The mirror., 1923-12-27

tered into the performance. The B fiat
clarinets are exquisite, intellectual is the
word, and sink an elevated shaft into the
consciousness of the listener. The professor
has given this music vivid personality.
March of the Mannikins by Onivas,
characteristic, Moonlight in Florida by
Storm, novelette,, and Vatse Romantique,
alpine Sunset, by King, are three selec-
tions that return the auditor, by stages, to
a more normal mood. These, well placed
in the program, and played with fine skill,
are further evidences of the professors
sense of program effect The last named,
Valse Romanfique, is remarkably
rhythmical and beautiful waltz which this
organization might we'll play at King
James court. Among the lighter pieces
selections from Little Nellie Kelly by
Cohan, Midnight Rose, fox trot encore
by Lou Pollock, Broken Hearted Melody,
an encore number written by Isham Jones,
and Peanuts with the saxaphone quintette,
are highly entertaining. AS an exponent
of modern tendencies in popular music
the director and his concert band are all
to the good. In the absence of Isham Jones
orchestra, which specializes in jazz, our
institutional band, which does not, is a
better substitute than one could consistently
hope for. The audience liked it and the
players appeared to enjoy playing and
that, as a combination, is more than a
great deal.
The final piece on the program, Gounod's
Faust, deserves special comment. 1t is, so
one is told, an exhuasting piece to per-
form; the players at its conclusion find
themselves enervated. A similar feeling
takes place in the emotions of the aud
fence, for the profundity of Gounod's COM
position is such that return to normal,
to everyday sounds and their resultant
states of feeling, is to tumble suddenly
from the spiritual pinnacles and light
fatty on the surrounding plane of medi-
ocrity. The answer to this is of course that
after hearing Faust it matters little where
one lands. Our musical director handles
the baton as baton and not as baby;
he avoids the dramatic bodily movements
with an economy of gesture rare in musi-
cal directors who seem on the whole to
agree amongst themselves that their aud
ience is there to see them perform-Pro-
fessor Reichkitzer has his conception of
Faust clearly before him at all times and
he goes about transcribing this conception
with precision and despatch. There are
probably as many different presentations
of composition as there are directors who
play it, provided they don't initiate one
another too closely. Some will be better
than others, in proportion as the directors
ability and his "idea" of the piece is
greater and more accurate than the ability
and accuracy of the "idea" of another
director. This necessarily presupposes an
organization of equal ability in each case.
The prison concert band is considerably
above the average of local musical organi-
cations, that is of any organization which
must select its members from a given To-
cality; and the Professors direction is
rather more than considerably above the
average ability of local professional di-
rectors. Faust is probably as good and as
difficult a test of both organization and
director as can be conveniently named.
Its several motifs have proved the down.
fall of more than one ambitious manager,
and will doubtless trip many another.
The Anvil Chorus has been mutilated
SO often that, with or without lightning
effects, one is prone to shy whenever the
first note is sounded. 1t is with pleasure,
with beautitude, then, that an intelligent
audience listens to Professor Reichkitzer's
presentation of this symphony. And it is
with difficulty, through the forced habit
of thinking of Faust in terms of negation
or abuse, that one attempts review of