Music: Shocked

Many musical people were shocked last week to hear that Georges Barrere has been blowing on a saxophone in the summer hills, especially those in the neighborhood of Woodstock, N. Y.

In the orchestral cave of the winds, Georges Barrere usually produces only the most refined and tender breezes—on the flute. Greatest is he of U. S. flautists. But he will gladly play the pagan saxophone if it amuses himself or others. For though he wears a beard, was longtime first flautist with the New York Symphony, has played the choicest music with the Barrere (Wind) Ensemble and the Barrere Little Symphony, he is far from solemn and pedantic. His jests are famed. When a symphony guest conductor once asked him how long he took to do one of his beloved crossword puzzles, he replied: “Oh, about one rehearsal.” The principal requirements of conductors, he adds, are: “curly hair, natural, marcelled or permanent-waved; impeccable London tailored clothes; ultra white, long cuffs and collar; carefully manicured hands, especially the left one; graceful elbows and wrists; a loud brass section and a strong pull with the committee.”

With a saxophone drooping over his beard he may have seemed ludicrous. But the woes of the whiskered are familiar to him. He says: “Why should people make fun of me any more than they do of Charles Evans Hughes? Think of Brahms, who had a veritable deluge on his chin, and Saint-Saens, who is remembered by his queer nose protruding over a nice woolly square beard. Think of Sousa . . . the Smith Brothers. But all these illusions and excuses are merely a ruse to save myself time and trouble and money. . . . While other artists waste a valuable part of each day playing with a razor or being mutilated by their favorite barber, I am having a glorious time—working.”