ELIZABETHAN MUSIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20304, 11 July 1929, Page 16

ELIZABETHAN MUSIC.

PERIOD OF THE BALLAD. ; UNIVERSITY LECTURE COURSE. A further public lecture in the course, I "Shakespeare and His Time," was given j by Professor J. 0. Sperrin-Johnson in ■ the University College Hall on luesday | evening. The lecturer spoko on " Eliza- | he than Folk Music and Popular Ballads," j lantern-slides and musical illustrations be- j ing given. I'rofessoi Spcrrin-Johnson said that the , works of Elizabethan dramatists provided j tho antiquarian with many references to | contemporary customs. An occasional j reminder of the environment in which the ; audience lived was reflected through certain scenes, even in (ho most sublime plots. As music reached a high state of development in Elizabethan times, itidi- | cations of its universal popularity were ; found in the plays of tho period. A I valuable anthology of musical allusions, ! both academical and popular, could be made from these plays. That Ihe people of England, especially in towns, had lost no love for music since Chaucer's time was clear. Shakespeare's delicate sensibility to the aesthetic effect of, music was abundantly displayed. The i term ballad was used from (ho Tudor to the Georgian period as indicating the j popular songs of the people. In the j early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, 760 ballads and only 44 books were entered at Stationers' Hall. The lecturer described certain types of ballad, giving ! instances of their wide application. Miss Alma McGruer sang three vcr- | sions of " Walsingham " and another j song " 0 Mistress Mine," said to be a I traditional tuno arranged bv Sir Thomas ■ Morley. The lecturer played two examples on tho piano from the famous Fitzwilliaiu " Virginal Book " and a pago was shown on the screen with tho identical piece played. Dance tunes of the period were played by Miss Florence Walker, violinistc.