Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-05

!. is impossible for US TO organize this
among the professionals, for they are too
much engrossed with their own business.
and we have to fall back upon such people
as will so into this FOR the sake Of the music
only.
You no doubt can recommend to us two
or three Of your pupils who would take
kindly to this venture, and we should GER
tainly appreciate 1t If you can in any way
comply with our request. So far we have
but one pianist and one violinist.
Should you be interested in this matter l
should be pleased to hear from you and to
give you any further Information you may
desire on this matter. F. f. KAEPPEL,
DreSel Hotel.
The choral societies OF Omaha have never
reached a ripe old age, but have died sud
denly, sometimes OF heart failure and some
times they have wasted away OF harmonic
| phthisis. The old Apollo club, after it be-
came a mixed chorus, or to be more ex-
act, a chorus Of mixed voices, lived for
a while and did good work, but it eventually
succumbed TO the inevitable. Then cometh
Pennell, the indefatiEable, he who is now a
teacher Of vocal culture in New York. and
perhaps is styled Signor Pennelli. and with
arduous labor and much ]exertion he did
a laudable work in trying to instill musical
oxygen into the weakened organization.
Tom Pencil worked hard and earned his
little laurel wreath, which he never got,
and after a consultation Of the board of
directors the Apollo club passed away in
silence, without any last rites.
Then Joseph Calm tried his hand at the
choral scheme, and he gathered together
a goodly representative coterie OF the lead
ing musical luminaries and together with
them a number OF people, who. while not
I luminaries, were perfectly willing to be
such, and IL not able to shine with I'M
dimmed luster. to shine with all the luster
they had. That was a good company OF
singers, and the work they tackled was
"Walpurgis Night" and "Toggenburg.'
But, alas, one night it showed. And an
/ other feathery benediction fell the next week
on rehearsal night. and the membership
dwindled and the Omaha Choral society was
buried.
Then came into existence the Mondamln
Choral society. which was the outgrowth OF
the old Harmony club. whose pretensions
never got farther than concerts in a church
and the chorus which was used by the
knights OF Ak-Sar-Ben in the Society cir
Gus. which closely followed the Feast OF
Mondamin, hence the name.
This society gave a few concerts at the
Boyd theater, and one at the Creighton, and
the membership was over the 100 mark.
But the committee decided not TO give an
other concert unless the members would
subscribe enough or sell enough tickets to
cover the expenses. This the member de-
clined to do. the progressive element felt
that they were doing all they could, the
conductor refused positively TO enter into
a concert contract in which the balance
was sure to be on the wrong side, and the
! other element felt that indeed they were
giving enough when they gave their services
to the chorus and came there night after
night to sing for each other.
So the Mondamin Choral society closed
up its affairs, balanced its accounts, took
in the treasurer's report, found that the
balance on land was about 10 cents, and
without a dissenting voice unanimously
voted that the amount stated be and
hereby is paid over 10 the conductor, not BY
way of compensation for his services, but
as an act of good faith"
Homer Moore entered the arena and chal-
lenged the choral cohorts to come out and
be organized. With the quiet unobtrusive-
ness which was always characteristic OF him
self he started a very select chorus and after
a few weeks the society grew and waxed
strong. There was not much said about It,
but the members went quietly to Work and
in a short time the society gave a concert
with Nordica as the attraction of the even
ing. Mr.. Moore worked hard to make that
concert a success, and he did it. Encour-
aged thereby he decided to advance more
aggressively and things went very well then,
until one night. one fatal night, when Jules
Lumbard. the president of the society, de-
clared that an assessment must be made To
pay the expenses. This assessment was to
be % cents. The members. many of whom
had been expecting that the president would
declare a dividend instead of an assessment,
suddenly grew weary and never returned to
the ark.
Mr.. Torrens made one final attempt, pre-
vious to his departure for Chicago, and with
the aid of a number of society people he
gathered together a number of singers, who
worked earnestly, rehearsing in each others
parlors. and cut out a pretty creditable pat
tern OF comic opera in the shape of Pima
fore" The singing was better than the act
ing, the humorous parts not being Of that
excruciatingly funny nature, but funny
enough, and the chorus was really excellent.
But Pinafores will wear out in time, as
will Patience, and although the society called
the Mendelssohn Choral society was to give
the Chimes of Normandy" the bells never
rang, and Gaspard still counts his money in
peace.
The societies which have been conducted
by Mr.. Kratz have not attempted any con-
cert work outside of his church, but a good,
vigorous society has worked at the Kountze
Memorial church several years.
The latest attempt in regard to The
Messiah" has not met with very flatterins
success. although Miss Julia Officer deserves
credit for her indomitable perseverance in
trying to get people TO rehearsal.
Now let the amateurs take a hand at
choral work. 1t is the only successful way
TO have a society Of any usefulness in our
esteemed city.
The orchestral development has been one
of interest, but that problem will be treated
in this column next week, and in the mean
time the writer would be glad of any facts
about the time OF Nahan Frankie in regard
to the orchestral forces at that period. A
few lines addressed to The Bee musical de-
partment will be gratefully received.
THOMAS J. KELLY.
Musical Notes.
Godowsky will play in this city on
March %.
Thomas ]. Kelly has taken up his resi-
Ann aEA aeVUlH - H. Ill H.