Featured concerts have been and are being given by massed bands composed of Sousa's, Cassasa's, Conway's and other military or concert organizations.
Briefly, and regardless of the importance of each item, here are some of the attractions which make this Exposition vocal and harmonious: Edwin Henry Lemare, of London, by general critical agreement declared the greatest living organist, is expected here early in September, when he will begin his series of one hundred organ recitals, to continue till the Exposition closes in December. A unique episode of the Exposition music must not be overlooked in the recital by Madame Schumann-Heink, whose graciousness found another expression in her concert given exclusively and gratuitously to the children. More than three thousand of the little folk were in Festival Hall when the grandest of singers sang for them alone. The visit already accomplished of Gabriel Pares and his famous Republican Guard band of Paris; the engagement already begun of the Ogden Tabernacle Choir of 300 voices; the Eisteddfod competitive concerts; the long stay of the Philippine Constabulary band under the leadership of Captain W. H. Loving; Emil Mollenhauer's big Boston band; the concerts of the United Swedish Singers; the Apollo Music Club's premised visit from Chicago—the organization is coming intact with all of its 250 vocalists and its distinguished composer-conductor, Harrison M. Wild; La Loie Fuller's spectacles, and the engagement of forty noted organists to appear in Festival Hall in addition to Lemare and Clarence Eddy, are a few of the accomplished or promised attractions. To this list must be added the daily concerts given gratis at different periods by various bands other than those named—the official Exposition band of 45 players under the seasoned direction of Charles H. Cassasa; Thaviu's splendid band of 50; Conway's military and concert band of 50, and others yet to be had in the world of music will be spread for their delecta-concerts are booked. As proof of the worth of these, let the achievements of the recent past speak. We have heard the Alameda County 1915 Chorus of 250 voices under Alexander Stewart in a majestic performance of Handel's "Messiah;" the Exposition Chorus under Wallace Sabin in a repetition of the music sung as part of the opening day's celebration—"The Heavens are Telling," from Haydn's "Creation," and the official hymn—"A Noble Work"—by Mrs. H. H. A. Beach; the Berkeley Oratorio Society under the inspiring direction of Paul Steindorff in two splendid concerts, the first given to Rossini's "Stabat Mater" and the second to Brahms' "German Requiem;" and the Pacific Choral Society's performance of Haydn's "Creation" under the musicianly leadership of Warren B. Allen. More music may confidently be looked for from these rich sources.
The Exposition authorities declare that half a million dollars will have been expended on music before the end of the life of the great enterprise. Thus visitors to the Exposition may come at any period of the Jewel City's existence, knowing that the best to be had in the world of music will be spread for their delectation, and that they will be afforded a comprehensive view of the art of tone as it exists today. In this respect the Exposition's musical "exhibit" is similar in its scope to the revealments in all its other departments; for the Exposition is avowedly devoted to contemporaneous rather than historic achievements.
Nothing that extends contemplation over a wider period than the last five years is admitted for competitive exhibition. The modern composer, no less than the modern inventor, is having his day at the Exposition. This is as it should be. We are hearing, have heard, or will hear, the last utterances of present-day musical creators. Indeed, in the case of one—Saint-Saens—we heard, as I have recounted, two massive compositions written expressly for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and John Philip Sousa has bent his most martial mood to the composition of an inspiring march which is called "Panama." But music also enjoys a privilege not accorded equally to any other department of Exposition display. The works of the past, as well as the present, are given. A history of music at the Exposition properly written—as one surely should be—would be an epitome of the evolution of the art from Cherubini, Haydn and Bach to Richard Strauss, Saint-Saens and Debussy. It would involve in its telling the stories of music in Italy, Germany, Austria, England, France, Russia, Scandinavia, yes, and America, too! It would include an account of the genealogy of the modern orchestra as exemplified in the Boston Symphony or the Official Symphony, and of military bands up to the perfected concert organizations headed by a Sousa or a Gabriel Pares. It would embrace with like inclusiveness the history of the pipe organ through its stages of evolution from the ponderous instruments with men straddling unwieldy bellows to the marvel installed in Festival Hall, and it would embrace the history of the art of organ music up to such exemplars as our own Clarence Eddy, John &. McClellan, Edwin Lemare, and Camille Saint-Saens. What a chapter would be set aside for the record of Exposition choral music! Already there has gone abroad from the Festival Hall an impetus towards better chorus music that will, I feel sure, firmly establish this somewhat neglected department of musical art in the far West.
XV.
Inside the Exhibit Palaces
All competitive exhibits strictly contemporaneous, showing the arts of to-day—Revolution worked by the motion-picture theater in exhibition methods—The lessons of Machinery Palace—Coal and steam fast yielding to liquid fuels and waterpower and electricity—Life-saving devices, accident prevention and employees' welfare made prominent in Palaces of Machinery and Mines—A contrast in locomotives—Building a motor car every ten minutes—Co-operative exhibits in Food-Products Palace—Many great displays by the United States Government—Educational exhibits not duplicated, each state or city showing its specialty.
In its industrial displays, as well as its art, the Exposition keeps steadily in view the fact that it commemorates a contemporary event; it is contemporaneous, not historical. Hence it was decreed from the first that the exhibits must be the products of the last decade, a rule strictly observed save in rare cases where older forms have been admitted for comparison. The result is two-fold. The exhibits are condensed to the essential, giving room for a greater number of exhibitors; and the progress of the world is shown as of today.
Eleven palaces house the exhibits, exclusive of live stock. Officially, the things shown in the state and foreign buildings are not "exhibits," but "displays," and are not eligible for award. In general, the names of the palaces indicate the classes of exhibits to be found in them. No sharp line, however, can be drawn between the Palaces of Manufactures and Varied Industries, or between Agriculture and Food Products. In other cases there is some overlapping of classes. One section of the Liberal Arts exhibit is in the Palace of Machinery.
A striking feature of almost all the palaces, and one that differentiates this Exposition from its great predecessors of a decade or more ago, is the common use of the moving-picture machine as the fastest and most vivid method of displaying human activities and scenery. Everywhere it is showing industrial processes. Former expositions, for want of this device, have been mainly exhibitions of products. These have hitherto been shown in such bulk as to fill vast floor spaces and become a weariness to the flesh, while it was impossible, from the nature of things, to exhibit the great primary industries of field, forest, sea and mine in actual operation. The motion-picture machine has not only lessened the areas of products shown, thus making this Exposition more compact than former ones; but it has increased the effectiveness of exhibition methods by carrying the spectator, figuratively, into the midst of operations, and showing him men at work in all the important processes of agriculture, in the logging camps, in mines and fisheries, as well as in the mills and factories where the raw materials of these basic industries are worked into finished products. Its value for showing scenery, too, is fully utilized here. Many of the states and foreign countries employ it. Even faraway Siam uses it to instruct the Occident concerning her resources and people. Counting those in the state and foreign buildings, seventy-seven free moving-picture halls are to be found within the Exposition. Their efficiency is indicated by the crowds that throng them daily.