Tonight at Paine Hall Mr. Arthur Whiting will present the fourth of his series of concerts of Chamber Music, which for several years have helped to give the University a certain eminence in music. Mr. Whiting is himself a pianist of ability; and this winter, as in the past, he has spared no trouble in surrounding himself with a group of artists capable of doing justice to the programs offered. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are among a large group of the eastern colleges favored each year with these recitals.

Two decades ago an interest in music was regarded as almost effeminate in American men. Europe, especially Germany and Italy, honored the musician above most artists, and reverence and love of this art produced whole races of instrumentalists and singers. But in America the perfect type of sissy was conceived as a long-haired esthete carrying a violin. For some reason good music was not native to this soil, and long years of labor by a few who appreciated it have been needed to rouse the nation from its apathy. America still is far from being musically cultivated, but it is no longer an ignoramus among nations in this art, and whatever distance it has come on the road toward understanding the significance and beauty of symphony or opera, and the finer charm of chamber music. It owes to such men as Major Higginson and Mr. Whiting. Harvard is showing its gratitude to the latter in the way that pleases him most, by the large and appreciative audiences that greet his appearance here.