The herald., 1897-02-20
THE MARCH KINGS ADVENT
S0usa and His sGreat Organization at
the Pavilion
Two Splendid Program, for Todsy's Con.
certs-A Wort About Sousa's In.
imltabie Conducting

Sousa opens his annual series of con-
certs at Hazards pavilion this afternoon
and Is certain to find the heartiest wei
come waiting for him. His peerless
band is once more traversng the entire
country, covering territory OF over
21, 900 miles, and his concerts here are q
part of the series.
There is a manner all his own In Soul
sa's directing. AS he himself puts 1t:
Beating time according to the old
theory-right and left up and down,
or however it may be, on those purely
arbitrary lines, doesn't suit me- There
is much of the Spanish in Sousa's beat.
At all times he; is permeated with the
rhythm he conveys, and his gesture is as
full of meaning to his audience as TO
his band In dance and negro rhythms
there comes the slow, swinging curve Of
the baton that recalls Calve with the
tambourine.
What Strauss is to the waltz Sousa
may fairly be said to be to the march.
If in the waltz he lacks that elasticity
so eminently Viennese. in thee march
Sousa must be considered pre-eminent
in the stirring effect that he arouses.
The Canadian woman who gravely re-
marked that she hoped America ana
England would never go to war while
Sousa remained to direct the Liberty
Bell" march, for men would go straight
to the cannons mouth with 1t. was per-
haps not far wrong. OF his conducting
of the march Sousa says: MY march,
unconsciously. too, follows the stride oe
the cavalryman. l try to infuse all my
marches with the military spirit. My
mon follow me absolutely | have known
them to arrive at town and go on the
Al, TOO ira1 10. al
struments | am a believer in Will pow
er and | have gone on the stage with the
determination to do the best in my life.
And every man has freshened up and
done his best. too" The mood of the
moment is quickly noticeable in Sousa's
work as in that of all conductors, but
the change Of manner Is more distinctly
| noticeable in his case than with the
| majority.
The program for both the matinee
| and evening concerts today, which were
| published in Thursdays Herald, are ad-
mirable examples of judicious selection.
| calculated to appease the demands of
| the most eXacting. and also to propit-
ate the ordinary public taste, Such is a
| very difficult result to obtain. but Sou
sa s own excellent judgment and his very
| wide experience of the musical tastes
! of all sorts of conditions of patrons.
together with the fact that he is al
! ways anxious to listen to all suggestions
| and weigh all requests. succeed.
This afternoon Elizabeth Northrop
| will sing "Elsa's Dream" from Lohen-
| grin, and Martina Johnstone will give
| a brilliant violin solo from Vieuxtemps.
! The bands selections include a gavotte
! and march from Sousa's new opera. "El
| CAPTAIN" which everyone is anxious 10
| hear one of his famous descriptive
| pieces. and you may be certain of some
| of the old dearly beloved two steps as
| enc0res.
For this evening Miss Northrop has
selected one of Ardits very difficult
| pieces of vocalization, and Miss john
stone has another Vieuxtemps number
| on the program. There will be more 'El
| Captain" and Liszt's immortal First
| Rhapsody"