A Visit To Garcia

Lillian Blauvelt & Manuel Garcia

On one visit to his home, I took with me the young American, Lillian Blauvelt (1873-1947) who was at that time studying with me. Beautiful and possessed of great personal charm, she also had a lovely lyric voice which is still remembered by those fortunate enough to have heard her sing. Garcia was charmed with her. When we went into his little garden, through the open door of his studio, he cut some flowers and laid them on a chair where she had placed her parasol. Later, he gave her his autographed photograph, a fact which made me a bit envious, because he had not yet given one to me. All his attention on that occasion was for the beautiful young woman. Quite unexpectedly, however, he turned to me, holding a half-opened rose in his hand. "Here child," he said, "this is the expression of the perfect tone. Every nuance of beauty, color, fragrance, and form is in this God-given creation, not yet abused by human treatment."

—From America's Musical Inheritance, by Anna Eugénie Schön-René, 1941, p 108-109