Evening star., 1909-03-12
AMERICAN oRCHEsTRAs.
Maintained Now in Many Cities.
Nine in New York.
From the Cosmopolitan

From the Cosmopolitan.
In Boston last winter a lady of the
highest consideration was entertaining one
from the pathless wilds of Chicago, a
friend and visitor. in the course of which
experience Mrs. Backbay one night took
Mrs. Dearborn out to the far famed tenn
pie of musical art that shines in Hunting
ton avenue.
This must be "a great treat to you.
observed Mrs. Backbay graciously in, the
intermission.
What must be- asked Chicago, look
ing wonderingly about her
why this-this great opportunity TO
hear a great Orchestra-and you so much
interested In music"
We'll. I don't know" said Mrs. Dear
born meditatively. I've been hearing as
great an orchestra as this twenty-six
weeks in the year for seventeen years. so
1t isn't a rare treat. anyway
''Where?" said Boston.
Chicago" said Mrs Dearborn.
"Ah"' said Boston, who plainly thought
her Chicago friend was inventing mon
StrouS untruths.
So would have thought almost any Bos-
tonian. so would have thought almost any
New Yorker or other resident of the east
and yet she was not; she was but stating
with due modesty simple if somewhat
astonishing fact.
The truth is that while humbly we have
accepted and dutifully We have repeated
the good old formula that In America
there is no art and no art feeling and no
sympathy or anything else worth talking
about. in one department of art we have
been making such strides and doing such
wonderful things that We promise shortly
to lead the world therein.
No doubt, continues Mr.. Russell. we are,
as we have been so often and so pleas
mt n orb ,~foy,
and villagers about other things but
when we come to orchestral music there
is an indubitable record of solid achieve
ment
In the city of New York. counting the
two opera house orchestras (Which give
classical program concerts every Sunday V
night. there are nine grand Orchestras of
the symphony grade. That is 4 larger
number of such orchestras than can be
found in any other city in the world
Almost every considerable city IN the
United States has now it's symphony or
chestra maintained not for profit, but by
public subscription as a public educator
and playing yearly its series Of advanced
erner. of great successful. high grade
symphony orchestras IN St. Paul. Min
neapolis. Denver. Kansas City. Los An
gees. Seattle and even in Dululn, once
the scorned Zenith City of the Unsalted
Seas?
nation of barharans and dollar hunters /
mean: and consider that all of these or
chestras were voluntarily organized and
are voluntarily supported by the public
interest and good will. 1t is not $50 I'm
Europe. where, on the continent at least,
the orchestra Is maintained partly or
wholly by the municipality or the state.
Furthermore, we may note that one
American city has done for orchestral
music what no other city In the world
has ever done Where else could you find
a community willing and able to raise
S75OOOO by popular subscription for the
permanent endowment of an orchestra?
1t was Chicago. the misunderstood and
maligned Chicago of all the cities Of the
world that thus testified to the fervor of
its interest in orchestral art and loyalty
to Theodore Thomas.
1t was an American orchestra that in
troduced the low pitch and thereby did SO
much to improve and further orchestral
music. and it was an American orchestra
that first made orchestral playing sepa-
rate dignified and specialized profession.
Previously in America. as generally In
Europe now. man played I'm an orches-
ira as q side employment or perhaps as
q diversion
Mr.. Thomas signed the members of his
Chicago orchestra to play under him and
to do nothing else except to teach. He
attention and made it the business of
their lives TO rehearse and prepare for
his concerts. All of this required an ex-