WORLD OF MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 10 September 1927, Page 18

WORLD OF MUSIC

COMPETITIONS FESTIVAL Tiie excitement and stress of the competitions lesuval sue now over and Unit great la.nnual event is numbered with the records' of the past, in which, Jet it .be said, it takes a worthy place. Tilie extent to which, the festival has grown is remarkable and a .striking tribute to the spirit of enthusiasm and co-operation among the members of the Alia.le Choir.

There was, as must -always be the case, a good dea.l of mediocre work, but it is equa.'Jy certain that there was ti. great deaf or excellent performance much enjoyed and appreciated by audiences and noted by the judges. The oxp>erienee gained by competitors 28 very valuable and the executive hope tout. this ex per i lice, with succssful as with unsuccessful competitors, will lead to much better work at future festival's'. They have a distinct place ui every cominnnity. Wellington, Auckland, Wanganui, G'-’isborne, InvereaugilJ. and Hia.wenai all h id a coinpatitionsi festival proceeding at the same time and the larger functions are still proceeding. All are reported to be bringing out a high (standard of performance generally, but lhe experience, in. the cities ffnan.ciia.lly has hoc in the past been of the best.

OPERATIC SOCIETY Intense work during the past week lias resulted in putting a good finish to the confidence in the work of principalis chorus and orchestra that promises exceedingly well for the opening performance on Monday at the Opera Mouse. The producer (Mr Theodore Tresize) is keen and enthusiastic and is confident of a great success. • • it is unfortunate that Mr W. B. Gibson, one of the greatest supporters <>. the society and a capable exponent of the art of opera, who was cast for the part of Peter Doody has been ill and is stid far from well. It is probable that Mr Tresize will fill the part in this emergency. Every other detail of the opera is working out well and it is certain the season will add another triumph to the .society and maintain the high standard of work set in the past. MALE CHOIR WORK. The coming concert promises to be one of the most interesting yet- given by the Mate Choir, and it will serve to introduce a new departure, the ringing of tire top part, equal to the first tenor by a. choir of boys. Mr. Fox has been making inquiries and believes he has now secured just- what i® required. He has secured ten hoys with ea.se iauul ha.s had a practice or two with them and is eminently satisfied with their work. They promise to do their part exceedingly well. ORCHESTRAL M USIC A useful work is performed in Palmstern .North by the Junior orchestra, which is a separate body altogether from the orchestral society and has for the past years given four good concerts and the Senior orchestra ad- \ ised them at the annual meeting retentiy that they could npt assume control arid the juniors then discussed ’..lie question of going into recess. I lowec er, tr.ey ultimately received to larrv forward on their own as l>efore.

GRAND OPERA IN AUSTRALIA. There will lie a three months’ season or Grand Opera in Australia dor which very special arrangements of the leading soloists have been made. As was to be expected, Toti dal Monte, who proved so popular last year, will be amongst the live sopranos while of the tenons, Granforte will again be there and. Geatano in the basses. The enormous expense to be incurried is realised wl.en it is stated that for new scenery and costumes the sum of £IOO, ;,()J is requiied. The operas to be performed include Lohengain, Tannhauser, The Valkyrie, La Bolieme, Tosca,'Fill© du Regiment, Lucea.de Lammernipor. Aida La Traviata, ltigoletto, 11 Trovatore, Faust, Tales of Hoffmann, Barber of Seville and others less vvellnow 11.

NOTES. At a meeting of the Waipukuran Operatic Society, held just after the performance at “Dorothy,” a statement ot accounts showed a. substantial loss, due, it is considered, mainly to very wet weather. SCHOOL MUSIC. The main objects aimed at in the instruction given in music in the New York elementary schools were summarised recently by one of the supervisors. They are as below: —First, to provide all children regardless of their native abilitv, with the opportunity of hearing, knowing, and understanding good music; se.ond, to teach all children who may have the power to absorb the technical side of music, a- knowledge of reading at sight; third, to develop classes in instrumental instruction in order to provide for the building of orchestras and bands in public schools. A course in music appreciation is designed to meet the irst- of these objects, and this is supplemented bv an annual music memoij Contest. In this contest this year 318,000 children took part. The sightreading courses are conducted by class teachers under the immediate supervision of special teachers of music. Uost-graduate students of exceptional ability are furnished with scholarships by the Institute of Musical Alt. PIANO' PRACTICE.

All the great pianists have practised hand, says a critic. It is the only way t-> win success, and no amount of gut •absolves the etude lit from .steady and fieri u©nt work at the keyboard. Rubinstein was a tremendous worker. Paderewski has confessed to seven bonus a day, and .a, good deal of ins practice consisted of .scales and hveexercises. Pachmann. H oilman n', Rbsenthal —nil the eminent pl«v«w»—speak with one view on this subject, There is ro royal road to eflieiencv as a pianist. But practice need not be dull work. On. the cont—airv the obvious progress made as a result, of it shows the student how va.lua.ble these technical exercises are. resides which, they soon come to be interesting in themselves. PARISH. CHURCH MUSIC.

Tim im-d of improvement hi Eng- <:, 1, fiboir.«- is stressed by the , -jud'rt -f Westminster Abbey. Mr. sU-dne-v N'i'-h olson. in a letter to the “IVmdo-i 'rimes." rider alia be Wl “Tbe chief reason whv Ohureli ; .S li-'.t 'll a MW-e satisfactory .;,r 1 ,Y.0 .me, th" l"'k of material tor Ki,h the lack of properly equip- “ To. +b : . M0,.vl M -S -'l<o'--'St< 1 + ;1„ I .t. , v <=-* —.l cf Cborrtv Musm should be founded, to. provide rrnr.tion.l .instruction in all the special roquire-

meats of the Church musician. The aim. would be fco train students not only as competent organists and choirnvnstens, but also as keep and educated (llimix-ihmen; and in order to accomplish this the equipment must include a chapel and a resident hostel, with a warden or director, a chaplain, and a staff of choirboy.-’, of a Type .simitar to those available im ordinary churches. Students would pursue their ordinary studies at one of the reeogii sod schools ol music; the eoui'.vt* would not interfere with their general training, hut would be supplementary to it. Tllijis principle i.s of the utmost imporbumce, as without it such an institution would tend to become narrow in its outlook and would defeat its own object by turning out men who were possibly expert in purely ecclesiastical music, but were not competent allround mu'siediains.”