The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-10-05
MUSICAL HAWAII
AND HER BAND
SPLENDID ORGANIZATION MAIN
TANNED BY HONOLULU AT COST
OF $1,000 PER MONTH.

The American Musician and Art
Journal, of New York, has the follow
ing article in its issue of September
IL:
HONOLULU, T. H., August 70, 1908.
You stand on the deck of the ferry
boat" Alameda, as the people of Ho-
nolulu have come to affectionatey call
the Oceanic Steamship Company's
staunch liner, which plies between the
island territory and San Francisco
once in three weeks with underwriting
regularity; the lines are being cast on;
handkerchiefs are fluttering from the
dock, and from among the crowd OF
flower bedecked people which presses
with you against the vessels rail for
last good bye" leis (garlands) OF
carnations, plumaria and MALE begin
to float back into appraised hands like
bright bits OF rainbow promising a re-
uniting of parting ties. The whole at
mosphere is vibrant with repressed
emotions of parting and then-the band
within the wharf shed, which until
now has been rejecting the general
gay excitement in jolly bits of Merry
Widow" opera score, swells into the
passionate, heart wrenching, sweet
strains of aloha o." Hawaii's song
of farewell.
The merry din has suddenly ceas-
ed; and handKerchiefs that moment
ago fiuttered above smiling faces now
hide eyes from which the sudden tear
drops start. Though the ship has
drawn but a few yards from the dock,
many of your fellow passengers have
disappeared to hide. their grief in
their cabins, while the throng OF dear
ones left behind is scattering as a pic
mic party before a summer shower
And it's all that blamed bands
| fault! You are a tourist and are
breaking no ties of kinship, yet there
is sort of choking in your throat,
and as the music from the wharf
changes to AUD Lang Syne' you feel
a sort OF resentment against that band
and wonder vaguely why it is allowed
| to play such music.
| But emotional Hawaii loves it's band;
and the steamer day serenade is a part
of the work for which the city pays -
! $4,000 per year, and has done so for
thirty-eight years. 1t is one of the
institutions-as much so as is the po-
lice or the fire department. Its TWEEN
| Nv IN thirty p1anharc oro oil Hawaii
ans, and it mas been under the direc-
ton of Bandmaster H. Berger since
1872. Every evening of the week it
plays to the people in one of the sew
eral parks of the city, and it plays at
official receptions, and in parades, and
on official battleships which visit the
port. On Sunday afternoons and at
other times it plays in the grounds of
the Queens Hospital and at other
eleemosynary institutions. Present
day residents OF the city have grown
up with The band, and few of them
realize to what an extent it mas be-
come interviewer into the social ana
everyday life of the place.
But to the newcomer the Royal Ha-
waiian Ban6 is never failing joy. To
be able any evening to sit in the frag-
rant cool of a tropical garden and lis
ten to high class music played with
exceptional assurance and feeling is a
pleasure that few places in the world
afford.
The band was organized in 1870 by
the Royal Hawaiian Government. Two
directors were employed within the
first two years, and then at the re-
quest of the Government, Herr Berger
was sent by the German Government
to fill the position, and he has re-
tanned it ever since. He has done pro-
{. badly more than any other one per-
son to develop the inherent musical ta-
lent of the Hawaiian people, and a
large part of the characteristic Ha-
waiian music of today was written or
arranged by him.
The Royal Hawaiian Band has a
record to be proud of. It's ideal has
always been high, and it holds a pro-
minent place in band circles of the
world. In 1884 it visited San Fran
cisco by invitation, to attend knights
Templar conclave, and after compe-
titive trial with a large number OF
other bands from various parts of the
United States, was awarded the post
tof honor during the gathering.
AS an example of the character OF
the music which the band was play
ing nearly twenty years ago, the fol
lowing is an average program:
PART I.
March, On Parade ........... .Sauvle
Overture, Semiramide ....... .Rossin
lGbor,s Tannhousar VVapnal