THE BATTALION
■
VALUABLE HINTS ON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PROGRAM
TO THE STUDENTS.
There is no one, no matter how
little he knows about music, who can
fail to get a great deal of pleasure
from the performance of a Symphony
Orchestra. And music is one of
those sources of human pleasure that
no one can afford to neglect, the
more one hears, the more one enjoys.
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra,
which will play in the new auditorium
on the afternoon and evening of Sat
urday, April 5,- has arranged its pro
gram with special reference to an
audience of men who have presumab
ly not been musically educated. All
its numbers are chosen not only for
their solid musical worth but for
their tunefulness as well, and any
student of the college who likes mu
sic in any form must enjoy this pro
gram.
One of the most frequent com
plaints on this campus where com
plaints are not infrequent, has as its
burden the distance of the college
from any city and from the advan
tages and diversions that a city of
fers. There is only one gift of city
life that is generally denied us here,
and that is good music. All the oth
er advantages can be had at College
Station in one form or another, but
good music well performed is cer
tainly rare.
It is for this reason that a special
appeal is made to the students to at
tend the concert or concerts of the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. More
than enough seats have already been
sold to assure the financial success of
the ventture, but that is not the only
nor even the chief consideration. It
would seem a pity that such a good
opportunity for a high type of pleas
ure should be neglected by those for
whose benefit the concerts were chief
ly arranged. It is for this reason
that this page or so of explanation
and comment is published, several of
those campus people who live on the
campus and who are deeply interest
ed in music, cooperate to furnish in
formation and comment which it is
hoped will be the means of some stu
dent’s enjoying the music more than
he would have enjoyed it otherwise.
Tickets for the concerts ate on sale
at the Y. M. C. A. at $1.00 each.
The Programs.
(A star marks each selection which
is analyzed below).
Saturday Afternoon.
(Soloist: Madame Graziella Pam-
pari, harpist).
1. Ganz: St. Louis Symphony
March.
2. Lassen: Festival Overture.
3. Pierne: Concert Piece for
Harp and Orchestra.
*4 Tschaikowsky: Andante Canta-
bile from the Second Movement of
Symphony Number 5.
5. Saint-Saems: Tarantella for
flute, clarinet and orchestra.
6. Granger: (a) Irish Tune.
(b) Shepherd’s
Hey.
7. Moszkowsky: Malaguena.
Saurday Evening.
(Soloist: Helen Traubel, soprano).
1. Hadley: Overture “In .Bohe
mia.”
*2. Dvorak: “The New World
Symphony.”
(a) Adagio: Allegro
(b) Large.
(c) Scherze.
(d) Finale: Allegro
con Fuoco.
Intermission.
*3. Wagner: Overture to Tann-
hauser.
*. Wagner: Aria, “Dich Teure
Halle” from Tannhauser (by Miss
Traubel).
*5. Tschaikowsky: Slavic March.
THE OVERTURE
TO TANNHAUSER
by Richard Wagner
(Selection number 3 on the pro
gram for Saturday evening).
Richard Wagner was the first oper
atic composer who told the whole
story of his play by means of the
music itself. In his overtures, or
preludes to the operas, he states the
themes of his dramas in miniature.
“Tannhauser,” for example, is the
story of a knight in whose nature
two distinct elements were struggling
—the religious and the sensual—a
sense of duty and a mad lust for
selfish gratification. In the opera it
self Tannhauser first comes under
the holy influence of a band of pil
grims. Later he is lured by Venus,
the pagan goddess of pleasure, into
the “Venus Mountain,” where he is
held charmed by all the devices of
the wily goddess and her beautiful
followers. Finally the religious note
comes back into his life, and he re
turns to his former lofty purpose—
his nature enriched, however, by the
awakening of his senses.
The overture, which is to be played
by the Symphony Orchestra on Sat
urday evening, is a sketch in music
instead of in words, of this whole
story. It opens with the famous Pil
grims’ Chorus, which speaks for the
religious element in a man’s nature
—all his aspirations to be a better
man—all his devotion to whatever is
his ideal of perfection. When it first
appears in the overture, this religi
ous motive is absolutely in control,
without any disturbing element.
A little later, we can hear the
swirl of entirely different feelings
coming into the music through the
flutes. The religious element is still
in power in Tannhauser’s nature, but
I Venus has begun her call and there
is a struggle between the two forces,
i The swirl of flutes grows more and
I more insistent, and the first section
! of the overture ends with the religi-
1 ous motive conquered and pushed in
to the background by the clamor of
the senses.
The next section of the overture
expresses the absolute abandonment
by Tannhauser of his ideal, and his
complete conquest by Venus. There
; are wild dance movements and pass
ages of intense and sensuous tender
ness. The Venus music works up to
a terrific climax of furious self-
abandonment, and this section ends
on the full pagan note.
At last, however, the old hopes and
aspirations begin again to assert
themselves as the Pilgrims’ Chorus
reappears in the music. At first it
is violently opposed by the Venus
music, which whirld up and down
the scale on the flutes. But the great
chorus grows stronger and more son-
fident. The Venus music is con
quered but not eliminated. It per
sists (more harmoniously, however)
to the end, which marks the final co
ordination of all the powers of the
man—his senses and his intellect all
brought joyfully and willingly under
the control of a dominating and pur
poseful idealism. After having gone
to the extremes of religious self-de
nial and sensual abandon, Tennhauser
passes out o fthe overture as the
fully developed and coordinated hu
man being.
The symphony “From the New
World” by the Czech composer Ar.-
ton Dvorak, to be played by the St.
Louis Symphony Orchestra at the
evening concert on Aprik 5, is of in
terest to Americans not only for its
beauty, which appeals to lovers of
music everywhere, but also because it
was composed in America. Though
characteristic of the Bohemian folk
song manner and of Dvorak’s own
style, it embodies certain character
istics of negro folk' music, one pass
age bearing a marked resemblance to
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”
To judge by the frequency of pre
sentation, this symphony is one of
the most popular of those that have
been played in recent years by Amer
ican orchestras.
The presentation of “From the
New World” will give College and
Bryan a rare opportunity to enjoy a
complete symphonic work in a most
interesting variety of tone colors.
Undoubtedly one of the favorite
passages will be the solo played by
the English horn, an instrument
seldom heard in Brazos county.
The “Tarantella,” (by Saint-Saens,
a living French composer) which is
number five on the afternoon pro
gram, is a vehement dance duet
which is very popular with Neapoli
tan peasants. It is supposed to take
its name from the convulsions re
sulting from the bite of the taran
tula.
The Andante Cantabile from
Tschaikowsky’s Symphony No. 5 in
E minor lends considerable color—as
does the phrase of Milton “most
musical, most melancholy”—to the
theory of Edgar Allan Poe that the
highest tone of beauty is sadness. Mr.
Philip H. Goepp, in the third series
of “Symphonies and Their Meaning,”
says of this movement: “It is a won
derful elegy, a yearning without
hope, a swan-song of desire, sadder
almost than the frank despair of the
Finale of the Pathetique symphony
—pulsing with passion, gorgeous with
a hectic glow of expressive beauty,
moving too with a noble grace.
Though there is a foil of lighter
humor, this is overwhelmed in the
fateful gloom of the returning main
motto.”
The air, “You, Dear Hall” (“Dich
Teure Halle”) which is sung by Miss
Traube on Saturday evening, is taken
from Wagner’s opera, “Tannhauser,”
the theme of which has been given
above. It is the song of joy and
thanksgiving which the beautiful
Elizabeth sings to celebrate Tann
hauser’s return to his former nobility
of life, and his reentry into the grand
ball which had been the scene of his
early triumps, and which Elizabeth
had shunned while her knight was
living under the spell of Venus.
Dimensions, Please?
Kansas City Star: Mrs. Smith was
doing her shopping, and decided to
buy something for herself. She ap
proached a saleslady and said: “I
want a dress to put on around the
house.”
“Very well, madam,” said the sales
lady, “how large is your house?”
•f* ““ "" 1
•
BUY HER A BOX
OF
j BEAUTIFUL
| STATIONERY
j FOR
| EASTER
WE HAVE IT
| WALLACE PTG. CO.
* 4
.