CHARM OF MODERN MUSIC

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21759, 16 April 1936, Page 5

CHARM OF MODERN MUSIC

HARMONIC SOCIETY'S CONCERT* NEXT WEEK

Believing that modern Britishr.com-' posers have something to say that:is worthy of the, attention of Chsiftchurch music lovers, the Christchurch Harmonic Society at its concerts ,pn Wednesday and Thursday of next week will perform remarkable JMp works by Dr. G. Dyson and life Rowley, whose music has attracted considerable attention in EngtewJ. The same belief prompted the,soei«y two years ago to perform Constant Lambert's "Rio Grande" with «#h success that in obedience to a pUbjUc demand it was repeated last year. JMkt week's concerts will be notable for the singing of the choir in Dr. Dyson's "The Blacksmiths"~and of- Alec Row*' ley's "The River." "The Blacksmiths" is a fantasia iy fiW|; chorus and two solo pianos, based on $■ a vividly descriptive old English'spoem. In portraying tne activity 5 ' utd P clangour of the smith's trade unusual 1 * tonal effects are achieved, of theiwt I that in the hands of so able a choir | excite and please the listener. "The I River," by contrast, conveys a quiet | pastoral atmosphere, as it describes the 1 changing moods of a stream oh its I way from its source to the sea. Brief m passages of narrative in this work will I be spoken by Professor J. Shelley to 1 the accompaniment of muted strings. I' Miss Russell Fergusson has achieved I world-wide fame as an authority in | the interpretation of Hebridean folk f songs. She is a distinguished artwt, fc a singer of rare personality and charm, ffi and her narration in song and story m of the ancient legends of the Heb-if rides, in costume and to the accom- f paniment of.the Celtic harp, is likely f to be long remembered. § A further attraction will be the c . playing of Miss Jean McLeod, the -bril- 1 liant young Christchurch pianist who §> is about to leave for the RoyarCbi- 1, lege of Music, London. Other items I v by the choir include Vaughan Wil- I liams's "Falstaff and the Fairies," with 1 its delightful lilt and, grace, bers by Coleridge Taylor and Sir g Hush Robertoh. ' • §»