Buoyant concert of instrumental music

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 7

Buoyant concert of instrumental music

The School of Instrumental Music gave a concert in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre on Saturday evening at which Orchestras Three. Four, and Seven played, and a flute choir, conducted by Mrs M. E. Tatchell, a clarinet group, conducted by Mr Keith Spragg, and three chamber groups showed their prowess. The three orchestras, all conducted by Mr Francis Dennis, played with good precision, following the conductor's beat with careful attention. Tone occasionally tended to be raw, and intonation sometimes left much to be desired—or even yearned for. Sometimes the music chosen offered technical problems which all members could not be expected to solve as yet, but they will certainly do so, given time, and there was a buoyant spirit in the playing, which attractively made up for whatever divergences there may have been from a desired result. Special mention must be made of the very good discipline. Large numbers of instrumentalists gathered on and left the stage with but a minimum of fuss and bother, and did so very quickly. It was annoying to be expected to read a faintly

printed programme in the murky light in the theatre. Only much after the event could one find out who had been playing what. The flute choir produced pleasant and soft tone with commendable intonation, and phrased with delicacy in Debussy’s “Sarabande.” There was some cheerful bickering in “Sparrows’ Party.” Three pieces of Cezar Cui were played with pleasing approach and attractive musical feeling by Gerard Pritchett and Jane Ross (violins) and Kaye Godfrey (piano). Kaye Godfrey’s playing had controlled flexibility in phrasing, showing fine sensitivity. A string quarter, consisting of Lindsay Mountfort and Emily Tiso (violins), Joanne Frew (viola), and Timothy Prickett (cello) played the first movement from Haydn’s String Quartet No. 68 in F major with pleasantly balanced ensemble tone, and with good precision. The clarinet group played crisply and with lively atmosphere. Its tonal quality was praiseworthy, and it played with confidence. Two attempts to have the audience sing with orchestral accompaniment were quite unsuccessful. —C. Foster Brown