VIEWS OF THE VOCAL AND ELOCUTIONARY JUDGE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13740, 23 May 1910, Page 5

VIEWS OF THE VOCAL AND ELOCUTIONARY JUDGE.

ADVANTAGES OF LITERARY AND MUSICAL CONTESTS. Mr C. ?V, Bacyertz, avlio is the it , , the TOCtiT jind elocutionary chisscs in the , comix'titfov;* at prec-ent being drcidod under tlio -v 3"spices of tho Christchurch Literary «'md Competitions' Society. -\v,ns l).v a representative of •'Tho Press"' OU Saturday evening, ;md in response to JJJiestions. expresM.d himsolf as follows Ov , different aspects of the contests:— " Cliristehurcb people." said Mr Bβovert?:, "have not yet acquired tin , ■competition habit," but it will most certainly obsess them in its time. In Dunodin, and in fuller measure in Ballarat, the da} - sessions attract numerous audiences, and in the evening tho ruipeciive halis are filled to overflowing with rt keenly enthusiastic, critical and discriminating audience. Yon ask nio if I believe in competitions? Of course 1 do. •Out of the very crudest raw material in Dunedin artistic performon? have beeti made. Naturally, tho benefit 1 ? derivable depend very much'- upon the class of work set for ■study. 1 have said aforetime that there has nover been such a fine selection of songs in any competition in Australasia as that made for the Christchurch competitions. To study ftreat works ot art must be beneficial t:i tho student. To work for three at soupjs by Schumann, iSchurben, "Wagner, Spohr, Franz, and other great composers, must awaken in the incst abandoned devotee to the ordinary drawing-room some appreciation of a true art form. Similarly, to study Shakespeare and Browning must -work for the intellectual pood of the etudent. And here let mc say I that it is sufficient for competitors j to learn merely the Shakcs.perean ' excerpt, but tho whole play must be 1 istudic<l, anrl, iv Uic-oase of Glostor'ssneocb, nt least the last two parts of Henery VIII. should have been studied. The plays of the 'gre-it abstractor of quintessences' will repay more than casual reading, and the .competitor who -vvUhrai to attain should beet mc a student, and to that end must dtvotf hi.s spare time to familiarise ■]iiuis«.'lf ivff.li some such works as Abbott's 'Shakespearean Grammar.' Yiiii Jameson's 'Shakewaaro Heroines,' Ten Brink's 'Five Lectures on Shakespeare.' Genomic's 'Shakespeare Comnicntories,' -Elson's 'tShakespeoro in llusit:, . Plain's 'Cydopcedia and Glossary of Shakespeare' (more compact and chervr-or than Byce), Sidney Lee's 'Life < % -f (the abridged edition). Dowden's 'Shakespeare Primer,' and Ifa/.lctt's "Charixters of Plays.' The Pitt Press. Shakespeare, editod hy Dr. Verity, contains a wealth of interesting and instructive matter, 1 copious notes, p a glossary , and hints on ! ihe.■..-• rrietre/ : -iihtl "is th be- bought ■ for eighteen pence a volume. "Moreover, tho jiood results that accrue f;qm competitions do not ; i ; cst ivith the competitor. Coniprtitions i.tcnrl to \eciicate- your public—a vastly n.<.'rp important work. For if your ri-blic is enlightened, you will soon li-iw enlijihtoned pei forman'cos. And if the judge is ca.p'able P.nd willing to j help the comi>e.titor, the results arc quite far-reaching, for by that means I not only is tin. , competitor beneEted, but the quality of the teachinc must also be imnrov.ed —'a consummation -ievoutly to 1x! wished!'

"Christohurch competitors. I ha\*e found to be for the most part very Rend sports. Most of the prizes in elocution this year have gone to Dunedin. This is not surprising. Miss Gardner, MiivS Pacoy, Miss Owen, and other.s, have competed in Dunerlin for many .years, and their present excellence, is a tribute to tho good that competitions do, when the committees regard the ivi'tbetic and educational elements as supremely more important . than "the mero financial aspect. Woe to those com,p»etiiions that sacrifice these things to the 'gate!' • ■"Some eighteen years ago I -crrote ;n bnok on the voice. It was quite a\ success. The tvboJo edition was exhausted in six weeks. I am not sure ■whether that is really quite tho correct word.: the edition was burnt in a firo at the music shop that 'kept' it. However, in that book appeared tho 'orphic,' .'Though I sing with the voice i->f men and of angels, and jtayo.not temperament, I am as Bounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. , I still hold to that opinion, but what commonly.passes for temperament is really . nothing other than lack of poise and artistio oo'trol. Too many singers and reciters bepcin to study tho differential calculus before they have mastered the multiplication table! The voice should he properly placed . and balanced, the enunciation should be .verfect, and the diction elegant* and' refined, before tho singer or reciter gives rein to his temnorament.

.''T must not refer to individual performances at this stage ol the proceedings, but I may say that the average level of excellence is aboiit thirty ncr cent, higher this year than, la.vfc. Thesinging of the men has been about the fame percentage below that of the ladies, and a-lmost, in every case where the two sexes have competed, man (the ■weaker wx) has been shown a clean pair of heels. I may also say that there is evidence of much bad teaching , , in Christenuroh. In conclusion, 1 have little doubt that tho demonstration on Thursday night will be about the most varied and interesting amateur concert heard in this city for. many a day."