BAN DESIRABLE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18970, 7 April 1927, Page 11

BAN DESIRABLE.

OFT-HEARD PIECES AT COMPETITIONS. BECOMING TOO HACKNEYED. Though- Wellington has only just- decided to rule out certain vocal, and elocutionary numbers given in the annual musical and elocutionary-com-petitions with the object of declaring them hackneyed,..: the Cliristchurek Society has long reserved the right to bar certain items on this score. This right has been exercised on several oeciaioW-Mut -be. again, if need be. S N6 specific pieces have, been listed, but? the local' Competitions Committee has m> clause in its regulations ,to the eftect ; that any; item: can be barred foi this, .or other reasons. r m Eminently' Desirable. *". .. Teachers>of- elocution and ; music .are unanimous that, the course is a-wise ° U When aeked his;ppinion y Mr Farquhar Young ' .wjyced ; . ..enthusiastic. - •_ i thoroughly approve, of jK the'.course • eminently, desirable, he said. "If the competitions rhave had any-Dad-effect; it has been that; they have''made musical-: and- elocutionary gems too-common property. By sloping Hhem from being "rendered on. every occasion, - the . humbers : .will.; be -saved from' becoming hackneyed, and- restored > "Yes, -it's time most: of them were put way for-a while," he added, when' shown the list banned by the Wellington "■ Society. He took exception to some'of the numbersin the Jist.of vocal items- S°m e ' of" them - were numbers whiclr showed the histrionic .ability of the-performcr better than almost any other piece which could be found.. The trouble was that in many cases judges of --vocal ■ competitions were instrumentalists, and' as long as the instrumental part was correct ftiey paid little or no heed to the pronunciation* accentuation, and intonation:. ;...' . "It seems almost sacrilege ,to- ban such masterpieces as 'Prince Arthur' from Shakespeare, or 'Fagin's' Last Night Alive' from Dickens, but it is all for the good .of the pieces themselves," said Miss Lucy Cowan, when asked to comment on the decision.. It was.rather boring to have the same piece presented five or six times in an "own selection" class. This had been guarded against to some extent by Christchurch teachers, who had avoided well-known pieces which were in danger of becoming overdone. Some of the numbers named in the list banned in Wellington were excellent forishuwing the ability of the pupil, and new numbers with - the merits of the old ones were hard to get. It was precisely on this account they had become so popular.

The British telephones showed, during the vear ended March, 1926, a gross profit of over £8,000,000.