Word: baton
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...audiences have seen him jump about the podium like a college cheerleader, stand on one foot, kick up his heels, shake his fists, lunge with his arms, yell at the brass, lose his baton, nearly lose his balance. They have watched this catalogue of gestures bring from the orchestra a beautifully controlled flow of pliant, clearly articulated symphonic sound. No conductor has a more eloquent sign language for encouraging, warning, cajoling or just plain frightening orchestra musicians into giving him what he wants. Sir Thomas, unlike most maestros, seldom bothers to beat time-he seems able to infect musicians with...
Just the Thing. The wealthiest man who ever twitched a professional baton, Sir Thomas has lost more money conducting orchestras than any ten of his contemporaries have made. The money (a fortune estimated at $140,000,000) was amassed by the amateur Lancashire horse doctor, Joseph Beecham, who invented Beecham's Pills. Joseph Beecham was one of the first British businessmen to grasp the power of modern advertising. He even circulated a hymn book edited with an eye to furthering his product. Most famous edited hymn...
When Dr. Koussevitsky raised his baton for the world premiere of William Schumann's second secular cantata, "A Free Song," the combined Radcliffe and Harvard choirs had a bare three weeks of rehearsal behind them; the baritone soloists had three days. Yet the technical difficulties of the music had all been mastered, the opening dissonance was clean, the final "We Hear Liberty" rang out, and with very few and minor exceptions the performance was all that could have been expected. There was no lack of smoothness, maturity, etc, by the non-professional choruses "to be made up by their vigor...
What looked good to the Navy looked good to the Army too; Congress began to consider the rank of Field Marshal. But last week the program, which would have automatically put the traditional baton into the hands of Chief of Staff George Marshall (and given it to other generals later), hit a snag...
...levelled at the organization, it is an indication of the fact that musical audiences refuse to have their tastes forcibly changed, that they have a right to expect more music of their own choosing from the orchestra which they support. Dr. Koussevitsky has, to date, gotten more than his baton's worth out of the music which he particularly enjoys. But there are seven programs to be heard and he may yet lower himself to the level of Bach and Handel...