Evening star., 1937-12-01

OOunQS Oh music ClIClcS SlIlCc lIS SlilCil
able space of the large hall and greete
entrance. 1t is doubtful, however, If
many of these admirers realized that
Stokowski had prepared program by
outstanding representatives OF the
modern school Of thought in musical
creation giving them but one oppor-
tunity, in his transcription Of ex-
cerpts from the opera Boris Godunov, )"
to hear some of the music Of type
with which they were more familiar.
Stokowski has long stood forth as a
champion Of modern music and has
been instrumental in permitting the
music public to hear his choice Of the
best output. Last evening, he had
programmed, as novelties, Shostako-
Nch's Symphony No. l." played for
the first time here about a year ago
by the National Symphony and the
last finished work of Alban Berg,
concerto for violin and orchestra. The
soloist in this number was Louis
Krasner at whose instigation the con-
certo was written.
Shostakovich, who believed that
music should have political tie-up
in order to appeal to the public. wrote
his first symphony when only 20 years
OF age. His convictions and his youth
dominate the atmosphere of his first
major work and struggle throughout
for supremacy. If there is a Suprem-
acy, it is on the side Of youth with
its Imagination, its yearning, its dram
atiRdon and its challenge to the
world One senses the Imagination
in the breath and surge of the music,
tho youthful hopes and dreams in the
longing of the lyric measures, the
drama in the juxtaposition of musical
pictures and the composers challenge
in the positive and daring manner
which has guided his pen.
The work has character and at
times q thrilling beauty but, most Of
all, honesty Of purpose. A basic
theme introduces the musical idea
and recurs at intervals throughout the
four movements. Around it he has
woven a drama of life as he knew
1t, in which martial, gay and tenderly
melancholic moments are portrayed.
rising to a climax where the initial
theme is heard again before the final
fading measures of the close. AL
though there are passages of weak
construction, the whole is in a free
flowing, inspirational vein. The Or
chestra played it magnificently, with
every care for its varying color.
Besides the symphony Bergs violin
concerto was more labored crea-
ton. Owing its inception to the
sorrow engendered by the loss of a
young friend, it never frees itself
from a weight of gloom nor knows the
touch Of soaring thought. Berg has
held himself to definite harmonic
form in his contraction of the con-
certo and his inspiration never tran
scends the limitations of that form.
Without any orchestral introduction,
the violin makes preliminary an
nouncement in arpeggioS before en-
tering the first theme and is later
given complicated passages of taxing
difficulty. In spite of the arduous
character of the solo part and an
interesting use of various combina-
tions Of the orchestral instruments
in the accompaniment, there is no
reaching out Of the thematic material,
nor do the more dramatic points have
any great power of registration. The
whole revolves in structural and
emotional frame that never releases
its grasp.
The cadenZa-like measures at the
end Of the andante and the more lilt-
ing phrases of the allegretto give the
violin its only expansive moments. Mr..
Krasner gave the concerto a sincere
and thoughtful Interpretation. He
Is blessed with beautiful lyric tone,
suitable for more expressive medium
than this concerto, and abundant
technique. At the conclusion, the ap-
plause in which Mr.. Stokowski joined,
rewarded him for his fine presentation
In which he led the orchestra in the
matter Of security and foency.
+ X X X
The program, which opened with the
Mardi Gras music from Stravinsky's
'Petrouchka," concluded with the
highly colorful excerpts from Nous
sorgsky's Boris Godunov" in the mag
niflcent transcription which Stokow-
ski has arranged. In it he has accen-
tuated and the dramatic element to
the fullest, drawing on all the re-
sources Of the orchestra to enhance
the strength and the color of the
scene he has chosen to depict. In the
massiveness Of the emphasis on tonal
wealth, clarity is often sacrificed and
some Of the most telling passages
telling because Of their simplicity
were overshadowed by the orchestral
division.
But the power of the music and the
power Of the story has been UNDER
lined in this transcription rendered
more emphatic through dramatic con-