A STIMULATING AFTERNOON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22545, 12 April 1935, Page 17

A STIMULATING AFTERNOON

MODERN MUSIC DISCUSSED BY MR VICTOR PETERS Yesterday afternoon was an enjoyable and stimulating one for a number of people who, at the invitation of Mrs W. J. Hunter, president of the Ladies’ Auxiliary Committee of the Christchurch Harmonic Society, met in the Somerset Lounge of the Savoy to meet Mr Victor Peters, the conductor, and hear him talk on modern music in general and the programme to be rendered at to-morrow’s recital in particular. Mrs Hunter, wearing a smart black satin moire frock, with long sleeves puffed with lame, and a lame yoke, and a large black hat with a white feather, received the guests at the door of the lounge, which was arranged with small tables covered with coloured clothe, and painted vases of dahlias. There were present Mr and Mrs E. T. Cox, Mrs R. Kennedy, Bishop and Mrs Fitchett, Lady Sidey, Mr and Mrs L. Peters, Mi's R. C. Crumble, Mr and Mrs Leech, Mr Charles Begg, Mr and

Mrs G. M'Avoy, Mr and Mrs H. K. Wilkinson, Mrs Cameron, Mrs R. Hudson, Mrs Smeaton, Mr Himburg, Captain and Mrs Satterthwaite, Mr and Mrs Sinclair, Mr and Mrs Desmoulins, Mrs B. Levi, Madame Winnie Fraser, Miss Kitty Glendinning, Mrs P. L. Ritchie, Mr and Mrs H. C. Campbell, Mr and Mrs A. Duncan, Mr and Mr e Crow, Mr and Mrs Walmsley, Mrs H. J. Guthrie, and Mrs V. E. Galway. The Ladies’ Auxiliary Committee in Christchurch is a very alert and interesting body, the members of which see in Mr Peters a conductor worthy of their best efforts. They not only look after the social side of the Harmonic Society’s life and entertain visiting overseas artiste, but they also organise meetings and parties for the purpose of raising funds to purchase new music for the society’s use. Last year alone they were able to give Mr Peters £l4O to bo spent on music, a sum not altogether out of proportion to their own enthusiasm, for the average attendance at any of their social evenings is never less than 300. But the moving power behind the members is obviously Mrs Hunter herself, whose personality and organising abilities are extraordinarily strong. Mrs Hunter is the wife of a wellknown Christchurch barrister, and the great-grandniece of two famous men — Sims Reeves, the famous English tenor, and John Rose, the founder of Coleport china. An authority on antiques, she has in her possession the first tea and coffee service made by the Coleport works, a treasure of which she ig justly proud. She has always taken an active part in the social life of Christchurch, and was chairwoman of the Social Committee of the first legal conference held in the Dominion. Her organising efforts are confined not only to the Harmonic Society, hut also to all kinds of charity, and it wag she who raised £SOO for relief during the time of the Murchison earthquake. Such facts were made known to yesterday’s guests by Mr Peters, when, after .afternoon tea had been served, he rose to address them. His speech was a vital and exciting one, quite impromptu and charmingly delivered. The reason for his ability to inspire the Ladies’ Auxiliary on his behalf as a conductor was quite apparent. Mr Peters began by expressing, his appreciation of the Dunedin Committee that had made the visit of the Harmonic Society possible, and said that the purpose of the trip was chiefly to stimulate and revive interest in choral work. It was curious the way people would move with the times in everything but this type of music. Year after year the old oratorios were produced; ami yet there were wonderful works being created annually, and in England, too. Mr Peters did not believe that all modern music was good. On the contrary, he thought some of it very bad indeed. But a society should be able to discriminate and pick out what was worth while, even among modern works. He also put aside the idea of using only foreign music. Why not use British when Britain could produce such men as Dr Dyson, Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, and so on? The peculiar virtue of the Harmonic Society lay in the fact' that it believed in itself and the work it was doing, and was thus able to inspire the public with confidence and create a new opinion in favour of the vigorous and thrilling work of modern composers. He did not care so much about appealing to

musicians as to such members of the general public as were progressive and took an interest in the present-day affairs and present-day movements. Possibly his enthusiasm for the works his society played was due to the fact that he knew personally most of the composers. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to a description of to-morrow evening’s programme, which, if at all like Mr Petgrs’s account of it, will be nothing short of enchanting. It is to be a blend of solid and bright music which may possibly appeal more to the public than to musicians, and which gives great pleasure to the Harmonic Society performing it. Mr Peters’s description was punctuated with anecdotes about the composers, and an eloquent demonstration of the nature of the music itself. He ended by suggesting that Dunedin could do more with her own musicians, and, with the aid of a Ladies’ Auxiliary such as that presided over by Mrs Hunter, could make herself the most musical city in New Zealand. At the close of his delightful talk, Mr Peters was thanked by Mr E. T. Gox (Mayor), by Mr Walmsley on behalf of the Choral Society, and by Mr Leech, conductor of the Lyric Choir,. The afternoon ended in social chat.