New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-03


multitude Of effects, and by quicl
: improvisation is able TO change hi,
music 20 conform with the change OF
mood In the pictures. II requires, OF
course, special training for the playing
Of the unit orchestra, and for this
training the Wurlitzer Company has
established a school, which has already
graduated nearly two hundred pupils.
DR.. Widor Ronfort. a nephew OF
Widor, the French composer, who is
the organist of the Hope-Jones unit
orchestra in that theatre, spoke last
week OF the possibilities and limita-
tons Of the instrument.
Il was trained personally by Mr.
Hopc-Jonos. and played his first instru-
mcnt in the Cort Theatre, in Chicago
said Mr. Ronfort. 1T is idle 20 assert
that II can even approximate the result
20 be obtained by fine orchestra. This
can never be done by mechanical
means. especially in reproducing the
resonance and richness of the strings
vet IL does give better results than a
poor orchestra, and in the motion pict-
ure field is invaluable in allowing the
orgau.st to follow the action of the
pictures. II is here both cheaper and
more effective than an orchestra In
the regular theatre its sole advantage
is cheapness, as the audience between
the acts pays little attention to the
music, but in the movies IL is very
different matter. Here q good musician
can obtain splendid results, both in
aiding the movement on the screen and
in educating the public TO the best in
music. and this the unit orchestra is
constantly doing"
Yet Il is not only by the unit or
chcstra that the picture and vaudeville
field is being invaded. An article in
THE New Music Review" gives an idea
Of the extent TO which the organ alone
is being introduced into the play
houses Of the people, and of the cali
bre Of the men who are engaged to
play the organ in these theatres.
In the last year or two there has
been a reaching out by the more pro-
gressive managers for something bet
ter, larger orchestras, more carefully
adapted music, until recently there was
a large Broadway production of a
pictured poem, which was given with
an orchestra of fifty men and chorus
of forty voices, and with a complete
written musical score for every mo-
ment of the action.
Visitors 70 the redoubtable Oscars
new opera house on Lexington av. will
question seriously if, after all, the Met
ropolitan injunction did not render the
public an unintentional service in that
il turned this keen and artistic mind
to the motion picture field. Here pict-
ures are mounted in a thoroughly ade-
quate way. A large orchestra, under a
capable and painstaking conductor, a
three-manual Moller organ of forty
stops. with A. Bimboni at the key
board, and an ensemble of operate vo-
calists render a musical accompani-
ment TO the motion picture that Is
bound TO attract an entirely new ellen
tele. The Interpolation Of scenes from
opera, with scenery and costumes, be
tween the pictures is not only a deli
cious bit of characteristic audacity,
but il stamps the entire entertainment
with a dignity and bigness wofully
lacking in the usual picture show.
A brand new field for organists!
Only on an organ is it possible TO
properly register the correct musical
illustration of the sentiment on the
screen. Many pictures demand close
" adapted accompaniment, and no or
chestra can possibly change the style
of playing 10 suit the action nor modu-
late into another selection. Only an
organist, and one of really first class
attainments, can do such pictures JUS
tice.
The names of a few Of the men who
have been attracted from the church
or concert field will indicate the trend
and will help to make the organist who
enters this field feel at home. Among
the better known are Richard Henry
Warren, DR.. Percy Starnes, Arthur
Depew, Herbert Sisson, Granville
Smith. H. Leslie Goss and Tn. Mus
Grove. MANY of these still maints in
their church connections. Mr.. War
rem commutes weekly from Boston
10 direct the music at the Church OF
the Ascension. Mr.. Warren's work IN
Boston, while in some respects unique,
is perhaps sufficiently typical for illus
tration. The ScOllay Square Olympia,
where he plays, is equipped with
four-manual Moller of his own design,
which is in many respects a wide de-.
parture from the conventional type OF
instrument. The organist is starred as
the leading feature of this large vaude-
Vile house and the organ, to use a
theatrical term, is "circused.' Mr.
Warren's chief number at each per
Torrance is a sort of rhapsody, consist
inp OF tvpical organ themes with per,
haps a hint of a popular melody all
worked up with original matter to con
stitute an effective and legitimate organ
number. but planned to display the
special and unusual resources OF ms
particular instrument, the object beng
10 make the organ interesting every
moment. How we'll he has succeeded
in this may be appreciated when IT IS
realized that his featured number has
been in the bills Of this one house Tor
ten months with no diminution OF ITS
popularity
Mr.. Warren usually plays also for
the one feature picture of the bill
and his method with pictures will re-
paw the study of any organist. The
invention Of motives for the different
characters Of the picture, the adapta-
ton Of a theme and its musical elabo-
ration. the illustration of dialogue,
Characteristic hits invented for special
reouirements Of the picture and many
personal peculiarities Of style are
beard in the course Of picture.
Orranists Of limited imagination
without originality and without an eX-
tensive repertoire, will find no place