Harmony Lane (1935)
Joseph Cawthorn: Professor Henry Kleber
Quotes
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Professor Henry Kleber : [Susan is badly playing a Mozart piece] Wait, wait! Stop! Please! You know, dahling, when you do these things here, it makes indignant in my ears. Off tempo, off notes, everything. Liebschen, I'm sorry but I don't think Mozart ever wrote this for you.
Susan Pentland : Oh, if you don't mind, I'd like to keep trying. You see, Stephie likes this piece.
Professor Henry Kleber : [laughs] So, you... you want to please Stephie, eh?
Susan Pentland : Oh, Professor Kleber, do you think he'll ever make a living from his music?
Professor Henry Kleber : Ah, what's the difference? He's got a soul. A great gift for melody.
Susan Pentland : Oh, but father says he isn't practical.
Professor Henry Kleber : Ah, machts nichs aus. A genius doesn't have to be practical.
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Stephen Foster : [after he finishes playing Oh, Susannah] Like it?
Susan Pentland : It's lovely.
Stephen Foster : What did you think, Professor?
Professor Henry Kleber : That's all right. A nice little thing. But you can do better. Now, now, don't... please, don't misunderstand me. It's very good.
Susan Pentland : It's wonderful!
Professor Henry Kleber : Yes, not so hard to play as Mozart either.
Stephen Foster : That's the idea. It's easy to pick up. It might become popular
Professor Henry Kleber : Popular, yes. For a day, a month, a year maybe. But Steven, you've got music that didn't come out yet. Rhythmic emotion, pathos. That's what you want to cultivate. Maybe someday you'll write something that... that lives forever.
Stephen Foster : Forever is a long time, Professor.
Professor Henry Kleber : Well, we shall see what we shall see. Time will tell.
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Professor Henry Kleber : You know when you came here you promised we'd work on a symphony together. Only one movement we've finished. And even now yet we've gotta crack it.
Stephen Foster : You're right, Henry. But symphonies, oh, are a thing of the heart. The public pays for the trash.
