ANNUAL SCHOOL CONCERT

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26477, 19 July 1951, Page 3

ANNUAL SCHOOL CONCERT

TECHNICAL COLLEGE PUPILS

The Christchurch Technical College presented its annual concert last evening. In many respects there has been a great advance in the standard of playing of the combined symphony and senior orchestras of the college since one heard them a year ago. Especially in the string section there was, last evening, a much more mellow tone and better intonation.

In such works as Woodhouse’s Peasant Dance, in Carse’s Festival March, and in the march from Handel’s Occasional Oratorio, works which are reasonably within the capabilities of the combined orchestras—there was. on the whole, good tone and intonation. Further experience will give these players better precision, especially in testing bridge passages.

Mr Jack Goldsmith, who played the oboe solo in the Adagio from the Occasional Overture, is to be congratulated on his performance. The opening of this work and the fugal section proved to be too difficult for a satisfactory performance to be given, and the same must be said of Beethoven’s Turkish March.

While one would withhold no praise for the good work which Mr Perks has done in making so many improvements in the orchestral playing of this school —and comparison with past efforts is the first and most important standard of judgment—nevertheless the fact remains that it is hard to see, when works are presented in which intonation and precision leave so much to be desired, just how the cause of school music is advanced thereby. In this respect, another standard of criticism —the work of similar organisations—is fair and just. Music in those schools in New Zealand where the scheme which originated at the King Edward Technical College, Dunedin, is followed in its entirety, is of a remarkably high standard; and this is because each step is made secure before the next is attempted, and because nothing is played which is beyond the capabilities of all concerned, and which cannot be and is not played with good intonation, precision, phrasing, and attention to dynamics. The result is concerts of an even standard—and that standard a very good one. It would be unfair to expect that the Christchurch Technical College or many another school in New Zealand, should have the standard which is set by the Dunedin Technical College today, but all could eventually reach that standard if they were content to wait for results, and to follow that well-tested scheme, and not to depart from its cardinal principles in search of short cuts.

In trying to accommodate his large choral and orchestral forces on the stage of the Civic Theatre, Mr Perks was faced with tremendous difficulty, and it is greatly to his credit that the concert went so well. However it was really asking too much that ’the orchestra should wind such a serpentine way in a thin line right through the smgecs from the front of the stage to the back of the choir gallery; and that an accompaniment to such a work as Ireland’s “Man in His Labour R>ejoiceth” should be either adequate as an accompaniment or of much help to the singers. This work failed to Sty? that climax to the programme which a better choice could have given with excellent effect. The Senior Choral Society sang with a pleasing tone and with good attention to phrasing and expression in three songs by John Ritchie, and made a very good job indeed of “The Dashing white Sergeant,” arranged by Hugh Roberton. Margaret Lawson played the solo part in Rowley’s Miniature Concerto for Pianoforte and Orchestra, with a well-controlled firm touch, lively expressive qualities, and a pretty turn to the phrasing. The symphony orchestra also is to be congratulated on its playing of this work, and the considerable study which had been given to it received the reward of a meritorious performance. Albert Risely showed in two ’cello solos that he has a most praiseworthy control of his instrument, a well established technique of bowing, ana a musical sense of phrasing. This was pleasant playing with good tone, a forward moving rhythm, and excellent intonation.

Undoubtedly the most efficient work of the evening was done bv the brass band under the conductorship of Mr A. M. Hatch. A great improvement has been made over the last year. The precision and fire of the band’s playing and its well-balanced and nicely modulated tone made its contribution