New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-03
Fxpert Organ Play.
ing Lends Charm
20 the Film
Palaces"
p, CRENvILLE VERNON.


Good music for the "movies"-two
-. ago chat might have seemed an
.r...ce impossible; to-day II is par
Ills accomplished fact, OF course,
~. ve,roro,tan Opera House orches-
- docs not furnish this music,
..,e- DO Fritz Kreisler nor lgnace
p.s.revsli: yet good music is fur
.at.4 IN a larger and larger degree,
--.;, written by recognized masters
- r'svcd by serious musicians. Il
4. he ,re Introduction Of the organ
Ia che moving picture theatres tina:
..,s re.a,. has been obtained, and
-,-, .-ec;ally by the Hore-Jones
-. orchestra. q combination organ
- orchestra. which permits one man
- rr.aece tho whole musical pro-
gram. ,-...,. - .ho rroa,,c-
49,. of GOOD music in the moving pict-
-. --.I has been the expense OF ade-
-. archcstras. OrChestras com
49, ~ mediocre musicians have un-
N rcce-,lv been the rule, with the
-, ths- both the music played and
y. ,lsvirr have been detrimental TO
-. iss.s az the public. Yet the need
- 80 70 accompany the pictured
- las always been acknowledged,
~ The rakeshift Of poor orohestras
- ,r.1 recently been generally re-
s...5 20 u had been seen, however,
a., % vas impossible for an orches-
80 even en- ordinarily good one, 70
49, .he action of the story unless
II. music had been composed precise
~ 81 fbe picture. A more flexible
,.-ol was needed than most orches-
80. could give. the quick succession
.,c,gres recurring quick changes IN
- changes that are possible only
L..,,rb t~provi>ation This is. OF
- ir-rossible with an orchestra.
\. c.ss evident that one-man control
- .so1od 20 effect this result, ana
,b,. was what the managers were look
.-. Cor IL was here that Robert
,Is 1+-os AN English musician,
-.,r,s5 into the breach with an lnven-
49, which has practically revolution
- the motion picture field, an IN
.-,.,oo which. according 10 the W VI
,.-,- Corpa0v. the proprietors OF the
..-s,,ior is now used IN lO9 theatres
Z. Vew York City alone. In recent
-. in "The Scientific American
49, A T8ccndorf says Of the nope
Jones invention; 1000. 20
..~,I;sb the work that changed the
s.s..,6,s Of an organ into that OF an
hest. and vet 10 appears 70 be yer!
f.io cLer we consider for g moment
81. rssrf, Thousands have listened
D. .be ur,t-orcnestra night after nlghI
bo Nov York Century Theatre, IN
e., Cor- Theatre. Of Chicago, and IN
,.,bsrs ten more places IN dlnerehV
- of the country; also, orders are
"a On have been received Tor many
% In "a number Of states. Inc IN
,.,,or Of this wonderful lnstrument IS
r,b,rt Houe-IOnes. the famous elec-
,.c,ar and organ builder. OF England
az Hope-IonCs began his. expert
rsrts as hobby. and though ~ mas
go bscoro his life work, he stlli LOOKS
non II with the same fondness as the
-.s uIo does work for sheer pleasure
ystp-a'lv he commenced this Work on
~. organ. ue began by placing all th9
movements .u the organ under electrical
,o,trol This very soon showed tnat ne
e,.i3 secure All action on the lnstru-
,.srt that far exceeded the ordinary
,-o,smer- But this did not satisfy MN;
As musician he felt that the muslcal
Qualities of the organ were not What
,ter might be. and he therefore set
out 20 improve them. Very soon ne
fad a new invention. that made posi-
Nea finer quality - tone and larger
,srietv of -Imbre This was an ap-
nsratus for pnot0grsphing sound waves
IN The atmosphere. With photographs
81 every conceivable instrument, IN
every conceivable variety OF tone, IL
Was a comparatively easy matter 10
reproducc pines whose notes we're, II
no, exactly identical with those OF
The original. very near them. And "nen
The percussive instruments that WORKED
10 harmony with organ pipes were adG-
Cd it enabled the player to absolutely
control the expression by hand ana
foot Il was now possible to reproduce
the tones Of the very finest musicians
end the control of the instrument and
rs rapid action permitted the operator
60 produce music such as we associate
uih the very finest orchestraS.
Previous % that Barker, an Englsn-
nan. had also worked out an arrange
rent that would control the speech OF
the organ by means Of electricity, and
had taken out patents covering ms de-
wee. He also attempted, two or three
tines. a practical application OF the
invention. both I'M England and IN
France There were few other organ
builders who made similar attempts
eu. an Of their inventions proved TO
Be unreliable DO action and soon ieil
into disfavor The electro pneumatic
teiion invented by Mr.. Hope-Jones was
absolutely successful and popularized
tins method Of control II dlhered
from the others. not so much because
Of departure from the principle, but
o. account Of the scientific perfection
o. rs details"
This electrical organ and orchestra
y able 20 produce a very good imita-
ION Of an orchestra of from ten 20
tity pieces. even the strings beng
simulated by a combination Of deli