Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-11
OFFICERS CHOSEN.
At Annual Meeting of Worcester
County Musical Association.
Retirement of Edward L. Davis Who
Resigns and is Replaced by Col. Wins
ow--counciIIors Abolshed-Presi-
dent 6ent's Annual Report.

The old officers were reelected at the
annual meeting of the Worcester Coun-
ty Musical Association, Friday morn
ing, with the exception of Edward L..
Davis, who decided not to serve again
as a. director for business reasons. Col.
Samuel e. Winslow was chosen in his
place, to serve four years
An important piece of business was a
vote to abolish the board of councillors,
which was composed as follows; B. L.
M. Smith, Whitinsville; Stillman Rus
sell, Douglas; Charles NJ. Sawyer, Ber-
! lin; Ivers S. Paine, Grafton; A. B.
Spooner, Hardwick; Charles N. Pollard,
Nashua. N. H.; Rev. "A. H. Coolidge,
| Worcester; ]. B. Russell, LOWELL L. H.
! Cudworth, Oxford; j. G, Morneburg,
! Westboro; l.. A. Powers. Warren; j. e.
| Goodell, : West Boylston; B. H. Rams
| dell, Medway; A. W. Pike, Holliston; B.
K. Deland, North Brookfield.
| A new code of bylaws was submitted,
to be acted upon at future meeting,
and various changes of interest are not
ed. The old condition of membership,
that an applicant must be of good moral
character and have ability to sing
| intelligently ordinary choral music at
sight" is abolished The date Of the
annual meeting is changed from the
second Thursday in February to the
first Thursday in December, that one
board of officers may do all the busi-
ness preliminary to a festival.
A motion was made that an associate
membership be established as source
of income. Col. Winslow, c. Henry
Hutchins and Harry A. Sinclair were
elected members Of the association.
! President Bent's annual report fol-
lows
To the members of the Worcester Coun-
ty Musical Association
Gentlemen: 1t is my duty, and 1
esteem it a privilege. to present the an
nual report required of the president
| by the bylaws.
l am not permitted to enter upon the
task with that eXaltation of spirit or
to assume that confident tone which
were for so many previous years vouch-
| safed to the writer Of the annual story.
Rather am / irritated by conflicting
emotions, as 1 recall the musical sue
cess and the financial failure of the
40th festival both of which were of so
! pronounced character as to make it
memorable. But in the rehearsal of
/ these may we not find ground for en-
couragement, and learn somewhat for
future guidance?
The scheme of our last festival was
the result of unusual care and study,
and more truly festival in the dignity
| and character of its, work than any
| previously attempted. The programs
contained no trivial or unworthy COM
| position, and their numbers were of
such varied and interesting music that
all 7 ,.L, -, \
| please. The casts were of artists fully
competent for the work required. An
nouncements were made as usual in
| which the managers spoke with conf
dence of these facts. But disappoint-
ment came, and the most serious none
tary loss in the history OF the associa-
tion resulted and from a festival that
should have added materially to our
reserve. Whence the cause of this
failure it is difficult, if not impossible,
to determine.
Undoubtedly, one explanation of the
reduced patronage at the opening sale
was the fact that the name of nc
famous star appeared in the prospectus
of the managers and the public, lacking
confidence in the representations ot
the committee, was disposed to believe
the coming festival would be but com.
monplace and uninteresting. This view
creasing attendance at the concerts ot
the week, as the superior character Of
the performances became known l an
disposed to harbUr this belief, that the
unfavorable conditions were peculiar to
that time, for therein I find encourage
ment for the future. Particularly, as we
are assured on all sides that the musical
features of the festival were of such
! high character as to give the asSocia-
ton a standing that would insure to il
! hereafter a support adequate and salts
factory. Are we not justified in accept
ing their opinion as auguries of sue
cess for the next festival, if it be
planned upon much the same lines as
the last?
/ Unusual thought and care were put
into the preparation of that festival. II
was the first in which the new ad-
| ministration had full control at the in
ception, and the men were all imbued
with fun sense of their opportunities
and responsibilities. Members of the
board Of government had long held the
opinion that more satisfactory musical
results would be obtained if the money
| expended on a s ar of the first magni-
tude were devoted to securing better
musicians for all roles But the public
! eager to hear and see the greatest sing
ers of the day, had brought such press
ure to bear that the better judgment OF
the men had yielded hitherto. Last sea
son. however, after an Intellectual at
tempt to secure such a STAR the board
gladly set about the task of fitting the
best singer available to the work to be
done-the results fully justified the de-
parture. In the corps of singers were
artists that always delight the senses
and convince the mind, and but one Oh
two only who disappointed the man
ayers by falling somewhat below their
antcipations Not mentioning the sew
eral artists who added laurels to theiI
already fine regulations, what can't we
say of the performance of such quar-
tet as Gadski, Stein, Williams and
Bispham?
The concerts were of such even merit
that the interest was kept up throughout
the week. which indeed increased under
| a strong crescendo of fine performances
until the end, when the enthusiasm
which had been steadily increasing was
responsible for a scene rarely witnessed
in any musical performance in this con
servative city. Two concerts added
greatly to the good reputation of our
association-the performance of 'Hora
Novissima,' under Mr.. Palker's baton,
and Samson and Delilah,'' directed by
| Mr.. Zerrahn, were of such accuracy and
brlllianey that I doubt If they can be
excelled by any future work of the as
ISOLATION.
The gentlemen who spent so much
time and patience reorganizing the cho-
rus have their reward and are entitled
to your thanks. That great task was
entered upon with reluctance and not a
few nlisgivings, but all doubts were set
at rest, and committee and chorus were
gratified by the results. If the perform
ance did not always meet expectation
the general work showed marked i'm
provement over former festivals. There
is still room for Improvement, and the