GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 2, 3 January 1931, Page 8 (Supplement)

GRAMOPHONE NOTES.

ARTISTS AND THEIR RECORDS.

(By SOUND BOX.)

livery step up the musical Parnassus will be found to lead to wider and more beautiful yiews and a freslier and more stimulating mental atmosphere. To live in the valleys may be pleasant, but it is those who climb the mountains who obtain the widest views. : —Alice Green. The Coldstream Guards' Band provide a welcome rendering of tho tuneful melodies of the operetta, "Les Cloches de Corneville." (His Master's Voice, C 1880, 12-inch.) Wish • Wynne, whose Cockney impersonations are such a refreshing novelty, gives us "A Cockney Girl at the Cinema" and "There's Always Something." (His Master's Voice, B 3349, 10-inch.) That great 'cellist, Pablo Casals, will delight his huge following with his present record, "Andante" (Bach, arranged Siloti) and "Aria" (Ba.3h). The- latter, by the Avay, is the beautiful melody much better known as the air on the G string. (His Master's Voice, DB 1404, 12-inch.) Richard Strauss is one of the most strongly individual of modern composers. "The Dance of the Seven Veils," from his dramatic opera, "Salome," displays the force of character apparent in much of his work. It is played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Bruno Walker, who do justice to the tone-painting that depicts Salome's passionate love of Jokanaan. (Columbia, LOX 51, 12-inch.)

Those who saw the "talkie" version of Hardy's "Under the Greenwood Tree" were probably charmed by the singing of the*band of vocalists whose delightful singing contributed so largely to the success of the pictured version. It may not bo generally known that they record for Columbia as The Maestros. As an offering unusually appropriate to this time of the year, when many at Christmas turn their thoughts to the England they still call "home," they give us a collection of favourite old airs under the title "English Medley." The record contains some fine music splendidly sung. Here are the titles: "A Hunting We Will Go," "Sally in Our Ally," "Here's a Health Unto His Majesty," "The British Grenadiers," "A Fine Old English Gentleman," "0 Dear, What Can the Matter Be?" "My Grandfather's Clock," and "The Lincolnshire Poacher." (DOX, 73, 12-inch.) #

On the threshold of a New Year one might well pause and ponder what the future may hold of interest for gramophonists. Without going deeply into the matter I would mention two developments. One is a "home-recording" device as a further refinement of the radio-gramophone combination. The recording is done electrically by the use of a microphone .attached to the instrument by a flexible cord, making for convenience in use. Apart from the obvious fascination of making and playing personal recordings it will, I understand, be possible to record short portions of broadcasted items as they are received over the air. And the other new idea is that the gramophone will aid broadcasting in a new way. Really j.rst-class programmes of a quality impossible here with our artists of really high merit going abroad in search of bigger opportunities than a small country can offer will be recorded in famous artistic centres where celebrities are available, while the actual broadcast is in progress. The records will then be distributed throughout the world. I believe our own New Zealand company contemplates providing some of its programmes in this way. There will always, I hope, be room for good local artists, but it requires little imagination to perceive the possibilities of wonderful programmes being made available by importing them in recorded form. Intelligent Listening. Last week, imbued with missionary zeal to enthuse others for the joys of real music (as opposed to the ephemeral trifles that please momentarily and soon pall) 1 quoted at considerable length a letter from a reader of the "Gramophone," published in the correspondence pages of that excellent journal. It contained among several admirable ideas the suggestion that any printed matter of interest pertinent be clipped and pasted to the envelope containing the record or to the appropriate page of the album. This idea is not new, of course. I myself have mentioned it several times and there is no doubt whatever that it does very greatly help to "humanise your records" as the contributor I have quoted puts it. To help the business on, I propose from time to time as opportunities occur to provide paragraphs suitable for permanent reference. They will appear under a suitable heading and may deal with the music itself or with composers or performers. I venture to use again the following that appeared in this column some years ago. I clipped it because it rather amused me at the time. "Can you play the gramophone ? _ The question may seem foolish, but not if its implications are fully realised. 'Ihe usual method is to 'wind her up' (without letting the motor run to lessen the winding strain on the springs), then put the record on with any old needle and the louder the better—tone and volume mean much the eame thing to some p eo ple_and then the listeners say 'What's that?' (if they happen to be paying attention), then the 'player tells; | what the record is and even falls to discussing it (or something else), and when it is all. over everybody notices the cessation and feels impelled to say in a most heart-felt fashion, 'Isn't it lovely!' That's a rather savage picture of one school. The gramophonist who takes a pride, not only in his gramophone, but in his ability to make his recitals really interesting, gets all his preliminaries over first, then ::uns the sharp point of the needle on the rim of the record, pushes it gently on to the sound track (to save the part of the record that wears first) then closes the lid to keep in the needle scratch and false —unamplified —vibrations and expects his friends to cease talking, listen and maintain a lively interest until the end. That is the 'mechanics' of good playing, but the preliminaries are just as important and should include the name of the composer, artist and the programme that, the music is intended to convey, if the sense is not easily apparent." Whenever you have a suitable audience—and to play the gramophone with-' out sympathetic hearers is to miss much of the pleasure music brings—the occasion should resolve itself into a sharing of the joys of the music itself, aided °by comment that sharpens an intelligent listener's interest and so increases appreciation.