BANDSMEN'S COLUMN

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 235, 7 November 1914, Page 5

BANDSMEN'S COLUMN

(By '' MAESTRO.' ? ) -

Concerts are the order of the day. The first to engage our attention is one given last Saturday night by the orchestra attached to the Workingmen's Club. The conductor is Mr E. C. Derry, who has at his command eighteen very capable instrumentalists, who paid a visit to the Richmond Club and had an enjoyable musical evening. The band played in good style, and its efforts were fully appreciated by those present. One of the items on the programme was a sort of fantasia descriptive of the '"'Old Folks at Home." This was one of those pieces calculated to please all sorts of fancies, containing, as it does, the plain song, serio-comic, descriptive, martial, and the grand. Each time the air is played it is given with a different rendering. Mr E. Sullivan gave a fine rendering of '' A Perfect Day,'' and Mr L. Croft, the trombonist, gave a song, "Mrs Tommy Atkins." This is a local composition. A collection in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund realised £3. The club's chairman thanked the band for the very fine programme, and Mr Woledge, on behalf of Mr Derry and the orchestra, thaflked the members of the Richmond Club for their warm reception and the way in which they had assisted in making the event one of success. The orchestra also gave another programme, on Sunday evening, at the Cliristchurch Club, which resulted in £3 more being added to the Belgian Fund. Orchestral Society. It is seldom that I make any comment on this very fine combination, but I cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing what I feel. A number of our brass bands are repi-esented in its ranks, and they play no mean part in the success of the orchestra. The concert given in the Opera House last Wednesday was the first of a series of popular concerts, and I offer my congratulations on the musical success of this particular programme, of which I append a few remarks. The "Patriotic Tribute" was not uniformly good. For instance, the "Marseillaise" was not sufficiently descriptive—it was rather on the tame side. The Russian Anthem was delightful, and of this number was by far the best. The '' Overture Die Flederinans" opened with splendid attack and precision, followed by a dainty solo by the oboe, played really well. The accompaniments were excellent. There were some fine tone gradations; the light and shade, tempo and rhythm, and nuances were all treated as they should be. The connecting link from waltz to andante was beautifully done. I should prefer a little more life and vitality put into this movement. Otherwise this was good. The oboe again did well in the next movement, and all went well to the end. The clarinet solo, by Mr D. Sinclair, was opened with a fine quality of tone, and was artistically treated, but the orchestra, in its accompanimental work, was more pleasing still. The well-defined and beautifully balanced harmonies, with a magnificent tone, was a distinct feature, and the soloist, though doing so well with his solo, was assisted materially by the superb accompaniment. The difficult cadenza was very well rendered, but there were technical defects noticed, and some notes were indistinct. An encore was well deserved, and given. The suite, "Ballet Egyptien," was splendidly attacked, and a distinct crispness permeated the The various effects were all well done. The tuba showed up to advantage, and without him an important part would have, been sadly missed. The allegretto was distinctly pretty in the opening bars, but later the horns were uncertain, and spoiled it somewhat. The harp, in the andante sostuneto, was effective, and this movement was good throughout. The andante expressive was first class, and revealed a delightful flautist. The finale was worked up in grand style. The tone poem, "Findlandia," was splendid from beginning to end. The brass section combined with the other instruments to produce those brilliant effects essential to the correct interpretation of this music. The cornet solo, '' The Rosary,'' by Mr H. Fox, had two good qualities, i.e., a very fine tone and good phrasing; but it was not properly interpreted, an I not being correctly conceived, its production suffered in consequence. One cannot but make comparisons. When the R.A. Band was here the solo cornettist played this song as a cornet solo, and it was a picture beautifully painted by an artist. But these essential qualities were lacking when rendered on Wednesday night in the Opera House. Still, the house recalled Mr Fox, who gave a really commendable reading of the song. The "William Tell" overture concluded the programme. This was another piece of good orchestral work, a feature of which was the "CorAnglais" solo, which was artistically given, though the trill was closed too soon. In this respect the" flute was much the better of the two. I must compliment the flautist on his splendid woi'k in this piece. It was a pleasure to listen to him. The strings, too, were always up to* the mark. The entry of the trumpets was not clean, but was soon put right. The horns were distinctly weak and lacked fluency. They do not seem to understand how to correctly use the tongue. The trombone and the euphonium, in the storm scene, were fine indeed, but special praise is due to the euphonium. The chromatic passages were excellently executed, and fine volume of rich tone and good technique were features that I cannot pass by unnoticed. The intonation of the orchestra all through was good. Mr Thorley has done fine work in the short time he has had them, and the improvement in the cornets and horns deserves much 'praise. Derry's Band. Derry's Baud gave their first concert of the season, and the first of the municipal concerts at the Victoria Square on Thursday night. There was a full muster, and an ideal night for playing, and a huge crowd of people was there from the start and stayed till the end. The band made a good start with a spirited march, "National Spirit"—a good body of tone and a fine swing. The tenor cornet and the special cornets and horns were not reading the triplets correctty, and the first-named had a bad quality of toue-vover-blow-ing is a habit to overcome. The "Potpourri Medley " was an item worthy of being on any programme. The opening was good, but the response was not equal, and lacked unformity. The band, generally speaking, played well all through this, but the second and third cornets were not what they ought to be, and the tenor cornet —well, I think he needs extra attention. The solo cornet had several little solo pieces to play in this item, which were exceedingly pleasing. The euphonium was not brilliant, Uut was soxmd all through. The trom-

bones also did good work, but th-e basses were not up to their usual standard. The reeds were satisfactory, faulty intonation being their serious fault. Altogether this was given very well. Mr Hutton cleverly played the piccolo solo, and added to the pleasure of the evening.' The counter part in the baritones, etc., was slightly overdone, and at times sharp in the upper register. The "Valse Lente" was satisfactory, but the best piece of the evening was the '' Intermezzo.'' There was really splendid work in this piece, especially by the cornets, baritones, etc., trombones and basses. A generally good standard of playing was kept up in this piece. The concert concluded with a march, which was played in good style. Both the French and English Anthems were given at the close. Mr Derry and the band are to be congratulated on their first effort of the season.