Woman holding flowers standing by piano

There are those who will tell you that the highest achievement of vocal art is the concert song, and much may be said in justification of such a statement. Certainly, on the concert stage, art is shorn of accessories. There are no borrowed effects and no borrowed interests. The composer, the accompanist and the soloist stand alone at the bar of public opinion and it would seem quite reasonable to suppose that only a consistent excellence on the part of all three would be sufficient to win the world’s acclaim.

One thing is very certain, that the concert song, like the violin solo, is a complete musical composition in itself. One needs to know no “context” for there is none, and so none of its effect is lost. However that may be, opera and the symphony are available to only those who live in the big cities or near enough so that frequent visits are possible, and so it happens that for the majority of us a concert is about the biggest musical experience we can attain. For that reason, if for no other, concert songs mean more to the great majority than does any other form of music.

One’s enjoyment of any concert can be vastly increased by a little preliminary knowledge of the forthcoming program gained by means of the Victrola and while it would be quite impossible to offer a list of all the concert songs which are available in the form of Victor records, the following will unquestionably satisfy the most discriminating taste: “Voce di primavera,” “Ah, Moon of My Delight,” “Leggiero invisible” (Bolero), “A la Luz de la Luna,” “Oh, That We Two Were Maying,” the Lullaby from Jocelyn, “Caro mio ben,” “Le Nil” and “The Cry of Rachel.”