Radio Digest (Mar 1928-Oct 1929)

12 RADIO DIGES T — Illustrated of his time in reading to us books that would stimulate our imaginations and cultivate our instincts for the beautiful— Grimm's and Andersen's Fairy Tales and Arabian Nights, and some of the parables from the New Testament." Living conditions in Breslau became more and more precarious until one day a letter came offering the elder Damrosch the leadership of an orchestra in New York. He accepted the offer and found America the real land of opportunity. He furnished a home and sent for his family and Walter Damrosch began his career as an American citizen by starting all over again in public school until he had mastered the language. His first appearance in an orchestra at the age of 14 was recorded as a failure as he had been directed to sound the cymbals at a certain place. When the time came to perform he was too frightened to move. A period of rivalry soon grew up between Theodore Thomas and Dr. Damrosch for leadership. And it was not until 1879 that success dawned suddenly on the Damrosch horizon. The author states: "But all this was changed like a flash when my father decided to perform The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz, until then unknown in America. This concert, which was held at Steinway Hall, in East Fourteenth street, necessitated the services of solo singers, the New York Symphony orchestra, the chorus of the New York Oratorio society and the male chorus of the Arion society. "The work and the performance made a sensation. All New York buzzed with it, and during that winter, 1879, it was given five times in succession to crowded houses, creating an excitement such as New York never before had seen in the concert field. "I played in all these performances at the last stand of the second violins, as my father considered it of the utmost value to me as a future conductor to be able to follow the conductor's beat as one of the orchestra." THERE'S a new spirit of progress in WHT, Chicago, which faithful Pat Barnes has guided steadfastly and true through the storms and vicissitudes common to many broadcasting stations of late. WHT is getting better hours and more to do with. Pat, at the left, is almost smiling and Al Carney on the other side has even a broader grin than usual. In the center are the new WHT Dunnaway Sisters and Miss Doris Wittich, staff pianist and program director. Upon the death of his father, Walter Damrosch continued with the work well started. Gifted with boundless energy and a desire for work, he assumed his new responsibilities without noticeable slack. In 1887 he sailed for Europe to spend the summer in study with Hans von Bulow, an old intimate of the elder Damrosch. "And on tha steamer," writes Mr. Damrosch, "I met Andrew Carnegie and his young wife, Louise. They were on their wedding trip and on their way to Scotland, where Mr. Carnegie had rented Kilgraston, a lovely old place near Perth. . . . He invited me to come for a visit to Scotland after my studies with Von Bulow were over. "In the late summer I accordingly sailed in a small steamer from Hamburg to Leith and was received with great friendliness by Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie at Kilgraston. Among their guests were James G. Blaine, his wife, and two of their daughters. My acquaintance with this remarkable family soon ripened very fortunately for me into close friendship and resulted finally in my marriage o Margaret, one of the daughters — but I am progressing too fast." From this romance Mr. Damrosch deviates to tell of his love for Scotch music and his long walks and talks with Mr. Carnegie. During the World War he eagerly sought some way by which he could aid the cause of America and the Allies. He was finally assigned to the Y. M. C. A. to conduct an orchestra of fifty pieces in a tour of the army camps in France. WHEN Walter Damrosch wrote his autobiography he had not yet become identified with Radio broadcasting. He had not realized the possibilities that were to come to him when he said: "I have climbed a few hills, but only to see the mountains beyond rising higher and higher, the path upward often indiscernible through the mists surrounding the peaks. "I love the people among whom my father settled because he firmly believed that in America his children would find a greater opportunity for development than in Europe. "The musical field in America is certainly wonderful in its possibilities, and all my life I have reached out with both hands and have worked incessantly and enthusiastically in my calling. In part, at least, I have tried to repay what I owe to my compatriots for their confidence and help. But the power of the individual is comparatively small, and, while our musicians have already accomplished miracles within the short period that inusic has played a part in our civilization, so much remains yet to be done that I long for at least one hundred more years of life, partly to continue my work but still more to satisfy my eager curiosity as to the musical future of our people." And now with his great national school for musical appreciation perhaps Mr. Damrosch will realize more than he could have at that time imagined could be accomplished during the next hundred years with the facilities he then had at his command.