The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-24
ARTICLE III.

Program making is an art 1t is
being manipulated by individuals as
well as commercially by concerns
who claim to know what artists should
sing and play for the public. Ere
quently selections chosen by artists
have contributed to making or mar
ring the success of concerts. pro-
gram. to be a success, must embody
several requirements. here men
ton a few First a program must
be artistically balanced. Second, 1t
must be palatable to the particlar au-
dience for whose benefit it is ar
ranged. Third, it must not be too
long.
1-ARTISTIC BALANCE=What I
mean by this requirement Is that
monotony should be avoided, such as
too many pieces or songs with the
same meter grouped together. As for
instance, too many pieces IN "A time
or any other one kind of time. IN
tonality, care should be exercised that
not too many dramatic effects are in
close succession. A great number OF
soaring melodies or too mnay low
pitched ones in one group are unde-
sirable. Such things become either
painfully grating or they make the
guidance drowsy and apathetic.
There should be enough depth in
program to appeal to the imagination
and emotions of musically deep-think-
ing and emotionally gifted people
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lighter brighter vein to keep the sand
man away from the other classes,
engage them on their own plane and
stimulate their taste, understanding
and interest.
MUST BE PALATABLE-If you
take a boy from the first or second
grade in school and place him in a
sophomore college class. require him
to listen for two hours, understand
and enjoy classic lecture on psychol-
ogy by some grave. slow speaking pro
fessor and expect this boy to develop
love for and a knowledge of psy-
chology along this route, then you are
what sound thinking people call crazy
This is true in music as well. In
concert hall an audience of say two
thousand people assemble and SIT for
about two hours listening to a pro-
gram. the rendition of which follows
announcements such as: Madam X,
the worlds greatest soprano, compar-
able only to Patti, Sembrich, Lind or
MeIba, who last week sang to a ca
pacity house in New York and was
accorded a veritable ovation, will sing
here tonight" Or thus: Mr.. Blank,
the greatest of living baritones, will
sing in his inimitable way. the pro-
gram with which he electrified a Chi
cago audience last month" Or: Mr..
Rlank-Blank, who has a matchlesS
tenor voice and who has on number
I
Opera House into a 'madhouse' of
frantic applause, will be the artist of
the evening" All of which has been
duly printed in the press and read by
this same audience.
The fact is the press is very gener-
Gus and the local mana gers are sin
cere but the eastern concert artist
managers are Obsessed with a gigantic
arsenal of adjectives and superlatives
wherew.th they mercilessly lombard
2 I1a IL =
tioning of every artist. They over
do it.
Now the program starts with one
or two old school arias in French
or italian in the first group. Then,
group two, Spanish. French and Ital-
ian classic songs, encore French song.
! Third group, German. and may be
Norwegian songs encore Italian or
perhaps English. Fourth group. Eng
! lish songs mostly ultra-modern and
at last group five with some songs
we everyday American people can fol
low intelligently because we have u
mailing acquaintance with them
Great aDplausei audience will not 60,
comes Madam and gracefully sings
Italian. or 'Mr. Blank sings the Pro
logue" and we go home!
We are tired We grow We snort
at the loss of our cash for the benefit
of a 'highbrow musicale" of which
50 per cent of the listening victims
were allowed but one fifty of the
musical fatted calf of the evening, II
per cent half of it and per cent all
Of it
Now then. do you call this educat-
ing the public? Do you call it giving
them pleasure? Do you feel as if our
friends of the IS per cant should rave
with the joy they Experienced at the
concert? You miS5ddge the people
they may try it a few times but there
soon will be vacant chairs as mute
evidence of indigestion on the part of
some good people who run out of gas
trio juices. The result is that the
local manager loses money and people
gossip about this and that cause for it
The real cause is poor judgment on