Street Music

"Music is the meat and drink of the people. I will lead street bands. I will give free concerts, when this Depression prevents folks from hearing music they must have."

When Conductor Leopold Stokowski made this statement five weeks ago, most people were inclined to discount it as Stokowski-talk. But last week Stokowski made good his word. He assembled 200 jobless musicians in Reyburn Plaza opposite Philadelphia's City Hall. A sharp wind was blowing across the open square. Some of the musicians sat huddled in overcoats. But Stokowski, by the time the concert was under way, had shed even his jacket, stood conducting in his shirtsleeves.

Stokowski's outdoor concert was ostensibly a rehearsal for a John Philip Sousa memorial concert held next night in Convention Hall. With Assistant Conductor Alexander Smallens of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Bandmaster Arthur Pryor, who once played the trombone in Sousa's band, Stokowski led the 200 jobless through nine Sousa marches which have come to comprise the nation's street music.

P: Boise, Idaho, also went in for street music last week. The city band will play every Saturday afternoon, market time for the farmers who drive to town with their produce. Explained Bandmaster George Fleharty: "Bands played during the War to cheer up people and it will work now."

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