Presto

Presto Buyers' Guide
Analyzes and Classifies
All American P i a n o s
and in Detail Tells of
Their Makers.
PRESTO
E,tabli.hed 1M4. THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
Presto Year Book
The Only Complete
Annual Review of the
American Music In-
dustries and Trades.
iO Cent,; $2.00 a Year
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1925
STEINWAY HALL
CONCERTS ON RADIO
Announcement Following Meeting of Officials
of Steinway & Sons and Radio Corpora-
tion of America of Great Significance
to Music-Lovers Everywhere.
ERNEST URCHS TALKS
Artist's Department Manager of Steinway & Sons,
in Broadcasted Address, Said Event Should
Develop Appreciation c* Fine *"
The formal ope
Steinway Hall, Fi ., seventh street
\ and Fifth avenue, New York, on
' October 2.7 will be an epoch-mark-
ing event for the radio world. On
that date the first of the series of
dedicatory concerts will be broad-
casted. It means the beginning of
a new era in radio broadcasting of
great significance to millions of
music lovers who will be given the
opportunity of hearing such world-
famous artists as Josef Hofmaun,
Walter Damrosch. Mine. Schumann-
Heink, Mengelberg. and others in
programs contributed by Steinway
& Sons to the cause of greater
music appreciation in the United
STEINWAY HALT/ 'music appreciation.
Although famous pianists and other great concert
artists have been beard over the air on a number
of occasions during the past two years, the forth-
coming Steinway Series will mark the inauguration
of the first complete programs to be contributed by
the conservative musical interests of the country, in
which the greatest masters of the piano, the violin,
and concert hall will participate. For the first time,
also, concerts of this character will be broadcast in
full recital form, just as those rendered by the great
artists to select audiences of music-lovers throughout
the country.
The Announcement.
The concerts will be broadcast by stations of the
Radio Corporation of America and its associates from
New York, from Washington, and from Schenec-
tadv, according to an announcement made this week
at a meeting of officials of the Radio Corporation ot
America and Steinway & Sons, at the new Steinway
Hall.
In an address' delivered at the meeting, broadcast
to thousands of radio listeners, Ernest Urchs, artist's
department manager of Steinway & Sons, told how
' is company had arrived at the decision to contrib-
ute to the broadcasting service of the country.
Address by Ernest Urchs.
"We believe," he said, "in making available to the
public through the agency of radio the series of con-
certs announced here tonight, that we will create and
develop an appreciation of the highest type of musi-
cal entertainment. While the concert hall has a very
definite function in the scheme of things musical,
radio should suppleme
' concert hall in a way
which could prove of benefit t<• us by benefiting the
public.
"I must confess that radio's significance ' inilu-
ence as an instrument of pubi'^ - ^
not
stirred me with its possibilities until
^
ago. It is said that upo: i!:is occas
people, scattered over several states, living
al
homes and humble dwellings, are listen.. ^ to my
remarks. This experience brings me face-to-face with
the practical significance of modern-day broadcasting
and its vast potentialities."
Description of Concerts.
Mr. Urchs then proceeded to describe the first six
concerts of the Steinway Series already scheduled.
These will be as follows:
Tuesday, October 27.—William Mengelberg, the
noted guest conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra,
will direct fhe first concert program to be broadcast
from Steinway Hall.
Josef Hofmann, the world-famous pianist, will give
a piano recital.
A special Festival Hymn, composed by Mr. Men-
gelberg. for orchestra and baritone solo, will be ren-
dered for the first time in America. Fraser Gauge,
well-known for his renditions of oratorio music, will
be the soloist.
Sunday, November 8.—Walter Damrosch, the great
American composer and conductor, will be the pianist-
conductor in a notable performance of the "Kreutzer
Sonata" for piano and violin, to be broadcast from
Steinway Hall, by Station WJZ, from New York,
WRC from Washington, and WGY from Schenec-
tady. Paul Kochanski will play the violin part as
arranged by Mr. Damrosch, accompanied by the
Steinway String Orchestra.
The second part of the
,ram will be a short
violin recital by Paul Koch. ki, who has risen to
ntardom during the past t" i seasons.
Friday, December 4.—M JC. Schumann-Heink, rec-
ognized as the world's greatest contralto, will be fea-
tured in a song recital.
Other Concerts.
In addition, there will be interspersed during this
ERXKST t'RCHS.
period the following other concerts and recitals to be
broadcast by stations of the Radio Corporation of
America and the General Electric Company:
Monday, November 2.—The Mengelberg Festival
Hymn will be repeated at Steinway Hall with Fraser
Gauge as soloist. The second part of the program
will be given up to a piano recital by Ernest Hutche-
son, the internationally-known English pianist.
Wednesday, November 4.—The Elshuco Trio, in-
cluding Wiilem Willecke, cellist; William Kroll,
violinist; and Aurelio Giorni, pianist, will give a pro-
gram of chamber music.
Friday. November 6.—Joint recital by Guy Maier
and Lee Pattison for two pianos. Messrs. Maier
and Pattison are the world's most eminent exponents
of two-piano recitals.
Broadcasting Time.
Indicative of the complete form in which concerts
and recitals are to be broadcast for the first time by
radio is the fact that the broadcasting stations have
alloted from 8:30 to 10:00 p. m. for each performance
of an hour and a half, including a short intermission.
Tribute to Steinway & Sons.
Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, in an address on behalt
of the Radio Corporation of America, paid a tribute
to the high ideals which led Steinway & Sons to take
such a notable step in broadcasting service. "Radio
has indeed developed as a worthy medium for the
INTERESTING OLD ORGAN
IN CLEVELAND WINDOW
Instrument More Than Hundred Years Old
Shown by Muelhauser Brothers, Who Have
Taken Agency for the Sohmer.
P.y A. H. DIHM.
Muelhauser Brothers Co., 2045 Euclid Avenue,
have taken the agency for the Sohmer line of pianos
and have received a shipment of both period and
other models, which they are now displaying.
The company has a very unique window display
that consists of a pipe organ two hundred years old
made by Gustav Dorman in Germany. Before the
organ was completed, Dorman died and his son fin-
ished it, the time consumed being twelve years. It
was brought to this country one hundred years ago,
and is now the property of a Cleveland man who
loaned it to Muelhauser for exhibition purposes.
The instrument is made entirely of wood, and is in
good playing condition. The only parts that have
been replaced are the stops and the covering of the
bellows. The whole organ can be taken apart in sec-
tions and looks like a square cabinet when closed.
Grossman Brothers Music Co. opened a price-
slashing sale on strings and some brass instruments
to celebrate the formal opening of their retail depart-
ment, on October 10. Eddie Peabody, known as the
"Banjo King," gave a concert at the store in the
afternoon and autographed instruments that were
sold.
The Euclid Music Co. was one of those affected by
the controversy of the Society of Authors, Composers
and Publishers with Station WTAM this week, when
the station declined to enter into an agreement with
the society to pay certain fees for the privilege of
broadcasting through remote control.
The station issued a notice through the newspapers
that it would broadcast only three nights a week and
discontinued all remote control broadcasting. A com-
promise, however, was affected and full broadcasting
resumed.
Svehlas Music House., one of the most prominent
music stores on the west side of Cleveland, is being
completely remodeled to give more space to allow
of a larger line than at present. When completed it
will be one of the most attractive music stores on the
West Side.
The Wurlitzer Co. has a piano display this week
that attracts much attention. It shows one of their
small uprights on a Toledo scale, which plainly indi-
cated its light weight, thus making it easy to move
about.
VISITORS FROM NASHVILLE.
Among the callers in Chicago this week were
President Jesse F. Houck and Vice-President W. T.
Sutherland, of the house of O. K. Houck Piano Co.,
Nashville, Tenn., one of the institutions by which the
best traditions of the commercial side of music in
this country are sustained. The two gentlemen were
bound further East, in the interests of their house.
The O. K. Houck Piano Co. has been selling the
Steinway piano for more than thirty years and just
now, said Mr. Sutherland, trade in Nashville is bet-
ter than before in a very long time.
transmission of the world's greatest music," he de-
clared.
"Radio engineers and executives have struggled
hard for the last decade," he pointed out, "to develop
the excellent technique which today enables them to
carry the appealing quality of the voice, the splendid
diapason of tone from the piano, and the sounds of
the wide variety of pleasure-bringing musical instru-
ments through the air to receiving sets which effec-
tively mirror the original performance. Six years
ago this was not so. In those days, remote in a radio
sense, a comparatively crude radio telephone trans-
mitter sent a simple and short program to a few
enthusiastic amateurs who forgave the multitude of
faults of the transmission and reception because of
the marvel of the entire accomplishment and because
they must have dimly sensed the ever-expanding pos-
sibilities of the future."
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