Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, 16th DECEMBER, 1932. NOT UNMUSICAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 16 December 1932, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] FRIDAY, 16th DECEMBER, 1932. NOT UNMUSICAL.

* Visitors are making the singular discovery that, for an unmusical city, London is the most musical city in the world, is the statement made by a visitor in an article on the subject of music in the Empire’s capital. Nor is this as paradoxical as it seems, for London has never been the artistic wilderness that foreigners have imagined. Indeed, it normally offers a greater variety of music of all schools than anywhere else, with the possible exception of New York. It is in the realm of orchestral music, however, that it now shines with special lustre, for until the end of May more concerts have been arranged than have ever before been dreamed of —and this during a period of depression. That the “man in the street” responds enthusiastically to musical opportunities when he is offered them at a modest price was nevertheless proved beyond dispute by the tremendous success of the recent ‘Proms.” Sir Henry "Wood’s promenade concerts at the Queen’s Hall attracted overflowing audiences for six weeks, and such was their popularity that on the last night of the season thousands were turned away. Men and women of all ages sat outside the hall all day, Availing for the doors to open, and at the conclusion of the performance Sir Henry Avas literally mobbed by his admirers. It is this sort of thing that confounds the ancient theory that the English are deaf to music.