A VALUABLE GRAMOPHONE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22518, 12 March 1935, Page 6

A VALUABLE GRAMOPHONE

CARNEGIE FOUNDATION'S GIFT UNIVERSITY MUSIC DEPARTMENT BENEFITS. The distinction of being in possession of one %i the four instruments of its type presented by the Carnegie Foundation to universities, in various parts of the British Empire is enjoyed by the Music Department of the University of Otago as the result of the gift made to it of a modern electric gramophone and a large and extremely comprehensive collection of records late last year. Some time has been spent in unpacking the instrument and the accompanying records and literature, but this task has now been completed, and a properly equipped lecture room has been established in the Training College building in Cumberland street, whera the students will receive their tuition under the most advantageous circumstances. The lecturer in music (Dr V. E. Galway) has obviously taken great paint to ensure that the appointments of the lecture room will be such that musia will be heard therein to tlie best advantage, and to this end two of the walls of the large room have been padded with felt in order that the echo almost invariably present in clas3 rooms will be entirely absent, while enough bare wall space has been left to provide against complete deadness of sound. The gramophone itself, a massive instrument capable of producing sufficient volume to fill a very large hall, is an object of peculiar interest in view of the fact that only three others of the same type are known to have been sent out of the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa each having been presented with a similar instrument by the Carnegie Foundation. Obviously a very costly machine, it embodies all the latest refinements in electrical amplification and reproduction of music, and is so equipped that a threehour programme of records can be played without the operator being required to touch the instrument in any way. Quite apart from the pure mechanics of its construction, although tlfey in themselves are worthy of the closest inspection, the most arresting point about the gramophone is the remarkable, not to say astounding, perfection of sound reproduction. Experts whose work brings them into close contact with such instruments as radio gramophones have teen amazed at' the perfect clarity and fidelity of the reproduction of which this gramophone is capable, and the ' general impression has been created that as a musical instrument it is unique in the Dominion. Its sound range_ is enormous, the deepest bass and the tiniest treble notes being reproduced with equal fidelity, while the tonal qualities have to be heard to be believed. In orchestral selections every instrument can be selected with the greatest ease, the crystalline clarity of the reproduction being one of its major characteristics. In this respect alone the instrument is perfectly fitted for the purpose to which it will "be put, for it is obvious that to a lectuier one of the principal requirements in such an instrument would be its ability to give detail. In its presentation of vocal music the gramophone is equally valuable, for the voice and the accompaniment are clear cut, the reproduction embodying a wealth of detail that is invariably lost in an ordinary'machine. The library of records which accompanies the instrument is in itself a magnificent gift, for in the 850 discs are embodied all the phases of musical expression, including works for solo instruments, chamber music, orchestral works of all descriptions, oratorios, and operas, all representative of the great masters of music. In addition, 250 full vocal and instrumental scores are provided, and the whole collection is so catalogued that the selection of the required work for performance is the simplest of procedures.

Students of music at the Otago University should find their studies made infinitely more interesting as the. result of this welcome addition to the department's material, for they will now lie able to base their standards on the work of some of the finest musicians in the world, reproduced in a manner that immediately creates the impression that it is not merely a reproduction but th« actual performance that is being heard.