The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-18
SOUSA A PRIZE EXHIBIT
HIS MUSIC A GREAT AND FITTING
FEATURE OF THE FAIR.
Europe Thinks Well of Him, hut He Is
No Less Cordia IN Indiana Farmers
All sorts on P-roGrnmmes

Nikisch and Strauss, Thomas and DAM
rosch mean nothing out in the State but
Sousa is significant. Between sousa and
the Indiana farmer there is an affinity.
Men with brown faces. rough hair and
gnarled hands left pens and barns yester-
day afternoon and went to the grand
stand. Such is the propulsion OF art skill
fully indicted. This is proper and natural.
Sousa is racy Of the sort OF prosperity the
State fair denotes. He Is smiling, hearty
and Iuxuriant. His band is a well-fed and
happy band. His music is expressive of the
simple, powerful emotion that politicians
call patriotism.
Sousa is no aristOcrat. He goes TO Eu-
rope. plays in Berlin. Paris and London,
plays for Edward and Alexandra OF Eng
land and gets the Kings permission to
dedicate a new march, Imperial Edward"
10 him. Returning 10 America he comes to
be a feature of the Indiana State fair and
leaves out no iourishes. Indiana gold
looks as COCO to him as European prestige
feels; indeed. he to some degree exchanges
the latter for the former. The public likes
him and he likes it. for he smiles and gives
encore after encore. He loves the honest
stock-breeder. and is willing to alternate
with horse races. The State Board of Ag-
riculture has found him so profitable that
this is his third annual visit.
Sousa has a great band. for he can frown
as well as smile. and his gestures mean
something, complex as is their vocabulary.
When he orders a crescendo. he gets IL,
and when the trombones line up to take
the melody 1t is as If one great trombone
were being played. There is a fine array
OF meditation, not only in the ability of the
players but also in their instrument One
tuba looks as IL a steam chest went into it.
but a little, blonde man blows a big, round,
reverberating tone out of IL.
Sousa is often a fakir, but always is a
pleasant and sure one. He gets away with
the goods and the victim feels better for
II. When Rogers or Koennecke plays a
cornet solo. or Pryor steps TO the front with
his trombone, the tone is sure to be pure
and soft, but there also will be some triple
tcnguing before the compositions end.
This is regularly a trait of the Sousaite.
The master is great on variations, twirling
ana frilling.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY.
Sousa has a most catholic taste. When he
played ragtime yesterday his movements
in direction were suggestive OF the bonn
bashay or the slow-drag. which are dance.
steps Invented and used solely by ragtime
society. List and Wagner were on the
programmes yesterday afternoon and even
ale. WITCH LASH WTOlc n hungarian
Rhapsody" his mind played over the face
of the Slav countries after the manner
OF the many-legged spider. but the re-
sources of the SOusa band are almost
equal to the demand. Wagner was repre-
sented by MS "Rienzi' overture. and hits
of "~Tannhauser', and 'Siegfried" are on to-
days lists. A Wagnerite's objection that
IL Is sacrilege for a brass band TO play Wag-
nerS music at live stock and agricultural
shows is not valid: in the Ring of the ME-
belungen there are horses and birds, besides
a more fearful dragon and more freakish
humans than the side shows can boast of.
The programmes for to-day follow:
Matinee
Grand Festival Overture. Founded on
Theme How Can L Leave Thee?''
Ballet suite-"syIvia' DseIibes
PiccoIo soIO-"The Nightingale".".-:..
Narsbai rnf Mollenhauer
Excerpts from t'Tannhauser" Wagner
Descriptive Piece-'Forge in the Forest
Grand Fantasie-scenes from Eel Cap
Trombone soio-'Love T~houghts'.. Pryor
Arthur Pryor.
(a) "A Southern JoIlificatiOn''. Kunkel
(b) March-"Imperial Edward" new
Dedicated by special permission to His
Gracious Majesty, Edward VIII
Grand Coronation ..Meyerbeer
Evening
Excerpts from "Siegfried'' ..........Wagner.
Suite-"Maidens Three" (new)........So usa
(a) The Coquette.
to- The Summer Girl.
(c) The Dancing Girl.
Fluegelhorn solo-"Bright Star of
Hope .Robaudi
Franz Helle.
Remembrance of Stephen Foster. .Cappa
Grand Fantasie-'Highland Songs and
Dances" .Dodfrey
Bourree and Gigue-'MGch Ado About
Nothing" new .......... German
Trombone Solo (~original air and varia-
tions)-'The Virtuoso" PRYOR
Arthur Pryor.
(aD Tone Picture-"At the Old Grist
Mill Miller
(b) March-"Imperial Edward" new
SOuSa
Dedicated by special permission to His
Gracious Majesty, Edward VIII
Episode Militaire-March Past OF the
Old Brigade" .Reeves-Tbiel