THE RADIO ANNOUNCER...
Give Tuba Players A
Hand, Says Simon
You can’t call a tuba virtuoso an oom
pah player and get away with it—if
Frank Simon, conductor of the Armco
Band, is present. Simon, whose band
concerts are heard on Tuesday nights
over the NBC blue network, has defin
ite ideas about tuba artists and will not
permit you to ridicule the fellow who
makes bass notes burp out of the big
brass horn. •
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FRANK SIMON
For one thing, he says, the playing
of a t»iba requires as much intelligence
as the playing of any other instrument.
Even though fewer notes may issue
from the tuba, those notes must be done
to a turn and must be spaced to coin
cide exactly with the little black notes
on the printed music. If they don't there
is no concealing of the fact.
Another thing, the tuba player must
be an energetic fellow because the ef
forts necessary to become an outstand
ing tuba-ist permit of no indolence.
And, it goes without saying, he must
have a sense of humor. In fact, the
tuba artist without a sense of humor
soon develops an inferiority complex
that will not permit him to appear in
public with his big horn.
All in all, says Simon, the process
of natural selection makes good tuba
players the finest of musicians and the
best of good fellows. And. furthermore,
he states decisively that good tuba play
ers are extremely important in making
a good band. This, he says, and seri
ously is because of the rhythmic im
portance and fundamental tonal quali
ties for which the tuba section is re
sponsible.
So don’t belittle the tuba player in
Frank Simon’s pr* se ce unless you
want an argument.
• * • *
The English have words for it: To
British listeners a master of ceremony
is a compere, while a torch singer is a
eroonette.
• * * •
Betty Winkler, star of the Girl Alone
•tries, has a hobby which seems natur
al for an actress port raving the part
of a newspaper reporter. She spends
much of her spare time attending court
trials. Murder cases depress her, but
she likes divorce suits and civil cases.
• * * *
Studio audiences who attend broad
casts directed by Jay Hanna, are as
sured of an interesting spectacle regard
less of the program itself. Hanna is re
sponsible for many innovations in radio
directing, one of them being directing
from the floor, in the midst of the per
formers. To direct a performance in this
way, Uanna wears a specially designed
pair of headphones so that he can hear
the broadcast as it goes over the air.
Among those who have since adopted
this system of directing is Cecil de
Mille.
* • • *
English radio magazines have lately
developed great enthusiasm for short
wave broadcasts from America. Listen
ers are urged to tune in American broad
casts. The publications point out that
the advertising is much less than might
be expected, and the quality of the
broadcasts more than makes up for any
Advertising messages.
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IREENE WICKER and MILTON RETTENBERG
"Some day I want to broadcast a
children’s series of operettas and stor
ies with music that will be really beau
tifully done ...”
More than a year ago, Ireene Wicker,
the Kellogg singing Lady, expressed
this hope. A few days ago, on Christ
mas. her wish was granted. She began
her Friday half hour series, heard from
5:15 to 5:45 P M. over a WJZ - NBC
network, in which she is presenting
great operas simplified for children,
operettas, and stories set to original
music.
The Singing Lady’s Friday program,
while it fulfills an ambition she had
long had, is also one that will further
enhance her popularity with her young
listeners and their teachers and par
ents. Since her program first went on
the air she has received the unstinted
praise of noted educators, parent-teach
er associations and others interested in
radio broadcasts for children.
New Englanders Cast
In Cape Cod Series
When the "Ma and Pa” broadcasts
contain references to such Cape Cod
delicacies as clam fritters and baked
lobster. Margaret Dee and Parker Fen
nelly, playing tin parts of Ma and Pa
Baxter in the new dramatic series, know
•just what is meant. As native New
Englanders, these two players have
much more than a superficial knowl
edge of the Cape Cod characters they
portray over the Columbia network oi
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at
7:15 P.M., in the Atlantic Refining Com
pany program.
Margaret Dee, in fact, was selected
to play the part of Ma Baxter after
scores of actresses had been auditioned
for the role. One of the country's finest
character actresses, she had the added
qualifications of knowing the language
of the Cape people, their customs and
habits. This she got at first hand, hav
ing lived for several years on Cape
Cod. Miss Dee's birthplace was not far
from Cape Cod, having been Malden,
Mass.
Parker Fennelly, who portrays Pa
Baxter, a retire*] lobster fisherman, is
a "down-Easter,” having been born in
Northeast Harbor. Maine, a settlement
on Mt. Desert Isle. During his early
years he spent much of his time listen
ing to the yarns spun by the old-timers
around the fad-bellied stove in the
town’s general store.
His stage work has taken him all
over the country in Shakespearean
roles and in such productions as “The
Queen's Husband,” "Fog Bound,” and
"Black Velvet.” On the air he is famous
for his character parts, particularly
those of "down-East” people.
Fennelly recently had a play, "Fulton
of Oak Falls," accepted for production
by George M. Cohan and Sam H. Har
ris. This will be the first play offered
as a joint production by Cohan and Har
ris in sixtebp years. In it, George M.
Cohan will feJfe a leading part.
Program plans call for the presenta
tion of radio adaptations of such great
operatic works as Massenet’s "Cinder
ella,” Humperdinck’s "Hansel and Gret
el,” DeKoven’s “Robin Hood,” Resphi
gi’s "The Sunken Bell,” Rimsky-Kor
sakoff’s “Snow Maiden,” and other op
eras which will interest children, and
which children heretofore have had lit
tle opportunity to hear.
In addition, with her accompanist and
arranger, Milton Rettenberg, the Sing
ing Lady is preparing special musical
scores for such story classics as "Alice
in Wonderland,” “Snow White,” “Alad
din and His Wonderful lamp” and oth
er stories belo\ed of children.
Presenting these broadcasts, Miss
Wicker will be assisted by a small or
chestra, a chorus, soloists and a dra
matic cast. On Mondays through Thurs
days the Singing Lady presents her
regular fifteen-minute broadcasts at 5:30
over a WJZ-NBC network.
1847 Musical Camera
Has Baton for Lens
The idea of presenting pictures in
sound, as featured on the 1847 Musical
Camera series heard over a coast-to
coast WEAt-NBC network on Sunday
afternoon, has made this program out
standing even among the many big
Sunday radio shows.
Much of the credit for the popularity
of this program is due to the work of
Josef Cherniavsky, internationally fam
ous conductor who arranges the musi
cal novelties heard on it and who con
ducts the concert orchestra which pre
sents them.
By means of the Musical Camera,
Josef Cherniavsky portrays in music
scenes of current and historic interest.
With his baton as a camera lens, Cher
niavsky has depicted for radio listeners
such scenes as the opening of the San
Francisco Bridge, the arrival of Jenny
Lind in America, stories behind great
musical masterpieces, etc. Many of the
suggestions for the musical pictures are
offered by radio listeners.
The Musical Cameraman. Josef Cher
niavsky, is eminently qualified for the
production of these broadcasts. A grad
uate of the Imperial Conservatory at
Petrograd. he left Russia at the out
break of the Revolution and made his
concert debut at Carnegie Hall. Ameri
can jazz interested him. however, and
he organized a dance orchestra.
His knowledge of music of diverse
forms brought him to the attention of
Universal Pictures, and he became mus
ical director of this organization. It is
interesting to note that his work with
Universal, like his broadcasts today,
concerned pictures and sound. He was
in charge of preparing musical scores
to be played with silent motion pictures.
Following this he became a musical
director for Paramount-Publix. and when
the Century of Progress Exposition
opened in Chicago be held a similar
position there.
Rhythm Hunter
Rex Chandler, whose orchestra
is heard on new Ford Dealers’
broadcasts on Fridays over the
NBC Blue Network, believes in
going to sources for his music.
He just completed a 20,000 mile
motor tour of Mexico. He has
spent years in Europe and the
Orient and for two years lived
in Africa. Music of all nations
features his broadcast.
Wins 3 First Prizes:
Belittles Own Work
Three times Victor Kolar, who will
conduct the Ford Symphony Orchestra
and Chorus in the Ford Sunday •Even
ing Hour for eight weeks beginning
January 17th, has entered original man
uscripts in an international competition.
And all three times he has won first
prize.
Yet he has never sought publication
of these three prize-winning composi
tions, nor for that matter has he ever
attempted to have any of his hundred
plus other compositions published. The
reason for this is illustrative of the man
himself.
"The reason I do not submit my com
positions to publishers,” Kolar says, “is
that there is so much good music al
ready written that I do not feel there
is any artistic need for my efforts. Bet
ter compositions than mine are being
utterly neglected. Furthermore, I have
never written a composition with which
I, mvself, have been completely satis
fied.”
Others, however, have not agreed com
pletely with Kolar’s estimate of his own
work. More than a dozen of his com
positions have been published, not be-
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VICTOR KOLAR
cause Kolar asked it, but because pub
lishers heard his compositions played
from manuscript, and insisted on put
ting them into permanent form. Among
these are his three prize-winning com
positions, “Americana,” a symphonic
suite, "Lyric Suite,” and "Slovakian
Rhapsody.” Other compositions which
were written on request and which are
now nationally known are "Fair
of Mine,” the official march of the Amer
ican legion; "The Titans,” the official
school song of the University of De
troit; and the official national march of
the Sbriners.
Victor Kolar was born in Budapest,
in Hungary, in 1888. At the age of six
he began the study of the violin. After
his graduation from the Prague Con
servatory of Music he came to America
and met Emil Paur, the great German
opeiu director, who was directing the
newly-formed Pittsburgh Opera Com
pany. Kolar forced his way into the
presence of the great director.
"I want to be your assistant," he told
Paur. He got the job, and remained
with the Pittsburgh Opera Company for
three years. For thirteen years be
served as associate director of the New-
York Symphony, following which be
went with the Detroit Symphony Or
chestra.