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Dorothy Demmler: Well, that's a very short getting together. At the end of
the Sunday school time, there wasn't any chance of getting people from
different departments. You know, if they'd go to Sunday school to their own
class to get them back and be ready to play during that 10 or 15 minute
time they had at the end. So really, that just said goodbye to the
orchestra, except that the Women's Association of the church asked us to
put on a musical program, usually once a year when they had a they had a
meeting every month, and they needed a program for that meeting. They would
ask me to get the orchestra together and we would do. We did that for quite
a while.
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Maurice Levy: How large was the orchestra?
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Demmler: Oh, maybe 12 to 15 players.
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Levy: How big was your congregation?
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Demmler: Um, the that varied.
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Levy: So approximately.
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Demmler: Um, I'm at its at its height. I couldn't tell you just which year
we were up to as many as 1200 people. Oh, that's a large. But now it is
below 400. It has dropped. So because of the people moving away, I'm moving
out. And and the difficulties.
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Levy: The urban churches have taken. Yes. They're slowly going to start
coming back, but I think we're still at the bottom.
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Demmler: But speaking of music in the churches, I think what's happening
now with places like the Unitarian Church in Shadyside, putting on the
whole concert series, I, I think that's amazing that they've gotten into.
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Levy: Yeah. The fact that the Shadyside concerts, which are held at the
Unitarian Church, but they bring in professionals, uh, for their Sunday
night concerts. Did you get the brochure yet for this year?
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Demmler: And then East Liberty Presbyterian Church. They have a string
quartet that Paul Ross and his wife.
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Levy: That's right, that's right, the Pittsburgh Quartet.
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Demmler: Yeah. And. Over on the North Side. There have been programs at
that Calvary Methodist Church. I was over there. And then they just. It
really amazed me when I learned that the churches were sponsoring things
like this.
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Levy: Yes, that and of course that. Some of the other places in town, of
course, at the, uh, Rodeph Sholom Temple where David Stock's Pittsburgh New
Music and Steven Starkman has a, a, uh, a uh, chamber series there. And
there are a number of other places I. Uh, somebody that I was talking to
last night indicated that the music scene is probably richer than it's ever
been, what do you think?
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Demmler: Oh, yes. And the things that are available through. The music
departments of the universities now. You could be going to a program almost
every night of the week, and so many of them are free, these wonderful
student recitals and faculty recitals. And I used to see them listed in the
in the paper and I thought, oh my, what a wealth of opportunity there is.
If you had time to take it all in. Mhm.
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Levy: Do you remember the organ series at the at the Carnegie Music Hall?
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Demmler: Oh, I heard Charles Heinroth. Oh, I thought he was marvelous. And
I remember his playing one number where he actually put his hands down on
the bench and just played everything with his feet. I never saw anything so
agile. And, uh. Yes. Oh, we used to go out quite frequently.
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Levy: They had the free concerts on Sundays, didn't they?
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Demmler: Marshall Bidwell followed, uh, with his with.
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Levy: Caspar Koch there, too?
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Demmler: No, Caspar Koch was over in the north.
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Levy: Oh, he played on the north side there.
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Demmler: Yes. Mhm. No. Um. Bidwell was the last one that I remembered as a
regular I know they had. Other people come in and play and then didn't they
reduce them to once a month then?
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Levy: Yes, the weekly one turned into they only. I remember I walked in
one time. There was just a handful of people there that they did it monthly
and finally they discontinued it. Tastes, I guess, have changed.
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Demmler: Well, and what was there in those days when the organ recitals
were so popular? They didn't have TVs at home to look at. That's right. All
the sports activities.
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Levy: If it was on Sunday afternoon, you have to compete with the
Steelers. No. The but that that was, uh, did they, uh, did your church
have, uh, organ recitals?
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Demmler: Not. No, not as a regular thing. Well, now for a little while.
Um.
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Demmler: No.
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Demmler: Homer Oxenhurst. He had a series out somewhere in Swissvale. He
was always trying to play things that had never been presented in
Pittsburgh before on the organ, and he came and did them at Concord, but
they were not very well attended. Very few people came to that.
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Levy: A little bit too far out for for the people.
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Demmler: Well, just like you, like we said, even about the.
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Levy: Just too much competition.
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Demmler: There just weren't that many people interested in just listening
to an organ on Sunday afternoon. I think that's when they had it too.
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Levy: There are several organ recital series around, aren't they?
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Demmler: They moved away to some of some.
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Demmler: Um.
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Levy: Uh, there are other. That was that pretty common. Uh, organ recitals
through the city. You recall?
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Demmler: Well I. Only knew about the one over at Carnegie, and there may
have been other places that. And I mean, when am I? Am I right there was
the Homer Oxenhurt that I. The man that I'm thinking of that did this in
wanted to have these programs in different churches. And that may not be
the right name.
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Levy: Name sounds familiar.
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Demmler: Yes I know. Well, I know Oscar knew Homer Oxnard, but whether
this is the one that that had these organ programs, I may I may not be
correct on that. I'm. Maybe I ought to wipe that off.
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Levy: Oh, well, that's all right. Well, let the people who listen to it
worry about it. Uh, you've already put your disclaimer in, and it's on
time. Do you recall band concerts in the park? Do you recall going to any
of those? I know they used to have band concerts at, uh. They had a band
shell in Schenley Park at one time.
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Demmler: Yeah, I know one thing I was going to mention. Okay. When we were
talking about music in the churches. Right over here. You can see it from
my window is the Bower Hill United Presbyterian Community Church. They have
a choir director over there named Anne Sessa. Her mother lives here at
Asbury and one of the townhouses and. At least twice a year they give an
evening of a choral program. Excellent. Usually around Easter time and
around Christmas time. And they are just lovely concerts. Now that's that's
open to the to the public.
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Levy: Is it well attended?
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Demmler: Oh, yes. Oh. Crowded. And, um, the chances are that there are
many churches that do things like that.
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Levy: I'm sure I see them. I'm sure in the in those in the Post-Gazette.
Well, well, Calvary has the Oratorio society.
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Demmler: Yes. No, we didn't mention that before tonight. Yes. Yeah.
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Levy: Well I'm going to talk to Donald up. Mhm. Uh, my, my daughter sings
my daughter Don Wilkins. Yes my daughter sings but that's a we go all the
time. We're, we're a regular uh at uh supporters of that. I'm going to talk
to Donald about that. Yes. It's.
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Demmler: Well, the one thing that I will, um, remember is if I get more
information together about the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony.
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Levy: Well, whatever. Uh, well, I want to thank you very much for a
marvelous interview and gave me a picture of, uh, uh, Pittsburgh that, uh,
I think is unique in that we have this broad view of, uh, uh, the music in
the Pittsburgh public Schools from from your tenure, from working with
Doctor Earhart and then with your husband, Oscar Demmler. And we thank you
very much for a marvelous interview.
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Demmler: You're very welcome.
