Evening star., 1928-06-10
NJ u SIC
BY HELEN FETTER.

told some Of us personally and
frequently gone into print as say
ing that Americans generally
have naturally fine voices.
MUSIC Is certainly coming 10
IA play more and more an in
tegral part in general activities
An amusing instance Of this, with
canned music" as the medium,
was mentioned recently in the
London papers when they noted
that in the line of carriages and
automobiles waiting for the great
moment when their occupants
might step out to be ushered into
the royal Buckingham Palace and
presented at court" some of the
young ladies In the vehicles
whiled away their time listening
to the musical offerings over &.
portable wireless set, while Others
indulged in the more usual pas
times of reading novels or playing
solitaire.
Music evidently has charms for
more than savageS.
y
THE current issue OF Musical
l. America announces that Err
nest Bloch's epic rhapsody,
America" has been awarded the
$4,000 prize offered in Musical
Americas symphony contest. Mr..
Blochs score was unanimously
selected from 90 scores submitted
to the five judges of the contest.
The judges we're Walter Damrosch,
one of the conductors of the re-
Gently merged New York SYM
phony and Philharmonic Orches-
tras: Frederick Stock, conductor
of the Chicago Symphony; Leo
pold Stokowski. conductor of the
Philadelphia Orchestra; Serge
Koussevitsky. conductor of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, and
Alfred Hertz. conductor of the
San Francisco Orchestra.
According to Frederick Stock,
conductor of the Chicago SYM
0hony Orchestra, Ernest Bloch's
score is in our opinion the out
standing great work of Musical
Americas entire contest. The
work is rhapsody in three parts,
a work of symphonic dimensions,
dramatic, melodious, characters
tically American in fiber and
thought, a worthy and lasting
contribution to American SYM
phonic literature, and a work
which after short time will en-
JOY the popularity of both the
symphony by Cesar Franck and
Dvorak's from the New World"
The prize-winning score will be
performed next season by the
New York Philharmonic, the Bos-
ton Symphony, the Philadelphia
Symphony, the Chicago SYM
phony and the San Francisco
Symphony Orchestras. 1t is prob
able that Walter Damrosch will
conduct the first performance of
the work next Fall with the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ernest Bloch Is one of the most
prominent composers of the day.
He was born in Geneva, Switzer-
land. on July "a, 1870. of Jewish
parents. He has conducted his
orchestral works In Boston, Chi
cago, New York. Philadelphia, st.
Paul, Minneapolis. st. Louis, San
Francisco and Switzerland.
In 1916 he came to America as
a conductor of Maud Aliens tour:
in 1917 he settled In New York as
a teacher at the David Names
School. In 1920 he was called to
Cleveland. Ohio. as head of the
new Cleveland Institute of Music,
and In 1925 he accepted a position
as director of the San Francisco
Conservatory, a position which he
stili holds.
Four other scores received hon
orable mention. They are:
Broadway" symphonic work
by Samuel Gardner; a Jazz
Suite" by Louis Gutenberg: a
symphony by Robert Russell Ben
nett. and "The Piper" by Winter
Watts.
The prize winning score Is ded-
icated 10 the memory Of Abraham
Lincoln and Walt Whitman,
whose vision have r"hold It's in
spiration."
This 8ympho~ : Bloch.
has been writ" for this
country: In revcv It's past.
In faith In its fl