ORGAN FOR TOWN HALL

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 64, 15 March 1907, Page 5

ORGAN FOR TOWN HALL

PRESENTED BT. MR. H. BRETT.

Auckland will, in the near fuinre, -box, only possess a fin? Town Hall, fast also an organ suited to the building. At the meeting of the City Council last night the following letter was read from Hγ. Henry Brett: —

To the Mayor and City Council, Auckland: Dear Sirs, —In view of the early adoption of a design for the Auckland Town Hall, I desire to submit for your consideration and acceptance a proposal for the erection of an organ adequate for the requirements of the building and worthy of our city. For some time past I have been m correspondence with Mr Lemare. the eminent organist, and Mr H. A. Tristin, representing Messrs Norman and Beard Ltd., the builders of the organ In the Town Hall, Wellington, the great organ at Norwich Cathedral, and the new organ at the Royal College of Organists, Kensington, London. The organ provided for under Mr Lemare's specification is slightly larger and more costly than the one erected by Messrs Norman and Beard in the Wellington Town Hall, and embodies certain alterations in the design of that fine instrument which Mr Lemare and the builders recognise a≤ improvements. «

The space required for the organ will be as follows:—Height, 40ft; width, 40ft; depth, 23ft. Deep cellarage is required for the motor power. If the Council decide to accept the organ, therefore, provision for these requirements will have to be made in the plans of the new Town Hall. I have made no suggestion for the motor, because I presume the Council will be abJe to obtain for this purpose electrical energy from the new electrical installation.

I am prepared to make a gift to the City of the organ, as briefly described above and more fully set out in the ful ! specification now in my possession, and which I shall have pleasure in submitting to the Council or the architects of the Town Hall whenever they desire it.

The only conditions laid down with respect to this gift are:—(l) That the requisite space for the organ, as set out In the specifications, sha'l be provided. (2) That a certain number of performances, to be hereafter agreed upon, shall be giveu to the public free every year.

The Mayor said the announcement was, he was sure, very gratifying. They hoped before long to have a Town Hail worthy of the city; but so far nothing , had been said about the very necessary adjunct to such a building—an organ. Auckland, however, had been singularly fortunate in the gifts that had been bestowed upon it, by the munificence of its private citizens; and it was with very great pleasure that they now learned one more was to be added to the list, Mr. Henry Brett having generously offered to present an organ for the new Town Hall, a gift not only of great intrinsic value, but also of great public utility. Without such an instrument, indeed, a town hall could not adequately fulfil all the purposes for which it was required. It would make the hall available for great musical gatherings; it would enable those present at meetings for other purposes to spend the intervals of waiting, otherwise so tedious, in listening to its soul-stirring strains; and recitals would, no doubt, also be held periodically. Anything tending to the education and uplifting of the masses of the people should be welcomed and encouraged by the civic authorities; and music, with its brightening and refining influences, its power to soothe, to cheer, and to inspire, to awaken and give expression to the loftiest and tenderest emotions, undoubtedly came under this category. A history of music in Auckland would admittedly be incomplete if the name of Henry Brett did not figure prominently therein, both as an executant and a patron; and this was not the first time he had shown his enthusiasm for this art in a very practical way. To mention only one of many instances, the city already owed the organ in the Choral Hall to his liberality and public spirit. In these strenuous times, when the tendency of the age savoured rather of excess towards seeking the material things of life, it was highly beneficial to a eon-nauiiity to possess citizens who delighted in unselfish gifts, for the dual purpose of giving artistic pleasure to their fellow-citizens, and at the same time demonstrating the donors' pride in their municipal hearth. This act of spontaneous generosity on the part of an esteemed fellow-citizen (an ex-Mayor, by the way) relieved the Council of the expensive responsibility of providing a suitable organ for the noble Town Hall, the erection of which had already been sanctioned by the burgesses, and a design approved a few days ago. The instrument which Mr. Brett contemplated presenting would be one well worthy of a city which had always been distinguished for the love of its people for music—in fact it would be the best in the colony, costing several thousand pounds. (Loud applause.) The Mayor then moved: — " That this Council accepts, with fee! T ing of exceedingly great pleasure and satisfaction, Mr. Brett's magnificent gift of an organ for the New Town Hall for the City of Auckland. Mr. Brett has always shown a practical interest in any movement in relation to music in this city, and this last gift further proves his devotion to the City in which he has lived for so many years, and his sincere desire to add to the enjoyment and education of its citizens, and this Council feels that it cannot allow this occasion to pass without expressing its sincere and heartfelt thanks for such a generous gift." (Applause.)

Mr. Parr, in seconding the motion, said he often wonderad why it was that this city had the prominence crnar all others in the Australasian colonies in the fact of possessing generous-hearted publicspirited men. But such was the ease, for Auckland had a unique record in that respect, unequalled by any other ccicnial town. The only explanation he could find for it was that Auckland, with its splendid situation and beautiful scenery, created sentiments of love for the place in the generous hearts of wealthy citizens, with the result that the city was wonderfully well endowed. In Mr. Henry Brett, Auckland had another generous benefactor. Mr. Brett had seen in connection with the proposed new Town Ha.ll, what might not have occurred to others, the need for an organ, so as to make it what such a place should be, the musical centre of the city. Those who heard the magnificent organ in the Sydney Town Hall played by such masters as Wiegand and Mason could better realise what the possession of a fine organ meant in the matter of giving great pleasure to large multitudes. Mr. Bretfc undoubtedly deserved the cordial thanks of the Council on behalf of the citizens.

Mr. Smeeton said the value of this gift to the city was enhanced by the generosity shown in the almost entire absence of conditions. Auckland was indeed especially fortunate in the possession of citizens who thought of the interests of the city.

The motion was then adopted amidst great applause.