^tfr^ SYMPHONY HALL, BOSTON SIXTY-EIGHTH SEASON, 1948-1949 CONCERT BULLETIN of the Boston Symphony Orchestra SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk COPYRIGHT, 1949, BY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. The TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot President Jacob J. Kaplan . Vice-President Richard C. Paine Treasurer Philip R. Allen M. A. De Wolfe Howe John Nicholas Brown Roger I. Lee Alvan T. Fuller Lewis Perry Jerome D. Greene Henry B. Sawyer N. Penrose Hallowell Raymond S. Wilkins Francis W. Hatch Oliver Wolcott George E. Judd, Manager [997] © © © © © to © go^g © *T bat's L °* COST © W © happen w © © © Property?! © Your © ^nawmut Bank © © © His new booklet shows how the Personal Trust Department of the Shawmut Bank can help you in the management of your property during your own © lifetime, as well as providing for its future conser- vation. 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Whether your resources © are large or small, you should know the facts set © forth in this booklet. © © Call at any of our 2f convenient offices, write or telephone © LA 3-6800 for our booklet: © "Conserving Tour Property at Lo<uo Cost" © © © © © The Vtytional © © Shawmut Bank © © 40 Water Street, Boston © Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation © © Capital and Surplus $30,000,000 © "Outstanding Strength" for 113 Years © © © [998] : SYMPHONIANA "Doctor of Humanities" Exhibition Britten's New Symphony "DOCTOR OF HUMANITIES" When an honorary degree was con- ferred upon Serge Koussevitzky by Rol- lins College at Winter Park, Florida, last February, the following "oration" was delivered by Nathan Comfort Starr: Those who are familiar with per- formances of the Boston Symphony Or- chestra can never forget those electrify- ing moments when, with the orchestra playing fortissimi, at a time when other conductors would be demanding the eyes of the audience by dramatically outflung gestures, Serge Koussevitzky drops his hands for some measures and carries the performance forward by the quick glance and the lift of the head. Here is a symbol both of the confident command of the conductor and his respect for the artist which have given Koussevitzky a place virtually unique in modern music. That anomaly among imaginative creators, a perfectionist who has seen his perfection achieved, he has made the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra during the twenty-five years of conductorship an unbelievably women unified^ flexible and beautiful instrument. He has brought to the West the im- who peccable musicianship of Europe. And know he has brought something else which is close to the American heart, something and that he may have learned in his younger days when he carried a symphony or- appreciate chestra by river steamer to remote parts of Russia: a deep faith in the creative fine musical capacity of a great people. It is safe to say that no one man has done things • • . more than Koussevitzky to befriend and develop the modern American composer Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Walter Piston and a host of others; no one man has built a more enduring musical institution in America than the Berk- shire Festival and School of Music. Mr. President, I have the honor to present Serge Koussevitzky for the de- gree of Doctor of Humanities. President Holt: Serge Koussevitzky, surpassing musi- cian, not only as one of the greatest masters in musical history of that diffi- cult instrument, the double bass, but Boston also as the presiding genius over an in- comparable orchestra, you have won the Providence right to America's enduring gratitude. Wellesley For your consummate artistry as a con- T999] ductor, for the fruitful vigor of your en- couragement to young American com- posers and for the vision which led you to create at "Tanglewood" a great cen- anaier s ter for the enrichment of the most uni- Cnandl versal of the seven arts, Rollins College Tremont and West Streets is proud to confer on you the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities, and admit you to all its rights and privileges. EXHIBITION Spring . Eric Gill There are now on exhibition in the a Gallery a collection of wood-engravings and by Eric Gill and seven cartoons by Jobic Duvivier for frescoes never ac- tually executed. There are in all eight charming pictures, among these four of the mira- cles of Christ and four of the parables. The wood-engravings of Eric Gill hat show in a few selected examples the graphic work of this master stone-cutter and craftsman. Gill refused to recognize any difference between artist and crafts- . synonymous man, and always preferred to think of himself as the latter. His earliest train- in women's minds! ing, after a brief apprenticeship in archi- tecture, was in lettering, and from 1901 he began to gain recognition in England as an inscription cutter. Lettering on stone and wood led to additions like Our Millinery Salon right armorial bearings, and other decorative devices, and so Gill naturally turned now is a place of enchant- to the designing of book-plates, head and ment! Originals from such tail pieces, and restrained ornamentation of the printed page. He thus approached famous designers as Lad- the woodcut via typography, and it was not until about 1909 that he attempted die Northridge . Leslie to represent the human figure, or to ex- James . G. Howard tend his graphic work to include illustra- tions of the printed text. the first Hodge . Walter Florell From these illustrations showed a pleasing as well as the modestly rhythmic grace; he always avoided the priced beauties bring you too-naturalistic, preferring to be formal and abstract, and the content was always infinite variety! Wide and subordinated to the design. Gill's romantic brims . little, Until 1924 Eric woodcuts and wood-engravings, with the exception of hats. green close Avocado a few commissions, were done mainly to . French lilac . nat- please himself. In that year he began to work for the Golden Cockerel Press, urals through to glisten- and this association resulted in a notable ing black! series of illustrations. It also marked a change in his graphic style. Whereas much of his independent work had been MILLINERY SALON wood-engraving which, when printed, showed a white line on a black back- SECOND FLOOR ground, his new publishers objected that this was not suitable for combination with type. Gill accordingly gave up this kind of illustration and concentrated more upon black-line design on a white [ 1000 ] ground. Some of his most successful illustrations are here exhibited, such as the series for the "Song of Songs" (1925), the "Song of the Soul" (1927) and the "Passion of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas." An interesting discovery resulted from Gill's attempt to turn away from white-line design on black. He found that wood-engravings could be printed like copper plates — the ink rubbed into the engraved line and the surface wiped clean. The advantage is that, as in metal- plate engraving, the design stands out in black line. And with careful wiping of the block, the grain of the wood can be made to give a pleasing surface tone to the background of the print. Some of Gill's designs, therefore, exist in two types of impression: relief-printing in white line, and intaglio printing in black line, both from the same block. A comparison of the two is most interest- ing. No reference to Eric Gill is complete without mention of his devout Catholi- cism, and this explains why so much of his work is religious in subject matter. It was Gill's conviction, as stated in his writings, that Religion, Love and Art are inseparable, and that to re- veal absolute beauty is the task of every artist. R. S. M. • • • BRITTEN'S NEW SYMPHONY The following paragraph appeared in the "New York Times": — Representatives of the Holland Festi- val announced some time ago they would be presenting the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's "Spring Symphony." But Mr. Britten himself, it seems, has promised the first performance to Serge Koussevitzky. We have received a copy of a letter the composer wrote the con- ductor in November. Calling it "my latest child, your 'Spring Symphony'," he wrote: "I am hopeful that it will be done in time for you to play the work in April. I will let you have bulletins from time to time so that you can make your programs accordingly. 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