Connecticut western news., 1917-05-10
THE NORFOLK CONCERTS
Programs for T hree Evenings. Noted
 Musicians to Participate.

the following statement concerning the annual concerts to be held at the Music shed in Norfolk in June:
 The festival will open with the initial presentation of new symphony written for this occasion by John Alden Carpenter of Chicago. The con- poser is one of the most gifted men in the orld of music. His suite, "Peram- bulator," which was produced in 1915, was considered by the critics the most important orchestral composition of the year. MT. Carpenters new symphony is absolute music. It has no fixed pro. gram and may be listened to as S;belius once said, by every man or woman using their individual imaginations. This remark was made when someone asked the great Finn~to give an ex- planation of his symphonies. MT. Carpenters work is in three movements and is composed for full orchestra. AS the composer did not care to direct the work himself, he was given the usual privilege of naming delegate, and he has designated Frederic A. Stock, the we'll known composer and director of the Chicago Symphony orchestra to act for him, designation which will be highly satisfactory to the composer and the public, as MT. Stock is a man of vast experience and signal ability as an orchestral conductor.
 Following the symphony will be given for the first time in Norfolk choral work by Sir Edward Elgar en. titled "King Olaf.'' This work is re. plete with stirring choruses and con. trasts in light and shade, and is bound l to please any audience. The famous 1 choir of the Litchfield County Choral union has been giving this work care ful attention and rehearsing since Jan. In. and splendid rendition may be ex l pected under the able direction of Arthur Mees. Few men in Europe or America are the equals of MT. Mees in choral or orchestral music, and the union is singularly fortunate i'll having been able to secure the serv!ces of this expert leader. The soloists for this occasion will be MT. and Mrs. Herbert Witherspoon, who will also appear for the first time in Norfolk in the interest, i ing role of husband and wife. MT. Witherspoon will sing the bass solos and Mrs. Witherspoon the soprano work and the tenor will be Theodore Karle. new conner at Norfolk and one who has had highly successful season and for whom many favorable prophecies have been made by public and critics On Wednesday evening, June 6, the music to be given will be devoted en tirely to the works of Bach and Handel and Mozart, and this evening has already been designated as "classical night" The calm and serene beauty, the deep religious fervor in Bach's Gods Time Is the Best'' and Han des's "Blessed Are They'' will form striking contrast to the torrents of mad music to which the world has been subjected during the past few years. For his soloist MT. Mees will have Emma Roberts, who will sing the con. tralto solos; Lambert Murphy, tenor, and Reinald Werrenrath, bass. Miss Roberts will pay her first visit to Nor folk. She gave song recital in New York last winter and captured the critics and public as easily as the little Brazilian pianist, Guiomar Novaes, and since then hes been enjoying numerous engagements ill this country and Canada. Lambert Murphy will be re- membered as having created the tenor part at the time the union gave Cole ridge Taylor's "Tale of Old Japan" Mr. Werrenrath has never sung in the music shed, but gave a short recital at the Litchfield County University clubs dinner at Whitehouse few years ago. Both tenor and bass sang in the recent performance of Bach's "St. Matthew's Passion" music with the New York Oratorio society and earned unstinted praise for the way in which they per- formed their work. Forty boys have given their assistance in the Bach number, for which they have been trained by Miss Pease.
 The instrumental feature of the even. ing will be the double concerto by Bach to be played by Fritz Kreisler and Efrem Zimbalist. They will also unite in rendition of Mozart's charming Symphony Concertante" for violin, viola and orchestra, The concert will close with Handel's fine anthem, "Blessed Are They" to be sung by the union with the assistance of Emma Roberts, contralo, and Reinarld Wer- renrath, bass. This work closes with the magnificent Hallelujah chorus, which the composer also used in his oratorio "The Messiah. :"
 On Thursday evening, June 6, will be given the orchestral concert. This affair will be distinguished by the initial presentation of no less than three new orchestral ompositions-"Ir Irish Rhapsody" No. 5, by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford orchestral suite "The Warriors" by Percy Grainger. con- ducted by the composer; symphonic im- pressions, "Whitehouse, by Nicola Laucella, conducted by the composer. Other orchesral compositions will be conducted by Henry P Schmitt An