Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-03
AUDIENCE WON BY SYMPHONY:
SUCCESS SCORED IN DEBUT
Resembling Applause Re-
wards Kinder for Results in
Such a Short Time.
Concert of Local Orchestra
Attended by Mrs. Hoover
and Other NotabIeS.
BY Y. de S. MELCHER.

Washington's rocks and shoals against
which previous symphonic organizations
have hurled themselves in vain. yester-
day afternoon sank deep beneath waves
OF warm appreciation. Two thousand
and more native land otherwise sons
of this soil acclaimed the launching Of
the National Symphony Orchestra and,
as led By the guiding spirit and baton
of Hans Kinder, watched this grand
organization pillow through but mini
mum OF troubled seas and on into calm
ma iestic waters.
Al 10 minutes of yesterday after
noon In Constitution Hall all fears that
washington would never have the pride
OF symphonic ownership we're forever
silenced. At that moment Mr.. Kinder
beaminR with what must have been
prernonition Of success, assembled nimbly
10 the small acre which is his platform
and bowed a dozen or more times while
great bursts Of applause resounded
through the hall To the right of him,
to the left of him. in front and all
excited audience. The First Lady
OF the Land, Mrs. Herbert Hoover,
occupied the presidential box, and led
the prolonged applause with obvious
enthusiasm.
huulChCC AEuoCty EAPGNSohts
The rs musicians. who had preceded
their leader onto the platform, and had
heard the best wishes Of applause re-
sounding In their ears even before the
approach of the maestro, sat motionless
as that initial zero Of silence was
reached after the long drawn-out huzZa
OF the tuning "a" Never was mute
expectancy more tensely drawn than on
the face Of the audience. 1t was the
moment before what 1t knew would be
either long life or death to the most
pretentious musical scheme ever drawn
up for the Nations Capital.
Kinder raised his baton. The men
stiffened in their chairs. And almost
before such a thing seemed possible
the excited sweep Of Carl Maria Won
Weber's overture to Der Freischutz"
had f1lld the hall. And almost in the
same breath, as those first horns, and
then the violinS, and finally the
laundering sorority Of all the instru-
ments scared through the hall, there
was born what should be eventually
one OF the Understanding symphonic
orchestras in the country.
There is little question that Kim
dler's idealiStic scheme for bringing
musical solace to this city has been
rewarded In that initial selection,
which, though a tri1e brittle in spots,
was still daring rendition of one of
the most treasured overtureS, he proved
to doubters that what has seemed like
an impoSsibility has been achieved.
The tone was smooth, the tempo dig
nified and the whole an amazing ex-
hibition of what can be done through
the sheer force of well placed ambi-
ton and personality.
AccompIishes Great Feat.
For Kinder has been heckled to the
skies He has been forced not to ask
for help, but to plead for it. In GER
tain sections of the city, where lie the
keys to musical mechanics" he has
been told one thing and then another,
and his soul, which should have been
his own has many times had to buckle
under its pride and haul out small
and unwilling flag of truce The fact
that he was able to assemble such
large orchestra and knit 1t into such
splendid form in such a short time Is
nothing short Of marvellous. Those
who remember him a month past
trudging the payementS diSconsolately
at the latest news that seven possible
members Of his organizations had been
taken from him, or even shorter time
ago with his men merely signed on the
dotted line without so much as having
been shaped into a first rehearsal, viii
realize the great feat. he has accom-
plished. ~
The first wave of his baton and
some sort of a feeling of surety came
upon that audience. And then one
realized, too that he was doing "a Sto-
kowski" The music lay unopened be-
fore hint lay rather at the tip OF
his fingers and at the tip Of the baton
he was leading the overture without
benefit of anything but his own pros
digiouS musical memory.
The laundering of applause after this
must have struck deep into the fiber
of this genial leader He smiled and
he bowed, he bowed and he smiled
he bowed to Mrs. Hoover, he bowed to
his men, he made them stand, he
shook hands with his concert master,
Louis Ferrara; he bowed again, he
walked out he came back, he smiled
some more, he skipped up onto his