May, 1919 
35 
If the house does not provide a special music room a corner of 
the library can be used, as in the residence of F. F. Palmer, Esq. 
the longest possible 
approach between the 
door and thekeyboard, 
while holding to the 
theory that you do not 
want to crowd the in¬ 
strument. Of course, 
you never want carpet 
or rugs under the 
piano—that dulls the 
tone. It is well to set 
the casters in glass 
cups. Such an ar¬ 
rangement looks well 
and gives clarity to 
the vibrations. 
With the grand pi¬ 
ano you have a wider 
scope for arrangement. 
It is a far more beau¬ 
tiful piece of furniture 
than an upright. Of 
course, it has always been argued that an up¬ 
right takes up less room, and when space was 
an important factor the grand had to be passed 
by. In the attempt to give the lines of a grand 
to a small space instrument, enterprising piano¬ 
forte makers have evolved miniature grands 
which most surely measure up to grace and 
utility. Thus, even in the smaller rooms, the 
effect of a grand can be utilized. 
The Upright Piano 
Now it is not my intention to indicate that 
an upright cannot be used in a beautiful way. 
Only the opportunities are fewer. The upright 
must never be left in the open space, or placed 
at an angle to the wall. Instead, the simplicity 
of straight-line composition must be followed. 
The upright should always be parallel to the 
wall, and not more than two inches from it. 
Of course, you have the whole of four walls to 
choose for the site of your instrument. The 
best arrangement is to put it in the absolutely 
dead centre of the left wall (if the door is on 
the right, or vice versa). In this connection 
it should be considered that external decora¬ 
tions can help the upright. 
Before passing from the piano to other ideas 
of the music room, I cannot refrain from pay¬ 
ing a tribute to the square piano. Most of these 
old instruments were destroyed by being delib¬ 
erately burned up in colossal bonfires. There 
is a quaintness and picturesqueness about the 
square which the more musical upright com¬ 
pletely lacks. For the antiquarian a square 
piano in the music room makes a fine posses¬ 
sion, and any square piano can be bought for 
the price of carting! 
Though the piano is the natural beginning 
of all music rooms, it must not be thought that 
it is the all-in-all. Of course, the piano is the 
standard instrument—it is most commonly 
played, it is the accompanying instrument for 
all others. But the others so help to make the 
music room truly live up to the name. A harp 
is a beautiful art product. Two or three violins 
in their leather cases of different textures and 
colors and shapes huddled together right in the 
corner—the furthermost corner from the en¬ 
trance. A fine carved music-rack standing sen¬ 
tinel over these. Some music open at the piano 
or on the rack. 
These little things give life to the music- 
room. For if this is the heart of the home, 
see that it be not a dead heart. 
It always amuses 
me to enter the library 
of a house, observing 
the richly bound sets 
of books aligned on 
the shelves—to pick 
down a volume and 
find that it is stiff and 
uncut. Are books for 
decoration ? Yes-— 
and they are good 
decorations, too. But 
that’s only their small¬ 
est use. 
Of what value is 
the music-room if it is 
only another place for 
furniture? It is in 
here that your soul 
must bloom. That 
dead piano — it cries 
for utterance. It 
yearns to sing its song unto your heart. It has a 
message for you. “Come, open your being and 
let this music soothe your woes and start the 
fountains of sentiment flowing again. Oh, old 
men and women, in this room will return all 
the memories of your sweet youth. Oh, young 
men and women, in this room the finest ideals 
will be born.” 
Music for Your Soul’s Sake 
If the music room is alive, how different the 
whole house. A living music room is the smile 
on the house. This is the real living room. 
You cannot play? Then your children are 
learning. They are not yet able to open the 
treasure house of harmony for you ? 
The way is very easy, nevertheless. You 
employ a cook for your stomach. Why not a 
musician for your soul ? I am hopeful that the 
day will come when the families, of America 
will consider their retinue not complete un¬ 
til they have a musician or set of musi¬ 
cians in their homes. If not for all time, 
for certain days a week. Think of the as¬ 
sistance this would be to the young stu¬ 
dents and musicians. A chance to live and 
{Continued on page 60) 
The other end of 
the Reese music 
room shows the fine 
Georgian fireplace 
with its music cabi¬ 
net to one side and 
comfortable chairs 
A music room of 
great dignity is 
in the New York 
apartment of Mrs. 
Robert G. Reese. In¬ 
struments and an¬ 
tiques are mingled 
