Spreading the Word

The summer season in Venice got under way on a modern, and American, note last week. In the courtyard of the Doges' Palace sat the 88-piece La Fenice Theater Orchestra; on the podium stood the U.S.'s most active musical ambassador to Europe, Manhattan-born Conductor Dean Dixon, 37; on the racks, instead of the usual outdoor fare, was music by modern composers, e.g., Walter Piston, Bernard Herrmann, Benjamin Britten.

Venetians came to satisfy their curiosity, stayed to enjoy themselves. They admired the conductor's vigorous command of the orchestra, warmed to his obvious sympathy for the music. II Gaz-zettino's usually acid critic praised Dixon's "technical precision . . . and sensitivity to the rhythmic values." Rarer still was the response of the musicians: they donated their services for an extra rehearsal, and said they hoped the conductor would come back next year.

Swedish Resident. Conductor Dixon was not in Europe by chance: a Negro, he moved there in 1949 because the U.S. gave him too little chance. A dozen years ago, with degrees from the Juilliard School and Columbia in his pocket, he got high marks as guest conductor with such top U.S. orchestras as the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NBC Symphony. But good reviews and public honors (he got the 1948 Ditson Award for his services to American music) did not lead to a full-time conducting post.

After skirting the musical fringes with his own interracial American Youth Orchestra and a series of children's concerts for a while, he resolved to try Europe. In Paris, after his debut in a radio concert, the guest-conducting offers began to flock in. Last season he led 32 concerts, and he has conducted in nine countries, from Israel to Finland. Next season he will be a resident conductor of the Goteborg (Sweden) Symphony.

"My Very Existence." Dixon plays his share of classics, but finds that Europeans have a high "anticipatory interest" in contemporary U.S. music. In response, he has played about 90 American scores in the past 18 months. Among the composers whose works have had European hearings under Dixon are Charles Ives (Third Symphony), Wallingford Riegger (Canon and Fugue for Strings), Howard Swanson (Short Symphony).

Dixon is no exile, hopes to conduct again in the U.S., "if I get an invitation." He thinks "minority races" can benefit by the example of his success: "My very existence as a conductor who is accepted will be the kind of stimulus that they rarely get today."

Among the new compositions Dixon played in Venice was a 20-minute Symphonic Set for Piano and Orchestra by Kansas-born Gordon Parks, 39, professionally a LIFE photographer and, like Conductor Dixon, a Negro. Written in four movements (Announcement, Episode, Nocturne, Prelude and Fugue), it proved to be strongly rhythmical and melodious. It was Photographer Parks's first fling at composition. Since he cannot read music, he worked out each theme on the piano, recorded it on a tape recorder. Venice found the work fresh and attractive. Said Dixon: "We should hear more from Gordon Parks."

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