MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 175, 18 April 1908, Page 12

MUSIC.

[Br Tbibls Clbi.] Unruly Orchestras. ;' ■ Great Continental: conductors, says) Mr. S.'.L; Bensusan in the "Express," all agree upon the comparative ease with-which tneir lueas are taken 1 up By British * orchestral players. More than one has declared that Jiß • can do as much with tho ono obligatory rehearsal of the English orchestra as he can with the three that'must be given 'on the Continent. The reason lies, m the first place, in: the Briton's remafkable facility for reading at sight, and in the second place in his complete surrender to the will of the conductor. He leaves his temperament bohind him when he goes to rehearsal, and is perfectly satisfied to express that of the man who occupies the conductor's seat. On the Continent the case is different. The history of tho great orchestras in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna is full of exciting incidents. Time after' time some impassioned 'leader, of the violins, some clever player' of flute or oboo, his jumped from his desk'in a violent passion to declare that the conductor's reading of such-and-such a phrase, or the nuance that he wishes to introduce, is contrary to his artistic conscience.

A Novel Idea. ■~ Madame Clara Butt's final concert .in Sydney, was a charity , one, and Messrs. J. and/ N. Tait utilised an' iaea in cbnnection with it that should prove very popular. They aßked;the audience to say by; means of voting, slips han'ded to them on entering what charitable institution they would like to see benefited by the proceeds of the concert, and upon-the results of the voting the distribution of money will be proportionately made, thus giving each member of the audience a personal interest in the allocation of the funds. Hugo Wolf. Mr. Ernest Newman, the well-known musical critic, has just published a life of Hugo Wolf, in which he claims for him the position of the greatest song-composer of the world, not forgetting oven Schubert and Schumann. He has been the first, as Mr. Newman thinks, to make the song and its aooompaniment ono perfect' ivholo, in which each part is equally important. But surely Schubert and Schumann and Brahms have been beforehand with him' in this respect. However, a. biographer ought to be something of an idolater, and his exaggerated estimate of "Wolf's genius may bo forgivon if jt onlv serves to direct the public attention to his magnificent work.—Exchange. Notes. Mr. Walter Whyte, the one-time Auckland tenor, and Mr. George Dean, are on the bill of tho Tivoli, Sydney. Mmo. Clara Bntt and Mr. Keiinerlev Rumford have been engaged by the Melbourne Philharmonic Society t-o sing in Handel's. " Messiah " to-morrow night. Since tho foundation of tho London College of Music twenty years ago 190,000 candidates have been examined. All the work is directed from London, Tho College posßorooa forty* i live exouunars.