SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1949 T HIE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE THEE - =- __ 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. * * * * 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. Il -- ly I I -y c 'S S I X TY-EIGHTH fiNNURIL-CHORRL UNION SERIES _ ) e 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. *r- - -r -r- N- -5- -5 - -- _mt r-_ - -rt. - "r - -% - I- N e N 'T1 T 1% T m m ~