HARMONIC SOCIETY CONCERT

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 308, 23 September 1943, Page 4

HARMONIC SOCIETY CONCERT

’.L'here were not. seats to spare in the when the Wellington .Harmonic Society in collaboration with tlie Apollo Singers presented a delightful evening of part, songs. T’hi.s in a form ol music of which all too little is heard in these day.s of crazy, nieiuiinglcss noise that -fin Lan Alley composers have foisted upon a credulous world as music; and it is to tlie credit of the society that it lias throughout the last 25 years kept unfalteringly to its standards. The choir, fairly well balanced and earnest in intention, satisfies the ear because ol the discipline and spirit, of conviction instilled into it by its conductor, Mr. 11. Temple White, ardent lover of the part So, Tb'e programme included such lovely numbers as "O Happy Eyes” (Elgar), a beautifully written work, the gently flowin'- “On Himalay” (Granville Bnntock), the gay madrigal “O'er Hie Meadows (Bovtou Smith), Ketelbey’s “Sanctuary of the "Heart,” the negro spiritual ’Deep River,” and a splendid “Choral Rhapsodic on Welsh Airs” (admirably arranged by Fletcher. There were, too. such bright and tujicfiil part songs as Edward German’s “Loudon Town.” an arrangement for men's voices of the triste Irish song “O Men front the Fields,” the “Border Ballad” (arranged by Maunder). "The Laird o’ Cockpen,” “Sound Asleep (female voices), and.Tschaikowsky’s notable “Hymn to the Trinity.” The society was fortunate in its soloists. Miss Shirley Craig, one of the most talented pianists of 'Wellington’s younger set, made an impression through her brilliance and artistic poise in “Gavotte and Variation” ( Raineau-Lescbetisky), nnd the seldom heard “Polonaise in B Flat,” in which Chopin’s opulent beauty dazzlingly eipressed for the pianoforte is every bit as ravishing as in some of the better known works in the polonaise album. Miss Craig, in answer to au ovation, played with equal brilliance the “Gnomenreigen” of Liszt. She increased one’s respect, too, by her facility in encompassing the dynamic contrasts of dramatic expression in Dohnanyi's "Rhapsodic in C,” and tlie “Concert Etude in D Flat” of Liszt. Tlie vocal soloist was Miss Rosaleen Hickmott, whose delicate light soprano voice is heard to tlie best advantage in those operatic numbers which offer delicate florid Rights that soar above the clef. She was happy in “The Doll’s Song” (Offenbach) and also in the two Mozart numbers (from “Tlie Marriage of Figaro”) "(> Come. Do Not Delay” and “'Tis Madness,” and Benedict’s charming old warble “Tlie Wren,” which one associates with Victorian drawing-rooms.

Mr. Harold Whittle added grace to these numbers by his artistic accompaniments.