LEAGUE OF PENWOMEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 75, 29 March 1928, Page 12

LEAGUE OF PENWOMEN.

The first meeting of the new music section of the League of Pen women was held in the lecture hall of their rooms on Tuesday evening, when there was a crowded attendance of members. The programme took the form of a Schubert evening, arranged by the secretary of the section, Miss Alice Law, L.R.A.M. Miss Law gave a most interesting account of the life of Franz Schubert and his works and a musical programme of illustrations followed. The lecturer -pointed out that Schubert did not suffer by being misguided by his own generation or from envy and prejudice, but by simple lack of recognition of his genius. His life was that of an obscure individual, who gained r scanty livelihood by teaching. Even publishers did not accept many of his works till nearly the close of his life. In spite of his life being dreary and common-place, whenever we think of the romantic and poetical in music, the name of Schubert at once occurs to us and the mighty power of genius, defiant of circumstance and surrounding, was never better illustrated than in the case of this composer. Schubert was . born in 1797 in Vienna and early showed great talent. His masters declared that when they wished to teach him anything they found he already knew it, but he had a very short life, dying at the age of

31. He Lb most widely known as a composer of art songs, of which he composed 603. He also oompoeed symphonies, one of which, "The Unfinished," is very well known, string quartets and many beautiful piano works. For some of Sdhubert's most beautiful songs he only received the sum of lOd, and now publishers make thousands of pounds out of his works and he passed his life in great poverty, as he had no business ability. Miss Alice Law gave musicianly renderings of two pianoforte selections from Schubert's works, "Allegro," from tflie Sonata in A Minor and the Adagio | from "Wanderer" fantasia. A pro- j gramme was also given and at the end of the evening Miss Edith Harrhy, the Australian composer, who was the guest of honour, delighted the members by singing a beautiful Mozart number and several of her own compositions. The programme consisted of a piano solo, Allegro from Sonata, in A Minor, MiBS A. Law; vocal solo, (a) "Cradle Song," (b) "Impatience," .Mrs. Nello Porter; violin solo, (a) "Ave Maria," (b) Ballet Music, "Rosamunde," Mrs. Hesketh; piano solo, Adagio from "Wanderer," Fantasia, Miss A. Law; vocal solo, (a) "Night Wanderer," (b) "Young Nun," Miss Amy Hansard; viola solo, Adagio, Miss Amy Stevenson; vcoal solo, (a) "To Music," (b) "Serenade," Miss Edna Craig.