MUSiCIANS AND COMPOSERS.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 80

MUSiCIANS AND COMPOSERS.

'•.MFSTCAL WALKS." — I::l'.!^-;:-- o f Kailv Daja of P:crr.eIl'l'V C<Jl C!_l :•=. Vna i-'.i r,f m,V O '- corre-ts at which tV> ■ Ijcro:.-M, fo.i'-l u-alk .'.V,ut thp buiidin? dur- I ;tl - *- ' ' ."oimanc- i, dv,« to rh;'ippo ; Mi-jkl. t!>- -n.-iMrillc king."' A £ji«l : '"' ■" ' ■"' *'A .".n P!"TjetiC &':c« ,ur,. i .■'n<^ i ,! it, ii uu I rro uci a--io roic-^i-s in < '.33 m "..i i<=, a:. I tin ■ t n .»• ro:nn"2:i'-i s v-ic so a'irr'ct \.' th it an entorpriaing Lou- f ''- . iiia'-a?^ • -,n;t;i a -^'•i'- vi tho L.^^i'-n s T;_.->airs_on Uccmlo; 12, 1533. Tra'^t:.! 1 -, »if, jr.d -:• :o wor-s hcaiccl o\t .-t) a- to « :«i - i) oi:j !a-:Ee platfo:iri, a::ci cm a lotit* c tjbk- ai the- .-de-: v. ci,c d'^pen^rd^ r. fi ~,'i- i ->"**~i- 1--, rpr. ii c i;;itf nf nrn-intox.'cai't h&\ :•- 1 :"-■• £. -.wh n=; milk, '•'ids. waisr, cofii;o, and i co\'. -lip \\-ii;o. ' •' j '■^ilu^a.-d "cono.-Tls"' v.tg given in' other' 1 ) i!-!s cf London, 'iot. bly pA the 'Royal's (\)'o"CiiTrr Saloon. U-"£"nt's Park — a buiW- ' c •rs,' Ion? i:nce dnmcl-sb^d, tb^u^h :. etiil ' c co';,: 1 i L .<j , (csl by Cc'o'-oii.a Te&'r&c&, in 'j\lhai,y -'^ l—.v.d at tJ-.p 11-aj'^arkct-, Theatre, \»L3re Uil^c was unrtuluced, "aj\ ; j;

extraordinary novelty, an ascending orchestra, which placed the musicians en a level with tie stage, and thus enabled them to produce a very superior effect to thai which could be given before." It was on October 12, 18*0, that Musard first directed promenade concerts at Drury JLan-e, and -his entertainment was the talk of London* The renowned conductor, alert and dignified, naturally came in for some good-humoured ohaff, and Thomas Hood made him celebrated by the following verse : — From battom to top There's no bit of the fop, No trace of your Macaroni; But looking on him, So solemn and grim, You think of the marshals who served under Boney. In 1841 Jullien resumed the promenade concerts at Drury Lane, and made the season ' momofa/ble by .-performing Rossini's "Stabat Mater", for the first time >n England. And in other ways he attempted to raise .the _ standard of rnnisic. He engaged the best performers, secured the most notable vocalists, and - provided attractive selections. He . xegatfded Beethov^nL.as the greatest composer, and always conducted his symphonies with a jewelled baton and in a pair, of, clean kid gloves, ceremoniously handed to him on the platform on a silver salver. One of his popular pieces^ was "The Army and Navy Quadrille," a composition recalled nowadays by the remark of a sailor to his mess- ! mate when the Hornpipe was bein& I played: "A precious lot of lubbers they j are; it takes a hundred of 'em to play one tune." The eminent "Mons" also introduced "sosnic effects" to heighten the illusion he wished to create occasionally. ; For instance, in the pot oourri .known as i "The Last Days of Pompeii" pans of red ; fire were lighted in different parts of the I auditorium, the smoks~ being intended to i suggest the activity of Vesuvius, and i "rumbles in the bowels of the earth" were caused by the dragging- of a garden rolter I over sheets of iron stretched over -the. I prosoenium. To-day Louis Antoino Jullifin.p : who died in. Paris in 1860, conunitti^g suicide in a state of insanity, is best' remembered by his "British Army QuadI rillc" ( ... [ Bis concerts were not always patronised, - by quiet and orderly audience. Young "bloods" would walk 'round the building" ' and drop snuff on the floor ; soon every- ' body would be sneezing, and the noise wa* : increased by the 'oud * protests of the su rferers and by the requests for "sLlenoe 1111 11' 1 from those who were • not affected. Not "* infrequently there was a row unwittingly; originated 'by some individual who forgot, to raisa his hat when *he tun© of th National Anthem \va.s included in an orchestral work ; the hat was promptly tipped' off his head, and then followed a scrimmage. ' Many notable musicians followed Jullien, among them Balfe and Thomas Mellon, bnrk it was not until 1871 that another successful season could be recorded, this being 1 conducted by Jule6 Riviere at Gbvent Garden. For these entertainments an immense fountain was fitted the centre of. the hall, and it was usually a part of the unrehearsed incidents of the evening for a few 6f the attendants to Be ducked in the deep basin by the "boys:" To this rtoceeding' the men on. duty only faintly objected, because of the* pecuniary compensation wh(eh came in the morning, the merry- . maik«rs preferring to pay a sovereign to being hauled up at Bow Street, where the consequences, plus the publicity, would have beer more serious. The season of 1875 was conducted by Luigri Arditi. wheo widow, by ttio way, died a few days ajjo. Arditi had a bald head, and wore a wig. One evening Albohi, who bated wigs, was engaged to sing. Looking at the maestro she burst. into laughter and exclaimed, "Gracious me! You with that wig! Never! I could not sing with that on your head. So here it goes!" And' she clutched Tt from, baa . head and made- htm conduct for her showing his hairless head. Arthur Sullivan conducted the promenade concerts in 1878 and 1879, and originated the idea of devoting the first part of the programme to classical music. The season of 1880 was directed by ,Dr Frederic Co wen, who made a feature once a week of a programme of ihigh-claes humorous music. In 1895 the now Famous series in Langham place was--eterted-by .Mr Robert Newmen, who brought to the Eront Henry Wood, at that time only, 26 rears of age, and comparatively unknown.' Mr Newman, however; believed in his choice, and nafcurailjr Mr Wocd remains ' jraterul to him for giving him his first big start in life. The Queen's Hall Orchestra, which was sriginated by Mr Newman, is now run b~ \ private company, four-fifths of the share * in which .ore hold by Sir Edgar SpKjyeiind Lieutenant-colonel Arthur Collins. ->acS )f whom h a direotor. The nominal carpal of 'the company is £1000. — Chronicle. • HANDEL. — His Cpsras and Oratorios. — Har-ifel passed most of his life in the o;npo>ition of Italian opera. When h iini:'l his attention to oratorio he sought jis models areoi'g the Italian writers. The u-aforio originated ii» Italy, and! in *he> >?:jmnirig i\»as nothing more than a musi:al play on a sacred subject. It was per-onr.--rl with action aid scenic attire, just is the opsra was. T-he- character of tha nu-.ic was inevitably influenced by this oon!iuon as well as by others. The Jta'iiui composers wrote operas toay. oraiorios to-morrow. The materials ihich thsy employed' in the one they itilisorl in cb-2 other. The character- of heir recitatives in both, is^ much alike The. rius aro v. rition n the sajr.e 'shapes and. !rr,')«t in the same moods. Th-e oratqr'p horus mads progress which the opera ho''us <].•:! not makf, b;cau=e when the iiiipi'* bocams th-» lord- c£ t'~e operatic i :ge they loleg'^rcd choral numbers to obLiii'ity. Ha iv, -then, we so& that its the Tta!ia"ti :'iool e£ oratorio rrt-itative^ eolo parts a-jad. wjera developed.) along linc-s jiot.fnr imovcd, ixpm tbcsg -^vhich Kajwtel hgd een .observing, in "his opara=. The chbnis,, wloedj in his 'laS?r operatic creation?.'fv'iojt' b'acausc he laboured' 'ln ' Ijs cra"oT "'fh3 's-ii^Di^s supf3macyT "&.t rudj-of the- Italian model, especially "t^.o 1 boral writing *of Carissiini and Gestij- *f/-" icated-|to him-- -the path by -which* tiftublio ananel was to-'fcfiienligibteTied.. •• .'!»»0>'. - Andvhere ,we-,findi.^e,J?eci^t..of H&riOfcT*!.

materials of a school which worked always in the glare of publicity, and set himse!f also to compose for the public. His oratorios were conceived primarily as works to be performed on the concert platform. They were planned to carry across the footlights. Their effects were studied with the audience in view. — New York Sun.