NATIONAL MUSICAL FESTIVALS

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 298, 15 December 1911, Page 4

NATIONAL MUSICAL FESTIVALS

ALTERNATELY LN AND AUCKLAND, *' AN INTEEEST^SUGGEsjioj. A high tribute was paid bv tk. », (Mr. C. J. Parr) at the <£J£ *»*» Town Hall vesterday afteS 5 ? '%» I Henry Brett: whom I ** | "Father of Music in ?ft : Mayor said every musical society every musical organisation hS L^ . the unstinted generosity of Mr B°!? | When he to the City CoUßtift& ; an offer to provide a grand on™ t zB nnv Town Hall, Mr BnM t *? * carrying out the nolicv f a UfL^ assisting the art of muiic. me o»>e ia I Mr. Brett, who was rpc-ivod with . Uon m the course of his reply HWo I that in the near f nture h j„ Uuld^fjf ; see an endeavour made to cstabliA • , New Zealand musical are held ia B.rmmgham, Leeds, and otw famous English centres. (App^uM?* : thought that festivals suc £ JJW . might be given alternately in AucV^ and Wellington. In his opinion to £ city m New Zealand could alone att3 ! the work oi modern composers. Certaik! ! ly no individual Choral Society -oris undertake a festival 0 f the nature faeC jin nuai To achieve success it mwu mean a combination of effort and of tak ent. They would, for instance need ta bring together on such an occasion «? Best voices in the whole of the North j! land. He had listened to BantotV u Omar Khayyam" when in Birmingan. i two years ago. and he considered it tka j most beautiful and the most stirriar composition he had listened to all 2 I life. Such a work as this could not be | produced in any one city ia New Ze»i land—certainly never by any one society They would have to gather togeiherSe j very best artists procurable, and tie j very best orchestra. There was likewite no existing orchestra that was of the ; standard required for such a festival. Tm j Auckland_it was unfortunate that jxat. j at present there was no orchestt* which i would harmonise with the Town Hafl, j since the organ was tuned to what wu 1 known as the Continental pitch, and ftt | orchestra was not. A new set of iastro. ments would be required. That, ho*, ever, was not a particularly serious matter, as the expenditure of a couple of hundred pounds would remedy the ffiffi. culty. A national festival of the nature he proposed, the finest orchestral pliyers—particularly or" wood and wind iastruments—would require to be got b> Bother from all parts of the Domiakm. I Those who were personally acquainted with the tremendous enthusiasm whiA j prevailed at English musical festi»ib i would he thought, particularlyafipredate . his suEHestion. It was the only ataßiil ' in which most people in New Zealaai could ever hope to hear the works of I great modern composers, and he trusted i that his suggestion would commend itself to those present. (Loud applause.}