Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-04

exchange of international
| ideas is making great strides, as
indicated by glance at statistics
of the past year and even a notice
of the year-end programs, just
concluded, which included mes
sages from Benito Mussolini,
premier of Italy.
officials of the United States
Government have occupied hun
dredS of hours before the micro
phone on extensive chain net
works, including the weekly Ma
tional Radio Forum over the
Columbia Broadcasting System,
under arrangements made by The
Star, and also over the networks
of the National BroadcaSting Co.
Records of the N. B. G. made
public last week show that 1923
Government officials, including
President Hoover, made radio adj
dresses during the past year,
with the Chief Executive high up
/ in the list with 81 appearances.
Now comes the announcement
that DR.. Wilhelm MiklaS, preSi-
dent of Austria, is to address
America direct from the govern
mental palace in Vienna by radio
this month. The WABC network
of the Columbia BroadcaSting
System reported it had completed
plans to extend it's weekly over
seas rebroadcaStS outside of Lon
don to include many of the CAPT.
tails of Europe. The first of sew
eral pickupS, that by President
MiklaS, is scheduled for 1890 pm.
next Sunday.
NINE. ERNESTINE SCHUMANN-
A'A HEINK, 68-year- contralto,
who has been heard each Sunday
night since September 7 last on
the Melodies Hour of an N. B. c.
WIZ network, will make her final
appearance of this series tonight,
but will continue to appear oc-
caSionally on various programs, 1t
is announced. She is operate
counsel of the National Broad
casting Co. Although she was
frequently identified with radio
before being engaged for the
weekly series now ending, Nine.
Schumann-Heink never before
sang in a stated series of broad
casts. She has made II appear
anceS during the series, singing
one selection on each program.
Prior to this series she had ap-
peared before the microphone but
three or four times a year.
Nine. Schumann Heink gave
selections requested by the radio
audience. This policy, announced
at the beginning of the series,
brought a flood of mail. The
songs chosen finally were those
for which the greatest number of
requests had been received.
For So years Nine. Schumann-
Heink has been identified with
the musical world. She first tri-
umphed on the concert and oper-
attic stage in Europe, and then in
the United States. During her
career she has appeared in virtu-
ally every civilized country in the
world.
A MUSICAL instrument in which
the sound is created by ia
miliar radio vacuum tubes will be
heard on the air for the first time
in the United States on Tuesday,
when it will be played by Maurice
Martenot, the inventor, in the
symphony concert over a WABC
network from $50 to 10 pm. In
the Musical SoundwaveS InStru-
ment" vibrations are produced in
vacuum tubes and passed through
a diffuser to a loud speaker, sub
ject to intermediate incubation
by the performer. OutWardly the
instrument resembles a Spinet, or
a small square piano of the last
century. There is a f1ve-octave
keyboard similar to that of the
piano, and inside the body Of the
instrument are the tubes for gen.
Grating the vibrations. The loud
speaker is separate from the key
board.
RAROMETERS may soon become
standard equipment for radio
program builders if N. B. G. off,
Gals heed the result of a recent
survey made by their research
division. Statistics kept for a
period of months indicate that
the musical tastes of the radio
audience huctuate definitely with
seasonal changes.
Listener demand for classical
music, the figures show, increases
gradually as the barometer de-
sends to Winter levels And the
Summer months, with their laSSi-
tude and appetite for light enter
tainment, bring corresponding
demand for popular tunes.
During the closing month of
1880 the combined networks Of
N. B. c. gave classical music an
average percentage of 1877, and
popular music 60.3 per cent. Pop
ular tunes, on the other hand,
were most dominant during the
days of September, the figures
show, when the balance was sos
per cent for lighter selections, as
against oily 30.5 per cent for
heavier music.
A NOVEL cycle of recitals, illus
trative of the development of
violin music from the seventeenth
century to the present, will be
broadcast by ToScha Seidel over
WABC and the Columbia network
every Wednesday at $3.50 pm. be-
ginning this week. He will be
assisted by a symphony orchestra
directed by Howard Barlow.
For his first program he will
play French selections of the
seventeenth century depicting the
romantic and artistic trend of
| that period. Three works OF