FAMOUS MUSICIAN.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18873, 17 February 1933, Page 6

FAMOUS MUSICIAN.

VISITOR TO HAMILTON.

COLLECTOR OF NATIONAL SONGS.

SIR HAROLD BOULTON. As Thomas Moore did for- Irish tunes so "Is Sir Harold Boulton, Bart., now doing ! for the songs of the Empire. Sir Harold is at present In Hamilton during 'the course of a world tour. Fifty years of Sir Harold’s life have been spent In bringing to life again old half and totally forgotten tunes and giving to them new words. He has edited national songs in connection with the Empire, and in conjunction with Sir Arthur Somervell, has collected and arranged a series under the title of “Our National Songs.” Four volumes have been published to date, each containing English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Dominion tunes. The last includes a Maori Love Song communicated to Sir Harold by Major Dansey. The Maori words are traditional , the English version being by Sir Harold. The New Zealand melody is arranged by Sir Arthur.

Maori Tunes. In conversation with a Waikato Times representative to-day, Sir Harold said he wa's anxious to get in touch with some real Maori music with a view to recording it before it was lost in the wave of European and American. He expressed, the opinion that much of the so called Maori music was really an adaption of the pakeha. Sir Harold does not make a practice of collecting the better known tunes, but rather the lost. On the other hand his words to “All Through the Night” (Welsh), "'Gentle Maiden” (Irish), and "The Skye Boat Song” (Scottish), are the accepted one-s today. Then again many of his tunes and words are entirely his own, “Glorious Devon," a song which is known the world over, being a popular example. A (riend of Sir Harold’s in Montreal has collected over 7000 French Canadian songs and some of these he has adapted. “The countries comprised in the British Isles are ipre-eminently rich in the beauty and variety of their national songs, and the overseas Empire is already adding Its quota,” says Sir Harold in one of his volumes. .

The Old Treasures. “The store available is continually growing, not only from new discoveries and new handlings of .old material, but from the mellowing of new vintages into old. Brands that were new a century ago or even less become standard vintages. To take two instances —the words of “Killarney” were written by Falconer and the music by Balfe. The latter died in 1870; the French words of “0 Canada” were written by Judge Routhier and the music by Lavalee in 1880. Both these songs, like the songs of Dibdin, who died in 1814, have now become classic.

“It would appear that the taste, both musical and literary, as to the form In which the public likes its national song presented to it, is continually altering and developing. The arrangements of early 19th century muscians are n'ot so acceptable in the ‘2oth century as they originally were. The lyrics of Moore, even hi some instances of Burns, begin to vanish from the melodies to which they were originally harnessed, to be replaced by others. In the latter case some of the poems of Burns written in the Lowland Scots language have, though beautiful in themselves, been divorced by purists from old Highland melodies in favour of lyrics of Gaelic origin of Highland complexion.

“But the good old melodies flow on, sonorous in their majesty or bewitching ■ln their artless simplicity and charm, and, unless decay in patriotism or literary and musical taste reaches? undreamed of depths of degradation, each decade will welcome successive attempts to display the old treasures In a suitable form.”