DMEDIN COMPETITIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15855, 29 August 1913, Page 8

DMEDIN COMPETITIONS.

Second Dat. The animal festival of the Duuedin Competitions Society waa continued yesterday morning and afternoon in the Victoria Hail and Hi 3 Majesty's Theatre,, and in the evening another large gathering assemblod to hear the recalled competitors of the day, and also the first section of the impromptu speech competition. Mr B. A. Ewing was again chairman. The best of' the work in the mapping, , drawing, and photographic competitions was hung at tho rear of the dress circle, where it attraoted considerable attention.

Competitors in the Victoria Hail in the morning read Washington Irving's description, of a visit to Westminster Abbey to scarcely anyone beside the judge, but the elocutionary contests in the afternoon—the recitation o£ Byron's "Parting.of Conrad and Medora." and a humorous recitation for gentlemen—drew largo audiences.' Tho judges, by their great courtesy and business-like methods are becoming very popular with all who have to do with them, and display a cheerful willingness to give all the assistance they can to competitors. Mr Barry, in the morning, took an opportunity, of saying that he would be very glad to meet any unsuccessful competitor who wished to gam some idea of his notes at the ctae of any of the sessions, and he would let them know wherein they had failed. Mr Alien also mado it known that he would be pleased to see the unsuccessful elocutionary competitors in the board room between 2.30 and 4 p.m. to-day, but he smilingly requested the ladies to leave hatpins. behind. , The following are the results :— , ELOCUTION. Judge: Mr Harrison Allen (Sydney). PREPARED READING (Amateurs, Ladies or Gentlemen), "Westminster Abbey." First prize £2 2s, second prize 10s 6d, third prize certificate. Twenty-one en- / tries. Mr B. P. Bfbwn (Olaki), .88 marks ... 1 Mr J. B. M'Connell, 82 marks ... ... 2 Mr L. H. Hunt, 75 marks '. 3 Ako competed l : Mr D. Budge 74, Miss Alice Austin 73, Mr A. Credgington (Inver- . cargill) 73, Miss Julie Jacobs 72, Mi&s Rita Gilliee 72, Miss Rene Aslin 72, Miss Elsie M'Peak 71, Mies Mary Glaister 70, Miss Lilian Churchill 69, Mr Walter Dixon 69 Miss Victoria Williams 64, Mrs Downing 63. Sue competitors withdrew from this contest, which was concluded about half-past 12. Mr Allen 6aid that' some very good work had been shown. On the whole, it was, not an'easy matter to read. No. 18 (Mr Hunt) gave a very good reading, he thought. One .of,'his main ■ faults was a great want of pause, which was a most useful thing, giving both reader and audi-, encfc a rest. It gave time to fill, the lungs properly, and it added light and shade. His voice was not produced as well as it might have been. It wanted resonance, and required to be brought forward a little more. Again, modulation was lacking. Ho thought a great deal of feeling might bo shown in that piece. His articulation at times was a little too fast, and not crisp. Another fault noticeable m some of the readers was a falling inflection at the ends of sentences, which (sometimes becamo a little " preachy." Tills" man held himself well and, abovo all, ho read naturally, but he did not have*.altogether the requisite atmosphere of solemnity. No. 10 (Mr J. B. M'Connell) gave a very good reading indeed. He had a fine resonant voice, which was produced well Modulation was wanting at times, and sometimes he had his vowels a little faulty. In the word " man," for instance, the vowel was a •littlo prolonged. Sometimes his articulation was a little faulty, but still, on the whole, his was a very good effort. He was ant to sway hi 6 body to and fro a' little —- perhaps on account of nervousness. Hn did not have sufficient pause, although better than most in this respect. The importance of change oi time was not valued enough. The atmosphere was a little better than most. He wished particularly to refer to the fine reading of No. 1 (Mr B. P. Brown). This man read beautifully, he thought. He had a fine voice, opened his mouth well, and. above all, he had the atmosphere. He brought them into the solemnity of Westminster Abbey, and there was great refinement iu his reading.

MUSIC. Judge: Mr Alfred Barrv (Sydney). VOCAL COMPETITION, READING AT SIGHT; test to be selected First, prize, £2 2s; second prize, 10a 6d. third prize, certificate. Three entries. Miss Doris Monro (Christchurcli) ... ... 1 Miss. Winifred Patterson (Chnstchurch)... 2 Miss W. R. Bnnsley (Dunedin) was tho only other competitor. < Tiie piece on which the competition was judged was a straightforward ami not difficult melody, written by tile judge and sung without aocompaniment; but the adjudicator played a few chords so as to give the competitors a starting note. The lirst competitor, Miss Brinelcy, went astray alter • the first three or four ba.rs, but the second (Mies Monro) performed very well, tlou&li 6he iuadc a mistake in the seoond last bar. ■Miss Patterson put up a good performance, but went astray three bars from the end. Mr Barry subsequently sang the piece, thereby demonstrating how it should iiavo been sung.

? PIANO DUET (professionals or amateurs], "Hungarian maroh" (Berlioz's "Faust"). First prize, £2 2s; second prize, 10s 6d; .third prize, certificate. Seven entries. Misses Vera Moore and Alison Tucker, 106 points 1 Mr Frank Bennett and Mr Warwick Braithwaite, 105 points 2 Misses Ruby Barth and Lia-a Howes, 90 points 3 The judge was unable to separate Misses Iluby Barth and L'esa Howes and Missus Doris Turner and Rene Story for. third place in the morning t;ll he had heard them again, after which he decided to recall Misses'Barth and Howes. Also competed: Misses Doris TurnerW Rene Story, 92 poinfe; Misses. Eva aiid Corrio Asl;n, 77; Misses Edith Harris and Edith Luscombe, 89; Misses Munio ; (Ghristchurch) and M. Davenport (Christchurch), 83. The jsdge eaid that, considering the high standard of pianoforte playing, he would have liked to have seen a more difficult piece ohoscn as a test piece, especially seeing that the competition was open to professionals as well as amateure. The piece chosen hardly offered sufficient scope to display technical facility, rior yet the musical intelligence necessary for a competition whidh was open to all-comers. The performers who competed during the afternoon were youthful, and could hardly be termed 'ps®£rofessionals. According to the regulations the adjudicator had to award 10 marks for memorising. This was an excellent thing, and he did not remember having seen this done in Sydney or in any of the country towns. He thought, however, that fewer points might have been awarded for this; - about six or seven. Points should' also be awarded to vocalists who memorised, but not to such a great extent. One pair played very well during the afternoon, with the music, and as a consequence lost 10 points to begin with. ' The maximum, points were 100, with the memorising points added. Misses Barth and Howes made 6cverai errors, and the limitations of tone were not differentiated between sufficiently, .and the player using the sustaining pedal did not use it well the harmonies being blurred at times. To this pair he haci. awarded ?0 points, which with 10 for memorising gave them a total of 90 points No. 5 (Messrs Frank Bennett and Warwick Braithwaite) gave a better performance, their gradations of time being very pleasing indeed. He liked their choice of time, and generally theirs was a creditable performance, there lie'.n® a good deal of sympathy between the players. The pedal work 'iva6 very good indeed. He had awarded them 95 points and 10 for memorising, making a total of 105. No. 2 on the programme (Misses Mooro and Tucker) gave a performance very similar to No, 5 There was very great sympathj between them. There was one point them and No. 5, which was for a more delicate quality of tone. Every passage showed | good judgment. They scored a total of 10t>. points. | . SACKED SOLO, TENOR, "My hope is in the everlasting (" Daughter of Jairus") . (Stainer). First prize, £2 2s; second, 10s 6d; third, certificate. < Seven cnj tries.

Mr W. E. M'Kinley, 85 points 1 Mr Grig Russell (Christchurch), 75 point 3 2 Mr Robert Kerr, 70 points 3 Also competed: ■ Mr C. W. Hannah 62 points, Mr Daniel Whito 50 points. Mr Barry said the solo was a very good list piece, which was difficult to sing. Mr Russell's voice was only fair, the'upper notes being rather poor; but the lower passages wero fairly accurate. There was a good deal of light and shade, and tho was very good. Taking into consideration the limitations of his voice, he sang very well and With much feeling. Mr M'Kinlay had a light, sweet, and sympathetic tenor voice, some of his notes being particularly sw'eofc. His stage presence was good. Mr Kerr's voice was also a light tenor, some of his notes being very sweet indeed. It was easy t6 see that, this gentleman was not an experienced singer, and ho was far from accurate, and made two or three serious mistakes. On one occasion ho commenced seven or sight bafs

too soon. Mr Barry said ho would advise this singer to try to acquiro more restraint in his work, as he was inclined to rush everything too much. His voice was capablo of much better things than he was doing, and tHe production oould be improved upon by altered methods of singing. CONTRALTO SOLO (Amateur), "Che Faro" (Gluck). First prize, £2. 2s; second, 10s . 6d; third, certificate. Twelve entries. Miss Nan Gourley, 90 points 1 Miss Stella Murray (Christchuroh), 88 points 2 Miss Almedia Colston, 80 points 3 Also competed: Mrs M. Dry 65 points, Miss Small 79, Miss Maud Stringer 80, Mies Una Owen 65, Miss Winifred Patterson.73, Miss J. B. Bennett 74 Miss Dorothy Ross 70.

Two of the competitors sang in Italian ] and .one in English. There were several competitors in the afternoon who were only separated in tho awards by a few points. In the final Miss Colston, while her work was not, in the judge's opinion, free from errors in the afternoon, displayed a clear and good contralto voice, which he considered capable of better things. Sho was sometimes late in entry after a fow beats rest. Her words lacked [tenderness, and there was hardly sufficient right and shade. Her stage presence was good, and she would improve with experience. Mies Gourley had a very fine voice, rich in quality and sympathetic,' her mezzo voco being excellent. Miss Murray also possessed a line voice, but lie had noted that she had got into trouble with her phrasing in one place. She' should cultivate her mezzo voice,' which was not equal to .Miss Gourley's. PIANO SOLO (Professionals or Amateurs), "Adagio and Finale," from sonata in C sharp minor ("Moonlight") (Beethoven). First prize, £2 2s; second 10s 6d; third, certificate. Six entries. The recalls were: Miss Vera Moore and Messrs Haddin Barr and Frank Bennett. Also competed: Misses . Ruby ' North (Omimi), Mildred Emery, and Doris Bag-

lay. Tho final was not heard last night, bu will be decided on Tuesday evening Sep teinber 9.. IMPROMPTU SPEECH (Amateurs). Tim. limit, eight minutes. First prize, £; 3s; second prize, £2 2s. Special prize of £2 2s 1 for most humorous speech Five entries. a Mr J. Henderson 1 ■ Mr E. Phelan (special prize) ... 2 Impromptu speaking and debating con tests are always' among the most populai attractions at the competitions, ahd thi firet section of the impromptu speeches de cided last night'was looked forward to wit! much interest. The announcement' by tin chairman of " Waipori" as the subject wai greeted with applause and laughter. ' Thi lirst speaker, Mr Walter Dixon, admittec that ho had struck sonic subjects during his experience of impromptu speaking, bu he claimed that this "beat all." Aftei .apostrophising the fathers in the audience who had been thrown out of work by th( uncertain ways of Waipori, he asserted tha: it had been a difficult matter for manj Christian people to hold to their principles under the annoying deprivation of electric light and power. He caused much amuse ment by informing his audience that "\y< can have too much water," and when nf went on to state that he himself was some what dry, Mr Towsey, the society's indis pensable usher, rose to the occasion, ane promptly appeared on the platform with < glass of water. Mr Dixon drank to the health of the expert engineer who woulc put Waipori right. He concluded in opti mistic vein, urging his hearers to cheer uj in view of tho fact that spring and sunshine would be ushered in with the coming month He managed to fill in his time, but hit speech contained i nothing in the way ol serious matter. Mr W. Michael, the second to essay the subject, early announced that even Wai pori had a serious side to it, and that side ho proceeded to exploit. His first bad breal occurred when he said: " And now, gentle men," and then suddenly added as a happj afterthought, i; and ladies." Waipori he described as like a " new _ country waiting for some explorer or Captain Cook to find.' He was stating the obvious when he re marked later that the subject was a diffi cult one on which to 6peak to an intelli gen: audience. What would they do, he demanded, if Waipori were to play anothei of its "nice little tricks" on tnern at tha 1 moment, but, not finding fhat suggestion fruitful, he returned to stating in varioui ways that .Waipori wa6 a difficult place t( get at. In conclusion, he. recommended the formation of a. power station in Dunwliu with strong auxiliary plant for emergencies. Mr Ernest Phelan began boldly with the quotation from the good old Book," " Lei there bo light." Hi made his first brilhanl hit when he said that our city councillors had had that text drilled into their heads " since they were boys and since they were girls." Speaking very rapidly, he kept the audience in a simmer of annisementwitj! humour, both intentional and unintentional, Ho pleaded for light and more hghi "especially in this holy city." Describing the situation'm a local workshop, lie saic the "boss" was very much afraid_ thej would set the place on fire, " because it not insured "—to a great extent, he naively added. Like the other speakers, ne eventually came to what h(? was pleased tc term the serious side of the subject—the effect of Waipori in throwing men out ol work. He assorted that tho whole mattei should be properly investigated, and he struck a sympathetic note in his audience when he added that "the report shoulc not be swayed by any of our City Fathers. His final hit was an unmtentiona: reference to a car that didn t came. If the speech was somewhat confuscc and disjointed, ho kept going well, ind infused much vigour into his statements, The last speaker, Mr J. Henderson drew a pifcture of the small boys passing the Dun edin tramcars travelling at their reducec speed. Speaking as one who knew the die trict, he declared that great credit wa< due to the engineers concerned for all thej had achieved 'in that very difficult country He -was very optimistic &6 to. the future o: the scheme, declaring that its weaknesses would work themselves out in course oi time. Ho spoke clearly and with grcal fluency, and was the only one to t make any really serious contribution to ject. He' gained applause for the statement that there was "only one method of test in" the country, and that method has beer applied bv Nature quite recently." He avoided humour, and concluded with 't spirited appeal for fair play for the etigi. n'ecr. The prolonged applause that greetec the conclusion of his speech left no eloubi as to whose effort had found most favow with his audience. Mr Henderson ncith'-i hesitated either for matter or for words and mivdo his specch a consecutive whole suggestive rathc-r of preparation than ol impromptu work. Dr Marshall announced the result or behalf of the judges. Mr J. C. Stephen: and himself. The judges were of opinion he said, that an excellent subject waf 'chosen, giving scope for serious as well a< humorous speaking, but _ they had, beer somewhat disappointed with its treatment. There was one, in their opinion, who stooi out head and shoulders above the others.— (" Hear, hear.") It remained to be seer whether the audience wae of opinion thai the same person was head and shoulder! above tho others.— (Laughter.) He was the one who treated tho subject most seriously , and also took the unpopular side—at leas! i the side that he believed to be unpopular | the one that maintained the good conduct of the engineer and the Waipori scheme, And though it was the unpopular side he carried his audience witk him. Tho winner in their opinion, was the last speaker (Mi Henderson). The judges also had to eon sider which was tho most humorous speaker, They thought that a microscope was ncccs sary'to distinguish tfhe humour. They were | not quite sure whether unconscious humoui was to bo taken into consideration or not The subject lent itself to humorous treat ment; and the who spoke of cilrj councillors 'havfng certain truths drilled "inte them during their boyhood and girlhood and then neglected to >point out that some of them at any rate were old women.— (Laughter and applause.) They elccided thai ' tho person who was so insistent upon the . fact that there should be light (Mr Phebn, 1 was the most humorous competitor. The second prize for the impromptu specch alsc went to No. 4 (Mr Phelan). ■RECITATION (amateurs, ladies or gentle > men), " The Paring of Gonrad anc • Medora." First prize, £2 2s; second; , 10s 6d; third, certificate. Nineteen en tries.

Miss Isabel Forrester, 88 points 1 Mr B. P. Brown (Ot-aki), 84 points 2 Miss Lilian King, 80 points '3 Also competed: Miss Mary Glaister 74 points, Miss Rene Aslin 74, Mr David Budge 73, Mr Harold Hunter 73, Miss Bina Bain 71, Miss Julio Jacobs 71, Miss Eisie M'Peak 70, Miss Ruby Iloskins 70, Mr Alfred Mazengarb 70, Mr J. B. M'Connell 69, Miss Alice Austin 68, Miss Ethel Rollo 66, Mr A. Credgington (Invorcargili) 62, Mia Margaret Puechegud 56. In announcing the recalls Mr Alien expressed regret that the work had not been up to the standard ho had heard so far. Tho piccc was not by any means an easy one to recite. In the, evening the judge 6aid they had had three very good, perform.

moos. The voice of No, 2 (Mies King) i vas produced very fairly, although the modu-1 ation was not altogether what it might, lave been, She hati a tendency to mouth ler words. Sometimes the words were •ather run together, and at times she was i littie indistinct. She required to throw :he words from the tip of her tongue a little More. Her emphasis might have been more forceful at times. Iler gesture on the whole ivas very graceful, although he thought in that piece (die might have made a good deal more use of expression. Very few in these :ompotitioi:6, he said, understood that the body or the face very often spoke before the tongue. Her pause was very -good and effective, but there; might have been a little more change of voice. The whole thing was just npt to be a little monotonous now and again. Her facial expression was very fair, but where she failed mostly was that she did not have enough passion. No. 18 (Mr Brown) did riot produce his voice .very well, an<l sometimes the last word of a line was a little too low. On the rhyming words lie was apt to get a sameness of inflection, a common fault in the reciting of poetry that rhymed. His deportment was graceful on the whole, although' the judge did not altogether like the position of his hands. He started too tamely. The opening words required mOre colour and passion. More pause might have been used: The 'weak part was that when suggesting the womaii the whole effect was not' very convincing but rather artificial. The piece was very well phrased. He wished very sincerely to congratulate No, 12 (Miss Forrester). This lady, as he had eaid before, had natural feeling. Her modulation was good, she ]ield her audience well, and made excellent U6e of pause?. Her gesture was graceful,. and she won with 88 marks. RECITATION, HUMOROUS (Amateurs). Own selection. First prize, £1 la;■ second, 10s 6d; third, certificate. Five entries. Mr J. B. M'Connell ("Wot vur do ee luv oi ?"), 94 points 1 Mr A. S. Wallace, Inyercajgill ("The. Orator's First Speech in Parliament"), 91 points •. 2 Mr A. Credgington, Invercargill (" The Porter's Story"), 85 points 3 Also competed: Mr J. A. Cuttlo ("The Street Watchman's Story") 73 points, and Mr Cecil Hunter (" The Friendly Waiter ") 69. Most would roadily agree with the judge that tho selections in this section, with the exception perhaps of the winner's piece, were not particularly happy ones. Mr Allen, however, in making his award, said they had had three fine exhibitions that wore really a pleasure to listen to. No. 1 (Mr Credgington) had good voice and articulation, and the Character of tho man was very well drawn. }Ie must say, however, that lie thought it a rather silly sort of piece. Tho other two selections wero much cleverer. Still, he did the piece very well, Ho failed to use the artistle pause with \vtiich to shoot off his points. Another fault wag technical, and very easily remedied. He faced too muoh to one side, ami consequently the people on the other sido did not see his face. "The Orator's First Speech" was given very well. The gentleman had a very good voice, and h.is articulation was very clear. He thought the humour was perhaps a.little bit forced, but not'very much. Tho introduction was the weakest part of the piece. The business or byplay was very good. No. 3 (Mr J. B. M'Connell) gave a vorv excellent performance.' Seldom lvad ho heard a better. Tho character of the yoKel was excellent. Ho faded to wait till the laugh quite subsided onco or twice. He did not know whether this competitor was a Yorkehireman, but at any rate he made them believe Tie wa«. and that was groat art. That yokel's langli was, he thought, superb.

Tho cvpnilie's entertainment oonoludorl with a bri(il:t little comedietta entitled "Miss Pr'seilh's Now Maid," in which tho pnrts wore taken bv Misses M. Divers, E. Simpson, and F. Bell.