Those fabulous Philadelphians [antikvár]

CHAPTER I7he City and the Orchestra"One is continually affronted in Philadelphia social life by a forthright Philistinism, and then surprised by a hidden connoisseurship."-Nathaniel Burt, The Perennial Philadelphians.Every Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock in the city of Philadelphia a multitude of women descends upon a dignified building in the center of town. At first glance they appear to be almost as old as the structure itself, which is called the Academy of Music and was opened in the year 1857. It is only upon further examination that one notices that, interspersed among the elderly ladies, some of whom actually need help to climb the few steps in front of the Academy, there is a goodly sprinkling of younger women, as though a newer generation was already being groomed to replenish the ranks of the older, and to receive from it the torch of tradition.Although these ladies are going to a concert, their talk is not of music. Rather they discuss their gardens, their clubs, their social affairsand each other. For they know each other very well, having followed the same ritual in the same surroundings with the same companions for as many years as they can remember.