Evening star., 1947-03-07

night as the starting point from
which the American Male Chorus
will begin its national good will tour
It's initial concert was given e
cordial reception by an audience
that made up in enthusiasm for its
lack of size. The young airmen
soldiers and sailors, among whom
was a small sprinkling of Chinese,
Filipinos and Negroes. wore their
service ribbons on theri uniforms
and marched in smartly to their
places on the stage.
The chorus was organized by Lewis
Bullock in Manila in 1945 for the
purpose of furthering international
good will. Mr.. Bullock directed last
night. Its members formerly in
cluded many nationalities and to-
gether they sang for more than 300,-
900 serVicemen throughout the Pa
cific area. Now, as civilian organ
kation, with several of the original
number still members, it retains the
same purpose and in addition to
public concerts will sing in veteran
hospitals over the country.
The program Of this first concert
bore a dedication to Gen. Dwight
D. Eisenhower: 1.-THE inspiration
given to us by Gen. Eisenhower when
we had the honor of singing for
him in Manila, P. l., is greatly
responsible for our desire and
determination to continue our
mission" Mr.. Bullock told the
audience that the program was the
same sung in Manila a year ago.
The first group consisted of
Pedestrians "Adoramus TIE, Christie, -
Bach's Break Forth, o Beauteous
Heavenly Light" and Handels
"Where'er You Walk These num-
bers Immediately established the
singers as capable of fine dynamic
effects, of a feeling for the flow of
line and for the sentiment of the
text. The voices of the SO singers
have a mellow quality and, in the
basses especially, a sorority of good
timbre. They are excellently trained
by Mr.. Bullock, who has had wide
experience in such work, and their
q CdpHCl1d O4446nl6 was u NC AL pllSll
and clear in diction.
A tenor of lyric appeal was dis
closed by John Heavner in Sulli-
vans THE Lost Chord" in which
the accompaniment was supplied by
the others of the group. The same
type of delivery permitted the fine
baritone of William G. Moore, jr.
to be heard in Robinsons Water
Boy" A hit was scored by the sing
ing of ;O'Hara's arrangement of
"Whoopee, tt vi Yo, Git Along Lit
tie Doggies," which the group sang
for the making of Japanese docu-
mentary newsreel at the Ernie Pyle
Theater in Tokyo. Donald r. Mills,
baritone, CARED the solo with skill
and the song had to be repeated.
Malotte's ''The Lords Pray" Ip-
politof -Ivanoff's "Bless the Lord"
and the spiritual, "Ol Ark's a.
Moverin'," were other numbers sung
with finish by the group. Mr.. Bul?
locks Song Of the United Nations" :"
dedicated to the people of the Phil
lipines; Robinsons Ballad for
Americans" with Mr.. Mills as solo,
ist, and four popular numbers
brought the program to a close.
Some Of the songs were sung with
piano accompaniment, which Wal
ter Nowick played from memory:
Busch Quartet is Impressive.
An invitational concert was given
in the Library of Congress last
night where the Busch String Quar-
tet, assisted by Rudolf Serkin,
pianist, was presented under the
auspices of the Gertrude Clarke
Whittall Foundation. The same
program will be repeated for the
public tomorrow. It's principal fea-
ture was the performance of the
Brahms Quintet in F minor, op.
34," the original manuscript of
which was give to the Library by
Mrs. Whittall and Is on display in
the foyer of the Coolidge Auditor
ium.
The Busch ensemble, consisting of
Adolf Busch and Ernest Drucker,
violins: Hugo Gottesmann, viola,
and Hermann Busch, cello, gave SUI
per5 performances of the Mendels-
sohn quartet in D major, op. A,
No. l" and of Beethoven's Quartet
in F major, op. 1876" These are
artists of the first rank, possessing
a uniform tone quality of pronounced
spirituality. Its special impact was