The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-07-30
Chorus Work and 0ches-
ira Were Magnificent.
TRIUMPH OF LEADER
Prof. Brown Selected, Organized and
Trained Within 20 Days Chorus
of Two Hundred Voices That He
Plays On Like an instrument.
Musical Festival Ends.

Two hundred young women in white
dresses banked on white background,
in tier after tier of fluttering fans and
billowy muslin, flanked by two groups
of black coated men with glistening
shirt fronts and faced by an orchestra
at their feet, part men, part women,
and fully equipped with violins, horns,
flies and the miscellaneous array Of
musical instruments so necessary III
the scheme of a perfect production
and to a tyro merely SO many compli-
eating incidents to the harmony OF
sound-and you have a faint idea OF
how the Summer School Festival
Chorus and Orchestra looked to the
large crowd of Raleigh people who
gathered in Pullen Hall last evening
for the last of the two concerts.
1t was pretty and an artistic sight
"a picture that in the very loneliness
of it's arrangement created enthusi-
asm to begin with.
And then a stoutish man, of smil-
ing face and a brown and closely
trimmed Van Dyke beard, stepped
upon his pedestal and waved a wand
that had magic in it's tip and melody
in each of it's quick gyrations, it's slow
fluctuations, it's sharply imperative ges
lures.
\.
who in a little over a month has Sc
lected and trained and brought under
the skill of that magic wand two hun
dred voices, and instruments innum-
cradle, so that sobbing at one moment
like the wind that is tired with the
storm, they break the next into Wild
ly triumphant blare of music, only to
slip and fall again into silence that
is a regret as soon as realized, and
Arc ci-ta bft1A
in the memory of the ear.
1t is a wonderful thing this orches-
ira and chorus. When, the audience
standing the while, it scared into the
triumphant phases of the Hallelujah
Chorus, it caused a chilly thrill to
tremble up the spine even of the mus
zeal tyro who pens these words: to
musician it must have been superb.
The concert singers were artists of
dash and ability but the wonderful
thing about the concert was the or
chestra and the chorus.
And the wonderful thing of all was
the stoutish man with the Van Dyke
beard and the magic wand.
/ And the thing that was proved is
that the music is here in the Raleigh
people-ahd, so long as the wand RET
MAINS it will revel in its songs.
The programme was an admirably
ARRANGED -one, having the contrast of
orchestral, choral and solo numbers,
and from the beginning the whole
grew to a grand climax with chorus,
artists and orchestra in that magni-
ficent chorus from Gournod'S Res
demption, unfold Ye Portals a
Never has such enthusiasm been
shown in concert room by Rail
eigh audience, and never in the his
tory of the State. has such magnifi4
cent musical work been done-and all
1Se~l,
twenty-three days.
The orchestra, composed of twenty
two performers under the direction
of Prof n. A. White. appeared in
two numbers and in the accompani-
ments to the choral compositions. a
The work of the orchestra was
splendid, the accuracy and finish be-
ing especially noticeable. Prof.
White has proved himself an excel
lent orchestral director and drill
master and his interpretations of the
Coronation March and oxford Sym
phony showed high order of inter-
pretatiVe powers
The chorus work of the evening was
truly remarkable. Three great COM
positions, the "Hallelujah chorus,'r
the Soldiers Chorus" from Faust,
and the unfold Ye Portals were
sung with magnificent volume and
power and with beautiful shading
The great body of singers and instru-
mentalists were under absolute con-
troll of the director and he played
upon them as upon a harp. The
audience was enthusiastic in its praise
of the choral work and, after repeat
ed recalls, the chorus was compelled
to repeat the Soldiers Chorus"
which they did with even more in
spring performance than at first.
OF the artists, too much cannot be
said. No better quartette has ever
been heard inthe South than the one
at this festival. Mrs Theo. Van
York, soprano; Miss Bessie Bonsall
contralto; Mr.. Theo. Van York, tenor,
and Mr.. William Harper basso. Each
artist added to the splendid impress
sion made in the first concert and each
was recalled again and again, the
audience insisting on encore after
encore.
Perhaps the most enjoyable num-
Der by the soloists was the Rigoletto
Quartette, one of the greatest COM
written Each artist seemed inspired
and the whole was a performance of
he most satisfying character.
The whole concert was brilliantly
executed from beginning to end and
only goes to show what can be done
by home people when all work to-
gether towards the accomplishment
of a great object.
Prof Wade r. Brown, whose un-
firing energy and ability has made
possible an organization that would
do credit to any city, deserves the
thanks of the whole people. His
achievement is one of which he may
we'll be proud and one that marks
him not only as one of he cleverest
of musicians but also as one who
has the executive ability and the
personal temperament that can inspire
others to work and enthusiasm.