THE COMPETITIONS

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1281, 9 November 1911, Page 5

THE COMPETITIONS

SECOND CHOIR NIGHT, GRAFTON ROAD CHOIH WINS. SOME SURPRISES. Seats wero nt a premium at the Town Hall Inst evening, when one of the brightest entertainnieuts \ras sandwiched in between tho last of tho competition numbers. Tho latter consisted of tho final competitors in Iho mixed quartet contest ("Swcot and Low"), and tho second contingent of choirs, who come from the extreme ends of tho Dominion to do battle for tho shield presented by Messrs. W. Begg and Co. Tlio Auckland contingent scored again in tho quartet, giving, by a good margin, the most artistic reading of Barnby s charming number. The gfiief item of interest, however, was the church choir competition, which has ovoked interest from one end of the country to the other. The decision went in favour of tho GraEton Road Methodist Choir (Auckland), with the Green Island Choir (Dunedin) and the Courtenay Place Congregational Church Choir (Wellington) third. The decision in this case does not appear to givo general satisfaction. After the performances of tho three local choirs on "Tuesday evening many held that St. Mary of the Angels Choir stood out as superior in every departmentvolume, quality of tone, precision in attack and -release, and interpretation. This choir, however, has been placed last. After tho somewhat laboiiTed interpretation of tho "Soldiers' Chorus," from

"Faust," by tho Green Island Choir, one could bo excused for bracketing St. Mary's equal with tho excellent choir from Auckland. That it should bo placed last— a bad last—created a pood deal of surprise. In the drawing-room entertainments, Miss Prichard was assisted by Misses Rita Lyons. Lulu Arnold, Zita Chapman, Madeline Webb, and Messrs. V. V. Blandford, A. W. Newton, Zanto Wood, and Eutton. Miss Webb played tho various accompaniments. The outstanding feature of this entertainment was tho dramatic recital by Miss Lilian Prichard, whose magnetic acting and sound elocution created enthusiasm. Miss Gardner's "irty consisted of Misses F. Pacey, Thelma Brown, Rita Simpson. Messrs. S. 11. O?born. J. C. Bell, Harris. "H. Gray," and Baxter Buckley. Every item in this part was snapnily done, and many of the uerformers had to respond to encores.

CHOIR CONTEST. The decision in this important contest was awaited with unusual interest. The judge (Mr. Baeycrtz) did not go into detailed criticism last evening, but handed his somewhat voluminous notes to the press. The result was: Grafton Road Methodist Choir, of Auckland 1 Green Island Choir, of Dunedin 2 Courtonay Place Congregational Choir, of Wellington 3 The following is a summary of the judge's remarks:— Grafton Road Choir. In tho "Faust" chorus sopranos had a habit of slurring any intervals; fine signifiennco in the words; crescendo from bar 55 was effective: intonation capital; a well-balanced choir. In the hymn there were several mistakes in enunciation; very good nuance. Tho tenors camo in too soon in the ,-ast verse. It was a dramatic reading, but a littlo lacking in "organ" quality. ■ An excellent performance. In the anthem this choir took tho opening too quickly, but its accent and attack was good. A spirited performance, though takon too fast. Tho marks were—Anthem, III; Hymn, 1M; "Soldiers' Chorus," 151; total, 43G. Green Island Choir, Regarding tho "Faust" chorus, the judgo stated that this choir had good staccato, but tho sopranos were apt to filur on tho high notes. Their enunciation was good, but they ended flat. Tho reading was a littlo dull, and lacking in spirit. In tho hymn tho basses and tenors were not too sure, and their diction was rather faulty. They ended a little flat. In tho anthem, tho sopranos were a littlo sharp, and the basses flat in places. The quality of voices not so good as that of the winners, and all were out of tune in places; tempo at opening and ending correct. Tho marks scored by the choir were as follow :-Authem, 127;" Hymn, 117; "Soldiers' Chorus," 113; total,. 417.

Courtenay Place Congregational, The opening of the "Soldiers' Chorus" was good, but enunciation not perfect; good attack for the most part; articulation faulty; fair balance and blend. In the "hymn tho sopranos were inclined to bo sharp. Tho tenors were good and effective and the choir had a good crescendo and diminuendo. The third verso was slurred in places. The choir ,got some colour into tho hymn, and 6howed Bomp variety of treatment. Good enunciation. , , , In the anthem the opening was taken too quickly, and there was a lack of breadth. Sopranos and tenors were weak. Tho tenors and sopranos shouted the leads; the basses droned, and they showed a lack of resonance and quality, and colour. Till marks were—Anthem, 92; hymn, 114; "Soldiers' Chorus," 110; total, 316. Bcrhampore Choir, This choir was rather mechanical in tho chorus; poor attack; poor balance, and lack of nice piano; enunciation very faulty. The sopranos were very harsh, anil shouted the last bar. Thero was a lack of expression and variety of tone. In the anthem tho attack was poor, lho tenors were very- poor and enunciation faulty. The tempo was- too fast, the sopranos, tenors, and basses weak, and poor I in quality. There was a lack of resonanco and purity of tone. The finish was fair, but flat. In tho hymn the choir was rather hard and mechanical, uud a little 6low. It shirred badly, and the attack and release were not' clean. They were nearly a ssmitone flat at tho end. Tho marks were:—Anthem, 80; Hymn, 9(S; "Soldiers' Chorus," 101; total, 283. St. Mary's Choir, In tho "Soldiers' Chorus" this choir showed somo spirit and variety of tonq colour. The sopranos, however, were nearly always sharp, and the quality of the choir was metallic. Tho last chord was badlv out of tune, and the time was very faulty. In the anthem the tempo at the opening was Rood, and the breadth better than in the "Faust" chorus; poor attack in places and weak in accent; hopelessly out of tune in places; inclined to shout and sacrifice tone and blend ami balance; basses and tenors worse offenders than sopranos and altos, though tho sonranos were sharp. In the hymn the tenors wore ont of time, and the tone was forced; badly out of tune throughout the second verso. Tho choir contained somo good natural voices, but was unevenly balanced, and rather inclined to shout. The marks were:—Anthem, 91; hymn, 8S; "Soldiers' Chorus," 03; total. 272. DRAWING-ROOM EVENT. The novel form of contest provided tho bull: of last evening's entertainment. Tho winners of tho vocal and elocutionary competitions were divided into two parties, (lie one headed by Miss Helen Gard'ner, of Dnncdin, and the other by Miss Lillian Prichard, of Melbourne. Unfortunately Miss Prichard was attacked by indisposition, and her place as hostess had to be assumed by Miss Rita Lyons at short notice. Miss PPrichard recovered sufficiently to appear during the entertainment, and gavo further evidence of her marked dramatic talent and .versatility. Tho prize was won by Miss Gard'ncr's party. In giving his decision, Mr. Bacyertz staled the winners won rather easily. "I think their by-play was better," he said. "They put more life and go into it, and tho members took more interest in what the performers were doing. Tho general average of. tho performances was extraordinarily good." MIXED QUARTET. This contest ("Sweet and Low") had been s-prciid over three nights. The winners wore Misses Lyon nml Knight, and Vhipps and Farrow. The second prize was won by Mesdames A. M. and P. Lewis and Messrs, Chambers and Than-

ley, and the third prizo by Mrs. Offer, M'iss Sill, Messrs. Blakeley and Burton. MORE SPECIAL PRIZES, Mr. Howard Grcgsou, judgo of tlio instrumental classes, announced tlio vrinners of special prizes in those seclwne as follow:— . Messrs. Preston and Co. s pnzo tor best performance in the piano concerto (for two players), Miss Mina Ward uml Mrs. Wilkic, of Nelson. Special prizo for most promising violinist, Hits J. N. Mathicson. Mrs. Montague's prizo for Hie most talented pianist, Mr. Baxter Buckley, of Gore, DEMONSTRATION NIGHT. Tho first of tho two final "demonstra- / tion nights" will take place this even- ' ing. when the winners of the competitions—vocal, elocutionary, and instrumental—will perform tho numbers fct for the classes which they headed. In addition, Mr. Harold Gregson, the ';alonted organist from Auckland, will 'Contribute to tho programme. The looking has been exceptionally heavy, and n packed audience seems assured. The final "demonstration night" is set down for to-morrow evening.