BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
FOUNDED IN I88I BY HENRY LEE HIGGINSON
SEASON Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence Boston Symphony Orchestra
(Seventy-fifth Season, 1955-1956) CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director RICHARD BTJRGIN, Associate Conductor PERSONNEL Violins Violas Bassoons Richard Burgin Joseph de Pasquale Sherman Walt Concert-master Jean Cauhape Ernst Panenka Alfred Krips Eugen Lehner Theodore Brewster George Zazofsky Albert Bernard Contra-Bassoon Rolland Tapley George Humphrey Richard Plaster Norbert Lauga Jerome Lipson ResnikoflE Robert Karol Vladimir Horns Harry Dickson Reuben Green James Stagliano Gottfried Wilfinger Bernard Kadinoff Charles Yancich Einar Hansen Vincent Mauricci Harry Shapiro Joseph Leibovici John Fiasca Harold Meek Emil Kornsand Violoncellos Paul Keaney Roger Shermont Osbourne McConathy Samuel Mayes Minot Beale Alfred Zighera Herman Silberman Trumpets Jacobus Langendoen Roger \'oisin Stanley Benson Mischa Nieland Leo Panasevich Marcel Lafosse Karl Zeise Armando Ghitalla Sheldon Rotenberg Josef Zimbler Gerard Goguen Fredy Ostrovsky Bernard Parronchi Clarence Knudson Leon Marjollet Trombones Pierre Mayer Martin Hoherman William Gibson Manuel Zung Louis Berger William Moyer Kabila Samuel Diamond Richard Kapuscinski Kauko Josef Orosz Victor Manusevitch Robert Ripley James Nagy Flutes Tuba Melvin Bryant Doriot Anthony Dwyer K. Vinal Smith Lloyd Stonestreet James Pappoutsakis Saverio Messina Phillip Kaplan Harps William Waterhouse Bernard Zighera Piccolo William Marshall Olivia Luetcke Leonard Moss George Madsen Jesse Ceci Oboes Timpani Noah Bielski Ralph Gomberg Roman Szulc Alfred Schneider Jean Devergie Everett Firth Joseph Silverstein John Holmes PERcrssroN Basses English Horn Charles Smith Georges Moleux Louis Speyer Harold Farberman Gaston Dufresne Clarinets Harold Thompson Ludwig Juht Gino Cioffi Piano Irving Frankel Manuel Valerio Henry Freeman Pasquale Cardillo Bernard Zighera Henry Portnoi E\) Clarinet Librarians Henri Girard Bass Clarinet John Barwicki Leslie Rogers Rosario Mazzeo Victor Alpert, Ass't o -p o C oO ©
cS -HO O CO Mo t^;!? ?.* jk*A/ '/<':».'. f'/-^^ ?!^.^ Y*j Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence SEVENTY-FIFTH SEASON, 1955-1956 Boston Symphony Orchestra CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor Concert Bulletin of the Third Concert TUESDAY EVENING, January 24 with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The trustees of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. ' Henry B. Cabot . President . Vice-President Jacob J. Kaplan Richard C. Paine . Treasurer Talcott M. Banks, Jr. C. D. Jackson John Nicholas Brown Michael T. Kelleher Theodore P. Ferris Palfrey Perkins Alvan T. Fuller Charles H. Stockton Francis W. Hatch Edward A. Taft Harold D. Hodgkinson Raymond S. Wilkins Oliver Wolcott TRUSTEES EMERITUS Philip R. Allen M. A. DeWolfe Howe N. Penrose Hallowell Lewis Perry Thomas D. Perry, Jr., Manager G. W. Rector Assistant Brosnahan, Assistant Treasurer (^ J. J. N. S. Shirk ^ Managers Rosario Mazzeo, Personnel Manager [il THE PIANO OF GREAT ARTISTS the instrument for your home No other piano has the Steinway's glowing voice, its commanding presence and its resistance to depreciation. An investment in Hving that enriches the home— today and for years. STEIN WAY See the complete line of Stein way Grands and Verticals at: i/eru I tano Exclusive Steinway Representativea for Southern New England 256 Weybosset St. Open Mondays SEVENTY-FIFTH SEASON - NINETEEN HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE AND FIFTY-SIX Three Hundred and Thirty-third Concert in Providence Third Concert TUESDAY EVENING, January 24, at 8:15 o'clock Program Berlioz Overture, "The Roman Carnival", Op. 9 Hanson Elegy to the Memory of Serge Koussevitzky, Op. 4.4. (Composed for the y^th Anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) Sibelius Symphony No. 7, in One Movement, Op. 105 INTERMISSION Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor. Op. 98 I. Allegro non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Allegro giocoso IV. Allegro energico e passionate Performances by the orchestra are broadcast each week on Monday evenings from 8:15 to 9:00 P.M. on the NBC Network. The Friday afternoon concerts at 2:15 and Saturday evening concerts at 8:30 are broadcast direct by Station WGBH-FM. BALDWIN FIANO RCA VICTOR RECORDS £3] OVERTURE, "LJE CARNAVAL ROMAIN/' Op, 9 By Hector Berlioz Born at La Cote Saint-Andre, December 11, 1803; died at Paris, March 9, 1869 The opera Benvenuto Cellini from which the overture is derived was first performed at the Opera in Paris, September 10, 1838. The concert overture, written in 18^43, was first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris, February 3, 1844, under the composer's direction. It was published June, 1844. The orchestration of the Overture includes 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes and English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, timpani, 2 tambourines, cymbals, triangle and strings. MANY an artist, whether of letters, pigment, or tones, has visited Italy, come under the spell of its sights and sounds and allowed them to color his creative thoughts. This was certainly true of Mendelssohn. Berlioz went to Rome on a Prix de Rome scholarship in March 1831 and left there on May 1, 1832. His subsequent music, such as Harold in Italy (1834) Benvenuto Cellini (1837) from which the Roman Carnival Overture was derived, and the Requiem Mass (also of 1837) which had its inception in the spectacle of St. Peter's PEOPLE AHEAP OF THE TIMES FLY AIR FRANCE CHARLES MUNCH. Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra ONLY 11 HOURS S NON-STOP SUPER "G" CONSTEI-I.ATIONS Tourist and First Class Flights every Saturday from Boston. Daily from New York SAVE ON FAMILY TRAVEL -Write for Free Folder AIRTHE WORLD'SFRANCELARGEST AIRLINE SEE YOUR TRAVEL AGENT. OR AIR FRANCE. 493 Boylston St , Boston. 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Clothiers 2c Furnishers 114 WATERMAN STREET Free Parking in Rear of Store [5] Basilica — these are evidence of the lasting impression which Italy made upon his fervid imagination. Travelling about Europe and conducting orchestras in city after city, Berlioz found certain orchestral numbers, such as the excerpts from The Damnation of Faust or Romeo and Juliet extremely serviceable. Of this sort was his overture The Roman Carnival. He could usually count upon making something of a sensation, as when it was performed at Vienna and, to use his own words, **it exploded like a mass of fireworks, and was encored with a noise of feet and hands never heard except in Vienna." Elsewhere the piece had different fortunes, such as at St. Petersburg, where, amidst loud accla- mations for other of his works, it passed scarcely noticed. "A Viennese would hardly credit this," wrote Berlioz in his memoirs, "but scores have their destiny, like books and dramas, roses and thistles." If destiny smiled almost invariably upon The Roman Carnival, such was not the case with the opera, Benvenuto Cellini, from which it was derived (the Roman Carnival Overture was origi- c 2 H 4 6 E Chic Clothes Z T FOR H A E EVERY Y L R OCCASION E I S S E T Jones Warehouses, Inc. For more than 60 years rendering an exceptionally fine service in Furniture Storage, and in Dependable Moving both local and long distance. 59 Member: CENTRAL ST., PROVIDENCE, R. I. Aero Mayflower 1-0081 Nation-wide GA Moving Service "Rhode Island*s Largest Household Storage Firm** rei \ the con- nally the introduction to the second act of the opera). When the composer con- cert overture was first performed at the Salle Herz, did not always meet ducting, it was enthusiastically encored. Berlioz with such unanimous favor in his own city. The results were very dif- the Opera six ferent when Benvenuto Cellini was first produced at pronounced success years earlier (September lo, 1838) . To Berlioz a the assurance at the Opera was a very vital matter. Much in need of more than of an official position with a fixed income, he never received scant or grudging favor from the Conservatoire, while at the Opera, where a reasonable recognition would have solved his financial harass- or eva- ment once and for all, he invariably met with veiled hostility he sion. Whereupon Berlioz remained a feuilletonist, a routine which fulfilled with violent dislike. Forced to promote his music by concerts of his own arranging, he would engage battalions of players and, as often as not, find himself bankrupt when the affair was over. These were reasons why such a venture as Benvenuto Cellini was of ex- treme importance to him. fCOPYRIGH ted] \. NEW INTERIORS A\ — 680 no. main street • providence rhode island • jackson 1-6042 FINE CONTEMPORARY FURNISHINGS FOR THE HOME AND OFFICE . MODERN FURNITURE . FABRICS . CARPETING . LAMPS . ACCESSORIES • INTERIOR PLANNING [7] ELEGY TO THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND, SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Op. 44 By Howard Hanson Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, October 28, 1896 Howard Hanson has composed this Elegy for the 75th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was commissioned by the Orchestra and the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. The orchestra required includes 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes and English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba, harp, timpani and strings. THE Elegy opens with an expressive melody presented by the strings, at first canonically, and in 3/4 time. This melody, varied in de- velopment, is the basis of the piece. A section in 4/4 rhythm opening in the winds reaches a climax of intensity and subsides to a return of the original tempo (teneramente con simplicita) to a pianissimo ending. Howard Hanson's parents, Hans and Hilma Hanson, were of Swed- ish descent. First taught by his mother, Mr. Hanson continued his studies in Luther College and the University School of Music of his young folk's apparel and accessories 7 SO. ANGELL STREET (at Wayland Square) PROVIDENCE Smart Clothes . . . DRESS SHOPPE 334 Westminster Street - - * * Providence [3] native State. He studied composition at the Institute of Musical Art in New York with Percy Goetschius, and later at the Northwestern University School of Music at Evanston, under C. Lutkin and Arne Oldberg. Taking his degree in 1916, he taught at the College of the Pacific in San Jose, California. In 1921 he was elected to a three- year fellowship in composition at the American Academy in Rome. Returning to America in 1924, he was appointed director of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, New York, the position which he now holds. His First ("Nordic") Symphony was performed at the concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 5, 1929, the composer con- ducting. The Second ("Romantic") Symphony, composed for the fiftieth anniversary year of this orchestra, was first performed in that season (November 28, 1930) , Serge Koussevitzky conducting. The Third Symphony had its first concert performance November 3, 1939, by this orchestra, the composer conducting. The Fourth Symphony was introduced by this orchestra December 3, 1943. In addition to the symphonies. Dr. Hanson's orchestral works in- clude the symphonic poems North and West (1923), Lux Aeterna (1923), and Pan and tfie Priest (1926) . There is an Organ Concerto h L. ^ ^^^ tvict^ )v? -WByi^^d yt'O sf\ktV{C.t^ i l9l (1926), and a suite from The Merry Mount. This three-act opera to a libretto of Richard Stokes was produced by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York in 1932. Choral works include The Lament of Beowulf (1925) ; Heroic Elegy (1927) ; Songs from Drum Taps, after Walt Whitman (1935), and a transcription for chorus and orchestra of Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass (1937) . The Serenade for Flute, Harp, and Strings was performed by this orchestra October 25, 1946. Chamber works include a piano quintet, a piano quartet, and a string quartet. A Piano Concerto, composed for the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, had its first performance at the concerts of this orchestra, December 31, 1948. [copyrighted] (^^^^ Clothes for Meticulous Women Thayer a+ Angel I St. COATS - SUITS - DRESSES - GOWNS - HATS — BLOUSES Telephone MAnning 0506 (i)ttftelS.B>ti(JalCs 4IAIRDR6SS6RS 254 THAYER ST. 243 COUNTY ROAD PROVIDENCE, R. I. BARRINGTON, R. I. MA 1-0506 CHERRY 5-9221 WATCH HILL, R. I. W. H. 7110 t lo 1 SYMPHONY NO. 7, Op. 105 By Jean Sibelius Born December 8, 1865, at Tavastehus, Finland The symphony was first performed by the orchestra in Stockholm, Sibelius con- ducting, March 24, 1924, within the month of its completion. The first Helsingfors performance took place on April 25 of the same year, Kajanus conducting. The first performance in this country was by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski conductor, on April 3, 1926. Dr. Koussevitzky introduced the symphony to Boston on December 13 of the same year, and repeated it January 30, 1931, April 21, 1933, March 8, 1935, March "19, 1937, January 27, 1939, December 6, 1941, April 18, 1946^ and December 17, 1948. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 piccolos, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings. THE last three symphonies of Sibelius progressed by slow stages to their completion. In a statement made to Karl Ekman, his authentic biographer, Sibelius has said: "My work has the same fascination for me as when I was young, a fascination bound up with the difficulty of the task. Let no one imagine that composing is easier for an old composer, if he takes his art seriously. The demands one makes on himself have increased in the course of years. Greater We Cordially invite you to visit our extensive CLASSICAL RECORD LIBRARY We assure you of Seeing and Hearing the finest Recordings made. Our Staff of Courteous Sales Ladies are well versed in All aspects of the Classics. Our Long Playing, Records are specially priced Below factory sug- gested List prices. Open a Convenient Charge Account 99 WASHINGTON ST. DE 1-5610 «s HEADQUARreRS FOR [11] sureness makes one scorn, in a higher degree than formerly, solutions that come too easily, that follow the line of least resistance. One is always faced with new problems. The thing that has pleased me most is that I have been able to reject. The greatest labour I have expended, perhaps, was on works that have never been completed." The Fifth Symphony was begun in the first months of the world war, completed and performed in December, 1915. The composer revised it in 1916 and, after a performance, rewrote the entire score in late 1918 and 1919. Regretting perhaps the commitment of his score before it had met the final requirements of this most exacting of composers, Sibelius did not relinquish for performance his Sixth and Seventh symphonies until he had given years of careful thought to them. His letter of May 20, 1918, quoted by Karl Ekman, projects the Fifth Symphony in its second revision, and further symphonies as well — each of which he characterizes in a few words. The Seventh he calls "joy of life and vitality with appassionato passages. In 3 move- ments — the last an 'Hellenic rondo.* . . . **By all this I see how my innermost self has changed since the days of the fourth symphony. And these symphonies of mine are more in the nature of professions of faith than my other works." And in the same letter he says: "It looks as if I was to come out with all these three symphonies at the same time." But the Sixth Symphony was not completed until January 1923, nor was the Seventh ready until March, 1924. "On the second of March 1924, at night, as I entered in my diary, I completed fantasia sinfonica — that was what I at first thought of calling my Seventh symphony in one movement." These disclosures about the progress of his creative thoughts should For information about advertising in the Boston Symphony DISTINCT/V£ GIFTS IN Orchestra publica- • Copper . . Brass . . Silver tions write or call • Pewter . . Hand-wrought Jewelry Advertising Depart- REPAIRING OF ment, Symphony • Pev^ter . . Silverware Brass Hall, • Copper . . Jewelry 6-1492. SPECIAL ORDERS . . METAL POLISH CO ten Thomas Street Providence, Rhode island [12] not be taken as open proclamations. Sibelius, while always maintaining a quiet assurance about his achievements, has never been given to vaunting them. It seems more likely that his friend extracted his diary notes from him and pushed his assent into using them. His work in itself reveals the tendency here described toward rejecting conclusions that come too easily, especially observable in his increasing need of revision through the years. The transformation which had taken place between the First Symphony which was composed at the age of thirty-four and the Seventh, composed in his sixtieth year, is a sort of progress in reverse. The lasi is about half the length of the First. It is more modest in orchestration; it is concentrated and close-knit, sober in comparison to the former emotional exuberance and flam- boyant color. The "nationalism" which was once over-ascribed to the earlier music of Sibelius has quite given way to a personal idiom. It was often remarked 'in the 'twenties that Sibelius in his last four symphonies was courting a modest, almost an austere aesthetic, while composers elsewhere were expansive, employing ambitious programs, seeking to overwhelm. At that time they did not even write sym- For Better Luggage To suit the taste of the most discriminating LUGGAGE \ And Leather Goods From a carefully chosen selection VISIT Q PROVIDENCE, R. I. WAYLAND SQUARE 'Jne J-fames yiuk ^^^AOrJrOi Urn, ^. Ifjayuca (En. SOLID SILVER FLUTES — PICCOLOS 111-14 iJin'mum I %rrrt. HuuUnit ID. {l^a'u^. [13] phonies. This made Sibelius an individual, a lone artist "of the North." Subsequent "Neo-classic" trends have since proved him to have been a prophetic one. Cecil Gray, unlike such writers as Ernest Newman or Aaron Cop- land, who note the resemblance to a symphonic poem, directly accepts the composer's title. He would seem justified in that Sibelius, not impelled by a dramatic or poetic image, has proceeded abstractly, and so found his form, his fine integration, his unmistakably symphonic development. Mr. Gray writes: "Sibelius' Seventh Symphony is in one gigantic movement, based in the main upon the same structural principles as the first movement of the Sixth. That is to say, it has one chief dominating subject — a fanfare-like theme which first appears in a solo trombone near the outset and recurs twice, more or less integrally, and in addition a host of small, pregnant, fragmentary motives, of which at least a dozen play a prominent part in the unfolding of the action. The resourceful way in which these are varied, developed, juxtaposed, permuted, and combined into a continuous and homogeneous texture is one of the miracles of modern music; Sibelius himself has never done anything to equal it in this respect. If the Fourth represents the highest point to which he attains in the direction of economy of material and concision of form, the Seventh shows him at the summit of his powers in respect of fecundity of invention and subtlety and intricacy of r IN PROYIDEIVCE make your choice from the complete line of BALDWIN PIANOS and ORGANS at Rhode Island's Piano authorized Official BALDWIN DEALER Boston Symphony Orchestra {see back cover) 287 Weybosset St. (Across from Round Top Church) PIANOS a ORGANS Phone TEmple 1-6304 [14] 1 there 6nly one MUNCH ...and he's on Iav> ' In his I - ].c>v,„o.m book Am a Conductor - > BSBBBWE^i^iliil Other recordings by Munch: SV.MPIionjE FinM^TIQ&J: Charles Munch wrote, "Let no one be * *The Damnation of Faust astonished then that I consider my (Berlioz) (Complete). Three Long work a priesthood, not a profession. It Play records (LM-6114) $n.98. is not strong too a word. And like all ""'Romeo and Juliet (Berlioz) sacred callings, that of the conductor (Complete). Two Long Play records supposes a total self-renunciation (LM-6011) $7.98 and a profound humility." TCHV jS-Jf-M-f «oji8*f; **Bo$ton Symph., Munch. ••Boston Symph. Orch., • *A "New Orthophonic" High Fidelity recording. With Chorus, Shaw, Dir. Charles Munch, Conductor. Nationally Advertised Prices, Long Play (LM-1893) $3.98 Long Play (LM-1900) $3.98 [15] 1 design. It is not merely a consummate masterpiece of formal construc- tion, however, but also a work of great expressive beauty, of a lofty grandeur and dignity, a truly Olympian serenity and repose which are unique in modern music, and, for that matter, in modern art of any kind. It seems, indeed, to belong to a different age altogether, a different order of civilization, a different world almost — the world of classical antiquity." [copyrighted] SYMPHONY IN E MINOR, NO. 4, Op. 98 By Johannes Brahms Born at Hamburg, May 7, 1833; died at Vienna, April 3, 1897 The first two movements were composed in the summer of 1884; the remaining two in the summer of 1885. The Symphony had its first performance at Meiningen, October 25, 1885, under the direction of the composer. The Fourth Symphony was announced for its first performance in America by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, November 26, 1886. Wilhelm Gericke duly con- ducted the symphony on Friday, November 25, but he was not satisfied with the performance, and withdrew the score for further preparation, substituting the First Symphony by Robert Schumann. Since the Friday performance was considered a "'public rehearsal," although, according to a newspaper account, Mr. Gericke did inot at any point stop the orchestra, this was not called a "first performance," and the honor went to the Symphony Society of New York on December 11, Walter Damrosch conducting. The Boston performance took place on December 23. The orchestration includes 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and contra-bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, triangle and strings. WHEN Brahms returned to Vienna at the end of September 1885, Max Kaibeck sat with him over a cup of cofiEee and pressed him as far as he dared for news about the musical fruits of the past sum- mer. He asked as a leading question whether there might be a quartet. " 'God forbid,' said Brahms, according to Kalbeck's account in his Anita Davis-Chasb Announces MYRA HESS SYMPHONY HALL SUNDAY AFT. MARCH 1 Check and self addressed stamped envelope must accompany mall orders which are now being filled at the Box Office Tickets: $4.40, $3.85. $3.30. $2.75. $2.20. $1.65. $1.10 {tax incl.) Steinway Piano fi6] biography, *I have not been so ambitious. I have put together only a few bits in the way of polkas and waltzes. If you would like to hear them, I'll play them for you.' I went to open the piano. 'No,' he protested, 'let it alone. It is not so simple as all that. We must get hold of Nazi* He meant Ignaz Briill and a second piano. Now I realized that an important orchestral work, probably a symphony, was afoot, but I was afraid to ask anything more for I noticed that he already regretted having let his tongue run so far. "A few days later he invited me to an Ehrbar evening — a musical gathering in the piano warerooms of Friedrich Ehrbar. There I found Hanslick, Billroth, Brahms, Hans Richter, C. F. Pohl, and Gustav Dompke. While Brahms and Briill played, Hanslick and Bill- roth turned the manuscript pages. Dompke and I, together with Richter, read from the score. It was just as it had been two years before at the trying-out of the Third Symphony, and yet it was quite different. After the wonderful Allegro, one of the most substantial, but also four-square and concentrated of Brahms' movements, I waited for one of those present to break out with at least a Bravo. I did not feel important enough to raise my voice before the older and more Hear these performances come ''ALIVE'' with new RCA Victor high fidelity CHARLES MUNCH . . . Among the exciting performances conducted by Charles Munch which are yours on RCA Victor "New Orthophonic" High Fidelity Records: Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (Complete) Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust (com- plete) Berlioz: Romeo and Juliet (complete) Brahms: Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat. Artur Rubinstein, pianist Honegger: Symphony No. 5 Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane Ravel: Pavane for a Dead Princess rcaVictor FIRST IN RECORDED MUSIC ^ew Orthophonic" High Fidelity Recording [17] famous friends of the master. Richter murmured something in his blond beard which might have passed for an expression of approval; Briill cleared his throat and fidgeted about in his chair. The others stubbornly made no sound, and Brahms himself said nothing ta break the paralyzed silence. Finally Brahms growled out, 'Well, let's go onl' — the sign to continue: whereupon Hanslick uttered a heavy sigh as if he felt that he must unburden himself before it was too late, and said quickly, 'The whole movement gave me the impression of two people pummelling each other in a frightful argument.' Everyone laughed, and the two continued to play. The strange- sounding, melody-laden Andante impressed me favorably, but again brought no comment, nor could I bring myself to break this silence with some clumsy banality." Kalbeck, who had borne nobly with Brahms up to this point, found the Scherzo "unkempt and heavily humorous," and the finale a splen- did set of variations which nevertheless in his opinion had no place at the end of a symphony. But he kept his counsel for the moment, and the party broke up rather lamely with little said. When he met Brahms the next day it was clear that the composer had been taken aback by this reception of his score. " 'Naturally I noticed yesterday that the symphony didn't please you and I was much troubled. If people like Billroth, Hanslick, or you others do not like my music, who can be expected to like it?' *I don't know what Hanslick and Billroth may think of it,' I answered, 'for I haven't said a word to them. I only know that if I had been fortunate enough to be the composer of such a work, and could have the satisfaction of knowing that I had put three such splendid movements together, I would not be disturbed. If it were for me to say, I would take the scherzo with its sudden main theme and banal second thoughts and throw it in the wastebasket, while the masterly chaconne would stand on its own as a set of variations, leaving the remaining two movements to find more suitable companions.' " Kalbeck was surprised at his own temerity m venturing so far with the sensitive and irascible composer, and waited for the heavens to descend, but Brahms received this judgment meekly, only protesting that the piano could give no adequate idea of the scherzo, which had no connection whatever with the keyboard, and that Beethoven in the Eroica and elsewhere had made use of a varia- tion finale. It was plain that he was in serious doubt as to whether the symphony would be accepted at all. He decided, however, after a long conversation, that having gone so far he must see it through, and that a rehearsal with orchestra at Meiningen could be hoped to give a more plausible account of the symphony and even to give the "nasty scherzo" a presentable face. The opinion of the discerning Von Bulow was more encouraging. [»8] He wrote after the first rehearsal: "Number four is stupendous, quite original, individual, and rock-like. Incomparable strength from stan to finish." But Brahms may have discounted this as a personally biased opinion, as he certainly discounted the adoring Clara Schumann and LisI Herzogenberg, when he weighed their words against the chilling skepticism of his male cTonies. The Fourth Symphony was greeted at its first performances with a good deal of the frigidity which Brahms had feared. The com- poser was perforce admired and respected. The symphony was praised — with reservations. It was actually warmly received at Leipzig, where there was a performance at the Gewandhaus on February 18, 1886. In Vienna, where the symphony was first heard by the Philharmonic under Ricbter, on January 17, it was different. "Though the symphony was applauded by the public," writes Florence May, "and praised by all but the inveterately hostile section of the press, it did not reach the hearts of the Vienna audience in the same unmistakable manner as its two immediate predecessors, both of which had made a more striking impression on a first hearing in Austria than the First Symphony in C minor" (apparently Vienna preferred major symphonies!). Even in Meiningen, where the composer con- ducted the Symphony with Billow's orchestra, the reception was mixed. It took time and repetition to disclose its great qualities. [copyrighted] VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM PROVIDENCE Season 1955 — 1956 Boston Symphony Orchestra CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor Fourth Concert TUESDAY EVENING, February 28, at 8:15 Tickets for the February 28 Concert will be on sale beginning Tuesday, February 21, at the Avery Piano Co. 256 Weybosset St., Providence K [19] PROVIDENCE MUSIC TEACHERS' DIRECTORY AVIS BLIVEN CHARBONNEL CONCERT PIANIST and TEACHER 123 BENEVOLENT STREET ARTHUR EINSTEIN PIANIST Former Professor of Piano at the Odessa ConserAatory Studios: 16 Conrad Bldg., 3^9 Morris Avenue Phone: GA 1144 CONCERT PIANIST - TEACHER Graduate of European Conservatories State Accredited in Germany 168 Lloyd Avenue Phone: DE 1-5667 PIANO TUNING HERBERT E. WOOD REGISTERED TECHNICIAN REPAIRING — REBUILDING — DEMOTHING PIANOS BOUGHT AND SOLD GA 1-8781 — 434 BROOK ST. — PROVIDENCE Edna Bradley Wood PIANIST - TEACHER Beginners to Artist Pupils Pupils prepared for Public Performances 434 BROOK ST., PROVIDENCE - GA 1-8781 [•20] :; RCA VICTOR RECORDS BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Recorded, under the leadership of CHARLES MUNCH Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5, 7 Berlioz "Fantastic Symphony" Overture to "Beatrice and Benedick" "Romeo and Juliet" (complete) "Summer Nights" (De Los Angeles) "The Damnation of Faust" (complete) Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rubinstein) Symphony No. 4 Brvch Violin Concerto No. 1 (Menuhin) Chausson "Po^me" for Violin and Orchestra (Oistrakh) Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brailowsky) Dchussy "The Blessed Damozel" (De Los Angeles) Handel "Water Music" Suite (arr. Harty) Haydn Symphony No. 104 Honegger Symphonies Nos. 2, 5 Lalo Overture to "Le Roi d'Ys" il/ewo/#j Violin Concerto (Spivakovsky) Mozart Overture to "The Marriage of Figaro" Ravel "Daphnis and Chloe" (complete) ; "La Valse" "Pavane for a Dead Princess" ; "Rapsodie Espagnole" Roussel "Bacchus and Ariane," Suite No. 2 Saint-Saens "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" (Oistrakh) Overture to "La Princesse Jaune" Piano Concerto No. 4 (Brailowsky) Schuhert Symphonies Nos. 2, 8 ("Unfinished" Symphony) Schumann Overture to "Genoveva" Symphonj'- No. 1 Strauss "Don Quixote" (Soloist, Piatigorsky) Tchaikovsky Yiolin ConQerto (Milstein) Among the recordings under the leadership of SERGE koUSSEVITZKY Bach Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1, Mozart "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" 6 ; Suites Nos. 1, 4 Serenade No. 10, for Woodwinds Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 3, 5, 9 Symphonies Nos. 36, "Linz" ; 39 Berlioz "Harold in Italy"( Primrose) P/'oA-o/rejS^ "Classical" Symphony ; "Lt. Brahms Symphony No. 3 ; Violin Con- Kije" Suite ; "Romeo and Juliet." certo ( Heifetz ) Suite No. 2 ; Symphony No. 5 Copland "A Lincoln Portrait"; "Ap- Violin Concerto No. 2 (Heifetz) palachian Spring" ; "El Salon Mex- Rachmaninoff "Isle of the Dead" ico" Ravel "Bolero"; "Ma Mere L'Oye" Hanson Symphony No. 3 Suite Harris Symphony No. 3 ScJiuhert Symphony in B Minor, "Un- Haydn Nos. Symphonies 92, "Oxford" ; finished" 94, "Surprise" Sihelius Symphonies Nos. 2, 5 Khatchaturian Piano Concerto Strauss, R. "Don Juan" (Kapell) Tchaikovsky Serenade in C; Sym- Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, "Ital- phonies Nos. 4, 5 ian" Wagner Siegfried Idyll Recorded under the leadership of PIERRE MONTEUX Liszt "Les Preludes" Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6, "Path^- Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 12, 18 tique" (Lbli Kraus) Demes Ballets "Sylvia," "Coppelia" 5fcna6in "The Poem of Ecstasy" by Members of the Boston Sym- Stravinsky "Le Sacre du Printemps" phony Orchestra Recorded under the leadership of Leonard Bernstein Stravinsky "L'Histoire du Soldat" ; Octet for Wind Instruments The above recordings are available on Long Play (33% r.p.m.) and (in some cases) 45 r.p.m. to/no CHARLES MUNCH Music Director ". . . . the Baldwin is unequalled in Concerto works with orchestra or in recital." THE BALDWIN PIANO COMPANY CINCINNATI, OHIO lafiitDm BALDWIN GRAND PIANOS • ACROSONIC SPINET AND CONSOLE PIANOS HAMILTON STUDIO PIANOS • BALDWIN AND ORGA-SONIC ELECTRONIC ORGANS