New-York tribune., 1910-11-29
MUSIC
A Russian Band and Its Per-.
forna1CeS.
A NFW THING IN FOLKMUSlC

concert which was unique in nearly
e,.ar,. one of its fea atures took place last
nirh+ when rhe Russian Balalaika orcnes-
fra which is the creation Of its conductor
NJ " u Andreeff, gave the first enter
+,t,,.,+ of series. which will be con-
tinuAd in the New Amsterdam and Lyceum
.ho.+r.s e,arv day this week, in Carnegie
III To tIe careless listener the some
b.+ -,,4e and primitive protoUpe of the
concer- will no doubt appear TO be the
f,-,iIior entertainments which our college
mandolin guitar and banjo clubs have been
in rho habit of giving for years for the
henaht of the so-called college ''navies-
Tu+ not only in the character Of the music
~, siSo in the character of the perform
ancas the Russian visitors offer some
thing infinitely superiOr-somethne. in
deed which is sort of sublimatIon
of an influential element in the highest
form of musical culture to-day. This
element is the folksong the uncon-
scjo,Is artistic utterance in tone OF
the various peoples of the world. 1t is
er,inent1v characteristic Of Russia that
II should send out whether directly or
Indirectly does not signify such an elo-
nuert missioner as the Baalaika band for
the worlds edifCation. Il has done the
same thing with its greatest creative mu-
sicians. and whenever these musicians
have created d really profound impression
il has been found that it was because
they gave voice to the joys. sorrows ana
aspirations of the vast people from whose
loins they sprang The voice is soph1sti-
Gated in the great compositions when
make I'D so large a portion Of the orches-
tral programmes of to-day, but it is there,
and to the best of them it has given the
vitaI charm " hich the peoples who do not
belong TO the Gar have felt. SO this
band also repreSentS a sopntSttcatlon.
The instruments which its members play
are folk instruments. but they have been
changed into artistic instruments. The
best music which they play is folkmuslc,
but it has been refined until il has become
a work of art. which, retaining all its
compelling power of melody, has added
to It a sensuous charm which brings 1t
home to the aesthetic sympathies of all
lovers of musical beauty. In this IT Is
like the native music which we have heard
not often but always with delight-from
the Russian bands Of singers
When Mr.. Andreeff began his propaganda
in favor OF what may be called balalalka
music he used only two of the instruments
which figured in the band as he pTesehtcu
It last night. These were the balalaika
itself and the domra, both instruments Of
the mandolin or guitar family. but differ
ing IN shape and in stringing. Both 1nstru-
nents are presented in various sizes. ana
the sophisticated. or artistic. feature o.
their use lies in the color effects which MI
Andreeff produces by the combinations
which he makes of them in his arrange
Luy1d MIA
The instrument upon which he chiefly de-
pends for expressive cantilena is the domra
a sort Of mandolin with gut strings; but
for body and brilliancy Of tone, especially
for surprisingly sonorous bass. he calls
upon the balaIaika. an instrument with a
peculiar and capacious resonance body,
which is strung with three metal strings
and the shape of which is shown in the ao-
companying Illustration