Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1929-01)

112 The Phonograph Monthly Review January, 1929 domestic releases are the most interesting and important today. The controversies which have raged over Co- lumbia’s Schubert Contest ever since its incep- tion did not abate with the completion of the con- test and the award of the ten thousand dollar international prize to Kurt Atterberg’s Sixth Symphony. So many confusing and contradictory reports have appeared lately in the press re- garding the sincerity of the composer’s motives in Writing his prize-winning work that I take plea- sure in printing below the final word on the subject. Mr. Cox’s statement surely settles the question for good and all, and satisfactorily spikes the ridiculous rumors that have been put into circulation. As indicated by the review in last month’s issue, the opinion of the entire Staff of The Phonograph Monthly Review on the Atter- berg symphony is that it is a lively and stimulat- ing composition, not a great work of art, but one that is certainly not lacking in either life or interest. In its recorded form it has the added merit of a brilliantly virtuosic performance and recording. I might add that every member of the Staff has purchased the set for his personal library. A final note of interest is that Ossip Gabrilo- witsch, whose fulminations against the original intention of the contest to complete the Unfinished Symphony played a large part in bringing about revision of the terms of the contest, has signified his intention of performing the Atterberg work at one of his concerts in Philadelphia as guest conductor with the Philadelphia Symphony. I have received a large number of enquiries and letters on this subject, and I feel that this note and the following statement satisfactorily settle the question for every unprejudiced music lover. STATEMENT In behalf of the Columbia Phonograph Company, sponsor of the Schubert Centennial and donor of $20,000.00 in prizes for original symphonic works in homage to Schubert, and in behalf of its co-workers in the Centennial, I wish to denounce the false report that the disc recordings and the publishers’ plates of the Grand Prize symphony by Atter- berg will be discarded. Atterberg, by his cable of explanation, has fully satis- fied us that the original interview, in which he was alleged to have been the perpetrator of a hoax, was a yarn. The judges and all who have seen the score agree there are no plagiarisms. Atterberg’s quotation of a Schubert theme is entirely valid, since the contest terms authorized contestants to use Schubert melodies for quotation or variation. Therefore, we regard the incident as closed, except for such academic discussion as scholars wish to give it. The sale of both records and musical scores of the Atter- berg Symphony has increased in America as well as in Europe. (Signed) H. C. Cox, President Columbia Phonograph Co. December 3, 1928. Anyone who has the privilege of knowing Mr. Cox personally will agree that he would never issue a statement like the above unless he was honestly convinced that the facts fully warranted it. The Boston Symphony Orchestra (Exclusive Victor Artists) Note: The following article on the history and recordings of the Boston Symphony Orchestra consists largely of ma- terial which first appeared in the second issue of The Phonograph Monthly Review, November, 1926. In the time between its first appearance and this republication the circulation of the magazine has multiplied many times, and while the majority of our original subscribers are still among our most faithful friends and supporters, we are confident that they will not begrudge the space to make this article known to the many new readers of the magazine. The issue of new recordings by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Mr. Koussevitzky is surely sufficient excuse for the re-publi- cation of the article. In the present form the portions of the article dealing with the recordings ami the present and future of the orchestra have necessarily been re-cast and augmented. Again acknowledgements should be made to the management of the orchestra, who both then and now have been most generous in their interest and assistance, and to Mr. M. A. DeWolfe Howe’s excellent historical sketch of the orchestra (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914). T HE words, “Boston Symphony Orchestra” signify much more than the name of one of the illustrious musical or- ganizations, much more than the name of a deeply rooted civic and national institution. They are also a symbol, a symbol of the tangible flowering of the dreams and desires of count- less men and women. A concert is not merely a public per- formance, it is a fusion of the spirit of the composer with that of the conductor, of the conductor with those of the men of the orchestra, and of all with those of the audience, —each individual a microcosm, a world in itself, broadened and enrichened by the contact with new and more beautiful worlds-; sensitized and inspired by the glimpse of new and more distant horizons. So it is that a brief outline of the history and develop- ment of the Boston Symphony Orchestra must be something more than a bald recital of names and dates. It must be more than the smug boasting of the local citizen. For every name named, for every service commended, there are hun- dreds more that cannot be named or commended, unknown perhaps to anyone. A work like the establishment and growth of a great orchestra is not the work of a few indi- viduals alone; the active participators are but the agents and spokesmen of the many who are unable to act or to speak, but whose inarticulate needs and hopes are the soil from which everything must spring. The late Henry Lee Higginson was the founder and guard- ian angel of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; without his untiring efforts and unceasing support it never could have been a possibility. But Mr. Higginson was not working for