The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-02-03
CONCERT BAND
GIVES CONCERT
-RY q. Walter Barr. I

by u. waiter Barr.
When band concert fills the town
Itheater on the first unpleasant after
noon for a month, with the air full
of chill and threatening rain, it is
la pretty good band that is playing
there.
All deliberative criticism OF the
Keol1uk Concert band may be
summed up in the beginning: There
lis no better band in the state OF
Iowa, nor in the state of Illinois, out
side Chicago, than the big band OF
keokuk.
1t might have that position and
still not be popular in any larger.
proper sense. But it draws the audi
ence to its concerts as evidence OF
it's popularity in this town-and incl
dentally, there was not so-called
popular number on its program Sun
day afternoon at the Grand theater
when all the downstairs seats were
filled and the balcony was well popu-
lated.
Director Bower and his bandsmen
caused the audience to break into
sponta neous, hearty applause at the
end of long Verdi number. There
might be a hint in that to those ex-
cellent people who are lying awake
nights over the need of musical edu-
cation in the middle west. Some of
us believe that the quickest way to
drive people away from any musical
education is to feed them selections
from the operas executed by students
of music who labor through them
like, shoddy automobile misfiring
on muddy hill; and that the only
method Of creating an appreciation
of good music is to serve it well;
canvas back duck can be made de-
testable by cook who never lived
in Maryland.
Bower is not only directing good
band; he is doing lot OF musical
education In Keokuk; this last has
been camoufaged SO well hitherto
that it has been unnoticed by most
people. The program yesterday after
noon gave some insight into his sue
cessful methods.
OF course, to make sponge cake,
you must first have plenty Of eggs.
Bower took three dozen good musi-
clans and made them better instru-
mentalistS with nicer nouances in
their playing, and he welded these
men into band. Modern type limi-
tations prevent printing the emphasis
belonging to that word band, to
differentiate 1t from a collection of
players ON instruments with a man
waving q black stick at them. A
band is a coalasced synthesis of sew
eral musicians playing as one entity,
and not collection of persons each
showing his skill on some instru-
ment Bower has made real band
out of the collection of good players
he faced for the first time couple
| of years ago.
| Perhaps popularity for band or
an orchestra lies mostly in the phras-
| ing and shading of tone it is capable
, of producing, rather than in the score
of the music it plays. An orator may
talk platitudes or nonsense with fine
meditation of voice and have his
effort called great speech, and a
well modulated voice in an elocution-
! list may win applause from an audi
ence from the people by reading Rob
( ert Browning or Henry James. The
same effect seems logical as regards
music. At any rate, Bowers band Is
superior in phrasing and tone shad-
ing, it demonstrated Sunday after
noon. and it was by this that it made
Verdi, always musical, seem better
music than is often heard here.
Somebody ought to teach this real
director how to bow acknowledge
ment of applause. Also, the manage
ment ought to keep kids from talking
loudly to one another while the band
lis playing, for sometimes it reaches
piano passages when the kid voices
are too shrill for the musicians.