MASTER OF ADVENTURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23436, 26 February 1938, Page 4

MASTER OF ADVENTURE

MEMOIRS OF A MUSICIAN j “And Master of None.” by J. H. Squire. Foreword by Christopher Stone. Illustrated. London: Jenkins. 19s 6d. It is not often, even in these enlightened times, that musicians are recognised as normal human beings. Only a few years ago, when Sir Edward Elgar took an active interest in a race meeting, English newspapers bore headlines to the tune of “Sir Edward Elgar backs a horse!” as though me composer of the “ Dream of Gerontius were entitled to do no such thing. Thus, while considering the b ? ok +v , a : present under review, one feels tnax Mr J. H. Squire is almost wasted on his Celeste Octet, for it reveals him as a very normal and adventurous man. Everyone who has been entertained or irritated by Mr Squire s renderings of the classics should read his book if only to find out what lies behind that genial countenance witn its attendant monocle. At the age oi 1.1 Mr Squire fled from the wrath ol a father who did not believe m sparing the rod, and. following the best traditions, ran away to sea. He is able to give a highly coloured account of his first voyage in the days when seafaring was a real adventure, ihe most important fact is that he learned

a couple of airs on a cornet from an ancient sailorman, so that, the first lime he was stranded in New York, he had just to stand with his cornet on a street corner, where half a dozen blasts on the instrument brought him sufficient money to live. After he had killed a negro bully with a crowbar and narrowly escaped being shot at dawn ‘owing to his complicity in one* of the monthly Brazilian revolutions, our hero joined the Royal Navy as a bandsman, and went through many exciting events, particularly the Boxer rising in China, before finally returning to England and taking up mqsic as a’profession. From this point onwards the story does not become dull, however, for the musical adventures of this indomitable leader of the Squire Octet provide an amazing series of ups and downs. Mr Squire has made three fortunes (and lost them), has come through the ordeal of bankruptcy, and has lived to see his name a household word. He tells his story with the utmost simplicity and directness, and it can be widely enjoyed as an engaging account of a life lived in the grand manner. The early, adventurous part of the story reads like sensational fiction, the later part shows all the admirable qualities of the man. and the whole is demonstrative of the typical Englishman’s attitude to life. Matters are further enlivened by many a good anecdote scattered through the book, and one should have little difficulty in agreeing with Mr Christopher Stone that we are reading “ an epitome of the English character.” Spmehow one feels inclined to ; quarrel with the title of Mr Squire’s book. He could justifiably have called it “Master of Life.” J. G.