A MUSIC ROOM — To deserve its title, a music
room should be furnished with a sympathetic understanding of
the art it represents. The first provision is, naturally,
for the performer. The placing of the piano is of
importance, and the best rule to follow is that observed on
the concert stage, where the soprano part of the keyboard is
always toward the listeners.
If the upright piano can be placed at an
angle from the wall without hiding the player, the acoustic
effects will be better than if the instrument stands close
to the wall. The first arrangement is practical only in a
room of good size, with window and artificial light
conveniently distributed. The back of a piano so situated
requires some kind of light, opaque drapery to conceal the
works.
The true music lover will do away with all
bric-a-brac from the top of the piano, as this is liable at
any moment to cause a distracting jingle and vibration of
the strings. For protecting the polished surface of the lid
an embroidered scarf may be laid upon it. If the instrument
must be left for a long time in a closed house it is worth
while to have a rubber cover to keep off the dampness.
 A
piano stool is always sold with a new piano, but many
persons prefer the revolving chairs, some of which are
designed with graceful spindles at the back and with inlaid
wood or carving for decoration. In a home where there is
duet playing, a bench for two players will be found more
satisfactory than two chairs or stools.
The keeping of music in orderly fashion away
from the dust can be achieved only with a cabinet having
doors. Some of the earliest made music cabinets missed this
necessary point, but now there are a number of cabinets with
doors and also various other devices. In illustration on the
left, the doors open together and the shelves rest on
supports that are made fast to the inside of the doors.
The lighting of the piano, when gas and
electricity cannot be employed, is a problem. A small hand
lamp with a shield on one side is made for standing on a
grand piano, and the standard lamp in bronze, brass or iron
can be used at one side of an upright piano. Lamp shades
should be nearly colorless to be helpful in reading music.
After the comfort of the performer is
assured, the comfort of the listener should receive
attention. Seats that are restful and a light that is
pleasantly tempered are the two main considerations; but the
musical environment is not complete without the introduction
of some plaster casts, bronzes, pictures and books. These,
if selected from musical subjects, will impart educational
and artistic value to the room. All decorative effect in a
music room should be subordinate to the use to which the
room is given. A harmony of color is as imperative as the
musical harmony produced by voices or instruments. The
single color scheme (at present on the top wave of
popularity) in which red, green, blue or yellow alone is
used on walls, floors and furniture is too dominating for
the room allotted to music. There are numberless fabrics
beside papers and burlaps that make rich and quiet wall
hangings—grass cloth, Japanese cottons, velveteens, jutes,
linens and tapestries. While a plain color in a quiet tone
may seem essential, the preference may often be given to a
design in a self-woven texture, or a pattern printed in two
tones of one color, or a mixture of colors in subdued tints.
The frieze of dancing girls that appears in
the above music room makes an effective decoration for a
music room when the ceiling is over ten feet high. A frieze
of a plain color may have a pattern stenciled upon it in a
darker tone, or a collection of pictures framed alike may be
hung in a row on the plain background. In this position the
pictures must be in bold or poster style to show well from
beneath.
As important as the fireplace is in every
part of the house, it offers, in the music room, an
unrivalled opportunity for a distinctive decoration. The
space above the mantel may be filled with an ivory-tinted
plaster cast of the famous Della Robbia singing children or
a photographic copy of some mural painting relating to the
art of music. A set of portraits of musicians and composers
makes a stronger appeal to the attention when hung close
together than when distributed in various parts of the room.
Narrow, dark-wood frames in uniform sizes will further set
off the little gallery of faces.
 A
large share of the distinctive quality that marks the
interior of the music room depends on the selection of
furniture. The pictures may be noteworthy, the instruments
of the highest class, the coloring harmonious, yet a
pervading sense of something wanting means that the
furniture is commonplace or inartistic. The chairs should be
well built and of various shapes and sizes. Rocking chairs
should be omitted. Tables should be distributed wherever
they can be of service for holding books and music. An
entrance door into one music room was equipped with a door
harp like the one shown on the right, and as the door swung
to or fro the bells moved musically. |
