MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1192, 29 July 1911, Page 9

MUSIC.

(Bγ Treble Clef.l Sousa and His Band. Sousa and his- world-fainou> band arc lo commence a brief :-oa>on in Wellington on August 11. John Phillip Sousi has ii remarkable personality, ilis style of conducting is said to be Iheiitrienlly picturesque, and highly magnolic, ami the novel oilocts which lie produces are a CDinbination of the man'.-; unique ideas, and the unrjup-lionable skill of the members of his organisation. His tomposiliniis —chiefly Ins msirchc.--—are. familiar throughout Iho world, nml are marked by well-defined calehy melodies* which never fail to grip the' attention ami linger in Ihe memory. Tho band has hail a most .successful season in Sydney and Melbourne, where their performances created the same enthusiasm as they have done in America and on tho Continent.

An Irving S.'ory. The presence of Mr. H. B. Irving in Sydney has recalled to Uerr Slapoffsld (who has been appointed musical director of tho Irving dramatic season) an incident which occurred many years ago when •Sir Henry Irving was appearing in "The. Lyons .Mail." Tho incident proved that although Sir Henry was not a musician and laid no claim to the distinction, his musical susceptibilities were remarkably keen. His musical director at the lime was Mr. Hamilton Clark, and if Sir Henry did not. like the music which ho prepared for the various productions he promptly condemned it, with the result that Mr. Clark was constantly resigning his position, although ho wisely thought belter of it, and was always to be found in iiis chair when the time came. His music for "Tho'Lj-ansMail" had been condemned, and after the usual notice of resignation he set to work and got it to Sir Henry's liking for the most part, although the effect produced by the orchestra for tho murder scene was not quiio what the tragedian wanted. In it, the violas an'! 'cellos were brought into prominence in a weird piece of synocopation, with a wailing strain on the oboe. After rehearsing tho scene with Hie music, Sir Henry stepped to th? footlights and pointing to the oboe, asked Mr. Clark what instrument it was. Having been told, he requested that it should be cut out. And, according to Uerr Slanofl'ski. he was perfectly right-in his decision, as without the. oboe, the effect was a strange wavering sound, suggestive- of shuddering horror.

Two Fine Artists, Miss Esta d'Argo and Mr. Bon Dav.ics arc (wo artists who have a chance of making a great impression (luring their forthcoming tour of Australasia. Miss d'Argo, who now occupies a position in English vocalism, will hardly 1)0 recognised as the beautiful singer who made such a debut at tho Sydney Town Jliill some years ago. She has developed , and, in tho words of an English critic, possesses a voice of astonishing sweetness and range. Mr. Davies will be practically a stranger to Australian audiences, but many have no doubt heard of,his record. Commencing his career in a Welsh church choir, ho appeared with Carl Rosa's Opera Company, and, by conscientious work, won his place as the leading oratorio tenor of t'he present day.

"Same With Me!" David BUp'ham was undergoing the ministrations of the ship's barber. "I 'opes," said tho barber, "that we shall 'avo the pleasure of 'earin' you at Hie concert to-night." "Nu," explained the famous singer, "I've had a long .and exhaustive season in America, and within a few days 1 am to oiien in London. I have.decided not to do anything .on this voyage." "It's the same way with me," said the barber, umlerslrmdingly. "When ■ I'm hashoro I never looks at a razor."—"Success." Gustav Mahler. The death of Gustav Mahler, in Vienna, on May 18, came as a shock to the whole of the musical world. In a character sketch of tho great orchestral conductor, recently published, it was' stated that Mahler was a kind of human dynamo, with hardly flesh and blond enough to oonncal tho coils and magnets. For many years he had been nervous to tho point of oxplosivciiNS. llis memory, training, and natural ability as a conductor were nothing short of marvellous. In his attiro ho was simple to tho point of being ascetic. In fact, when his slender little body, with its distinctive individuality, came between the orchestraand the audience, the audience was at once impressed that the man w,is a real master—such a master as ono might have expected to sco walking in the streets of Leipzig or Vienna one hundred years ago. Although receiving- the highest salary ever paid to a conductor in America or ilia any other country, Mahler gavouo indication of being mrreonarj. His salary came to him because ha was the one man in the world who could command it.

Ever Youthful Santley. When Sir Charles Santloy Sana His farewell to tho stage at Covent Garden the other day, he had pas.«d liis seventyEovMilh birthday by .four months;'yet, when tho curtain ro?2 upon tho riverside scene of "Tho Waterman," and a young fellow came swinging along (ho towpalh, humming a song to himself, the audience, for a moment, was deceived by the sight of the "jolly young waterman" with the reddish beard and t'he jaunty gait, and Santley had reached the middle of the stage before they realised that he had come, and broken into applause. "We have often marvelled," says tho London "at his incapacity to grow old, but the breath of everyone was taken away by tho sight of . (his young and vigorous man." Considering his singing on this occasion the came critic remarks:

','Then came the songs. 'The Jolly Young Waterman,' sung with tho spirit which has made Santley famous, made us realise that we had really got him with u<. The farewell song to Wilholinijn had 100 much appropriateness, and affected him so much that we feared lest he had undertaken too affecting a part for this lastappearance, but when ho came to 'Sons of the Ocean Wave' all the old intensity, the pure, strong diclion, ami the rhythmic vigour were there, and in response to the overpowering applause ho repeated the last verse. At: tho end he fang 'JJiilo Britannia,' and after the curtain had been raised several times that) he miglit respond to tho many recalls, ho ?an* 'liod Save- the King , as only'he- can sing it, with the sincerity of. a great conviction.

George Sand on Chopin, _ In "Dei- luorkw," Lola Lorme draws, lrom letters of George Sand, a personal picture of Chopin, "lie is musician and lio lung else, said (he gifted novelist. His thoughts ran be expressed only in music, lie is infinitely reiined in delicacy and wit; but painting, sculpture, architecture tiroso , are sealed books to him Michael Angelo worries him, Kubens irriates him. Lvoryfhing that seem.- iimiMial to him makes him angry. He limits himK'lt in ihe narrowest , conventions-an anomaly, slnco ],j 5 gcnius js lh( , t original in music."

! A conversation by Delacroix on (lie reflex impression of colour and tone merely brought Chopin, who wos improvising, lo an unwilling pause. KoMiming, the composer again charmed his auditors, and George Sand pays further tribute to the subjective nature of his genius. "Our evrs glow wi!h soft light," ,|,c W rilcs "at Ins sweet modulation-. Tho tones su". Best, the deep blue of a Iransnarent summer night. Light clouds lake fantastic shapes, covering (lie horizon; they veil (ho moon, which sends opileseen't rays through their shailowy folds and wakens (he sleeping colours. We dream af the nielil; we await the nightingale. "A heavenly song arises. The master knows well what ho does. Tie laughs at all those who try lo picture men and things by imitative harmony. He icnores such pptty ways. He knows that music is. a human feeling, a human expression. The soul thinks and speaks.. Man . . . expresses his feelini-: without over tryins to express (heir causo. "When the nightingale begins to sing in the dear, starry night, tile real master will depict in his tones anything but: the dill of (he bird, lie le(s liis'inusic sing with the feelings Hut are aroused when one listens to the song of (he nightingale. . . . Tor '.'loarne-s of impression one needs (he words of a song. With instruments alone the mu.-ical drama has its own language, an,l is not to be''translated by the hearer. Music biinss underbuilding to His soul without making nuy explanation necessary."-