SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1949
T HIE MICHIGAN DAILY
PAGE THEE
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G. I. TALENT SCOUTS:
Iceland Chorus Makes U.S. Debut
Thordarson Leads
36 Vole Ensemble
The Icelandic Chorus, brought to
the attention of American music-lov-
ers by servicemen stationed during
the war on the island, this season
makes its first concert tour in the
United States.
Appearing first in Reykjavik in
1927, the Chorus, billed as the Karla-
kor Reykjavikur, toured Europe ex-
tensively in the pre-war years. Con-
. fined to the island during the war,
the 36 voice choir, directed by Sigur-
dur Thordarson, brought music to
members of the armed forces.
Foremost among the choruses of
Iceland, which claims the distinction
of more choruses per capita than any
other country in the world, the Karl-
akor has profited from the century-
long Icelandic tradition of ensemble
singing. The Scandinavians who set-
tled the island practiced, the custom
of the "Rimur" or the chanting of
rhymes. As early as the Ninth Cen-
tury, the "Scalds" are said to have
sung their poems instead of merely
recited them. The Roman Catholic
Era brought Gregorian Chants and
the Reformation added the Graduale.
Long emphasis on vocal music, com-
bined with the numerous singing en-
sembles in every church, club and
community produced the present
high calibre choral music in Iceland.
Conductor Thordarson received his
musical education at Mercantile Col-
lege in Reykjavik and in the Royal
Conservatory in Leipzig. The con-
ductor-composer made a special
study of choral music in Germany
and Austria in 1927. Later that year
the Karlakor was founded. Since 1930
he has been the manager of Iceland's
State Broadcasting Service.
In addition to the traditional songs
of the Scandinavian countries, the
musical repertory of the chorus
ranges from Beethoven, Schubert and
Wagner to "Annie Laurie" and
'Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes."
Istomin' s Lessons
Skipped for Sports
Eugene Istomin, prize - winning
young New York-born pianist who
will appear here Oct. 30, took sports
seriously before he did the piano, and
as a boy skipped piano lessons to
play baseball with his comrades, in
Central bark.
Aspiring young keyboard virtu-
osos are not advised to take a tip
from Istomin, however; and should
still heed teacher's advice that base-
ball and Beethoven don't mix. Young
Istomin just happens to be the lucky
exception that proves the rule.
*
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Szell To Lead
Orchestra in
Third Concert
(Continued from Page 1)
with the Boston Symphony, the Na-
tional Symphony Orchestra under
William Mengelberg, and with Niko-
lai Sokoloff as a member of the Innis-
fail String Quartet in San Francisco.
His is the orchestra's voice in radio
discussions that present the back-
ground of every symphony program
in advance of the concert.
Severance Hall, home of the Cleve-
land Orchestra, was built in 1931 as
a gift of the noted philanthropist,
John Long Severance, in memory of
his wife. The building serves not only
the Cleveland Orchestra and Western
Reserve University, which supplied
the land, but also some 70 other
Cleveland organizations.
Figures for June 1, 1946, show that
over 2,000 public performances have
already taken place in the hall; 4,-
000,000 persons have attended them.
The total list of events that have oc-
cupied the hall-some, like rehear-
sals, not open to the public-raises
the attendance figure still higher.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Karl Krueger, will ap-
pear here Monday, February 17.
The orchestra is a relatively new
one. Its first season began in No-
vember, 1914 when the first concert
was played in the old Detroit Concert
house. Weston Gales was conductor
at that time.
In 1919 the orchestra, with a strong
financial foundation, named Ossip
Gabrilowitsch conductor. Under his
leadership the orchestra became one
of the great symphonies in the Unit-
ed States. In that same year Orches-
tra Hall was built to accommodate
the Detroit Symphony. Young peo-
ple's concerts and children's con-
certs were added as regular features
of the symphony.
In 1934, the orchestra, still under
Gabrilowitsch's baton, was broad-
cast over a national neiswork for the
first time. Walter Damrosch became
co-conductor and the orchestra
played for a sponsored program. Also
in 1934 the Detroit Symphony Or-
chestra played a twelve week season
at the Century of Progress Fair in
Chicago.
The financial burden thrown up-
Detroit Symphony To Play Here Feb.17
on the orchestra by the United
States' entrance in the war forced
the cancellation of the orchestra's
1942-43 season. In 1943. however,
Henry H. Reichhold, as president of
the Detroit Symphony, joined with
other music lovers to provide the ne-
cessary financial backing and the or-
chestra continued.
Karl Krueger became conductor of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in
1943. During his first season with the
orchestra each concert in the 5,000
seating-capacity Masonic Temple was
a sell out.
Krueger came to Detroit from the
Kansas City Philharmonic. Kansas
born and bred, he was trained in Eu-
rope under the great masters and did
early conducting abroad.
This past year Krueger returned to
Europe to make the first cultural
mission there since the end of the
war. He conducted the G. I. Sym-
phony Orchestra in Frankfort; the
Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal
Stockholm Symphony, the Prague
Symphony, and the Madrid Sym-
phony.
.
ICELANDIC SINGERS-On their initial tour of important music cen-
ters of the United States, this unique chorus, conducted by Sigurdur
Thordarson, will appear at Hill Auditorium Monday, November 25.
NEW VOLUMES: -
General Library Lists Books
About Music Now Available
APPEAR ING
The following is a list of new books
on musical topics now available at
the General Library:
Antheil, George
Bad Boy of Music
Garden City, Doubleday, 1945
Chaikovskii,.Petr ll'ich
The Diaries of Tchaikovsky, trans-
lated from the Russian with notes
by Vladimir La Kond.
New York, Norton, 1946
Cott, Ted
The Victor Book of Musical Fun
New York, Simon, 1945
Ewen, David
Men and Women Who Make Music
New York, The Readers Press, 1945
Geissmar, Berta
The Baton and the Jackboot
London, Hamish Hamilton, 1945
Graf, Max
Legend of a Musical City
New York, Philosophical Library,
1945
Jordan, Philip Dillon
Singin' Yankees
Minneapolis, University of Minne-
sota Press, 1946
Morneweek, E. F.
Chronicles of Stephen Foster's
Family
Pittsburgh, Davis and Warde, 1944
Nestyev, Israel V.
Serge Prokofiev, His Musical Life
New York, Knopf, 1946
Siegmeister, Elie
The Music Lover's Handbook
New York, Morrow, 1943
Spaeth, Sigmund
At Home With Music
Garden City, Doubleday, 1945
Spaeth, Sigmund
Music For Fun
Philadelphia, The
1945
Welch, Roy
The Appreciation of
New York, Harpers,
Blakiston
C.,
Music, rev. ed.
1945
Stars..."
(Continued from Page 1)
phony, Boston Symphony, Robert
Casadesus, Minneapolis Symphony,
Joseph Szigetti, Vronsky and Babin.
1942
Don Cossack Chorus, Gladys
Swarthout, Cleveland Symphony, Al-
bert Spalding, Artur Schnabel, Bos-
ton Symphony, Josef Hofmann, Jas-
cha Heifetz, Detroit Symphony with
Sir Thomas Beecham conducting.
1943
Cleveland Orchestra, Marian An-
derson, Yehudi Menuhin, Claudio
Arrau, Boston Symphony, Don Cos-
sack Chorus, Artur Rubenstein, Mar-
jorie Lawrence, Mischa Elman, Ezio
Pinza.
1944
Helen Traubel, Cleveland Orches-
tra, Fritz Kreisler, Simon Barere,
Carroll Glenn, B o s t o n Symphony
Orchestra, Vladimir Horowitz, Doro-
thy Maynor, Westminister Choir, Chi-
cago Symphony.
1945
Paul Robeson, Cleveland Sym-
phony, Jennie Tourel, Don Cossack
Chorus under Serge Jaroff, Alexan-
der Uninsky, Boston Symphony, Jas-
cha Heifitz, Chicago Symphony, Ar-
tur Schabnel, Detroit Symphony.
OCTOBER 19
AT
HILL AUDITORIUM
HILL AUDITORIUM-In this accoustically perfect hall leading per-
formers in the field of music will appear during the 1946-47 Choral
Union concert series.
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KARL KRUEGER
Conductor of the ,DETROIT
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA W Q Will
appear February 17.
DESIRE DEFAUW
Conductor of the CHICAGO
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA who will
appear March 16.
GEORGE SZELL
Conductor of the CLEVELAND
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA who will
appear November 10.
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