New-York tribune., 1922-05-21
By II. E. Krchbiel

y
Years ago, twoscore or so, the pub
llsner Fields excused his residence il
Boston on the ground that he wanted
New York to go to--New York was 81
near Boston, while Boston was so fal
from New York. AT that time thu
Tribunes music reviewer was KEEP
quite we'll advised Of what was goinl
on in Boston, because whenever any
thing particularly interesting happened
at the Hub he would slide down the
spokes and hear it. A new compost.
tion of Importance. new conductor
even a performance of familiar work
under unusual circumstances. wa.
enough to tempt him to make the trip
He made no ado about it at the time
but in looking back on those days now
he sometimes thinks that he was help.
other. Both needed such rapproche
n,sat. for it was generally recognized
among musicians Especially among
critics) that a successful hrst per-
formance in New York meant a chilly
reception for, the artist in Boston, anc
u;ce usrsa. Without attempting to ex.
plain the phenomenon, we once acted
on its obvious lesson and told an ar
tist who came with tale Of woo and
encouragement after his first recital
IN New York not to yield to his i'm
pulse to return to Europe, but
promptly to arrange for hearing in
Boston.
"But made q failure hero yester-
day." she interposed; "why should I
go to Boston ?"
"How do you know that you made
n failure yesterday7"
"Why. the public-the newspapers"
VERY well; If you are willing to ad-
NIT that you did not satisfy New York
that's the reason you ought to go to
Boston. There you will be success"
"Do you mean it,"
"Of course, or shouldn't advise you
to go. Failure in New York, success
In Boston; success in Nov York, failure
in Boston. don't know why. but
that's the rule. Try It."
She did. Within a week not only
Boston but also Cambridge-the part
of it that gave the keynote to society,
the social tuning-fork, so to speak
were chanting the lady's praises and
she was the musical toast Of the town.
That was when there was almost as
much music In Boston as in New York,
and man could snatch day and run
down East, hear something edifying and
help to keep the st. Botolph Club open
till 1 o'clock T. m. Now matters are
different. The reviewer is h.tched to
ball and chain which permits him to go
no further from the Metropolitan Opera
House northerly than Carnegie Hall,
and no further east than Aeolian. For
the happenings in the Hub which still
interest him he must depend upon the
visits of the Boston Orchestra and the
program books. which to US are now
Philip Hale, his mind. They bring
mental pabulum periodically through
out the season, and at the end feast.
We arc almost as much concerned about
the doings Of the Boston Orchestra as
our own Philharmonic or Symphony.
Time was when we were more SO, for
it was the Boston band which set our
standard Of performance. Happily, or
unhappily, that has changed, but we
are still interested in what Boston
hears and edited by the manner In
which Mr.. Philip Hale, tho HISTORIAN
program annotator. tells IL to listen to
things old snd new.
We glance through bound volume
Of the programs Of the season 1921
'22 and thus summarize the principal
information CLEANED. There were
twenty-four Friday afternoon and the
same number Of Saturday evening con.
certs In the regular subscription and
Ave extra Monday evenings in Sym.
phony Hall. The compositions per-
formed for the first time in America
were De Falla's three dances from
"The Three-Cornered Hat; Hue's or.
chestral suite, "Titania"; two frag-
'-NtA'S LAWN A@AiiHohS UdlicC, lie
Lament of Rachel; Schreker's "Prel-
ude to Drama" and Szymanovski's
Symphony No. 2, in B fat The com.
positions performed for the first time
anywhere were Converse's Symphony
in E minor, Eichheim's "Oriental I'm.
preston" ESQ says Mr.. Hale, but the
work was played by small orchestrs
at the Chamber Music Festival in Pitts.
field six months before 1t was given
by the Boston orchestra), Wallace Good
rich's arrangement for orchestra and
organ Of Cesar Franck's Organ Cho-
rale in minor, Edward Burlingame
Hills Waltzes for Orchestra, Charles
Martin Loefler's "Three Irish Fan.
tastes for Voice and Orchestra" and
Daniel Stanley Smiths "a Poem of
Youth"
To ali these works Mr.. Hale's notes,
always suggestive and illuminating,
never pedantic, provided an approach
Appreciating the fact that the use Of
program books ought not to be restrict
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