Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-01-18
ORCHESTRA GIVES
A FINE PROGRAM
Modern French Compositions Ad.
mirable Foil to Beethoven and.
Mozart; Thibaud the Soloist

An extra number appeared at the opening
or yesterdays concert of the Philadelphia
Orchestra at the Academy of Music. when
the Funeral March from Bcethoven's Eroca
symphony was played in memory of Theo-
dorc Roosevelt. The wonderful composition,
written as the composer declared himself, for
the death of one great leader of men, was
rererently and poetically read by Mr. Stokow-
ski, in memory of another.
The symphony was the familiar Eighth of
Beethoven. which is so well known that lit
II" need be said about the performance eX-
ccpt that II well done. especially the
famous Allegretto. Mr. Stokowski took the
frSt movement at "A very moderate tempo,
with "A decided gain in orchestral and archi-
tectonic detail, If with perhaps "A slight loss
IN Niracity. The always beautiful Allegretto
was played with much tonal beauty. and the
NiNacious Finale was full of spirit and mo-
ton.
The chief orchestral work of the afternoon,
mat 49, viewed from the standpoint of nov
city to a Philadelphia audience was COM
posed of the Three Nocturncs of Debussy.
which Mr. Stokowski was able to give for
the first time as the composer intended them
to be given. The two first we have heard
before. but the third. with its female chorus
was new to Philadelphia The works are
typical of Debussy at his best They are
full of the Debussy atmosphere which is
created TO certain extent by his natural
vagueness Of tonaty and indefniteness of
melody. At the same time they are orchcs-
trated with The utmost skill and undeniably
produce a strong musical effect. The use
OF the voices in the Third is unusual in that
they sing no words, but are used much as
an orchestral instrument. They do not hum,
but appear to enunciate some of the simple
vowel sounds. The singing was exceedingly
well done, and the parts. which are far from
mclOdic in the ordinary sense of the word
are not easy. The members of the female
chorus came from the Mendelssohn Club and
had been trained by Mr.. y. Lindsay Norden,
leader Of that organization.
With all the tonal beauty and atmospheric
charm of the Nocturnes II Is question
whether they might not be more effective for
the general public If performed singly or In
groups of two. They are exceedingly similar
in musical thought and orchestration despite
their varied tempt and character Gin name),
and they are by no means brief in durtaion,
taking in the aggregate about as long as the
average symphony. Their place. however, in
am unusually long program, was not the
best possible for comparatively new works
demanding much concentration from the
hearers.
The solost of the day was the French
violinist Jacques Thibaud. who has appeared
here several times before. He played the
L fiat concerto of Mozart and the "Poeme"
of Chausson, the latter which Mr.. Rich per-
formed for the first time in this city a sea-
son or two ago. Mr. Thibaud confirmed the
impression gained at his former performances
in this city His chief characteristics are
extreme delicacy and grace with a facile left
hand, a bow which played a unusually fine
staccato, with either the up down stroke
the latter quite tour de rorce of violin
playing), and II must be confessed a slight
tendency to play a shade sharp. He appeared
to better advantage in the impassoned
Chausson "Poeme' than in the more severe
Mozart concerto In the first movement of
the latter he took decided liberties with the
tempo to the extent of sometimes rendering
the rhythm hard to follow. His tone was
very sweet, especially In the cantabile pas
sages, and the Finale was beautifully PLAYED
at very rapid tempo for an Alegretto,
though 1t cannot be truthfully said that
there was any apparent loss in the musical
content {, the movement for this reason
The rend OF the Chausson number was
poetic W ~ being over-sentimental, and
the workS4s admirably adapted to Mr. Thi-
baud's style. He Is one of the best French
violinists before the public today.