THE MUSIC CRISIS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 9, 12 January 1932, Page 14

THE MUSIC CRISIS

S-SIR E. ELGAR'S VIEWS

RADIO NOT TO BLAME

| SOME OTHEII REASONS

'.■(-/••••■ In the opinion of Sir Edward L'lgar, } the most eminent figure iv British i music to-day, broadcasting cannot bo . blamed fur the falling off of concert .» audiences. "You cannot blaino the '[■ British Broadcasting Company t'ur a ■*! decline in concert-going that began be- • for the radio liail come into existence," ,'i 1m stated in an interview with Herbert ,'j Hughes, .of the "London Daily Tele:K graph." '■ l3ir Edward's sympathies are natur- • ally with the practising musician, and • lie brought bis vast experience of Eng- ■ ] lish conditions io bear in discussing a. H highly-involved situatiou, writes Mr. '■'; Hughes. He noted the adverse effect .', of celebrity tours upon mc activities i of: local societies, many of which have i ]ost their audiences in consequence. He ■ , iioted that the public is attracted by 'i-i-ihe names of artists of international re- ;. putation, that often enough there is a U strong element of snobbery iv the adu''4 latiou of the foreign artist, to the ex- , elusion of artists of equal, and even '■}. greater, ability at home. While we ■I. must admit the Krcislers and the PadA; crewskis of our time, history is only '■-' repeating itself, for there was precisely ... Ihe same snobbery forty and fifty years 1 ,' ago as there is to-day. :.^! *" EARLY STRUGGLES. •v And for a. moment tlio Master of the I King's Musick relapsed into a reniinis- :'■' cent mood. He talked o£ his own early ,; struggles; of. days when English music ;•;. was. practically non-existent; of how >:; he worked simultaneously at "King !■•- . Olaf " and "The Light of Life," while -' ' liis days were spent in giving lessons ;." mi the violin. Ho talked of tho old : Philharmonic Concerts (the audiences ; : for-which never went to-any other con- •'; certs), of days when Sir Frederic •'■ Cawen was their conductor —a eondue- '"■• tor,'ho said, whose work was greatly : ' undervalued by the present generation. ; " Fine programmes, too, he said. Do ' -we ever hear the "Struenpec," of !". Meyerbeer to-day—one of tho finest of : "rTiil -concert"overtures? He talked of. - "'tjld't'riehdships, of ".Richard Strauss and Bernard Shaw. Ho discussed the mass of Cherubhii which was "discovered" for a reeeut festival, but which had been revived by his own father in the early 'eighties. Sir Edward broke off to go to the piano-. "Just listen to this," he said, and played through a. few bars of the "Quoniani." ■ • ' ■ . ■ "Before, .the. recent revival. I had tried that passage oil several musicians of my ; :-.acquaintance/, asking if . they, could" identify the' composer. " Thoy had th'pught of-Mozart, of Beethoven/ of W.e,b.er, dismissing each after a moment. 'Then I tried it on Shaw, and. Shaw—who knows more about - music than most .people—though puzzled, immediately said, 'What about Chcrubini?-'-" ■ . ■ ■ ■* Sir1 .Edward wont on to talk of the forgotten,-Promenade-'Concerts at Cov--entiGarden, of tiie ■ Saturday Concerts at the Crystal- Palace under August Mannsj -.of the vogue of Joachim, aud of niany other persons and things. : . "RECONSTRUCTION." But there was a moral to all this, as I soon discovered. For he drove home instance after instance as an example of a^niov^ement or a. revival of which no trace, remains to-day. T.aereV..w.ere great singers in thoso days,- he: remarked incidentally: Albaniy;!,Kdwarii.. Lloyd,. Santlcy, Sims Reeves; and . then ; proceeded to speak kindly of Kne artists of our own timcj of Bo'ap?;jsHft> Harrison, of Albert Sam-mon,'s,-.:;of JHoracQ, Stevens—"The finest

Elijah I. have ever heard," ho said, "not even excepting Santley." "Ecconstruetion," said Sir Edward, as 'we"walked in the garden, "is the vital necessity of the moment. You must create new audiences." Sir Edward spoke with reserve. "You mustn't say you have seen me,", ho said. "But I have seen you,.'^l. Replied, "and I shall say you are.looli-, ing very well." "I'm not," lie' retorted. -.-:-.! And as we said good-bye he smiled; a little quizzically. For. he was" .jiujfcj off to the Worcester races, and- thosuii was shining like mad after the rain.■'