THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 25168, 6 May 1944, Page 9

THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

(By L.D.A.) It is not often that I have the pleasure and privilege of reproducing in .-this column the portrait of a famous musical personage; in fact, I think this has happened only once previously, the illustration on that occasion being an early photograph of Paderewski. Just recently there has come into my possession a snapshot of Sir Henry Wood taken, on the occasion of what was termed his eeventy-fifth birthday, in March last. This picture is reproduced below, and shows the celebrated conductor accompanied by bi« wife, examining a volume presented to him by the Performing Right Society, and containing the signatures of more than 1,250' men and women, most of them famous in the art world of Great Britain. The book was handed to Sii Henry Wood by Dr Vaughan Williams at the Royal Academy or Music.

The reason why I said " on what was termed his seventy-fifth birthday " relates to a somewhat curious aspect of the matter. There seems to be a little mystery about Sir Henry Wood's actual age. According to all the texthooks, he was born in London on March 3, 1870. consequently, the presentation alluded to above was made on his seventy-fourth birthday, not seventy-fifth. On the other hand, 1 have, in Sir Henry's own handwriting, a fairly obvious intimation that he is this year celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday. To make this clear I should like to quote the full text of a letter T received from him last week.

Under date of February 8 last Sir Henry Wood writes as follows:—" Mv dear L.D.A., many thanks for, your delightful and unique little note. 1 am so glad to hear that you are likely to visit London again as soon as the war situation permits. At present 1 am_ terribly busy, as the first of my jubilee celebrations opens with the ' Daily Telegraph ' seventy-fifth birthday concert at the Albert Hall on March 4, for which, you will be pleased to hear, every seat is already sold and the concert will positively realise well oyer £5,000 —this is a pretty good beginning towards my jubilee fund! The dream of my life now is for London to have a fine, up-to-date, luxurious concert hall in the West End, one that will hold 4,000 people. A wWierful committee has been formed, with Lord Horder as chairman, to further this project, and all my friends are of opinion that the money for this new hall will be raised. If you could persuade the music-loving public of New Zealand to contribute something towards this fund it will make me very happy. With all good wishes and kindest regards, believe me, sincerely yours. Henry J. Wood."

It will be noticed that Sir Henry distinctly alludes to his seventy-fifth birthday concert. 1 wonder if he is counting his birthdays strictly arithmetically—that is to say, enumerating them from the day he first saw th<> light? Actually, of course, one's first birthday is the day one is. born. On the other hand, looked at in this way, it might also be argued that the day of one's birth is. the only birthday one has, because thereafter one celebrates merely anniversaries, of the original birthday. All this may seem a little bit trivial, but I like to be strictly accurate in such matters. However, the main thing is that Sir Henry Wood is now in his seventy-fiftlnyear, -and if he lives until August 10, 1945, he will have completed half a century as conductor of his famous promenade concerts.

The great conductor's plea for funds wherewith to erect a concert hall in London should have a world-wide appeal. There are probably thousands of people in New Zealand who at some time or.other in their lives have attended the " Proms." at the ill-fated Queen's Hall of immortal fame. We are not informed whether Sir Henry lias in view a new building on the site of the old one, though for the sake of sentiment it is devoutly to be hoped that this is the case, also for utilitarian reasons. The old Queen's Hall was most conveniently situated, being within a stone's throw of Oxford Circus, which is in the very heart of the West End of London,' easily reached from all parts. Sir Henry's ambition to provide an auditorium that will accommodate 4,000 listeners is eminently praiseworthy. It is a very curious circumstance that London, with its huge population, has always been so badlv off in the matter of concert halls that will seat a reasonable number of people. At the present time, apart irom the Albert Hall, which is far too large for an average concert, there arc only the Wigmore and the Halls, which between them can only hold comfortably 1,200 persons.

Even the old Queen's Hall was a shade on the small side, as the packed audiences at the " Proms." frequently testified. A new;* larger, and better Queen's Hail seems to be a very desirable and laudable objective, and J nope that music-loving people in New Zealand and admirers of Sir Henry Wood and his work will do their hit towards fulfilling what he calls the dream of his life.

That talented young pianist, Miss Margaret Boult, of Oturehua, Central Otago, left for Australia last week to continue her studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she will be under the wise guidance of Frank ■ Hutchens, the well-known teacher. Mr Hutchens is himself a native of New Zealand, his birthplace being Hawera. A brother, Mr Will Hutchens, is conductor of the studio orchestra at 3YA, Christchurch. Miss Bonlt has often been heard from 4YA, and recently she broadcast a Mozart concerto with the orchestra, directed by Gil Dech, her \performance fully confirming the already high opinion I had held of her ability. All going well, I feel sure that Miss Boult will bring credit upon New Zealand's musical name, and she certainly carries with he r the sinoerest good wishes of a very wide circle of friends and admirers . '