Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-19
NJ u SIC

pally because of the performance,
Of last years washington Sym
phony, which found an echo over
here In all artistic circles. It
seems incredible to musicians,
and even to the public which is
interested in music, that the Cap
ital Of the richest, largest and
most powerful nation on earth
should be content to remain, year
in year out, without an or
chestra Of its own. One has to
explain: You see, it is so neay
Philadelphia and New York, and
they send their orchestraS; it has
transient population; give 1t
time, ETC., etc. And we receive a
polite oh, See, in answer which
brings a blush of shame to our
cheeks. Quite often, a more prob
ing nature will continue to in
quire: But how many orchestra
concerts are given during the
year? What, 10 or IL? Is that
sufficient? You see, we have about
800 here, not counting the visiting
ones, so we wouldn't be satisfied.
And Washington, you say, has a
transient population? OF how
many thousands? Oh, there are
over 100000? But, surely, only a
very small percentage are tran
sient? Oh, they are just the mu-
sic lovers? Droll!'
EtPEOPLE of Washington! Are
we going to admit ourselves
defeated after the magnificent
start of last season? After your
applause, after your enthusiastic
approval of the self-Sacrificing
efforts of those 80 musicians who
gave hours and hours Of their
time and their art in order to
arrive at the result of a wellnigh
perfect performance?
81 assure you that where music
is concerned am relentless in my
criticism, no matter who Is con-
cerned. In the two concerts which
I conducted we played, as you may
remember, works by Bach, Bee
thoven, Weber, Wagner, Grieg,
Moussorgski, Brahms, Ravel and
TSchaikowSki. Not q bad list, is
1t? And then let me assure you
that, applying a high critical
standard, those works from nearly
every point of view were played
remarkably close to perfection.
Naturally, there Is always in art
room for improvement. But the
Start-the flying start-was there.
And you, the public Of Washing
ton, seemed rightly to approve.
There we are. You have the
nucleus Of one Of the finest or
chestras in the country (Which
has the best in the world. You
have a lovely and acoustically
perfect hall. You have at last the
possibility Of having not only
great symphony concerts, but of |
popular concerts, of open-air |
Summer concerts, Of children's
concerts. The limitleSS value of |
every one Of these institutions has
been recognized by every civilized
community in the world. They
are 'd'utilite publique.'
"IS this all to go for naught be-
cause Of the lack of few thou
sand dollars? is money, then,
only there to be held onto? Is
no one, who can, going to think
differently? Is the shame of an
other failure, then, not even a
goad toward an attempt to sue
coed? So bitterly little is needed
in comparison with what is there
already, and with what it would
bring In the futureI How can any
one remain Indifferent in the face
of all this? Is there, then, no one
in Washington who is willing to |
come forward and to give the vi
tally and enthusiasm necessary
to inspire the organization of our
own Washington Symphony Or
chestra'?
Most sincerely, yours,
HANS KINDER"