New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-06
MERRY MUSIC AT A
SYMPHONY CONCERT
A Baby, Nurse, Policeman and
Dogs in Suite.
Ru IL u KPEURIEI

Mr.. Walter Damrosch was in light
some. even a frolicsome mood at the
Symphony Socety's concert in Aeoliah
Hall yesterday. lie started in with
Oberon's horn and the tripping Of
Elfland's fairy folk as depicted N
Weber's overture, and wound UP the al
ternoon with symphonic account OF
the adventures Of baby trundled
through the park by nurse. Between
the extremes Of Oberon and fat po-
liceman his audience was treated to the
ruminat!ons Of faun who had been
indulging excessively in grape juice, as
delineated by Debussy, the slumber song
sung by demented Dinorah to her goat
in Meyerbeers opera, and vocal tran
scription of the Beautiful Blue
Danube" waltz. These pieces were sung
by Miss Frieda Hempel after she had
charmed her auditors into a delightful
state of receptvlty with the air from
Mozart's Re pastore," for which Mr.
Saslaysky provided the violin obbligdtO
Mr.. Damrosch is an ingenious pro-
gramme maker, and with so many pro-
grammes 20 make was IL justified in
making one which was Almost wholly
jocund and jocose.
1Att ~ Jul NNAAAH anus nbAig ~
doubt,
And every grin so merry draws one
OUT
There weren't many tired business
men to be refreshed in the big au-
dience, but even the ladies who go 10
symphony concerts need little relaxa-
ton now and then. The suite which
told of baby's adventures in the park
% l..
ambulator" il is called, and il was COM
posed by John Alden Carpenter, bust
ness man, Of Chicago, who is not too
tired 20 write good music when he Is
not selling railway and ship supplies
Mr. Carpenters songs have made his
name familiar % the habtues OF recital
rooms, but this Is the first bit of or
chestral music Of his composition
which has been heard here. He was in
the audience 10 witness his infants
debut in New York and when Mr.. Dam
rosch notified the fact TO the audience
by gesture, he had 20 take the plat
form and be lionzed. Twice and thrice
was he recalled by the people whom
his music had made happy. The suite
is an ingenious bit Of programme music
programme music of that frank kind
which the unaffected average listener
enjoys most because no bottom-scrap-
ing analysis or brain-cudgelling is ne
cessary TO make 10 all out. Just read
the catalogue of incidents and find Their
In the same order in the music which
imitation Of natural sounds and asso-
cirtion Of IDEAS make suggestive.
There was the nurse and the little
passenger IN the perambulator and the
revolving wheels Of the vehicle in the
first movement, a policeman who Cos
sips with nurse so long that baby
raises a voice in protest quite az obvi-
Gus as baby's voice in Strauss "Sin-
fonia domestica"), the hurdy-gurdy
man and his music, who are driven
away by the blue policeman, and
dogs that yap and bark. Quite
unmistakable. these dogs, but IL you
missed their utterances, you might
have known they were in the music
when you heard the old waltz tune 20
which vocslists with Dutch caps and
wooden shoes used to sing, "Oh, where,
Oh. where is my l'ttle dog gone :"
And when scraps of this waltz and the
still more ancient LdcHdler 30 du
leber Augustin," chased each other
about in fugato, Of course the dogs
were playing Follow my leader"
There was lake in the park, but that
was more particularly for grown-ups.
Finally baby went 20 sleep and all the
happenings Of the hour moved in pro-
cession through his dreams. A thor
cughly ingenious and well-contrived
scheme for musical pleasantly and
carried out with lively fancy. rare skill
and real humOr.
"The Beautiful Blue Danube" was
made 20 be sung By chorus Of men
before il became one OF the most fas-
cinating OF all instrumental waltze,.
So there was no harm in making IL
over again into a show-pieoe for
ford soprano voice. Mss Hempel
sang IL brilliantly. but IL was in the
Mozart air that her exquisite voice and
style were heard to the best advantage.
for there they went to the kssrt