THE “SILVER JUBILEE,” or twenty-fifth anniversary of the connection of Dr. F. Melius Christiansen with St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minnesota, where he has developed the world famous St. Olaf Choir, was celebrated by a testimonial concert on the evening of June third. Alumni members of the choir returned for the occasion from New England, the Gulf States and the Pacific Coast. It is the ability to inspire such enthusiasm for an ideal which explains the altogether extraordinary musical results which Dr. Christiansen has been able to attain with his choir. …
MOZART OPERAS have been given in a four weeks’ season at the Théâtre Champs Elysées of Paris. Three performances each of five of the most popular works for the musical stage, by “the musician’s composer,” have been presented under the baton of Bruno Walter, director of the Berlin State Opera.
THE SANGERBUND SOCIETY of San Francisco, six hundred and fifty strong, has been in Vienna lately, to participate in a great international singing contest. At the same time fifty members of the United Turners Society were in Cologne to take part in a contest there. Place a group of Germans in an ice-built fortress, and they would sing till the walls melt.
THE HOUSTON LADIES’ BAND played each day of the recent National Democratic Convention at Houston, Texas. It is an organization with a membership of thirty-one professional musicians under the leadership of Elizabeth Hamlin-Hackney.
THE AMERICAN OPERA COMPANY, singing ‘Opera in English,” is announced for a series of performances in twenty leading cities, including New York, Boston and Chicago, for the coming season. Vladmir Rosing remains as artistic director, with Frank St. Leger as musical director. Why not justify its name by including at least one American Opera in the repertoire.
THE PIAZZA SAN MARCO (ST. MARK’S SQUARE) of Venice is to be the scene of five summer performances ‘of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “I Pagliacci,” according to a scheme reported to have been approved at Rome. Artists from La Scala of Milan will be soloists, and there will be a chorus of one hundred and fifty voices, on a stage capable of holding five hundred performers.
FREDERICK KNIGHT LOGAN, for many years the musical director for theatrical productions in which such artists as Mrs. Leslie Carter, Maud Adams, Charles Frohman and Chauncey Olcott played leading roles, and also the composer of the popular “Missouri” and “Blue Rose” waltzes, and of the much more musicianly songs, ‘Pipes of Pan,” “Russian Lullaby,” “Lift Thine Eyes,” “Fallen Leaves” and “Summer Showers,” died on June eleventh, at his home in Oskaloosa, Iowa. OLD FIDDLERS, from Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia, competed for prizes totaling fifteen hundred dollars, at an Old Fiddlers’ Convention at LaFollette, Tennessee, on June twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth, sponsored by the LaFollette Athletic Association.
THE CHICAGO ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION has been presented the portraits of Theodore Thomas and Frederick Stock, the only two leaders that great band of instrumentalists has had in thirty-seven years of existence. They are the work of Leopold Seyffret, N. A., and were given in memory of Oliver W. Norton, an early supporter of the orchestra, by his wife and son.
MARIE VON BÜLOW, widow of Hans von Bülow, the celebrated conductor and pianist, recently organized her five hundredth musicale for the relief of needy musical artists. An outgrowth of her widely discussed “knitting matinees” begun in 1914, these occasions have become musical treats at which only the best artists are asked to appear. The audience of specially invited guests of the hostess and her friends is from the elite of Berlin society and pays two marks (about fifty cents) for the privilege of attendance.
THE FAMOUS BERGONZI VIOLIN, once the property of Charles Dancla, the noted violinist and composer, is now in the possession of Father Datin of Pasadena, California.
ESKIMO FOLK SONGS of the Arctic are to be recorded by Cornelius Osgood, a post-graduate of the department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, who is now on his way to spend some time within the Arctic Circle.
KURT ATTERBERG, conductor of the Stockholm Orchestra and president of the Swedish Society of Composers, has been awarded the Ten Thousand Dollar Prize for a musical composition best recapturing the melodic spirit of Franz Schubert. Five hundred works were submitted to the judges; and of these Franz Schmidt, representing Austria, created the composition which was mentioned as second choice, and Czeslaw Marek, of Poland, provided the third.
BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATA, OP. 106 is reported to have been arranged for orchestra by Felix Weingartner. If this has been done with the same skill as was evidenced when he some time ago performed a similar service for Weber’s Invitation to tile Dance, he has made a real contribution to musical art.
JOSEF HAYDN’S residence at Eisenstadt, while capellmeister to Prince Esterhazy from 1766 to 1778, has fallen into decay and is being restored by private enterprise.
THREE AMERICAN COMPOSERS are to be commissioned to write works to be performed during the coming season of the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra, of New York, if reports are correct. Aside from these, one work by an American composer is to be included in each of the one hundred concerts of the organization, and composers are asked to submit their compositions for consideration by the committee. A hearty hand to such a movement for the advancement of our national musical art! The management has recently appropriated fifty thousand dollars for the dissemination of general knowledge about the orchestra and its music, to be done through schools, stores, factories, clubs and musical organizations.
“THE EGYPTIAN HELEN,” a new opera by Richard Strauss, had its world premiere at the Dresden State Opera, on June sixth, with Elizabeth Rethberg in the title role and Fritz Busch conducting. It is to be in the repertoire of the Metropolitan Opera Company for the coming season.
MUSIC HALL of Cincinnati, which, especially through the famous May Musical Festivals established by Theodore Thomas, has been the nucleus ‘of much of the musical culture of the Middle West, has been modernized; so that, in connection with its wonderful auditorium, it now has the second largest floor space of the leading exposition halls of the land and is thus capable of housing the greatest of our industrial expositions.
DR. LEIGH HENRY, eminent Welsh composer, writer, lecturer and critic, will visit America about the first of October. He will lecture in the leading universities of the East, speaking on such themes as the music of the Elizabethan and Tudor periods, the Celtic Renaissance, and the influence of the Welsh, Irish, Scotch, Basque and Breton traditional and national heritages on the general musical art of Europe.
A SECOND ANNUAL RECITAL of local composers’ works was sponsored, early in June, by the Missouri Guild of Organists, in Sheldon Memorial Auditorium of St. Louis.
THE JOLIET HIGH SCHOOL BAND (Illinois), as a result of three successive victories in the National High School contest, has been awarded the One Thousand Dollar Trophy offered by the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music.
THE DOCTOR’S ORCHESTRA, of Akron, Ohio, is composed of thirty physicians, dentists and medical students of that city. The ensemble includes all the usual strings, also the mandolin, banjo and piano; flutes, clarinets, bassoon and saxophone; trumpets, French horn, trombones; and percussion instruments. Its repertoire consists of marches, serenades, selections from operas, and original compositions of the members; while its performances are given only in hospitals and before medical societies.
THE YALE GLEE CLUB, with fifty-six singers and three soloists led by Marshal Bartholomew, sailed for Sweden on June twenty- third, to begin a tour which will include seven of the European countries: One object of the trip is to cultivate friendship with European student singing organizations and to foster an international alliance with the Intercollegiate Glee Club Council of the United States.
OPERA IN ENGLISH had its “inning” at Kansas City when, in mid-June, a series of three performances, including “Lohengrin,” ‘Rigoletto” and “Tales of Hoffmann,” were presented by the Kansas City Civic Grand Opera Company under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Ottley Cranston. The entire enterprise was carried out by local talent which could be duplicated in many communities if public spirit and enthusiasm were but aroused.
RUSSEL BROUGHTON, formerly of Burlington, Iowa, but now of Oberlin, Ohio, has been awarded the Estey Organ Prize of one thousand dollars, including all expenses for a summer of study at Fontainebleau.
THE SEVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL FESTIVAL of the Tonic Sol-Fa Association was held at the Crystal Palace Sydenham (London) on June second. Founded in 1857, the movement has grown till this year a great Children’s Chorus of four thousand voices filled the mammoth rostrum dedicated primarily to the performance of the works of Handel.
THE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, of Cincinnati, one of the first endowed schools of music in America, celebrated its Golden Jubilee, with the commencement in historic Music Hall, on June eighth. The school was established in 1878, through the generosity of Reuben S. Springer and other public spirited citizens. Theodore Thomas was both its founder and first musical director; so it was fitting that Frederick Stock, his successor to the baton of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, should be an honored guest and first of three conductors of this memorable occasion.
STUDENTS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MUSIC of Rome recently had the honor of appearing in a special concert at the Royal Academy of Saint Cecilia in that city. Works of Robert Sanders of Chicago, Alexander Steinert of Boston and Walter Helfer of Lawrence, Massachusetts, were presented.
THE MUSIC INDUSTRIES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE held its annual convention for 1928, at the Hotel Commodore of New York, from June third to seventh. The means of trade betterment on a permanent foundation was the principal theme of discussion. One of the activities of this organization is the fostering of our National Music Week, which, it is interesting to note, was reported to have been celebrated this year in more than two thousand communities.
THE “MASS IN B MINOR” of Johann Sebastian Bach, begun in 1733 and completed in 1738, was heard for the first time in Milan when it was performed there on June third, by the Sing Akademie of Berlin, under the direction of Georg Schumann.
A MOZART FESTIVAL was given near the close of the season at the Théâtre La Monnaie of Brussels. There were productions of “Don Giovanni,” “The Magic Flute,” “Cosi Fan Tutte,” “The Elopement from the Seraglio,” and “The Marriage of Figaro.”
THE BEETHOVEN MONUMENT, intended for the Bois de Vincennes in the suburbs of Paris, for which the funds are being raised by popular subscription, is being delayed because but about half of the necessary one hundred thousand francs have been subscribed. A good chance for some generous Americans to lend help.
THE HAVANA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, organized in 1924, with Pedro San-juan, a young Spanish composer, as conductor has been operating successfully on a profit-sharing basis. Through the enthusiasm of its members and the encouragement and patronage of its friends, it has given for four years a series of monthly concerts in the National Theater of Havana, as well as occasional programs in Matanzas and Camagüey. The organization has had a great influence on the musical culture of the Cuban Capital, through the high standard of works performed and interpretation given them. THE MU PHI EPSILON musical sorority held its twentieth annual national convention, at Denver, Colorado, from June twenty-sixth to twenty-ninth. Delegates from fifty-three chapters, as well as two of the founders of the organization—W. S. Sterling and Mrs. Elizabeth M. Fuqua—were in attendance.
PRINCE POTENZIANI. Governor of Rome, recently said in London: “What you do not realize is that no opera house anywhere can pay its way unaided. Milan has a special law which enables it to spend £25,000 ($125,000) a year on opera. In Rome, £21,000 ($105,000) of the city’s funds go to opera every year.”
THE WOMEN’S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF BOSTON, with Ethel Leginska as conductor, is announced for a six weeks’ tour of the United States, beginning October twenty-third.
THE GUIDE REGIMENT ROYAL BAND OF BELGIUM is to make, under the patronage of King Albert, a nation-wide tour of the United States, beginning about October first and lasting for ten weeks. Announcement to this effect is reported to have been made by Prince De Ligne, Ambassador from Belgium at Washington.
STEPHEN FOSTER’S SONGS, with Old Folks at Home in the first place, stood highest in the list of “Native works which represent American Music best known and liked by musical Americans” when a vote was taken of one hundred and fifty professional artists, by the National Music Week Association, during the recent “Music Week” celebration. A bronze tablet in Foster’s memory was unveiled in Music Hall of Cincinnati, during the recent Golden Jubilee celebrations there. Foster was for some time a resident of Cincinnati.
AN INTERNATIONAL FIELD DAY FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS was held in London, on July seventh. An outgrowth of the recent National Supervisors Conference at Chicago, at which Percy Scholes, the eminent British music critic, was leading speaker, the present movement is started to foster a better understanding and more cordial relations between Great Britain and the United States, in music educational work.
THE NORWEGIAN SINGERS’ ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA held its Eighteenth Biennial Festival, at Winnipeg, Manitoba, July fifth to seventh. A male chorus of one thousand voices, with an orchestra of sixty-five pieces, and splendid soloists gave interest to the programs.
COMPETITIONS
THE PRIZE OF ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, offered by Alfred Seligsberg, through the Society of the Friends of Music, for a sacred or secular cantata suitable for use by that organization, is again open for competition till November 1, 1929. Particulars may be had from Richard Copley, 10 East 43rd Street, New York City.
A PRIZE OF TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS is offered by the management of the Carleton Symphony Band, for a Rhapsody, Symphonic Poem, or Overture, for symphonic band. The contest closes October 1, 1928; and full particulars may be had by addressing James R. Gillette, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.
PRIZES to the amount of one thousand dollars are offered by the Cadman Creative Club of Los Angeles, for compositions for piano, organ or voice. Particulars may be had from Mrs. Myra Cain Grant, 4065 Oakwood Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
$40,000 IN PRIZES are offered to American composers. $25,000 will be given for the best work in any form within the playing scope of the full symphony orchestra: $10,000 and $5,000 will be given for the best and second best compositions within the playing scope of the American dance, jazz or popular concert orchestra. The symphonic contest closes on May 27, 1929, and the popular contest on October 29, 1929. Full particulars to be had from the Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, New Jersey. This prize, altogether unprecedented in size in the history of music, was announced at a dinner given to the profession in New York City and was received with great acclaim.
A PRIZE OF $1,000 is offered by the National Federation of Music Clubs for a composition in any form for solo piano with orchestra, to take fifteen to forty-five minutes in performance. Particulars may be had from Mrs. T. C. Donovan, 1633 Cedar Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
THE ELIZABETH SPRAGUE COOLIDGE PRIZE of one thousand dollars for a quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn, or for piano and four wind instruments, is open to composers of all nationalities. Also another prize of $500 is offered for a suite or similarly extended composition for two pianos (two players), open only to composers who are citizens of the United States. The competition closes April 15, 1929. Particulars from the Chief of the Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.
A PRIZE OF ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS is offered by the Society of the Friends of Music for a cantata for chorus, not less than two nor more than four, soloists and orchestra. The contest is international, and full particulars may be had from Richard Copley, 10 East 43rd Street, New York City.
