'KING OLAF’

Evening Star, Issue 16087, 12 April 1916, Page 3

'KING OLAF’

01a,f Tryggvesson, first-of tho five Olafs who governed Norway, was born in 969 ■and died in 1000. His history is outlined in the Encyclopaedia Britarmica.’ He began his career in exile. It is even said' that he was bought as a slave. He spent his boyhood in Novgorod, under the protection of King Valdomar. He fought for Emperor Otto 111. under the Wendish King Burislav, whose daughter he married. On her death he fought against the French and the British until converted to Christianity by a hermit in tho Scilly Isles. In England ho married Gyda, sister of Olaf Kvuran, King of Dublin. Ho went to Norway in 995. Earl Haakon was the unpopular king there. Olaf was accepted in his place. Ho set about the conversion of the people to Christianity. It has been suggested that he wished to form a united Scandinavia. Anyway, he made overtures of marriage to Sigrid, Queen of Sweden, but she remained obstinately heathen, and became bis enemy. He also quarrelled with Sveyn, King of Denmark, by marrying Iris sifter Thyre. His first and second wives brought him wealth. Thyre was his undoing, for it was on an expedition in the year 1000 to wrest her lands from her former husband (from whom she had fled) that he was waylaid off Svokl, near Rugcn, by tho combined Swedish and Danish fleets, together with the ships of Haakon’s sons, and the Norwegians were annihilated. Olaf fought to tho last, and finally leapt overboard arid was seen no more. After his death ho remained tho hero of his people. Out of the history of Olaf, and also out of tho legends _ attaching thereto, Longfellow has conjured his ‘ Saga of King Olaf,’ which may be found in the ‘ Tales of a Wayside Inn.’ It is a romance with much of tho ‘ Hiawatha ’ coloring in It, •Sir Edward Elgar has taken seven extracts from Longfellow’s work and woven them into a sequence of some sort with the aid of certain condensations of tho narrative that are written by H. A. Acworth, thus getting a series of ‘ Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf,’ which Elgar has set to music for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, chorus, and orchestra. This is the 1 King Olaf' that was presented last night by the Dunedin Choral Society after long and careful preparation under- tho direction of Air Sidney Wolf. The story as we get it in this form is necessarily much shortened, and in some respects varied from the authentic history, nevertheless it suffices—indeed, it is more adequate than adaptations of heroic poetry usually are after going thronch tho hands of musicians,. especially in that it preserves the atmosphere of the subject. Musically tho work is a triumphant success, and we thank Mr Wolf and his committee for bringing it to public notice in this remote land. The original intention was to sing ‘ King Olaf ’ last December, but it was found to be uncommonly difficult, and Mr Wolf persuaded his choir to give it further study. As a result tho subscribers had the pleasure of hearing a performance in which the singers used the book merely for reference. They knew the music thoroughly. This is an” enormous advantage. It sets the performers free to watch the conductor and take his passing instructions. Aloreover, the singing is better when the singers can hold up their heads instead of burying them in the score. For this and other reasons the chorus singing was delightful last night. The sopranos were in their best form—sure, compact, and brilliant in the upper notes, getting quality there just as well as in the stave. The glory of the contraltos was the body of their singing—no individual voices being heard. The tenor part was surprisingly effective, in perfect balance with the ladies’ voices, absolutely in tune, and of lovely suave quality. The basses were again a little on the'light side, but well able to bold their own except in tho lower passages. From the chorus as a whole we got splendid tone, infallibility in taking up the leads, charming shades of expression, and the clearest enunciation, added to pronunciation such as comes from study under an educated man whose mother tongue is English. We may he to remark that the success achieved is all the more meritorious when it is borne in mind that the ‘King Olaf music is quite different from the Handel and Haydn and Alendelssohn music on which most of the members of the chorus have been trained. Elgar’s composition, like the Wagner operas, wanders on m a succession ot surprises, inconstant as to key, without big chords or approached climaxes or sot imitations. To the unin-’ stmeted ear the absence of form (as commonly understood), the restless swervings, the want of periodic emphasis, mav be perplexing, and count as a disadvantage, making the listener wish for peaceful and canonical relief. The answer to criticism of this sort is the answer that rises in Mary’s mind when father asks her to play ‘Home, Sweet Home’ just to please him. Alary of course obeys, like a dutiful girl, but she wishes that father could go with her to the richer fields of study. If there were any in last night’s audience who grew weary of ‘King Olaf and sighed for ‘ Tho Creation,’ let us assure them that ‘ Trovatore ’ is thin and tasteless after ‘Lohengrin.’ and when they get what they were wishing for thev may find themselves disappointed with the old stuff and ready to welcome ‘King Olaf.’ The new work is full of nobility- and beautv, and the chorus brought out'its charms to their full effect. Here and there the orchestra seemed rather heavy for the voices, but tho players are' not to be j blamed. They did well—exceedingly well for amateurs, and wore called upon for weight. In one passage tho vocal part is the low G in unison and the orchestra at double forte by the printed directions. The composer evidently intended the voices to be in this passage merely complementary to the instruments. As to the soloists, Miss Violet Barth gave us n scholarly study ot the soprano music i Air Saldaigue s voice proved to be too light for the tenor part; Mr W. Gemmed was at a, disadvantage in that he is a baritone whereas the music is meant for a declamatory bass. Mr Gemmell sang really well, and wisely used all his upper options, besidus making one for hinwclf but it was impossible for him to get all the intended effects. . Maybe one cause of the orchestra sounding so loud -was that the voices could not get away properly in the theatre, all being so squeezed up on the stage. But wo are not disposed to dwell on this or any other subject for faultfinding. The society gave a very fine study of the work, and we are full of gratitude to Ah- Wolf, who must have emptied himself of his knowledge at the rehearsals.