Evening star., 1935-09-20
InterStat e
Male Chorus
Opens Year
One Composer Gets
Applause in Person
From Big Audience.
BY ALICE EVERSMAN.

THE first concert Of the season by
the Interstate Male Chorus, Clyde
Aitchison, director. took place last
evening at the United States Govern
ment Auditorium. before an audience
which filled every seat in the large
hall.
| This is the first concert by the
chorus in this auditorium. Knowing
the type of work the singers have done
in the past in other surroundings, one
must feel that certain deficiencies,
noticeable last evening, should be
blamed for the most part on the in
adequacies of the hall as a concert
medium. The voices seemed less So
norous, and the interpretative shad-
ings did not register with the same ef-
feet as formerly.
Mr.. Aitchison has developed a finely
sustained pianisSimo and progressive
dynamic power amongst his men
that ordinarily is the outstanding fea-
ture of their singing. Last evening
one did not get the same enjoyment
from the same effects, and one was
forced to the conclusion that the
acoustics of the hall were responsible
for the lack of variety.
X x x X
THE second fault was the type of
| program chosen. There was a
sameness in character which also
limited the means of Interpretation.
One missed greatly some of those
| rollicking numbers of former pro-
grams, into which the singers put
heart and soul, and which kept the
interest of the listeners at attention
by the change of mood which they
offered.
Several numbers last evening were
unusually we'll done, and showed the
resources Of the chorus In artistic
color. Beethoven'S Worship of God
in Nature" Purcell's lovely Passing
By the fourteenth century hymn,
Concord Laetitia," arranged by
Deems Taylor, Cesar Franck's
Chorus of Camel Drivers" from RE
becca," and two new numbers by
Franz Bornschein of Baltimore.
Ships in Harbor" and In Transit"
In Ships in sHarbor" Mr.. Born
schein has been particularly success
full in creating the musical setting
for Henry Mencken's poem. The
music is rich in descriptive phrases
and sense of movement appropriate
to the subject. Whenever possible,
Mr.. Bornschein has allowed himself
a fullness of harmony in the ac-
compartment, which stands out on
its own merit. In "In Transit"
given first rendition last evening,
Mr.. Bornschein was equally happy in
infusing humorous quality into the
musical telling of this tale of a hobo
and his manner of life. The COM
poser, who was present in the au-
dience, was called upon to acknowl-
edge the enthusiastic appreciation of
| his works.
The soloist of the evening was
Robert Frederick Freund, who gave
the aria Vision Fugitive" from Mas
senet's "Herodiade," and three songs
as solo numbers and the solo obliggato
of Beschnitt's Dreams" with the
chorus. MIR. Freunds singing suf-
fered also from the halls acoustics,
and many of his well-planned climaxes
lost in effectiveness thereby. Edna
Lee Freund was at the piano for Mr..
Freund's solos.
Accomplishments for the chorus
were played by Robert Freuerstein,
who sympathetically carried out Mr..
Aitchison's interpretive ideas. Each
number was received with generous
applause by the large audience, and
there were repetitions of several of
the numbers.