Evening star., 1941-01-07
Strov;nsky Reheorses Symphony
With Football Players Energy
Composer Does
Quick k-chonee Act
To Meet Press
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

scene was tne pOdlum at COnSt1tu-
ton Hall late yesterday and the
man in the sweater was Igor Straw
insky, one of the greatest of Goth
century composers.
Yet he and the coach would have
had certain things in common, for
he was seeking from the National
Symphony Orchestra, which he con-
ducts for the first time in his color
full career at 8:45 pm. tomorrow, the
utmost teamwork as he put the
players through the rarely-per-
formed Tschaikovsky Symphony No.
2. And, like the coach. he wanted
burst of speed here, mere feint
there, mass effect in the center.
And there was nothing perfume
tory about that rehearsal. Straw
insky hurled himself into every
passage-not figuratively, either.
His arms reached out as if to test
every phrase as it left the instru-
ments. His lips murmured, not al
ways softly, constantly iteration
of the tempo he was going to have
or else. Sometimes he pounded the
time on his music rack. In the
climaXes he went into sort of
frenzy-you almost expected him to
float through the ensemble, turning
up, variously, with the woodwinds,
the brass and the strings.
Bobs Up Blandly.
mot bad at ALL" he said calmly,
as the rehearsal closed, which, to
put it mildly, sounded like an over
simplifcation.
You got the impression, watching
him direct, of terrific energy. un-
quenchable fire. impenetrable depth.
You were not surprised to find him
Steaming and exhausted.
1t was, then, shock to discover
him, less than 10 minutes later. in
an anteroom offstage, immaculate,
smiling blandly at the press, looking
as cool and imperturbable as if he'd
done nothing more than slept late
an dtaken on leisurely brunch. 1t
was more of a jolt to realize sud-
denly that he was not at all tall or
large-smallish, in fact. You might
have stepped from the savage fury
OF his most famous composition,
THE Rite of Spring" to the tinkly
milieu of some 18th century minuet.
Here was the man who wrote the
ballet for the impresario Diaghilev.
which, when produced in Paris in
1913, threw the Champs-Elysee
Theater into a riot, in which fists
flew, dowagers suffered fractured
lorgnettes and the echoes of years
were stirred. This was the Rite of
Spring" which was the Stravinsky
impression of the solemn ritual of
primitive tribe. in the course of
which a young girl danced herself
to death.
Looking back over nearly % years,
to the turbulent scene when the
great male dancer, Nijinsky, gave
the "Rite"-or the "Printemps"
(Spring), as the composer likes to
call it-a pantomimic setting,
scene Stravinsky witnessed, he pre-
fers it as a concert piece, without
the ballet.
''It's too much" he explained, "to
train both the ballet and the orches-
ira to do 1t properly"
vetoes Rite" Here.
He thought of putting on the
Rite" here, but decided it would
take too many rehearsals. Instead
he chose three other favorite Stra-
whisky compositions - his early
"Scherzo Fantastique, the Russian
folk tale, Fire Bird" and the "Jeu
de Cartes" They'll be heard to-
morrow night, along with the ne
elected Tschaikowsky Symphony in
C Minor"
At SO Stravinsky has lived to see
his major works accepted in the
concert halls of the world as among
the most pungent and fascinating
expressions of the modern idiom.
Asked If he had lived long enough
to become a musical conservative,
the famed Russian quipped: I'm
not conservative-I have nothing
to conserve"
At another point in the interview
he insisted: My music is perfectly
simple-if the musicians will Just
play it the way it was written, every
one will understand it."
And the added that American or
chestras were doing a beautiful job
at interpreting it.
If there are dissonances in some
of his work. he said, they were there
because dissonant situations were
being depicted. not because he was
trying to write sour music And
he can write hauntingly lovely mu-
sic. Recall the berceuse from the
Fire Bird" suite or even the unfor-
gettable bassoon theme that opens
the rite"
Bride Shares Interview.
Sharing the interview was the
composers attractive Russian bride.
They were married only a year ago,
after meeting near Boston, where
Stravinskky was teaching a musical
course. Where, he was asked, was
their home?
"A drawing room on the Santa
Fe." he replied.
He has been getting about lately
Recently, new symphony which he
wrote for the Chicago Symphony on
its jubilee year was christened by
that historic organization. bringing
him an ovation that gives Chicago a
cozy spot in his heart.
He had a good word to say for
music, even swing and its
progenitors, jazz and ragtime, which
he saw as authentic folk music. He
spoke of Walter Piston of Boston,
Roy Harris of Oklahoma and John
Alden Carpenter of Chicago as sig
nificant American composers of the
day.
He was asked about the music of
Arnold Schoenberg, whose violin
concerto recently sent some of the
audience at Philadelphia Orchestra
Hall to the nearest bars and brought
down a lecture on sportsmanship by
StCkowski. Z
Il don't doubt" said Stravinsky,
"that Schoepharp has Co0d talent