The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-03-01

| Delicate embroidery OF melody
with the most infinite variety Of
lhAfrnony-tr trailing out to q thin
tenuous sound that WAS but the
vague suggestion of b tone, again
lsweiliag into great, round volumes
or sonufous c1imactic chords, and
ever most precise and exact--such
was the exhibition of instrumental
mastery presented BY the London
] String Quartet to the radio audience
1 last night during the Atwater Kent
hour by WEAF. And such Is the
exhibition that awaits all lovers Of
chamber music at the concert the
| quartet will give here tonight in
1 person.
Chamber music has been called
pure music. Its purpose is 70
weave on theme OF melody, or an
harmonious phrase, an intricate
| system Of variations. Thus the old
| Londonderry air-familiar today as
the tune Of Danny Boy turn.
ed round and round, hinn-part.
fore, upside down, and inside out,
/ by the skillfl1l players, who Tor SIN
/ teen years have been peffecting
their amazing ability to make their
| separate instruments speak their
u
ways without once coiliding.
For radio, the program was
arranged with more thought to
melody than is usual In chamber
music concerts. Thus one had the
Londonderry air, sally iii Our
| Aiiey.D the Berodine fiOcturne and
the familiar Emperor quartet OF
Haydnss from which q great hymn
has been taken instead OF the many
conventional quartets that are
usual. The first appearance Of the
| L,Undonsrs in radio Was q great
success. The violin family are all
distinctly radio instruments.
Grinding, crashing and grOail.
| iup. wIlOOps and whistles and
| bangs Tiled the air Last night 90
an extent that hasn't BEEN
edualled for weeks. Masbe
was al done l0f lOca, cgaeR aE.s.g
49, sFs1Sv al The Arctic that
came 49, ! ffols, Wear and his de.
| seriuti6lt Or air currents that viii
not. III his judgment, permit air.
nlanes ID og5ernt6 successfully.
Whatevef' Ii might have been
abcut-~if made Sunday night his
tOrical for more kinds Of inter.
terence than has been noticeable
here this month Saturday was
almost rs bad.
Tommy Dowd covered himself
| with glory with the Capitol Thea
| ter program last night. although
his helpers Iab0red at their tasks q
bit too apparently. Julia Black,
pianist, and the Dixie Jubilee
Singers stood out. way out, as the
gems OF the evening. The agile
fingers and music wise mind Of
Miss Black gave the program q
has not had In weeks. She Is q
real artist as well as a great
pianist.
The orchestral concert from
VIZ in the afternoon and the
organ recital from WOO in the
early evening were high spots Of
the twenty-four hours. Both were
characterized by fine performance
and excellent program variation
which made listening to them pleas
iirabie in spite Of the terrific bonn
bardment Of the ears by wierd and
crashing noises. The work Of
George Barrere's Little Symphony
from WEAF likewise deserved the
particular attention 1t undoubtedly
received.
Radio peeYishness has been york.
ed up to rather high pitch by the
nonchalance with which the we'll
known and highly esteemed United
states Navy nullifies all ETHEREAL
traffic courtesies from station MA.
The Eroaning, singing, buzz that
precedes the operation Of the great
Arlington station before the time
SIGNALS are sent out In the middle
OF the evenings entertainment and
the constant batter and jam Of
rapidly sent code that continues
after the weather report show an
utter disregard of listeners-itl--ac'
cording to correspondents to this
quiet corner of newspaper service.
1t Is rather startling to have
q time signal start when Loile1l-
rrin Is about to take the swan
hoa4. likewise, IL il not con.
duciye 10 musical peace to have
hackrrnafIId for ''The Evening
| stars' or aCeIeste Aida"-however
Appropriate il might bel II the
experf Codists could only send
| their stuff III the rhythm Of the
dance. nd keep In til,le with
fire programs near their wave
IenxtIIs--tlley would help quite Il
lot. ,, ;, r,..
sI.a Traviata," the opera Verdi
| draped around the book Pave pre-
| pared from the well known story OF
"Camille," is to be the grand opera
| nroduction the WEAF chain will
| send hither, this evening" grand
| onera that is possibly as good 9
| representative Of the italian school
| of onera making as eXists-1ust be
| fore the full effects Of it's contact
with the Wagnerian methods caused
the upheaval in opera structure.
From Monteverde to Verdi's first
period opera was a peculiar nlt'or'
miss affair from the listener
standpoint-particularly the Italian
| school which was probably the most
brilliant. The early 18th and 18th
century composers had nullt thelr
tunes totally independent OF the
hook--permittine the books dra.
matte episodes to give them a
theme but departing entirely from
the dramatic Idea of the story to
weave intricate lacework in tone.
| Usually the structure was built
about the vocal agility of some pet
| singer.
Then came Wagner with his
"lnsane" idea Of drama In music
that vita1i9ed opera and threw
the world OF musical composition