Musical.

Southern Cross, Volume 10, Issue 19, 9 August 1902, Page 9

Musical.

INVERCARGILL MUSICAL UNION.

SECOND CONCERT.

[By “ Pesantb.”]

The music-loving portion of the Invercargill public paid the Musical Union a high compliment in turning out in such large numbers to hear the miscellaneous concert given by its members in the Theatre Royal on Thursday evening. Those responsible for the concert are to be congratulated on their selection of the items, for a more varied or delightful programme has never been presented by the Union. There was -something to please every taste, embracing as it did the madrigal, 400 years old, to the part song of yesterday. To many in the audience, the old English glees and part songs, with their quaint, old-fashioned words, brought back recollections of some far-off English village and its choir—shadows of a happy past. To young singers the singing of these glees must have given unalloyed pleasure, for although their pages may be hoary with the weight of years, their music sparkles with the joy of perennial youth, and will still be bright when a lot of the modem compositions have had their brief day of popularity. Numerically the chorus was weaker than it has been for some time past, but per contra the quality of the voices was better. A most noticeable feature of the evening was the intelligent phrasing by the choir. In chorus singing as a rule, this department is entirely overlooked, and in consequence a most nonsensical meaning is often given to the words. The influence of the master mind was plainly visible, and although his ideal in this respect has not yet been reached, still his singers have travelled , far towards it. Another feature was the pianissimo singing. The tone just seemed to die away and dissolve into nothingness. Of course there were little faults here and there, but taking everything into consideration, the singers reached a high standard of excellence. The opening number of the choir was the old glee ‘ Awake, reolian lyre.’ The fine sustained opening gave opportunity to show the fortissimo strength of the voices. The altos were on the weak side, and the tenors inclined to shout on the top notes. This, indeed, was not an uncommon fault on their part. The men rolled out the tone splendidly towards the finish of the glee. Two Shakesperian songs set to music by Macfarren and Stevens, received good treatment by the choir. The forte piano on the opening note of each verse of ‘Blow, blow, thou winter wind,’ had a most striking effect, particularly on the word ‘ freeze. There was a beautiful tone in the alto lead. The jolly refrain, ‘Heigh, ho! sing heigh ho!’ was given with great zest, and the unison forte, ‘ This life is most jolly,’ repeated in harmony pianissimo, was most humoursome. ‘ Sigh no more, ladies,’ was one of the best efforts of the choir. The basses and sopranos divided did good work in this number. The singers caught the spirit of the glee, and the earnest manner in which the words ‘ men were deceivers ever, one foot on sea and one on shorw, to one thing constant never,’ were sung, made one almost think that this fallacy was every individual singer’s fervent belief.

‘ The Skylark ’ is a typical composition by that master of melody, the late Sir Joseph Barnby. The soprano tone in the upper notes was rather thin, and half way through the basses were overweighted in the low notes. A few mature voices were missed, and the tenors struck some wrong notes. The light and shade in this part song was very good. The madrigal, ‘ My bonny lass, she smiletb/ was exceedingly well sung, the singers entering thoroughly into their respective parts. The tenors

were more careful here, and came through with flying colours. German’s part song was the only accompanied one on the programme, and being such was a refreshing change. The sopranos excelled themselves, particularly in the refrain, ‘ O, lovely May, how sweet the lay,’ etc. Their tone was fnli and sweet. The gradation of tone on the final chord of the first verse was distinctly good, and the release most happy. The gem of the evening was without doubt “ There rolls the deep ” Tennyson’s noble words set to music by another great Englishman, Parry. The oft-quoted phrase, ‘ the words are wedded to the music,’ could never be more fittingly applied than in this instance. The meaning of the words is most subtilely expressed in the music. The choir may pin their reputation on their interpretation. It was a most artistic bit of singing. The music just throbs with feeling, and the haunting sadness of the last farewell lingers long in one’s ears. An extremely difficult number was Bluraenthal’s ‘ A Shadow,’ and it tested the capabilities of the singers, especially the men, to the utmost. There was a slight hesitancy in changing from the minor key to the major in the third verse, but the voices soon swung into line. The basses had a most telling part, and made the most of it. This item was a worthy second to ‘ There rolls the deep ’ —the final note bung quivering on the air. A daintily tripping song by Sullivan was the least successful of the choir’s efforts —not that it was by any means badly,sung, but the voices had not the requisite delicacy and and lightness suitable to the airy character'of the music. The sopranos’ shake in each verse emphasised this. Some of the basses were slightly at sea in the accidentals. Invercargill singers are more at home in slowsustained music than in dainty little echoes. The orchestral items were all more or less familiar. In the incidental music to Henry VIII the brass instruments shone forth. The Graceful Dance has always been a favorite with the public, who were glad to renew the acquaintance—it was most delicately played. The string tone was not powerful owing to lack of players—still it was pure. The horn solo was most expressively played, and showed the player was no mean performer the swell was nicely graded. The Faust selection is the most popular one ever played by the orchestra—it abounds in delightful snatches of melody. The opening movement was unsteady, bat the players soon settled to their work, and all went ‘ merry as a marriage bell.’ Euphonium, clarinet, and cornet did very good work in this selection .

4 Gipsy Life,’ a descriptive fantasia, could not but please, The movements are so varied in character, and the music so tuneful. The piccolo had a most effective part in the second movement. The weakness of the strings in the forte passages was noticeable.

MacKenzie’s 4 Benedictus ’ was to the orchestra what Parry’s music was to the voices, and a fine rendering of the piece was given, the violins playing with a fine singing tone. The ‘ Coronation March ’ is a good one of its type, and was a most appropriate finale, heralding as it did the auspicious occasion of the morrow. Mr Le Petit’s classical flute solo—■ two dances by German —were a decided change from the everlasting instrumental solo of 4 The Blue Bells of Scotland,’ with variations type. He deserves the thanks of musiclovers, Mr Le Petit does not bring forth a powerful tone from his instrument, but the sweetness makes ample amends, and his execution is always clean.

Mrs Crowther triads a fairly successful debut with Gounod’s ‘ O, Divine Redeemer !’ Ifc was certainly an ambitious choice, and the measure of success scored by the singer will encourage her to prosecute her studies. Mrs Crowther has a pleasing soprano voice. As yet her tone

is inclined towards hardness, but time and .work will mellow the tone. The effect of this fine song was greatly enhanced by a tastefully played violin obligato by Mr W. Ferguson, assisted by Mr D, Kingsland at the organ. Mr Thompson and Mr Branson gave a spirited rendering of Balfe’s evergreen ‘ Excelsior ’ duet. Mr Thompson’s pure tenor voice was heard to. great advantage. A voice like this, backed with the requisite musical knowledge, would be an acquisition anywhere, and is what has long been wanting in Invercargill. Mr William Ferguson led the orchestra in his usual capable manner, and worked like a Trojan. It was a most thoughtful act on the part of the conductor, when addressing the audience, to pay a tribute to the young violinist’s skill. It should be added that at the last moment Mr D. Blue, the old leader of the orchestra, who hail intended to assist, was unable to do so —a circumstance which Mr Gray mentioned with regret. Miss Russell assisted at the piano, and as for Mr Gray, well—Mr Gray was Mr Gray, and being so, was the Alpha and the Omega of everything.