The Indianapolis journal., 1901-12-17
FIRST THOMAS CONCERT
CHICAGO ORCHESTRA WELCOMED
BY GREAT AUDIENCE.
Climax of Programme Reached in
Chopin Funeral March-Stefn-
del the Soloist.

The prime moment Of the concert of the
Thomas Orchestra in Tomlinson Hall last
night was at the end Of the Chopin fu-
neral march. When the great audience
was seated and the first number of the
programme was begun, the arc lamps
hanging from the ceiling were shut of and
the hall was given a restful half-light.
Four compositions of varied nature pre-
ceded Mr.. Thomass orchestration of
Chopin's "Marche Funebre" and 1t came
as a climax. 1t began with a stolid and
rhythmic mournfulness and this mood
hausted, it broke into a splendid crash, as
If nation triumphed in its own death and
glorifed in it's own ruin. This storminess
subsided slowly into long, low CHASTITY
whirring of the reeds and at the last the
metallic shiver of the gong. The audience
sat silent during the space of a breath
and ii seemed that shudder swept over
the place. The applause followed and it
was so loud and prolonged that Mr.. Thomas
signaled for an encore and repeated the
story of that immense funeral
1t was the first of four concerts to be
given In this city this winter by the orches-
ira. Mr.. Thomas and his players came
down from Chicago. arriving shortly before
o'clock in the evening. The audience,
which filled all out a few rows of the seats,
was not dilatory and the hall was quiet
when the orchestra came on the stage.
Mr.. Thomas was welcomed heartily. Ap-
parently he was full of vigor. and he opened
the concert with the admirable dignity,
simplicity and quiet strength that have
gained for him the respect of thousands.
xxx
The programme was excellently arranged.
The first number was the Schubert E fiat
march, Of exhllarating harmony. 1t was
followed by a suite typical of the new
movement"-a fairy tale written by Josef
Suk, a young Bohemian composer. This
told OF struggle between bright and dark
spirits and had funereal period, relieved
by happy conclusion. Through ii was
woven a song OF the violin, which started
with sudden upward curve and demanded
immediate attention. Mr.. Kramer's tone
in this solo was beautifully pure. The first
part of the suite was the most pleasing
although in the rest of 1t the woodwinds
created marvellous phantasmagoria as a
background to the strings. The composition
was charged with the Slavic spirit, the
freshest and most virile in the world of
music to-day.
The 'soloist of the evening was Bruno
Steindel and he played D'Albert's concerto
for cello. The audience would not let him
stop at that and he gave two shorter COM
positions. He apparently had the same atti-
Il
| for his style was modest and manly. His
music was strong, clear and exact, yet soft
when need be. The concerto displayed his
craftsmanship, but it seemed to have little
more in it than that opportunity. 1t was
not until he played the second of his
encores that his tones reached out TO his
hearers in the simple, meaningful way that
/ they desired.
Richard Strauss who is attracting more
and more attention for the naturalism of
/ his writing, was represented by his tone
/ ION the Shores of Sorrento g.
Gently he has been producing descriptions
of emotion in which he sometimes sacri-
he evidently did not feel the need of
such a sacrifice, for ii contained no
moments of lack of accord. 1t softly de-
picted harbor, the ripple Of the water and
the colorful activity OF the sailors and the
ships. Beside "On the Shores Of Sorrento
Weber's "Oberon" overture showed its age
1t was marked by fine, antique romance.
The concert concluded with Mr. Thomas's
condensation for orchestra OF THE Rhine
gold" the first Of Richard Wagner's
Ring music dramas. Here was the
plainly descriptive sort OF music. The
movement of the waters Of the Rhine, the
struggle over the gold the entrance of the
gods into Walhalla were shown with all
manner OF cries from the different instru-
ments, rolls of thunder Ton the bass drum
/ and so on. liz was not unlike the show
given by the biograph, and at one point the
continued ringing of a bell was a reminder
of the moving picture OF "Boston's crack
/ fire department going run" OF course.
IL was more impressive, but IL was no less
graphic and hardly more poetic. Its inter
est lay in the display of the wonderful
/ capacity OF the modern grand orchestra
when it's abilities directed by a master
/ like Theodore Thomas. AS for that, Mr..
I Thomas's men played as one. and often the
/ effect was that of idealized and mon-
strous pipe organ
At frequent intervals during the evening
the steam radiators tortured the audience
| and the orchestra with demoniac ingenuity
/ They cracked and popped with the same
startling irregularity they did on Satur-
| day night, when the Grau company sang
/ "Lohengrin" TO their fearful accompani-
ment.