THE LAURIAN CLUB

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21639, 25 November 1935, Page 5

THE LAURIAN CLUB

CONQERT■",' MUSIC OP GREAT TABIETY Tor the framing of such' a pro-' gramme - 'as that given, on Saturday night in the Radiant Hall, the Laurian Club is to' be warmly congratulated. Not only was there great- variety in , the types of music "performed—-cham- | ber music, songs with strings, and harp, and works for string orchestra, .but the , items themselves were culled-from a j wide field, stretching from Elizabethan' English- diatonic counterpoint to its present day, atonal equivalent, the clever polyphony of the- modern Qer-. man composer, Paul Hindemltn; '' A pleasing opening" to the programme was made by '• the. Fantasy (No. 1 in D major) for five strings, of John Jenkins (1592-1676). The pto;- , ers (Miss Irene Morris, Mjss Dora Peal, Mr'C. R. Moon, Mrs Nina Slater..and Miss Noel Cape-Williamson) kept the weaving of their long melodic strands commendably clear, and by shading of their tone brought -out many delightful touches of. imitation, interestingly and effectively. The contrast between the rich, musi-cal-tapestry making of the. fine Elizabethan style and the simpler hsrmonisat'ion of balanced tune-lengths *of the period approximately 150 years, later, was well exemplified by the following of the Jenkins "Fantasy" Mozart ttio (trio in G, No. K 564). This work for piano, violin, and 'cello wasplsyed With delicate' Mozartian neatness' and perfection of balance by Miss, AJtbea Harley-Slaek, Miss Irene Morris, and Mr Harold Beck. , A ± - . : Schumann's virile quintet for piano ahd strings (Op. 44), played by Miss Bessie Pollard, Miss Dora Deal, Mrs G. Bills, Mr C. R. Moon, and Miss Marjbrie Chapman, reminded one that,the early nineteenth century was a period when composers poured an emotionally warm content into the existing mould of classical design. The players fully realised the emotional significance of the work; for example, in the slow movement they produced a keenly felt, hushed atmosphere, and in the Scherzo, the bustling mood which the composer intended was delightfully obtained, only the presence of a few descending slurs marring the enjoyment at any time. The perfectly appropriate angularity of treatment in the f ugal portion of the final movement ! brought this excellently played quintet to an exhilarating finish. : The vocal items of the first half of the programme were two Roger QuilI ter songs, "Fair House of Joy" and "My Life's Delight," performed by Mr Frederick Bullock, with Mr Noel Newson at the piano. Both songs were convincingly interpreted. They moved with an onward-pressing sentence rhythm, and grew logically all the time to their well-built and well-felt climaxes, the only imperfection being that the planning of the tone and emo; tional intensities required for such admirable building caused the first song to begin slightly below pitch. The second half of the programme continued the historic sequence which the chief items of the first pan had set going, taking us on now,.through Elgar and Martin Shaw to Hindemltn. The Elgar work. "Introduction- and Allegro," is for string quartet and orchestra, the soloists being Mr Harry Ellwood, Mrs F. S. Grant, Mr C R. Moon, and Mrs Valmai Moffatt. Some finely sweeping melodies soop gave .the work a proud Elgarian character. These, with the composer's usual technical mastery were admirably contrasted with vigorous 'active subjectmatter and by degrees were well built into an imposing musical edifice. The quartet of strings supplied some, lovely contrasts to the thicker texture of. the string orchestra. The forces were welded under the baton of Mr Harold Beck. ' , . String quartet and harp supplied the accompaniment to' the' Martin Shaw song-sequence "The Ungentle Guest," which Mr Bullock sang in this half. The singer, besides keeping thexhytbm of these songs ever advancing,-as he invariably does, gave them-some fine dramatic vocal colouring, always with excellent taste and appropriateness. The difficult and free accomoaniments to this semi-recitative melodic writing of the vocal part were well managed, the players being Mr Glaysher 4harp), Miss Deal (violin), Mrs .Bills.(violin), Mrs Slater (viola), ahd Miss Chaoman ('cello). One felt, however, that'the accompaniment of-the'third and niost rhythmic of these songs. "Blow Northern Wind." did not sufficiently suoply the weight that this heavier melody demanded, thus preventing me .three songs buildhut into a seauence. ± and leaving them inst«»ad, existing.as three < separate, but still quite interesting songs.

The clear rhythmic structure and the many familiar points of canonic jjxiitation in the Hindemith suite of "Five Pieces" (Op. 44). together with the string orchestra's excellent - clariiy of playing, made this work surprisingly straightforward to listen .to. It.was only the absence of defined central tonality that could have given trouble to any listener. The sounds, even though atonal, were easily intelligible and had clear expressive value, the moods expressed belonging obviously to our present active rather than reflective age. The greater part- of the audience chose to remain behind to hear the suite repeated, thus, making clear that the Laurian Club's progressiveness in putting on such works is welcomed and appreciated. E.J.