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Show I- EISTEDOFBO fORIMBPENED I First Sessions of the Big Mu- I sical Festival Held at I Tabernacle I PROGRAMME FULL OF L INTERESTING FEATURES I' W Contests Prove Interesting to I the Large Audiences in I . Attendance. I-' Thursday was Welsh day in Salt Lake ? City and aspirants for honors, musical 1 and literary, assembled hero to lake part Wj in the sreut Eisteddfod, conducted after ! the ancient fashion and with the true I: Welsh spirit, as in the homo of tho de- K scendants of Owen Glendwr himself. They I camo from all parts of the slate and E there were many from distant places as E well from cities of the far northwest and from tho cast, and even from old L' Wales itself. Doth sessions of the Eisteddfod, which I was formally opened at 2 o'clock in tho j afternoon, were tilled with music, and I ilio audiences wcro charmed with the r many beautiful numbers that wero given. t TIic contests began early in the inorn- Ins with preliminary trials by the tenors, j sopranos and the violin soloists. In every f contest tho number was reduced to three contestants and the task of the musical adjudicator was in many instances very difficult. The first contest of tho afternoon was i the soprano solo. Mr. Protheroe said j that he had the greatest difficulty in re- duclngr the contestants to the usual number num-ber and finally compromised by selecting select-ing flvo contestants and giving them tho opportunity to sing before the audience. In this afTatr Edna Evans was accorded xtxa first prize and Lavlnia Poulton the uccond. Denver carried off lirst prize In tho contest for the ladles quartette contest, and this in spile of the fact that Miss Bertlo JJcrlln. the iirst soprano, had been auffe'rlug from a severe cold. This or- I i . ganlzatlon was composed of Miss Berlin, u I Miss Ivy Matteson, Mrs. F. J. Houscley and Mrs. 1. S. Cooper. The Salt Lake mmrtette, which was a close second, was composed of Mr. Henry Kirkman.Mrs. Charles O. Vcnesp, 7i rs. Emma J. fcand- tva and Mrs. Thomas Wise. Only one i prizo was granted in this contest, how-ttver. how-ttver. although llio adjudication was so close. , I Competition Is Cloac. ; I' In the male quartette contest the com- j petition wos not so close, however, and . rialt Lake won easily. This quartette Is , composed of Messrs. Moncarr. Christ. an- : , aen, Burt and Richardson, and received 1 "the following adjudication: "Good ensemble, tempo too slow, voices . balance and blend well. Voices In perfect accord as to pitch. Singing full ot clc-.' clc-.' Ughtrul expressive effects. Part singing clear and distinct, style excellent, fcchu-h fcchu-h bert quartette by far the best quartette. The Salt Lake City band, under the direction di-rection of Professor Anton Pedcrson. won the first prize for the band contest. According Ac-cording to arrangements of officials or the Eisteddfod, this band formed at tho f head of Main street at noon and marched down the street to Fourth South and back again, playing the great Welsh air, 'Men of Harlech." . t1 , The prizes were granteo tho wlnneis of the afternoon session at tho opening of the evenlnc session, and many comments com-ments were made by William Apmadoc of Chicago, the conductor of the Eisteddfod, Eistedd-fod, who had charge as master of ceremonies, cere-monies, on the Interest displayed in the proceedings. d. The evening session opened with tha . singing of the grand old Welsh hymn. "Land of My Fathers," and tho audience, which nearly filled the great tabernacle, joined In the refrain with enthusiasm, and made tho olace ring with "Hen Wlid Fy Nhadau," and there wero many Welshmen present who joined in the chorus with remembrances of their younger days. The events for the evening were the ', tenor solo, violin solo, minor choral con- ; test for mixed chorus of ilfty voices, and t The contest for male chorus. In the first S e'cnt, Salt Lake City carried off first ft honors, through the ability of John Sum- ! merhavs, with Denver a close second in Llewellyn Jones. In the violin solo con-Y con-Y ' t(2St the three contestants were so well j matched that Dr. Protheroe, the adjudl- f cator. expressed his difficulty in choosing f between them. He also remarked on the ftj jvleasure he had enjoyed at the perform- e ancc. It was. Indeed, a charming event, D and the familiar "Eleglc" by Ernst, the V Spohr arrangement, appeared in all its beauty. Prizes were finally granted to Morris 1 P. Andrews as the winner, and to Miss I Roumanla Hair? and Edward P- Fltzpat- -, rick as ties for second place. The accom- I I nanim'ents for the solos were played by P I Mrs. George E. Skellon, who was compli mented by the adjudicator for the earn L and judgment she displayed in her work. F Only One Contestant, r There was only one contestant for the j minor choral contest. The Liberty Choral society sang "How Sweet the Moonlight . J Sleeps," by D. Emlyn Evans, as Dr. Pro- i theroesald. with a good deal of spirit I . and with sufficient ability to win the first -a. prize. The male chorus contest was especially ,,' interesting because of the entry of tho Orpheus club of this city and a specially T , organized chorus under the direction of i Evan Arthur. In the first number. Dr. 4,M Prothcroe's "Nocturne," unaccompanied, m- ' the honors were so even that tha decl- Brv slon was made on the second number, ml Dudley Buck's "The Bugle Song." Tho R,t Salt Lake Glee society exhibited here : ' greater care arid tone quality, and was ( granted the first prize, with commenda- I' ' tion by the adjudicator. I I The feature of both sessions, of course, 1 i was the singing of the Welsh baritone, David Evans, who camo here directly h from his home In Wales to grace the oc- f- casion. It has been stated that Mr. Ev- fl nns came from Swansea, but he gave out I. Thursday evening that this was Incor- tt. , rect; that his present residence was Lon- V f don, but that his home was Pontcrwyd, j i Aberystwyth. However this mav be, ho " sang beautifully at both the afternoon 1: v and evening sessions and delighted his f-v audiences. As an encore In the evening . f. he rendered "Annie Laurie" In a most i charming manner and with a feeling that m j; touched the hearts of his audience. V One of the most beautiful events of the H evening was the singing of tho public R school children under the direction of H Prof. William A. Wetzell, supervisor of H music in the schools. In the "Song of RJ Christmas," bv Evan Stephens, they dls- K'.'i played careful training, and the young, Kr ' iresh voices made an especially pleasing I ifcature of the great concert. At the close K Jf the singing both Mr. Stephens and Prof. H . wetzell wero compelled to acknowledge H ! the plaudits of the audience. The children H f were. all presented with handsome medals. H . mado In the form of a gilt wcrNl with the H ' inscription In Welsh. "Wales forever," :. and with a ribbon attached bearing an in- -scription commemorating the event. B i Other Selections. Bi ' .' Other selections were givn by the tab- K . ernacle choir under the direction of Prof. S:: Evan Stephens, which rendered the Sol- A dlers Chorus from Gounod's "Faust" In ' a pleasing and spirited manner. As an s' encoro they also gave two verses of the "I ?ld hymn. "O My Father." adapted by -1 Moody and Sankey from the old air. P ,vr?t satisfaction was expressed In the L I adjudications made by Dr. Protheroe. al-l al-l . ' f though thuro wen; of necessity many dib- i I 'appointed candidates. Considerable dls- satisfaction was expressed, however, at the slowness with which the events were carried on. and It Is thought that the contests con-tests should have followed each other more closely without ko many lone Hpeeches. Officials of the affair expressed the Intention of expediting matters considerably con-siderably at tho emutlng sessions. In many circles Thursday night there was a good deal of enthusiasm, and It was given out lhat thore should be a grand Welsh meeting called for Saturday morning, at which not only would the dominant spirit be Welsh, but the language lan-guage an well, and there would also bo many of tho grand old Welsh hymns sung. This matter will be taken up by the Rev. Mawddyy Jones of Portland. Ore.; Joseph E. Thomns of Seattle and William James of Spokane. This morning at 9.30, in the tabernacle, there will be a rehearsal for tho ceremony of "Chairing the Bard," which will occur in the afternoon. This will be carried out according to the ancient cuotom, which has been In vogue In Wales for many hundreds hun-dreds of years, and will be ono of tho most interesting events of the Eisteddfod. Preliminary contests will also he conducted con-ducted In baritone solo, contralto solo, piano solo and the duet between tenor and bass at tho tabernacle, heulnnlng at 10 o'clock. |
