THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 20486, 17 May 1930, Page 2

THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

[Written by L.D.A., for the ‘Evening Star.’] “Music gives tone to the universe, wings to the wind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything.”—Plato. The matter of orchestral conducting, to say nothing of its manner, has been a good deal in the air of late; there is undoubtedly a revival of interest in the live orchestra, as distinguished from its shadow prototype—whether ephemeral or permanent time alone can show. Sir Benjamin Fuller has recently confirmed his brother’s, attitude towards musicians by stating unequivocally that his organisation has no intention whatever of replacing the orchestras in its theatres, not only by reason, of the expense, but because — according to him—no local orchestra can compete with the, big foreign symphony combinations which the system of film cool storage has now put at his disposal. It must be admitted that the financial argument is a strong one. as a really first-class picture theatre orchestra of, say, fifteen performers, costs at least £4,D00 per annum to run. The salary bill of the Civic Theatre, Auckland, must amount to nearly £IO,OOO, taking an extreme case; therefore on the (juestion as it is affected by the spending of good golden shekels the Fuller firm must command our acquiescence. But, in thus summarily waving away the large army of workless musicians Sir Benjamin might conceivably have employed a less Podsnapian gesture; from the acknowledged head of theatrical enterprise in this part of the world some small tribute to the past service of musicians in helping to build up the vast business would have been a graceful act.

But any such softening of the blow has evidently not entered into the Fuller plan of campaign, and one is inclined to speculate upon the uncompromising attitude adopted by the firm as embodying a policy of resprisal for the many pin-pricks administered to them by musicians in the days gone by. It seems positively ludicrous, in the light of present circumstances, to reflect that not so long ago the orchestras in all the , Australian theatres went on strike. I forget precisely on what account—probably its origin lay in one of the paltry excuses usually associated with that union-mad community; but the fact remains that for quite a few nights the whole theatrical business was held up at the behest of some irresponsible musical hot-heads, and eventually, I believe, the firm was compelled to concede the demands put forward. For many years musicians have held the upper hand to a certain extent, inasmuch as the orchestra has been practically indispensable over a long period, and musicians lost no opportunity of “putting on- the screw” where it could .be done with reasonable safety. I am speaking of numerous individual cases which have come under my own notice; generally, of course, wages have been governed entirely by awards, but in recent years talented orchestral players, to a large extent, dictated the scale of emolument until the salary list reached a total that must have embarrassed the resources of many theatres. * * ♦ « So on© scarcely wonders, human nature being what it is, that such a golden opportunity of “ putting in the boot '> as the advent of talkie mechanism has proved itself to be, should bo lost by theatrical proprietors. How they must have chortled in their glee when at long last the mercurial whims and fancies, the . temperamental crotchets and quavers—in fact, the characteristic unrest, inseparable from the denizens of the bandroora were all banished, bag and baggage, for ever more, as they fondly hope. Too long have they suffered the vagaries of artistic eccentricity. I know my species intimately enough to realise the penalty of enforced propinquity, and, whilst holding .no brief for the theatre bosses, I must concede that, harsh as their mandate appears, they have been victims of considerable provocation, i•. • • • However, to return to the subject of orchestral leadership, it is a moot r-oint how far. a conductor is really necessary to an orchestra. String quartets do not have one, and even such a work as Schubert’s ‘ Octet ’ is played without one. Certainly a well-organised orchestra could perfectly well dispense with a mere time-beater in works which it knew intimately, and probably it could give a bettor performance alone than under the supererogatory gestures of an ignorant or inexperienced conductor who knows less about the work being .played than the players themselves. The trouble about conducting is that it can only be learned ft ■ the conductor’s desk; it cannot bo “tried on the dog ” in private, but • ust be inflicted upon an inoffensive assemblage of instrumentalists right from the jump. Types of conductor vary f;om the Rogub Iliderhood variety—i. 0., those who get their living by the very obvious sweat of their brows—to the quiet, unassuming artist who pulls the strings without any perceptible effort. The former aro much more in evidence than the latter, and curiously enough, ns an English writer pointed out re cently, it is always the conductor of extravagant demeanour who “goes down” with the crowd. Your whitegloved, gallery-playing charlatan nearly always scores over the nonspectacular, conscientious, and truly competent director whose sole concern is the rendition of the music as nearly as possible in accordance with the,composer’s ideas. Probably the limit in physical contortion whilst conducting was reached by Sousa in the first mad rapture of his career. .When Sousa’s Band burst upon London during the ’nineties ‘Punch’ immortalised its conductor by a series of screamingly funny cartoons depicting the wielding of the baton in postures suggesting a complete absence of joints and ligatures in Sousa’s body—giving point to the gibe that people went to the concerts rather to see than to hear.

I alluded just now to the unions of Australia, which have illustrated the extremes to which the short-sighted adherents to trades-umonism-gone-niad are prepared to go. In New Zealand, speaking generally, there exists a ranch saner outlook, but just recently the musicians’ unions of the dominion have shown a tendency to run wild, as evinced in the extravagant wages demand put forward in the Arbitration Court The outcome cannot be predicted, but it can be said with confidence that if a reasonable spirit .were exhibited there is no doubt of the ultimate engagement of orchestras in , a few of our leading theatres on the lines of the Empire’s new policy. One coaid not expect theatrical proprietors ;to pay full rates of wages when the players are required only to fill up gaps iu the entertainment; whereas if'the respective unions agreed to the payment of half-rates, the principle of the half-loaf being better than no bread would at once bo exemplified in several places. By refusing to allow union-

ists to accept less than full award wages lor about a tenth part of equivawork» the musicians’ unions are deliberately cutting off their noses to spite their faces, and are depriving their fellow members of a much-needed source of income.

(To be continued.)