SYMPHONY HALL, BOSTON HUNTINGTON AND MASSACHUSETTS AVENUES Branch Exchange Telephone, Ticket and Administration Offices, Com. 1492 FIFTY-SIXTH SEASON, 1936-1937 CONCERT BULLETIN of the Boston Symphony Orchestra INCORPORATED SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Conductor Richard Burgin, Assistant Conductor with historical and descriptive notes By John N. Burk COPYRIGHT, 1936, BY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. The OFFICERS and TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Bentley W. Warren .... President Henry B. Sawyer Vice-President Ernest B. Dane . Treasurer Allston Burr Roger I. Lee Henry B. Cabot Richard C. Paine Ernest B. Dane Henry B. Sawyer Alvan T. Fuller PierpOnt L. Stackpole N. Penrose Hallowell Edward A. Taft M. A. De Wolfe Howe Bentley W. Warren G. E. Judd, Manager C. W. Spalding, Assistant Manager [473] . Old Colony Trust Company 17 COURT STREET, BOSTON The principal business of this company is 1 Investment of funds and management of property for living persons. 2. Carrying out the provisions of the last will and testament of deceased persons. Our officers would welcome a chance to dis- cuss with you either form of service. ^Allied with The First National Bank a/' Boston [ 474 ] SYMPHONIANA Debussy and Koussevitzky — Rach- maninoff — "Music and the Multitude" DEBUSSY AND KOUSSEVITZKY In the winter of 1913 Debussy was invited by Koussevitzky to conduct a concert of his own music in Moscow and another in St. Petersburg. The com- poser was received with immense en- thusiasm by his many Russian admirers. The programme of the concert is here reproduced: Mf.TBF-PTblM • This and^other hand ClMfOHHHECKIH KOHUEPTb. -made ; c m, Glass; also unusual and attrac- UiKAfO. tive Gifts may be obtained in our recently opened Gallery at 77 N EWBURY STREET MRS. WM. FAVERSHAM, Jr. MR. JOSEPH HELLING MR. GEORGE R. SHAW, 2nd (The above programme announces a con- cert at "The Hall of the Nobles," Wednes- day evening, November 27, 1913, Debussy conducting- Koussevitzky's orchestra in the following of his works: Nocturnes — "Nuages" and "Fetes"; Rhapsody for Clari- net; "La Mer"; "Prelude a l'apres midi DESIGNERS OF INTERIORS d'un faune" ; the Images "Gigues" and "Rondes de printemps"; and Marche Ecos- saise.) CONSULTANT DECORATORS In his turn, Debussy recorded his im- pressions of Koussevitzky in an article contributed to La Revue Musicale S. I. M., January 1, 1914, and here BELL & FLETCHER, Ltd. translated: 654 Madison Avenue 77 Newbury Street "M. S. Koussevitzky invited me to NEW YORK CITY . BOSTON come and conduct two orchestral con- Regent 4-5670 Commonwealth 1425 certs, one in St. Petersburg, the other in Moscow. [475] H "These concerts were devoted exclu- sively to the works of Claude Debussy. The "Perfect Gift- Never have I heard so many of them at a single time. It will be understood why I can't enlarge on this subject, but a year of the I may be permitted in any case to speak plainly of the artistic value of the or- chestra assembled by the only Kousse- vitzky, one clearly distinguished by an exact discipline, and a devotion to music Atlantic which gleams in but few of the cities of our ancient Europe. SPECIAL GIFT RATE "One recalls that M. S. Koussevitzky was an incomparable virtuoso of the double-bass — an instrument which does $3.50 not generally inspire confidence. For this reason this particular group of in- struments takes on in his orchestra an Own Subscription .... $4.00 unexpected tonal value — it is truly this ($3.00 if accompanied by a 'base,' at times solid, at times tumult- gift order) uous yet impalpable, on which all pos- AND sible orchestral values play liberally, fearlessly. on all new subscriptions we "During the summer, the Koussevit- will send without charge the zky orchestra ascends the Volga in one December number, which in- of those triple-decked boats such as are cludes a treat for patrons of the to be seen on the Swiss Lakes, stop- Boston Symphony Orchestra. ping wherever it is possible to find a NOTES hall, not a concert hall but one where ON CONDUCTING one could honestly make music. Kousse- Conversations with vitzky told us that he has seldom en- Koussevitzky countered a public more docile or more by sympathetic. Their emotion is so sin- cere that they forget to applaud. One Sylvia G. Dreyfus should by no means put this down as stupidity, but rather bear in mind that Gift Name- those who could not pay for their Address places, instead of resorting to the strat- agem of the complimentary ticket, pay Own Name_ their way with a present of fruits of the earth. Address "Here we have the finest homage to Donor which can be paid to music. Certainly Send gift card it is worth more than that barbarous to Gift Name noise, which consists of striking the hands one against the other, generally THE ATLANTIC adopted by our most informed dilet- MONTHLY tantes. "Those things which are particularly 8 Arlington Street, Boston, fine, let us say it again, proclaim a Massachusetts considerable diversity of qualities. These are combined in the person of [476] S. Koussevitzky, whose ardor in the service of music is such, so it seems to us, that henceforth it should know no obstacles." — Claude Debussy. Kranich & Bach RACHMANINOFF Priced from $ 675 Makers of the world's finest small grand, mastercraftsmen have been building the Kranich & Bach since 1864 and it is one of the few pianos still manufac- Sergei Rachmaninoff his performed tured by members of the origi- Third Pianoforte Concerto with the Or- nal families who founded the chestra in the season past. The Russian company. artist, appearing once more at the con- certs of next week, will be heard in the The exquisite tone quality and first Boston performance of his most unusual volume of the Kranich recent work for Piano and Orchestra, & Bach baby grand are an his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. achievement of modern science. In reconditioned grands we "MUSIC AND THE MULTITUDE" offer Steinways, Chickerings, Ivers & Pond, Knabe, C. C. The following editorial, which ap- Harvey, Charles S. Norris, peared in the Boston Globe December Hazelton. Priced from $150. 14 last, is here quoted in part: "In Athens stands and has stood for Small uprights and grands 2,270 years a beautiful little marble rented at low rates. monument still copied in a thousand parks all over Europe and America. It Convenient Terms is in the form of a circular temple to serve as base for the bronze tripod Norris €r Company won by Lysicrates, the Athenian citizen INCORPORATED who paid for the training of the chorus 41 Boylston Street, Boston which took the prize at that Spring's (Between Arlington and Berkeley Sts. ) Dionysian Festival. His donation was Established 1852 Tel. COM 3033 called a 'liturgy,' or public service. {Continued on next to last page) [477] -Cfjanbler & Co.- TREMONT AND WEST STREETS We PRINT the Fashion News for North and South! HalfS ize Dresses 16 .95 o Bright prints for town • Tuxedo coat-dresses show solid color crepe under print • Southern prints with short sleeves for slope- brimmed hats Bright flower prints they are, with a dash of this color and a small bit of that, blended with lots of brown or black! They flare out under coat- Third effects in town colors. With Floor long sleeves, they make grand luncheon dresses. With short, at fluttery sleeves they're South- Chandler's bound. T478 1 FIFTY-SIXTH SEASON, NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX AND THIRTY-SEVEN Tenth Programme THURSDAY AFTERNOON, December 24, at 2:30 o'clock SATURDAY EVENING, December 26, at 8:15 o'clock Debussy Music from "Le Martyre de Saint-Sebastien" (Mystery Play of Gabriele d'Annunzio) I. The Court of Lilies II. The Magic Chamber III. The Council of the False Gods IV. The Broken Laurel V. Paradise THE CECILIA SOCIETY (Arthur Fiedler, Conductor) Soprano Solo: OLGA AVERINO INTERMISSION Dvorak Concerto in B minor for Violoncello, Op. 104 I. Allegro II. Adagio ma non troppo III. Finale: Allegro moderato SOLOIST GREGOR PIATIGORSKY This programme will end about 4:40 on Thursday Afternoon, 10:25 o'clock on Saturday Evening [479] CO TO ALL NEW ENGLAND . ALL OUR GOOD WISHES FOR THE C^h rii±tma± ^saion! And all our good wishes, inci- dentally are an even blend of the spirit that put Shakespeare to saying So hallow'd and so gracious is the time . with that of the early ballad that so feelingly prescribed . Without the door let sorrow lie And if for cold it hap to die Well bury it in a Christmas -pie And evermore be merry! [ 48o] "THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINT SEBASTIAN" (Mystery Play of Gabriele d'Annunzio)* By Claude Debussy Born at Saint-Germain (Seine-et-Oise), France, August 22, 1862; died at Paris, March 25, 1918 When, in the spring of 1911, a new score of Debussy was an- nounced for performance at the Chatelet — incidental music to a play of d'Annunzio in French verse — "Le Martyre de Saint-Sebas- tien" which had been commissioned by Mine. Ida Rubinstein, musi- cians shook their heads in doubt. It was probably just another of the commissions which the composer accepted for the fee it would bring, and looked upon with unmistakable dislike, such as the incidental music to "King Lear," or the ballet for Diaghilev, "Masques et Ber- gamasques" (which he never wrote), or another ballet, "Khamma," which he sketched for Maud Allan, and handed over to Charles Koechlin to orchestrate. Those who looked for an ceuvre de circon- stance of this sort in "Le Marty re de Saint-Sebastien" were mistaken. The figure of the Archer of God, the fair "athlete of Christ," sug- Last performed at these concerts February 14, 1930.