MUSIC

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3024, 10 March 1917, Page 13

MUSIC

(Bj "X-reWe-Clcf.")-"Like a Little Lady. ,, Kelating stories about his pupils, one musio teacher relates the following incident: "A young girl came to her first lesson in company with lier mother, chewing gum. As she seated herself at the piano, she took the gum and stuck it on the cover, and I gave an involuntary exclamation of disapproval and disgust. Her mother then spoke up in a tone of kindly admonition, and said, "Just keep your gum in your month, my dear, like a little lady I" \ Music That Attracts Attention. Those who keep their cars open and observe, notice how explosive the music is which rapidly gets a vogue. How full it is ot big words and the semblance of violent feeling, which, fed'by the desire to get a response from all the least trustworthy promptings of illregulated temperament in the audience, often by the mere, love of feeling excitmont of some sort. But as a matter of fact the appreciation which is'tho result of mere excitement is not truly artistic appreciation at all. It is appreciation of something that is incidental to art without representing art in itself. A great mind may bo excit«l by some supreme and wonderful stroke of art, but lesser minds aro excited by the very things, which are antagonistic to art in .the higher sense.' The big words and violent gestures impose upon the ignorant and- those whose minda are undeveloped. The artistic qualities appeal to the minds which aro capable of discerning fineness of thought and skill in presentment—to those who understand. —C. Hubert H. Parry. Russian Folk-Songs and Marriages. The- folk-songs of the Russian peasants clearly indicate that the young Slavic maiden looks upon tho marriage ceremony with considerable dread. Her life at homo as an unmarried daughter is much' more free than that after marriago. She is naturally beloved by her parents, and has many girl friends with, whom she has been free to associate. Moreover, she is a wage-earner, and therefore entitled to consideration. Tho process of marriage, however, is a complicated one. Tho business element enters strongly into it, and much bargaining goes on between her parents and the representatives of tho groom (known as svats) before sho is finally mated—or at all events married. As a young married woman she is taken not to a homo of her own, but to the household of her husband's, parents. She is no longer a wage-earner, but is an extra mouth to be fed. Moreover, sho is often an almost entire stranger, even to her husband, Who has married her largely because sho was the best his svats could do for him. She is thercforo an object of .suspicion and a certain amount of jealousy. The folksongs of Russia naturally dwell on this state of things. Many of them are songs of sorrow , at parting from homo and from former friends. They also bear heavily on the peculiarly objectionablo qualities of mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law. They greatly extol the joys of singlo blessedness, and the sorrows of wedded bliss—if tho expression is permissible. However, many of them indicate that young hushands are loving and affectionate, so evidently married life' ha 3 its - compensations even in Russia. Permanent Orchestra Proposal. Professor Granrille Bantoek, tlie distinguished English composer and conductor, has com© forward with an ambitious scheme to give Birmingham a permanent orchestra. No details aro, yet available, but tho main outlines may be gathered from the statement that his scheme, if put into effect, will entail an annual «xpenditure ( of £10.000, and that concerts for forty weeks will be given each year. As the average cost of an orchestral concert in England is somewhere between £160 and £170, the wiimbor of concerts would be not far short of sixty. Such a number seems excessive. Very few o'ties on the Continent appear to bo able to manage orchestral seasons of si greater length than twenty-six weeks, and commonly they have onlv one serious orchestral concert in each week. Professor" Bantoek's forty weeks' season of sixty concerts might be welcomed by his Birmincham siinpprlors, thyigh tho chances are,_ if his scheme is adopted, that they will find it more than ihcy. can manage. ■ Return of the GherniavsUys, Mr Geo. Scully, advance representative writes:—"After a. successful tour of Canada and tho United States of America, Leo, -Tan, and Mischel Chcrniavsky will be returning to ISiew Zealand, and during their short stay here, they will give a limited number of concerts. Theso unpnlnr musicians aro well known to New Zealand concert audiences. Their mcent appearauco in New York has added considerably to their prostiao. nnd has re.sujt&S in a great demand , ' for their services amone tho orchestral and large musical societies of tho United States of America. An extensive tour is already arranged for them when they return to the States next September. In the meantime. Leo. Jan, and Misehel Chprninvsky will give two concerts in "Wellington'on May 14 and IG. The Best Town. T, recently discussed t.hc_ question: What, is the. most musical city in New Zeijaml ? Basing tho arEiunoiifc on tho result'of the tour of the Italian Opera Company, on that standard of comparison Duiifdin must bo awarded the palm. Tho season there was a great success, and tlie re.ce.ipbs on the. final night totalled over £230. As Edgar Warwick says:—"You;, never knowwhen you'vo got Dur.eclin!" For Chronic Chest Complaints, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure.*