Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-21
The First Rehearsal
Washingtons Symphony Orchestra Goes Over the
Jumps With Maestro Kinder and Begins
to Sound Like Something.
BY e. de S. MELCHER.

BY e. de S. MELCHER.
1t is $50 am. Most good citizens
are just starting to work. But Con-
stitution Hall is wide awake. On its
giant stage there is much activity. The
personnel manager of the Washington
National Symphony Orchestra has been
there for an hour, arranging chairs and
music stands for the IA musicians who
soon will be arriving for the rehearsal
The manager, as he arrangeS the
stands. is not at his best. He was
awakened at 2 am. by voice, which
said: It left my music stand in Cleve-
land. What am I going to do?"
Similar calls during the night from
embryonic symphonians have left him
without humor.
Half an. hour ahead of time - the
first rehearsal is scheduled for o'clock
and the first man arrives. He Is No.
oouble-bass player. His instrument
towers above him. He is shy but polite,
and looks at the thousands of empty
seats and wonders what they will look
like when they are filled with Washing
tons best. He asks where he is to sit.
The manager points to far place
along the wall-alr double-bass players
will have to stand there. You don't sit
IL YOU play IIlC NOuDlC-UdSo.
Eight thirty five-and a few more
men arrive. They come in rafting their
music cases and their instruments.
Some of them know each other, have
played together in orcheStraS around
and about the cities. Some have come
from afar. They chatter and shake
hands, and in a furry of excitement
they unwrap their Violins, or their
violas or their French horns. One man
~, To-
villainous looking horn which you wrap
clean around your body. It's not the
right instrument, but it will do for the
present. 1t makes a noise like grunt-
ing bear.
Ten minutes of g. Sixty-nine of the
"a are on the stage of monster Consti-
tuition Hall mo smoking allowed"
and no visitors in the boxes. Those
are the only restrictions. The man
ager goes around assigning seats hand
ing out music, telling them, "Remem-
ber-no smoking"
Director Kinder Arrives.
Five minutes of O.! The droning and
the trills and frills and musical fur
bellows resound through the hall as the
musicians, now seated in their right
places, tune their instruments.
II wonder where Johnnie is?"
"Oh, Johnnie's always late"
But Johnnie isn't. He has come in
at one minute to 9, nervous, smiling
little man who is very happy to be in
the orchestra. Before he sits down he
smiles at his co-patriots, then he puts
his violin under his chin and waits for
the big moment.
conductors entrance His first official
entrance. And the last notes of the
hour have just struck when Hans
Kinder his music under his arm,
strides through the orchestra and takes
his place on the platform arranged for
him. He has two batons-one in each
hand. He raises them both-beats for
silence on the stand and says, Good
morning, gentlemen"
He is answered by multitude Of
Good mornings, Mr. Kinder" and by
silence which is so great you could
stick a pin through it.
Suddenly the fateful "a" is sounded.
and with it comes that great rush and
roar and sweeping sound, prelude to
any orchestral concert. 1t is particu-
larly loud. too, because the men want
to be at their best-and a little extra
finger work in and around the "A" will
get them in trim. While this is going
on Kinder. smiling, iovial. pink faced,
q NOllSCll4dA 1CdOCL II ChC1 Wco
one, is arranging so that the conduc-
tors chair is just the right height Ohe
chair is a cross between a clerks stool
and baby's high chair. 1t sits up
on top of the small platform, and
Kinder can sit on it and stand up
against it with very little change of
position-he can almost lie down
standing up against it.
"Ah. very gooo-ood."
" l. II
men like a general looking over his
young. some not so young, all looking
at him as if to say, "All right, we're
ready. Now you show u.s."
Ready to Begin.
Up goes Kindler's hands-only the
right one this time has a baton. The
music, newly opened, stares him and
his men in the face. They will play
Weber's Der FreischutZ" overture.
They will play it through once just to
see what it sounds like. Not sound,
even the personnel manager is resting
from his labors and sitting with a
violin under his chin-waiting All
those empty chairs in the hall wait
1t is an exciting moment.
The music has begun. Those IA men,
who have never played together before,
who have perhaps never seen the music
before, who do not know the directorial
demands of Kinder, who are there for
the first time (Some of them in Wash
ington for the first time)-they are sud-
denly one. A minute before they we're
motley crew of violins, violas, 'cellos,
oboeS, clarinets, BASES, drums, trump
cts. Now, presto-they are an orches-
ira. They are the National Symphony
Orchestra of Washington. And they
are playing the Weber with broad
tone which sends some sort of a thrill
down your spine because you haven't
been expecting this. The conductor. the
instruments, the men, the atmosphere
even, are single being-an entity-a
splendid whole which is an orchestra
The first pause, 1t comes because
Kindler's baton has become snarled in
one of the low lights which hang from
the ceiling. "Ach," he says with a
good humored. glItteral 'ach."
What is this" and he hits the light
a good, solid side-swipe with his stick
The light is almost on the level with
his head. If his stick goes up. or his
head goes up there may be tragedy.
The personnel manager leaves his violin
and pushes the small platform back
the light cannot be changed for the
moment, but Mr.. Kinder can. The
D. A. R. ladies will have to attend to
this.
They begin again. They stop.
"No-no-no-" one of the oboe's has
pulled what they call sour one.
"Pianissimo," cries Mr.. Kindler-and
they begin again.