The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-28
BIRMINGHAM BIG MUSIC FESTIVAL
 BEGINS TONIGHT Final RehearSaIS Will Be, Held At Hippedreme This
 Afternoon
DAMROSCH ORCHESTRA
 ARRIVES AT NOON TODAY
Tonight's Programme Is Exceptionally Brilliant-contains Numbers Never Before Given In Birmingham.
 Splendid Seat Sale.


 tcright at the Hippodrome. It will in- clude five concerts-three night perform ances and two matinees. Birmingham has had many high-class festivals in the years rast but the one this week will surpass in extert and variety any musical affair ever held in this state.
 The features of the festival will be the New York Symphony orchestra of which Walter Dam1 osch is conductor; disting- uished quartet-Mrs. Corinne Rider-Ke sey, soprano; Miss Nevarda Van Der Veer, contralto; Reed Miller tenor, and Gustaf Holinquist. basso; a brilliant violin solist Alexander Saslavsky; the eminent elo- cutionist, Miss Isabel Garghill Beecher; and three choral organizations, the Treble clef club, Mrs. Flournoy Rivers, direc- tor, the Euterpean club Miss Leta Kitts director, and the festival chorus, Fred L. Grambs director.
 MT. Damrosch will direct all the music in the festival and with the exception of a few short numbers by the Treble Clef club all the choruses will be accompanied by the orchestra.
  drome this afternoon, beginning at 5 o'clock sharp. Members of all the choruses are requested by MT. Damrosch to be in their seats by 2:45 D. m.
 No former festival has ever aroused the interest that this one has. Manager Hon said last night that the advance sale of seats had far exceeded his expectations Only the seats on the main floor of the Hippodrome are reserved. A few of these remain unsold but it is believed every one of them will be taken before O clock this evening. The balcony has seating capacity of 800 and tickets to that part of the house are only 50 cents. For the night concerts the reserved seats are S1.5O and s1 according to location, but for the matinees, reserved seats are sold for only 50 cents. The matinees begin at 8 o'clock.
 Tonight's programme follows:
 Overture, "Semiramide" (Rossin).
 (a) "LordA How Long Wilt Thou For get Us" (Brahms); Treble Clef club.
 Ballade and Polonaise (Vieuxtemps), MT. Alex Saslavsky.
 Symphonic Poem. 'Les Perludes" (LszD.
 (a) Moths" (PalicoD; (b) ''Mammy's Lullaby Palico); Co "Tiritomba," " (Reese), Treble Clef club. (a) Allegretto from string quartet, (b) Spring Song (Mendelssohn).
 Air from Der Freischutz' CWebber), Mme Rider-Kelsey.
 "The Blessed Damozel," Claude Debus- sey), Treble Clef club, orchestral accom- paniment.
 Slavonic March CTschaikowsky).
 Mrs. Rider-Kelsey and Miss Van der ba rI in o1o tc in the Blessed DamozeL"
 It Is seen that the programme Is rich in orchestral as well as vocal music. The overture, "Semiramide,' Is an old favor ite, but 1t has not been heard here in many years. The opera "Semiramide" is in two acts. The libretto is by Rossi and is founded on Voltaires tragedy en- titled "Semiramis" The scene is laid in Babylon Rossini wrote the music of the entire opera in three weeks and the first performance was in Venice in 1923. The work has long since dropped out of the operatic repertoire, but the overture will always rank as standard
 MT Saslavsky's solo number is well known to all violnists and to most con certgoers It is a composition of singular beauty.
 The symphonic poem, Les Preludes." is great programme piece-rich in them atc treatment and tone color. It has been heard frequently in Birmingham, but music lovers never tire of 1t. The composer was inspired by this passage in Lamerstine's "Meditations Poetiques":
 What is our life but a succession of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is sounded by death? Love is the enchanted dawn of every heart, but what mortal is there, over whose first joys and happiness does not break some storm, dspelling with Its icy breath his fanciful illusions, and shattering his al tar? What soul thus cruelty wounded does not at times try to dream away the recollection of such storms in the soli- tude of country life? And yet man, it seems. is not able to bear the languid rest on natures bosom, and when the trumpet sounds the signal of danger he hastens to join his comrades, no matter what the cause that calls him to arms. He rushes into the thickest of the fight, and amid the uproar of the battle regains confidence in himself and his powers
 All of the Treble Clef numbers are full of charm. '"Tiritomba," a Neapolitan bal lad, is a little gem, and that and two other pieces which the club will sing, including the Blessed Damozel," by the famous French composer, Debussy, will be new in Birmingham.
 MT. Damrosch and his orchestra will arrive today at noon in a special train over the Seaboard Air Line. There are 59 in his party.