Radio varieties (Sept 1940-June 1941)

FAMILIAR MUSIC IN A MAJESTIC MANNER FORD SUNDAY EVENING HOUR IN ITS SEVENTH SEASON When the lights dimmed in a Detroit Auditorium on the night of September 29 it marked the return of the Ford Sunday Evening Hour for the seventh consecutive season. Lily Pons, Metropolitan Opera soprano, who was guest soloist on the opening broadcast shared the spotlight with her husband, Andre Kostelanetz, conductor. The program of the 75-piece Ford Symphony Orchestra and the 26-voice mixed chorus was heard in millions of homes in the United States over a nation-wide CBS network, and in far distant lands via short wave, at 8 to 9 P.M. (CST). Many listeners have written in requesting information as to when the Ford Sunday Evening Hour started and who thought of the idea of putting on a full-hour of fine music with a complete lack of advertising. For those interested in the Sunday Evening Hour, here is its history. In June, 1934, seventy musicians of the Detroit Symphony orchestra were selected to play at the Ford Symphony Gardens at the World's Fair in Chicago. For twelve weeks this musical aggregation played a series of 156. concerts, performing two two-hour concerts seven days a week. More than 1,500 compositions were presented before an audience of a million World's Fair visitors. This large number probably exceeds the total audience for most symphonies for a generation. The programs presented by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, during its engagement at the Symphony Gardens, were not exactly the type of programs you'd expect to hear had you been a regular patron of the concert halls of America. There was liberal sprinkling of lighter music — Victor Herbert fantasies, sparkling selections from light opera, hardly any full-length symphonies but more compositions such as the Hungarian and Slavic dances and Kreisler caprices. However, more serious music was by no means RADIO VARIETIES — OCTOBER neglected and was an important part of each concert. But whether the program was light or serious, the enthusiasm of the cosmopolitan audience which attended the LILY PONS ANDRE KOSTELANETZ programs brought to realization the good-will building potentialities of such a presentation. After the final performance of the Detroit Symphony in the Gar dens at "A Century of Progress, ' the orchestra returned to Detroit to begin the first of the Ford Sunday Evening Hour series. For radio purposes they became the Ford Symphony (Drchestra and broadcast over what, at the time, was one of the largest networks in radio history. These Sunday night concerts were similar to those which were ■ presented in Chicago. Henry Ford, interested in reaching the multitude, offered something to bring beauty and artistic inspiration to the man In the street, as well as to those whose education and tastes would permit them to enjoy the compcsitions of the great masters. Mr. Ford's original instructions to the program staff are well summarized in the phase "familiar music in the majestic manner." These instructions have been followed faithfully. As a result radio listeners have heard a great symphony play an orchestral transcription of "Turkey in the Straw,' Victor Herbert medleys and, in 1940, Earl Robinson and John Latouche's "Ballad for Americans." Critics found these works interesting, stimulating and inspiring. At the same time. The Ford Sunday Evening Hour did not assume that listeners appreciated only that kind of music, for it offered on the same programs a Schumann concerto or a great symphony. Lovers of fine music realized anew that majesty can be breathed into a simple and well-loved melody by great art in presentation. From the standpoint of populai acceptance, the program has established something of a record. This was proved when t h e Women's National Radio Committee acclaimed it the "best musical program" and presented its annual award to its sponsor for the past three years. For the six seasons it has been on the air it has been voted the most popular radio program in numerous polls conducted by newspapers, magContinued on Page 24 Page 9