LITERARY AND MUSICAL COMPETITIONS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13742, 25 May 1910, Page 8

LITERARY AND MUSICAL COMPETITIONS.

SIXTH DAY. The Christch'ureh Literary and Musical Competitions Society's contests were resumed yesterday, and were carnod several sttspts forward. There wero fairly largo attendances at the morning and afternoon sessions, and there was again a largo attendance at night. A noteworthy feature, of the evening's proceedings was the appearance of the youngest- competitor so far heard at the competitions, and, appropriately, it n.p-pc-ared in the story without words contest Although it could not speak, the infant gave an absolutely natural rendering of a child crying, and, of course, was heartily applauded. The results of yesterdays contests are as follows : — BOYS , AXD GIKL.S , HUMOROUS RECITATION. This contest was open to hoys swid girls under fifteen years of age, end s»ix out o, the seven entrants competed. Til© cluet defects in this section," the judge paid in piving bis decision, "were what I rail tho 'Stato school voice' and accent, the insistent emphasis of unimportant prcpo?itions and a tendency to sing-song. Miss Brewins gave a very clever performance. indecJ, ana n<*r 'child 1 !) voice' was almost' perfect, and hrr 'man's *roire' wae really remarkable for so young a child. She bos an astonishing compsus3 for a girl of her years and is keenly intelligent and appreciative of the humour of her piwes." Hie award was: First, Miss Brewing 126 marks; second, llias K. E. O. Gillies, lit marks; third. Miss Blackie, 112 marks. Th« winner's selection was "Papa and Frenkie," and tho second prizo winner gave "The Baldheadcd Man.' SACRED SOLO FOR BASS VOICES. The test selected was "It is Enough," from Mendelssohn's "Elijah. , The competitors did better than in the secular bass solo, but the chief defect was a lack of breadth and dignity in the first movement and faulty diction. Four out of tho six entrants competed and tho judge decided to recall Mr W. .1. Salkeld (Chnslchurch), and Mr J. A. Timlin tOpoho). Tho final will be decided this evening. SHAKESPEARIAN , DIALOGUE. Six out of the sex-en pairs of entrants competed, the t«st piece being tho balcony scene from "Homeo and Juliet." A suitable balcony was provided. The outstanding feature of the contest was that cither tho Bomeoa spoiled the Juliets or the Juliets spoiled tho Itomeo3. The judge decided to recall Miss K. M. Devereux and Mr P. A. Devereus, Mis 3 Lulu Arnold and Mr A. J. Heighway, end Miss F. J. Pacey and Mr A. D. Aitken. It was a matter of regret that Miss Gardner aud Mr Gray, who entered, did not compete. In piving his decision tho jndge said: —'I shall spare you any detailed criticism of this section. Suffice it to say that ih'e beat Juliet was unequally yoked together with ono of the worst Itameos. She might have been forgiven a false emphasis in the "' Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art THOU,

Borneo?' "Similarly the best Romeo was handicapped by bis Juliet. Of course, tho prize must be given for the excclleiico of the work in the aggregate, and not to the best individual performance. Ifiss Arpold was quito tho best Juliet. Tho winners, I think, gave the most even . performance, though neither tho Borneo nor tho Juliet was quite the most convincing, though the Romeo gave the most intelligent readins. hampered somewhat by Jack of technique.'" His award was:—First, Miss King and Mr. Hobday, 1-23 marks; second, Devcretix and Mr Devcretix, 118; .third, Miss Arnold and Mr Heighway, 113. TENOR SOCO. The Tenor Solo, Schubert's "Serenaclo" (in D), evoked eight entranta, but only 'We. competed. The interpretations given, in tho majority of cases, were good. The jud<jo decided to recall Messrs C. J. Gray (Duucdin), H. Macleod (Christchurch), .and A. S. Mitchell (Sefton)'. The judge, in giving his decision, said:—"Every performer in this section sang from a different translation of Heine's lyric, and one was as bad as sjiother—and a great deal worse. The ' winner's reading was , more elegant and refined, though the second prize winner had tho bettor natural voice. Both singers must avoid a tendency to the ■vibrato. ICo. 6 (Mr Blackio, Duiicdirj) song well in the nfternoou, but spoiled his chance by faulty intonation." His award was:—First, Mr Colin Gray, 123 marks: secona, Mr Mitchell, 118; third, Mr Macleod, 96. CHARACTER RECITAL. This contest was open to either ladies or gentlemen, and of the eleven who entered, nine competed, an,d gave pieces selected by themselves. .The programme stated:—"Costumes and accessories permitted," and referred competitors to tho conditions: those stated: —"Costumes and accessories to be provided by competitor." Two competitors, who ,did not appear in costume (evidently considering that it was optional) wero disqualified. The pieces given were chiefly from Shakespeare s plays. The judge decided to recall Miss Lulu Arnold (Wellington), who gave "Portia's Mercy Scene , '; Mr A D. Ailken (Christchurch), whose selection was "CHarles Edward at Versailles"; and Miss Florence J. Pacey (Duncuin), who gave the queen acen-o from "Richard III." The judge, in giving his decision, said:— Two competitors in tho afternoon did not appear in character. I admit that tho wording of the programme is somewhat ambiguous, but in tho name of common sense, how can there bo a character recital except in character? Seven of the nino competitors vent to the trouble and ■expense of dressing the part, and it is fit and proper that their efforts should receive recognition." His award was:—First, Miss Pacey, 136 marks; second, Mr Aitken, 128; third, Miss Arncld, 111. . . VOCAL TRIO. Two seta of competitors took part in this contest, the test piece- being "Ti Pro»o" (Curachmann). Tho judge's award was° — First, Misses Xewman, Lyons, and Fernandos, 141 marks; second, Mies Ibbotson and the Misses Richardson. Ho said:—"Each of -these ladiee gave a nice reading of the trio, but No. 1 (first prize winnere) had the better voices and better tone and balance, though tho second voice part did not suit their einger so well as !No. 3's (placed second). The losers wero inclined to dreg, and their singing was not so clear cut as No. 1.. Still, it was a very good performance, <)Lnd well worthy of a prize." • STORY WITHOUT WORDS. Two out of the four entered for this' contest competed, last night; the other two will appear fo-night. Ono competitor last night gave "A Mother's Sacrifice," in which the mother parts with her hair to buy milk for her infant; and the other, with the aid of an accomplice, gave a melodramatic performance entitled "Tho Miser's Death." It was very melodramatic. ' ! . COMEDIETTA. Two comediettas (making a tola' of three given during the competition) were produced last, night. Miss Gardner and Mr C. J. Gray gave "The Reason Why," and Miss Gardner and Mr A. B. Young "Leap Year." 'lhe other comedietta igiven on Saturday evening) was entitled "Ringing Iho Changes," and was given by Mias Aitken and Mr H. McCallum. Tho jiidgo, in giving his decision, said:—"Tho first prize winners gave an elegant performance of the bright little romedieita "Leap Year," nnd tho second prize winners did very well in a less exacting playlet—"The Reason WTiy"— and that's the reason why they are respectively first-and second. I have jnst been told that that' clever young lady (Miss Gardner) took Misa Moon's part at about twenty-four hours' notice." Tho award was:—First, Miss Gardner and Mr Young; second, Miss Gardner and Mr Gray. VOCAL DUET. In giving tho result of tho vocal duet (decided on Monday evening) a -"mistake was made. The result should havp been given:—First. Miss Richardson and Mr All\vrisht, J2l marks; second, Miss Jennings and Mr I'ersonson. Hi marks; third. Miss Pilcher and Mr Morgan, 107 marks. The judgo'a remarks- regarding the second prize winners (who wero ■ wrongly placed third in yesterday's issco) were:—"fie second pair's mezzo (Miss Jennings) -was tho best of. the three, but the ensemble and balance wer« not to good as that of the winners, and nuances were not always regarded." Mr Baeyertz added:—"Mr Par?onson has a 6nc baritono voice which is well worth cultivating." . LITERARY CONTESTS; The resuita of tht> iiterary contests wore announced as follows by Mr T. W. Eovrc: — ESSAYS. The judgo in this section was Professor A. Wai. (Canterbury Colic"*), and his award in the open section- was:—First, Mr C. S. Brown flnvnrcargili), 75 per cent.; equal second. Mi.ia Mary C. Calien vßosl.vn) and Mr Guy X. Morris iWeMngton), each 60 ptr cent. The subject was " Tio Evolution of Patriotism." In the junior division the award was:—First, Miss Haze. Evans ijjexe Hills, Christchurch), 03 marks out of a maximum of 10O; equal second, Miss Annie Bell (Addiaslos), aid Mis, S. P. M. McCuliouph {AddiagtorO, e-ach 5j marks. The jtidge 6taUd that the opon section produced ■joe excellent work. The pr;r; essay was ■.veil reeaoned and wel! constructed; roraa of the others were interesting. Some competitors lost rnaxks by the use of ugly such as ''militarianis^ - ' and "bulwarking," and others by the misuse ■«£ lastinher. gica

as "t'no bright ' aiterniath 'of war." Of the junior cspoye he stated that they were too ruuch of & pattern, and Che competitors copied too much from books. ORIGINAL POElf. The subject was " An Autumn Day," and (be judge was Professor J. Macmillan Brown, whoso award ins:— First, Mr S. G. Augiiet (InveTcarjrill): second, Miss Jessie Robson (Chiistchurcb). Mr August wa3 awarded second prize by the judge, but wes disqualified owing to the conditions preventiug the winner of one prizn winning a second one. The judge stated that a, number of candidates were under the impression that pro«o sawn up into lengths and shod with rhvnies made poetry. •■». majority repeated their pet phrases and words to monotony. "Some even of the best," he added, "are co fond of tho epithet 'golden' that if assayed the poems would run higher in ounces per ton than any mine on the earth." ORIGINAL STORY. The judge (Mr T. W. Rowe\ in giving his decision, said that the competition was disappointing. The short story w«s a difficult form of literary composition, and very few of the competitors managed to overcome its difficulties. Only one candidate out of the eleven who competed invented anything like a satisfactory plot with an ordered progression to an effective ending. There was very little trace of imagination in the compositions as a whole; in most cases the stylu v:as better than the plot, and in three or four it might even be called good. His award w«s: —First, Mis? A. L. Hastings (Dunedin), "Eithone. a Tale of the- Milesians"; second. Mrs A. S. Ford (St. Albans), "All's Well that Ends Well." To-day will be tbn concluding day of tho competitions, the grand demonstration and concert concluding tho contests to-morrow evening. At the morning session to-day, at 10 o'clock, will bo taken tho recitation for girls over 11 years and under 15 years; and at 11.45 tho sacred solo for baritone—"Thou'rt Passing Hence." The afternoon session will open at 2.15 o'clock with the recitation for girls 11 years and under; at 2.45 the sacred solo for tenors, tho recitative and air, "In Native Worth" (in O, from Haydn's "'Creation," will commence: and at 3.15 the oratorical display will start. At the evening session, 'in addition to various finals (hv•r'liHinc the sacred solo by mez/osopranos). there will lie a club-swinging contest by girls under 15, and vocal duet by ladies.