MUSIC AND ELOCUTION.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 288, 4 December 1911, Page 5

MUSIC AND ELOCUTION.

i COMPETITIONS IN AUCKLAND. PIANO CONTEST CONCLUDED. WON BY MISS E. McLAREX. The Auckland Competitions Society's festival was continued at His Majesty's on Saturday attrnoon, and was resumed on Saturday night before a packed 'house. The programme was an attractive one, and the Dublic displayed great interest vn the performances of the three contestants who were vhosen to play for the final decision of the judge for the £l4O piano prize, while the vocal solos, quartets, character dialogues, and comedietta also proved interesting events. FIRST AID FOR BOY SCOUTS. The boy scouts' first aid competition was held on Saturday in the Federal Club Rooms. It was open to squads of four and of the six teams which entered the squad from the Parnell Boy Scouts and the No. 1 team from the I Northeolc troop qualified for the final. 1 Xorthcote Troop, Xo. 1 team .... 203 Parnell Tioneer Boy Scouts 285 Six squads entered for this competition which was held in the morning in the Federal Club Rooms. The two squads mentioned above were re-tried in the theatre in the afternoon, when marks were won as indicated. The total number of marks possible was 300. Drs. Parkes and Lowe adjudicated. In announcing the award the former said tha,t j the work of the hoys was excellent. It was " ond-rtully well done and reflected I great, credit on the instructors. The j same comment a.pplied to most of the | competing teams. CLARIONET SOLO. There were seven competitors in this i section. The recalls were: Mr M. Brunette, 'Warkworth. Mr E. Eady, Mt. Roskill.

These competitors will be heard again on Wednesday evening. The other competitors gained marks as follows:—G. Eady fX't Edeni, 76; W. Impey (Auckland), 69; R. Laurie (Auckland), 6',,; H. Lester (Mt. Eden), 76; aad E. Warden (Devonport), 70. SCHOOLS CHOIR CONTEST. There were six choirs competing in the primary schools choir contest—" Wanderers' Night. Hong'' i Rubinstein). The recalls ito he heard on Monday evening) were as follow.-: Newton West School. Devonport School. Commenting on the performances of the choirs not recalled, the judge said .that iii the Grey Lynn choir '73 marksi the quality ol the first voices was net Good; time occasionally too last: and lack of expression in the interpretationIn Mount Eden Choir (77 marks) the boys were too loud and occasionally out of tune; the arrangement of the voices was not good: and the note values should have received more attention.. Onehunga (74 marks i, first voices were. fair in quality, and the second were pleasing. There were several inaccuracies near the end, and the balance of tone was not good. The Ponsonby choir (Jl marks) showed good quality of voices. The sopranos had a fine round tone, but there were inaccuracies by the seconds. The rallentandos introduced were very effective. The Marist Bros.' school choir ■S3 marks) had an uncertainty of attack, and the boys were inclined to sing too loud. There was very little shading or phrasing introduced. One of the principal features of the school choir contest was the excellent discipline. Particularly worthy of mention was the orderly way the Devonport scholars conducted themselves. They knew what to do and did it. Thry sang tastefully and with a refinement not often shown by such young children. They were conducted by .Airs. Wildman. The Onehunga scholars looked smart in their blue and red sashes, and their order ly conduct, discipline and entry were creditable alike to the children and to their teacher. The Newton West scholars conducted themselves well, and sang most intelligently.

PHYSICAL DRILL. Mt. Eden Xo. 2 Co. Cadets f>6 Newton West School Ca lets P5 These were the only competitors, and they gave a very creditable exhibition. They were smart and quick in movement, and were altogether a well set up bodv of boys. PLANO SOLO COMPETITION. VERDICT ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED. •Some 40 players entered for the piano prize—an Allison Grandette presented by the E. and F. Piano Agency, Ltd., which has been keenly contested, performers coming from all parts of the Dominion. After most carefully listening to the performers, good and bad, every morning since Tuesday last, the adjudicator, Prof! Ives, selected three to play at the finai last Saturday evening, these being Misses Queenie Foster, E. McLaren, and M. Mitchell, all from Dunedin. The compositions chosen for performance were Bee- [ thoven's Sonate. Op. 26, in A flat and Lhopm's Valse in D flat. Op. 64 No 1 The judge had a difficult task before hiin. and one that he was not envied bv j the audience. However, he was very careful and thorough throughout, doiii" his work in a most eompletcand earnest manner. When he announced that he had awarded the prize to Miss E. McLaren 'the audience enthusiastically applauded and twice recalled the talented and gifted young performer. The scene afterwards was an editing one: the vcrdfc-t was approved by most of those who are competent to judge, and the audience shared the opinion that the prize had been bestowed on the right player. Commenting on the performance. Prof. Ives said th.M Miss McLaren, who hid won the coveted place, was a verv gifted performer; she displayed fine feting, artistic tempera ment, a good touch, splendid technique, phrased graceful'.'. In short, shp ov.l porforman--" of .1. very high order ■•>;' merit, and full of music.il feeling. I "■>■■' opening Andante md the fine varist on? following receiver] ,-.n excellent per'.ir.Ti--nice, full of n':-- f<">l:n:r. and ~reit fi- , -'itv was nhnwn. : V tempo was i?.i«d. the ruhatns elective. rh-- phrasingDrraeefill. the interpretat'on poetic, nnt the rallentmdns were given with much t-.ste iffl nice tone quality. The plaving of the Scherzo revealed a fine technique, excellent rubato, good tempo, charmingly snstained vooal tone in the minim chords o: the Trio, and clear octive plaving. A good conception of thp Maroia Funebre was exhibited. The chord plarinj was

.crisp, the rhvthrti crood. the shadings mua i sicianly, and the accentuation effective. v [The tOT£a 3»s -held. back-« little Ajttf

middle section, and the staccato quaver i I chord not quickly enough released. The j j coda received a fine reading. The tempo-, adopted for this movement was a little j !on the slow side. The concluding Allegro j served to display decisive finger work, a i pleasing touch, and generally accurate I playing. Miss McLaren's memory was j dependable. She mad; a few slips through occasional over-hastening the I time, caused doubtless by nervousness ! and excitement. In the Chopin Valse iu . D flat the pianist caught the right spirit j of the composition. She exhibited a fine j sense of rhythm, good touch, her rubato j ■was effective, while her unerring technique enabled her to overcome the in- | tricacies with ease. The playing of Miss i Mitchell, another contestant, was distinguished by good taste, and there were but few slips. Suitable rubatos were made in -the Andante, and in the variations the marks of expression were strictly followed. In the fourth variation a slip occurred, but the shading* were well observed, while the performance of the last variation was remarkable for the (lever of the pedals and a songful cantabile tone. There were a few error?, in the Scherzo, the ri'.'oan w:is excellent, the interpretation good, the right >pirit being infused imo it. More breadth and fullness of tone w«s wanted in the Funeral March, and th staccato crotchet chords were not ''. .ruled ly released. The drum rolls WW effectively and correctly achieved, while page U(! was well and neatly played, and the tone colouring good. Fine tempo, light and graceful phrasing, and brilliant tin gel-ins marked the reading of the Allegro,, hut the staccato chords were only fairly successfully played. Chopin's Valse was delivered in suitable tempo, but wanting in ruhato, while the middle rh.ythm of four quavers was not clearly defined, and there was a hesitancy in the descending S"a!e passage, commencing on the F in altissimo near the close. The first performer. Miss Foster, evidenced a fin touch and good technique. Sh° save a broad treatment of Beethoven. Var. 11. was. rather heavy. Var. TIL. full of deep passion, hut she made a slip. Var. V., sub jfet at first obscured, afterwards a njee singing tone, coda rather slow. Scherzo fair tempo. Trio, fine tone, repeat well worked up. The Funeral March was wcL' played generally, ocvasionally sudden changes of time, and rather loud in certain passages. .It was mirrored in tones of rich colour, and a fine reading was given of the coda. A re-start had to b? mide in the Allegro, the second subject was rather diudy, and too much r tsh at the return of the. subject. '..'he Chopin Valse was effectively rendered. Middle section very good, the syncopations and acciaccaturas admirably brought out. and the repeat was given wi;h fluency and -variety of expression. The judee's awards are: Miss F. McLaren (Dunedini. n.5 marks 1 Miss M. Mitchell (Dunedini. 03 marks 2 Miss Queenie Foster (Dunedin). P3 marks '-

VOCAL MUSIC. TENOR SOLO (SACRED). There were eleven entrants for this section, but none proved very interesting in the way of voices. The solo was "Be Thou Faithful" (Mendelssohn). The following is the award: Mr. W. Walter i Auckland), 82 marks 1 Mr. S. L. Extou (Auckland), 79 marks 2 Mr. W. Firth ■ Auckland). 77 marks 3 CONTRALTO SOLO. Nine entered for this division, and three were recalled. This did not prove very exciting. The judge's awards are: Miss E. Fletcher ißcwiti), 87 marks I Miss J. Harvey iHawerai, 86 marks '2 Mrs. A. Jenkins (Hamilton), 83 marks 3 BASS SOLO. There were tweh e entries for this class, and two were placed The solo was "Sou of Mine"' (Wallace). The award is: Mr. S. Pritchard (Auckland). 89 marks 1 Mr. A. Pacey (DunedLn), S6 marks) . . 2 VOCAL QUARTET. Two quartets faced the judge, the music chosen being Scorch's "'Reveries.'' This proved a. very interesting section, and the performers gave highly creditable readings of the part-song, the judge's award being: The Lyric Four (Messrs. Aspjnall, Blakeley. McElwaLn, and Ryan), 92 marks 1 The Harmonic Quartet (Messrs. A. Fogerty, A. Walker. R H. Dellow, and A. McDonald), S6 marks -

ELOCUTION. CHARACTER DIALOGUE (LADY AND GENTLEMAN). The,re were six entries for this division, and very creditable performances were given by the different entrants. Two were called for the finals. Miss Hartley and Mr. H. Borradale (who gave "The Hunchback"'), and Miss Knight and Mr. T. Harris (who did "Richard 111. and Lady Anne'"). Both performances were followed with interest by the audience. and the executants gave highly creditable impersonations of their characters. The judge commented favourably, and awarded the following points:— Miss Hartley and Mr. H. Borradale, S2 marks j Miss Knight and Mr. T. Harris, SO marks 2 Miss Arnold Wellington) and Mr. Lorking. 7-6 marks 3 A COMEDIETTA. The programme ended with the comeI dietta "Cynthia's Dilemma." in which i Mrs. Turner and Misses Arnold and F. I Bartley sustained tneir parts very crediti ably, the performance being followed j with pleasure by the audience.