The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-21

Philadelphia, June 2O.-The eighteen
tn annual saengerfest of the Northeast
ern Saengerbund will open in this city
tomorrow and there is every indication
it will be the most mammoth musical
event of the kind ever held in this
country. The societies which will par
ticipate in the festival come from all
the larger cities in the eastern portion
of the United States. and the mass
choruses, which will form a disting-
uishing feature of the fest, are made up
from selected singers in each society.
The various numbers in these choruses
will be rendered by six thousand male
voices, in addition to which there will
be school children's chorus Of 5000
voices and choruses of mixed voices
numbering several thousand.
The first three days of the festival
will be devoted to the vocal contests
and concerts and the remaining three
days to open air diversions and the
distribution of prizes. Many months
have been spent by the local commit
tees and their aids in perfecting the de-
tails of the occasion and the result of
their labors has been to gather together
chorus of male voices seldom, if ever
equalled in point of numbers and the
arrangement of a most elaborate pro-
gramme to be sung in an auditorium
specially constructed for the purpose
and capable of seating comfortably
nearly 10000 persons and by a little
crowding fully 5000 more can be ac-
commodated. In addition to this the
utmost attention has been given to re-
hearsing. For the past two years the
musical directors of the league have
been making regular tours through the
territory of the association instructing
the singers in the numbers to be rem
dered
The Fest will open with a reception
concert by the United Singers, of Phila-
delphia, and a ladies' choir. Arno
Leonhardt, president of the United
Singers, will welcome the visiting socie-
ties, as will Governor Hastings, Mayor
Warwick and it is hoped Vice Presi-
dent Hobart, although the attendance
of the latter is doubtful. Carl Lenz,
president of the Saengerbund, will also
make an address. Following this will
come the festival hymn composed for
the occasion. On Tuesday there will
be prize singing for individual societies
in the first and second class and one
half of those in the third class. The
second day VIII be brought to a close
by grand festival concert under the
direction of Carl Samans.
PRIZE SINGING.
The next day will be taken up with
prize singing for the remaining half
of the third class for individual So
cieties and the two classes for the city
federation prizes Samuel Hermann
will direct the festival concert Wednes-
day night and at it's close the "Star
Spangled Banner" will be sung by the
5000 male voices and the audience.
| The prizes will be distributed on
! Thursday at Lierz's Washington park,
| in connection with the open air eXer-
cises to continue until Saturday, when
! the official closing of the fest will be
announced by President Leonhardt.
The five judges of the contests have
| been selected for the occasion. Each is
an accomplished professional musician,
and not connected with any society
in the league. They have been select
| ed in such a manner as to withhold
| the identity of one from the other, and
! not until the contests are over and they
| meet to compare nOtations, will each
! learn who his associates are. The diff
ferent qualities to be judged are in
tonation, precision, light and shade,
phrasing and enunciation. There are
six points to each quality, and the So
ciety scoring the highest number of
points in each contest will be awarded
the first prize of that class.
The auditorium covers the entire
block bounded by. Eleventh, Twelfth
York and Cumberland streets. The
area is 200 by 1852 feet and the height
is So feet. The style of architecture is
| German renaissance. There are no gal
leries, and the acoustic properties OF
the place, Is demonstrated by the re-
hearsals which have been going on fol
the past several weeks, are as perfect
as the most advanced scientific con.
struction can make them.
The organizations which will partiti.
pate consist of some of the most ia.
nous in the history of German-Amer.
a.....