A RARE TREAT

Southland Times, Issue 21576, 14 December 1931, Page 7

A RARE TREAT

MR BRYAN’S RECITAL OFF THE BEATEN TRACK MANY MODERN PIECES It is a great pity that the Victoria Ha 3 was not crowded on Saturday night when one of the greatest musical treats ever presented to a New Zealand audience was given by Mr Gordon Bryan, examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music. The programme consisted of five sections: the first containing works by Bach, Rameau, Boccherini and Haydn; the second a British group of pieces by E. J. Moeran, Percy Grainger, Eugene Goossens and Balfour Gardiner; a Gallic group by Roger-Ducasse, Rhene-Baton, de Scverac, and Jacques Ibert; four Chopin items, and a modern Continental series by Poldini, Godowsky, Ernst Toch, Scriabine and Paderewski. At the end he added as an encore his own arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Hymn to the Sun. Those best able to judge will readily agree that here was an eclectic programme of seldom-played works, far ahead of what we are accustomed to hear from eminent artists with foreign names. In point of technique it is difficult to see whtre (if at ail) Mr Bryan fails short of the most famous foreigners with whom he is competing. He has deft fingers, supple wrists, a plump staccato, rhythm, singing touch, grace and delicacy, power, unlimited endurance, and an unfailing and well-stocked memory. His tone is never forced or hard, but is invariably musical. Bach was represented by three choral preludes for the organ, the contemplative “To Thee I Cry” transcribed by Max Reger; the sprightly “Mortify us with Thy Goodness’’ arranged by Franz Rummell, in which Bach’s “cheerful godliness” was well expressed ; and the same artist’s arrangement of “Blessed Jesu, here we stand.’’ This last was a splendid example of how Bach can make long-drawn out, highly ornamental figures out of a very simple hymnmelody. Bach’s French contemporary Rameau, was drawn on for a remarkably attractive little piece called Les Tourbillons, while in a Pastorale by Boccherini Mr Bryan gave a specially good instance of playing with a singing touch. The “Quarrel” Sonata by Haydn was one of the most enjoyable items on the programme—splendid as music, quite apart from its descriptive title.

The strong pervading influence of Debussey and Ravel was very noticeable throughout nearly al! the works of the British and French school played. E. J. Moeran, a composer of Irish extraction but nurtured in Norfolk, was represented by his Windmills, and a very humorous little piece by Goosscns called the Hurdy-Gurdy Man caused great amusement by its naivete and clever fidelity to the original. Balfour Gardiner's London Bridge and Molto allegro were very taking items, in which as in so many of the very modern works, the composer seemed to reserve his greatest powers of originality for the final cadence, if that is the right word to describe those unexpected crashing discords with which such pieces commonly end. The E Major Study by Roger-Ducasse was a study in tone-colouring and in interpretation, rather than in agility. The remaining pieces of the Gallic group—the Woman Spinning by R.hene-Baton, the Old Musical Box by de Severac, the Little White Donkey and the Fresh Water Seller by Ibert were all very witty, sparkling works. They do not appear to be mere mood pictures, but set out actually to depict scenes of travel. Mr Bryan certainly enjoyed playing this French group, and was able to carry his audience completely with him. The Chopin items were four unhackneyed pieces—the preludes in C minor and F sharp minor, the little played posthumous study in A flat with its persistent three against two rhythm, and the well-known melodious one in E major. The final section contained a number of tours de force, Poldini’s study in A and Scriabine’s Mazurka in C sharp minor, in both of which Mr Bryan's plump staccato were splendidly evident; Ernest Tocli’s amazingly difficult Juggler, Godowsky’s very attractive Old Vienna Waltz and Paderewski’s Variations on an Original Theme, in which old-fashioned finger work is a main requirement. Mr Bryan’s programme was full of purple patches, but perhaps his most thrilling moment was in the first verse of Percy Grainger’s arrangement of the Ixmdonderry Air. This verse has mainly large chords for both hands, played with extraordinary softness and fulness by Mr Bryan, whilst the familiar melody was played by the thumbs in a way that said the last word in interpretation.