Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-03-08

MUSIC that had never been heard In
Salem before last Sunday Afternoon
when the Portland Symphony Orches
ira gave its second splendid concert
was Tschaikowsky's "Nutcracker'
suite. The entire program was pos
sibly the most difficult to play of any
which has been presented by the or.
chestra this season. The perform
ance was a striking success and the
delighted audience applauded unre-
servedly the worthy artistic effort
Mr.. Carl Dentons perfect directing
of the classical program made the
music a joy to the unschooled as we'll
as to the critic and also proved him
self great conductor, handling his
orchestra of fifty-five performers
with spirit, grace and skill.
Mr.. George b. Jeffrey was an ex-
cellent concert master. In response
to insistent demands of the audience,
encores were given which heightened
the concert to almost train time,
when the orchestra was obliged to
leave for Portland.
The two request numbers for
strings proved to be beautiful music.
"Rococo," especially attractive with
its cello solo by Charles Raft, brought
storm of applause demanding its
repitition.
The Scotch symphony Of Mendels-
sohn, Is one Of the most beautiful
classics and met with an enthusiastic
reception.
From the overture "RuN Bias"
splendidly given and received with ac-
claim, to the closing concert number,
descriptive poem, "Mezeppa," played
with fine effect and calling out the
heartiest enthusiasm, every selection
on the program was a gem.
An able critic who Is we'll versed in
orchestratral rendition and a most
competent Judge Of the dignity of the
work, Is Alexander Hull, who has the
following to say of the beauty of con-
trast and real assemble atmosphere Of
the fine concert given at the Grand
last Sunday by the Portland Sym
phony Orchestra:
"The program opened with two
numbers of Mendlessohn-and Men
delscsohn at his best-the "Ruy Bias"
overture and Scotch Symphony. That
they were delights to every one, whe-
ther a student of music or listener
only goes without saying. / remem-
ber one of the most eminent authori-
ties on orchestration in our country
urging me to study Mendelssohn's
scores in my study days For Men
delssohn alone he said, of all the
great classical composers, never made
mistake, nor a miscalculation in his
scoring For clarity of part-writing
and for sheer perfection in tonal bal
ance he has never been surpassed So
while the scoring won the admiration
of some Of us, the never failing suav-
ity Of melody which characterlzes
Mendelssohn's music pleased every
one. The gem Of the whole sym
phony was, perhaps, the slow move
ment where the melody alternates be-
tween the violins and cellos and
makes way finally for the contrasting
motif in the wood-wind. The whole
is an exquisite bit Of work.
"As an encore, the orchestra ar
rangement of Dvorak's G-flat Humor-
esque was given to the great delight
of the audience
Extremely interesting were the
numbers from Tschaikowsky's Nut
cracker" suite and admirably played.
For daintiness and skillful handling
they could hardly be surpassed. A
great deal Of praise is due to both
the director, Mr.. Denton and the play.
ers for remarkable precision in these
four lovely little numbers. To my
mind the Dance Of the Whistle
pipers' is the flower OF them all. In
sistent applause brought REPETITION
of the final Dance russo
Two string numbers followed, the
first OF them by an American, Edgar
Stillman Kelley, rather difficult to
play, but very interestingly worked
out and worthy Of far more frequent
hearing than It is given at the hands
OF the various orchestras Of the coun-
try. The latter, 'Roccoeco," serenade
of Meyer Helmund, with It's lifting
waltz rythm, captured the audience
at once. The constant accompanl-
ment, pizzicato, furnished striking
background for the occasional
snatches Of melody which we're played
with the bows. After prolonged APP
plause, a repltltion Of this number
was granted by the obliglng conduc-
tor. The Liszt Symphonic poem, Ma
zeppa, closed the program for the af-
ternoon and incidentally for the sea-
son as well, regret to say.
I'VE shall look forward to hearing
this excellent aggregation Of players
next year again.