In Cincinnati

In Cincinnati, last week, was held the 26th biennial music festival, one of the oldest, most thriving traditions of its kind in the U. S. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, directed by Franz van der Stuckin, a festival chorus, a children's chorus of 300 thin but adeptly trained voices procured from the local free schools, several famed singers, participated. Large and earnest audiences turned out for the proceedings. On the opening day, the assemblage (some 4,000) rose and sang America. After this rousing start, Sir Edward Elgar's Dream of Gerontius was performed with John McCormack as Gerontius. The famed Irish tenor, in a role that called for a more robust voice than his, sang creditably. On the second day, with the chorus augmented by 150 songsters from the parochial schools, was given Bach's Passion According to St. John. The chorals were excellently sung in a score which has never been popular in the U. S. On the third day, Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago Symphony, conducted his own Symphonic Variations--a sound, scholarly piece of uninspired craftsmanship. Florence Austral, Australian soprano who has sung Wagnerian roles in London, resoundingly delivered Brahms' Requiem. On the fourth day, Pierne's St. Francis of Assis furnished Tenor Edward Johnson an opportunity to demonstrate that an intelligent singer can make even inherently poor music impressive. The school children sang their difficult music with precision.