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To the Editor of the CRIMSON:
May I add a few words to the discussion concerning the Pierian Sodality precipitated by Mr. Virgil Thomson's criticism in last Saturday's CRIMSON and continued by Mr. Charles G. Thompson's letter in this morning's issue?
It seems to me that the Pierian could find much more valid and convincing arguments for its side of the question than the vituperation of Mr. Thompson's Philippie. I cannot agree that the question of the decline of the Pierian is without the domain of the critic (although I do not believe that the Harvard orchestra really is in such a bad way). To the critic all is pertinent that has any bearing on the quality of the performance. After all, the function of the critic, as Mr. Thompson has pointed out, is to comment as impartially as is humanly possible, praising where praise is due and condemning where condemnation can be of help for the future. If Mr. Virgil Thomson thought that the playing of the Orchestra in Brattle Hall was bad, there is no reason on earth why Mr. Thomson should not have said so, and the reception of the Orchestra in Springfield is quite beside the point. The Pierian may have played badly in Brattle Hall (and I think that even its most ardent supporters will admit that there were a few blemishes in this concert) and still have acquitted itself very creditably in Springfield four days later. I grant that Mr. Thomson was harsh in using such phrases as "tender and devoted skill" concerning a soloist who deserved a great deal of praise, but the august Pierian did not one whit enhance its dignity by replying in like terms.
There is however, much to be said in favor of the Pierian that has been over-looked by its apologist as well as by its critic. The Pierian certainly holds a very high place among college orchestras. What though its programmes be drawn from familiar restaurant repertory? This is not likely to be objectionable to any but a sophisticated taste and restaurant music is usually decidedly pleasing. The Orchestra furthermore has had to hew its own way, fighting along with no help from the Music Department and selecting its conductors from its own ranks. Its programmes, its aims and its excellence are decidedly not those of a symphony orchestra and there is no reason why they should be. The Pierian has its own sphere and within it is not only pleasing but decidedly capable. Adrien Cambet '25.
