SYMPHONY HALL, BOSTON HUNTINGTON AND MASSACHUSETTS AVENUES Telephone, Commonwealth 1492 FIFTY-NINTH SEASON, 1939-1940 CONCERT BULLETIN of the Boston Symphony Orchestra SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Conductor Richard Burgin, Assistant Conductor with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk COPYRIGHT, 1939, BY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, IflC. The OFFICERS and TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Ernest B. Dane ...... President Henry B. Sawyer .... Vice-President Ernest B. Dane ...... Treasurer Henry B. Cabot M. A. De Wolfe Howe Ernest B. Dane Roger I. Lee Alvan T. Fuller Richard C. Paine Jerome D. Greene Henry B. Sawyer N. Penrose Hallowell Edward A. Taft Bentley W. Warren G. E. Judd, Manager C. W. Spalding, Assistant Manager [ 241 ] Complete FIDUCIARY SERVICE for INDIVIDUALS The fiduciary services of Old Colony Trust Company available to individuals are many and varied. We cite some of the fiduciary capacities in which we act. Executor and Administrator We settle estates as Executor and Administrator. Trustee We act as Trustee under wills and under voluntary or living trusts. Agent We act as Agent for those who wish to be relieved of the care of their investments. The officers of Old Colony Trust Company are always glad to discuss estate and property matters with you and point out if and where our services are applicable. Old Colony Trust Company 17 COURT STREET, BOSTON Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [ 242 ] FIFTY-NINTH SEASON - NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE AND FORTY Sixth Programme FRIDAY AFTERNOON, November 17, at 2:30 &clock SATURDAY EVENING, November 18, at 8:15 o'clock William Schuman American Festival Overture Randall Thompson Symphony No. 2 in E minor I. Allegro II. Largo III. Vivace IV. Andante moderato; Allegro con spirito; Largamente INTERMISSION Franck Symphony in D minor I. Lento. Allegro non troppo II. Allegretto III. Allegro non troppo This programme will end about 4:15 on Friday Afternoon, 10:00 o'clock on Saturday Evening C 243 1 —. ymjWYW WE'RE c^rfittinq tkz nail on tnsi nzaa . Hitting some several hundred thousand of them, to be exact. In ten new electric stairways, in a new Beauty Salon, in a com- pletely redecorated second floor for fashions, in a bridge three storeys high, across Avon Street each in its way indicative of our swat at the biggest nail of all . the building of a greater Jordan's for your greater convenience! r 244] AMERICAN FESTIVAL OVERTURE By William Howard Schuman Born in New York City, August 4, 19 10 The American Festival Overture was composed last summer for the concerts of American music by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and performed at these con certs in Symphony Hall, October 6 last. The orchestration is as follows: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, xylophone, and strings. The composer writes as follows about his Overture: "The first three notes of this piece will be recognized by some listeners as the 'call to play' of boyhood days. In New York City it is yelled on the syllables, 'Wee-Awk-Eee' to get the gang together for a game or a festive occasion of some sort. This call very naturally suggested itself for a piece of music being composed for a very festive occasion. From this it should not be inferred that the Overture is program music. In fact, the idea for the music came to mind before the origin of the theme was recalled. The development of this bit of 'folk material,' then, is along purely musical lines. "The first section of the work is concerned with the material dis- cussed above and the ideas growing out of it. This music leads to a Just Issued . AUGMENTED AND REVISED EDITION of MUSIC: AN ART AND A LANGUAGE by WALTER R. SPALDING for musician and music lover a book about the masterpieces of symphonic music The author, for many years lecturer on Appreciation of Music at Harvard and Radcliffe, believes that the listener who will exert himself to quicken his sense of hearing, broaden his imagina- tion, and strengthen his memory will greatly increase his musical enjoyment. The volume treats of musical form and structure, composers and their characteristics, includes detailed analysis of outstanding works, yet remains an interesting, readable, often witty book, which does not forget the spirit of a composition in discussing its form. Price $2.50 net THE ARTHUR P. SCHMIDT CO., I20 Boylston Street L»45] transition section and the subsequent announcement by the violas of a Fugue subject. The entire middle section is given over to this Fugue. The orchestration is at first for strings alone, later for wood winds alone and finally, as the Fugue is brought to fruition, by the strings and wood winds in combination. This climax leads to the final section of the work, which consists of opening materials para- phrased and the introduction of new subsidiary ideas. The tempo of the work is fast." Mr. Schuman's Symphony No. 2, in one movement, was performed at the Boston Symphony concerts, February 17, 1939. The composer attended the public schools in New York, and gradu- ated with Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from Columbia University. He was the pupil of Max Persin in harmony, of Charles Haubiel in counterpoint, ,and studied composition in a more general sense with Roy Harris. He attended the Mozarteum Academy, in Salzburg, Austria. He is a member of the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, New York, and is interested in problems of progressive education in relation to the arts. He holds a Guggenheim fellowship. Mr. Schuman's First Symphony is for chamber orchestra, and was composed in 1935. Also for orchestra is a Prelude and Fugue, of 1937. The Second Symphony, composed in 1937, was the prize-winning We cordially invite you to make use of the facilities afforded by our Sample Room with its large and unique collection of color cards and samples of decorative finishes. EDWARD K. PERRY CO., 655 Beacon St, PAINTING AND DECORATIVE FINISHES [246] The Continuing La?iguage B efore the ill-fated attempt to build the Tower of Babel, "the whole earth was of one language, and one speech." Then came the confounding of language, "that they may not understand one another's speech." With divergent tongues the peoples of the world went their several ways, and their failures to understand one another's speech, and much besides, have been the cause of infinite disaster, of which the wars now tearing Europe and Asia asunder are the latest tokens. Of the one language and one speech that prevailed before the confusion of tongues an imperishable remnant still exists. That is the speech of music, the language under- stood by peoples of every tongue. In the world as we look out upon it today, it is more important than ever be- fore that this bond of unity should be pre- served. The Boston Symphony Orchestra counts it a privilege to contribute as it may to the continuance of this unifying influ- ence. It is a privilege, moreover, in which every Friend of the Orchestra may share. Reginald C. Foster Chairman, Friends of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. [247 1 composition in a national contest for orchestral music. There is a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1938). A ballet, "Playground," is now in process of composition. Choral works include four Chorale Canons (1932-33); Prelude for Voices, text by Thomas Wolfe, from "Look Homeward Angel" (1937); "Pioneers," text by Walt Whitman (1937); and Choral Etude (1937). Chamber music, in addition to the First Symphony mentioned above, includes two string quartets (1936 and 1937), and a canon and fugue, for violin, violoncello and piano (1934). THE NEW COATS —THAT FLATTERINGLY MOLD VOUR FIGURE TO THE SLIM LINES OF THE POSTILDON SILHOU- ETTE-COATS WITH FUR EDGINGS OR BORDERS OR FRONTS— AUTHENTIC COPIES OF THE CUT- STANDING FRENCH IMPORTS— SUBTLE ADAPTA- TIONS BY AMERICA'S FOREMOST DESIGNERS -ALL MADE OF THE FINEST FABRICS AND TRIMMED WITH THE CHOICEST FURS-$no.oo TO $450.00 [248] SYMPHONY NO. 2 By Randall Thompson Born in New York City, April 21 itiyg Randall Thompson composed his Second Symphony in Gstaad, Switzerland, be- tween July, 1930, and September, 1931. It was first performed at Rochester by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, under Howard Hanson, on March 24, 1932, and again on May 5. The Symphony was performed at the concerts of the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra, April 13, 1934. It was again played at the concert of American music by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, October 6, 1939. The orchestration is as follows: three flutes and piccolo, three oboes and English horn, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, cymbals, and strings. The second symphony, according to the composer, "is based on no programme, either literary or spiritual. It is not cyclical. I wanted to write four contrasting movements, separate and distinct, which together should convey a sense of balance and completeness. "I have used the ordinary full orchestra by threes. I have not used all the instruments in every movement. Limiting the percussion to cymbals and kettledrums may seem to be a curious twist for a con- temporary composer. I have been sparing in my use of percussive punctuation in an attempt to make the music itself intrinsically rhythmic. The kettledrums are used only in the first two movements; the cymbals only in the last two. The orchestra is greatly reduced in the second movement. The brass in the scherzo is limited to horns and one trumpet.