Music in Patea.

Patea Mail, 21 September 1880, Page 3

Music in Patea.

The quarterly concert of the Harmonic Society was given on Saturday evening, in the Town Hall. The attendance was sufficient to present a good show, though the Hall was not full. It.was noticed and commented on that the supporters of the late bazaar were not represented conspicuously in return for substantial help given. The programme consisted of Macfarren’s cantata, “ Lady of the Lake,” and this public performance will enable auditors to judge of the suitability of this class of composition for performance by amateur singers without the aid of a string band. Performers on the stage have not the same opportunity as auditors for testing the effect as a whole. If performers invito auditors to be present, it must bo with the intention of giving pleasure, and the verdict of those auditors ought to bo of some consequence. Let the Harmonic Societ}- invite a candid expression of opinion from members of the audience in this instance. Was the concert a success ? Was it a pleasing effort falling short of success ? Our opinion is intended to be generous yet candid. The cantata gave little pleasure, from the unsuitability of a set piece of this kind, performed under conditions never contemplated by the composer. Did not Macfarrcn design the vocal scoring to be supported by a band of strings and reeds ? Almost every movement in the composition showed on Saturday how much the help of a band was needed to produce the varied fullness of tone and balance of parts which constitute the finished charm ot concerted music. The band furnishes a running accompaniment, filling up blanks in the vocal scoring, supporting and varying it where effect can best be given, and generally weaving a subdued chromatic embroidery over which the leading voices predominate in harmonious design. It cannot be supposed that Macfarren would have arranged his scoring as he did if he had not intended the voices to be supported with a subdued body of instnir mentation. Take away the instrumentation, and the vocal parts want some connecting thread of harmony. The recitatives were notably ineffective, often meaningless and wearying, for want of this supporting body of low harmony. The chorus parts failed of their duo effect, the singers being strangely timid, rarely taking up the first bar with united force, aud seeming to rely on some support which wasn’t there. Any musical ear must have noticed this halting weakness, at a distance from the stage. It was natural that weakness should induce unsteadiness, hesitancy, and irregular time. Hardly a single chorus had a bell-like unity of blended voices, but in spite of frequent shakiness there was no collapse. Had the conductor lost his steadiness in like manner, the basses and tenors and cantatriccs would have parted company, and there would have been a Bimutaka disaster. Comments of this kind are offered with a desire to reflect the opinions of a mixed audience who go to an amateur concert with a hearty ■ desire for its success. If they arc not pleased they say so. If their opinion is worth having, let the auditors take it as being sincere, and sec whether it cannot be turned to profit in arranging future progi’ammes. If it is said that the object of the society is not to give pleasure to a mixed audience, but to perform a certain musical task which the performers have set themselves to do, that is a proposition which the public have not understood. It would simply operate as a warning not to go. Even members of the society could not sustain enthusiasm, for they are not likely to labor at music which cannot be performed with a pleasing result. Besides which, it is so easy to get concerted music that is suitable for the double object of instructive practice and public enjoyment. It is to bo regretted that after so much enthusiastic labor, well directed and well sustained, the result should be so little gratifying to the public, and so disappointing in that sense to the performers as a whole. Some performers achieved pleasing successes. Much of the music was of a character which admitted of effective rendering ; and if these parts had been selected, and the inconsequent recitatives cut away, the abbreviated cantata would probably have been successful as a musical performance. The story would have had to be shortened ; but is it worth while sacrificing the patience and pleasure of an audience for the mere figment of preserving every episode in a long story ? People want the music, not the story, which they can get more complete elsewhere. The

charm of brevity needs to be pointed out. If this cantata, had boon epitomised , preserving the more effective choruses and the telling parts for leading voices, while reducing the whole to an hour’s performance, with a mixed programme for the second part, the result would have been gratifying all round. As it is, this journal must take the ungracious task of suggesting how failure may be avoided..

The opening chorus contained some fine scoring, though lacking strength to bring out the attainable effect. The first duct between Ellen (lady of the lake) and Fitzjamcs (the English knight who lost his way in hunting) opened with catching tunefulness, but proved to be too long. The soprano sang with sweetness and volume, an excellent voice well disciplined ; and her part all through the cantata was a leading feature by reason of its excellent rendering and the admirable quality of voice. The tenor (Fitzjamcs) sang with remarkable sweetness, the only faults being stiffness of expression and want of power. His execution was painstaking and appreciative. After the maidens’ chant within the Douglas hall at Loch Katrine, a monotonous recitative by Fitzjames was a trying part in the absence of a band, and was ineffective, the more so as the singer suffered from a cold. A striking effect is produced by the boatsong of the clan Alpine, sung by male voices of the chorus, the scoring being romantic and tuneful, expressive of the situation; the leading voice in the boatsong being that of Rhoderick Dhu, bold leader in cattle forays, yet a punctilious Highland gentleman. A livel}' quartette followed, between Rhoderick, Ellen, Malcolm Grromc, and Douglas, rendered pretty well. The “Anathema” for those who fail to respond to the war summons of the iieiy cross ought to have been a powerfully weird episode, with proper weight of chorus and band. A weak rendering was unsatisfactory. Ellen’s lovely prayer, “ Ave Maria ! ” was a soprano gem, exquisitely sung. It is such sunny gleams of delicious tune that redeem a long dreary cantata from utter weariness. Better to select the scattered gems and drop the dreary filling-in.

In the second part Blanch of Devan, the sweet demented maid, had to warllc snatches of a plaintive song telling the story of her love and sad bereavement. I’his contralto part could not have been improved ; being rendered with touching tromulousness appropriate to the part, and with tender sweetness. The chorus at this point was very unsteady. The challenge duet between Rhoderick and Fitzjames was effective, though too stiffly rendered in respect of dramatic expression. This conventional stiffness is not seen in the best artists on the lyric stage. Sims Beeves and Mr Santlcy arc distinguished for dramatic vivacity in rendering solo parts. Rhoderick looked the character in Ins defiant sturdy attitude, and was quite equal to it musically. Fitzjames lacked vigor, though always sweet and careful. The “ coronach,” sung by the choir, was a grand dirge, rendered better than most of tbe choruses. The soldier’s song by John of Brent, a guard-room hero, went off excellently. This singer haft the sense and courage to act his part instead of coldly singing it, and by his spirited bearing he “ brought down the house,” whereat some other singers seemed puzzled. They have something to learn. No other feature in the second part calls for notice. The music was rendered by the soloists with appreciative care, and their zealous application to such difficult and often tedious scoring is highly commendable. Labor of this kind could he applied more usefully to music of a character better suited to the conditions of the case. A communication which has reached us on this subject will appear on Thursday.