J'ACCUSE

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

From my point of view as a music major, Bertram Baldwin's review of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra concert was based on a cruelly high standard; a standard which an amateur orchestra, which, after all, is what the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra is, cannot reasonably be expected to live up to.

Under the direction of Attilio Poto, the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra has, in general, proved its ability to give good, if not always polished, performances of works in the standard repertory; it has steadily improved in performing ability.

Considering the concert as a whole, I feel that Mr. Baldwin was far too severe: certainly the Debussy at least was not "musically unacceptable"--and it was performed after a minimum of rehearsal time. The Brahms, also, was not without merit: the piece is fiendishly difficult, with great rhythmic complexities and breathtaking high divisi passages in the strings which, except for some raggedness, came out with surprisingly good intonation; and the sudden rests, traps for any amateur orchestra, were for once clearly defined--which does not seem to indicate "imprecision" in Mr. Poto. I thought that the Brahms was far from "lifeless"--indeed quite vital.

Knowledge of more polished performances by professional orchestras should not cause Mr. Baldwin so cruelly to attack the really quite respectable performance of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra last Friday: they have done a good job in the past and deserve some thanks. Wayne Shirley '57