Some Peculiar Concerts

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5347, 27 August 1895, Page 3

Some Peculiar Concerts

When the Shah visited Europe a few years ago, a grand concert, in which some of the most celebrated musicians of the day took part, was given in hiß honour. He listened patiently whilst the masterpieces of various composers were being gone through, and in the end was asked which piece he liked best. "The firßt," was the immediate reply, whereupon the word was passed to the conductor to play the first piece — a selection from " Tannhauser"— over again. " But that is not the piece," the Shah said ; and so the next waß tried, with no better success. At last, after they had tried to play the | firßt piece half-a-dozen timeß or so, the orchestra, in sheer desperation, began to tune up afresh, preparatory to a new trial. " That is~ it," explained his Majeßty, so soon as he heard the twanging of the strings; "I think that one better than any of them." To a person of such eccentric taste, therefore, some of the curious concerts given below would undoubtedly appeal, though it is doubtful whether they would pleaae the majority. For example, he might be delighted with a concert which was given in Philadelphia reoently. No instrument of the regular kind waß allowed ; only such as could be extemporised in a few moments, and each as are used by savages —tom-toms, Chinese fiddles, &c. The effeot must have been weird in the -extreme ; for comb and paper instruments, bones, and reed whistles, combined with xylophones, tom-toms, and an excruciating conception with two strings which are rubbed with a greasy bow, are hardly calculated to " have charms to soothe the savage breast. Equally exhilarating must have been tho entertainment whioh a Parisian millionaire recently set on foot. He collected in the "gay capital " all the street musicians that he could find, and picked out all the deformities and crippled retailers of harmony from them. These, numbering nearly a hundred, and having amongst them every conceivable speoies of deformity—legless, handless, fingerless and eyeless men— were collected in a room, with their various instruments, and coached up to play in harmony. But the average street musician has not muoh more music in his soul than the average tom-cat, so the result can better be imagined than described. The following is ao curious that, though it happened a couple of centuries or bo baok, it is worth recording. A monk under one of the French kings said that he could extract music from anything, and, to try him, the king sent him a herd of pigs and told him to extract music from them. Nothing dauntsd, the monk constructed an organ, and sorted out the pigs by their voices so that they ran up in a scale both sharps and. flats being obtained. Then he connected each pig with a particular note of the organ in such a way that, when the note was depressed, the pig was hurt and bo yelled out. When he had thus got everything ready the King was called to the concert, and the ingenious monk gave an organ recital on his novel instrument—a recital which, it was paid, was not at all unpleasing, and which brought to him the undying favour of his King. Very often people in striving after the novel put into practice some peouliar ideas respecting concerts. Thus, not long I ago a concert was given in England by four performers at an altitude of nearly 75ft ! Some strong wires were stretched between two tall trees in the grounds of a local millionaire, and upon these wires a platform was built. It contained a piano, and the four performers sang and played As it waa given _at night, and the performers were invisible, the effect waß uncanny, besides being pleasant. Again, somebody recently built a huge JEolian harp, big enough to contain a complete orchestra, and in it a series of concerts was given, the effeot of the instruments being magnified tenfold by the resonant properties of their curious room, whilst the music was rendered much more sweet and harmonious by the vibrations of the huge instrument itself. Those people who are accustomed . to hear the errand boy whistling the lateßt popular song, with every other note out of tune, would have difficulty in believing that much harmony can be produced by the human mouth. But, aB a matter of fact, if the whistlers can whistle well, and are trained to take parts, an exceedingly beautiful effect can be produced by a whistling concert. The writer recently had the opportunity of listening to such an entertainment given by twenty-seven blowers, and bb every performer waß a thoroughly well-trained whistler and musician, the general effect of the various selections which they blew was most pleasing. There may not be very many left-handed fiddlers in existence, but there are enough of them in New York to form an orchestra, together with other left-handed players, and this curious company —numbering nearly fifty— give weekly concerts in that city. About the most curious concert which has been given lately is one whioh took place in Greece about a year ago. Archaeologists dug up the hymn to Diana, together with the score, and then was sung in the nineteenth century the pagan hymn to a pagan goddess, to the same tune and in the same language as those idolaters ÜBed to Bing it to their goddess nearly three thousand years ago.

In the British Army one soldier in seven is now under twenty years of age. This, of course, includes all recruits and bandhoys.