Newspaper Page Text
The Campus Mirror^
Published during the College Year by the Students of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia
VOLUME XII FEBRUARY 15, 1936
Marian Anderson, Famed Contralto,
Delights Large Atlanta Audience
MARIAN ANDERSON
By Mabelle S. Wall
A capacity audience, with many
standing', heard Marian Anderson, cele
brated Negro contralto, when she sang
in Sisters Chapel, Spelman College,
Friday night, presented by Spelman,
Morehouse College and Atlanta Univer
sity.
Simple mannered and without any
ostentation whatsoever, the singer who
has triumphed abroad and who has been
acclaimed one of the greatest living
singers, delivered a comprehensive pro
gram of taxing quality with sincerity
and with great artistry. To this sin
cerity and to her indisputably eminent
vocal equipment, the audience, which
numbered many musical white people
ot' Atlanta, responded with intense* en
thusiasm.
She began her program with a group
of songs by Haendel, which tested her
style, breadth of line and classical re-
spose. Sustained and beautiful tone of
individual timbre, round ness of phrase,
and a good diction with which this
group was sung, had an electrifying
effect on the audience.
But in the interpretation of Schu
bert's songs, Marian Anderson’s art
was at its pinnacle. Contrasts of tone
color, poetry, emotional and dramatic
power, were reflected through the
medium of a voice of wide range, per
fectly controlled throughout, and sup
ported by apparently unlimited re-
soums of breath. Her crescendos and
decrescendos were archlike in evenness
of tone and all ornaments in florid pas-
sages were accomplished with an art,
superb. In contrasting the utterances of
the girl in Death and the Maiden, by
Schubert, her vocal timbre and color
ing were amazing. Her low tones arc
No. 5
richly dark, powerful and somber, and
her high tones are shining and light.
Die Allmacht, by Schubert, was another
offering that was quickened by a sort
of divine afflatus.
0 Don Fatale, from Verdi’s Don
Carlos, was the aria given with superb
dramatic effect. A group of songs by
the Italian woman composer, Sadero,
whose compositions have only recently
been included on recitalist’s programs,
were unique and highly effective and
interesting. The Tarantella, by this
composer, was a tour de force in speed,
clarity, and diction.
A group of Negro spirituals com
pleted the program on a note of pathos.
These were arranged by Hall Johnson,
Roland Hayes, John Payne and Flor
ence Price. Encores included an Echo
Song, Schubert’s TYohin; a quaint and
appealing Finnish folk song, arranged
by the accompanist, Kosti Yethanen,
which had to be repeated; a Cuckoo
Song and Will o’ the Wisp.
Accompaniments that were excellent
support, technically free, and sympa
thetically colored were given by Kosti
Verhanen.
At the close of the program, Miss
Florence Reed, president of Spelman
College, asked the Negroes of the au
dience to sing their anthem which was
composed by Rosamonde Johnson. This
was noble music, sung with reverence.
Several hymns were also offered, under
the leadership of Kemper Harreld, di
rector of music in the Negro colleges
of Atlanta.—From The Atlanta Journal.
« *
Listening to Marian Anderson was a
thrilling experience and an unforget
table treat!
She has the most amazing vocal tech
nique, meeting with ease and evenness
(he demands for a balance in high and
low tones and equipped to do colora
tura work. There were long sustained
phrases never wanting for breath—rich,
robust tones in which she added another
unpushed swell, then spinning off into
a delicate tone like a mystical echo.
At all times her singing and inter
pretations were refined and exquisitely
charming. Her diction, whether in Ger
man, Italian or English, was pure and
definite. She was completely at home
in her art.—From The Atlanta (leor-
gian.
(Editor S Note—The student reporter
for the Marian Anderson concert gave place
to reports of the newspaper music critics.
I he Campus Mirror acknowledges the
courtesy of The Atlanta Journal and The
Atlanta Georgian in permitting the reprint
ing of material concerning Marian Ander
son.)