Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-04
.l|STEN..T0 THE BAND
What Music. Did You Like Best
in Park Concerts?
POPULAR OR THE CLASSIC?
Mooted Question Is Discussed by
Leaders and Others.
STANDS FOR PLAYERS URGED
Would Help Tone Effects and Dis
trict Should Build Them, Is
Opinion of Many.


| passing of the band concert in Washing
! top and feature of midsummer Wash
ing which. according to the directors of
organizations that participate in them. is
become the popular form of the musical
education of the masses, as well as the
classes. will be known no more until
spring.
Many and varied are the tastes to be
pleased; many and varied the difficulties
encountered by the bandmaster in arrang-
| ing his program, the most formidable of
which seems to be the tendency of the
younger set among the audiences to con-
vert the concert into a semi-comic fes-
tivity much like the Sunday Prado, or
pomenade of the West Indian or South
| American city.
Three bands of unquestioned worth
| employed in methodical education
of the public, the system Of park con-
certs. at first only tentative. has assumed
the proportions of an institution almost
as well recognized as the public school
system.
The classics of music appeal only to the
few. consequently it is only through
classic airs that the masses can be
brought to full appreciation of melody in
the opinion of the director of the Marine
Band.
Tact Required of Leader.
1T is my belief said Lieut.. Santel-
mann. in a recent interview. that the
public is fully appreciatve of the open
air concert, but in order to maintain that
appreciation in an outward, visible form
| it is necessary to please as large por
| ton of the audience as is possible;
thing based wholly upon the judgment of
the director in making out his program.
The idea has been to furnish a variety
of music which meets both the cultivated
and the popular tastes. This has been
carefully arranged to elevate public pref
erence through program mainly classical
| or semi-cla SScal, and intersperSed with
the popular melody"
! In diametric opposition is the opinion
of another director, Chief Musician kam-
per of the L. s. Engineer Band. sta
toned at Washington barracks. Mr..
Hamper is of the belief that the public
is appreciatve to a certain extent, and
| agrees that the musical tastes of pub
| lie are as varied as the people consti-
! tuting the crowds, but there is tend
ency, he insists. on the part of GER
| tain element to frequent the public con-
certS, not for pleasure afforded by the
| music, but as romp and outing. This
I element. he continues, makes the park at
such a time scene of chatter and bab
BILE which is at once distasteful to the
audience and discouraging to the per-
former.
Public Not Always Appreoiative.
II sometimes think" declared Chief
Musician Angelsberger of the Cavalry
Band. stationed at Fort Myer. that the
public is not fully appreciative of the
Efforts of those bands engaged in this
public concert system. There have been
times when the noise and confusion of
promenading have been such as to almost
drown the music, particularly when the
| melody Is one of those classical pieces
which dwindle to an almost inaudible
whisper of a strain. or course. that is
just the reason. and this is merely a
form by which the crowd at large shows
it's displeasure at the classical, and it Is
my grounds for believing that the public
as represented in these crowds is not
fully appreciative of our efforts.
Then too, there are other reasons
for this belief. At no park in which the
concerts are given is there a band stand.
nor have any steps been taken for the
! provision of SUCH which all leads one to
| think that the District government, rep
resentative of the people. do not appre-
ciate the music the national government
| is providing by the employment of ma
tional bands"
Perhaps" said another musician on
this subject, there is no way in which
the lack of appreciation Of the public, if
| there actually exists any, can be better
| corrected than by an erection of band
| stands to fill the wants and needs of this
system In its embryonic state. Primarily,
a band playing in the open represents a
waste of material. just any other
thing employed without proper facilities
| Cor preventing waste. The volume of
sound in bandit is easily seen WHY'S
directed upward. The higher pitched in
| struments and those which are more linn
tied in range are for similar reasons d.
rected horizontally or downward, and the
result Is that the volume Is mainly lost
as it ascends without DETECTION. whereas
with a band stand the roof defects the
sound and causes it to issue forth with
that precise uniformity of volume so es-
sential to good music Then again there
are other distracting features. Some are
caused by the thickly planted parks, as
we'll as the absence of suitable band
stands.
Sound Deadened by Foliage.
1T is we'll known fact that sound
carries better in an open area than in a
| forest, for the same reason that voices
assume a louder pitch in a bare room,
whereas the same pitch of voice will be
comparatively moderate in a we'll furnish
ed room. The trees and foliage of the
parks serve in the same manner to deaden
and subdue the volume. to say nothing of
| the range of band. Moreover in the
| event that storm comes up during the