Diario las Américas Newspaper, April 28, 1957, Page 25

i SS aS Nahar Nanaia eae ican game extent as the United States. There are few millionaires and in- fluential philanthropic _ organiza- tions to bestow large sums of mon- ey on struggling artists; there is not even a large upper-middle class. Patrons are scarce, and there are no established funds to provide continuous encouragement to mus- ic. Of course, there have been oc- casional donations. Dr. Inocente Palacios of Venezuela gave a siza- ble amount toward the cost of the First Festival of Latin American Music in Caracas, For several years Agustin Batista of Cuba paid .the deficit on the low-priced midnight concerts of the Havana Philhar- monic organized by the late Aus- trian conductor Erich Kleiber. In Brazil, the Matarazzo family and others have helped promising artists secure an education. New composers in Latin America also face copyright difficulties, since re- gulations vaty from country te country. In the United States, public sub- sidies for music have been hotly debated. Some. say government sup- port would be calamitous, not only because of the amount of money involved but also because they feel it would undermine the nation’s mausical expression. Others see it as a salvation, in view of the fact that the large orchestras and ope- Tra companies are not self-sustain- ing and depend on donations from foundations and from the general public. Some state legisliaures, like those of California and Maryland, vote funds for orchestras and bands. Baltimore was one of the first U. S. cities to lend official assistance to music. From 1916, when it was organized; to 1942, when public contributions were Representatives of musical America in meeting with OAS Sec- retary General José A. Mora (at head of table) prior te organ- ization of Inter-American Music Center. first accepted, the Baltimore Sym- phony was subsidized by the city government. In Latin America, such support not only of music but of all cultur- al activites is usual, though on a modest scale. Many of the minis- tries of. education have offices of culture and fine arts. National sym- phonies are sometimes connected with these offices and are allocated a large chunk of the budget. There are also institutions that are administratively. autonomous but under the government, which supplies the funds for expanded budgets — among others, the Na- tional Institute of Fine Arts in México, the National Institute of Culture in Cuba, the General Office of Fine Arts in Guatemala, and the Official Radio-Broadcasting Service in Uruguay. In Chile, one of the most advanced Latin American na- tions in this respect, the Institute of Musical Extension, an official organization attached to the Facul- ty of Sciences and Musical Arts of the Autonomous University, is sub- sidized by the government_ with funds derived from a tax on all public performances. In addition to making cash awards to com- posers, the Institute controls the National Symphony Orchestra, the opera, the ballet, chamber-music concerts, and the like. There are, of course, private as- sociations that receive some finan- cial assistance from the govern- ment, like the Lyceum and Pro Arte of Havana, the Wagnerian Association and the Friends of Mu- sic Society in Buenos Aires, and the Brazilian Society of Authors, THROUGHOUT OUR HEMISPHERE A Treasure From Mount Vernon WASHINGTON, D. C. (PAU)— A gold medal long ago presented to George Washington by the United States Government is dis- played in the Bolivar Museum in Caracas, Venezuela. Behind this fact lies the simple ‘story of a thoughtful act linking the names of three great men — Washington, Bolivar and Lafayette. George Washington Custis, a- dopted son of Washington, know- ing Bolivar’s esteem for his father, asked Lafayette to transmit.to Bo- livar a remembrance from among Washington's personal possessions. He chose the medal and a gold locket, containing a miniature of Washington and a _ lock of his hair. On the locket was engraved in Lat- in: “This portrait of the Liberator of North America is presented by his son, to him who achieved a similar glory in South America.” Bolivar, at that time saddened by his compatriots’ failure to share in his vision for America’s future, was conforted and inspired by the gift. In a letter to Lafayette, dated March 20, 1826, he wrote in part: “, . I have learned, with in- expressible pleasure that Your Excellency has been so kind as to honor me_ with a treasure from Mount Vernon: the image of Washington, some of his me- mentos, and one of the monu- ments of his glory are to be be- stowed upon me by Your Ex- cellency in memory of that great man, the New Yorld’s foremost gon. Words cannot express how greatly my heart cherishes so - glorious an assembly of thoughts and objects. Washington’s family honors we in a manner far ex- ceeding my remotest hopes, as a reward from Washington, given by the hand of Lafayette, is the ultimate in human compensa- tions. He was the outstanding architect of political reform, even as Your Excellency is the eutstanuing citizen-hero, the ehampion of freedom, who on the one hand has served Ameri- ea and on the other the Old World of Europe. . .” This year, the 174th anniver- sary of the birth of Simén Bolivar an equestrian staute of the Great Liberator, wearing an exact repli- ea of the medal, will come to ride in Bolivar Park, Washington, D. C. SUNDAY, APRIL , . he 4 » « Sé 28, 1957 Venezuela. And, in a sense, part of the “treasure from Mount Ver- non” will return to its homeland. Washington, Bolivar and’ Lafayette would, we think, be pleased. Hemisphere Television WASHINGTON, D. C. (PAU) — Cuba is expected to be the first television link between the United States, Canada, México, Central America and_ eventually all the countries of South America. A system known as “scatter” te- lecasting, using new directional methods, will beam signals from Florida to Havana. The initial inter country connec- tion, inauguration of which is scheduled to take place this year, will mark the dawn of a new era in hemispheric communications, according to Lawrence Levey, writing in “Television Opportuni- ties.” Microwave radio relay, the “scat- ter” technique, not only transmits TV signals, but telephone, tele- graph, facsimile and other forms of broadcasting as well. It is unaf- fected by weather and other ha- zards to conventional broadcasting. “The scatter” system will also be introduced in Brazil in the near future to provide video program- ming for a potential: audience of 20,000,000 people from Rio de Ja- nel northward to the city of Be lem. A company known as “Rede Bra- sileira de Televisao,” of Santos, has been granted licenses to build 42 relay stations to provide service in the 3,500 mile area between the two cities. The 20,000,000 people living in Brazil’s coastal area have never seen television in their home towns. In some parts of Brazil relay towers will be built on mountain tops, from which the TV signals will be beamed to intermediate ci- ties. : The Brazilian microwave -relay project, over which color TV will eventually be available as well as black and white programs, will al- so expedite inter country linkups for the mutual benefit of all the Americas, Drama of Bolivian Life in the Mines WASHINGTON, D. C. (PAU) — Probably the most intimate, over- in land-Iocked, mountainous Bo- livia has been published in two photograph albums, “The Indian,” and “The Price of Tin.” ' Prepared by German photogra- pher Gustav Thorlichen with the assistance of the Bolivian govern- ment, both collections capture the spirit and struggle for existence of an overwhelmingly-Indian na- tion looking down on the world from the heights of the Andes, Available from the Bolivian Em- bassy in Washington with texts in English and Spanish, the albums represent not only photographic technique raised to pictorial art but also the personal drama of men, women and children enter- ing the modern community from their historic isolation. | Stressing in the introduction to “The Price of Tin” that the photo- graphs “are more than the per- fection of plastic and atmospheric qualities,’ Bolivian novelist and Ambassador to Italy Augusto Ces- pedes adds that “they suggest the latent virility which animates an entire social group almost unique for its character, poverty and its energy.” Pointing out that “whole gen- erations have been buried seeking metal for the benefit and fortunes of strangers,” Cespedes writes “that the people portrayed in the collection “are the exponents of a race naturally intelligent and val- orous, and. today more than ever concious of its rights and duties at work and in the homeland. All these virtues demand that the Bo- livian miner be placed in a higher human category, which it is un- just to quote so cheaply in the me- tal market as if this were a slave market.” Marinoa Baptista Gumucio, Min- ister-Counselor of the Bolivian De- legation to the’Vatican, introduces “The Indian” with, “Living within a diversified and complex environ- ment which is made up of mount- ains, valleys and plains, the hu- man traits of the Indian are typic- al and unique. Neither space nor time have changed them, and so. throughout the Spanish conquest, during Colonial times and the Re- public, the Indian has remained unchanged in body and soul. He is the same man, sullen of mien and simple in his ways, but always lov- ing fiercely the land of his ances- tors. He has clung to his freedom subbornly through four centuries of oppression, which ended when the country attained independence -~ a gift from Bolivar’s native land, all picture ever presented of life after a dramatic struggle.” PRED Sant Rie ENNIO ata and we must provide it.” ) - -HEMISPHER 6 Osh * 27 #4 Domingo Santa Cruz, Chilean musician, is one of provisional vice-presidents of IAMC, Composers, and Publishers of Mu- sic in Rio de Janeiro. The gravest problem in Latin America is the lack of musical edu- cation, not of the professionals but of the public. Also, there is lit- le exchange of information on musical activities between coun- tries, but the Festivals of Latin American Music in Caracas should help remedy this situation. The first was held in November 1954 (see March 1955 AMERICAS) and the second will take place ~next March. A hundred and seven scores have already been submitted; three will receive prizes totaling twenty thousand dollars. For years the Pan American Union promoted the idea of an inter-American music center. Fin- ally, the OAS Inter-American Cul- tural Council, at its first meeting in México City in 1951, specifically recommended establishing -an or- ganization that would be a source of information and an instrument of musical interchange among the American nations, including Cana- da; would allow more direct parti- cipation in Hemisphere musical activites; and would work closely with the UNESCO International Music Council. At its second ses- sion in Lima in May 1956, it further recommended that the OAS Council give full backing to IAMC, which had been organized the month before. After a series of conferences, at- tended by musicians and others in the Latin American musical movement (many of whom were studying in this country under U. S. State Department sponsorship), IAMC was set up as an autonomous body with a provisional governing board. Next May, at a general as- sembly in México City, a perman- ent board will be named. Mean- while, the PAU Music Section lends Heitor Villa-Lobos of Brazil, whose works are well known t@ United States audiences, the idea of holding an Inter Amer can Festival of Music. Perhaps wth more enthusiasm than foresig%t, IAMC accepted the invitation to participate in one that was to be held there next April. As it turn- ed out, there was too little time for composers to prepare the com- missioned works; the creation of the national councils had met vith delays; and the Second Festival of Caracas and the Pablo Casals festiv- al in Puerto Rico were scheduled for about the same time. There- fore the New Orleans festival Pre been postponed to 1958. Meanwhile, plans are going for- ward. The festival will include ssm- phonic concerts, choral works, chamber music, folkloric songs and dances, and an opera. In additton to the commissioned works, oth®rs will be selected by the program committee from those recommend- ed by the national music councils. “I hope this festival will be for the-New World what Salzburg is for the Old,” Lloyd I. Cobb, local civie leader, ex-president of Internatio- al House, and president of the pro- posed Inter American Festival of Music, told a group of civic and cultural leaders in outlining the plans. Funds will come from the Inter- national House and from New Or leans artistic and commercial or- ganizations. To cover initial ex. penses, the House contributed twenty-five hundred dollars, and Durel Black — a gentleman in- terested in musical therapy who gave ten thousand dollars to set up courses in this field at Tulane — donated a thousand dollars for commissioning works. A specil com- mittee will collect the rest of the funds. At a meeting in Philadelphia last September 5, the Commissioning Committee decided to ask for @ Bogoté String Quartet in concert at PAU in 1953.| Left to right Jaime Guillén, Gabriel Herndndez, Hubert Aumere, Luis Matzenauer technical assistance and functions as secretariat. The IAMC statutes outline its aims: to promote the interchange of music and musicians of the Hemisphere; to call periodic meet- ings to study problems of musical education; to encourage fokloric research; to urge official and pri- vate organizations to support musi- cal activities; and, above all, to promote inter American festivals of music, IAMC also proposed that national councils, with delegates from both official and private music organiza- tions, participate directly in a liaison capacity. So far, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, and México have organized theirs, while the United States already had one — the Na- tional Music Council of the USA, with headquarters in New York and made up of fifty-four private organizations. Commissions to set up others have been named in Ar- gentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peri. Since 1947 International House in New Orleans has been pushing ity, /, coneerto for piano and orchestra by Robert Caamafio of Argentina; an orchestral work by Camargo Guar- nieri of Brazil; a trio for piano, violin, and cello by Violet Archey of Canada; a composition for @ chamber group by José Ardévol of Cuba; a string quartet by Chilean Juan Orrego Salas; a symphonie work by Paul Creston of the Unit- ed States; a work for a capella choir by Mexican Luis Sandi; and a composition for string orchestra by Héctor Tosar Errecart of Urw guay. If determination and enthusiasm can be taken as a measure, the festival will be a thundering sue cess. The spirit behind IAMC’s firs big job is reflected in a statement Guillermo Espinosa, head of the PAU Music Division, made in New Orleans: “In America we have ab. ways had a complex about not be ing able to do what the Europeans do. The time has come to reject this false notion. We have artists as capable of great works as the Eu-' ropeans. All they need is opportu» PAG. 11 Oh PPA 4