Grinding music

Press, 7 August 1982, Page 16

Grinding music

Musical Bumps. By Antony Miall. J. M.' Dent, 1981. 83 pp. $9.95. I

A mixture of the humdrum, the funny, • the whimsical — a little “ha ha" and' rather too much ■ "ho hum” — this - relatively highly .priced collage of ‘ amusing stories is grouped into chapters. dealing with the orchestra, the conductor, - the singer, the opera, the choir and the amateur. Perhaps it is because I know most of the jokes; perhaps my sense of humour is fading; whatever it is, the collection is less than impressive. Many of the stories themselves and certainly the telling of them , lack flair and timing. Some interest derives from the fact that much of the material comes from real life as contributed to the author by eminences such as Boult, Menuhin, Groves and others; the leg of Colin Horsley’s piano penetrating the stage floor; Janet Price locked in the theatre 100 — this kind of thing. Ken Pyne’s illustrations constitute a saving grace. His “Summer is icumen in" is a. brilliant tribute to the eternal optimism of the British. — John Ritchie.