COMPETITIONS WORK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18163, 10 August 1933, Page 9

COMPETITIONS WORK

MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT

HINTS TO COMPETITORS

ADVICE FROM WILL HUTCHENS

So general was the interest aroused by tho publication in the Herald of Mr. Byron Brown’s views upon competitions work in elocution and tho preparation of tho student for competition work, that tho Gisborne Competitions Society has secured from Mr. Will Hutchens, Mus. Bach., who will judge the musical section at the forthcoming festival, a review of some of his experience, with tho object of helping students .of music to co-operate with the judge and to improve the standard of their work. The contribution by Mr. Hutchens is a lengthy one, and it will bo published in sections, as was that of Mr. Brown. The first sectiou is given hereunder. After judging at 15 competition festivals within six years, there are certain definite impressions left in one’s mind as to the points which competitors should cultivate, and the pitfalls they should endeavor to avoid (writes Mr. Hutchens). No ope knows better than the judge that the best performers do not always win, but the judge is limited in his decision to the actual performance given upon the platform, and not to what he feels the performer could do under other circumstances. Stage fright, lack of experience, unwise choice of selection, and many other factors enter into the success, or otherwise, of a competitor’s effort. The late Dame Nellie Melba once said that no one has any business to be nervous—“it .simply means that one is thinking about one’s self instead of about one’s piece.” Greater concentration upon the message of the solo is certainly a help in this respect. Experience is, of course, tho greatest factor in overcoming nervousness, and experience can only be gained by perseverance—there is no short cut. A pupil of mine, with a beautiful voice and considerable interpretative ability, appeared at the Competitions for three years before she gained a single recall, "but two years ago she appeared as “Mimi" in “La Boheme” in Milan.

Regarding choice of selection, some competitors try to impress a judge by choosing the heaviest work available, irrespective of their own executive and interpretative capacity to perform it adequately. At the other extreme we meet with those whose taste finds expression iff conventional “shop ballads,” generally with waltz refrains. To do justice to tho teachers, I should add that this kind of thing is generally performed by people who are self-taught, or whoso tuition was scanty, and ended long ’ago.

The item chosen should not exploit the performer’s executive powers to their limit, for even if it be possible to reproduce in public what one has “just managed” in the practice-room, there is always a feeling of anxiety lest there should be a slip, and the performance loses spontaneity. Nor should players and singers choose a piece because of their “technical adequacy” to it. Too many have an imperfect grasp of the intellectual and emotional basis of their pieces, and thus lose marks because of faulty interpretation. Students should study the text, if there is any, learn all they can of the composer’s life and outlook, and endeavor to recreate, within their own consciousness, the emotions which have resulted in the musical expression of tho composer's conception of his theme. One hears too often artificial interpretations, mechanical observance of the markings in a work, which arise from attempts to I “put in the. expression,” instead of trying to bring it out.- The very titles of many pieces suggest their true character, biit even those are frequently unstudied. For one festival, in one of the children’s sections (piano), I set Poldini’s well-known “La- Poupee Valsante.” One attractive little player, technically sound and seriously thoughtful, gave a performance which suggested an attempt to make a Beethoven sonata out of it. Meeting her after the Competitions, I asked her whether she knew the meaning of the title. She shook her head, and appeared surprised whpn I told her that the music should portray a waltzing doll.

I am sometimes asked: “What is the commonest fault at Competitions?” Seeing that the musical classes include those for piano, voice,’ violin, etc., it would obviously lie .difficult. to name a fault common to all, but in a general way my experience has been that the majority of pianists play too fast, and most singers sing too slowly, whilst in the case of violinists poor tone and faulty intonation are the chief defects.

Now, a word in general .about memorisation. lam frequently asked why I do not allot specific marks for memorisa-, tion. So rarely do singers use scores nowadays—excopt for oratorio excerpts, where they are quite permissible, that nothing need bo said in that connection. Regarding instrumentalists, the. ideal performance is a memorised one, but a fetish should not be made of this feature. Better' a good performance with the music than a poor one without. Where a definite allocation is made for , memorisation, a child is psychologically as well as literally handicapped when she brings her music along and observes that she is one of a small minority, and that tho others start with five of 10 marks in hand. There aro degrees of- dependence upon the copy; I have seen competitors with niu6ic who have forgotten to-turn a singlo page over—thoy have really memorised their work. Others, without the music, lose all spontaneity in their strenuous efforts to avoid memory slips. When it comes to finalists, however, all other things being equal, the competitor who has memorised tho music secures suitable recognition under the allocation for “musicianship.”