Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1927-11)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 69 November, 1927 PHILADELPHIA PHONOGRAPH SOCIETY Comprehensive plans, for the hearing and study, in public of important works of recorded music, have been announced as the result of a series of meetings and conferences of the reorganized Philadelphia Phonograph Society. The first meet- ing of the season, held on September 22 at the City Club in Philadelphia, under emergency and makeshift conditions, at- tracted an audience of nearly one hundred persons. And this was on the night of the Dempsey-Tunney prize fight, with its many claims upon the attention of radio owners and the pub- lic in general. Dr. Niles Martin, the President of the Society, made clear its cultural and critical aims, and laid down a tentative pro- gram which later was confirmed by conferences between music lovers and representatives of American recording companies. The policy of the organization was broadened to include, if need be, a series of purely educational talks on music, illus- trated from phonograph recordings. Critical and expository talks on characteristic recordings have been arranged for the October Meeting, set for Thursday, October 20, and to which, of course, the public will be invited. Present plans are to hold this meeting at the City Club, on Broad street below Spruce. The tentative program for this meeting will include material designed to show the extreme latitude possible in conductors’ readings of compositions currently believed to have become traditional. This is held to be an important problem for future recordings, where the fear has been expressed that early ones would tend to fix a type of reading or interpretation, from which departure would be resented by lovers and students of music. It is proposed also to deal with a typical symphony from the constructive, or composer’s viewpoint, showing the application of the chief elements of musical form as under- stood in the Western world. A typical modern—not “modernistic”—composition will also be placed under analysis, to demonstrate its points of de- parture from the music of the era which came to its end with the beginning of the present century. Members and visitors are to be encouraged to bring records to the Society’s meetings for comparison and elucidation; the present schedules, however, promise inroads upon the few hours of time which can be allotted to the regular monthly meetings. Our Philadelphia Correspondent PROVIDENCE PHONOGRAPH SOCIETY The Providence Phonograph Society held its first meeting since June, on the evening of September nineteenth, at the home of Mrs. Caeser Misch. Ten members were present. The program, as usual, was made up chiefly of the new records. In the Victor list the Chaliapin records from Don Quichotte, the Pinza selection from Don Carlos, and a duet of Bori and Tibbett were particularly enjoyed because the music is not too familiar. There were also several of the customary re-recordings. Of the Brunswick records the Han- del selections sung by Elizabeth Rethberg, and the Men- delssohn “Oh, for the wings of a dove” were excellent. Mrs. Misch, just after this last record, played the extremely fine record made of it by the choir of the Temple Church in London, with its remarkable boy soprano. At the conclusion of the program Mrs. Misch distributed among the members about twenty records, duplicates from her collection. Many of these were excellent foreign record- ings of seldom heard music. A. P. DeWeese, Secretary. NEW YORK PHONOGRAPH SOCIETY The first meeting of the New York Phonograph Society for the new season was held at the residence of the President, Mr. Henry S. Gerstle, on the evening of October 17th. A number of imported and domestic records were played, among which the new H. M. V. Grieg Piano Concerto (De Greef and the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, conducted by Sir Landon Ronald) aroused the greatest attention and praise. Plans for the coming season were discussed and special emphasis was placed on the necessity of campaigning for new members. Several of the present members are going to assist the officers in seeking New York phonograph enthusiasts who are not yet aware of the society’s existence. Plans for the coming season were discussed and special emphasis was placed on the necessity of campaigning for new members. Several of the present members are going to assist the officers in seeking New York phonograph enthusiasts who are nQt yet aware of the society’s existence. Meetings are to be held on the evening of the first Monday of every month. The program presented will be voted upon by the members actually attending the meeting. A collection of new discs, both domestic and foreign, will be kept on hand for these programs. For the present meetings are to be held at various members’ homes. Those interested in joining the New York Society will please get in touch with the Secretary, Mr. Peter Hugh Reed, Kew Hall, Kew Gardens, Long Island, N. Y. Next month further details of the Society’s plans will be available, and the musical programs will be printed in these pages. Peter Hugh Reed, Secretary. MINNEAPOLIS PHONOGRAPH SOCIETY The Minneapolis musical season, phonographically speak- ing, promises to be an enthusiastic one, if the opening con- cert-meeting of tHe Minneapolis Phonograph society was in- dicative of what may be expected in future months. Jhe meeting, held October 18 in the Foster and Waldo music store, was in some respects the most successful gather- ing since the organization of the society more than a year ago. An unusually large attendance was present, representing the musical and educational phases of the city’s activity as well as the omnipresent record collector and gramophile. The program was of such merit and variety as to attract many classes of music lovers. All but the most elementary business was dispensed with, a later meeting being reserved for the annual election of officers, and the evening was almost exclusively devoted to “listening,” with the opportunity, too, for comment and discussion. The chief attraction was the excellent Tschaikowsky Trio “To the Memory of a Great Artist,” which was given its first public audition in the city at this concert. Several Tschai- kowsky sets were sold after the concert as a direct result of the playing of the records on a Brunswick panatrope. The entire program, presided over by the society president, Dr. K. E. Britzius, was as follows: Prelude to Die Meistersinger—Wagner. Church choral scene, from Act I, Die Meistersinger— Wagner. Death scene from Don Quichottee (Massenet)—Chaliapin. Trio. Op. 50. “To the Memory of a Great Artist—Tschai- kowsky. The Vittoria Battle symphony—Beethoven. L’Apprenti Sorcier—Dukas. Meetings of the society will be held regularly through the fall and winter months, it was decided. St. Paul, our sister city, has as yet no society of her own, but the Minneapolis group already claims several members from the town across the river. New officers will be elected at the November meeting. The present staff includes: Dr. Kenneth E. Britzius, president; A. Ronald Andrews, vice-president; John K. Sherman, secretary, and A1 Hinton, treasurer. John K. Sherman.