Around here it is the custom to gloat for long paragraphs over the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Of all the major orchestras in the country, only this one has a great place in the hearts of the local populace; only this one is a center of aesthetic endeavour. But once it has been said that Koussevitzky's group is the finest symphony orchestra in the world, that is all.

And it is not sufficient. Saturday night's performance of the "Eroica," the Overture Number Three to Leonora, and Copland's suite for ballet, Appalachian Spring, showed both the prime virtues and the great defects of the performances at Symphony Hall. Aside from the magnificent discipline and precision of the entire group, especially the strings, Koussevitzky's faithful adherence to the production of new music is the outstanding advantage of Boston. But there is an element of fatigue in Dr. Koussevitzky's approach to the great traditional works of the symphonic repertoire; he has done them a number of times.

Therefore, Copland's refreshing suite came over much better than the "Eroica." The new piece, played in Boston for the first time, is extremely light music, but it represents the best of modern American taste. At its massive crescendos, it almost disappears from view in a maze of orchestral difficulties, but when the woodwinds are conversing over the chattering harmonic strings, the work demonstrates a freedom from fuss and buncombe which is greatly surprising and stimulating. It was played with sympathy and understanding.

Very few people agree with Koussevitzky's choice of tempi in Beethoven, but almost no one can deny that they are always honest and effective. It is often sound to get a new impression of a well-worn piece; when the work is one as great as the "Eroica," it becomes essential. If the approach is different, it is studied; if it makes the work sound different than it does with other conductors, there is always a great chance that, perhaps, Beethoven wanted it to sound just that way.