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The Music Box

By Otto A. Friedrich

When I remarked to a young lady at the Yard Concert last night that the cadenees of Allegri's "Mjserero" were well-defined, she said "cadence, shmadence," so we let it go at that. In addition to this work, the Glee Club sang three canons of Mozart, "To Thee Alone Be Glory" by J. S. Bach, and selections of Paine, Webbe, Allegri, Gastoldi, and Piston, all of them with precision and clearness, but they were partly wasted in the Yard, where acoustics are conspicuous by their absence.

The atmosphere of the big quadrangle at sunset also contributed to the not unpleasant incongruity of the concert. Last year G. Wallace Wood-worth broke up his Mozart and Bach with "Casey Jones" and part of "Three Saints in Four Acts," both of which lose less when they are played in the Great Outdoors, and the languorous audience was a bit more responsive. As it was, the pigeons above Widener, a passing fire engine on Kirkland Street, and the murmur of the crowd stretched on the grass were distracting to the Glee Club, which was seriously singing serious works.

The beginning of May, as the student girding his loins for exams may ruefully tell you, is the best time of year in Cambridge, and Yard Concerts have become one of the most attractive features of the season. Some lighter music among the rest would perhaps be appropriate, but the vernal atmosphere and the excellence of the singing were still there. There's another one next Tuesday. After the program you'll have a chance to sing the College football songs, if that's your idea of a good time.

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