Evening star. [volume], July 21, 1940, Page F-6, Image 66

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Events in the World of Art and Music of Interest to Washingtonians
"The Window Seat," oil painting by Francis D. Millet, lent to the Corcoran Gallery of Art by Fleming Newbold.—Star Staff Photo.
Millet Masterpiece, ’The Window Seat,’ Placed
Among Notable Loans to Corcoran Gallery of Art
Charming Picture Which Recalls Important Days in Past
Record of Profession Is From Collection of Fleming
Newbold; Artist’s Active Life and Noted Associates
By Leila Mechlin.
To the Corcoran Gallery of Art,
this summer, several notable loans
have been ipade, among them a
painting by the late Francis D.
Millet, entitled "The Window Seat,”
owned and lent by Fleming Newbold
of this city. This is not only a
charming picture, to be admired
for itself, but recalls certain pages ,
in the history of American art most
worthy of remembrance.
Frank Millet was an outstanding
figure in the field of American art
from the 1870s until his tragic
death in 1912, during which years
he made very substantial contribu
tion to the development of art in
this country, notwithstanding the
fact that a good part of the time
he spent abroad. He was born to
leadership and was so known
throughout Europe, even from his
student days. He had exceptional
initiative and never feared to as
sume responsibilities. At the time
"The Window Seat” was painted,
he was the focal center of a re
markable coterie of artists and
writers in England, where he long
had a home. During the 90s, he
brought mural painting to new im
portance in this country and gave
it standing as an independent
branch of art. In the early years
of the present century, he exerted
a strong and beneficent influence1
upon public appreciation of art as
a factor in cultural life—especially
with regard to governmental patron
age.
Many of these activities were, in ;
the last years of his life, conducted
from Washington, where he set up
a studio and maintained a pied
de terre. On the Ellipse back of
the White House stands a modest
memorial to Frank Millet and his
friend, Col. Archie Butt, who with
him perished in the Titantic dis
aster. Better still, however, as
monuments to this artist’s genius
for constructive effort In his chosen
field are the American Academy at
Rome, the American Federation of
Arts, and the National Commission
of Fine Arts—in the founding and
organization of which he took an
important part.
Broadly Talented.
There was never a more dynamic, j
versatile, and universally talented [
artist than Francis D. Millet. Born j
November 3. 1846, in Mattapolsett,
Mass., of old New England, he was
on both sides of his family, of Puri
tan descent, but from some remote
ancestor he inherited a Latin strain
which is said to be accountable for
certain contradictory vagaries. His
father was a physician, as was one
of his brothers, and is now one
of his soas. Another brother,
Joe Millet, was a publisher. His
sister married Sylvester Baxter,
writer on civic art and kindred
subjects—a talented family. Young
Frank early manifested inherent
vim by serving as a drummer boy
in the Civil War—toward its close.
Then came college—Harvard—from
which he graduated in 1869. a Phi
Beta Kappa.
For a time he tried newspaper
work but his impulse was to paint,
and in ’71 he went abroad to study
—not to Paris or Dusseldorf, but
to Antwerp, where he entered the,
academy. His roommates were
George Maynard of Washington
and Elijah Baxter of Providence,
R. I. The instruction they received
was essentially academic but the
life they lived was far from stodgy.
During the four years that Millet
attended the Antwerp Academy of
Art he made various excursions to
other parts of Europe, along or in
the company of other students.
One of these was down the Danube
In a canoe from the Black Forest
to the Black Sea—an account of
which he later published. Another
was to Venice. He had an ex
traordinary aptitude for languages.
When he had been in Antwerp a
few months he talked Flemish
glibly; two weeks in Hungary equip
ped him to make a public address
in Hungarian; a short sojourn in
Venice gave him command of the
Venetian dialect so that he could
hold his own with the best of the
gondoliers. He was always voluble.
In 1872-3 a World's Fair was held
A D ■ w
AKI mu™
MATERIALS
in Vienna. Massachusetts. Mr. Mil
let’s native State, participated.
Charles Francis Adams was chair
man of the State commission. Frank
Millet, secretary. This was his in
troduction to expositions and it
served both him and others well.
Eighteen seventy-five saw Millet
back in the United States writing
for the Daily Advertiser of Bos
ton, experimenting in lithography
through the courtesy of a commer
cial firm. Then came the Russo
Turkish War, to which Millet se
cured an assignment as special cor
respondent. More than once he
was decorated by the Czar for brav
ery at the front in aid of the wound
ed. Because there was fighting in
the Philippines he returned, via
these islands, and was almost per
suaded by William D. Howells, then
editor of the Atlantic Monthly, to
abandon art for literature. A volume
of his short stories was published
about that time under the title of
| ‘ Capillary Crime and Other Stories,”
but art continued to be his strongest
urge and he refused to set it aside,
in fact, from then on, he never
wavered in his allegiance thereto.
Paris Associations.
'Seventy-eight saw him in Paris
associated with the Montmartre
group. Saint-Gaudens was working
there then and did a portrait of him
in low relief which, when the fol
lowing year Millet married Eliza
beth Greeley Merrill of Boston, sis
ter of a college friend and a great
beauty, he gave it to them as a
wedding present. A replica is now
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It was after his marriage that
he established a home in the lovely
village of Broadway, Worcestershire,
England, where he first rented and
then bought Russell House, to which
he later added an old Priory on an
adjoining property. E. A. Abbey had
at that time a home in Broadway,
and here also came Sargent and
others. Mrs. Millet had a gift for
garden and home making. Their
house and grounds, and later Mr.
Millet's studio in the Priory, were
much frequented by those concerned
with art in its various ramifications.
It was in Broadway that Abbey re
created, pictorally, the characters
of Shakespeare's immortal plays;
and it was here that Millet set forth,
on canvas, pictures of England in
the days of the Roundheads and
Cavaliers. This was the day of il
lustration and genre painting, a
day especially well represented now
in the cabinet of American illustra
tion at the Library of Congress and
in the permanent collection of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art.
It seems quite reasonable that
with his Puritan ancestry and the
environment of Broadway, Millet
should have painted the kind of
pictures that he did. and that they
should have been popular. Best
among his paintings of this period
are “The Window Seat," probably
done in Russell House with Mrs.
Millet as model; “Between Two
Fires,” now in the Tate Gallery,
London; “At the Inn” and “The
Black Sheep,” also most charming,
“Wandering Thoughts,” and “The
Cozy Corner,” the last owned by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Millet was instrumental in getting
Abbey and Sargent commissions for
mural paintings for the public li
brary, Boston, he, in one of his in
tervals at home, having assisted
John La Farge in the epoch-mark
ing decoration of Trinity Church
in that city.
Chosen for Executive.
It was because of this association
with La Farge, and his earlier ex
perience in connection with the
Vienna exposition, that, when plans
were made for the Chicago's World's
Fair in 1893, Millet was invited by
the architects not merely to con
tribute some mural paintings him
self, but to become director of deco
rations, a position that he filled
with utmost distinction. Frank Mil
let was very administrative, an or
ganizer. and one who knew how to
choose his assistants and make them
work. He was a strict, and, at times,
arbitrary master, but he commanded
respect and loyalty. No one ever
had a greater gift for friendship
than he. The decorating of the
White City beside Lake Michigan in
1893 opened the way to mural paint
ing in this country as a profes
sion. This Columbian Exposition,
as it was called, was essentially a
collaborative work, and from it the
fires of creative effort in archi
tecture, sculpture and painting were
lighted. ’
Some of the painters whom Millet
gathered around him in Chicago,
men of talent, who went bravely
to meet opportunity and gave their
best, met again a few years later
in Washington to decorate the Li
brary of Congress, a work which
brought very little remuneration to
the decorators but exerted a wide
influence on mural painting in
America. It was this which led to
the decoration of the State Capitol
of Minnesota and to that of other
public buildings in various parts
of the country.
In the painting of easel pictures,
Frank Millet was illustrative, sub
jective, a bit meticulus, as was per
haps his friend and associate. Sir
Alma Tadema, but when it came
to the painting of murals, he seemed
to launch his boat on a wider sea
and to reach out to broader hori
zons.
Work in Baltimore.
In 1909 he was commissioned,
carte blanche, to decorate the then
new Baltimore Custom House. In
this project he developed a com
plete scheme of color for the walls
throughout the building, ornamen
tation. woodwork, etc., but he
painted only one pictorial canvas.
This was for the ceiling of the
main audience room and represents
a pageant of ships entering a har
bor at dawn—the evolution of navi
gation. It is broadly rendered,
subtle, atmospheric, completely suit
able. Among Mr. Millet's other out
standing mural paintings, in addi
tion to those produced for the Lib
eral Arts Building and New York
State Building at the Chicago Fair,
were the "Treaty of Traverse des
Sioux” in the Minnesota State Capi
tol; two historical subjects, “Re
Summer Art Exhibitions at a Glance
Arts Club, 2017 I street N.W .—Works by members.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Seventeenth street and New York ave
nue N.W—Permanent collection of American paintings and sculp
ture; works by old and modem masters; rugs, tapestries, laces, Barye
bronzes, prints; recent loans; works by members of the faculty of the
Corcoran School of Art
D. A. It. Museum, Memorial Continental Hall, Seventeenth and
D streets N.W.—Accessories to milady’s costume.
Freer Gallery of Art, The Mall at Twelfth street S.W.—Oriental
paintings, sculpture, bronzes, pottery, etc.; Whistler paintings and
prints; American paintings.
Interior Department Gallery, C street between Eighteenth and
Nineteenth streets N.W.—Indian arts and crafts; architectural works
by college students.
Library of Congress, First street between East Capitol and B
streets S.E.—Lithographs by Joseph Pennell; etchings and other
works by contemporary printmakers; original illustrations; photo
graphs of early American architecture.
National Museum. Constitution avenue at Tenth street N.W.—
The National Collection of Fine Arts, including the Gellatly, Evans,
Johnston, Johnson and Pell collections; porcelains and objets d’art
Public Library, Eighth and K streets N.W.—Designs for packaging
by Julien Winnemore; drawings and water colors by Jan Schaafsma.
Wesley Hall, 1703 K street N.W.—Works by regional painters.
Whyte Gallery of Art, 1707 H street N.W.—Works by Washington
artists depicting the Washington scene.
Women’s City Club, 736 Jackson place N.W.—Paintings and draw
ings by Dr. Doris M. Cochran.
W. P. A. Federal Art Project, 816 Independence avenue 8.W.—
Allocations Gallery: Paintings and ceramics by artists of the Art Unit
on summer exhibition.
Children's Gallery: Paintings by children attending W. P. A.
classes in and around Lynchburg, Va.; clay sculpture by students at
the Jewish Community Center, Barney Neighborhood House and the
Lincoln Temple Training Center.
pulse of the Dutch” and "Paying fbr
the Land" in the Hudson County
Court House. Jersey City, and panels
In the Cleveland Trust Co. Building.
The murals for Baltimore and
Cleveland were painted by Mr. Millet
here in an improvised studio in old
Forrest Hall on Wisconsin avenue,
Georgetown, where in the old days
many gay balls had been held. One
desiring admission rang the street
door bell, there would be a clatter
of feet down the long bare stairs;
the door would open, with behind
it the smiling face of a young as
sistant. most often that of John
Andrew Mackey. Mr. Millet would
be in the barn-like studio, hard at
work, painting on a scaffold, or
stepping back and forth before a
great canvas, working as if his life
depended upon it. What research
was made to assure the historical
accuracy of these paintings, and in
finding just the right models to
serve the purpose? C. Y. Turner
worked with Millet here as he had
years before in Chicago, but he had
commissions of his own to execute.
There were constant interrup
tions—Mr. Millet was called to the
telephone one day to be asked by
a prospective, but unknown, travel
er, what the climate was in Madrid
in July, so that her wardrobe might
be appropriate. On one particular
occasion, Hopkinson Smith and
Thomas Nelson Page appeared at
the door in a horse-drawn vehicle
j piled high with spring blossoms,
bought at the market to brighten
the bare hall in which their beloved
friend and boon companion worked;
a remarkable tribute of admiration
and affection.
Federation Formed.
It was in these days that the
American Federation of Arts was
formed and Frank Millet was elected
secretary, an honorary position
which he held for three years, dur
ing which time he raised funds to
establish the magazine, “Art and
Progress.” later "The American
Magazine of Art,” and settled the
organization in “The Octogon.”
where it maintained offices for 18
years or more, through the courtesy
of the American Institute of Archi
tects.
Then it was that the greatly
needed Commission of Fine Arts
was authorized by Congress and
appointed by President Taft. May.
1910. At President Taft’s request it
was Mr. Millet who was named the
first group of commissioners, exsept
himself, whom the President sub
stituted for another on the original
slate. That first commission con
sisted of Daniel H. Burnham, chair
man; Thomas Hastings, Cass Gil
bert, Daniel C. French, Frederick
Law Olmstead. jr.; Charles Moore
and Frank D. Millet, vice chairman.
No one knows how many inartistic
blunders these men and their suc
cessors have saved the Federal
Government.
When Charles Follen McKim
founded the American Academy in
Rome, he got Millet to act as an in
corporator, also to serve as secre
tary of the board. In 1912 when
the Academy and School of Arche
ology were merged, he was induced
to become director. It was for this
reason that he had been in Rome
for several months—when he took
passage on the ill-fated S. S. Ti
tanic to return home. Strangely
enough, before sailing, he wrote to a
friend that he had done so against
his better Judgment as it was
“never safe to sail on a vessel's
maiden voyage.” As every one knows,
the Titanic went down on the night
of April 14, 1912, the result of a
collision with a submerged iceberg.
Mr. Millet and his friend and fel
low traveler, Archie Butt, were both
lost. So vital was Millet’s personal
ity that for days his friends hoped
against hope that he had been saved.
In 1888 Francis D. Millet was elect
ed a member of the National
Academy of Design; in 1900 France
made him a member of the Legion
of Honor.
In striking contrast to Frank
Millet's active, almost turbulent life
is his painting, “The Window Seat,”
but to an extent it represents what
was best in him, as well as what were
probably his happiest years—those
spent at Broadway in England.
American of the Americans, soldier
as well as artist, ever active in the
cause of art, he was Inherently
home loving, for which reason, per
haps, he himself rated “The Win
dow 8eat” and other of his genre
paintings higher than any of his
other achievements.
Youth Orchestra Gives
Opening at Water Gate
Washington Composers Are
Put on Program With
Greatest in Music
EDITOR'S NOTE—The story of the All-American Youth Or
chestra, composed of young musicians picked from more than 20MO
aspirants who gave auditions in every section of the country, and
of the final Atlantic City rehearsals under the leadership of Leopold
Stokowski, is told in an illustrated feature article appearing on
Page C-5 of today’s Star.
Composers from the Nation’s Capital will stand side by side with the
classic names of Bach, Brahms and Wagner in the program of the
inaugural concert of the All American Youth Orchestra at the Water
Gate here on Tuesday evening, according to an announcement by the
orchestra s founder and conductor, Leopold Stokowski, from Atlantic
City, where the 100 talented young musicians from every part of the
country have been rehearsing for<*—%-—
the past fortnight.
This policy of including the best
work of modern American com
posers, along with classic orchestral
compositions, is in line with the
ambition to show typical American
art at the hands of typical Amer
ican artists to the audiences in
South America and the West In
dies when the orchestra starts its
good-will tour of Latin America at
midnight on Friday, and the pres
entation of such a program here
prior to sailing is also in line with
the conductor's ambition to create
the first truly native American or
chestra.
Howe’s “Stars” and Shure’s “Lo
gan Circle” from his “Circles of
Washington” will be the American
numbers hr the program here, along
side Bach's shorter “Fugue in G
Minor.” Brahm’s "First Symphony
in C Minor” and the "Love Music”
from Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde.”
The Washington program is dis
Black Makes
Water Gate
Debut Today
N. B. G. Director
Conducts Twice
This Week
This week marks the first ap
pearance of a guest conductor in
the current Sunset Symphonies at
the Potomac Water Gate. Frank
Black, general musical director of
the National Broadcasting Co.,
will make his Water Gate debut, as
well as his first conducting assign
ment with the National Symphony
Orchestra, this evening at 8 o'clock.
With Mr. Black on tonight's pro
gram. will appear Harvey Shapiro,
a young American cellist in the solo
part of Saint-Saens' "A Minor
Concerto."
Mr. Black will also conduct the
National Symphony on Wednesday
evening, beginning at 8 o’clock at
the Water Gate, with Phillip Frank
FRANK BLACK.
violinist, appearing as soloist. Al
though Frank Black, thanks to his
eminent position in radio, is known
throughout the country as few
other conductors are, it is doubtful
if many are aware of the extent of
his activities. In addition to a busy
schedule at his office in the National
Broadcasting Co.’s Radio City
studios as musical director, Black
goes far afield to give concerts in
Hollywood, Boston, Cleveland and
other .points. He has published
several volumes of transcriptiofts
and original compositions—to make
every second count, much of his
composing is done while commuting
by airplane.
Born in Philadelphia of Quaker
parents who wanted him to carry
on the dairy business they had
founded, upon graduation from col
lege, he took up work as a pianist
in a Harrisburg Pa., hotel and con
tinued his musical studies.
Harvey Shapiro, the soloist on to
night’s concert, was, this past win
ter, a member of the cello section of
the N. B. C. Symphony Orchestra
under Toscanini and this summer
has been playing in the Symphony
Orchestra at the New York World’s
Fair which Edwin McArthur is con
ducting. Mr. McArthur will con
duct the Flagstad concert on July
31, at the Water Gate.
The program for tonight’s con
cert will include the overture to
“Die Fledermaus,” Strauss; “Sym
phony No. 4, Op. 90 (Italian),” Men
delssohn; “Meistersinger Prelude,”
Wagner; overture to “The Bartered
Bride,” Smetana; "Concerto for
'Cello in A Minor,” Saint-Saens,
and “Le8 Preludes,” Liszt.
On Wednesday night’s concert,
Dr. Black will feature the “New
World” symphony of Dvorak. Be
sides the overture to “The Marriage
of Figaro,” by Mozart, the program
will consist of Strauss' “Blue Dan
ube Waltz,” “Symphonie Espagrfele”
for violin and orchestra, by Lalo,
and "My Country,” by Mortimer Wil
son. Violin soloist in the Lalo compo
sion is Phillip Frank, another young
American artist. A member of Tos
canini's N. B. C. Symphony Orches
tra ..he will return from that organi
zation’s South American tour Just
in time for his Water Gate appear
ance, for which he was personally
selected by Frank Black.
Seats far tonight’s concert will
-4
tinct from the orchestra’s preview
program in Atlantic City this eve
ning, as well as from its Baltimore
preview tomorrow evening and its
farewell concerts in the Lewlsohn
Stadium in New York City on
Thursday and Friday evenings.
As previously announced, 18 of
the leading members of the Phila
delphia Orchestra will be in the
ranks of the new orchestra here
and will go along on the Latin
American tour as section leaders
and assistants to the conductor.
Saul Caston of the Philadelphia Or
chestra and John Bitter of Florida
will be assistant conductors to Mr.
Stokowski.
Tickets for this concert are on
sale at the Symphony box office in
Kitt's Music Stare, 1330 G street
N.w. C. C. Cappel is the local
manager.
Concert Schedule
TODAY.
“Sunset Symphony” concert,
Prank 31ack. conductor: Harvey
Shapiro, cellist, soloist; Water
Gate, 8 p.m.
John Marcellos, song recital,
Pythian Temple, 8 pm.
The Wesleyan Singers, Justin
Lawrie, director, Foundry Meth
odist Church, 8 pm.
TOMORROW.
Navy Band. Sail Loft, Navv
Yard, 1:30 p.m.; Capitol, 7:30
pm.
Marine Band. Marine Bar
racks, 5 p.m.; Band Stand, 8
pm.
D. Sterling Wheelwright, or
gan recital. Washington Chapel
L. D. S., 8 pm.
TUESDAY.
All American Youth Orches
tra. Leopold Stokowski, con
ductor; Water Gate. 8 pm.
Navy Band, World War Me
morial, 7:30 pm.
Marine Band, Children's
Health Camp, Bald Eagle Hill,
6 pm.
WEDNESDAY.
“Sunset Symphony” concert.
Frank Black, conductor: Phillip
Frank, violinist, soloist; Water
Gate, 8 pm.
Marine Band, Capitol, 7:30
pm.
D. Sterling Wheelwright, or
gan recital. Washington Chapel
L. D. S„ 8 pm.
THURSDAY.
Navy Band, Sail Loft, Navy
Yard, 11:15 a.m.; Naval Hos
pital, 3 pm.
Marine Band. Marine Bar
racks, 1:30 pm.; World War
Memorial, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY.
Joseph Bentonelli. tenor. Lolita
Valdez Joint recital. Water Gate,
8 pm.
D. Sterling Wheelwright, or
gan recital; Edna Wheelwright,
soprano, assisting; Washington
Chapel L. D. S.. 8 pm.
Marine Band. Naval Hospital,
3 p.m.; Marine Barracks, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY. *
Marine Band, Marine Bar
racks, 2 pm.
Composers to Have
Prize Contest
Muslccraft Records, Inc., an
nounces a prize contest, open to
young American composers under
the age of 35, for an original work
for solo voice and any combination
for five instruments to be based on
the text SDf an American children s
story to be selected by the composer.
The length of the composition must
not exceed 20 minutes in playing
time.
The pifse offered is $100 in cash
and royalties on the recording of the
composition which will be issued by
Musicraft in December, 1940. Royal
ties on the sale of the recordings are
to go to the composer. The contest
will close on October 1, 1940, and no
manuscript will be accepted unless a
proper entry blank is filled out. The
entry blank does not commit con
testants to submit any compositions
if they do not choose to do so.
Entry blanks may be obtained
from the Contest Editor, Musicraft
Records, Inc., 10 West Forty-seventh
street, New York City. The judges
of the contest will be announced
shortly.
Madeline F. Amato presented a
group of her students in a piano
recital last Wednesday evening in
the Pen'Women’s Studio, Grafton
Hotel. Those who participated in
the program were: Mary Bianchi,
Margaret Fox, Barbara Scruggs,
Teresa Cosimano, Frances Amato,
Abbye Edleman, Bernard DeMarco,
Frances Halley, Frances Crimi,
Audrey and Dorothy Scheuring,
Anna Barbieri, Vera Erhardt, Joyce
Bitter, Yolanda DeMoro, Joan Kid
well, Joan Feole, Adelle Feller,
Dorothy Perkins, Doris Jones, Edwin
Hardesty, Margaret Brown, Angela
Crimi and Roberta MacMorris.
The Music Committee of the
Phyllis Wheatley Y. W. C. A., Vir
ginia Williams, chairman, pre
sented Mildred Ellis, pianist, of
Philadelphia in a lecture recital
last week. This was the second
event of a series of lobby concerts.
In addition to a program of stand
ard compositions, Miss Ellis played
two of her own numbers. .
be on sale after 11 am. today at the
box office at the Water Gate. Seats
for Wednesday night’s concert and
an subsequent concerts are on sale
at the symphony box office in the
Homer L. Kitt music store, 1330 G
street
M
Leopold Stokowski, famous orchestra conductor and founder
of the All-American Youth Orchestra, who will appear at the
head of his new organization at its Washington dehut Tuesday
night at the Water Gate.
Review of Recordings
By Alice Eversman.
Both major recording companies seem to have decided to dress up
their albums in brighter colors and the effect is by far more decorative
for a library as well as being of greater assistance in reaching the volume
one is seeking. In place of the drab uniformity of the previous output,
there are now gayer hues to relieve the eye. Columbia sends out its re
leases this month in cool greys and neutral russets with different bindings
which enhance the appearance of*
the albums considerably.
The most entertaining work of
this collection is ProkofiefT's "Classi
cal Symphony in D Major, Op. 25,”
but then nearly every composition
from the noted Russian composer's
pen is entertaining. This time he
writes in the classical vein and does
an excellent job of it, only the
ProkofiefT humor cannot be sup
pressed and every now and then
the classical style has to give way j
to it. As a writer in the idiom of
Mozart and Haydn and as an origi
nal whose style is distinctive and
I thoroughly delightful. ProkofiefT
shows himself a superb craftsman.
This symphony, which is played
with fine understanding by the Min
neapolis Symphony Orchestra, di
rected by Dimitri Mitropoulos. is
full of fresh ideas and delightful
turns of phrases, sometimes very
lovely in the calm style of another
era and again in the radiant vitality
that is his own creation.
The symphony is short, occupy- i
ing only a disc and a half, the final ]
side being given over to a recording
of the scherzo from Mendelssohn’s
"Octet.”
Hadn Work.
As if to provide a comparison, the
list includes the Haydn “Symphony
No. 104 in D Major,” known as the
“London” symphony. It is usually
catalogued as the last of the sym
phonies commissioned by Salomon
for the London season, but, as the
arranging of Haydn's works is a dif
ficult matter, some authorities place
it earlier in the list. At any rate, it
was first performed at the last bene
fit concert given for Haydn in Lon
don, where it made an immediate
impression.
It is an excellent example of the
Popular Music
One of the most famous fashions
in jazz, that was created by the old
Wolverines of Dick Voynow and
Bix Beiderbecke, is currently resus
citated by Bud Freeman and the
Summa Cum Laude Band on four
i Decca red label discs. Jazzmen well
! qualified for the task. Freeman's
crew turns in accomplished per
: formances of eight Wolverine tune
favorites as they themselves might
have played the pieces today. While
; no attempt is made to mimic the old
band's style, the individual ability
of the Cum Laude Band catches the
essence and. in many cases, adds
vigor to that style. In addition to
Freeman’s -spirited sax phrasings,
Pee Wee Russell's mellow clarinet
and Max Kaminsky's trumpet are on
tap for some fine choruses and
breaks. “Fidgety Feet” and "Susie”
show these three at their best, but
on such as “Tia Juana” and "Co
penhagen” notice Brad Gowans’
trombone snorts and Eddie Condon's
refined guitar support.
A groundkeeper in a big league
baseball park prompts Victors
latest collection of pure Jazz. Al
though Jim Yancey answers to the
title “father of boogie-woogie,” his
recognition is confined to few; to
this three-disk set one feels this
escape from fame an injustice to him
and to the public. The pianist here
displays full perception of boogie’s
varied, forms, both in the frame
work molded by left hand and in the
shimmering decoration demanded of
the right. “Mellow Blues” and
“State Street Special” prove it
beyond question, while the others
(notably "Valdez Stomp,” “Five
O’clock Blues”) are delightful at
very least.
Hot music on single records waits
in abundance. Jimmy Lunceford's
“Chopin Prelude No. 7” is a relaxed,
tasteful example of adaptation.
Horace Henderson does “You’re
Mine, You” somewhat a la Elling
ton; Benny Goodman on two plates
shoots par with “Once More” and
“Coconut Grove,” the latter pre
ferred; and there is solidly arranged
swing in Vic Schoen's “Of
; Maestro and Men.” The re
cently enlarged New Friends of
Rhythm have another prize title,
but a musically less prize-worthy
“Heavy Traffic on' Canal Street”
(Paganini's “Carnival in Venice”),
Glahe and Hawaii.
Will Glahe, the beer garden and
ballroom idol of two continents, has
an album of three disks devoted to
his talent for creating sprightly
dance music. Issued by Victor In
WAc8f«cE or ^m?MLGR?MS1ST'
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dignified, pure style which Haydn
knew how to utilize so expertly. Side
by side with the ProkofiefT sym
phony it seems a little dull and
stolid even if it be considered heresy
to say so. Although Haydn had also
a sense of humor, it did not flower
into the gay themes that ProkofiefT
invents. Spirited writing makes the
finale a delightfully brisk portion
while the lyrical in musical thought
permeates the other movements
which are masterpieces of symphonic
creation. The recording is by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra
under the baton of Sir Thomas
Beecham.
Virtuoso of Harp.
A new virtuoso of the harp is to
be heard in Ravel's “Introduction
and Allegro" with the assistance of
the Stuyvesant String Quartet, John
Wummer, flute, and Ralph McLane,
clarinet. Laura Newell was harpist
with the Cleveland Symphony Or
chestra and is well known to con
cert audiences, are also her string
confreres in this number, who not
long ago recorded the Bloch Quartet,
She has artistry, power and bril
liancy, and is ably aided in the en
semble by the other players. As
soloist she is heard in the Grand
jany transcription of Debussy s
“Maid With the Flaxen Hair.”
A performance of Saint-Saen's
“Danse Macabre” by the Chicago
Orchestra conducted by Frederick
Stock is another opportunity to hear
this old and fine organization in a
masterly reading of this popular
work. Technically polished to a fine
degree, there is nonetheless much of
the mystery and weirdness missing
that should go into the imaginative
ness needed for the interpretation of
! the famous "Danse.”
ternational, the set is less beer bar
rel polka-ish than one might expect,
“Bartender’s Polka” excepted. The
band is larger than usual, but the
same breezy accordion and general
polished musicianship prevails.
Other pieces: “Hear My Song. Vio
letta,” and “Shore Leave Kisses,” a
collection fit for any shelf.
Columbia takes an excursion to
Hawaii this week with a resulting
four-disk group by the Lani Mc
Intyre. Andy Iona and Sol Hoopil
Orchestras. If you admire the en
| semble whine of steel guitars and
! high-pitched singing that epitomizes
musical Hawaii, this is your buy. The
well-known bands that’perform here
live up to reputations, Iona going
even one better by featuring a silken
voiced songstress named Miulan.
J. W. STEPP.
Bentonelli Recital
A Water Gate Event
Joseph Bentonelli, Metropolitan
Opera tenor, will be heard here in
a song recital consisting of concert
and operatic selections on Friday,
at the Water Gate, as announced.
This famous singer will stop over
! in Washington on his way to New
York, returning from his tour with
the Cincinnati Opera Co. Lolita
Valdez will share Mr. Bentonelli's
program.
Tickets for the Bentonelli con
cert are popularly priced and now
on sale at the Waters Travel Serv
ice in the Trans Lux Building, the
Star Radio store in the National
Press Building and at the Chastle
ton Hotel.
Sacred Song
Karl Holer, Washington composer,
recently has written a number of
songs, including a sacred song, “The
Bridge.” This composition is dedicat
ed to Clara Moran Bemheimer, who
sang it at the concert given by the
choir of First Reformed Church last
Sunday night. Louise Ehrman of
the National Symphony Orchestra
played the cello obbligato, and the
composer was at the organ. “The
Bridge” will again be used on Tues
day, when Pauline Holer will sing
it at Hood College, Frederick, Md.
MUSICAL INSTRUCTION.
Armando Jannuzzi
Grand Opera Dramatic Tenor
Voice Specialist
Italian Method
Sell Ml of kal rant*
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