El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-24
Musical

D
In a hall whose acoustic properties
are so remarkable that they would
break the purest note Of flute or cello
into 1857 varieties of sound waves,
( pitch, and tone quality, and introduce
locomotive whistles 80 miles away into
the middle of Elsa's dream just to see
{ the poor girl sQuirm, Mrs Bertha
COngdOn Slough, on Easter Sunday
afternoon, gave a song recital that was
thoroughly enjoyed by a very large as
sembly of music lovers Amid bang
ing of windows and falling OF curtains
in the rOWdy breezes of a leOnine
March day, the singer kept her com
posure remarkably well. and won ad-
miration for the unfailing courtesy ana
winsomeness that she displayed toward
I the turbulent mikes that tried their
| best to push the hotel over
The setting was appropriate to
Easter. There were Easter lilies,
tulips, daffodils, roses, and palms in
abundance, and the softly shaded
lamps gave a pleasant glow to the
room 1t was a brilliant gathering,
and the afternoon was so much en-
jOyed that many were heard to express
the wish that there might be more
of such pleasant occasions Of delight
full entertainment Mrs Slough and
Mrs. Brown, the accompanist, received
many flowers
Mrs. slough, sincere and free from
mannerisms, girlish and slender,
simply but richly gOwned. sang songs
Of different periods and different peO-
pies. American composers were well
represented One French number,
I perfect little gem by Ambrose
I Thomas and an aria Of DoniZettis
/ from La FavOrita, were the only ones
in foreign tongues. There was an cpl
sOde from Liza Lehmann's Persian
I Garden suite, and a brilliant example
of TschaikOwsky's tone poetry
Mrs. StOugh's voice is a contraltO CT
. unusual beauty in the lower register,
- 4
is not a great deal of reserve strength.
and the singer uses her voice with
discretion. In nothing did she display
a finer quality of tone or more sym
pathetic Interpretation than in the
simple but lovely setting by Nevin Of
the song, 20 that We two were May
Ing" and in Abide with me" wherein
the voice was full warm, and well sus-
tanned This was equally true with
the DOnizetti aria, especially in the
tenderer phrases, and true though to
a less degree, in r L. StevensOn's
Requiem whose musical setting was
not worthy of the fine dignity and
quiet herOism Of the lines.
In "Wiu-o'-the-wisp'' there was
much Vivacity and lightsOmeness, n
contrast to the serious intensity Of the
TschaikOwsl1y number with its rich in
strumental part. But quite the best Of
all, in the lighter vein. was the very
dainty, very Frenchy little thing OF
Thomas'S, IN which the singer ap-
and freedom OF affectatiOn. and in
which her touch was sure, her attack
light and delicate, her manner eapti-
waiting.
This was Mrs. stough's first public
appearance in recital here, and those
whom she favored on Easter Sunday
were placed under deep obligations
to her for an afternoon Of unusual re-
Mrs. W. R. Brown. the accompanist.
not only made a lovely picture at the |
piano, but she rendered with fine /
spirit all the instrumental parts OF the /
program In the TschaikOwslSy num- /
Der particularly the warmth Of heE
musical Interpretation was expressed |
Mrs. Brown, by the way, is one of the /
very few persons who may truly be /
said to be indispe nsable-one of the 4
very few who are really essential 10 |
FL PasO's happiness It will never [
be known how many lives Of girls \
and boys, men and women, school chill /
with her fairy wand, since she began
her beautiful career Of unselfish SER
vice and musical inspiration, to give
to narrower souls some impulse to-
ward the finer things Of life. But the /
only fun in running newspaper is
the opportunity II gives to express the
peoples appreciation OF such modest
but wholly cOnsecrated devotion as
hers, and she is too good to deny US
this most innocent pleasure
One word more about the hall. It
is something that has been needed in
FL Paso a long time a musical re-
cital and lecture hall. and assembly /
place for small meetings. But the
is unsuited to the pur-
pose. Tt may be changed at slight
expense. The best way perhaps would
be to build a bay in the middle Of the
south wall outside the wall, and place
the platform there, with a shell de-
signed to reflect the sound with proper
wave values. Temporarily, the condi-
Hrwn p D. q H----
a low removable platform, strong
enough to sustain the weight Of a
piano, which platform may be placed
temporarily in position at the center If
the south wall. when necessary for
musical entertainments or lectures.
Oh. d. s.