bored - looking professors, but it was nothing to the waiting beforehand which really was rather agonizing - especially as I had about an hour of it, before my turn came. They only heard about a page of the Chopin Polonaise - C minor - which I played & nothing more - so they certainly must have remarkably rapid judgment. However that may be I was not among the rejected candidates, for which - Gott sei dank. I am to have lessons from a certain Herr Bussmeyer who I trust will be nice. Here let me confess - that I was distinctly disappointed when I heard this - as I had hoped to get Kellermann or Krause - who rank next to Stavenhagen. I am afraid my short stay here is a great disadvantage to me - as the good teachers do not like to take you unless you are staying a reasonable time.' (Her fees for the term, she states a week later, are £7 10s 0d: 'Imagine! for excellent piano lessons twice a week, also harmony & singing classes, lectures on music & goodness only knows what else - during three months - only £7. 10! A terms piano lessons alone with Mr Halstead cost 6 guineas').ST's privileged background is apparent throughout. On 22 February 1907, for example, she pays a visit to her cousin Charty Ribblesdale (Charlotte, Lady Ribblesdale, daughter of Sir Charles Tennant and sister of Margot Asquith), 'who is at a pension in Gluckstrasse just now. The door was opened to me by Zelly. On hearing my voice Laura [daughter (1892-1965) of Lady Ribblesdale, and later Lady Lovat] appeared out of her bedroom & took me in. There I found Diana [another daughter (1893-1983) of Lady Ribblesdale, and later Countess of Westmoreland] stretched out on her bed reading a novel & smoking a cigarette - She looked very warm & washed out - not the effect of the cigarette which I don't doubt she is quite accustomed to - at the mature age of thirteen! - but of an attack of influenza from which she is just recovering'. And on 7 January 1905 she goes to a dance at 'the Gibsons' and enjoys it 'immensely': 'I danced energetically the whole time, among my partners were Mr de Zulueta, Mr Sheppard, Mr Thynne, Baron von Cramer, Mr Richards, Lieutenant von Perfall, Mr Wynn, Herr von Bertals, & several officers whose names I didn't hear. Mr de Zulueta is a friend of the Maitlands. [...] he turns out to be a friend also of Mr Thynne's. The latter informed me that he was "chaperoning" me, that he had promised Miss Wilson to look after us & see that we behaved nicely! He is rather depressed just now, because he burst a blood vessel in his hand - (simply through over practising) - the other day - & mustn't play the piano for five weeks. I said "Perhaps the diplomatic service will have a chance now!" but he said, "I don't mean it to." Mr Wynn - with whom I dance twice & had some conversation - is a composer. He lived here last winter - but is just on a flying visit now. An oratorio of his has just been given in Milan - & he appears to have had a great oration there. His opera is to be given at Covent Garden this season, so I promised to go & hear it if I was in London at the time. Herr von Berthals was also a composer; he was rather a weird little individual & a perfect mad hatter, & looked as if there was nothing musical about him, but Miss Stockfeld told me the songs he has had published are perfectly lovely. He asked me who I was studying with & when I said Beer-Walbrun he exlaimed "Ach! der war auch mein Lehrer!" He talked a lot about Beer - told me he had composed an opera & so on. He also said that Rheinbeyer had once said to him "Beer was the best contrapuntist in German y now at the present time" & Rheinbeyer's opinion was certainly worth having even though it might not be everyone elses. Herr von Berthals is studying in Paris now -'. The following day (8 January 1905) she hears Wynn on the piano play 'all his own things - bits from the opera - oratorio symphonies etc - He is thoroughly modern & some of his progressions were rather startling'. She responds by playing some of her own work, including 'the three Intermezzi. Mr Wynn liked the slow movement, in fact he said it was "a perfect dream" & was quite complimentary'. (ST's tastes are conservative. On 23 March 1905 she goes to a concert conducted by Stavenhagen, with 'Olga Hahn (one of his best Weimar pupils) playing, & Tilly Koenen [(1873-1941)] & Josef Loritz playing - I didn't like any of the things they played - they were all frightfully modern'. And on 11 December 1905 she hears Sibelius's Finlandia, 'which I hope I may never have to listen to again. The drums go on without ceasing for about five minutes in one part - it is deafening & ghastly'.) On 19 March 1905 she has 'luncheon at the Rheinischer Hof with Lady Jervis. They are on their way home from Davos where they have been staying for the winter sports. Muriel Poë has been with them as she is a great friend of Lady Jervis' And on 1 November 1904, she writes regarding George Hope Stevenson (1880-1952): 'I went to assist Miss Wilson with a little tea party she was having. Miss Mc.Gaskill came - & Herr Lichtenberg - a student at the University here - also another student (a new comer) a young Mr Stevenson from Glasgow. He has just come from Baliol [sic] Coll: Oxford & seems to have known Herbert Asquith there. He also knows Fairlie, so we found quite a lot to talk about.' On 20 March 1907 she has tea with her young cousin Ernest Tennant, later a merchant banker and secretary of the Anglo-German Fellowship. On 7 May 1907 she meets 'such a charming man - Dr Sieper [Ernst Sieper (1863-1916)] - who lectures on English Literature at the University here. He has been several times in England & talks the most marvellously good English - Once though - speaking of Winston Churchill whom he had apparently found very charming when he met him in London - he said quaintly "I was quite 'Enthusiasmed' for him."' There are a number of references to the artist Joan Howson, who is a member of the group studying music with ST. The entry for 29 January 1905 is accompanied by photographs of Joan Howson and Mary Johnson: 'Miss Howson arrived on Thursday night - a new addition to our party - I find she had a brother at Cambridge - Trinity - same year <?> as Charlie - & she was at the same May week as we were - same balls - same everything - rather funny!' And on 4 October 1905, she records her arrival in Munich after 'forty hours travelling': I arrived last night with Joan Howson - she met me at Harwich - & Miss Wilson was at the station to greet us & drove with us to our Wohnung here'.) It is apparent from the diaries that English and American society are well represented in Munich. On 23 November 1905 ST remarks, after a performance of Die Walküre that 'The gallery seemed to be full of Americans & English as usual - Munich seems to be getting as bad as Dresden in that respect'. On 20 April 1907 she and her party begin an evening's entertainment by going 'to the American Bar at the Bayerische Hof & drinking cocktails to put us into a cheerful "Stimmung"'. She attends services at the American Church and joins the choir there, while its minister John Henry McCracken (1871-1967) urges her to use its extensive library. 'I don't know that I ought to desert the English church like this - but all Miss Wilson's party go to the American church - & they know the Mc.Crackans so intimately - & Mr Bloomfield - the English Church minister - seems to be the most hopeless old individual.' On 13 November 1904, hears the Bishop of Delaware preach at the American Church.The rest of this description gives extracts from ST's entries on (Stavenhagen, Bussmeyer, Schmid-Lindner, Beer-Walbrun, Kellermann, Becht), followed by her assessments of various notable musical figures whose performances she attends.STAVENHAGEN: In her first weeks at Munich, it is Stavenhagen who most impresses her. On 30 September 1904, 'by dint of waiting some time', she has an interview with him: 'He is a very big man - barely forty - I believe - with fair hair & moustache & strikingly blue eyes. I asked him what I wanted about the Harmony classes, & he advised me to try & get private lessons from Herr Beer as I would get on much quicker then than in a class. When I happened to mention Mr Halstead's name, he fairly beamed, & said - "Oh! were you with him? he was a pupil of mine." "Yes, I know" I said, "he often spoke about you" - whereat he beamed still more.' Three weeks into the academic year, on 5 October 1904 there is dramatic news: 'I was going towards Herr Bussmeyer's room when Frl: Fischer (a teacher) who was standing near his door asked if I wanted him & if so - I was to go to the Directors room. I turned away rather surprised & as I went down the stairs - met Frl: Schild. "Oh!" she said. "I suppose we are to go to the other room now." "Yes," I replied "but why?" "Haven't you heard?" she exclaimed, "Stavenhagen has left the Akademie & Herr Bussmeyer is Director now." "Stavenhagen left, Bussmeyer Director?" I gasped - & I nearly sat down on the stairs in surprise. It is too true. Now I see why he wouldn't take any of the new pupils this year, [...] Now alas! there is no hope of my even getting a lesson or two from him at the end of my time, as I had longed for, & I suppose he will not come near the Akademie now. He is just a capricious genius - tired of the Akademie & teaching - [...] His own pupils are leaving in disgust & dismay'. Her only consolation is that 'after all, I have got to the best master here, as Bussmeyer's being made Director proves him to be (for the best piano teacher nearly always gets the post). By the way there have been two directors appointed - & Herr Mottl [Felix Mottl (1856-1911), 'a magnificent conductor', according to ST] is the other! I don't suppose we shall see much of him though.' On 2 November 1904 she goes to a piano recital by Édouard Risler (1873-1929) at the Residenz Theater ('an extremely pretty little theatre'): 'Stavenhagen was there; - & talking of Stavenhagen - I have heard that he is going to start a piano school of his own - almost immediately. It is too maddening; - if I had come a term later I might have gone to it & perhaps got to him - I seem to have come here just at the wrong time. I can't very well desert the Akademie now.' Speaking of the school on 6 November 1904 she writes: 'It is really started now. If I don't get on any better with Bussmeyer, I shall really think of leaving the Akademie at Christmas & trying to get into the Stavenhagen school till Easter. I expect it would be difficult to get in, but it might be worth the attempt.' On 8 November 1904 she goes to see 'Stavenhagen & Berber's I Sonaten Abend. Being a student at the Akademie, I got an entrance ticket for 1 mark. I can get into almost any concert for that - but of course it means standing all the time. I was fairly early so I got a space of wall to stand against - & didn't find it at all tiring. I also had a splendid view & could see Stavenhagen's hands all the time perfectly.' On 9 November 1904 she goes to Risler's final recital, which she does not enjoy as much as the other, although she does remark: 'Risler's technique is simply astounding; he was tremendously applauded at the end. The hall was not very full. There were five Stavenhagen pupils sitting in the same row as we were. Frl. Schild pointed out Frl. Gerlach - his best pupil - she looks a slip of a girl of about seventeen with a childish face - she already plays in concerts.' On 11 November 1904 she reports that 'Mr Thynne [...] is very disgusted with Stavenhagen - he went to ask about his lessons - & asked if - supposing he took either private lessons or went into one of his classes - he would be sure of having him (Stavenhagen) to teach him always. Stavenhagen said "Oh! if I'm here & have time - but it might quite likely be one of my pupils instead." He was so utterly casual & indifferent that Mr Thynne retired in disgust & is going to Schwartz instead'. On 19 January 1905 she paints a vivid picture of a Stavenhagen piano recital: 'There was great enthusiasm at the end; a large wreath was handed up to the platform, & the people crowded forward, clapping & shouting "Stavenhagen!" At last he gave an encore - Liszt's 12th. Rhapsodie - which he played marvellously. The enthusiasm increased after that - & at last the lights were all put out - & only the 2 solitary candles remained which are always lighted in case of the electric light failing suddenly - still however the applause continued, but after a bit people began to grope their way out, when suddenly the piano was heard again very softly - & there was Stavenhagen playing away in the dark. Chopin's D flat prelude - Op. 28, No: 15! I groped my way softly to a seat. It really was most effective in the dark, [...]'.BUSSMEYER: ST's opinion of her piano tutor Bussmeyer makes a far less favourable impression on her than does Stavenhagen. She finds his lessons endlessly frustrating his 'exactitude [...] fearfully trying'. She considers herself 'clumsy fingered' and 'uncertain', and does not believe she will 'ever have any technique'. On 21 September 1904 she is 'conducted through innumerable halls & passages' to his room for her first piano lesson. From the start their are indications of the difficulties that will follow. She finds him 'a nice friendly individual, but not the kind of teacher who would rouse you to enthusiasm - I can't imagine him getting excited or into a temper - I think I should prefer that to genial placidity [...] Miss Wilson told me she had been talking to a lady this afternoon who knows a good deal about the Akademie & the masters there - & it appears she spoke very highly of Bussmeyer & said he ranked with Kellerman next to Stavenhagen & was better than Krause - so I have not done so badly after all.' On 28 September, following another lesson with Bussmeyer, she finds herself 'in a mood corresponding to the depressing weather [...] I've gone through it before at Karlsruhe, & know that things improve in time, but - ! Bussmeyer is so exact & particular, that he makes me perfectly desperate - & I think my inaccuracy must be fairly distracting to him! When I watch Frl: Schild have her lesson, & see her firm little white fingers flying about so deftly - I feel inclined to scream.' On 5 October 1904, after Stavenhagen's departure: 'It felt queer to have my lesson in the big Directors room - but the piano is a real beauty - a Blüthner. [...] This morning when we went in, Bussmeyer was exercising his fingers on a dumb piano in the corner - I thought he was typewriting at first - he had his back to me'. On 8 October 1904 she complains: 'Bussmeyer always wants me to begin with scales, which are my bugbear. In spite of practising them regularly every day I play them abominably - it is simply shameful! Bussmeyer quite lectured me on the subject - "Fräulein," he said solemnly. "Sie müssen jeden Tag Tonleiten spielen - wenigstens eine halbe Stunde" - & he went on about their importance towards obtaining a good technique & so on for five minutes'. On 15 October 1904 Bussmeyer 'groaned over my scales again to-day & said, "Sie haben noch schrecklich staife [sic] Finger!" I quite agreed with him & we sighed in concert. The poor man is trying to give me some "technique" & hasn't yet discovered how hopeless it is. I believe I shall have staife Finger to the end of the chapter - in spite of my longings & strivings after "Geläufigkeit". On 19 October 1904 she starts sharing her piano lessons with a Swiss woman named Else Schild: 'When I went this morning for my piano lesson, there was a small girl - evidently a new pupil - having hers. Bussmeyer turned round to us & remarked what a mixture of nationalities we were - "Here am I, German," he said - "& this is a little Italian girl, & Frl: Schild Swiss - & Frl: Tennant - English." The Italian was a little slip of a girl - only thirteen - & played quite beautifully & so musically. Bussmeyer beamed on her, & when she left opened the door for her & shook hands - which he doesn't usually do. He then descanted to Frl: Schild & me on her great talent - & beamed again & said - "Ich freue mich sehr uber das keine Ding." He is evidently very much taken up with her. Her lesson had stretched into our'. On 2 November 1904 things come to a head during a piano lesson. 'Herr Bussmeyer remarked I was playing more wrong note than right ones - & I grew more & more inwardly furious. He was standing by one of the windows & shouted - "Aber eilen Sie nicht so!" I didn't care but forged on ahead, & at last he gave up saying anything & waited despairingly for the end. I dashed at the two long lines of trills with which the movement ends - finished up fortissimo - & then immediately got up abrutly [sic] & shut my music. "Ich bin es so überdrüssig. Ich kann nicht mehr daran über.' I said shortly. I felt by that time as if I could throw my music at the poor man's head & I suppose I looked it, for he came up like a lamb, & said "Very well, you can leave that. & we'll take something else." He then wrote down something on my music - seized his hat, said Goodbye & fled - leaving me in triumph!' On 19 November 1904, after a lesson in which she 'floundered through Cramer & Scarlatti about as hopelessly as usual' she reports that she is 'trying to gather up my courage to tell Herr Bussmeyer that I won't have any more lessons after Christmas'. On her breaking the news to him on 23 November 1904 'he looked rather surprised & asked why. I said I didn't think I was getting on at all & that I would never play decently & also that I needed more time for composition. He said he didn't know I was having composition lessons - & he didn't seem to believe much in it, & rather implied that he imagined I would play better than I composed! However he said of course I must do as I wanted about it.' A week later (26 November 1904) he returns to the subject: 'He said "Well, of course you must do as you like - but I tell you candidly that I'm sorry & think it is a pity." Then he went on distinctly sarcastically, "Do you want to go through the world as a composer? I hardly suppose you will be able to do that." "I don't expect to", I said drily, "only I want to study composition & try & improve in that line." Seeing that I stuck to my guns he began to evince a mild show of interest - & asked if I could play anything of my own by heart. Frl. Schild asked me to play him the Study in D minor & the B flat Intermezzo. I dashed off into the study which I can't play a bit by the way - & funnily enough was so frightfully nervous that my knees simply shook. I don't know why I need have been. Bussmeyer sat beside me when I began, looking as critical & superior as could be - however when I finished he remarked in a surprised sort of way, "You really do seem to have some talent," & further allowed that it was quite a useful study for staccato in the right hand. Then I played the Intermezzo, he expressed his approval of that also - gave a meditative sort of grunt & then we proceeded with my piano lesson. I felt as if I had distinctly scored!' On 29 November 1904 she tells 'Herr Beer about Bussmeyer's sarcasm on the subject of my composition - & how I had played to him. He looked rather amused & said it was exactly the same with him when at one of his piano lessons with Bussmeyer they had got on to composition. Then he imitated Bussmeyer so exactly - it was rather funny. He told me that he (Bussmeyer) had at one time composed a good deal (chamber music chiefly) but that he had never succeeded in that line - & had got rather bitter on the subject'. She informs Bussmeyer on 30 November of her decision to stay on. On 4 January 1905 ST and Schild are joined for their lesson by another student: 'Frl: Lorenz played first; she played very badly, & Bussmeyer got about as annoyed as I have ever seen him. He asked what the "Teufel" she was doing in a Moscheles étude & eventually stopped her altogether, because he couldn't stand it any longer.' On 21 January 1905 she has 'another quite satisfactory piano lesson [...] with scarcely a single interruption from Bussmeyer! He didn't say anything after it - that's true - but his silence was indicative of approbation.'. On 26 January 1905 she states that the piano lessons 'really are becoming more enlivening'. On 8 April 1905 she goes to her last piano lesson with her exacting tutor: 'Bussmeyer was very kind & friendly & said it was a pity I was going. I couldn't honestly say I had enjoyed my hours much, but I managed to get out of it somehow & said something polite & also truthful!'SCHMID-LINDNER: After her fraught relationship with Bussmeyer, ST has a better relationship with her second piano tutor, August Schmid-Lindner. On 5 October 1905 she writes: 'I went round to Akademiestrasse 7 at 10, to meet a certain Frl: Bergel. She is in one of Stavenhagen's piano classes & I rather wanted to hear about them before I decide on my piano lessons this term. I half thought of trying to get into one, but I doubt very much that Stavenhagen would accept me for such a short time, even supposing he considered me good enough which is extremely doubtful. Moreover I think it would be too nervous work for me! Frl: Bergel said there were about fifteen in the class & they all sat round the room in dead silence & gazed at you, while you performed on a grand piano in the middle of the room. My other alternative is to try Schmid Lindner who is considered very good here, & would be more likely to take me for the short time. I think I will decide on him.' 6 October 1905 she calls on Miss Baillie regarding Schmid-Lindner: 'She has lessons from him at the Akademie & likes his teaching. All the same, I determined to try for Stavenahagen's class first - & spent a large part of the afternoon hunting for him. From his house in Franz Josef Strasse, I was sent to enquire for him at Schmid, where he holds his piano classes. There I was told I had better telephone to him & ask when he could see me. [...] feeling wrathful at his indifferent, casual ways, I made up my mind & marched off to Schmid-Lindner's on the spot. I arrived at his Wohnung at the most opportune moment - he was playing in his music room all alone - so I saw him immediately & arranged about lessons then & there. I played a Chopin Nocturne to him F dur. which he seemed to find satisfactory enough. I also requested him not to go out of his way to tell Bussmeyer about my lessons with him! We talked for some time & I was quite favourably impressed with him. He is a little short man, with a tremendous red moustache & light blue eyes.' On 7 December 1905, during a recital by the pianist Eugen d'Albert (1864-1932), who 'played splendidly & got much applause', she sees Bussmeyer for the first time since her return to Munich: 'I have never wanted to meet him, as I'm afraid he would be sure something about the piano - & if he asked a direct question I should be bound to let out that I was learning from Schmid Lindner, which might seem slighting to Bussmeyer's teaching. Of course, fate decreed that he should come up immediately behind me at the garde robe; fortunately, Joan gave me a word of warning, & I effaced myself rapidly in the crowd - but she said he stared hard at my back so he evidently thought it must be me, & I felt I had a narrow escape!'BEER-WALBRUN. On 4 October 1904 she has her first harmony lesson: 'I wanted to get hold of Herr Beer-Walbrun & ask him if he could arrange to give me private lessons as Stavenhagen had advised me to do, & I thought I had better just go into the class & get hold of him afterwards. However, he was standing outside in the corridor before the class began, so I boldly went up & addressed him. He was so nice, & quite kind & interested about my composition - not like Professor Gluth at the Prufung, who jeered at the mere notion of anyone's trying to compose - who hadn't done stacks of counterpoint first! I am going to Herr Beer - at his house - on Fridays from 2.30 to 3.30. I am sure I shall be able to get on much quicker that way than in a slow class.' On 7 October 1904 she has her first private lesson with Beer-Walbrun: 'He is a dear big ugly man & I like him. I took a song, & the Canon in G major, & the Intermezzo in B flat to show him. He seemed very pleased with the latter - & said it was quite faultless in form, & very melodious. I have to treasure up the praise I got to-day as once he gets me into his clutches & is working me hard, I don't expect I shall get much more. At least that is my experience of music masters! [...] when I was putting on my gloves to go - Herr Beer was standing looking at me & remarked in a meditative way "Yes, I can see you are very musical. Do you come from a musical family?" "No," I said cheerfully, "not very particularly." "Really," he said. "Well its often that way." From the German point of view - my family is not very musical. We do not all play different instruments & have quartett [sic] evenings & trio evenings, & talk music - & compose music, & so forth, as the really musical German family, the Kunstler Familie which is not so very common here - does.' That evening she attends a piano recital at the American church of Wagner's music 'by Alexander Dillmann (1878-1951), an extraordinary looking young man with a marvellous technique. He is not a professional musician, but a solicitor I think - & he just plays for his own pleasure. He is thought a great deal of here I believe, & occasionally gives recitals - in which he has an arrangement of lurid red or green lights near the piano - & the rest of the hall in darkness I believe. Certainly his rendering to-night of Wotans Abscheid & die Feuerzauber & the lament over Siegfried's death was very marvellous, but I found it more interesting & startling than agreeable to listen to. He produced some wonderful effects, & simply raced & rippled up & down the piano, to say nothing of giving it the most fearful smites in places - but no - Wagner's music is not for the piano.' On 21 October 1904 she describes her lesson with Beer-Walbrun: 'He was quite pleased with the Walzer, but he says I am apt to get my harmonies a little too full & heavy. He said it was abominably difficult to play in some places, which is often the way when piano players compose. They think of their own technical skill & don't consider the diletante [sic] performer. In my case however if I make things difficult, it's not because I think I have technical skill to surmount the difficulties - for its just what I've not got! He seemed very pleased with the contrapuntal exercise & said I seemed to have natural talent for that kind of thing & would soon get on to fugue writing at this rate. He certainly is very encouraging at present. He told me to write a Romanz for piano & violin for next time, & that got us on to instruments. I said how much I wanted later on to study instrumentation. He said, "Oh! yes - you must go on to that too. I sighed deeply, thinking of the mountain of counterpoint & fugue writing & so on to be got over first - I remarked "It takes such a long time!" whereat he replied - never mind "Sie sind noch jung und kräftig!" I wish I were a few years younger - that's all. & just beginning serious study for composition.' On 17 January 1905 Beer and ST play from one of his manuscripts: 'It was a splendid thing & awfully interesting - I felt quite pink with excitement [...] Then he showed me a huge fat book containing the first act of his opera (the 2nd.) "Don Quixote."' And on 14 March 1905, 'Herr Beer was very beaming because he had just got a newspaper cutting from America - Washington - with an account of a concert given there of his compositions. He got a most flattering criticism. At the end of my lesson, he showed me another fugue - vier händig - that he has just finished - & asked if I had time to try it over with him.'On 8 October 1905 she calls on Beer-Walbrun, who has 'finished his opera - written a long violin Sonate [sic] for Berber - some more organ fugues - & goodness knows what else. I had a glance at the Sonate which was lying on his writing table - he had just finished it the night before'. After arranging for him to give her lessons on Saturdays, she goes 'to supper with the Gibsons - & afterwards we went round with them to the Türnhalle in Georgenstrasse to see the gymnastics as we think of joining'. On 27 October 1905 she goes to a 'Stavenhagen & Berber Sonaten Abend', where, 'Besides a Bach & Beethoven Sonate [sic] they played the one Beer wrote just lately [...] There was great applause at the end & Beer had to go up on the platform & bow. Berber played that Sonate much the best [...] I saw Beer at the garde robe afterwards, so I shook him by the hand & congratulated him - he was most beaming. He introduced me to his wife a slight fair woman - also beaming!' At her lesson the following day Beer tells her that 'Stavenhagen & Berber are going to Berlin next week, & are going to play his Sonate there too'.KELLERMANN: Kellermann's music history classes she found unsatisfactory, a view shared by the other students. On 6 October 1904, at 'a Musik Geschichte lecture' with Kellerman, she finds that he 'doesn't speak very clearly & I found it rather difficult to follow. He came twenty minutes late, & when he appeared everyone stood up. They always do that when a master comes into a class - it rather amuses me - just as if he were royalty! | There were between a hundred and twenty and a hundred & fifty at the lecture I should think - The men come in at the end of the hall & sit on the left side - & the girls at the other end & sit on the right, - careful dividing of the sheep & the goats which also rather amuses me.' On 13 October 1904 she found Kellermann's lectures equally frustrating: 'he doesn't speak very distinctly, [...] Everybody seemed restless to-day somehow; - there were several girls who would whisper & titter, & one man had a frightfully creaky chair - & the girl behind me would scrape her feet against the bar of my chair; - altogether I felt rather annoyed! Chorgesang soothed my ruffled feathers somewhat. I always enjoy that.' On 28 March 1905: 'For once in a way, Prof: Kellermann who seems generally half asleep, roused up at the silly behaviour of two men at the back - & bawled out in a great voice "Meine Herren" etc - & made them come & sit right in front - looking very sheepish. About time too, I think, for its perfectly disgraceful the way some of them - the girls too - talk & whisper during that lecture - & its most disturbing to those who want to attend. I was talking to Miss Baillie before the lecture & she told me all kinds of interesting things about Kellermann. He was a favourite pupil's of Liszt's & lived several years with him - as an adopted son - & was also Wagner's secretary for three or four years.'BECHT: Professor Becht's 'Chorgesang' followed on from Kellermann's classes, and although ST enjoyed these, she found the choirmaster somewhat difficult. On 3 April 1905 she writes: 'I never saw Prof: Becht so furiously angry as to-day; he certainly has a fearful temper when he is roused. Something was wrong with the tenors & they simply wouldn't sing up. Becht stamped & raged at them; I quite shook in my shoes!'ASSESSMENTS: On 6 April 1907 she attends a concert by Edvard Grieg, in the last months of the Norwegian composer's life: 'He is such a funny little man, very small with wild white hair. A singer from Vienna sang several of his songs, some accompanied by Grieg himself - but she sang flat & I thought her very unsympathetic. | The pianist who played the concerto was Arthur de Greef [Belgian pianist (1862-1940)] from Brussels whom I had never heard before & liked immensely - such a nice touch - & he was a dear, fat unaffected old thing. The orchestra played the Peer Gynt Suite last of all. It was delightful. The Tonhalle was packed even every bit of standing room - & the audience were most enthusiastic.' On 19 March 1907 she goes to a concert by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924): 'I didn't get a ticket but stood most of the time. He played the Brahms-Paganini Variations superbly - also Liszt's 2ième Année de Pelerimage, & all the Chopin Preludes - bit I didn't like his playing of some of the latter'. On 7 November 1904, she goes with Dorothea 'to the Probe of the second Weingartner [Felix Weingartner (1863-1942)] concert. There was such a fearful crush at the Kasse; I was wedged in among a seething mass of people for nearly a quarter of an hour before I could get tickets - & we consequently missed part of the first thing. The programme was all Mozart - There was a violin concerto which Frida Scotta-Kaulbach [Frida von Kaulbach (1871-1948)] played very well. The hall was simply packed. It was rather annoying - I had an offer of a ticket for the concert to-night - if I'd only known sooner I would much rather have gone this evening than to the Probe - as its a serious matter - missing almost a whole morning's work.' And at a concert on 3 April 1905: 'There was great applause for Weingartner at the end & he was recalled again & again. One or two adoring ladies even waved their handkerchiefs or lace scarves at him in their enthusiasm. A lot of people simply rave about him. Of course he is a splendid conductor but for my part I prefer Mottl.' She finds the pianist Théophile Ysaÿe (1865-1918), whom she hears play on 2 March 1907, 'an enormously big man - & hugely fat with a great double chin & long hair - quaintly cut - but there is something rather delightful about his fat serious face, which makes one feel at once that he must be a "perfect dear"! He got a great ovation after the Bruch concerto - the people crowded up towards the platform - applauding & shouting & after some time he was prevailed upon to give an encore - while everyone just stood in silent admiration - listening. He is certainly very wonderful & I am so glad to have had an opportunity to hear him at last - The Ribblesdales were sitting not far from me - & I went & talked to them in the intervals - Laura was keeping her eyes well open, & I don't doubt that Assaÿe will shortly appear on a page of her drawing book - fat, solemn face, & long hair & double chin all made the most of! - But oh! - what an artist! She can't put that into her sketch book - it is something to be heard not seen.' On 14 November 1905 she is 'delighted' with the playing of the pianist Emil von Sauer [1862-1942]: 'He is the head of the Vienna Conservatorium - Joan & I stood up in the gallery - [...] He sits very still - only jerks his head occasionally - but there are no superfluous gymnastics about him - He has enormous strength when he wants to use it - & brilliant technique - At the end - the people crowded up to the platform - applauding wildly - & shouting Encore & Bravo - He came back to bow again & again - & at last gave an encore.' After hearing 'Petschnikoff [Aleksandr Abramovich Pechnikov (1873-1949), Russian violinist]' on 6 November 1905 she dubs him 'an extraordinarily unconvincing player - there is a want of breadth & strength in his playing to my mind - but some people seek to like him'. On 31 October 1905 she hears the pianist 'George Liebling [(1865-1946)] - from London - whoever he may be - played Tschaikowsky's G-moll piano concerto. He was too much of a gymnast for my taste, & occasionally flung his hands so high in the air - that it was scarcely surprising that he frequently landed on quite a wrong note. I didn't care for his playing but I liked the concerto - & - "he had some quite good notes when he hit the right ones" - as Mr Thynne remarked. (He & his friend Mr Everard happened to be sitting next to us). The concert was crowded as usual - & great applause for the conductor Raabe at the end - He seems to be very popular with the usual Volks Symphonie audience.' 12 November 1904, piano recital by Bertha Marx-Goldschmidt (1859-1925), who has 'the most marvellous technique conceivable but no feeling or soul to speak of - She cannot move or excite you in the least - except to admiration for her wonderful execution'. She likes the singing of Ernst Kraus (1863-1941) 'immensely' and finds the soprano Hermine Bosetti (1875-1936) 'charming'. On 16 March 1907 she encounters the German pianist Anna von Gabain (b.1866), whom she finds 'the plainest, dowdiest, most unmusical looking person imaginable, but I believe she is a good pianist - She has had lessons from Carreño'. On 24 February 1907 she meets 'an Australian girl, Elaine Fetz [sic] [Elaine Molle Feez (b.1890), later Elaine Molle Lambrino], of whom I have heard a good deal. She is about sixteen & a wonderful pianist - Stavenhagen's best pupil at present I believe. After tea, we both had to play. She has a beautiful touch & excellent technique & real musical feeling. I believe she reads music marvellously well too, so she is a very gifted young person. I felt quite ashamed of my lame stiff fingers - sadly so after these many weeks of no practising'. On 1 March 1907 'a note came from Cousin Charty asking me to go there for some music. When I arrived, we all went up to Elaine Feez's room as she has the best piano! A Frl: Bogl was there - a pupil of Stavenhagen's - & she played magnificently - Elaine Feez also played, a Frl: Roth sang very well, & Cousin Charty & I played too so we had quite a concert. Frl: Bogl played last a very effective, fireworky thing of Moskowski's - she played it with indescribable brilliancy; I felt like one big gasp, & after it was over I got up to go & arrived home feeling inclined to send for Mayer's to take away my piano at once, as what was the good of trying to play, what was the good of trying to play, what was the good of practising, what was the good of anything - when people could play like that - without turning a hair! - Ugh! I shall have to take to the concertina.' On 19 October 1905 she goes to a 'Volkssymphonie concert' with Elsie Playfair [Elsie Louise Playfair, Australian violinist], who 'played Bruch's G minor Concerto very well. She is a funny, dumpy little person with a round face - looks about seventeen but is I believe older - She was much applauded & came back four times to bow.' On 23 October 1905 she goes to 'the Probe of the first Kaim concert - Scheenvoigt [Finnish conductor Georg Lennart Schnéevoigt (1872-1947)] has taken Weingartner's place as conductor - but he is not to compare with him of course'. On 15 March 1905 she is not impressed by a piano recital by Frederic Lamond (1868-1948): 'It was simply crowded. I must confess I was disappointed in his playing, but I think it was a good deal that I was too tired to appreciate five long Sonatas one after the other'. On 16 November 1904 hears Peter Raabe (1872-1945) conducting at a Volks-Symphonie Konzert, and finds him 'no good at all'. On 13 December 1904, she hears Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) and his quartet: 'They played beautifully & Joachim got a great big wreath at the end.' On 28 November 1904, hears a recital from the Venezuelan pianist Teresa Carreño (1853-1917), remarking 'I have never heard any woman whose playing came anywhere near hers - indeed it is much more a man's playing. I could never have believed a woman could play the Erl König as she did.' On 2 December 1904 she sees Fritz Feinhals (1869-1940) in the title-role of Wagner's 'Flying Dutchman': 'it doesn't seem to suit him a bit'. On 13 March 1907 she attends a 'Volks Symphonie Konzert. They played Schubert's Unfinished Symphony & Brahms third, & Van Vliet played a Violin Concerto by d'Albert with the orchestra. I didn't care much for it, it was rather "langweilig" but Van Vliet played well though his tone is not very big - but I think he may have an indifferent alto - Stavenhagen conducted; he had much better stick to piano playing!' On another occasion she writes: 'This evening we went to hear the new opera "Ilsebill" by Friedrich Klose. It was quite interesting. A piano is made use of in the orchestra - which was quite new to me in an opera; I rather liked the effect. I thought there was rather too much "harp" in the first scene - one soon gets tired of it - Mottl was conducting - Klose is a great friend of his - a Karlsruhe man I think - Fr. Burk Berger [Marie Burk-Berger (b.1876), soprano] was singing "Ilsebill" - I don't care for her much. The music is distinctly Wagnerian. I think I should like it better on a second hearing - The story is a fairy tale. Schmid Lindner lent me the words.'