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THE MICHIGAN DlAILY

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 194S



68 YEARS OF MUSIC:

Choral Union Has Grown
From Small Beginnings

:Art

(Continued from Page 1)
The plan proved to be impracticable,
however,and was abandoned.
Despite occasional lack of public
interest and insufficient funds, defi-
nite progress was made year after
'Messiah' Will
Be Performed
In December
In addition to the scheduled Choral
Union .Concerts, the following music
features are planned for this year:
The annual performance of Han-
del's "Messiah" will be held at 3 p.m.
Sunday, December 15 in Hill Audi-
torium. Lura Stover, soprano; Ellen
Repp, contralto; Ralph Lear, tenor;
Alden Edkins, bass; and Frieda Op't
Holt Vogan, organist, will be featured
in the presentation.
The Budapest String Quartet will
offer their seventh annual chamber
music festival this year. Josef Rois-
mann, violinist; Edgar Ortenberg,
violinist; Boris Kroyt, violist; and
Mischa Schneider, violoncellist com-
prise the quartet. The concerts will
be held in Rackham lecture hall.
The annual May Festival Concerts
will be held in the spring. The Phila-
delphia Symphony Orchestra under
the baton of Eugene Ormandy will
again perform for the six concert ser-
ies.
Defauw . .
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certs a season in Milwaukee and oc-
casional performances in other cities.
The Chicago Orchestra is one of
the few in the country which owns its
own home-Orchestra Hall, in the
heart of Chicago, with a seating ca-
pacity of 2,582. It was built in 1904
by contributions from about 8,500
different people.
Desire Defauw was appointed
conductor of the orchestra at the be-
ginning of the 1943-44 season (the
organization's 53rd). He had ap-
peared as guest conductor with the
leading European orchestras, and for
four years was conductor of the New
Symphony Orchestra of London. He
also founded the "Concerts Defauw"
in Brussels and established in Bel-
gium a permanent national orches-
tra, making Brussels one of the most
advancdd musical centers on the
continent.-
In America, Defauw appeared as
guest conductor with the NBC Sym-
phony, the Boston and the Detroit
Symphonies, and at the time of his
appointment as conductor of the Chi-
cago Symphony he was the director
of the "Concerts Symphoniques" of
Montreal."

year. By 1888 the society was a well-
established institution, the repertoire
of its performances was growing and
its offerings became more substan-
tial.
Starting in the 1890's the society
began to include offerings that have
brought it to its present position of
eminence in the musical world. Dis-
tinguished artists and great orches-
tras were included in the series and,
in 1894, the first May Festival was
presented.
Gave Three Concerts
Three concerts were included in
the first May Festival in which the
Choral Union Chorus was assisted by
the Boston Festival Orchestra under
the baton of Emil Mollenhauer. For
11 seasons this organization made
annual pilgrimages to Ann Arbor. In
1905 it was replaced by the Chicago
Symphony under Frederick Stock.
The Chicago musicians continued to
perform at the May Festival for 31
years. '
Since 1936 the Philadelphia Or-
chestra has performed at the festival
under Leopold Stokowski and Eugene
Ormandy.
Until 1913, University Hall was the
scene of Choral Union activities.
Then the concerts were transferred
to Hill Auditorium, which was built
by funds bequeathed for a music hall
by the late Regent Arthur Hill.
Debt to Early Leaders
The Choral Union Society-as well
as the town and University-is great-
ly indebted to the society's early lead-
ers, who labored to lay the ground-
work for the rich and varied musical
seasons of today.- 0
The original impetus was given by
Prof. Henry Simmons Frieze, who
founded the University Musical So-
ciety in 1879 and served as its first
president. Under his guidance and
with the cooperation of other distin-
guished citizens, the University Musi-
cal Society was organized and in-
corporated for the purpose of 'bridg-
ing the music of the community with
that of the University."
Program Uninterrupted
. Provision was made for the devel-
opment of the Choral Union Chorus
and Concert Series, the University
Symphony Orchestra and the School
of Music.
Since that time the Choral Union
has continued to bring the best in
classical music to the community-
through wars, depressions and reces-
sions.
Advice to Patrons
Counsel to concert goers-concerts
begin promptly at the scheduled time
and the doors are closed during the
numbers. Holders of season tickets
are regested to detach respective
coupons before leaving home, instead
of presenting the entire season ticket
at each performance. Patrons are
also urged not to attempt to see the
artists during intermissions.

BURTON MEMORIAL TOWER-A campus landmark housing the
Baird Carillon which is played by Prof. Percival Price, the University
Carilloneur.
* * M ** * *
FINEST CLOCK:
Burton Tower Was Erected
As Memorial to 'U President

Choral Union
Series Offered
In Recordings
Concert Artists' Music
Available in Releases
Opportunity is offered in current
record releases to preview and to re-
tain the bright spots in the Choral
Union series and other University
concerts, as well as such figures as
the 1946 Homecoming Dance band-
leader, up-and-coming Elliot Lawr-
ence.
The perennially popular compos-
ers are also highlighted in this
month's offerings of recorded music,
together with recordings of the
works of such writers as Omnar Khay-
yam and Thomas Jefferson.
Menuhin Records Debussy
Among the recordings made re-
cently by artists who will appear in
the Choral Union series is Yehudi
Menuhin's performance of Debussy's
"La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin" and
"Salut d'Amour, Opus 12" by Elgar.
Lotte Lehmann, who will appear
here on Feb. 22, recently recorded
songs from Schubert's "Die Schone
Miullerin" with Paul Ulanowsky at
the piano. Her mastery of the Schu-
bert "lied," especially in the last five
sides, is quite evident, at least by pre-
sent concert hall standards. Paul Ul-
anowsky is the efficient accompan-
ist.
Sayao Sings Favorites
The delicacy and restraint of the
Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayao, who
appeared in the May Festival last
spring, are displayed to good effect
in her recording of "Operetta Fa-
vorites," which album includes se-
lections from works by Mozart, Bel-
lini, Massenet and Gounod.
Among the recent recordings by
the Boston Symphony Orchestra un-
der Serge Koussevitsky is one of
Schubert's well-loved Symphony No.
8, the "Unfinished Symphony." The
Boston Symphony will again play in
the Choral Union series on Dec. 9.
Broadway Hit Recorded
The latest release of selections
from current Broadway hits is an al-
bum of music from, "Annie Get Your
Gun," featuring Ethel Merman and
the original cast. This is the coun-
try's most successful musical com-
edy score since the old Gershwin and
Rodgers musicals, the recording of
which is as successful as any of the
others recently mgade.
It's a big month in the little albums
too, one particularly noteworthy one
being David Rose's lush, well-record-
ed Cole Porter Review,

Lotte Lehman, leading soprano of
the Metropolitan Opera Company,
will appear here Wednesday, Febru-
ary 26.
Celebrated in both the concert hall
and the opera house, Miss Lehman is
considered by musicians to be one of
* * *

Lotte Lehmann, Star of Met,
Will Sing Here February 26

Erected as a memorial to Dr. Mar-
ion LeRoy Burton, president of the
University from 1920 until his death
in 1925, the Burton Memorial Tower
was completed in 1936.
The tower, which cost approxi-
mately $250,000, was built through
the donations of the Regents, the
trustees of the University Musical
Society, the Ann Arbor U of M Club,
friends of Dr. Burton, and members
of the student body and faculty.
The Burton Memorial Tower
houses the Charles Baird Carillon,
the clock of which is said to be the
finest in the world. It has a 16 foot
dial and hands weighing 350 pounds.
The bells, which play every hour
and quarter of an hour, are synchro-
nized with the clock but are a sep-
arate unit. The cost of the clock was
approximately $20,000. Many parts
of the clock were especially designed.
The Baird Carilon has 53 bells in
chromatic sequence, the largest Bow-
don bell weighing more than 12 tons.
This largest bell has the pitch of E
flat below middle C. The smallest
bell weighs 12 pounds and sounds the
note of G sharp. four and one-half
octaves above the Bowdon. The ap-
proximate total weight of all the bells
is 125,819 pounds, almost 63 tons.
The size' of a carillon is determin-
ed by the weight rather than by the
number of bells. The Baird Carillon
is the third largest in the world.
The extended range of the bells in
the Baird Carillon enables the caril-
lonneur to play not only melodies in
singleton but also harmony in two

or more parts. The bells are hung
rigidly on a steel frame more than
30 feet at the base on the 10th floor
of the tower, 120 feet from the
ground.
The Baird Carillon may best be
heard on the lawn of the League. A
distance of 500 feet or n'ore from
the tower should be kept for best
hearing.
Percival Price, who plays the
Baird Carillon, is a graduate of
Mechkin Carillon School in Belgium.
In 1922 he became the first carillon-
neur in North America when he was
awarded the Massey Memorial Caril-
lon in Toronto. In 1924 he won the
Pulitzer Prize for music.
To reach all the keys and pedals,
the carillonneur sits on a long bench
which allows him room to reach. He
must use both his hands and his feet,
as each bell may be sounded by ei-
ther pedal or key. Low tone notes of
the 12 ton bell can be struck only
with the foot.

LOTTE LEHMANN-Leading so-
prano of the Metropolitan Opera
will appear here Wednesday, Feb-
ruary 26.
Horowitz ...
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000,000 in war bonds. He also enter-
tained servicemen at Army camps
and Naval stations as well as wound-
ed servicemen at hospitals.
A talent possessed by this well-
known piano virtuoso which is little-
known by the general public is com-
posing. He has composed sonatas,
quartets, ballads, etudes, waltzes and
songs-all unpublished. Only two of
his works are in the public do-
main-the setting to music of two
poems by the Russian poets Anna
Achmatova and Alexander Bloch.
In spite of the insistence of his
friends, who include composers like
Serge Prokofieff and the late Sergei
Rachmaninoff, that he publish his
works, Horowitz has been adamant in
his refusal to do so. His only expla-
nation is "I am not satisfied with my-
self as a composer, but I find compos-
ing a splendid emotional release."

the greatest singers of all time.
A German by birth and an Ameri-
can by marriage, Miss Lehman re-
cently became an American citizen.
She now lives in Santa Barbara, Cal.
Miss Lehman made her first oper-
atic debut in a provincial house in her
native land. Her first success came
when she substituted for a colleague
in the role of Elsa in Wagner's "Loh-
engrin." From then on, she was giv-
en principal parts. In 1916 the State
Opera in Vienna engaged Miss Leh-
man for leading roles. Her great suc-
cess in Vienna led to her appointment
as an Honorary Member of the Staat-
soper, a rare and valued distinction.
In Europe Miss Lehman sang regu-
larly in Vienna, Paris, Brussels, Lon-
don, and Salzburg. She was hailed
by critics all over Europe as both a
phenomenal concert artist and a
superb singing actress.
Special honors were given to her
in many countries. In Sweden she
was awarded the Medal of Art. In
Austria she was awarded the Ring of
Honor by the Vienna Philharmonic,
becoming the only woman to hold
this prize. The French government
gave her the rosete of the Legion of
Honor.
Miss Lehman's first visit to the
United States was during the season
of 1930-31 as a member of the Chi-
cago Civic Opera Company. Her de-
but at the Metropolitan as Sieglinde
in "Die Walkure" won her a triumph
in this country. Since that time she
has wpn acclaim for her characteriza-
tions of Elizabeth in "Tannhauser,"
Marschallin in "Rosenkavalier," and
Eva in "Meistersinger."
Miss Lehman, in addition to being
a singer, is also an author and an ar-
tist. Chief among her writings are
"Eternal Flight," a novel, and "Mid-
way in My Song," her autobiography,
Miss Lehman's interest in painting
and sketching has been rewarded by
many awards and blue ribbons. Dur-
ing her many tours she is rarely
without her sketch pad, setting down
impressions of scenes as they flash
past her train window.
Her recently completed group of
water colors inspired by Schubert's
"Winterreise" song cycle have been
purchased by a publisher and will
soon be reproduced in a new edition
of the cycle.
Singing is still Miss Lehman's su-
preme gift, however, and in America
she is known as the "first lady in
song."

Ia, Il

THE ICELf4NDIC SINGERS

i

.

UGEN
PlAN I Si
"The season's most rewarding pianistic contribution" is what critics are saying
about Eugene Istomin who will be heard in the Choral Union Series. Wednesday
night, October 30. At seventeen years of age Mr. Istomin won the Philadelphia
Youth Contest Award, which brought him an appearance with the Philadelphia
Orchestra. Since that time Mr. Istomin has been heard with most of the major
symphony orchestras, and in recitals which have been received enthusiastically
in the music centers.

THE ICELANDIC SINGERS


ICELAND IS A LAND OF SINGERS.

Nearly every city, town and

hamlet has its own choral society. The Icelandic Singers, who will
be heard in this series, are the culminating group of all the country's
choirs. This season they will make their initial tour of the more
important music centers of the United States. Members of the
armed forces who were stationed in Iceland for service have ex-
pressed great enthusiasm over the tour and verify all that has been
claimed for the beauty of the folk songs and the general program
of this group from the "land of the midnight sun." The chorus is a
unique cultural group, which adds new color to the spectrum of
musical entertainment and education. Sigurdur Thordarson, who
directs the group, is a leader of exceptional gifts. His excellent and
exacting control of his men, as well as his discerning interpretations,
have won him a high place among choral trainers and conductors.

SIGURDUR THORDARSON
Conductor

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