WORLD of MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 9 August 1924, Page 14

WORLD of MUSIC

NOTES AND COMMENTS. Rehearsals for the performance of “Our Miss Gibbs” are being continued zealously by the chorus and orchestra of the Operatic Society, and excellent progress is reported. The solo parts having been allotted is another step towards the final preparations for the public performance. They ale now expecting the producer shortly, and then' the work will rapidly begin to take definite shape. A great success is confidently anticipated. The Male Choir are hard at work in preparation for the next concert, and then the combined choral effort will be made. The choice of a work will be awaited with sreat interest.

Commenting on the "Hamilton Choral Society’s work, the Times says: Hamilton has reason to be proud of its Choral Society. Right from the commencement, when, largely through the energies of Mr Gladstone* Hill, it came

into being, it has aimed high, inspiring and difficult works have been chosen for presentation, soloists of standing have been engaged, and the aim has been to place, music on its proper plane in the life of the community. As a result some fine performances have been given—performa nee's which have reached a very high standard and would be difficult to excel in much larger centres. This season, judging by the performance of “Elijah” recently, the same high

i standard will be maintained. In | their performance of the great oratorio “Elijah,” perhaps in some respects the greatest ever written, the society had a great success from a choral point of view, and this, after all, is the outstanding importance from the society’s point of view. That depends on their own and the conductor’s efforts, and in this respect they scored a signal triumph, judging by the press report. This feature of the performance's the great value to the individual singers, and for 'this reason the society is to be - heartily congratulated. The value to a community of such an institution is very great, and Hawera music lovers will read of

-their success with great interest. The Hamilton Choral Society opened its 1924 season \tith “Elijah.” The other night (says a correspondent) I was privileged to be present at one of j the Society’s rehearsals, and am assured that, successful as was last year’s production of the great oratorio, this year’s performance will excel it. Choristers and orchestra, are. working well under the baton of Mr Gladstone Hill, and their performance on Monday night should be something to remember. The soloists were proved vocalists of outstanding merit. They are): Madame Florry Roscoe, soprano • Miss Laura Stone, contralto; Mr Arthur H. Ripley, tenor; Mr Barry Coney, baritone ; Master Laurie Evans, the Youth.

BUSONI DEAD. The brief cabled announcement of the death at Berlin of Ferrucio Busoni I scarcely conveyed a true impression of the prestige of this noted pianist and composer in the world of music, yet 20 years ago Busoni ranked with D’Albert and Paderewski as one of the first pianists in the world, and one of the greatest Italian pianists of all times (.though he became a resident of Berlin many years ago). Busoni was born in Eompoli, near Florence, on April 1, 1866, being the son of Ferdihando Busoni, a clarinet player, and Anna Weiss, a pianist, from whom he received his early instruction in music. At nine years of age Busoni studied under Hans Schmitt at Vienna, and at Giraz, under Dr. Wilhelm Mayor, after which he made his first tour of Italy. At seventeen his artistry was such that he was elected a member of the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna, and Florence struck a gold medal in his honour. In 1886 Busoni went to Leipsie to study composition, but financial considerations forced him to accept a professorship at, Helsingfors in 1888, where- his work was so sound that in 1890 he was secured by the Moscow Conservatory after winning the Rubinstein prize. He was then induced to pay a visit to America, but returned to Europe in 1893, since when, with the exception of numerous tours, lie resided in Berlin, where he held an honoured position in the highest musical circles. His brilliance was always appreciated in England. It has been said of Biisoni that hei had no rival as an expositor on the pianoforte of the works of Liszt, Bach, and Beethoven. He was of the romantic school of pianists, had superb technique, and his powers of poetical interpretation were very great. During the last fifteen years he had given much time to composition. Busoni had a very great charm of manner, and this, with a lovable disEo sit ion, made him welcome wherever e went. . MUSIC IN SCHOOLS. »

Fifty years ago music was the Cinderella of the school curriculum, and the efforts of the few enthusiasts (for these have never been wanting) could not win for it its proper place in the society of elect subjects!, says the Glasgow Herald. Those were the days when, the code (required, part-singing, even in the primary schools, and the general result was that all scholars in trousers sang alto ana those in skirts sang treble, no regard being paid to the original intentions of Nature. Class singing has now a regular place on the time-table; reading iirom staff notation is begun in the infant room and continued through all the classes; attention is given at every Lesson to breathing and the proper use of the voice; part singing is not permitted until singing in unison lias reached a safe standard; when it is introduced due care is exercised to keep the total range of the voice parts within noirmal limits. These definite improvements on the technical side are accompanied by a very notable advance in the standard of performance, and in the quality of music sung. Many of the pieces in use to-day are the work of wellrknown living composers, who are taking an evergrowing interest in writing for schools, and ;ire nroviding for the children somo of their happiest music. When children are taking part in musical performances they ar© actively engaged with one of the most important elements of a complete higher education, and one of the most attractive and effective means of introducing that higher education, even into the infant department. This will seem an astonishing assertion only to those who forget the true meaning of the word education.

SIMS REEVES. It has been said, and with reason, that hardship brings out the best that is in a great man, and this is exemplified once more in the tragedy of the later years of the life of Sims Reeves. In a recently published volume on his life, “Fifty Years of Music in England,” Mr Charles Pearce gives a tragic picture of the latter part of the great tenor’s life and a striking inci-

dent connected therewith. Inter alia, he says: “One can only regret that necessity forced him to appear before the public when his powers Were enfeebled and little remained but his masterly method. The new generation which heard him in his decadence could not possibly realise what his wondrous singing was like in the days of his prime.” The reason for this “necessity” is referred to in an obituary notice which appeared in the Daily Telegraph, in which the writer recalls: During the evening preceding the day fixed for the first performance of Arthur Sullivan’s sacred cantata, “The Prodigal Son,” at the Worcester Festival of 1869, the principal part in which admirable work was to be rendered by Sims Reeves, the illustrious I tenor received a dispatch informing him that he had lost £II,OOO by a sudden failure of a bank in which lie had invested a considerable part of his professional earnings. The following passage may without indiscretion be here textually reproduced from a letter addressed by Mr Reeves to the writer of this memoir a few months ago: “The news of this terrible catastrophe prostrated me completely at first. I sent for Sullivan, and ex-

plained what had happened. He was very much cut up about it, and so was I, for I had taken the music to my heart. Sullivan came in the next

morning, begging me to sing the part. He looked green, and I looked both green and grey. After drinking some very strong coffee, and having a chat over the work, I determined to put on my armour and fight the fight. I did so, and succeeded. It was a great effort, but it really did me good.” Skilled and trustworthy musicians who were present at the performance that bn sued have since warmly testified to the super-excellence of his interpretation of the role assigned to him, that of the Prodigal Son, and are unanimous in asseverating that his singing of that principal solo, “I Will Arise and go to My Father”—a veritable wail of heart-broken, remorseful agony—drew tears from a large majority of the audience. It cannot be doubted that such touching words and music, sung by a man who had just seen the savings of a lifetime mthlessly swept away by an unmerciful i blast of cruel calamity, must have thrilled the souls of well-nigh all present on that meinorabe occasion, though the vocalist’s hearers were necessarily ignorant of the dread disaster that lent- exceptional pathos to his masterly deliverance.

THE BELLS OF BRUGES. Every summer some scores of thousands of tourists hurry through the countries of Western Europe on sightseeing expeditions (writes a correspondent of the Melbourne Age). They come from all parts of the world, and

for most of them this tour is one of the great outstanding events of their lives. They will- never lie able to make the tour again, and therefore they crowd as much sight-seeing as possible into a brief period. But there is a remarkable degree of similarity in sight-seeing in the chief

cities of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, and in consequence the impressions which the tourists take away with them become somewhat blurred. In every city of, any size there is a cathedral to be visited, and every European cathedral has treasures to show—famous paintings, wonderful stained-glass windows, find beautiful carvings. In the course of a few weeks the tourist visits a score of museums and a dozen hotels de ville, each of which has its claim to fame. The tourist forgets whether the stainedglass windows at Antwerp or at Flor--1 ence are regarded by experts as the finest in the world. A search through the guide book results in the discovery that it is/the church of at Brussels, which has this claim. He forgets where he saw that wonderful carved pulpit in the form of the tree of knowledge, with the life-size figures of Adam and Eve. He remembers the enthusiasm of the cathedral attendant who, with the aid of a magnifying glass, pointed put the beauties of the Van Eyck brothers’ wonderful work, Agnus Dei, but he forgets which cathedral holds this treasure. But no tourist who visits Bruges will ever forget -where he heard the most melodious peal of bells that the world possesses. Most of the cathedrals of Europe have their chimes, but none can compare with those in the old {brick belfry in the mediaeval town of : Bruges. These bells were famous more than 100 years before Longfellow wrote about them: In the market place of Bruges stands The belfry old and brown. Thrice consumed and thrice re-

builded; Still it watches o’er the town. < And they will be famous hundreds of years ahead, for it seems improbable that the modern hell-casters will ever learn the secret of the craftsmen who cast the bells of Bruges. The belfry of Bruges, which in mediaeval times was a prison and a watch tower, is 330 feet high. The upper part has been - twice destroyed by fire, and one by lightning. The spire was surmounted by a gilded i dragon, but the inhabitants of the neighbouring town of Ghent carried it off in 1381 to adorn their own belfry. The belfry at Ghent has been modernised to the extent of having a lift installed for the benefit of tourists who want to ascend to the top to see the hells and obtain, a panoramic view of the town, hut the hells of Ghent do not compare with those of Bruges in soft melody. It is part of the ritual of tourists to climb to the top of Bruges belfry. The visitor pays the attendant at the door a franc for admission, and is then locked in the tower, and left to make his way up 402 narrow steps of a spiral staircase, where a thick rope is the only balustrade. Electric light has been installed to reveal the way. hut the stairs are so narrow and steep that it is almost impossible for two people to pass one another. In a room at the top, just below the bells, a staff of three mechanics is employed to attend to the hells and the clock works. Part of the room is fitted up as a cobbler’s shop, where the mechanics employ their spare time making and mending hoots and shoes. The neal consists of 48 bells and 184

hammers. An enormous brass cylinder, which sets the hammers in motion every quarter of an hour to. produce the chimes, is pierced with 30,500 square holes, in which steel frets ale installed. The cylinder and the hammers work on the principle of the musical box. Forty-eight different chimes are played—one at each quarter of an hour—before the cylinder completes one revolution. In addition there is a keyboard (like that of a piano), which the bell master uses when playing tunes on the hell. The wires attached to the notes on the kevboard operate the hammers which strike the hells. Bruges claims that its hell master, Mr A. Nauweaerts, is the finest jlayer in the world—that he can. make '

the notes of the bells tremble with emotion in their soft melodious appeal. He was appointed in 1913, after winning the first prize at an instrumental competition for hell players held at Bruges. Nightly, from the middle of June to the middle of September—-the period during which the tourist season is at its best—-Mr. Nauwelaerts gives a bell concert lasting an hour. The- bells are also played-for half an hour before noon on Sundays throughout the year, and on Saturday mornings throughout the tourist season. The bells are heard at their best when the listener is standing about a mile or so away from the belfry, but- even at the foot of the belfry they sound soft and melodious.

Bruges was the chief commercial city in Northern Europe 500 years ago. but its population has dwindled from 200,000 to 60,000. Its commercial decline was due in part- to the silting up of the River Zwyn, which robbed it of its advantages as a port. To-day it is connected with the sea by the Zeebrugge canal,- which has a* depth of 26ft and a width of 68ft. The recent inauguration of the train ferry from Zeebrugge to- Harwich, on the east coast of England, will do something to restore the ancient prosperity of Bruges. Three large steamers, capable of carrying a dozen laden railway trucks, are employed in this service, which enables goods to be carried in the same trucks over British and Continental lines —from Glasgow to Constantinople, if necessary. Bruges is built over a network of canals, which are crossed by 54 bridges. On account of its extensive, picturesque waterways it is called by the guide books the “Venice of the North,” but the title is unduly Mattering. It is a quaint old town, with some modem improvements that seem out of harmony with its mediaeval atmosphere. It has a tram service, but owing to the narrowness of the oohbled streets there is only a single line of tramway. And the cars, when they round a. corner, hug the pavement so close that the unwary pedestrian is liable to be knocked* off his feet.

During the wav Bruges was occupied by the Germans, and it became the headquarters of the submarine ' campaign of frightfulness against British shipping, until on the night of 23rd April, 1918, the daring feat of blocking the Zeebrugge canal by sinking the Intrepid and Iphigenia, inside the entrance, while the battleship Vindictive engaged the German defences by attacking the mole which shelters the entrance, bottled up the flotilla of German, submarines in the canal. The Zeebrugge mole is visited every year by thousands of tourists anxious to inspect the scene of one of the most memorable feats in the history of the British navy. At the shore entrance - museum in which are displayed many interesting relics relating to the attack on the mole and the closing of the Zeebrugge canal. The museum contains some interesting mural decorations, copied from the work of German artists, which adorned the, walls of the cellars at Bruges in which the German submarine staff spent their time when ,®! r . quarters were being bombed by Allied aeroplanes. J