Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1916-03-31
they induce people to think and
talk about music much more
than they ordinarily would.

Than they ordinarily would.
But" you may say, 'how
are we to pay the expenses in
;ident to giving a public per-
Torrance 2" Well, as to ex-
penses, the music may be rented
for small sum room for re.
hearsals can often be secured in !,
a school or church gratis; if a |
local musician trains the chorus,
he is often willing to do it for
the pleasure of it or for a small
sum contingent on there being
profit on the concert. But there
remains the cost of printing and :
of the public hall for the per-
Torrance, and, fiually, the SOLO
lists and orchestra, which are the
big items if outside talent is en-
ployed.
Let us now see what are our
possible resources. For one item,
dues of members of the chorus,
which may be as much as two
dollars apiece with fifty men,
bers this would give one hundred
dollars. Next, associate mem.
bers, who may also paw two or
more dollars each and receive
certain number of tickets there
for; one hundred at two dollars
each means two hundred dollars.
For a third, box-ofice receipts
by sale of single tickets sup
pose it be seventy-five dollars.
And finally. advertising in the
program, which can easily be
made to pay for printing program
and leave a handsome profit, let
us say fifty dollars. Here we
have four hundred and twenty.
five dollars, and as the above
figures are conservative, the total
might easily, with energetic
management, be FIVE hundred
dollars, quite enough to pay fol-
a first-class concert, with pro-
fessional conductor, soloists, and
small orchestra if desired.
Fourth-Many towns, larg<
and small, now possess a Wo'
mans Musical Club or a Music
Study Club. These are excellent
to increase a knowledge of music
and bring together the music
loving women of a community
By the rendering of carefully ar
ranged programs and the read
ing of well-prepared papers or
musical topics, they can do much
to increase musical interest
They may also succeed in get
ting sufficient backing to make
possible the visit of eminent lee.
turers and soloists for public af
fairs. Apparently few people
realize what can be done in the
way of securing attractions If
lecture courses a. very mod
crate sum to subscribers. It all
depends on little concerted eff
fort under IN BILE. public-spirited
amateur manager.
Fifth-Remarkable develop
ments OF recent years and potent
factors in fostering an interest
in music in even out-of-the-way
regions and among people of
moderate means are the mechan.
ical musical instruments, the
player-piano and the phono-
graph. l know three men, one a
real-estate agent, another stock
broker, and the third a business
manager, none of whom could
claim more than the ability to
pick out easy tunes on the piano
with one finger, who have be-
come so Interested in good music
through these mechanical instru-
ments, that they often spend
hours over their records and rolls.
The day for sneering at these in
struments by the professional
has gone by and up-to-date teach
ers are Using them in their
studios as valuable aids in their
work with pupils. So now the
lack of ability either to play or
sing or to attend concerts is no
necessary impeachment to the ac-
QUESTION of familiarity with
great works adequately perform
ed. In fact Systematically ar
ranged course in musical history
can be finely illustrated by this
means and the works of great
masters studied at leisure
ID n M 4