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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane’s fledgling symphony orchestra held its first concert at the Orpheum Theater. A capacity crowd lapped up every note.

A Spokesman-Review critic fairly gushed, saying the orchestra had “that intangible something which we call soul, the spirit which creates a living force out of symbols, which conveys from artists to audience the meaning of the composer.”

Conductor Leonardo Brill and the orchestra opened with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and followed with Mozart’s Symphony in G Minor. The “allegro molto took the house by storm,” the critic wrote.

Then the symphony sounded a lighter note with several Strauss waltzes.

The finale was Bizet’s Suite l’Arlesienne, which resulted in a big ovation.

The critic concluded that “if the musicians of Spokane can offer a solid organization, free from internal dissensions and equal to the great task of furthering the artistic growth of Spokane, they will have the whole-souled support of the community.”

This 1914 orchestra was a precursor to today’s Spokane Symphony, which was not founded until 1945.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1972: The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.