The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-11-23
HIGH CLASS MUSIC
Mormon Choir Delights Topeka
Music Lovers.
Organization Well Trained and
SOloists Capable.

It is always hard to define the cause
that contributes most to the success of
an entertainment here-success in the
sense of pleasing the audience The con-
cert goers of Topeka are thought to be
unusually tickle, sometimes are pleased
with a rattle, ticlzled with a straw"
and at other times unreSpOnS1Ve to
some of the most splendid efforts of the
best musicians. However that may be.
the Mormon choir which gave a concert
last night at the Auditorium struck just
the chord that awakened the SympathieS
of the hearers. 1t was partly due no
doubt to the manner of the performers,
who had a certain freedom from the
conventional air and lack Of the blase
bored repose of the professional con-
certizerS.
The conductor, Evan Stephens, is a
man who commands attention. even be-
fore he raises the baton that controls
200 voices. Quick, keen, and alert, with
a certain swing and rhythm in every
motion, he at once attracts. He sings
with his choir-sings with all his might,
which seems to make him one with
them instead of a detached piece or
nechanisrn-a mechanome, for instance
as is the case with SO many leaders
Horace S. Ensign, baritone SOLO
list, sang Gypsy Sweetheart, from Her
bert's Fortune Teller. The piece ltseI
has a certain delicate individuality
and it was given in a way that grips
YOU somehow and lodges in the mem
DRY. Mr. Ensign's voice is sympa-
thetic and full of power. The chorus
was taken up by the choir, and the
soloist, singing against zoo voices
could be clearly understood.
A selection from Coolridge Taylor's
FIiawatha, 1.-The Death of Minnehaha,
was noticeabIy good, and the selections
that have been approved OF music
lovers ever since they were written
the Soldiers Chorus from Faust ana
~ CavtpffR-WGTH rendered.
creditably enough
The women of the choir sang a
Christmas song composed by the CON
ductor, and the mems section OF tne
choir sang Dixie. much to the oelislis
of the audience, who insisted on an
encore, and instead of repeating a
verse of Dixie, they sang away Out
West in Utah" to the same tune.
Willard Weihe, the violinist, played
Fantaise Appassionata. He brought to
the work technical resources that rep
resented a high standard of v1rtuos1ty
and a command of tonal beauty that
bespoke an imaginative musical con-
seriousness.
The program was further varied by
a harp solo, Autumn played by Miss
Lydia White. Aside from the pretty
picture presented by graceful girl
with yellow curls and a pink gown, the
piece was not especially pleasing 1t
was rather too long, and trif1e in
sipid.
The organist. John Mcclellan. was
on the program for selections from
Cavaliera Rusticana, though by request
he substituted excerpts from Wagner:
A Mormon hymn, 20, My Father"
and the encore Though the Waters
Rage" were intense and devotional,
characterized by the spirit
Of religious earnestness that has made
these Latter Day Saints" a peculiar
people and has set them apart from
all other Americans supplying the real
incentive for the accomplishment of
their stupendous attachments, the re- |
demption of the desert. the accumula- |
ton of vast wealth, the erection of
great buildings, and not least, the
and training of their |
choir for the tabernacle service.
The last number was the Irrigation |
Ode which was sung every day by the |
choir during the Irrigation Congress in |
New York, from which they are now |
Mrs. Bessie Browning and !
Mr.. David Reese sang the solo parts, 4
and the chorus at its fullest strength +
them, making quite
climax to a program unique
and interesting.