The Washington times., 1927-05-31
TAPS THRILLS
WAVE LENGTHS

The static legion celeDFaCel
Memorial Day with such vim and
gustO that one could tune little
or nothing beyond his local sta
ton The noise grew during the
course of the evening, conditions
being worse at bed time than
Immediately after dinner-6ut &C
no time was there any comfort IN
twisting the dials. Fading also
seemed to be characteristic OF
some brOadcasts and very pro.
nOunced on those most addicted
to it.
The deepest impression and great
est musical thrill the loud speaker
delivered Memorial Day was the
totally unexpected performance Of
Gertrude Lyons and the United
States Marine Band at Arlington
Cemetery of a vocal and band ar
rangement of TAPS the tradi-
tionaI ''last call" of the soldier.
There are many arrangements of
this beautiful trumpet call for the
voice, but the .one used by the
singer Yesterday was helped ire
mendously by the intelligent way
in which her accompaniment was
PLAYED and the repetition OF the
can by the trumpet as though the
Iegions that have passed on were
continuing the song in their flight
through space.
Those who heard it will never
forget it, they tell me. And their
praise is sufficient indication OF the
fact that whoever is responsible for
the arrangement realized the real
drama of the occasion and simply
gave it all the help he could in
registering with the sensibilities of
the audience. 1t formed great
setting for the address of the
President.
There were two big moments in
che Roxy performance last evening
which made it stand out among all
broadcasts as perhaps the most I'M
pressive. The first was the ex-
quisite setting the impressario gave
the Lincoln Gettysburg address. We
have heard nothing finer in theat-
rical performance-particularly fine
because of the simple melody Of the
Battle Hymn of the Republic"
which was used as the basis of the
musical theme-and so well used by
orchestra and chorus.
EKILLFUL USE
OF SINGLE THEME
In distributing praise for such
performance one must bestoW the
main portion on the mind that con-
ceived the idea and held itself to
the artistic simplicity of one me-
lodic theme-and proved the value
of the grand old Battle Hymn" as
a brilliant bit of music-brilliant
intrinsically and polished to blind
ing refulgence by the associations
clustered around it. The skill with
which Director Rape, or whoever
did the musical arrangement, like
wise deserves the highest praise, as
well as the fine direction given the
entire production.
The second big moment Of the
performance came in the surprise
presentation to the very human
Roxy himself of a set Of resolutions
and a bronze PLAGUE by the repre-
sentatives of the national executive
committee Of the American Legion
in recognition of his services in
providing radio receivers for hos
pitfalls and entertainment for dis
abled soldiers.
There was another Of those very
delightful groups of children's songs
by John Barnes Wells in the pro-
gram of the Cash and Carry Gyp-
sizes last evening that was worth
listening for. Wells has captured
the real spirit of the child song
with both words and music-the
songs being compositions of the
singer, both as to words and music.
The music of Fra Diavolo," as it
came from the Sodero Grand Opera
aggregation from WEAF last eve
ming. gave us the desire to hear the
opera performed in English again
and brought memories Of JEANNE
Winston to many Washingtonians.
There was much comedy and con-