The Washington times., 1922-01-11
D |NDY'S BATON
LAUDED bYD. c.
MUS|CLOVERS

uubSSuS ~
Dean Of French Composers IL
Guest Conductor Of Philadel-
phia Orchestra Concert
Washington had the honor of vel
coming Vincent DIndy, dean Of
French composers since the recent
death OF Saint-saens. as guest con-
ductor Of the Philadelphia Orchestra
In its concert at the National Theater
yesterday afternoon. and as modern
composer in his own symphonic poem.
"Poeme des Rivages."
Stately. with q firm command of
his orchestra, M. D'Indy seemed the
typical master Of the classic forms in
music. But he chose to be almost
bizarre In the striking contrast of his
program. That program was de-
signed to present the evolution of
music to the modern French. but It
touched merely the early school and
"a thing we must set apart and
ponder-the ultra-ultra moderns, In
GLIDING himself.
OIc ihuoNutioi, ny tue way VI CNi-
dence in the case probably. was the
Bach concerto In ID, for plano and
string orchestra. with q solo pianist,
Pruce Simonds. who came unherahed.
and who proved himself q substan-
TALLY good musician with clear tech.
nique, but who Is not In the artist
class, for he did little in tone color,
in variety Of phrasing, or in dramatic
idea. The music 10 grateful. but the
execution of the largo didn't warrant
So dignified and excellent a back.
ground.
The Old and New.
Simple. fair. and logical was the
piping righteousness of Monteverdi's
overture to "Orfeo," Of 1907. A Gen.
fury later De Lalande was shown as
writer of music for the feasts Of kings.
1t is like the incidental music to q
shakespeare play. of royal dignity with
kinship to the delightful French
chansonette.
Plunge yourself suddenly into 1920.
with an orchestral piece" For the
I,ead." an elegy. by Paul lie Elem.
Somber horns, then fragrant dis
sonance. Just because of the theme.
I; is all in that uniformed. unending
'melos" that can create rare moods,
but that also by interminable length
an vitiate them. Les pauvres morris!
get in this music, while out OF discord
one wished to resolve them into less
fragmentary psychoanalysis. There
was beauty Of romance, Of pastoral.
thoughts Of the church. II lost by its
Undue length and many fragments Of
thought.
DTndy. Composer.
M. DIndy. in his program" SYM
four parts. Calm and Light; the Joy
Of the profound Blue; green Horizon;
mystery of the Ocean" He builds his
floating tone-poem broadly. with no.
bility. He discloses his antecedents
In lucid moments Of beauty. all too
brief. And he then brings in a So
phistication in trite bits, contrastei
against dissonances that set the teeth
on edge.
Strangely, and having nothing to DO
with the theme, there seems to always
to be a ''fete" around the corner,
cropping out in little Pierrot Incl
dents, little masquerades Of worldli-
ness. And also he is reminiscent of
Wagner. as noisy as Strauss in his
barnyard scenes. So It disturbs any
one is interested in its ingenious scor-
ing, for, always one can hear all
through the orchestral wealth Of tone,
yet what a tangled Web 1t Is. Dark
ly elemental for the ocean, yet out Of
the green horizon he brings a putting
railroad train.
The little rhymes Of Monteverdi are
a strange beginning to this musical
vers libre. The poetical forms Of the
epic, of blank verse. have tended no
whittier to this musical melange Of
free formlessness.
A Roussel "evocation" Of 1910 pre-
coded the D'Indy tone-poein. telling
Of gods in the shadow of caverns. It
Is a Frenchified Wagnerian Twilight
of the Gods with something Of the
blitheness Of Percy Grainger's Molly
On the Shore" in themes, yet here Is
fine indeterminate flow and rich
orchestration, affected because not
wholly original.
To the orchestra and to the distin-
guished conductor all praise is due for
finely delineated tone values and
splendid form. Our bubble Is with
the too-too-muchness Of music that
betokens the confusion Of Alice In
Wonderland.
JESSIE MacBRIDE.