HAWERA BOYS’ BAND

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1932, Page 7

HAWERA BOYS’ BAND

NEW PLYMOUTH PERFORMANCES. TWO POOR ATTENDANCES. •.sJitMc:- <■ . A response that ,been distinctly discouraging considering the worthiness of the cause Rewarded those who brought the Hawera. School .Military Band to New Plymouth yesterday-. The visit of the organisation was sponsored by the Central Scli.opl, Coniniittee with the object of cfpatjnfcinterest in a proposal to start a ..similar band at New Plymouth and to " raise funds for that purpose. The Empire Theatre was only about a-quarter filled both at the afternoon and evening performances. . .<• v .’. ■ In the absence of the Mayor at Wellington Or., F. Auiobre. publicly welcomed the boys to New .Plymouth. He had been amazed, he said, at: the progress the boys, had made. He certainly believed that the public of New Plymouth did not‘ realise the calibre of the programme, or it responded with a “bumper” New Plymouth whs' under a debt of gratitude to those responsible for bringing' the boys with such a'fine'programme. It was a credit to HaWera, continued Cr. Amoore, that 'it had a:i organisation of this kind—so boyd'Afhose Average age was' 13. It was 1 ' fib wonder that Hawera could win competitions for it had this fine nursery to draw from. He hoped that next time the band came to New Plymouth- it would be Greeted by an overflowing house. ° Taking into account the changes that necessarily came each year in any organisation of boys connected with a school, and the fact that the age of the players ranged down to the tender years, Mr. H. C. A. Fox, the conductor, has achieved highly creditable results during the two years he has been training the band. Hazel’s inspiriting “Giorial,” with its interpolations of sectionalised instrumentations was perhaps the most appreciated by the band numbers. Even in the parts where the piece swelled up to splendid volume the boys, watching the baton, kept a proper restraint upon themselves, with the result that the exuberant passages lost no value through over-emphasis. The encore to this work was the hymn, “Fierce Raged the Tempest,” played against a somewhat prominent background of rolling drums in semblance of a storm approaching and receding. Bouillon’s “L* Amour,”. a beautiful paen on the chords of passion, and Bucher’s Military March were other numbers for which the band received a due measure of applause. But first because of the novelty of the conductorship and secondly because of its merry atmosphere a work that specially pleased the audience was Beyer’s “The Jolly Sailor Boy.” In this case the baton was controlled by Vanee Henderson, aged 11, who directed operations with a vigour that was infectious. As an accompanist the band was also associated with a cornet duet, “Little Pearl” (Humphrey), played by Norman Jones and Ted Gone.

Talent of no mean quality and considerable promise was demonstrated in the other numbers on the programme. An Emil Kreuz bracket of viola solos by Margaret Fox was so well played on that beautifully-toned but comparatively neglected tenor instrument that she was obliged to follow with an arrangement of Russian songs. Her brother Louis was a skilful soloist on the violin in Hubay’s “Hejre Kati” and Mouti’s “Czardus,” both of which take frequent flights into the harmonic regions. Then these two, with their sister Olga on the ’cello, played Marsden’s trio “At the sign of the jolly mariner,” the interpretation of which was •• properly just as jolly as its title. The encore was - “In a Sylvan Glade.” The belllike voice of Gerald Hawthorne, a boy soprano, was heard in Arne’s “The Lass With a Delicate Air” and (as a wellearned encore) in Handel’s “Where er You Walk.” Joyce Knightbridge and her brother Norton, both clever elocutionists, contributed items—the former “Jacques,” a musical monologue, and ah encore, and the latter a costume character study “Mr. Micawber,” followed by an amusing monologue. Miss Doris Gilmore’s vocal solo “My Curly-Headed Babby,” was succeeded by Mendelssohn's “On Wings of Song” as an encore. As a clarinet solo Robert Haseltine played. Bergson’s “Scene and Air,” a piece-full of intricacies but performed by the boy in a manner that stamped him as a player of "considerable promise.: ' Before returning to Hawera the band and party were entertained at supper.