DUNEDIN COMPETITIONS SOCIETY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12799, 21 October 1903, Page 5

DUNEDIN COMPETITIONS SOCIETY.

SECOND ANNUAL FESTIVAL. The third cbiy of the elocutionary and musical competitions saw a large increase in tto attendance, and there was a pretty steady stream of patrons to tho Agricultural Hall Buildings throughout tho day, while in tho evening thero was a very good home!

Tho ohic-f attraction;] during the day were the recitations, the selections being Byron's "The' lOvo of Waterloo" (gentlemen), Hood's "Bridge of Sighs" (ladies), ami the Shakespearean selection " Clarence's Dream." As on tho .previous day there wm endless variety in tho elocutionary methods of tho perforaioiß, and the average was amt high. Miss Dorothy Gard'ner added another first prize to those already eecurcd by her, and won honourable mention in tho S'hnkcsprarenn piece. Miss Violet Honey -was adjudged l tho winner in tho latter. Tho Byronic selection, produced a disappointing competition, and ono in which ('.hero 'was some difference of opinion amongst thcoo who heard it as to the respective merita of the placed competitors. Mr J. A. Park, vicc-prcsident of tho moiety, occupied the chair during the evening, and before proceeding with the musical competitions announced the mulls in tho art aind literary jeetions. These aro given Wow. Tho baritone, bass, and mezzosoprano competition; proved very interesting, and t'iie audience could listen with some degree of pleasure to the majority of the performances, especially as far as the basses were concerned. A lengthy entertainment concluded with two scenes from "Tho Twelfth Night," and in this the perforators did very well indeed.

The following arc additional results:—. ELOCUTION. I'ECITATION (gentlemen), "The Eve ot Waterloo." Prizes, £2 2s and 10s Gd. Sir T. F. Dobsou, jun. (Littloboume), 'JG marks ..' 1 Mr K. W. G. H. "Watts (Duncclin), 9t marks 2 Mr Arthur D. Aitkcn (Duncdin), 94 marks.. 2 Mr John B. Eeid (Wellington), 60 marks .. " The following were next in order ot merit, and obtained 38 marks each:— T. J, Pembcrton, Thomas Gallagher, J. Braid, and F. V. Uiondford. The other competitors were: Duncan Robertson (Lauder), A. W. Parkinson, 11. Hungerford, D. Leslie, C. W. Galloway, and T. Paterson. Mr Bfteyerlz, in announcing the results, said: This picce is written in what is known as iambic pentameter, or heroic metre. It affords very fine scope for dramatic efforts, which, in the opinion of the judges, have not by any means been alta'nirtl. Tho mispronunciation of words has been, as usual, very marked. I have written down a fow examples, and I will read them in tiho hope that they will be useful to competitors:— "Unrvint," (harvest), "viclerry" (victory). "Beljum's" (lielaium's), "chjvulry," "haipperly," "marrugc" (marriage), "venjunea" (vengeanee), "jewy" (dewy), "verjure" (verdure), and " magnuficent." Almost every word it wa.s possible to mispronounce was mispronounced by somebody. Now, another' very sad thins was the running of word? itito each other, «uch as " Empire'cdust." Of course, added Mr Bacyerlz, humorously, I know this ITnglish is a horrible language to enunciate — (Laughter.) We had from some a "thousand tarts" for "a thousand hearts," "soft eyes" became "?oft tics," and "Ann. Arm," 'beeamo "Ait, inarm!" This should certainly bo attended to. Tho winner is Mr T. F. Dob-on, jun., who does not secure half marks out of 2.00. RECITATION (Indies under 21 and over H years). " Tho Bridgo of Sighs." Prizes, £1 Is and 10s Gel.. Miss Dorothy M. Gard'ner 1 .Miss Florence Sinclair 2 Miss Lily Halo H Next in order ot merit were: Miss Laurie Darling. Miss Lionel Ward, Miss Violet Honey,, Hiss Cissio M'Ghie, and Miss Elizabeth ]). Smith. Also competed: Miss Gertrude "Wilson, Miss Lily Green, Miss Nellie Poison, Miss Victoria Oook, Miss Emily Mitchell, Miss Isabel M'Kenzie, Miss Mabel Ppulin, Miss Mary Gordon, and Miss Sarah Ireland.

In announcing? bis decision Mr Baeyerlz wid that in this selection tlio verso was dactvllic, and the irregularity of its diametrical construction had been the cause of trtfuble to many of the competitors. The oliiof fault in the conception of the piece was that it was given by most of the competitors too melodramatically, and a free simplicity of treatment would havo improved most of the readings. Instances of mispronunciation had been frequent, as in previous competitions, examples being "unforolmnut," . " imporchunut," " scruterny" (scrutiny), "famerly" (family), "clammerly" (clammily), "mvstry" (mystery), "trossus" (tresses), " Cliristchun" (Chr'is-

tian), "piterful," ami "diesoloot," the diphthongal u having bwn a great- sourco of trouble to many competitors. RECITATION', Shakespearean (open), "Clarence's Drenm." Prizes, 2s and 10s Gd. Aliss Violbt Honey 1 Mr Thomas Gallagher 2 Mr Thomas Pemberton 3

Next in order of merit followed Miss Dorothy Gard'ncr, Miss E. Vivian, Mr J. Braid, agd Mr J. 13. lleid. The other competitors were: Miss Evelyn Osivin, Miss Cissie M'Ghic, Miss Jessie Cunningham, Miss Jean Fraer, Hiss Laurie Darling, Miss Jessie linowlcs, Miss Winifred Mitchell, Miss Lily Green, Miss Adelaide Hclcy, Misr. Edith M. Nenle, and Messrs H. Hungcrford, D. Robertson, Sidney Haws, J. Gordon, T. Paterson, D. Leslie, P. S. Foster, and W. Hall.

In giving the decision of the judge? Mr Baoyertz said that of course the selection was a very difficult, pne indeed, requiring a most finished elocutionist to do it justice. Very few d tJio competitors seemed to understand C.arcncc's agitated state of mind in rehearsing to Braekenbury his terrible dream, superinduced by tho conclusion of tlio dream and by a guilty conscience. No, .performance was entirely free from mispronunciations, which, osprrially in Shakespeare, shocked the cdueatod and refined oar. Examples in ( point wore " misruble," " dismul terrer," " melunkerly," " melon-kr-rl.v," or sometimes " molcnkelly" (for melancholy), " pcrpetshul" (peroeluu.l), and nearly every ono said " me", thought (for methoughfc with the c short), and especially did this last mispronunciation sound absurd in one lino, which was sounded: "Me thought I saw." One gentleman had given a laughable example of what was called a, lingual metathesi?. He said, "What purge for scourgery," intending to say, "What scourge for purgery." He and his colleague in tho judging were thoroughly agreed that the winner's conception of the selection was more coherent and satisfying and her gestures more appropriate than those of any of the other competitors, though she lost marks in pronunciation and enunciation. RECITATION, humorous (open), any selection. Prizes, £1 Is and 10s Cd. The first and second sections in this competition were heard yesterday, and the selections chosen by the competitors were very varied in nature. Those competitors heard were Misses 0. Doirj, Eva Holland, Ina Whitson. Laurie Darling, E. Vivian, Mrs ,T. (1. Robb, and Messrs J. B. Reid, James E. Gray, 0. H. Pinel, P. V. Blandford, and S. .T. Mathcson. The third selec r tion will be heard in tho board room this afternoon. THE MUSICAL COMPETITIONS. PIANOFORTE SOLO (under 13 years and over 10 years), "Rondo in F Major" (Diabelli). Prizes, £1 Is and 10s Gd. Master \V. A. Curzon-Siggers, 30 points .. 1 Miss Mary Neilson, 35 points .. .. .. 2 Miss Laura Browne (Lawrence) and Miss

Mary M. Brown, 33 points 3 Tho competitors placed next in the list were. Miss 'Elsie SI. Fen 32, Master A. R. Gordon 31, and Miss Lizzie M'Laren SO. Tho other competitors were: Miss Gladys Holmes, Miss Elsie M'Dougall, Miss Jessie Sevan, Miss Gladys James, Miss Lottie Emerson, Miss Valerie Corlisc, Miss Florence Pearcc. Miss May White, Miss Beryl Gillies, Miss Isabella Wishart. Miss E. L. Dimsford, Miss Rem Frame. Miss Elizabeth Shaw, Miss Nellie Osmond, Miss Millicent Leitch. Miss Angie Oswin, Miss Mvro Wood, Miss Jessie M. Jones, Miss Gkdys Lav,-son, Mips 'l'liora Bannister. Miss Violet Ruddy, Miss Emily Pinel, Miss Florence Manning, Sliss Ethel'B. Hutchinson, Miss Ellen Drake, Master Albert Keast. Master K. Aliemethy, and Master Guy Galvert, It will lie' seen that, tho iudgo had to choose between some 35 competitors. Five hoys compotcd. it ma pleasing to note, ond though in such a minority were, as the reMilts show, by no moans altogether eclipsed by the girls, one securing first prizo and another coming sixth on tho list. Out of a maximum of 50 points, tho winner (Master Curzon-Siggers) secured 7 points for tochnieal correctness, 6 points for touch and tone quality, 9 points for attack and phrasing and H points for expression and general effect. Ton points vcro given for each of these subdivisions exeoot tho last, for whioh the maximum was 20. Under these rospoctivo headings Miss Mary Neilson's marks were 3. 6, (l, and 13.

In announcing hir, decision. Dr Bradshaw said ho regretted to find that the standard on tho whole did not compare very favourably with that reached by the competitors under 10 years of age who playod the previous day. This was the moro remarkable as the se'ected composition was very slighlly more difficult than that use<l by the younger performers. Several' .otherwise rather good performances were marred by incorrect time, the pace being considerably slower than directed by the metronome marks. A still more serious defect was the absence of good fingfr technique, 'to tone 'heirs very harsh and forced, and little attention bring paid to the expression marks. PIANOFORTE SOLO (under 15 years and over 13 years), " Spring Son?" (Mendclssohn). Prizes, £1 Is and 10s Cd. Miss ?iargarct Millie, 33 points .. .. 1 Miss Brenda Stock, 31 .points 2 Miss Muriel Lorie, 28 points 3 Next in order of merit was Master Arthur Spedtling with 27 points. The other compete tors were: Miss Flora-J. M'Neill, Miss Dorothy Cowie, Mias Robv Diindon, Mis« Maud Collin, Miss Gladys M. Adams. Miss Ruby li. Ryan, Miss Sadie Bro'd. Miss Isabella Justice, Miss Winnie Bone, Miss Daisy Duckworth.

Tho winner scored 6 points for technical correctness, 7 for touch and tone quality, 8 for phrasing and attack and use of the pedal, and 1?. for expression and general cffect. Miss Stock secured 5, 7, 7, and 12 points under there resncctivo headings. Jn announcing hi? decision the judge said that tho chief requisite of this dainty composition was tho possession of a good cantabile touch, the ability to moke the melody sing, without at the same time giving undue prominence to the arpeggio accompanyinc figure. This, of course, required great delicacy of touch. He regretted to say thai it was in Ibis lending feature of tho competition that the weakness of the great majority of the renderings was so noticeable, the true fairy-like character of the piece being entirely obscured. In miny eases Mi" expression marks did not receive suft'ient attention, and one or two rendc-Hnga wcro marred by a rather free use of the tempo mbato. PIANOFORTE SOLO (open), "Folacca in E." Tho first, section of 13 competitors in this competition was heard m the theatre yesterday afternoon. Tho recond sc-oiion will be beard in tho theatre this evening. PIANOFORTE SOLO (open), "Andante and Rondo." The second section of three competitors— Misses G. Pitts, s -VI. Paton, and Evelyn Earl (Oamaru)—was heard in the theatre last evening. The third and final section will be heard in the theatre this afternoon, and not in tho Victoria Hall as previously arranged, in order that all competitors may use tho same piano. BARITONE SOLO, "To Antliea," Prizes, £2 2s and 10s Cd. l'ho first section in this competition was heard, and as might have been ojpecicd those competing found tho solo somewhat taxing. Those who wore heard in tho theatro last evening were—Messrs J. G. liufler, G. K. Applcgarth, A. F. Cooke, K. Shrimpton, am! .1. A. Haggitt. The second section will bo heard on Friday afternoon in the Victoria Hall ae the programme is at present arranged, and the final section the same evening. MEZZO-SOPRANO SOLO, " Pausies." Prizes, .{2 2« ami 10s Gd. Tho first section in this competition was heard, Misses Violet M'Farlam.% K. Vickery, .Hodge, and Violet BarUi competing. All the competitor? had didicu'-iy in reaching the final note, but their contributions were pleasurable to listen to. Tlrj sccond ecction will be heard in the Victoria. Hall on Thursday afternoon, and the third section on Friday afternoon. VOCAL DUET (gentlemen), "The Battlo Eve." Prizes, £2 2s and 10s Gd. Tho first section in this competition was heard in the theatre last evening. Thoso heard were—Messrs W. F. M'Kenzie and James Robertson, and Messrs Charles J. Graham and D. Ross. The second section will bo heard in the Victoria Hall on Friday afternoon. BASS SOLO, "The Stotm Fiend." Prizes, £2 2s and 10s Gd. - Tho first section was heard in the theatro la.it oveiwigi the competitors being—MessrsH. M. Morton, A. H. Sutherland, S. J. Gilbert, and A. K. Gard'nc*. The eolos were good on the whole, and afforded tho audience cmw'derabla enjoyment. TIIO second section in this competition will be hoard in the theatre this evening.

COMEDIETTA, " Twelfth Sight." Tho comedietta (second section) did not fail to put in sro appearance last evening, and tlio audience thoroughly enjoyod a weililwssetl and capably-acted representation of two scones from "Twelfth Night." The part.i were taken as follows:—Sir Toby Belch (MrT. C!. AimoH). Sir Andrew Agueclieek (Mr J. F.nsthei). Malvolio (Mr T. .T. Pemberton), Clown (Mr A. li. Gard'ner). and Maria (Miss Muir). Tho all-round merit of tho acting was sufficient to mako distinctions invidious. Tho comedietta " Romeo and Juliet" is on the programme for this evening. ART SECTION. PAINTING IN OIL COLOURS (Open). Frizes, £1 Is and 103 Cd, •2- CsahilL SouiU Djuie/lin, L 2v.,an4 A

PAINTING IN WATER COLOURS (open). Prises, £1 is and IDs Gd. Mr R. : Coghill, South Dunedin 1 Miss Winifred F. Stack, Roslyn •• j Miss IT. M. L. Hartley, Dnnedra .. -3 Dr J. E Scott acted as judge in 'both competitions. In tlio former there woro LI competitors, and in the latter there were five. ~ Mr Oog!.ill' s contributions were considerably ahead of tho others sent m- <£j colours he showed three well finished and harmoniously coloured little laTldsoa.p«, ona a charming little seascape. Hg ™® water-colour competition -with a toW scape full of painstaking work. The work ehown by the other competitor I,ot to a very good standard, and no example calls for special montion. LITERARY SECTION. ESSAY (open).-" The Kisk England Runs of a.Mure of Pood Supplies in the Event of a Naval 'War." Prizes, £2 2s and Cel. • Mr James Hutchison, Dunedin. •• - Mr Alex. Malcolm, Kelso .. „ Mr A. J. Chrystai, Dunedin • • u There wore 13 entries m this competition, which was judged by Professor F. B. da M. Gibbons. Tho judgd lias, we understand, agreed to preparo a. written report to the society on tho es=aye submitted. ORIGINAL POEM (open), any subject. Prizes, £2 2s and 10s Gd. Miss Lucy Evelyn Smith, " Cinderella'- .. 1 Mr G. T. Palmer, " Wakatu," .. - •• Mr C, E. Allen, "Paolo" This competition was judged by Mr A. Wilson, M.A., and there were 25 competitors. The judge submitted tlio following report on tho poems sent forward for his decision as to their merits:— Of the 95 competition poems submitted to me, the three of most merit are, to the best of my judgment, the three following, placed 1 in order of merit:-(l) Ko. 8, "Milton," by, " Cinderella"; (2) Ko. 9, " Passing," by, " Wiikatu"; (3) No. 1, " Evening," by " Paolo.'' No. 8," Milton," by " Cinderella," is a sonnet. The tows of the sonnet are on tho whole well observed. Tho poem is true in thought and sentiment, and graceful in expression. It gives the impression of having been written by on 9 who has read poetry, and knows wha-t good verso means. The worst dcfccts are the conflict of figures in the first quartet, and the perplexed grammar of the second. In the first quartet the nuthor comes dangerously near to mixing his figures. The rhythm is sometimes faulty, and the sequence of ideas not always sufficiently cleat. " Strenuous peace" seems to ma an affectation.

No. 9, " Passing," by " Wakatu, shows fairly good command of rhythm and rhyme. The thought of the poem—the eternal flux of things-His a trifle trite. The body of the pociu does not always lead up to the retrain as convincingly as it might, more particularly in tlw first section, the last lines of which arc obscure and weak. But, taken as a whole, the verses are very creditable, showing a sense of the picturesque and a genuine feeling for Nature. They fire after the manner of some of Dometl'a landscape work, No. 1, " Evening," by " Paolo"—a fairly good sonnet. The thought, is a little misty, and the poem is overcharged with conventional epithets, " weird," a. favourite word with minor poets, occurring twice. This sonnet ends with a couplet, a form not allowed, by exacting judges, to this form of verse. The rhyme of the final couplet "dawn" and "morn" is imsalisfactory. Still, there is an amount of poetic feeling in the poem and a correctness of execution which entitle it, in my opinion, to the third place. Of the other poems sent in for competition, the best, without naming them in order of merit, are perhaps No. 23, "Palmyra" (no signature); No. 21, "The New Chum," by " Shromce"; No. 24, " The Sale of the Boat," by " Neptune"; No. 19, " The Grandmother," by " Tertiiv"; No. 15, " Molyneux Bay," by "Keomoaiia"; No. IC, "The Trees of Tahukopa," by "Tahukopa", No. 4, "Looking Heavenward," by " Dcnzil Ernest", and ITo. 10, " Jephthah's Vow," by " liavouni." Of thesa the only poem that calls for special comment is the last, " Jephtliah's Vow." This is a somewhat long poem in blank verse, and, in my opinion, shows flashes of genuine poetic fire, a quality markedly absent from many of the 20. The poem is, however, so crude and incoherent that I could not give it a place. At the same time it seems to ine that if" Ravouni" would school himself to write intelligible and grammatical English he might hone ultimately to write poetry, as distinguished from mere verse. Though I have not given " Ravouni" a place, I should like to say that I find his verses distinctly promising.

If I am asked to give my opinion of the competition as a whole, I cannot say that I am favourably impressed with the general quality of the verses sent in. Very few of them rise above the level of mere rhyming, a Thymed inventory of the beauties of Nature being a prevalent conception of what constitutes poetry. As' to technical qualities, the verses are on the <vhole tolerably correct in the matter of rhymes, and of the number of syllables in the line. Few, liowever, of tho writers show any real sense of rhythm. Too many of them seem to be satisfied if they have their eight or tea syllables in a line, and make little attempt to accommodate the verse accent to the spoken accent. One grave dcfect, which characterises, moro or less, most of the verses, is the amount ofpadding" used. By " padding" I mean the introduction of an idea, by word or phrase, not because it is necessary or inevitable, but because it serves to fill up a line, or supplies a rhyme. It is quite clear that most of the competitors, beforo they attempt to write verse, require to read the best verse that ha 3 been written, so that they may learn to know what poetry is. The task of judging these verses has been extremely difficult, and after spending much time upon the work the result is not altogether satisfactory to myself. It seems to mo thai the competition as at present arranged is on wrong lines. It is impossible accurately to weigh the merits of a sonnet, of 14 lines, against those of a descriptive poem of 60, or against thoso of a rhymed prayer like that pent ih by one of the competitors. If such a competition is considered desirable at all, then one subject should be prescribed for all candidates, and the length of the competition poems should be approximately determined. Tho following is the poem to which the first prize has been awarded:—

MILTON. In starlike calm, impassioned, pure, severe, With movement as of thuudoring seas Sublime Breaking with full-voiced and rnajestio chime,— Comes Milton's soiig, magnificent, austero: Spirit fine-tempered as Ithuriel's spear, His verse outlives for ever death and time;' He soared aloft where duller mortals climb, And strenuous peace was his, with godly fear. He is our England's heritage: his name Is one with the high glory of her past-, ' ' Yea, and how great soe'er her future fame, August, imperial, girt with truth and power, Still lie premomshed it, whose trumpet-blast' Claimed freedom for her in her darkest hour!

7j' l6 committer has arranged to hold a children s demonstration in His Majesty's Theatre on Saturday afternoon, and an. attractive programme lias boon draivn up. Prizes won will be distributed by tho'Jlayor and Mayoress, nnd items given by the juvonile prize-winners.