AUCKLAND MUSICAL SOCIETIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13483, 9 May 1907, Page 3

AUCKLAND MUSICAL SOCIETIES.

| Sir,—" Musician's" letter in your issue of I to-day has afforded tho musical public ani other instance- of bow an issue can be dis--1 torted, and yet,' to a superficial observer, leave the impression thai it is what it protends to be, in this instance a fair and impartial critique of-tho artistic claims individually advanced by our local musical 'eb- ' defies. Personally, a perusal of it left mo in a quandary for some considerable time. I was halting between two opinion^--ther it was another of the subtle dodges of the advertising fraternity, or a rather palpable attempt to, in a literary sense, belabour Heir Wielaert particularly, and his orchestra generally; Finally, I; concluded that it must be a little <A each, although, as a literary effort, its motif, out of respect to your readers, might have been somewhat more cleverly concealed. However, wo ail know that "an Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor a leopard its spots," so, perhaps it is superfluous to expect "Musician" to say nice things about another musician, especially when the latter- happens to have been particularly successful— for a moment that? I would have people believe that musical people are a whit more prone to * this shortcoming than' are others, lb had occurred to mo that "Musician's' epistle was the inevitable reaction; following the many flattering .references; to the Orchestral Society which have, appeared in your columns during this present controversy. Possibly "Musician" is anxious last the "members of that combination should commence to suffer from " swelled -head, but whatever he intended his readers should deduce from ■ his onslaught, it -scorns regrettable that lie should publicly' announce his attendance at the society's last concert as a "misfortune." The use of that expression seems to indicate more than -tho writer intended, and does not leave one much in tho dark when searching for a motive. .- .' : '. .'.:'; .'; •'-"' .

; , I will not comment*.on ." Musician's'* as-; sertion re tho great superiority of the society many years agopossibly ho is one of those to whom the past is much more of a reality than either the present or tho future can hope to be. We younger generation, .of course, believe with our grandmothers in the "good old.days," but some-/ how things ,won't stop, they,, keep going | ahead; and so ; here we are to-day. With regard to "Musician's" opinion of the rendition of the various numbers, he will surely allow that others may possess, although, perhaps, in a lessor: degree, the faculty of judgment. A musician may glean his idea, of what the interpretation of a, certain number should bo from the fact that it happens to bo a part of the curriculum of the musical examinations so i prevalent.', At these examinations, it is the student's endeavour to render th© piece perfectly /from a technical point of view, that;; is, {giving i duo weight to every 'mark of expression printed in the piano score. ' Such; a rendition is necessarily soulless and devoid!/of/ musical "meaning; for individual interpretation, of j course - assuming it- to be unexaggerated and artistic, is, I , take it, - the quintessence of musical rendition. Hence we havo newspaper criticisms, apparently advanced as incontrovertible, declaiming Herr Wiolaert's interpretation of Liszt's N0.2 Rhapsody as not. being "strictly in accordance with Hungarian j tradition." As Herr Wielaert was for some j considerable time leader of the finest Hungarian band extant—-the far-famed : BudaPesth > orchestra, wo . should concede the point that; it is possible lie might have a more correct idea of how Hungarian music should be rendered than have we, who have,_ nearly all of us, received our musical training ;in 0. this ''■:' North , Island.;,: Again, " Musician" '•: would , have us believe that Herr Wielaert, with : his "high and mighty ideas," allowed the society > he conducts to make a fiasco of tho ambitious; numbers they attempted. As a subscriber to that society,/.I deem it only/ fair that I I should; state that Herr Wielaert has been for many years soloist in tho finest professional bands, in England, and all over the Continent from /Glasgow to St. Petersburg—and has also been conductor and musical director of high-class theatrical combinations. In the face of this, is it; likely that he would allow a band under' his baton to invito contumely by performing as inartistically and indifferently as "Musician" states " In view- of the appearance of the Exhibition Orchestra amongst us, it seems necessary to again call attention to the fact that it is a ■ strictly professional ; organisation. I strongly, with "Musician" advise all to go and hear this orchestra, but would; ask thorn not to lose sight of *ho 4 fact that there are amongst its excoutants somo .of the finest soloists obtainable in Australasia. So that it is obviously unfair to compare them with our local society at all. It may not' be inopportune to mention that during the Auckland combination's visit to Christchuch it performed such /works '■ as "Tannhauser Overture," Beethoven's "No. BSymphony," "Lohengrin.Vorspiel," etc., and there wore found some competent to judge/ who considered ; the'-;- society's "■ conductor's "high and mighty : . ideas," all ; things being; equal,/fruitful of -very artistic results. A large audience : enthusiastically ; applauded the amateurs' efforts one evening, notwithstanding the fact that the; big:orchestra had , played". practically: the whole ,of the ■ visitors' programme during the afternoon of the performance, : .." Musician" refers, also, to the fact that at the Orchestral Society's last performance'' "the "vocal numbers /were/ entirely out of keeping with. the programme." This may be true, but as Madame Wielaert was unexpectedly called from her seat in tho ; , audience duly ten* minutes before the first item, to oblige the committee /by , taking an absent vooalist's place, I consider it unfair to take her to task in that behalf. The fact that Madame Wielaert was on© of the/only four-'vocalists; (tho others being Mrs. Burns, Miss Amy Murphy,'and Mr./Prduse) singled out by; the Christchuroh r press for conspicuous mention during the ', Exhibition season, should bo in itself a sufficient answer/to Musician's" innuendo. \' ' Fortunately for musical Auckland, tho members of the Orchestral Society recognise ,in its conductor a man of ;. unusual ability and experience, and are not likely to be disheartened by- such an obviously clumsy attempt to belittle them, and at the same time to incidentally advertise' other combinations and artistes-, more satisfying to the " musical soul of/ ''Musician" /than are those whom he seeks to disparage. ■''■'..: Anothbb Subsoeibeb. Sir, —As there seems to be no' doubt in the minds of the majority of people that the Choral ' Society, which used' to be/one of the institutions ' of which Auckland 'might justly feel proud, is slowly and steadily : decaying, Jit is , to, be : hoped that. the* present controversy in. your paper may awaken the sleepy committee to the fact; also to the equally evident fact that the ; members are far from satisfied with -things as they . are. Although the city of Auckland has increased enormously, ■ and one would - expect * the membership, performing and honorary, to have .. increased correspondingly, quite the contrary is the ca?:o, and the hall, instead of being packed as "it formerly, was, is very poorly filled, .and'' with an audience that for the latter part of the performance is decreasing all the time.' One may well compare this with concerts given by the Orchestral Society, where the listeners stay for the last note, and often want more; The reason is s not far to seek;, at one concert they get poor music and at the other tho ;i music ;is worth listening to. It is said by.some that the Orchestral Society is too ambitious, < but surely that is better than the deadly apathy that prevails at the Choral Society. It appears to me that instead of arguing about whether the credit is due to Hen 1 Wielaert or to Mr. Hill, it wduld be fairer to give both these fine conductors credit for the excellent society we have in our midst. Mr. Hi) 1 began -the work ? and Herr Wielaert has ably carried it on'. It is absurd "to compare the society with \ the Exhibition orchestra, for the latter consists chiefly-or professionals and they have had daily rehearsals for months, ; but j considering /the; fact that the Orchestral Society meets i but once a week, tlio result is- distinctly' good. A conductor must have the personal magnetism that alone makes those under his baton'feel that* each individual 13 of importance, and necessary to - the '■■■ general effect, and both / Mr. Hil land ./Horr Wielaert j possess this quality together with a really musical and dramatic temperament. The late Heir Schmitt. also had it-. Now, a man may be a ; good musician theoretically,/ but if .this quality is lacking he will; not be able to 'carry people with him, and the" result will be a tame and lifeless performance. -It is to be hoped 'that now the committee, of the ; Chora! Society see what the public opinion really is, they will try to infuse a little more, life; into the thing, and 'make it what it used to be— credit to the city and a self-supporting affair. At present the affairs of the society are shrouded in mystery as far as the working members * are concerned * we don't even know who represents us on the committee, : or, indeed, who the members of that body are, and I would suggest that if they are going to reform the concern' by' enforcing strict rules, they' might begin with tho rule which 4 says that every year (October, I think) the members are to bo informed of the state of the society by the committee. Anotheb Meubeb.

< air,—Tins :::-riorti controversy s- interest" ing 0 great many people, which is my excuse .for., adding my quota. There are,; several points in *" Musican'f" letter of- to-day .which are open to discussion. Tm,-se'l'"wiil take in order. First. "The works of great masters should bo interpreted by great artistes." If th.« were to, Beethoven, vVa«ner, Mendelssohn, etc., etc., should be left severely ab'nc, and, wo- should htvc'io con;tent ourselves with works of the rank «$! "Yankee Docile," which seems to be to tho taste of "Musician." or the "Mil in the_ Black - Forest," . which the Orchestral . Union, tuidcr Mr. Jowset, played mi nan- . warn. The Exhibition orchestra (*vh:ch all the members of the Orchestral Society will be delighted to welcome, both as a source of pleasure and of instruction} ought not, according to " Musician," to attempt threequarters of the music which octinpii-iOT their programmes/as no one will call them "great artistes,'' though they are all, or neAriy all, masters of their instruments, and led by a very capable conductor. I think you will find that a great many people wit] agree with me that they would rather hear a groat work moderately done than a commonplace ono done well. By moderately I dc not mean badly, for I hold that our Orchestral Society is capable of performing, and hfeo performed, very creditably several w*orkn of great masters. Where their mistake lies., 1 think, is in the/bet that they attempt too many now and difficult works at each concert, whereas if they produced*; enly on© they would : naturally play it. better, and please- both themselves and their audicnoe. Siegfried's "Idyll" and. Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsodic" were certainly works too difficult to do full justice'to in about eight rehearsals, and similarly at a former concert, . ' Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and the overture to Tanchauser. But, please " Mus'cian,** do not debar us from hearing the works of great masters; simply because'.; Yfo are not great artistes. Next, "Musician" suggests a re-testing of voices at" tho Choral.Society as a cure for its pres«ent sad condition. Ho evidently does not know much about the society, or he would know that all tho voices wore re-tested comparatively lately (since Dr. Thomas' arrival), with the result you ape, or rather hear. 1 know of eoveral rock! voices, with • musical ability added, which • were rejected, while several very questionable ones were admitted. So much for retesting. As to tlie management, being obsolete, it seems to mo' that" a committee does not, matter much, for, given a good conductor, a society will go ahead, for members will then attend rehearsals for pleasure, and not. as a matter of duty; and, after all. the raison d'etre of ,a j, musical society ia the enjoyment of its members. Another MUBICIAK.