WORLD of MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 March 1925, Page 13

WORLD of MUSIC

CHURCH CHOIRS. The Methodist C hoir hoped to be able to perform “Olivet to Calvary,” a very fine passion work, but\they could not procure the music in time, ahd will do the' Crucifixion and the other work later. The former work they sang last year also. The choirmaster (Mr. M. Newberry;) states that the. choir are practising assiduously. THE MUNICIPAL BAND.

1 The various performances given by the band are showing improvements every time in style and volume of expression. TTiey are very anxious to get new instruments, and are working hard with that end in view. All donations are thankfully received, and will be used to the be'st advantage. The idea of a small band contest is being discussed, and it is on the cards something will come of it. The scheme would give‘a very fine fillip to the cause of band music in the district. It does not look at all beyond the possibilities of the committee, provided some one could he- found willing to do the organising work. It would also be a good move for town and district.

NEW PLYMOUTH CHORAL SOCIETY.

The annual report congratulated members on a successful season, the results musically having enhanced the choir’s reputation in the community. This was brought about by the loyalty and enthusiasm of the members in carrying out the plans made by the committee. Unfortunately bad weather affected the attendances at. all the concerts. While this was a matter for regret, it was gratifying to record an improved financial position. At the first concert of the season two innovations were made, which met with success and appreciation. These were the opportunity given by Miss Rowe, a talented .young local singer, of making her debut before a New Plymouth audience; and the introduction here of the Wanganui String Quartette, under the direction of Mr. Will Hutchens. For tihc second concert Haydn s “Creation” was given with conspicuous, success, and under the distinguished patronage of his Excellency Viscount ./ellicoe on the occasion of Jiis farewell visit to New Plymouth, Edward German’s “Merrie England’’ w»is the work chosen for the final concert, and this met with the instant appreciation of tlie society's supporters. In these concerts some distinguished soloists were engaged, and though this involved the society in some heafv expense, the committee believe the. course they followed was justified by the results achieved. The visiting soloists were All’s. Woodward, Aliss Sawyer anil Aliss Amies (of Wellington), Alessrs. W. Hutchens (Wanganui), A. H. Ripley (Auckland), W. Watters (Palmerston), and L. .Barnes (Wellington), while valued assistance was given by the following local members of the society and friends: Airs. Ferry, Aliss Love ridge, Mr. Stamp, Air. W. L. Hay and Mr. S. Lowe, to all of whom the committee express thanks. Thanks were due, to the the instrumentalists who assisted the society in the orchestral parts of the season’s work. In the past, these musicians have readily given their services, and your committee recommends that steps be taken to definitely associate them with the organisation as members of the society.

BAND CONTEST. In some notes on the winning band at the contest in Auckland, a northern paper says inter alia “There can be no question that VTooLston played right up to capacity last night. They rose to the occasion splendidly, and gave one of their most inspired performances. The rapid movements were taken at a high rate of speed, almost bordering on danger point, but so welltrained and expert in the manipulation of the instruments were the band that the notes were articulated with marked , accuracy. There was more fire in AA oolston’s rendering than in tnat of any other band, but Judge Code evidently preferred the greater restraint of the Malvern Tramways.

Except for two or three minor flaws ' Malvern’s effort was of.the very highest standard. Their tone was more subdued in the quieter moods than Woolston’s, and was as big in the heavy work, but it was the perfection of workmanship that so marked the Malvern band, which has a really wonderful team of players. The South Canterbury Battalion Band made a fine showing. The performance was of the higher type, prettv and neat. There is no doubt that'the Timaru band has'made an excellent advance in recent times, with a promise of further improvement. i A FAMOUS BAND. A musical mission of Elmpire is what the tour of the famous Newcastle Steel J Workers’ Band) was called by the welJ--4 known Australian entrepreneur, Mr. V G. D. Portus. it was a phrase borrowed front the Hon. J. H. Thoma.s, Colonial Secretary in the Labour Government. The baud had a wonderful record at Home, securing the “blue riband of Elmpire at Bellevue, England.’’ On the way Home they played at every port where they stopped, and gave concerts at Colombo and in Elgypt. At Home they were such a .success that their stay was extended to three months by the Wembley authorities. and later won the Empire championship. They won <a £SOO challenge cup and a prize of £l5O. The) win. at Bellevue gave them the world’s greatest band prize, a £2OOO gold shield, the Bellevue Cup* and a big prize. The quality of the competitors will be realised when it is stated that the Besses o’ the Barn were only tenth. A MUSICAL POET. “On Viol and Flute.'' Sir Edmund Gosse’s first book of poems, and indeed first literary venture, was publisher] in 1873- it was reviewed hv Walter Pater in The Guardian on October 29th. 1890, and the review is included in “Essays form the Guardian’’ in the library edition of Pater’s collected works under the heading. “Mr. Gosse’a “Perhaps no age of literature, certainly no age of literature in England, has been so rich as now in excellent secondary poetry; and *■ it is with our poetry (in a measure) as with our architecture, constrained tb" nature of the case to- be imitative.’’ Admitting that the parallel is not an exact one Pater continues: “But certainly the poetry of our day also, though it has been in some instances nowerfollv initiative and original, there is great scholarship, a large comparative acquaintance with the poetic methods of earlier workmen, and a- very subtle intelligence of their charm. Of p, that fine scholarship in thi« matter far there is no truer example than Mr.

flosse. It is manifested especially in the even Jinisli of his varied work, in the equality of his level—a high level.” After quoting a number of examples of Sir Edmund (fosse’s muse, Pater writes : He takes, indeed, the old themes, and manages them better than their masters, with more delicate cadences, more delicate transitions of thought, through long dwelling on earlier practice. He seems to possess complete command of the technique oL poetry — every form of which may be called skill-of-hand in it; and what marks in him the final achievement of poetic scholarship is the perfect balance Jiis work presents of so many and varied effects, as regards both matter and form. The members of a large range of poetic reading are blent into one methodical music so perfectly that at times the notes seem almost simple. . In effect, a large compass of beautiful thought and expression, from poetry old and new, have become to him 'matter malleable anew for a farther and finer reach of literary art. . Poetic scholar! —If we must reserve the sacred name of “poet”, to a iverv small number, that humbler but still rarer title is due indisputably to Air. Gosse. THE CARILLON. ADDITIONAL BELLS. Dr. J. J. C. Bradfield, who recently returned from London, and examined tenders for the Sydney University carillon on behalf of the War Alemorial Committee whilst in England,--, when interviewed said that he would like to see Sydney University possess the finest carillon in the world.

Although Sydney Universtiy might no be able to instal a carillon of 58 bells at present, he said, it was highly important that when the- committee came to a decision on the matter provision should be made- by erecting a framework in the first instance that would be capable of accommodating such a number. Dr. Bradfield said that the present University tower in the main building was suitable for the jiroposed carillon, but he pointed out that it would be preferable if the carillon could be placed in a specially constructed tower. Such a tower, if built to a height between 150 to 200 feet, or thereabouts, would probably cost upwards to £25,000. Dr. Bradfield said he thought that for the present time the carillon might be installed in the. University tower, and later, when funds were available, .removed to a beautiful campanile. It was quite likely that in years to come some generous benefactors of the University would leave a sufficient sum of money to enable such a structure to be built. Dr. Bradfield said that the Rockefeller carillon, which will be set up in New York, will be made up of 51 bells, and if the War Memorial Committee decided to purchase a carillon of 58 bells, then Sydney University would possess the most magnificent instrument of its kind in the world. Seeing that it would take at least two years to construct the bells, he saw no reason why an effort should not bo made, to collect the additional money needed' to secure the complete carillon whilst it was being manufactured. According to Dr. Bradfield a 51-bell carillon would weigh 36 tons 14cwt and a 53-bell carrillon 52 tons.

COAH NG CONDUCTOR. MAN WHO HAS A WAY WITH THE CHILDREN. The Children’s Orchestral Concert (which included music by Holst, 1 Mozart, and Beethoven) at Westminster Central Hall lias been a great success (says a Home paper). Dr. Atalcolm Sargent conducted. This bright young man is certainly one of the coming forces in our music. And he had a way with him thst fetched the children. MUSIC TVE AIISS. By Alargato. There- ought to be many more choral societies in the country of the size of Dr. Whittaker’s Bach choir fpom Newcastle, whose visit to London to sing the newly discovered “Great” Service of the Elizabethan William Byrd was the great event in a week crowded with all sorts of music. Such a choir (it has some 50 voices) is. of course, only for the keener and more accomplished sort of singer. It cannot put up with “passengers,” as the bigger choral societies can. Everybody has an individual responsibility. Think —the Byrd Service is often written in lo real parts. No one of the Newcastle singers could afford to wait from a lead from a neighbour. No one wanted to, of course. It is a choir of truly musicianly singers, and their ease in handling Byrd’s delicate, intricate web of sounds won everyone’s admiration. The pleasures that are open to such singers are to he compared with those of a string-quartet. UN EXPLORED .WORDS.

'There are, to start with, the 200 and more cantatas of Bach, That mass of music is a world in itself. How many ot us really know much about the Bach cantatas Y There is in them the matter for the study of half a lifetime. One feels about them as about Handel’s operas. In the pressure of everyday affairs we forget them, until gome day chance brings back one of them to notice, and we realise that time- has been frittered away on trffle s and here is a magnificent treasure unexplored. The Bach cantatas mostly need excellent soloists, both vocal and instrumental. The Elizabethan a-eappella music is different. In the Byrd Service there are, of course, no instruments, and no voice is more important than another. Compared with the solid, argumentative music of Bac-h and Handel, the Elizabethans sound peculiarly ethereal. NEWLY FOUND MASTERPIECE.

How strange would have appeared to the old composer the scenes of the revival of Ins music after its 300-vears-long burial! The church (St. Margaret’s, Westminster) he would have known. . But what he would have said of the streams of motor-cars that brought the listeners, the electric lights, and the strange garb of the crowd in the big church. Byrd’s music, anyhow, has triumphantly survived changes in. civilisation. The “Great Service, as it began tlio other night, struck one most by an exceeding delicacy, and it was only as the music went on and we got used to its scale of proportions that its grandeur, too. was properly appreciated. At the end, after the entwined Aniens of the last Gloria, we knew we bad heard a masterpiece.

It is, all the same, possible that this singing by the Newcastle Choir, in the manner of chamber music, is Hot the only way of performing the Service. There seems no reason why it should not be sung by a big festival choir,

which, in exchange for the loss of intimacy, would produce effects of great splendour. It is clearly something for the Three Choirs to do at their September festival.