7/29/2019 1954+Magazine Article

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1954magazine-article 1/2

7/29/2019 1954+Magazine Article

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1954magazine-article 2/2

O N TH E C OVER

FESTIVAL

I N THE BIG SMOKIES

By MARY CRA IG

THE locale of the Brevard Music Festival is one

of th e loveliest spots of the western North Carolina

mountain country, just ou t from the pleasa nt townof Brevard and about 30 mi les from Asheville . Here, with

the Big Smokies looming as a background, with State

Park reservalions prescl'ving th e w ild life an d primitive

c u s t o r n ~ of the old pioneer country, a splendid Music Camp

bearing the name of the region, Transylvania, has formed

the nucleus from which has deve loped th e Music Founda

tion and th e Fe stival, now presenting its ninth annual

se ri es. Th e grea t tract of rugged coun tr y wa s originally

a part of th e Raleigh Grant, made by Elizabeth the First

in 1584. Charles II of England, in 1663, revised th e charter,

giv ing th is, and all lands of Carolina lying between the

Atlantic and the Pa cific, to the Lord Proprietors (Claren

don, Edenton, Batu ) ; bu t it was only sporadically explored

until nearly 100 years later when the settlers began to

move ou t and to establish homes along the French Broad

River. Judging (I'om the Hymnology and th e "m outh to

ea r" folk ballads, music ha s always been a cherished

heritage of this colonial people of varied lineage. Cove

nanters , Moravians, Hu gu eno ts , and Engl ish, moving west

erly from th e Tidewater estates, added to the rich culturalprogress - superlat ive schools and colleges, symphonic,Chor al, and aft song literature-w hich ha s found an im

pressive fruition in th is annual August Festiva l.

While recognizing th e great contributions of sponsors,

fr i ends, vis itors, ear nes t workers, an d th e loyal students,

major credit fo r th e outstanding achievement must go to

one man, whose vision, u nfla gg ing inspiration, devotion,

and unrelenting toil ar e responsib le fo r th e founding and

development o f the Music Camp and Festival. James Chris

tian Pfohl, while music direc to r at Davidson an d Queen's

Colleges, inaugurated the Youth Mu sic Camp at Brevard,

an d for t he past 17 years he has realized his ideas in

music education an d performance-especially for the 10-to-

20-year-old student group. Ensemble, theory, private voice,

and instrumental lessons ar e each season available underth e dist ingu ished fa culty which Dr. Pfohl ha s assembled

from fir st -rank orchest ra players on summer leave, and

from conservatory facilities an d the South's fine public

sc hool system, Besides the Camp concerts fo r residentsand "furriners" (summer visitors), the music perform

ances of Camp an d Festival we re broadcast in 1953 over

three major networks and many are a stations.

"J im" Pfohl, as most people call th e di rector, wa s

born in Winston Salem, N. C. (his father is a bi shop of

th e Moravian Church). He att end ed the University of

Nort h Carolina. later receiving hi s Bachelor of Mu sic

and his Mus ic Doctorate from th e University of Michigan.

JULY , 1954

He has been conductor, si nce 1949, of th e Charlotte Sym

phony Orchestra; was appointed conductor of the Jackson

ville, Florida. Symphony in 1952; ha s frequently guest

conducted the National Symphony at Watergate, Wash

ington, D. C.; is organist and choir director of Myers Park

Pr esbyterian Church in Charlotte; Editor of the Moravian

ChoralMusic

Series; director of the MoravianCh

urch

Chorus an d Orchestra in Winston Salem; and with indefatigable zeal, plans and directs the six-week Music Camp

program and the Brevard Music Fe s tival program.

An erudite master of musicology, Pfohl is a strict dis

ciplinarian in matters musical, bu t a genial personage who

radiates a vital enthusiasm and good will. He makes eve rybody feel welcome and "at home" in th e beautifu l Brevard

setting. And if, besides music. you want tales of th e big

bears in the hills, weird mountain legends, or qu aint

Moravian folklore , he can supply th a t too. On th e podium

he is alert and authoritative, and his first-cha ir men re

turn year after year to play under his baton.

Without listing th e numerous "special" events, th e

Festival proper opens Friday, August 13, with th e orches

tr a playing Beethoven's " Leonora" Overture, Franck 's DMino r Symphony, and (with soloist Carroll Glenn) the

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Miss Glenn will play th e

Vivaldi Concerto (an America n premiere) on Saturday

eve ning. Also listed is a "first" for Milhaud's "Le Boeuf

su r Ie Toit." Wagner an d Nordoff works complete the

program. On th e first Fes tival Sunday afternoon pianist

Eu gene List will play Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1.

On Friday the 20th, Carol Smith will make her Festival

bow in De Falla's "EI Amor Brujo" for contralto and

orchestra. Saturday brings a "Tribute to Wind I nstru

ments" program, listing the world premiere of Eino Ranta

vara's "A Requiem in Ou r Ti me" (the winning composi

tion in the Thor Johnso n Brass Ensemble Award) and

works by Strauss, Chavez, Hindemith, and Grainger. Carol

Smith will be joined by Dav id Lloyd, tenor, in performance of Mahler 's "Das Lied von der Erde" for the Sunday

afternoon concert.

Th e final tri-concert weekend will introduce Grant

Johannesen, pianist, playin g on Friday th e Grieg Con

certo, and on Sunday Bach's Prelude in E Major an d th e

Beethoven Concerto No.4. Donald Gramm, bass-ba r itone,will be introduced on Saturday in a Mozart-Berlioz pro

gram which will include arias from The Magic Flute , Th e

r r i a g e of Figaro, an d The Damnation Of Faust, an d

orchestral numbers from the sa me scores. Th e Fe s tival

will close with a Sunday afternoon hearing of the Sym

phony No. 1 by Brahms.

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