WORLD OF MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 7 January 1928, Page 16

WORLD OF MUSIC

LOCAL ORGANISATIONS. NOTES IN GENERAL. In Hawera musical circles the interregnum caused by Christinas and New letir will last tor some weeks, and tnen it is hogied members of all societies will "get into tlie collar and ,vork their hardest to push forward the interests 01 the great art. They all do goad work for the. town and district and lor the community generally, l heroioro- t u&y may justly ask for and expect the loyal help of all. Theirs is really a community effort, and as such is C.e interest ot erelyone. The influence is good on young and old, on performer and on listener, and no encouragement is too great fostering a love of music, all round. From such activities everyone benefits, and' they have a very real and abiding place in the scheme*of things in the town. It was good to note that .the Auroa Musical Society has made an entry in toe world of music and that the first performance arranged by them has been held and was a great success. All .interested in music will wish the society a career of usefulness. The people of the <Li strict will look for a horal concert, concerted items, or a cantata —there are many such as would suit them admirably—which will give them much interest and enjoyment in their hours of leisure. A very refreshing enthusiasm ha«s been shown by all members that bids well for the future. The interest of musicians in Chopin is for manv reasons intense, says an admirer of ’the great Polish composer. He> was a poet in tone, an exile from hi® native land, proud of .his affinity with aristocratic culture, delighted' by all anneals to the beautiful, and) an invalid gripped by a consuming disease that abnormally excited his highly strung nervous temperament. THE LATE EDWARD LLOYD. Christmas brought with it thoughts of the great oratorios, and especially of "The Messiah.” And round the history of the performance of the oratorios no name has ranked higher or been held in higher regard than that of Edward Lloyd, the greatest- of all English oratorio tenors and ranking probably wiui Sims Reeves as the greatest of all English tenors. By his work and his artistry Mr. Lloyd did much towards maintaining the oratorios in such high public estimation.

It i.s worth notice that after his service as a hoy chorister at "Westminster Abbey }iis voice just gradually deepened from treble to tenor, and in 1866, at tiie- age ox 21 years, he was appointed tenor singer at King’s College, Cambridge, and later at the Chapel Royal. In 1871 came his triumph in oratorio, when at the Handel Festival he scored a universal triumph b.y his singing of “Love in her eyes sits,” playing from Handel’s “Ac,is and Galatea,” and thenceforward he continued to he England’s' foremost oratorio tenor and had one long line of successes.

Mr. Lloyd was a great favourite with Queen Victoria, and was frequently “commanded” to Windsor, and he treasured very much the jewel or signed photograph whi-h always accompanied the “command.” His name will always remain known as one of the finest tenors, for range, beauty of tone and artistry, in the history of English music.