Judge — January 1939 — page 27: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A century or so before Columbus discovered Ameri- ca, there began to appear in Europe funny-looking box- cs having at one end a heavy stick as a sort of handle: across the top of being broadaast Record Hour December 12th, over the following stations: 4:30 PLM. KOAM—Pittiburg, Kon. KFBI—Solina, Kon. :00 P.M. WIMV—Eost St. Louis, Il, KGBX—Springfield, Mo. music for Christmas THE JUDGE'S selection of good Victor Records for the Library® is thousand _ experi- ments were tried in tuning them. Anew musical scale wasin- vented containing twelve tones to take the place of the narrow Greckscales which had been used for over two on the Victor 10:15 PLM, the box and along RTHS—Hot Spriege, Ak thousand years. the handle were een While the secu- stretched strings, HCMO—Kenses City, Mo. laé world was occu- which when plucked, gave off a musical sound. The pitch of their tones could be changed by finger pressure against the stick. Sometimes the player would rub the strings with a bow strung with hair from the tail or the mane of a horse. It was said that the Crusaders and other voyagers to eastern lands had brought these new-fangled in struments from the heathen places they had visited, Most good Chri tians were satisfied that there was something supernatural about such contraptions and that Satan had no small part in their construction and use. Harps and wind instru. ments had been in vogue long enough to be respec: table, but the epithets associated with — fid- dling still remain in the language to re- mind us that the i WENR—Chic KDKA—Pi struments of the violin family wed with suspicion. However, Satan or no Satan, the strange boxes took a great hold on the popular fancy, and after a time they became the most common of all musical instruments. Their shape was changed again and again; the number of strings ranged from three to a dozen; a were ee grave * THE JUDGE ‘The operas of Richard Wegner contain such magnificent symphonic music that there is always a question as to whether they should be performed fas opera or in concert. Victor has contributed greatly to music lovers in producing an album of excerpts from Die Walkuere which includes the “Ride of the Valkyries” and ‘“Wotan’s Farewell.”” ‘The Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Sto- Kowski made the records Lawrence Tibet singing the part of Wotan. It is hard to think of a greater combination, and the results thing that might be expected. The Valkyries” will be broadcast. Lurresia Bori sings the Massanet’s “Manon” Mozart's Don Giovanni “There in no we trying to describe these two arias which are on the same record. Listen to them and you will agree that they are examples of perfectly splendid singing. ‘Emme Boyact plays two plane. descriptions by Thert, Le Petit Ane Blane (Little White Donkey) and Le Marchand’ D'eeu Fraiche (The Seler of THE JUDGE FOR JANUARY 11S PLM. KGO—Son Francisco, Col. KOA—Denver, Colo. go, Ill WMAL—Woshington, D.C. WGY—Schenectady, N.Y. KYW_Philadelphio, Po. ‘ VITAM—Cleveland, Ohio burgh, Po. WBZ-WBZA—Boston, Moss. WHEC—Rochester, N.Y. LIBRARY pyingitself learning to fiddle, the con: ductors of church choirs were experi- menting with the human ‘voice. Al- most all choral singing was in uni- son, but now music began to appear where first two voices, then three and four, sang the same words to different parts which harmonized with each other. The new scales were put into use and modern music was born, The modern symphony orches- ta had its beginning when com- posers took the idea of part sing. ing developed in the church and applied it to a quartet of strings in which the first violin became’ the soprano, the second violin the alto, the viola the tenor and the violon- cello the bass. To this quartet was added the bass viol when the num- hers of the violins, violas and cellos were increased, but in the sympho- FOR JANUARY Fresh Water). Youngsters will Tike these if they are explained to them, but our children are likely to think the latter piece is a picture of the cutlery sharpener's cart. Mischa Elman plays Cui's “Orientale” effective ly, and on the other side of this record ix "'Sou- by Drdla, also played by Elman. Pre-war oldsters will remember how popular these were on the old Victor records. ‘The new version shows the Sait improvement. in reproduction. Radio listeners to the Ford concerts will recog- ize at once the opening strains of the Overt sel and Gretel of Humperdinck, played by Symphony Orchestra un- direction of Conductor Boult. If you interested in persuading your children to like good music, play this record to them and tell them the story ‘of Hansel and Gretel. You will find you have given yourself a job, because they will want you to da it over and over again, but you will dis- cover that after a time it helps them appreciate good music more—and you, t00. ny music of today the string sec- tion is still handled as a quartet. Flutes, oboes, clarinets and bas- soons make a quartet of woodwinds. In the brasses, trumpets are the sopranos, and French horns, trom- bones and tubas, the other voices. The harp, known for centuries as an instrument for accompanying the human voice, evolved into the piano, and made possible the cx- pression of the greatest musical ideas by a single performer, as well as many combinations of small groups of players. It has taken the human race six thousand years to develop its liter: ature, while the development of modern music is a matter of a mere four hundred. The ability to read was shut way from the common man, for the most part, until within the last hundred years, but now, still in the lifetime of great composers, there has come a new instrument. You can get this instrument. into as small a space as you desire. Nearly anyone can own Anyone can play it, And yet it will produce at your desire, faithfully, the human voice, singly or in chorus, and any one or any combination of the amaving family of modern musi- cal instruments. A great periorm- cr on the violin may have spent hours a day for years learning his art, and the violin on which he plays may have cost up to a hun- dred thousand dollars, but you can hear him exactly as if he were in the room with you. A great sym- phony orchestra may cost a halfa- million dollars a year to maintain, but you are king-you can have a command performance of the music you like best whenever you feel like it. For a Christmas present to the whole family, a radio-phonograph combination is perfect. And let not the Christmas shopper over- look records as gifts. An album of great compositions is” a present that the receiver will appreciate far beyond its cost, and where a small remembrance is appropriate, single records are most welcome. BY THE World’s Greatest Artists VICTOR RECORDS The Gift that Keeps on Giving Here are a few suggestions: Laficheme (Puceini) (Acta 1 [email protected] Jiand members of La Scale. Album M-SIR, 14 vides, $10.80 and M-S19. 12 sides, $9.00, (Albums AM-518 and AM-519 for automatic operation.) Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, and Pohjola'e Daurhter (Sibelius). Boston Sym- phony Orchestra. Serge Kousevitaky. Cor ductor. Album M74 (AM-74 for auto- matic operation), 10 sides, $10.00. Komm’ Susser Tod (Back) Sicilians (Handed) Marian Anderson — Record No. 1930 —$1.40 Fidelio —Abscheulicher wo eilat du Hin? (Reethoven) (Act 1). Kirsten Flasstad sith the Philadelphia Orchestra. EuzeneOrmandy Conduetor~ Record No. 14972 ~2ides. $2.00, Down Home Rag and A Room With a View Tommy Dorsey — Record No. 28007 ~7: Rumblebeo Stomp and Ciribinibin Renny Goodman — Record No. 20087 ~ Te YOURS FOR KEEP: ON VICTOR RECORDS The Music You Want «+. When You Want It! ‘Thin inthe fiat Chritman ictor of Blue! Other Vietor Record RCA Victrola Attachme attached to any modern AC radio at little or no expense, and plays reco! th full tone of set. Listen to the “Magic Key of RCA” every Sunday, 2 to 3 p.m. ES. T.. on the NBC Blue Network. VICTOR RECORDS Most dealers will pack and ship records at small charge. JS. 1A Service of the Radio Corporation of America 23 comicbooks.com