TO SING FUGUE AND MASS

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30892, 27 October 1965, Page 14

TO SING FUGUE AND MASS

A Bach organ fugue will be sung by the University of Canterbury Madrigal Singers in their concern in the lady Wigram Hall on Thursday evening. The fugue was arranged for the singers by their conductor. Brian Barrett, in a slightly different manner to that of the Swingle Singers, who started the fashion of singing organ fugues. "I have tried to arrange it for voices in the way that 1 enjoyed playing it,” said Mr Barrett. He had accounted for every note with a word syllable—"do-do-do.” “dabba-dabba-dab." and "bum-pah-dah”—but left the rhythm as Bach wrote it (the Swingles added a string bassist and drummer).

"As regards vocal technique. it is no more demanding than madrigal singing,” he said. One of the singers said the fugue had provided a lot of fun at rehearsals but "we're scared stiff that we’ll get the giggles at the bit where the basses go “wah-ooh-wah!" The main w-ork on the programme will be Vaughan Williams's Mass in G minor for solo quartet and unaccompanied double choir. The soloists will l>e Heather Taylor (s), Nancy Russell (c), Anson Austin (t) and Rodney Macann (bs). The singers performed this work very successfully at a university lunch-hour concert earlier in the year. The programme will also include madrigals from "The Triumph of Oriana." a collection published in honour of Queen Eliabeth 1, and French chansons.

| A featured artist will be I the pianist. Graeme Huin- ' phrey, who leaves Christi church next week to take up | a three-year scholarship at ‘the Royal Academy of Music. 'London FAIRY TALE OPERA Freude der Musik will present a complete performance of Humperdinck's fairy tale opera “Hansel and Gretel" in

the Civic Theatre at 7.30 r>n Saturday evening. "Hansel and Gretel" was not originally planned for the opera house. Humperdinck's sister had based a play for children on the Grimm fairytale and asked her brother for an appropriate musical setting. .After a family performance. Humperdick extended his score to orchestral proportions. Drawing on German folk music and using Wagnerian writing techniques, it is regarded as the most charming of all children's operas. More than 30 singers are taking part. Hansel will be sung by Lyndsay Mika, Gretel bv Yvonne Stables, the father by Graham Wright, the mother by Helen Hayward the witch by Elaine Lethbridge. and trie sandman and dew fairy by Christine Allot! Although the shorter school version has been staged in Christchurch before, it is thought that this will be the first full presentation

SCHOLARSHIP A scholarship worth £5O, tenable for one year for studies at home and abroad, has been offered by the trustees of the Wellington Savage Club's war memorial scholarship fund. Applications have been received from students of music, drama, ballet, fine arts, architecture and litera ture.

GOING WEST The Fellowmen. a New Zeaj land folk-singing trio consistI ing of Errol and Mike Loader land Geoff Dalling. have left |on an Australian tour which ‘will take them through nightclubs in Sydney. Melbourne, j Brisbane and Adelaide. They | began singing in Wellington two years ago, made several | records for Kiwi, and moved to Auckland in June where they appeared in clubs and among the TV "New Faces." SO THEY SAY ■ I love music, but Ido not I try to play myself. 1 love music too much to spoil it.— ' Anna Pavlova.