Evening star., 1950-09-17

honored. During that season, the
public had its first taste of Soviet
music when Mossolov's noisy Iron
Foundry was played twice.
1934-35 saw the beginning of
the all-Wagner and all-American
programs and a significant para
graph on the final page reads:
Next Concert-Probably June 16
at the Water Gate on Potomac
River. Watch newspapers for def
mite announcement" One of the
most important events of the fol-
lowing season was the appearance
of George Gershwin as Soloist in
his Concerto" and as conductor
of his "Porgy and Bess" Suite.
Shostakovich came into the roper
toire then with his Symphony
No. l."
Paul Whiteman in 1887.
More innovations than the
transfer of concerts to Wednesday
night took place in 1867. That
year the Ballet Russo de Monte
Carlo started the long participa-
tion of ballet in the orchestra's
seasons. Paul Whiteman, as guest
conductor, presented one of the
merriest programs that year with
Deems Taylor providing live pro-
gram notes in his inimitable man
ner. All-Beethoven. all-Mozart.
all Russian, all-American and all
French programs spread through
the series.
A Beethoven festival of three
concerts, ending with the perform
ance of the Ninth Symphony"
Ihighlighted 1878. 1t was the
first of several. the great COM
poser's name sometimes linked
with Bach. Brahms and Sibelius.
BY this time. half of the Sunday
series was called Beloved Sym
Iphonic Masterpieces" and in 1941-
2, it became Great Masterworks
Series" featuring some great SYM
phonic work. In that season also,
are to be found the first asterisks
denoting the Victor recording of
Chadwick's Noel and Brahms
Symphony No. 3" and from Feb
ruary on the important announce
ment: THE National Symphony
records exclusively for Victor"
In 1923 the first afraid and
blackout rules took prominent
place in the programs and the
following year, new war-inspired
works featured at many concerts.
A gala occasion was the 1,000th
concert on March 4, 1945, when
Grace Moore was soloist and that
year records, as well, DR.. Kindler's
first Latin American tour as guest
conductor. The ominous an
nouncement in 1910 that '"The
Board of Directors regrets that
it is unable to announce an
Orchestral season for 1901" was
one of the rough spots that fortu-
|nately led to nothing. From that
time on, the National Symphony
blossomed out as real protagonist
of contemporary music and a
guardian of the old.
Played Nearly 800 Composers.
Close to 300 composers are rep
resented in this registry of mu-
sical achievement and nearly ITS
Soloists of various kinds assisted
the orchestra in their presenta-
tion. During the years, 81 con-
ductors welded the baton in
major or minor assignments.
Wagner leads the composers In
frequency Of performance. the
145 appearances of his name out
ranking the SO of Beethoven, the
80 of Mozart, 81 Of Tschaikowsky,
"a of Brahms, 81 of Bach with
Strauss reaching the half-hun-
dred mark, closely followed by
Sibelius at 40. There were around
IS Washington premieres of
works and nearly so world
premieres in the 18 seasons.
The last concerts of the 1867
season were directed by How
ard Mitchell, due to DR.. Kindler's
illness. The end of the next year
finds DR.. Kindler's name heading
the programs as musical director
and that of Mr.. Mitchell who
made his debut as cello soloist
with the orchestra in 1887, as
associate conductor. This was the
end of the long, rugged road DR..
Kinder started on in 1881. Aside
from the human factors that
make the reading of the programs
an engrossing affair, there is the
splendid record of constant prog
'ress, alertness as to what is new
in music and the development of
the ensemble as a means of pre-
senting it. During those 18 sea-
sons, DR.. Kinder saw to it that
the American composer was rec
ognized and that the classics were
made known fully. How brilliant
and broad these aims were could
only be completely revealed in
another volume,