Celebrity Attraction

Abstract

While he couldn’t know it at the time, Erskine became the beneficiary of a life-changing coincidence only a few months after his return from France. In November, 1919, he shouldered his way to the upper level of a Fifth Avenue bus and discovered there an acquaintance from three years earlier, Ernest Hutcheson. A celebrated piano virtuoso, born in Australia and schooled in Germany, Hutcheson had come to the United States in 1914. He was on the bus joking with his wife just days after he had made musical history by performing with the New York Symphony three piano concertos in a single concert. Erskine had first briefly encountered him in 1916 at the Chautauqua Institute, where Hutcheson directed music and Erskine taught some summer courses in literature. The chance meeting suddenly gave Erskine the impetus—perhaps the imperative—to decide once and for all if he would renew his lapsed endeavors at serious piano playing. “I knew I must play again,” he determined that day. “If I wanted to play, what excuse had I for not playing? Was I afraid? Why postpone an ideal?” He decided to commit to the task of regaining, perhaps surpassing, his earlier musical ability. He would begin to work on his own and play in informal groups, honing his skill enough to deserve a renowned teacher—Ernest Hutcheson.1 KeywordsPiano PlayingLiterary DisciplineChance MeetingMusical HistoryPiano ConcertoThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.