WORLD OF MUSIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 229, 27 September 1930, Page 8 (Supplement)

WORLD OF MUSIC.

GOSSIP OF THE STUDIOS. FROM FAR AND NEAR. (By ORPHEUS.) I understand that there is a movement afoot in Havrera to form a choral society. Mr. Wilfred Kershaw, <>f Dunedin, has been engaged by the Royal Wellington Choral Union to sing the baritone solos in "The Messiah" early in December. Private advices from Adelaide state that the news of the death of Mr. Christopher Smith was received there with deep regret. Mr. Smith was well-known there in musical circles, and the newspapers gave very full accounts of his sad ending, together with biographical sketches of his career. The soloists for the Royal Wellington Choral Union's production of Sullivan's "The Golden Legend" will be: Soprano, Madamo Winnie Eraser; contralto, Miss Hilda Chudley; tenor, Mr. Alfred Walmsleyj baritone, Mr. Barry Coney, the part of the Forester has not as yet been definitely fixed up. The last of the chamber music conccrts given by the Auckland Trio will be presented oil Monday evening, October KJ. The programme will consist of Dvorak's B flat trio, opiw 2i; "Three Miniatures," by Frank Bridge; and Faurc's piano quartet in 0 minor, played by Miss Ina Bosworth (first violin), Mrs. R. A. Singer (viola), Miss Molly Wright ('cello), and Mr. Cyril Towsey (piano). The vocalist will be Miss Molly Atkinson, mezzo-soprano, who will contribute two groups of songs. From the latest information to hand it would appear that Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmereton North and Auckland all came out on the right side in the recently held Music Weeks. On the other hand, Christchurch was about £100 to the had, which amount will be made good by tho guarantors, whilst Wellington only just escaped a deficit by the email amount of 8/7, and that after receiving donations totalling Mr. John Bishop, the conductor of the Royal Wellington Choral Union, speaking recently at New Plymouth, said "Reciprocity in music in England is the thing which holds music together. In New Zealand you have many towns which arc much of a size and there is every opportunity to reciprocate. I hope you will do so, and that frequent visits will be made, even if the parties are only of a dozen. Reciprocity holds the 'bones' together, and for that reason I hope you will all come to Wellington."

Miss Oriole Faram, the wonderful child pianist, who was sent to London to study, with the financial assistance of the people of Gisborne in general, and the competition society in particular, is now hard at work at the Royal Academy of Music. She is studying the piano with Frederick Moore who, by the way, is a brother of the teachcr of Miss Hunt at Gisborne. Dorothy Howell teachos her composition and counter-point, whilst Mr. Leslie Regan takes lier in oral training. The writer might mention here that the Wellington society is practically the only musical society that is succeeding financially, and it deserves to, for, under capable and far-sighted management, it has acted in the missionary spirit to the smaller towns in the province, and outside, by helping them to put on the great oratorios, etc. In return the Royal Wellington Choral Union has had the assistance of the other choral societies at ite big concerts. Thus "reciprocity" has created a new interest in good music. Why cannot Auckland follow suit? Under the baton of Mr. Harold Baxter the Orphans' Gub orchestra has become a very efficient combination, with a strength of about 50 members. Thanks to the generosity of Mr. A. R. Brett, the patron of the orchestra, who imported a number of orchestral scores from England, the orchestra has now a good and up to date library. It is gratifying to be able to record that the attendances at rehearsals are very full. This may be accounted for in part by the tasty suppers provided by the club, but there is no doubt that the main reason is that Mr. Baxter's enthusiasm, personality, and tact have created that desirable feeling of "esprit de corps" that makes each player keen to do his best. The orchestra has also made several trips to the country and in this way is .acting as a missionary bringing a message of good will and good music to the Orphans' Clubs in the smaller towns. Needless to say, these opportunities of hearing a really excellent Orchestra play worth-while music are greatly appreciated by .the country clubs, and the opportunity is generally taken to make the evening a "ladies' night." These country visits are much looked forward to by the members of the orchestra. A comparison of the Auckland and Wellington figures reveals some interesting facts. The total receipts were, in round figures, Auckland £SGO and Wellington £GSO. Thus K, will bo seen that Auckland, which did not allow its concerts to be broadcast, actually took £120 less than Wellington, and yet, in spite of smaller receipts, Auckland made a profit of £250. In the face of this it seems hardly fair to blame broadcasting for Wellington's poor showing. The discrepancy is evidently explained by the fact that the expenses at Wellington were about £680, whilst Auckland managed its Music Week on a total expenditure of £312. On these figures it would seem that Wellington, for once, might well take a lesson from Auckland upon the economical administration of a musical venture such as Music Week. In return, the musical societies here could learn from the Wellington societies how to produce a concert without making a loss, and that would be another form of "musical reciprocity." ' .

NEW MUSIC.

We have received from Messrs Allans, of Melbourne, the following dance numbers and new songs for review: Dance folio No. 12 contains nine of the latest foxtrots and five waltzes taken from the best known songs of the day and arranged for the piano. Kight of these are also arranged for the ukulele. Theie are three songs, one of which, "You're the Sweetest Girl this Side of Heaven," is a really prettly little balled. The other two, "You Can't Stop Me from Falling in Love with You" and "ft* I Had a Girl like You," are quite up to | standard. These are arranged for the ukuleV aa*< the banjulelo banjo.