The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-21
Color And Charm
Dominate First
Symphony Concert
BY NED COURTNEY.

With difficulty did myself and come
from under the spell of Emil Oberhof-
fer's baton at the concert of the Min
neapolis Symphony orchestra at the
Lyric Tuesday afternoon, even as with
difficulty did yourself and you, any of
you, Of the big audience, who, under the
WlZardly strin?, reed and brass. were
translated to the land of hearts desire;
the land of longing and pain, maybe
across fields a-Maying, back again over
plains rich with the golden color Of au-
tumn. were thrilled. intoxicated by the
journeys until from the darkening shaw
ows of the drab street on emerging
from the theater, faces Of friends took
on a new light; there was more sun
light in their smiles, more strength
in their devotion; the world took on a
brighter hue until thoughts of regula-
tors, Bolsheviki, profiteers, wood alco-
hol .purveyors, encountered in days
contact with things mundane, seemed
as far away as lost city of Adab on the
Babylonian plain sunken some 5000
years in the past
Yourself and you-your sublimal self
and you, both of you, if you can feel,
even if not fully understand the sug-
gestions of delight the filaments of fan
cy Oberhoffer gathers together could
nit have emerged from that concert
without having been inspired, wounds
of heart and fancy probably healed or
healing under the therapy of sound this
organization releases in every number
Dawn and the haze Of spring morn,
plptngs of young things just awakening
to life, then the sounds of festival, the
wooden shoed tread of the burghers
the approaching storm with its yellow
penumbra almost Sitting then the storm
itself with it's tremendous grays and
dashes of yellow-rcd flame and the deep
diaDason of harmony, counter harmony
and tremendously disCordant discord,
emerging into the volupy of thanksgiv-
ing, reverberated through the pastoral
passages and movements Of Beethoven S
symphony No. G, Opus 6S, the opening
group.
Clear from the mountain ton came the
shepherds song at the finish. The
odor of ozone was in the air and the
magic of the matchless leader was in
terrupted only by the whisperngs over
feminine finery and neighborhood Cos
sip by two sweet young things on a
seat Just behind.
Violipcello numbers substituted 70,
the fantasy for harp and orchestra
brought out an artist of skill and tech
nique more than worthy to succeed the
talented Van Vleet we used to heal
under Emil Oberhoffer
nat dl amer ltGli N'l'lpoStl thl
sweep with his brush widening can.
vas of human emotion, can tint witt
pinks and blues as well as shade will
mauves, graNs and magentas the hori'
son of the fancy that Oberhoffer's ar
does not circumscribe his choices to tn,
European masters only, was forcibl!
| evinced in the reading of the MacDow
ell suite in A minor On, AZ,
The three witches in Mabgeth o
the demons and devils of the summit o
the Brocken could have had no NOR,
appropriate setting than the haunted
forest scene conjured from the shrek
! ing of the reeds, the crying of Thu
strings. the clash Of brass cymbal ant
drum in the first movement glidinI
with infinite artistry and contrast int,
| the baby blues, heliOtropeS and summe
sunlight of the second movement, onl
| to swing again on mammoth piVo
Of sound into the calls of autumn, tn
qualiS and pheasants at the roadside
the song of the harvester, the mellow
glow of the harvest MOON. not withou
suggestion Of touch from oboe. basso
then cello and brass Of perhaps a nj
| Brown October Ale" eliminating wit
the final movement suggestion night
| fal with the SOmber puppies and Grim
son Of sunset past the spirits Of til
forest glide the suite into an anticlima
Of shadow a peace and rest.
| I ne tllUlHA VI SDulu, lut CuIlptIllt
martial and majestic theme and varia
tons of the overture to ''Tannhauser
was fitting close to the colorful pro
gram Wagnerian music is not essen
TALLY German music. Wagner helonge
not to the country Of the PruSsian, blu
to the world. The strains of his Immor
tai overture never awakened more en-
thusiasm, never even a. the bands o
Altschuer and the New York Symptom
orchestra here some seasons ago, di
the strident tones from every sectio
of the body of IS sympathetic artist
re-echo, crash, or trumpet with more in
SEPARATION and charm.
John Phillip Sousa is right. lntoXi
cation If you will. eXaltation. perhaps
or whatever the variety of sensation
is that concert such as this one jan
giles. thrills, then soothes. the nerve
withal. is the least injurious Of a
brands of stimulation. Let's hope ther
win he no nineteenth' amendment
against this brand of reVelry Of tn
mind stimulation if you will, but slim
ulation in the right direction.