A TAMBOURINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 15

A TAMBOURINE.

AND WHAT RESULTED. WCRLD-KNOWN MUSICIAN. ALFRED HILL IN AUCKLAND. \' ",y year* ago. «Hon 1„. was two V'"- "I'l. a workman in Ink fa (lmr V '" I'I" *\ " ,n '""i " tambourine, and to his niiht. pri/.pd •' " 11 ' 111 -" f I>p<iul vto me." as Hp '"" l "" fl-'- "as allowed to tI) it . U ,ll lt w "rkman alive today. ],o Sl "" 1 ' 1 '' I" "H'l mi.in. Im-.j, ii-.> that u,l< I'iii-tly n-sjion-iililc for 1 lip ' •'' '11" ji l ion of 1 1 |( , gie.iioi composers ~, Australia to dav H U|li ' " I'i'l'lil a t ioi>. ami """ " h ". ""- 1 " ' "...-t i„. ~.,11,.,! 1 ( Aatoi i,,,,, ~f in <1111• \ . \ - )'■ ■ Mfrp.l Hill. iM , / '' ,'l. an,in i u1,,,. I 1,.,,,,. | I"- rcputat io„ iM \u-tnilia. "" 'l""r great things for limbic in 1 i'a i; h. l,;i — alwav-, rcI" i'. N "", /, ' :lli ""l ,, r. and he wil, ' "•"'*" I udvent lire* of the ~|.| dtivs 01 111 lion n i in I>e\ on | tor t. M "in- a tambourine which be f" m "-ira I rareer. though it is tin.' Iha I lie was always musical. Another lia 11 \ i~h incident prows it. When hp »a< M.inely more than three, his father n-eil to hoi,l those oh! fashioned glee parties which to-day are not heard. "ingers who i ised t.. eongnj.iie there was Charles Harding, then an employee in a coal and tire wood bii-ines,. who, though then a. hass ■ft 'iw a i ,|s came to he the grent Charles Uaiding. the world tenor. Adventure From Bed. TI" liille Altied Hill u *ed to creep ''is lied, and with -rent trepidation down the passage and lUten to ♦ lie singing from heliind the door. Krom t1 "" ,mil> he determined to become a niii-ieinn. A- a. child he took up the cornet aii - lit l.v \V. H. Matthias ("Hilly" Mfltihias, as he called him) and Harry St i' 11 eh a rn. who were touring with the Sinioiison opera Company. As a child of hi- used to play cornet solos. Then, a I ter learning the \ iolin. he w cut to Cermany, where he studied at the Leip-ig ( onscrwitoriiim of Music f,„ojf MM ix.

When he came to speak of his studies there, and afterwards, it was difficult for Mr. Mill to keep <>n that subject alone. With the enthusiasm of the artist, he would speak of great names from a past, generation of artists; he would tell of what they plavcd and where; of what they said and did. and of curious little "back stage" incidents in their careers.

"But what were you doing when that—?" the interviewer would attempt to ask concerning any o*e of these incidents.

It was not to lie. There was never an answer. Mr. Mill was buck down the years. Me was discoursing on the manner in wjiieli Beethoven used to treat and develop a theme; and above the ordinary every day noises of the "Star" office, rising beyond the sound of feet and voices in the corridors and the ever present dill of machinery, there •rose an unaccustomed noise.

Mr. Mill "was singing. Not content, to gesticulate with hands, he was explaining the great master with his voice--and a graphic exposition it was.

"And I'll tell you another curious thing," he started off to say. when again he was reminded of Lcipsig. Then lie showed what ail opportunity he had had for mastery in his subject. While in that famous University city, he heard such musicians as Brahms, (ireig. Tschaikovsky. and, what is more, he played with them. Mere his enthusiasm rose again, and with graphic movements of his hands, he would tell of this and of that; and his eves would light up. and his lingers would move as though touching chords on the keyboard of memory. Mr. Mill is not. young now. but there is virility in his voice, virility in his expression and virility in his outlook on life, so that while for the nonce he lives iu the. past, he is definitely one with the present. Story of Song Competition Tfc recently won £.">() in a song competition organised by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in connection with the New South Wales sesquicentenary celebrations. Do you know." he chuckled, his face lighting up again, "I sent in my entry, find then forgot about it. My wife said my entry was no good, so she sent in what she considered was the type of song wanted. Some time later I received a telephone call, and when I sought information as the result of that call, they told iiic I had won." "I asked, 'What song has won?'" I he commissinn told me. and do von know, my wife came second, and (and here he slapped the fable with delight I there was no second prize money! She deimf'ndcd half of mine." So he would range from the davs of the past into the very present, and each story had humour. kindliness but, above all, each had life. Mr. Mill': present great enthusiasm and reason for his presence in NewZealand— is the Maoris and all about t hem, and in particular, their music. He is in the Dominion to write the music for a Maori film, and he says that the music will be true to life and to the times when the scenes were depicted — the war days in New Zealand. "We don't want any of your Oxfordnccented native actor-." lie remarked <1 uite suddenly after a pau-c. "We want the thinjf to be real, and we will have in the picture some of the old men who at present live on the site of the tragic Orakau pa.

"MimrU <!''ll't art. It' \«»u nvatr (lie riL'lit al nni-ij»lnTr 1 lu*v *-im|»!\ rr.n l to tin* -|»ii it of tlir ]>; i -1. Wo want tliU film In lie

Mr. Hill ha > tlnni* ii .L'l'i'iit 1 In bring Maori nm~ic ix■ t'<>!«■ tin- world. He has written «»|>iTii - ji In ml it. string <|liaitets and <• | >«■ iel I as. His ipiartets have been published bv a leading < MTiini ii tirni; tliey ha \<• been played by world famous coiidiu tors, sueli, for example. a* Henri Verbriigghen, pastdirector ot the Sxdnev fonservatorium, who became conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in One (|iiartet. was played by the Chicago String Quartet and by Arthur Hartmann's (Quartet in Vew York. His opera wan called "The Knchanted l-'lute." which has been done several times in Sydney, and has l»een broadcast. Incidentally, what may mean more to the, average New Zealander tlian mention of all these names, famous though tliev are, is the fact that Mr. Hill wrote the well-known and well-loved Maori song, "YVaiata Poi." "Did you write that?" lie was asked, interrupted in speaking about Hartniann. "What?— Yes," he returned, "and nowlet me tell you about Hartniann," and Hartniann the subject was. Mr. Hill will be in the Dominion for some weeks. His wife will join him on December 1!>. and they will return to Sydney to Jeave on January .TI for a tour of Europe. He lias recently retired from several professorship* at the C'onservatoriurn of Music, Sydney.