MUSIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19801, 28 May 1926, Page 5

MUSIC.

NOTES AND RECORDS. Captain Sauerzweig, the director of the Irish Free State Army bands, who has achieved fame by holding an oboe note for three minutes, has reason to be proud (writes a contributor to the London Daily Chronicle). Not many oboists could hold a note half as long. In Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” occurs a sustained note for the oboe, and at the first performance of that oratorio at Birmingham in 1846, which Mendelssohn conducted, the famous English oboist, Grattan Cooke, played , this note. After the performance Mendelssohn congratulated Cooke on, his playing, and presented him with an autograph copy of "Elijah,” on the cover of which he wrote this long holding note, as a special tribute to the great oboist. But that note would be less than a minute in length. Mr Scott Skinner, the famous player of reels and strathspeys, who is 80 years of age, was a participator in tile old-time fiddling contest at Lewiston, Maine, U.S.A., last month, which was open to those over 60. The prize was 1000 dollars (£200). Mr Skinner, a familiar figure at Scottish concerts in the Old Country, always appears in old Highland dress, with kilt, sporran, and lace frills. Lieut. H. E. Adkins, the director of the famous Kneller Hall Band, will be remembered by thousands of people who listened to the massed military bands in the Stadium at the opening of Wembley Exhibition. Responsible for the training of all army bandmasters. Lieut. Alkins invariably conducts (we read) without a music score, and has a most remarkable musical memory. He frequently memorises music by a single 'reading of the score—Holst’s "jPlanets” was imprinted on his memory, it is said, after he had heard one performance of it, and then read through the score. There is no doubt that the new H.M.V. process of recording, takeli in conjunction with the capacity of the new model instrument to recover from the record everything that is imprinted thereon, has made possible a thrilling revelation of the beauty of really great choral music. The June records from the H.M.V. recording rooms include two remarkable discs by the Leeds Festival Choir of 250 voices. Three sides are devoted to Arnold Bax s 4 Mater Ora Filium” and the fourth to Purcell’s splendid “Soul of the World” (“St. Cecilia s Day”). “Mater Ora Filium” is a wonderful example of modern choral writing, and considered one of the finest choral compositions produced during the last 25 years. It is based upon an old carol found in manuscript in the library of Balhol College, Oxford. It is a difficult piece to sing as the harmonies are at times complex, but the Leeds Festival is a virtuoso choir and surmounts any difficulties very easily. There are moments of extreme beauty at which an emotional fervour of exceptional intensity is reached; some of the climaxes are thrilling. The listener will probably experience a little difficulty in picking up the thread of the music. Several replays are necessary. Also, a soft tone or fibre needle may be preferred for home listeners. . There are some exquisite gems in tlie musical literature of Germany, and of these there is probably, with the possible exception of Frieda Hempel, no finer exponent than Elena Gerhardt who Rives us this month a Brahms bracket— Von Ewiger Liebe,” “Eternal Love, and “Inmer Leiser Wird Mein Schlummer “Fainter, Fainter, Grow My Slumbers (H.M.V.). Gerhardt is regarded as one of the greatest lieder singers the world has yet produced, and her interpretations in these two records are models to all singers, particularly in the matter of phrasing and breath control. . There are few songs m the repertoire of German lieder to equal Brahms’ Von Ewiger Liebe” in sheer beauty and intensity Contrasted in mood, but none the less emotional is the same composer s “limner Leiser Wird Mem Schlummer, the very epitome of resigned sadness! Verdi’s melodious “La Traviata is drawn upon by Galli-Curci (soprano) and Tito Schipa” (tenor) for two fine duets—“Un di Felice, Eterea” (Rapturous Moment”), from Act 1. and “Pangi, O Cura, Noi Lascererao” (“Ear from Gay Paris”), Act 3. The bright tuneful music of “La Traviata” has an undeniable charm and freshness, and these duets have been well recorded for His Masters Voice Dibdin’s delightful old English ballad opera, "Lionel and Clarissa, has been recorded for H.M.V. by the singers engaged at the recent successful production of the piece by Mr Nigel Playfair at the Lyric Theatre'in London. There are three discs. The singing is quaint yet delightful, while the orchestral work is_ really charming. A certain amount of editing and rearrangement has been required, and this ’as been well accomplished by Mr Arthur Reynolds, who conducted the performances at the Lyrio heatre. The balled opera is something peculiarly British; ideally suited to our temperament and again ideally suited to our temperament ajid again ideally suited, thanks to the shortness of its numbers, to “recording.’ ‘Lionel and Clarissa” was first produced in 1168. The musio was composed by Ihomas Dibdin of “Ben Backstay” and “Tom Bowling” fame—but airs by other contem• norary composers such as Galuppi, Vinci, and others, were inserted and have remained. , , . „ The (Sullivan-German) Emerald Isle has every element needed for a completely captivating light opera. This selection contains many bright tuneful airs by two of the most famous composers in this genre, Sullivan and Edward German. It would he a fascinating procedure for the listener to guess exactly how much of the piquant music, which has been recorded for H.M.V. by the Coldstream Guards Band in a large double disc, came from the respective pens of the two composers. Certainly Ed ward German’s hand is easily distinguishable in the jolly jig with which the second side comes to a brilliant close. . "Church Bells of Novgorod’ and the introduction to “A Life for the Czar (Glinka), sung in Russian, is the most recent achievement for the disc by the Kedoff Male Quartet. This record should be here shortly, and, considering the wonderful effects of light and shade for which the quartet is famous, it should receive a cordial welcome from lovers of part singing in its perfection. After the successful rendering of the ancient Christmas hymn “Adeste Fideles by the Associate Glee Clubs of America, singing 850 strong, with the audience of over 4000 joining in, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, Columbia has secured further records frtun this fine body of male voices. The latest massed Glee Clubs record is “The Sword of Farrara (words with record), and the “Hunting Song” from Robin Hood, both remarkable for their volume. The record does not state what the “V™" phony Orchestra is that played with William Murdoch, the great pianoforte Concerto in C Minor of Beethoven, but it would not be surprising if it was the Halle Orchestra of Manchester, as Sir Hamilton Harty conducted. This noble work was composed in 1800 ami published four years later. It is in the customary three movements, allegro con brio, largo and rondo, occupies four discs, both sides, and is recorded in its entirety. The Concerto is a striking example of the intellectual character of Beethoven’s work. It is magnificently performed and Columbia can take lull credit for the recording as well as tor its enterprise in making such splendid works accessible to a far larger public than ever hear it in the concert hall For a good rousing band record with plenty of harmony, it is difficult to over praise “Martial Moments” arranged by Aubrey Winter) as performed for Columbia by the Band of the Grenadier Guards. There are over 20 marches included in this clever musical patchwork, and the value to bandsmen as well as to other listeners will be the brilliancy of the individual instrumentalist of this crack hand of the British armv. The charm of the arrangement too, for the non-musical listener, is that among the score of passages, brief as in themselves they are, be is sure to pick out some one or more familiar melodies. This is an excellent record to have in any collection whore thought is given to audiences including people w-ho do not feel equal to the classics