Conspiracy

Through the wide portal of a sumptuous residence in Tokyo a slender Pole strode jerkily. Ushered into the presence of his host, he shook respectfully a crinkly parchment hand. Soon two august heads were laid together in musical conspiracy: 1) The silky-haired topknot of Leopold Stokowski, vacationing conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony and 2) The clipped and pomaded poll of Prince Tokugawa, "the Japanese Otto Kahn," a lineal descendant of the Shoguns or Tycoons ("High Princes") who ruled Japan from 1603 until the present Imperial Dynasty was restored in 1867.

The musical conspiracy hatching between Composer and Prince was a project to interpret for Occidental instruments of music the piercing quarter, eight and sixteenth tones beloved of Japanese musicians. Prince Tokugawa, founder of the first Japanese Symphony Orchestra, was not slow to summon tuneful minions who entertained his guest. Attentive were the ears of Pole Stokowski. Later he said to correspondents: "I am confident of finding some way in which the tones which are embodied in Oriental music can be interpreted for Occidental use."