Evening star., 1943-06-17
SmoIIens Demands Literature
And Music as Companions
Guest Conductor to
Direct Symphony in
Gershwin Program

If Alexander Smallens, guest con-
ductor at the National Symphony
Orchestras concert tomorrow night
at the Water Gate, were marooned
like Robinson Crusoe on an island,
he would want music and literature
as companions, Mozart in music and
Plato in literature.
He quickly added, however, that
"this love of Mozart and Plato
doesn't keep me from reading de-
tective stories religiously."
Son of Gen. Peter Smallens of the
Russian Army and the first Ameri-
can to conduct at both opera houses
in Berlin, the Royal Opera in Ma
drid. and the large opera houses in
South America, Mr.. Smallens said
it takes a conductor Is years to
achieve a mastery and understand
ing of the myriad possibilities and
capacities of that instrument we
know now as the symphony orches-
ira"
Conductor Since 1909.
He has been a conductor since
1909, starting with the Boston SYM
phony, and is equally at home in
symphonic, operate and ballet
spheres of music.
Asked to define music, Mr.. Small
lens said:
Music is like religion; there is
no end to it. A conductor Is given
a group of black notes on a white
piece of paper. the musical score.
But the interpretations, the subtle
ties. the nuances-these must be
developed through cooperation Of
conductor and orchestra.
"As between symphony, opera and
ballet, I have no favorites. There
are good and bad opera. ballet and
symphonic arrangements.
AS to the ability to appreciate
music, Mr.. Smallens said it was
matter of the human equation
soft music can lull one to sleep,
stirring music evokes an exhilirat-
ing feeling; other compositions
arouse pathos, tears or laughter: in
short, music runs the gamut of hu-
man emotions"
Mr.. Smallens was emphatic in
proclaiming Mozart as his musical
god. His music has purity and
ethereal quality not matched by any
others, in my opinion" he said.
There are none who approach him.
If this sounds dogmatic, it is my
opinion
Music is craved by people in war
time as an uplifting influence, a
builder of morale, Mr.. Smallens
asserted. TT is not confined to
America, for England and Russia,
with all their fighting and sacrifices,
still cling to music"
The program tomorrow night will
be devoted to compositions of the
late George Gershwin, featuring his
Rhapsody in Blue" his concerto
for piano and his two serious works
for orchestra, the Cuban Over
ture" and THE American in Paris"
Mr.. Smallens was conductor of an
an-Gershwin concert here three
years ago, when an estimated $4,000
persons attended the event. The
program tomorrow also will include
excerpts from Gershwin's great folk
opera, "Porgy and Bess," which has
enjoyed a triumphant revival this
year throughout the country.
Fourth Appearance Here.
Gershwin's last two public ap-
pearances were as soloist for Mr..
Smallens in Los Angeles, six months
before his death.
This marks Mr.. Smallen's fourth
appearance in Washington as guest
conductor for the National SYM
phony Orchestra. After his con-
certs tomorrow and Sunday, Mr.
Smallens will 60 to the Lewissohn
Stadium in New York for rehearsals
with the Philharmonic Orchestra
there, followed by % appearances,
and thence he will go to Hollywood
for four concerts at the Hollywood
Bowl.
I'VE need forces like music, for
its recuperating, consoling possibil-
ities," he concluded. There was a
period in history when the church
was the great patron and protector
of music and, ever since, the church
has realized the value of music as
a spiritual adjunct"