RECORDED MUSIC

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10369, 9 April 1927, Page 10

RECORDED MUSIC

SOME RECENT ISSUES. MASSED VOICES DISCS. “By “Soundbox”). Community singing in England, fostered~by a great daily paper, is now an inevitable and enjoyable addition to every football match or wherever big crowds gather. Up to 50,000 people, the vast majority, vocally untrained or having no voices' worth the name, will prove that, en masse, and inspired by the enthusiasm unity brings, the British public as a class can sing and sing well. It is almost inevitable that this new form of individualistic expression should be considered for record purposes. The Columbia Company lost no time in arranging to record the community singing of a great audience at the Empire Theatre,' Birmingham, with the result that we can now obtain two discs giving startling proof of the vocal capacity of a great gathering. Two thousand five hundred people sing with extraordinary fervour, with a real sense of time and tune, four items known everywhere. On one disc is “O Come All Ye Faithful” and Bunyan’s hymn “He Who Would Valiant Be,” wit|i the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanying. On the other, “Loch Lomond” and “Shenandoah.” Here is the same fine orchestra, with Harold Williams as solOist. Two quite unique records, insofar as they reproduce tho singing of a big concourse of strangers and untrained voices—although one could easily believe the singing was that of a great and experienced choir.

Columbia were one of the first concerns to record massed or choral singing on a maximum scale, and their Associated Glee Clubs discs issued about a j'ear ago are still nova me. These, most will recall or know, arc wonderfully effective examples of their kind. One of them holds • Come All Ye Faithful” and. “John Peel,” sung by 850 male voie-vs plus a public audience of 4000, and the other gives the “Hunting Song from Robin Hood” and “The Sword of Ferrara,” sung by the professionals only, but still mighty in volume. There are also several choral discs by the Sheffield Choir. Now, however, all records go in the literal sense of the Word, for the latest is a 6600 voice production, sung by a Crystal Pala'co Choir of 2620 and a huge audience—giving “Praise My Soul” and “Sing Alleluia Forth.” * A second item of this nature gives Handel’s “Hallelujah Amen” and “Othello— Dance,” by Coleridge-Tavlor. These are truly wonderful records to have, for after making all due allowances for the volume-limits of even the finest gramophone, the sheer .soundcapacity of these discs is a marvel in itself. There is “atmosphere” in a literal sense, and the realistic storms of applause at the end of each number will please all who like the human touch they suggest.

A Beethoven disc that amateur music lovers will thoroughly enjoy is a Columbia issue giving the sweetly melodic Minuetto and andante movements from his Trio in C Minor. Written in liis prime, it will show Beethoven’s strong artistic individuality and something of the power and beauty with which he invested In's works before his deafness had caused that “deep bitterness and despair” that are reflected in some of Ins later creations. These two secinns are light and tuneful and are beautifully expressed by that most capable trio, Catterall,"' Squire and Murdoch, whose associate playing lias given gramophiles some of the best- things in all recorded chamber music.