WORLD OF MUSIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 19 May 1928, Page 7

WORLD OF MUSIC

SOME, MALE CHOIR NOTE*. In the country district, Manaia and Auroa, are both veritable hives u! musical industry, the loimei "J 1 its choral society and the latter with its musical society. Mamua has bevrun work once more tor the season, under Mr. Lamb, and have an interestincr programme of work ahead. Auroa wtTl also be in full swing now that the winter is approaching, and farmers are less busy. They would be well advised to select a. class of work more m keeping with the ideals of a society such as theirs, now that they liave established themselves. There is a wealth ot attiactive and fairly simpf* part songs, which would make a most interesting programme. The competitions season nus begun again, and last week, Christchurch, Gore and Palmerston North were all running simultaneously. Mr. Ernest McKmlay, well-known and popular in New Zealand will join the Westminster Glee Singers at Vancouver. on a tour of Canada. Possessed of a fine tenor voice. Mr. Melvin lay specialiscs in Maori songs, including some of Mr. Alfred Hill’s numbers. He has recorded many Maori songs for the gramophone. . . The Dunedin Choral Society is at present without a permanent conductor. Mr. H. P. Desmoulins, who was secretary of the society for some years. i,s acting temporarily as chorus master, while Dr. Victor Galway will conduct the first concert of the season. Mr. Ernest Short, the Nelson baritone. has taken up hi.s residence in Wellington. ..... . The Levin Choral bocietv will begin rehearsals of “Cavalleria Rusticana.” during the second week of June. Miss Francis Morrison, of Blenheim, will be the contralto soloist for the Royal Wellington Chora! Union’s performance of “Elijah’ on June 2. \ The fostering, of local talent is approved by all who have a love qf music and the country, but little is done in the matter, Mr. Fraser Gauge, the other day, in a speech, suggested to the Otago Women’s Club a levy of three shillings per member per annum, winch would give a revenue of £l5O a year. Witli this sum. he said, an artist could be obtained from overseas to sing or play or recite at a fee of, say, £oo. With thirty such clubs established a guarantee of. say, £ISOO could be obtained to bring a prominent, person fiom a distance, the remaining £IOO could be used in giving concerts and engaging local talent. This- will bring oi”t any latent New* Zealand talent and help considerably music in the Dominion. It is stated, that already there are no less than twelve Wurlitzer organs arc on order for picture theatres in the Dominion, and last week it.was noticed that a, leading Dunedin organist had given up Ids church appointment to plav at a City theatre. Mr. Laszlo Schwartz, who is visiting Hawcra next week, is writing a book on music in Australia- and New Zealand. This hook will be published shortly after his tour is completed, and should prove of interest, more especially to the natives of both dominions, though, of course, the outside world may like to read about our doings.^ Mr. Horace Hunt, formerly of Wellington, was interned in Germany throughout the Great War. He is now living in New York and is conducting a fine orchestra there. Mr. Hunt returned t<, New Zealand after the war and resided in Wellington for some time. Later lie left for America and has now settled in New York. Mi. Henri Ycrhrugglieii. who left Australia, some years ago to take up an appointment as conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, is doing fine work with this body of musicians.

Mr. Frazer Gange, in an interview, said he had sung on several occasions with the Minneapolis' Symphony Orchestra under Henri Verbrugghen (formerly of the Sydney State Orchestra). In a performance of “The Messiah” in Minneapolis the local critics said that Miss Amy Evans was the finest exponent of Handel’s music heard there for a quarter of a century. Talking to an interviewer in Wellington, Mr. Fraser Gange, the eminent Scottish baritone, said that when in the States he met Mrs. Elizabeth Shirtcliffe Coolidge, a. -wealthy woman whose hobby in life is to encourage the best in music, and who did so by inaugurating festivals of chamber music at Pittsfield. Mass., where she built (on South Mountain) a wonderful hall for the purpose. This, together with holding out the helping hand to promising young singers, players, and composers, was her gift to music. Mrs. Cbolidge extended an invitation to Mr. Gauge and his wife to attend one of her festivals. but only Mr. Gange was able to visit America. Mr. Gange confessed that the experience was an enlightening one. Not only did it illustrate the high standard aimed at, but it showed him the lavish way in which people were prepared to assist musical culture. Mrs. Cbolidge insisted on a certain proportion of the numbers on her programme being sung by American-born artists, and in that way gave immense encouragement to local talent. Who would say that it was not patriotism i f the highest order?

The crooning of “11 ine a lfine ’’ (Daughter oh Daughter!), a plaintive lullaby, at a gathering at the Penw emeu 's 'Oluh in Auckland the other night recalled Rangipai, the composer, says •“•The Look-Gut jMan” in the “ Auckland Sun.” Rangipai, who called herself “Princess”, for professional purposes, achieved some fame both in New Zealand and abroad as a balladsinger. 'She was the daughter of Colonel Porter, well known in .Maori circles, and her mother was a Native woman of considerable rank. Rangipai was successful as a songstress in England and also appeared on the concert platform in the United States. But. she eventually returned to her native New Zealand. The call of her blood was i'-resistible. Rangipai. though a charm, ing and cultured woman whose voice had given pleasure to thousands, went back to the mat. Years later, as she Squatted before the fire in her whare in tt small East ICoast village, where she eventually ,]ied and was buried, Rangipai, in a full Maori skirt and a rug across her shoulders, could not be recognised apart from the other women el the pa. Gone was the handsome I a Rad-singer, the forerunner of many Maori entertainers who have since gone abroad. Blit Rangipai’s exit was graceful. There was no scries of “farewell’ farewells fer her. Once she left the platform the Maori songstress never returned to it.

FIVE STATES SEARCHED. HORSEMEN AT PREMIUM. Ranches in five western Ameficafi States V-bre searched for expert horsemen when Paramount was making the

desert scones foT the picture “Beau Sabreur. '’' One thousand horses were utilised in the (bigger sequences, and because of the fact that dynamite charges were fired in several of the scenes, the riders had to know how to control the animals. Radio, telegraph and the mails were used in the hunt for riders. Various Southern California stations broadeastd appeals to the west asking that able horsemen get in touch with the Paramount studios in Hollywood. Similar requests were telegraphed and mailed.' In all, about 900 cowboys were assembled. The other 300 were taken to the location from Hollywood and put in the saddles. It was a har'd assignment even for good riders because of the dynamite and the camels, which the horses feared. (Gary Cooper and Evelyn Brent afe featufed in the pictufe. “Beau Sabrqut ” ;was wfitten by P. C. Wren, author of “Beau Geste.”'