Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-09
FESTIVAL TOEND
! WITH z PROGRAMS
Mrs. Hoover and Miss Mac
donald Heard U. S. Folk
4 Music Yesterday.

The last two programs of the fourth
Coolidge festival OF chamber music, to
be held in Washington at the Library
Of Congress, are listed for today, one
being held at 11:15 this morning and
the final event at 8:45 tonight.
The first of these events was pre-
scented by the Gordon String Quartet
of Chicago, Harold Bauer, pianist, and
a sonata" written by Ernest Bloch
IN 1920; group of songs, La Bonnie
Chanson," by Faure to poems by Paul
Verlaine, and Quintet in A Flat Opus
49, written last year by Emerson Whit
horne.
StOkowski to Lead Group.
In the evening, Leopold Stokowski,
conductor of the Philadelphia Sym
phony Orchestra, which broadcast for
the first time earlier this week, will
lead a chamber orchestra composed OF
men from his organization. L.ynnWood
Farnam, organiSt, and Frank Bibb and
Lewis Richards, harpsichordiSts, are the
other artists of the evening.
The selections presented, both OF
which will have first public performance
in America, are concerto" by Paul
Hindemith, written for organ and
GraeSer's orchestration of Bach's Die
Kunst der Fuge." Tonight'S audience
promises to be particularly brilliant
many out-of-town organists of note and
other musicians who could not be here
for the earlier programs making polnt
of attending this one.
YESTERDAY, Mrs. Hoover graced the
festival with her presence for the first
since she has been mistress OF the White
House. She attended the morning pro-
gram of American folk music, bringing
in her party of guests, Miss IShbel Mac
donald, the British Ambassador and
Lady Isabella Howard. The audience
arose in honor of Mrs. Hoover, when
she entered and waited, standing, until
she left at the close of the program
The entire party seemed to agree with
the audience generally that this was
an unusual and interesting program.
Miss Macdonald seemed particularly
interested in the Negro and Hill Billy"
folk songs. which were excellently done
by Marion Kirby and John j. Niles,
the latter assisting both instrumentallv
and vocally as he sat at the piano.
They gave authentic examples OF re-
Vival songs and mountain songs. Both
artists are Southern born.
Niles Emphasizes Sincerity.
Mr.. Niles, who halls originally from
Kentucky, attended many Negro camp
meetings in his youth. He based these
songs on traditional tunes, not the So
called spiritualS. He emphasizes the
sincerity of such music and the great
mistake that is frequently made OF TAX
ing them as light amusement. During
the World War, when he was a pilot
in the u. S. Air Service, Mr.. Niles also
uncovered many of these American folk
tunes adapted to war situations with
themes such as: "Deep-Sea Blues"
"Jackass Song" IT Dom Want No More
France" and Soldier Man Blues" Miss
Kirby brought out in the singing
the real beauty and originality of the
religious numbers, Jus Like Tree"
Hold On" and Deep. Dark Troubled
Waters The Kentucky mountain songs
had moments when they suggested old
Irish melodies, especial in IF I Had a
Ribbon Bow" The native quality was
more pronounced in I'm goin' to Git
Married Tomorrow and Mountain
Top, The hit of the morning was "Ole
Man Noah and His Ark" 1t won an
ovation.
Later in the morning Nathaniel Shil-
kret led his orchestra ably through
what one musician labeled, "glorif1ed
lowbrow music" These s,, compositions post ms
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue" but
were not so original. although Rube
Blooms "Song of the Bayou" won
$4,000 and Thomas Griselle's 1.-TWO
American Sketches" won $4,000 in prize
competition for popular numbers. Mr..
Shilkrets own "Paraphase on Three
Negro Spirituals" was musicianly jazz,
with excellent use, particularly. Of mo.
Werner Janssen's "Obsequies of a Saxo-
phone; or the American Mercury is
amusing writing, with a touch Of Till
Eulenspiegel' in the beginning and
satirical use of Chopin's Funeral
March" theme. W. c. Handy's st
Louis Blues" parent of the jazz blues"
was given in Mr.. Shilkret's arrange
ment.
Roth Quartet Gives Program.
In the afternoon the famous Roth
String Quartet of Budapest, Hungary,
gave the program This quartet made
its American debut at the festival given
at Mrs. Coolidge's South Mountain
Auditorium in Pittsfield, Mass, last Fall.
They created furore of admiration
with their playing, especially of
Mozart quartet. Later in the season
they gave a program at the Library
of Congress, giving the same quartet
in that program. Yesterday they played
only one quartet number, light, but
not particularly significant italian
Eerenade," by Hugo Wolf. It seemed too
bad that q so beautifully balanced quar-
tet, a group which it seems likely may
fill the vacancy left by the disbanding
of the famous Flonzaleys, should have
been heard in only one quartet number.
They were most ably assisted later
by Egon Kornstein, viola, and Victor de
Gomez, cello, in the two other num-
bers, Quintet in F." composition not
unusually inspiring, and "Sextet in B
Flat, Opus 49," by Brahms, the really
satisfying and beautiful music of the
afternoon. It seemed as though the
Bruckner work might have been re-
placed to advantage with quartet by
Bella Bartok, one of the leading pres
ent-day composers of Hungary, whose
compositions this group is said to play
aaarticlilarlv well The rnernherS of the