Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-06-17
fest was held a year before the expo

TEST was uelu year fpeIoFe the expo
sition.
on that occasion there were some &c.
900 people in attendance and about 5000
grown-up singers and 1000 school chill
dren took part. One of the features of
the occasion was the trip through a
famous st. Louis brewery. Realizing
that most of the bunders are fond of
good beer, the brewer sat them down
to a brew that Is said to have eclipsed
anything that they had ever tasted
even In the fatherland. One OF the
sights of the fest was the Mark Hanna
growler, brought there by an Ohio con-
tingent. 1t was a beer pitcher made
to resemble the head of the late sena-
tor from Ohio. The likeness of the
thing was almost lifelike, and as 1t
was carried in the parade 1t was rec
ognized by every one who had ever
seen Senator Hanna. Louisville was
on hand on this occasion with some of
that pleasant stuff labeled made in
old Kentucky" and no thoroughgoing
bunder was allowed to get away with
out an opportunity to sample 1t. That
city is also expected to turn out
strong force of signers this week and
to send along a sample OF the cup that
cheers.
It is estimated that the German
musical organizations of one kind and
another in the United States have a
membership of a quarter of million.
Most of them are men. In addition to
those organizations represented in the
North American Saengerbund there
are many which give allegiance to the
Northeastern SaengerbuHd. One of
the prizes of this Organization Is
$40, 900 statue of a minnesinger, pre-
scented by the emperor of Germany.
At the last meeting of the Northeast
ern Saengerbund, held in Baltimore,
President Roosevelt and Baron Speck
Won Sternberg, the German ambassa-
DOR went over to Baltimore to greet
and to hear the singers. This Is be-
lieved to have been the only occasion
in the history of either organization
that the president of the Unietd States
attended one of their tests. Recently
when the children were being brought
together to be trained for the fest the
managers sent out an address to them
asking them to say to their parents
that they would be admirably cared
for, and that their singing halls would
not be located over any groggeries.
The little German town of Bethlehem,
Pa, has figured not little IN the
musical history of America. 1t was
the Bach choir of this place, consisting
of about one hundred singers, that
first produced complete in America
Bach's stupendous mass in b minor.
This was after the beginning of the
new century, and the performance has
been repeated since then. This choir
represents the result of a musical ac-
tivity of more than hundred years.
When the town itself was founded by
the Moravians they established a col
legium museum, and on the founda-
tions they then laid one Of the finest
musical superstructures in the United
States that has been erected.
No one has ever estimated the force
1t requires to successfully render a
great vocal selection, but 1t must be
more than the average mortal could
dream of. Such an estimate has been
made as to instrumental music, and
the results Of the calculations are as
tonishing. A German musician fell to
experimenting In this line by placing
coins on a key of his piano to ascer-
tain how heavy weight he would
have to make on key to produce the
necessary tone. He found that the
minimum pressure was about a quar-
ter of pound. In Chopin's last study
in c minor there is a passage which
takes two minutes and FIVE seconds to
render. On the basis laid down by this
German musician the aggregate pres
sure which has to be brought to bear
on the keys to properly render this
passage amounts to about three tons.
Sometimes a note has to be struck
with q force equivalent to six pounds
of pressure. Pianists often develop
wonderful strength In their fingers. 1t
Is told of Paderewski that he is able
to take piece of French plate glass
half an inch thick, and laying his hand
on 1t as he does on the keyboard of
his plano. break 1t in two with a single
stroke of his middle finger.
Next to the great American saenger-
bunds perhaps the greatest body of
singers that ever meets in the United
States meets as the annual confer
ences of the German Baptist church,
commonly known as the bunker
church. 1t has a membership of over
100000 and the attendance upon these
meetings is never under 10000. Inn
mense tabernacles are provided which
will seat from five to eight thousand
people. During the conferences they
frequently have song services and the
good old-fashioned hymns of Charles
Wesley, Mason and the rest of them
are sung with a zealand an enthusiasm
born of consecrated Christianity. These
people are as a rule good singers and
have excellent voices. so that one who
hears one of the song services will
have something to long remember.
The conductor Of their music Is Prof.
George B. Holsinger of Bridgewater
college. AS most of these people are
of German extraction they are not
vastly different from the saengerbund-
ers, only that they do not believe In
the use Of musical instruments in their
churches.
Copyright 1903 by Frederic ]. Haskin)
Tom orrou---A m arlcau g.,udav scy,noya