The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-30

OF musical comedies, scores OF which
are not obtainable for a week or so
after the initial production.
This is where the orchestra leader
finds himself at his wits ends. If he
has a friend in the theater orchestra,
he has already arranged the matter.
His friend decides which airs will
probably tickle the public's musical
palate, writes out the theme of each,
and from this the musical leader in
the cafe makes his own orchestration
and is ready directly he learns the
piece has made a hit.
If he does not stand in with some
one In the orchestra, he attends the
first matinee performance, and if he
fears that vigilant usher may spy his
bit of music paper, he jots the notes
of the best choruses on his cuff and
works them out later at home. This
is easily done because popular num-
bers are repeatedly encored.
One Leaders Ingenuity.
Last winter when a certain English
musical success made it's initial hit.
the leader of a fashionable orchestra
slipped into the first matinee, violin
in arm, and took a seat in the front
row. When the curtain fell and the
orchestra of the house dispersed, the
leader of the hotel musicians slipped
cautiously into the first violinist's
chair and began to copy off the music
which is left on the rack between mat
mess and night performances. A house
employee seeing him thus engaged, with
his violin across his knee, took him
for a regular member of the house or
ehestra industriously working over
time, and the leader soon slipped out
of the theater without being asked a
single question. That night his little
band of musicians were ready with the
latest musical craze, and not another
cafe orchestra in town had it.
So general is the custom of granting
requests for certain numbers that the
making up of an advance programme
is mere form. The only time that the
leader may indulge his own taste is
during the lull between dinner and
supper parties.
These requests are sent up by the
walters, sometimes orally and some
times in writing. In the latter case,
tip" is not infrequently enclosed,
and some astonishing gifts reach the
musicians balcony in this fashion.
A young man who had been enter
tanning generously at supper and had
sent up several requests suddenly be-
thought himself that he ought to tip
the leader. He had just settled his bill
with the waiter and fumbled through
his pocket for a douceur for the mu-
Inc harvest was lnQeeQ HRnt
and finally he slipped something into an
envelope, relieved smile spreading
over his face as he sent the waiter
scurrying toward the musicians gall
lery. What the leader found in the en-
velope was a ticket good for a half
dozen Turkish baths in the city's most
fashionable establishment.
Threat With a Tip.
1t was on last election night that
a jolly crowd of young men entered
the same cafe to be greeted by the
tones of the too, too familiar Mis-
erere." AS the minor air died away,
a waiter carried an envelope to the
leader. who read thereon these words
IF you don't play a real live Irish
melody, We'll put this place on the
bum, and in short order"
With flushed face, the musician
started to tear the envelope in pieces
when with the first rip something
caught his eye. Inside the envelope
lay a ten dollar bill, which he had
neatly torn in twain. 1t goes with
out saying that the young men heard
the Irish air and the ten dollar bill re-
ceived dose of mucilage.
In. what is known as a family res
taurant, where many apartment dwell
lers take their dinners each evening,
the leader one night was astonished
to receive through a waiter this note
when 1 am in the restaurant please
never play Jerusalem or The Holy
City My little son, now dead, sang
these in the choir"
Folded in the request was a five dol
lar bill. The leader to this day OBJ
serves the request and the woman,
still gowned in mourning, dimes there
nearly every night.
Walters, as a rule, make ludicrous
mistakes in carrying verbal requests
for certain pieces. Among the titles
which afterward proved garbled re-
quests for the intermezzo from Caval-
leria may be mentioned tom
O'Leary" and "Corolla Bolla Cigarro"
The most ingenious take-off on the
famous sextette from Lucia di Lam
mermoor" was" succotash of some
thing or other" 1t was a Jewish
waiter who carried up a request for
Holly Boily, and when the orchestra
played Hurry Burley,' the leader in
stantly recognized from the expression
of the diners face that he had mis-
interpreted the title. He made a trip
in person to the table and learned that
the original request had been for Holy
City,
Northerners Call for Dixie.
Experienced leaders say that there
seems to exist little or no connection
and sympathy between requests and
their senders. A Jew will ask feel
ingly for Killarney" and a sharp
featured bachelor maid will demand
Sweet Sixteen" The man who has
been having the time OF his life seldom
becomes maudlin so far as his must
cal tastes are concerned, but asks for
something invigorating like ooh, Didn't
He Rambler And the woman who asks
regularly for Dixie has probably
never been further south than Asbury
Park, N. ]. a 1Ia
Among the tricks of trade employed
by leaders of orchestras in the quieter
cafes where the musicians balcony is
close to the tables, is to study the pro-
grammes carried by large theater par
ties, and then, being sure of the play
they have seen, offer its most popular
airs. This invariably wins favor for
the establishment.
Those there are who try the soul of
the leader by insistently demanding
music of the cheap. popular sort that
has been worn threadbare by street
musicians. Others, especially. in New
York, where player folk sup, spy a
comedian or tenor who has popular
lied a song and in conspicuous man.
ner they request that his hit be played
This shows the familiarity of the pa
iron with actors, but 1t brings anguish
TO the poor actor who is singing it
with innumerable encores eight times
a week.
"An Afternoon with Wagner"
The leader of three musicians and
who himself plays first violin tells this
az ina Il