Evening star., 1946-06-30
New Book Out
with Festival
At Tanglewood
Hawthorne's Ties
With Berkshire
Spot Recounted
By Alice Eversmon

With the opening of the Berkshire
Festival July Is. at which Serge
Koussevitzky will give the first
American performance of shostak-
ovich's Symphony No. g." is re-
leased book by M. A. De Wolfe
Howe called The Tale of Tangle-
wood" Reversing the title of Haw-
lthorne's famous book, the author
outlines the history of the place
that now shelters the Boston Sym
phony festivals and the Berkshire
Music Center, and which has suf1-
cient importance as a town to have
q telegraph station and post Office.
There Is no other musical setting
in this country so stepped in tradi-
tions of art and associations with
famous people as Tanglewood. 1t
was here that Hawthorne wrote
The House of the Seven Gables"
and "A Wonder Book for Girls and
Boys while occupying the Red Cot
tage on the estate of William Aspin-
wall Tappan called Highwood. When
"Tanglewood Tales" followed close
upon "A Wonder Book" the place
began to be called Tanglewood in
the Hawthorne family, and in a
short time the Tappans adopted the
name.
While Hawthorne is the great light
associated with this section of the
Berkshires, there were others who
gathered around him to form q
coterie of cultured minds and crea-
tive talent. Herman Melville. the
author of ''Moby Dick; Oliver Wen
dell Holmes, Longfellow and Fanny
Kemble, the actress, were all fire.
quent visitors to the Red Cottage
Mrs. Tappan had literary aspira-
tions. and when her daughter mar
ried Richard c. Dixey. the concert
pianist. a music room was added to
Highwood, where Wagners "Lohen-
grim was first made known to the
local public through two-piano
arrangement and where Paderewskt
enjoyed the hospitality OF the
owners.
| Mr.. Howe begins his story by re-
calling two Berkshire thunder
storms; the first in 1850 when Mel
vile and Hawthorne first met while
seeking shelter in a mountain crew
| ice and the other. the $500 900 thun-
/ derstorm" that led to the building Of
an auditorium. 1t occurred during
the first summer festival in 1887.
held in a tent, when its violence
caused the concert to be stopped. A
subscription for a building was
started that night that netted i'm
mediately more than $4,000.
/ Beginnings of the festivals are
traced from the first one held in the
horse-show ring of the Dan Hanna
farm to the present. with those re-
sponsible for the undertaking such
as Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
Henry Hadley, Gertrude Robinson
Smith, Mrs Owen johnson and Mrs.
William Fulton Barrett and the
Pittsfeld Chamber of Commerce
given full credit Of DR.. Kousse-
vitzky. Mr.. Howe says: Il may
!, surely be permitted to bear witness
to the debt which the orchestra, its
, own community and the country at
large owe to this flaming son Of
music, who Is also a son of Russia
| and thereby peculiarly entitled to
| gratitude"
DR.. Koussevitzky is making an
/ other effort for American recogni-
|, ton OF Shostakovich as Russia s
} greatest composer in producing his
latest work on the opening program
Of the festival A microfilm of the
score was sent to hm in time to
eliminate one Of the numbers al
ready scheduled to make room for
the Ninth Symphony's" American
premiere. 1t was performed in Rus
sia and last fall in Prague. 1t re-
mains to be seen if the work war
rants the publicity usually given to
a first performance of composition
by Shostakovich.
! Nine concerts will be presented In
the festival series, and soloists will
include Claudio Arrau and Eugene
List, pianists: Misha Elman and
Erica Morini, yiolinists: Greeor
Piatigorsky, cellist, and Carol Brice,
contralto
Prior to the festival two Bach
Mozart programs, each repeated, the
first to take place on July 13 and
IA, the second July 20 and 21, will
be given by chamber orchestra
consisting Of Boston Symphony
players. These concerts originated
two summers ago when the festival
by the full orchestra was necessarily
abandoned.
Shostakovich's Symphony No. g"
will be given its American premiere
on the opening program July Is,
which will include also the Largo"
from his symphony No. s" and
Beethoven's symphony No. g." The
following programs will be played
during the first week: Saturday.
July 81, "Beethoven's Symphony
No. g." Rachmaninoffs Concerto
Nc. 2, Mr.. List and Ravel's "Daph-
mis- ct Chloe, second suite: Sunday,
July %, Mendelssohn's Symphony
No. A. Coplands suite from 'Appa-
lachian Spring" and Schumann's
Symphony No. 2"
The second week will be devoted
to the music Of Brahms, as follows:
August l, Tragic Overture; Piano
Concerto No. l." Mr.. Arrau; Sym
phony No. A. August 3, Symphony
No. 3d. Rhapsody" with Miss Brics
and male chorus, Symphony No. a.
August 4, Variations on a Theme
by Haydn; Double Concerto for
Violin and Cello" Miss Morini and
Mr.. Piatigorsky; Symphony No. l."
For the third week the following
compositions are scheduled: August
8. Prokofieff's Symphony No. 81
Schumann's Concerto for Cello
Mr.. Piatigorsky; Prelude to Wag-
ners ''Lohengrin";; Strauss Till Eu-
lenspiegel,' August 10. Schumann' s
American Festival Overture: Mar
tinu's Violin Concerto" Mr.. Elman;
Tschaikowsky's Symphony No. 81
August IL. Randall Tompson's THE
Testament of Freedom" Beethoven's s
Symphony No. g." with festival