WORLD of MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 7 November 1925, Page 10

WORLD of MUSIC

“THE MESSIAH.”

The great oratorio, appropriate for the Christmas season of the year, maintains its wonderful popularity, decade after decade, and seems to slacken not one whit. Since the Wellington Choral Society were ih Taranaki two years ago and co-operated with the local societies in the production of the oratario, there has been each year a keen desire to perform it as the holy season approaches that celebrates the anniversary of the Saviour’s birth. This year again the performance will be given under the aegis of thei Male Choir, and they have the assurance of strong and competent support to suc-h an extent that its success is more, than assured. It will be awaited with very keen anticipation. THE MALE 'CHOIR. For their last concert of the season, to be given on Thursday next, the Male Choir have a capital programme in course; of preparation. The choral selections will include several of the best yet given by them, and these are certain to be popular. The assisting soloist will be Mr W. Gemmell, baritone, of Dunedin, _of whom the people in the South think very -highly indeed. The Southland News said of him after a recent performance: “He has a voice of beautiful quality, faultlessly even throughout its entire compass, capable of full ringing tones and with the. softness of velvet in its pianissimo. Mr Gemmell ia a .finished singer.” Hawera people may well look forward to a great treat.

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY. The season has closed for the Orchestral Society, and they dre entitled to the greatest commendation for their consistently good work. That appreciation has been abundantly expressed by the large audiences who have listened tio their capital performances. Even better work is promised for the new year, and it is intended to put on their next programme the great 1812 overture, a work which is not attempetd except by full orchestras undpr most competent leadership. SCHOOL MUSIC. The approaching appearance of the School Elute and Drum-Band and of the School Orchestra is being awaited with very keen interest by everyone who has the welfare of the school and its young pupils at heart. It is to hoped that the whole community will see to it that these useful artistic school institutions are given the cordial support to which they are entitled. It ia all to the good of the town and district. MUNICIPAL BAND. It is very sincerely to be regretted that the band contest which was all but arranged to be held ini New Plymouth has been cancelled. It would have been a great opportunity for the Taranaki bands to have a try-out in competition one with another, and would have been excellent experience for them all. OLD .CHAMBER MUSIC. A remarkably interesting festival of chamber music of thei sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has ’just been held at Haslemere, the little market town in Surrey. Organised by Arnold Dolmetscli, the festival gave place of honour to English concerted music for viols, and, as a result, according to the correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, renewed attention has been directed to the extreme importance 'of the period from 1550'. to 1650, when the English fantasy was cultivated, and new light has been thrown upon the fund of beauty and invention to be discovered in the music of that day. “I have been looking at the score of,the fantasy, and air for six viols (No. 1 in G- minor), by William Lawes,” he writes, “ and. have found that it® visual effect is remarkably similar to that of some of Holst’s scores. It gives the same impression of shapeliness, good order, sure intent, and tine workmanship. Its aspect is perhaps less swept and garnished than that of Holsti’s later work, and certainly its impression upon the ear is more graciously accommodating. ’ ’ Bach was alloted an important share of, the fest'ival, and so were Haydn and Mozart, naturally.- Concerts of Ereneh and Italian music also formed part of the scheme. One critic predicts, as a result. of this festival, a revival of the great school of English viol music during the next few years. In faet, inspired by the. zeal of' Dolmetsch, several Liverpool citizens have formed a society, which now meets once a week for the performance of this music; aud this organisation took part in the Haslemere Eestival, giving concerts in the mornings, at which the programmes were introduced by brief explanatory lectures. “Hiawatha” went to Napier and was performed by the' Napier Choral Society. The choral work and the singing of Arthur Ripley, the tenor, are both said to have been noteworthy. The 5-work of the' 1 ' orchestra also was pronounced by critics to have been very fine. A noted military band, that of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, arrived in Wellington, last Saturday iinder engagement to the New Zealand .and South Seas Exhibition. The band is both a pipe and reed, and a brass band, and it is reported they gave their services willingly throughout the voyage for the entertainment of the large number on board, and several passengers referred very kindly to the manner in which they made, friends with everyone on board. The bandmaster, Mr Ricketts, is well known as one of the best composers of band music in the British Army, and a Wellington paper states that, as the ship arrived at the wharf, where a tremendous crowd were assembled, the band played “The Great Little Army,’ whieli he had composed. Dr Kelly, of Dunedin, just back from a trip to the Homeland, told an Otago Daily Times man that he, was enthusiastic ‘about the Dublin Civic Guards’ Band. The band was of brass and Teed instruments, and was .under, the direction of Colonel Brasi, the exKaiser’s bandmaster. Many residents of the Dominion will remember the visit of Mr E. H, Lcmare, who opened the Town Hall organ some years ago. He is now municipal organist of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and recently visited San Erancisco, where he had also been city organist. He was welcomed heartily by an audience of 10,000. ‘ A notice in a Sydney publicaiton states that for a theatre; in the city an organist has been engaged who formerly played on a four-manual instrument at the California Theatre in ’Frisco.

Aftier an evening at a. friend’s house on the Grand Canal, Venice, Dame Nellie Melba stood at the prow of a lighted! barge and sang a number of songs, in reply to the entreaty of listeners. At last, she returned to her hotel, singing “Home, Sweet Home” as a final encore.

GREAT CELTIC CONGRESS

LANGUAGE AND MUSIC.

At a great congress in the Isle; of Man, when 120 delegates yere present, one evening was devoted to “the singing of Welsh, Breton, Manx, Scottish rind Irish melodies to words in the languages of the different countries. A lecturer,, talking of Welsh and Gaelic songs, 'said that “the words are wedded to the music, not subordinate to it, and the rhythm is preserved. Breton music is actually printed with irregular barring; the Welsh music has marks to indicate this characteristic.’

MUSIC FESTIVAL IN A CATHEDRAL.

BISHOP AND HIS CRITICS

Dr Headlam, Bishop of Gloucester, has been criticised for allowing the Three Choirs Festival to take place m the Gloucester Cathedral. In the Diocesan Magazine he gives his reasons for favouring the holding of such festivals in cathedrals, writes a. London correspondent on September 3. “Music,” lie- writes, “is for any one of the most potent of influences. Men’s; lives and conduct and spiritual attitude ar e influenced far more by their senses and emotions than, by their reason, and music probably in its many forms' of development is often a great power. It is important, therefore, that the church should do all in its power to • t ai t i lYvnor

bring music, like the other great activities of life, under its influence, and to direct this, powerful agent to a goofi purpose. A high standard of music in ; our churches will be' encouraged) bj a exhibition of music of great beauty, beautifully rendered. .. ‘ ‘ Tradition is, I am afraid,, against those who object to such a festival teking place in a cathedral, and, I think, also common sense. In old days our cathedrals and churches were used for mystery plays and in many other which are not now customary And is it not better that a. great budding like a cathedral, the only building of the size and construction fitted for the purpose, should be used m any way consistent with the purpose to which it is dedicated? We need not confine our religions services to what is usual and C °"r“a P nS'f.el the, force of the ohjeetion that is felt as to_the charge for admission. If aii y charge made for attendance at the Tegular series or for any direct evangelical, work I should strongly condemn it. But a musical festival of a religious character ia different. It »ak®ajpeeial appeal to special people. There a many opportunities for those who are X wealthy to hear Skilled' musician is as worthy or nm hire as “he skilled lawyer or doctor. All that is received’ beyond the nece sarykexpenses , g used , for an .admirable purpose.” WATKIN MILLS IN CANADA. A message from an old friend Mr w-rtikin. Mills, who visited Australia an? New Zealand many years ago shows that the famous English basso i„. now settled comfortably as a teacliei n Toronto, Canada, where he » still sinking, as press notices indicate wit all “that distinction of . style which-won. him so high a place among oratorio artists during the thirty years in n leading soloist at tne sr* srgx’ Waves,” ant the gusto which nfc this reeital, swig ttoee gr P, £1? Vtme. ““pathetic and hear,«fui ll““ iee'ogniaed also a, an accomplished pianist. MELODIES FROM ASIA. The monasteries. Most or ™ e inealm a subsequent interview^ in? the Vitiation of a priestess, which has been handed down from generationto Generation for four thousand y e p > am" is still the same as it- was 4000 yeais ago^ -‘I have endeavoured, m iiarmoms W these melodies, to retain thmi original atmosphere, but that is - cult mainly, because the instruments used’ for the bass were of too primitive a natiire to render the harmonies very distinguishable. Their stringed instruments, however, many of which are beautifully carved m ivoryjnlaicl with precious- stones are of a good tone and give the melody clearly. In each m stance the melody is repeated over and over again, the dancers repeating then ritual movements. the Kisiljan Monastery, m Chinese .Turkestan-—the monks perform the movements until! they drop on the Ground, foaming at the mouth. Som of them can hold out for as much as twelve hours —an extraordinary teat, as these particular movements are extremely exhausting. “The fakirs occasionally make use of such movements to produce insensfibi-.-ity as in the dance of the Mevlevi Dervishes (M'hirling Dervishes), when the performer reaches such a pitch or Frenzv that he can stick a long needle through his cheeks without feeling paan land, strangely, without- shedding blood). He will only stop when he falls to the ground insensible. “For the better comprehension of these melodies I must add a word about the dances to which they are an accompaniment. Dancing in the East has quite another significance than that which we attach to it .in the West. We must remember that the ancient dance was a branch; of art, and art in that early time served to teach higher knowledge and religion. , “In those days he ivhc had devoted himself to the study of any special subjeefc expressed his knowledge in works of art. and particularly in dances, just as we to-day express our wisdom through our books. Thus the ancient sacred dance may be considered as a book which contains a definite piece of

knowledge. This knowledge, perhaps, i K foreign tc us, as it is generally connected with the self-knowledge towards which all Eastern seekers, whetnor fakirs, monks, or yogis, are working continually. The accompanying music reflects the religious, mystic and scientific significance of the dances.

MOZART AND HIS WORK

It was the expressed ambition of Mozart’slither that lus son should apply himself assiduously 10 the stud} of the violin, with the object oi becoming “the first violinist of Europe. Undoubtedly Mozart knew the violin and what could be expected from it; but lie was destined for something greater, short as his life was, than a virtuoso playing from • court to court foi the pleasure of princely audiences. Has profound insight into the possibilities of the violin and his thorough practical knowledge of that instrument was never better displayed than m the great Concerto in A Major. Its recording lor the gramophone by Mr Arthur Carlo rail (solo violin) and the orchestra conducted by Mr Hamilton Harty, chief of the celebrated Halle Orchestra or Manchester offers an interesting example of the capacities of the modern orchestra compared with that of Mozart’s time —for lie wrote the Concerto for a small body of strings, two oboes, and two horns, and,, of course, the solo violin. This magnificent and essentially melodious work, like manyothers of it s kind, can but rarely be heard performed in public halls; but the recording lor the gramophone enables students of music to study it, and gives intense pleasure every time it is heard to all who are fond of music for its own sake. The list of works of Mozart recorded for this purpose is expanding, showing that there is a clear call, from the public for such music, and a ready response to that call by the makers of records.

ACE OF THE ORGAN

FOURTH CENTURY RECORD

The organ is a very old instrument. No one knows when the first organ was invented. The Emperor Theodosius, who died In the year 393, is known to have erected an obelisk which bore upon it the carving of an organ; but it \s certain that the instrument existed long before that date. Organ building began both in England and in France in the eighth century. An organ brought from Byzantium (Constantinople) to France in 757 was a pneumatio organ, the pipes of which were made of lead. The modern organist and organ builder, therefore, have good reason for pride in the long lineage of the instrument.