^k ^ 39 BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDED IN 1881 BY' HENRY LEE HIGGINSON X 'Wll 5^v (UllilUUU H #1 SIXTY-SEVENTH SEASON 1947-1948 Metropolitan Theatre, Providence Friends of the Boston Symphony and Opera Lovers Radio Station WFCI has the honor to present The Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY Tuesday Nights at 9:30 o'clock also The Metropolitan Opera Saturday Afternoons at 2 o'clock Metropolitan Theatre, Providence SIXTY-SEVENTH SEASON, 1947-1948 Boston Symphony Orchestra SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor Concert Bulletin of the Second Concert TUESDAY EVENING, November 18 with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot . President Henry B. Sawyer . Vice-President Richard C. Paine . Treasurer Philip R. Allen Francis W. Hatch John Nicholas Brown M. A. De Wolfe Howe Alvan T. Fuller Jacob J. Kaplan Jerome D. Greene Roger I. Lee N. Penrose Hallowell Raymond S. Wilkins Oliver Wolcott George E. Judd, Manager [»] : SYMPHONIANA THE MANOR ROOM MENDELSSOHN ANNIVERSARY for excellent food {Died November 4, 1847) From a number of comments which <§> the anniversary has brought forth, the following by Olin Downes is quoted from the New York Times of last Sun- day (October 26) THE SKY ROOM "To what shall we attribute his joy- ous and unclouded expression, the for choice cocktails harmonious productiveness and the wholly exceptional balance of head, hand and heart which made the com- posing of so much beautiful music so easy for him? Because of the whole- ness of his nature and his uncomplicated Excellent Facilities for psychology Mendelssohn could stand firm, not with obstinacy or partisanship, BANQUETS but with the sure instinct for symmetry and balance that was his, against all RECEPTIONS the fierce currents and eddies of the romantic era in music. Mendelssohn has WEDDINGS been misrepresented as a disciple of convention, a polite society man in music. This is unjust. It was not Men- delssohn's motive, it was his inalienable impulse to write just such polished, artistically distinguished and socially acceptable music as he did. This does WAYLAND not mean that he was superficial. His knowledge of his craft and his in- tellectual horizons were far too exten- MANOR sive for that. To this phenomenon we must go back of Mendelssohn to his heredity. n%&# I EL "The thing that made Felix Mendels- Mary F. Hanley, Manager sohn so great and that has kept his music alive was his culture, and the moral and intellectual background which Providence, R. I. brought his gifts into being. This re- 500 ANGELL STREET sulted not from his father's wealth, or connections, but from an earlier fore- PL. 7700 bear, and all that was accomplished by that individual for his people. We are speaking of the little hunchbacked [2] /-"- Jewish school teacher and philosopher, *w; Felix's grandfather, Moses, son of Iv.J Mendel, who was the original of Lessing's "Nathan the Wise"; from whose German translation of the books of the Pentateuch and other parts of the Bible the Jews learned the German language and developed in them the de- sire for German nationality; whose 'Phaedon,' modeled on Plato's dialogue of the same name, earned him the title in many mouths of the 'German Plato' *\6 Co$T^%n*S or 'Socrates,' and who devoted his life to. the culture and emancipation of his If1 people. Moses, early given the right of the protected Jews, expressed the prin- fill **# And Xat>uUu> ciple of a possible plurality of truths, and the idea that different religions Co 1| ecXio>\ <jT might be suitable to different indi- viduals. Sometimes described as the Luther of the German Jews, Moses remained in his own religion, but his urn Vpvtcf JmJ sIiokk descendants, comprising a brilliant circle, of which Felix the composer was the most famous, left the syna- gogue for the church, and this without the weakening but rather strengthening •ill \qo.. all a£t<H/ Judaism and achieving the denunciation of intolerance and anti-Semitism which made Germany of the first half of the nineteenth century one of the liberal and progressive states of the world. "Mendelssohn was neither revolu- tionist nor iconoclast, nor a genius acci- dental in a family. He was one of those rare figures who appear at a certain time in an art, in a moment of perfect equilibrium. He was the flower of a culture and a great ideal; an accumula- tion of ancestors. And the spirit of old Moses must have smiled when his grandson remarked, with a laugh, that he, a Jew, in reviving Bach's St. Matthew Passion, had thus restored this great work of faith to Christianity." Vf U/|^TT//v!// v [4-3 Avery Piano Co. is proud to represent EXCLUSIVELY in Rhode Island, Nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut Territory .... "THE INSTRUMENT OF THE IMMORTALS" th6 STEINWAY p,ano GRANDS AND SPINETS CAPEHART and MAGNAVOX RADIO — PHONOGRAPHS R.C.A. VICTOR ZENITH PHILCO EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVES FOR WURLITZER ORGANS FORMERLY THE EVERETT ORGATRON Records - Music - Tuning - Repairing Avery Piano Co. Sole Steinway Representative in Rhode Island, Eastern Conn., and Fall River Territory 256 WEYBOSSET ST. 212 THAMES ST., NEWPORT [4] Metropolitan Theatre, Providence Two Hundred and Ninety-third Concert in Providence Boston Symphony Orchestra SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Music Director SECOND CONCERT TUESDAY EVENING, November 18 Program CHARLES MUNCH Conducting Debussy "Iberia" ("Images" for Orchestra, No. 2) I. Par les rues et par les chemins (In the streets and byways) II. § Les parfums de la nuit (The fragrance of the night) III. \ Le matin d'un jour de fete (The morning of a festival day) Roussel Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 42 I. Allegro vivo II. Adagio III. Vivace IV. Allegro con spirito intermission Faure Suite from the Incidental Music to Maeterlinck's Tragedy, "Pelleas et Melisande," Op. 80 Prelude quasi adagio "Fileuse," Andantino quasi allegretto Adagio Sicilienne Franck Symphony in D minor I. Lento; allegro non troppo II. Allegretto III. Allegro non troppo BALDWIN PIANO VICTOR RECORDS In conformance with City Regulations ladies are respectfully requested to remove their hats The concerts on Tuesday Evenings will be broadcast (9:30 — 10:30) on the network of the American Broadcasting Company. [51 CHARLES MUNCH Charles Munch was born at Strasbourg, Alsace, in 1895. His father was the founder of the Saint Guillaume Chorus in Strasbourg, and it was at home, under his father's guidance, that he first studied violin, harmony, and singing. He went to Paris before the first World War, and studied violin with Lucien Capet. In 1919 he was made professor at the Strasbourg Conservatory, and later conductor of the orchestra. He gained further experience in what was destined to be his career when he worked under Wilhelm Furtwangler at the Gewand- haus Concerts in Leipzig. He returned to Paris, where in 1930 he founded the Orchestre de la Societe Philharmonique de Paris. In 1937 he succeeded Philippe Gaubert as the conductor of the Societe des concerts du Conservatoire. M. Munch, visiting America last season and several European countries in the spring and summer, has appeared many times as guest conductor (he conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra on December 27-28. Returning this season, he has conducted concerts of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society and will visit other or- chestras of our East and West. xe ro d-fTlu SIC si^ccLIxm&m stuurn ejitsmt Established 1910 45 Snow Street—Providence 3, R. I. GA 4833 Publishers—Importers—Dealers Headquarters for the Music Profession Ifofttotn aft ffianpjf CHOOSE YOUR. PIANO AS THE ARTISTS DO - — — COME. IN AND BROWSE:—Band and orchestral instruments and music—Popular music, new and old—Music teachers' and Music School supplies-—Records, all makes, Classic, Popular and Jazz—Repair department. 37 Years of Continuous Service to the Music Profession tmimmm^ METAL CRAFTS SHOP The specialty shop for things in metal Antique and modern copper, brass and pewter. Jewelry and small pieces of silver. Excellent metal polish,—repairing,—restoring. 10 THOMAS STREET, PROVIDENCE, R.l. [6] "IBfiRIA," "IMAGES," for Orchestra, No. 2 By Claude Debussy Born at St. Germain (Seine-et-Oise), France, August 22, 1862; died at Paris, March 25, 1918 Debussy completed the "Rondes de Printemps" in 1909, "Iberia" in 1910, and "Gigues" in 1912. The three "Images" as published bore numbers in reverse order. "Iberia" was first performed by Gabriel Pierne at a Colonne concert in Paris, February 20, 1910. It had its first performance in America, January 3, 1911, under Gustav Mahler, at a concert of the New York Philharmonic Society. The first performance in Boston was on April 21, 1911, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Max Fiedler, conductor. More recent performances at these concerts have been on December 22, 1911; April 3, 1914; April 13, 1917; October 25, 1918; February 17, 1922; January 22, 1926; October 7, 1927; February 22, 1929; October 30, 1042, and January 28, 1944 (Vladimir Golschmann conducting) , and December 21, 1945 (Fritz Reiner con- ducting) . The orchestration requires three flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, three clarinets, three bassoons and contra-bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, tambourine, castanets, military drum, cymbals, xylophone, celesta, bells, two harps and strings. ebussy wrote to Durand, his publisher, on May 16, 1905, of his D plan to compose a set of "Images" (a conveniently noncommit- For Better Luggage To suit the taste ttAllLmQ of the most discriminating— MunTflJw And Leather Goods ^naQ^ From a carefully chosen selection VISIT C Of. W. <^ound± Co, JM. 52 Washington Street PROVIDENCE, R. I. BUY WORDS "THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION AT WORK" as edited by BEN CLOUGH is a wondrous collection of tales true and false and we're selling-* it here, and how! *$6.00 a copy postpaid BoOlC SHOD (plus 6tf tax in Rhode Island) 5 GrOSVeiiOFjBuildirg THE BOOK SHOP 5 Grosvenor Building *Providertce 3Ml providence 3 rhode island [7] tal title) for two pianos, to be called I.