The age-herald., 1899-05-14

as much prominence as the vocaIists and the orchestra of recent years has beer much fuller and richer and more highly col ored than Haydn or Mozart, or even Beeth- oven, ever dreamed Of Haydn the father of the symphony, seldom used any brass except the French horn. He never used the harp or the bass drum the cymbals. One of h largest scores is found in ''Ihe Creation" That was one of his latest works. and there he did utilize the trun- pets and trombones. Could Haydn have stepped into the auditorium last Saturday week and glanced at the orchestra as the musicians were tuning up for Wagner, Liszt or Grieg. he would have exclaimed: "Aeh. Gott, welch ToelIiseher Laerm!' And how the good old master would have been startled could he have attended the festi- val in New York in 1882, when Theodore. Thomas orchestra, on that occasion the largest ever heard in any country was constituted as follows: Fifty first violins. fifty seconds. thirty-sx violas, thirty-six v'oloncellos. forty double basses, six harps, six flutes, two piccolos seven oboes, two English horns, six claronets, two bass clarionets, two Sax horns, eleven comets. three trumpets, one bass trumpet. twelve French horns nine trombones, three bass tubas, four pairs of kettle drums, two bass drums, two pairs of cymbals, three snare drums and two triangles.
 That was certainly an orchestra after Wagner's heart, but Haydn would have left the hall in disgust, eXclaiming. s"Too noisy! Too noisy!' ~
 And now a few words about the con-
 ductor. The evolution of this important
 factor in the orchestra is interesting. Han
 del and Haydn and tho other early masters
 used to keep their orchestras together by
 means of the harpsichord Two halps-
 chords were often used in large orchestras.
 Then, in addition to the harpsichordst d
 a-hp pa or n ha md ic
 funetionary was naturally the prototype
 of the modern conductor, who not only gives the time to the musicians but inter-
 prets the work. The orchestra is his in strument and he plays upon it as much as pianist plays upon the keys. The first interpretative conductor was the great l composer, Ludwig Spohr, who. in 1920, be- gan to direct in virtuoso style. He cared for the delicate tone tlnts, and brought out all the poetry there was in the compost ! tion. Mendelssohn was another great inter- l pretative conductor, and SO was Bu- low. Of the virtuoso directors now living, the best known and most highly esteemed
 are Nikisch, Gericke, Paur, Thomas and Damroseh
 How can the musicians look at their notes and watch the conductor too? is a ques- tion often asked by concert-goers. But that is just what they have to do They keep one eye on the music and one eye on l t1e man WHO HOur1SheS Ine baton. 1Oune l players find it somewhat difficult. but af. | ter acquiring experience they find 1t easy enough
 Some day Birmingham will have an or | chestra of it's own as large as the Boston 1 Festival organization, or larger. But as
 such orchestras are very expensive luXu- | ries, the day is perhaps far distant. In | order to maintain permanent orchestra oi
 forty first-class musicians, pay roll oi 1 at least $1,000 per week has to be | guaranteed. For an orchestra to be strict | ly first-cfass, it must be composed of artists l who are employed to play concert musk i only. WILLIAM RYAN.