A MUSICIAN IN ENGLAND

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1929, Page 14

A MUSICIAN IN ENGLAND

MR. H. C. A. FOX’S VISIT BRASS BANDS VERY POPULAR. CONTEST AT CRYSTAL PALACE.

During his short sojourn in England the conductor or the Hawera Municipal Band, Mr. H. C. A. Fox, had many opportunities of coming into contact with British musical circles, and he had an interesting story to relate when interviewed yesterday by a Daily News representative. As a bandsman Mr. Fox was greatly interested in the. development of band music since he was previously in England and he had the privilege of a visit to Kneller Hall, the military college of music at Hounslow, a suburb of London. “This college exists for the training of young soldier musicians who show exceptional promise on their instruments or in music generally,” stated Mr. Fox. “They are sent there only when they become fairly proficient on their instruments or have obtained an entrance pass in the theory of music for those intending to become bandmasters. I saw 200 young men of the college who were being trained as instrumental soloists, performing in the open air at Kneller Hall grounds. Each item given by the large band was conducted by one of the students who are training for' army, bandmasterships. It was quite interesting to see the remarkable styles of conducting in some cases. In the band there would be as many as six oboes, ten trombones, 14 flutes, and over 40 clarionets. ~ The musical portion of the college is in charge of Lieutenant Adkins, Mus. Doc. “Brass bands at the present time in England are getting a greater hearing than ever, but there is a tendency to commercialise them, with the result that the amateur brass bands are losing from their ranks several of the best bands, whose members are now making a living out of engagements at seaside resorts and at city parks. While I consider that the style of playing is not eo. good as when I was previously in England, there appear to be more 'bands able to render programmes of a varied nature. The falling off in the general playing is probably due to the amount of jazz and other inferior music that they have to play to suit the public taste of Great Britain. “Brass bands have such a hold, on seaside and park engagements that they are having a detrimental effect on the earnings of army military bands, many places preferring the brass bands 0f.26 players to the military band of 40. Probably the expense of the latter is one reason for the popularity of the former. I heard a military band that had been cut down to the average number in brass bands, but the effect was anything but good. The reed section was weak and at times absolutely swamped by the brass instruments. One can thus realise why the brass bands are gaining in favour. LARGE FIRMS POSSESS BANDS. “Many of the large firms are realising the advantages of having brass bands attached to their works as the numerous engagements offered to them become a good advertising medium. Some of the firms to go in for bands recently are Baxendale’s (Manchester), Dunlop Rubber Works (Birmingham), Callender’s Cable Works. (Belvedere, Kent), and Vickers, Ltd. (Erith), and nearly every colliery of . any size, has its own brass band.” “I attended the Crystal Palace Band contest, while in England, and I played in the Manchester Belle Vue contest,” • continued Mr. Fox, “also in two other contests. The Belle Vue contest is supposed to be the greatest band contest in Great Britain. At the Crystal Palace contest 160 bands competed, and although six contests were taking place at the same time, so spacious are the grounds that it was impossible to hear two bands at once. At the conclusion in the evening eight of the best bands gave a concert, and it was a revelation to hear the huge crowd, led by these bands, sing “The Old Hundredth" as a tribute to the recovery of the King,, who is patron of this musical festival.

“The contest lasted one day, bands coming frohi all parts of Great Britain, and over 4000 bandsmen assembling. I reached London at 6 a.m. and the bands were busy rehearsing them: Over 00,000 people paid to gain admission. lam of the opinion that it would be quite possible for New Zealand to send a selected band Home that would hold il;' own with the best bands that I heard;

“I also heard a great number of army military bands, the best being the Guards' bands. These, of course, hold an advantage over others .of the line as they are not called upon to do foreign service, although they are allowed to tour Great Britain, and sometimes the Dominions-”

HEARD WORLD’S GREAT ARTISTS.

“Opera and orchestral music also attracted my attention,” pursued Mr. Fox, “and I heard a performance of Wagner’s ‘Siegfried’ by the Carl Rosa Opera Company, there being 60 players in the orchestra. At present the only opera companies of note are the Carl Rosa and D’Oyley Carte, but Sir Thomas Beecham is making a great effort on behalf of the British nation to foster this class of music, which at present seems to be on the wane. I was told? that Covent Garden, which was the home of grand opera in England, is being pulled down so as to enlarge the existing Co vent Garden market. Sir Thomas is forming the British National Opera Company and has already collected £lOO,OOO by public subscription. It is to be hoped that his efforts succeed as many fine musical artists in Great Britain will then be given an opportunity of displaying their undoubted talents in this direction.

“I also had the pleasure of hearing several of the world’s greatest vocal and instrumental artists, but I am still of the opinion that British musicians can hold their own with those of any other country. I also heard several good choral societies, my home town being, the homo of the famous Sheffield choir, which is under the control of Dr. Coward. There was another musical festival which I attended given at the Queen’s Hall, London, in honour of the great English composer Delius, who attended the function in pereon, having been brought over from France, where he is now living, in a bath chair. Although blind and paralysed, he directed the rehearsals prior to the actual performance and was accorded a wonderful reception. The orchestra, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, played many of his works, which are not very well known. Referring to the development of the “talkies” Mr. Fox said that many of the picture theatres' had brought back their orchestras. “When I first heard the ‘talkies’ I was of the opinion that the speaking picture had come to stay, but not the ‘canned music’ associated with it. My contention has been borne, out, and before I left England many theatre proprietors were realising the benefits of a good orchestra. In some cases as many as 20 players had been brought back, while in others

smaller orchestras of eight to ten were employed to accompany the silent films which are presented as part of a programme. These orchestras also play the entr’act and overture. Theatres with orchestras have been the most popular, thus forcing others to follow suit in order to compete. Some theatres, when they first disbanded their orchestras, evidently anticipated the return of orchestral music because the musical director wag often retained in some other capacity.

“One of the grandest sights I ever saw was the great' military tattoo which was held on the Doncaster racecourse at my home town in Yorkshire. Here gathered several of the crack military bands, of England. There were also drum and fife bands, while a choir of 300 voices took part in the final scenes. Preparations for the event occupied about a month, and there were typified all the different styles of military costumes from earliest times down to the present day. Old fortresses and castles were also represented and the pageantry was wonderful. The event lasted a week, commencing each day at dusk and continuing till after 11 p.m. “The torchlight procession at the finale was a grand sight, hundreds of torches being carried through the various evolutions as the bands marched and played. Various designs and emblems were formed of living fire, inebzding the white rose, the emblem of Yorkshire. Among those participating in the military ride was the Inniskillin Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment, whose homes showed evidence of having been well trained, for they, were able to keep step to the various rhythms played by the bands. This performance, owing to the great number of evolutions, required great stamina on the part of both horses and riders. The tattoos resulted in a profit of several thousand pounds, about £3OOO being given to the local hospital.

FINEST RACECOURSE IN BRITAIN.

“On the Doncaster racecourse, which is regarded as the finest in Great Britain, the great St. Leger is run, anything from 500,000 to a million people attending the meeting. The course is over two miles long and there is a straight mile.. Grandstands extend for a considerable distance and they have an enormous seating capacity. The race meeting is run by the borough, the course being the property of the Freemen of the Borough, having been common property, from early times. To some parts the admission is as high as £2 2s, but other parts are free, it being impossible to enclose the whole of the common land. From the race meetings a good deal of profit is made by the borough of Doncaster, much to the relief of the rates. Hundreds of bookmakers ply their calling, there being no tote yet installed, although I. understand* arrangements are in hand for doing so. Some courses already have the totalizator. “The traffic during race week is enormous, but it is wonderful the, way it is controlled. I was informed that over 500 special police and detectives are brought in for the occasion.” Speaking on general conditions Mr. Fox remarked that the coal industry seemed to be the one hardest hit and miners were getting much lower wages than carpenters, whereas a few years ago it was just the reverse. “But,” he remarked, “judging by the amount of money spent on sport and amusements one would naturally think conditions in the Old Country were very good. I saw football matches where the attendance was 50,000, and in the cities and suburbs scores of theatres and picture shows were showing twice nightly, at seven and again at 9 o’clock. They were all packed and one had to wait in a queue in order to get a good. seat. “The bus services . in. England, are wonderfully good and the roads, all bitumen surfaced, are now the best I have ever seen in any part of the. world. The old electric tram car is gradually being displaced by the trackless car. This is like a double-decked omnibus, but it works with a double trolley pole and makes no noise. It is very comfortable to ride in. “I saw New Zealand produce well advertised in London and the provinces and I heard very good reports about it. There seems to be great partiality for our butter and the lamb reaches the market in excellent condition.” .