Organ Recital

Southland Times, Issue 19140, 2 September 1903, Page 2

Organ Recital

_ o St.. Paul's Presbyterian church was crowded in every part last night when a concert of great excellence was given by the choir, with the assistance of musical friends. The concerts given in this church from time to time ; with the object of extinguishing the debt on tho handsome instrument recently installed have been uniformly successful, and in every respect la»t night's entertainment was equal to any of those that had been given before. Both the first and tho second part of the programme were opened with anthems rendered by the choir— "Tc Deum" (Tours), and "He shall give His Angels charge." The choir was strongly reinforced, and the anthems were sung in a very pleasing maimer both as to volume of sound and expression. The first soloist was Mr A. S. Cookson, whose tenor voice was heard to advantage in the oratorio number "If with all your hearts," He was followed by Mrs Forbes-WiJlinnis, who gave Oh Promise Me" with rare sweetness and feeling. Mr G. Black's resonant bass was well suited with "Nazareth," and the selected song contributed by Mrs Blue was one of the most enjoyable items of the evening. In "The Gentle Shepherd" Mr A. U- Thompson had an opportunity, of which full advantage was taken, of charming the audience with his exquisitely pure tenor. The other vocal item was a quartette (unaccompanied), "Summer Night," rendered by Messrs Cookson, Tapley, Kingsland and Black with great precision and taste. Of the instrumental itenife, the fust was a trio, 'Charite," by Messrs Carr (organ), Lillicrap (clarinet), and Ferguson (violin). These mbtruments are admirably suited to play together, and atf the performers were skilled musicians this number was a musical treat. In the item, "O dry those tears," with organ accompaniment, Mr P. H. Mohr, came before the audience as a solo cornelist, and it was manifest that his performance afforded the audtenco genuine pleasure. Mr J. R. Webb introduced an item that was is enjoyable as it was novel— a recitation accompanied by appropriate chords on the organ, while Mr G. A. Carr, the church organist, exhibited both the qualities of his instrument and the range of his re- ! pertorv in the solos, "Postlude" (Roberts), "2 Sonata, Adagio Movet," (Mendelssohn), "Hymn of Nuns" (Weby), and "Triumphal March" (Costa). The programme thus embraced a large number of items of widely varying character, rendered by some of the most popular of local artists, and that they were highly appreciated was made clear by the hearty applause accorded to the performers after their respective contributions. Votes of thanks having been heartily carried to the choir and choirmaster and to the ladies and gentlemen who had given the chuich such generous assistance with voice and instrument, a verse of the National Anthem was RUng by the entire audience, giving a fitting conclusion to an evening's entertainment of uncommon attractiveness.