When Burl Ives finished the program at Symphony Hall Saturday night he turned toward the stage door, suddenly made an "on hell," gesture and returned to face the thunderous applause. "I have received a great many requests tonight," he said, "and I see no point in my going clear out that door and back again every time."

The audience loved it. All evening long the people had loved it. When the spotlight made grinding noises Mr. Ives only had to look up at it and the hall resounded with laughter. A more in formal entertainer has seldom been seen in the home of the Boston symphony. He made private jokes with the people in the front row, talked about his parrot, and explained several of his songs.

But even better than kind of entertainment was the artistic value of Ives' songs. I have heard Burl Ives sing a great many times both on records and in night clubs. In both cases it was impossible to realize the true clarity of his voice and the mellowness of his tone. Either there was surface noise on the records, or the sound of some drunken woman cackling.

When Mr. Ives has complete quiet, as he had from the almost packed symphony Hall, he really shows his genius as a ballad singer. He went through his program of 18 songs without straining his voice once even for the highest notes. When he had finished his program and the stamping of feet had begun he returned to sing nine more.

For the most part his scheduled songs were of a concert variety. The best of these was an unaccompanied number called. "The wandering of Old Angus." It is a poem set to a simple and haunting chant by Yeats. This and songs like this are the true ballads of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Mr. Ives does not sing them in his night club repertoire.

His many encore numbers, the last ones resulting from shouted requests, included most of the old favorites such as "Foggy Foggy Dew," "The Blue Tail Fly," and so forth. If there weren't rules against giving a concert on the Lord's Day in this state, I am sure the recital would have lasted into the morning. Burl Ives and the audience were enjoying themselves that much.