Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, and so, to a qualified extent, hath the Radcliffe Choral Society. Tonight, to get the season under way, the whole Society (approximately 180 strong, count them yourself) will perform free gratis in Sanders, and, in addition, the long-awaited first fruits of the Radcliffe Orchestra-Pierian Sodality merger will be on display. The program should be solace and balm for the exam-weary, and a chance to hear some good but seldom performed choral works. Under the enthusiastic guidance of "Woody" and "Mal" Holmes, Harvard and Radcliffe are among the few colleges in the country to go in for these balanced programs of heavy "classics," not to please Cambridge dowagers and music-critics, but because they are more fun to perform, and in the long run, more rewarding to listen to.

16th and 17th century music start off the program. Choral writing got under way before orchestral, and these centuries were more or less its golden age. I am told that "Nymphe and Shepherds" of Purcell was written for a play called the "Libertine," a fact not mentioned on the program but given here for what it is worth. Following are two religious pieces of the 17th century, "Confitemini Domino" by Constantini and a setting for chorus of the 134th psalm by Bach's contemporary, Sweelink. The 18th century is represented by a beautiful chorus from Gluck's "Orpheus." The two modern choral works to be sung are unusual arrangements. "Mal" Holmes has turned the organ accompaniment of Mendelssohn's motet "Laudati Pueri" into a rich orchestral background, while the other modern piece, the "Valse Nobles" of Schubert, was an arranger's field day. First written by Schubert as a set of piano waltzes it was later fitted out with an original obligato for female voices by a brilliant and unpronounceable Pole, Mandyczewski, and to complete the picture, the piano part was then arranged for orchestra.

The orchestra itself, immensely improved by a Radcliffe invasion of the string section, will play a Bach suite in C major, a Minuet by Ravel, and last but not least, the brilliant "Fingal's Cave Overture" by Mendelssohn. From what I heard in Sandors last night, the new faces in this year's composite orchestra will make up, visually and aurally, for the loss of the old.