The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-13
SYMPHONY GIVES FINE
SUNDAY NIGHT CONCERT
Heard With Manifest Pleasure in
Program of Popular Numbers. ~

the National Theater last night when
the Washington symphony Orchestra
presented its first popular program. The
attendance was large the several or
| chestraI performances were of a uniform
high grade, and the pleasure of the au-
dfence was manifestIy hearty and deep.
| The appearance of the orchestra on Sun
| day gave the concert a further interest
| in that It enabled several hundred per-
sons ordinarily precIuded from the sym
| phony's concerts TO hear notable COM
| positions. notably interpreted.
| In accord with the specific plan of the
concert the program was comprised
| chiefly of numbers well within the COM
! prehension of those who love music and
| only half understand it, Thus the open
| ing number was the light, vivacious, me-
! Iodic overture to The Merry Wives of
| Windsor" by Nico1ai; the vocal se1ec-
lions were the prologue to I'll Pagliac-
ci.' and the Toreador song from Car
men" harpist performed a medley of
| hymn tunes appropriate to the day. and
! the orchestra played a march by Mr. De
/ Koven, a Strauss waltz, the Peer Gynt
| Suite" OF Grieg. a Tschaikowsky waltz.
and the prelude to the third act of ''Lo-
! hengrin." It will be seen that this pro-
gram. albeit popular" is yet entirely
| worthy of good orchestra. and of in
| terest to the confirmed eoncert-koer.
To those present who had not before
heard the Washington Symphony Or
J oh he
preached revelation Since the cessa-
| ton of an annual visit from the Boston
/ Symphony Orchestra the local supply or
| fine orchestral music has been singular
| ly and unfortunately precarious. Within
| the past two years, however, there has
| been developed here of musicians who
make Washington their home an or
| chestra equal in numbers. skill, power
| and ability with those maintained by
Boston. New York, Chicago, Philadel-
| phia and Pittsbur8.
All this was evident last night. The
audience was composed largely of per-
| sons acc-ainted with the performers 1t
was directed by a musician Of wide rep
utation who has made Washington his
| home The execution ranked high even
| In comparison with that of the older and
more distinguished orchestrss of the
ether cities named
! All in ali. the evening was one of pc
| ouliar feIcitatiou and musical signif-
/ canoe The work OF the orchestra gave
| The most pronounced pleasure. Every
performance was heartily applauded.
While sparing of responses. it was yet
/ necessary for Mr.. De Koven to repeat
| his ''Marche Espagnole." the last move
ment of the Grieg suite. and the excerpt
| from ''Lohengrin.7 Musicaliy there was
/ opportunity to find fault. but very little
fault; and in view of the wide gulf
which separated this concert from the
| average Sunday night offering by trav-
cling bands such comment would here
be hypercritical. The encore of the
Wagner number is 10 be especially not
ed. II was the last work on the pro
gram. and the audience had been seated
for nearly two hours Yet its members
refused to leave their seats. recalled the
performers to the stage, and listened to
the performance of the prelude with
pleasure written all over their faces
Clifford Wiley and Mr.. Aptommas
were the soloists. Both were well re-
! ceived. It is to be doubted, however,
that Washington will soon hear the like
OF the latter's performances. Mr.. Wiley
served every purpose by singing his two
numbers with intelligence, charm. and
earnestness. It is his misfortune that
his Interpretation of the "PagIiacci"
number was inevitably compared with
that recently offered here by Mr.. Van
Rooy. His encore was Under the
Rose, by William Arms Fisher
From this entertainment 1t is evident
that the field for this orchestra and the
need for it are wider than anyone has
anticipated. The audience which as
sembled last night would come together
! gladly four or FIVE times every season.
| The charm of yesterdays program for
such hearers would be heightened as the
standard of the program was raised
| from concert 10 concert Furthermore,
/ such a series would have the practical
result of widening the area from which
| the orchestra could claim financial sup
port. 1t is to be hoped sincerely. there
| fore. that from this day onward similar
Sunday night performances may be made
features of the orchestra's yearly sched-
ule.
The extra financial support thus to be
attained is manifestly required. For two
years now the community has enjoyed
the advantages OF a symphony orchestra
at the expense OF a few hundred public
spirited citizens. The long continuation
of such a condition must defeat the pur-
pose for which the orchestra has been
organized. It can fulfill its mission only
when it is supported evenly by those
who reap the benefits To that end II is
to be hoped that this season closes its
existence as subsidized organization,
and that next year the orchestra may
command enough support on the ground
of It's inherent worth to give il com
merciaI and musical independence.
An appeal with this object in view was
issued recently To the music lovers OF
Washington" All such were invited 10
subscribe for the support OF the or
chestra It is 10 be hoped the responses
will comprehend a great number, as
many subscriptions of few dollars each
would represent a hundred times the
educational value of a few subscriptions