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Bv the kind co-operation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, message's have been recorded in Canada by New-Zealanders who are there under the Empire Air Training Scheme, and are included in the Sunday morning broadcasts of " With the Boys Overseas." Special signalling instruction was broadcast on six nights a week for Air Force trainees who, owing to the inaccessibility of class instruction, were taking a correspondence course under the Educational Training Scheme of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Many hundreds of trainees followed these courses, and the Air Department has expressed satisfaction with the result. Music. Despite the setback to many cultural activities caused by the war, the year was one of outstanding interest and achievement in music-making in New Zealand, due to the fact that it was possible to carry out almost in their entirety the. Centennial Music Celebrations, for which arrangements had been made prior to the war. As there was no national organization representing the musical affairs of the Dominion, the National Centennial Music Committee arranged for the National Broadcasting Service to collaborate with the Department of Internal Affairs in carrying its plans into effect. Andersen Tyrer, the distinguished English conductor and pianist, was engaged as Musical Director and Conductor for the Celebrations, and four principal singers of high reputation were brought from England— Isobel Baillie, soprano ; Gladys Ripley, contralto ; Heddle Nash, tenor ; and Oscar Natzke, bass. The choice of Oscar Natzke was particularly apt, since Mr. Natzke is himself a New-Zealander. 11l addition to the singers from England, Raymond Beatty, Australian bass-baritone, and Frank Bermingham, an English baritone living in New Zealand, were engaged. With the full-time String Orchestra of the National Broadcasting Service as a nucleus, a National Centennial Orchestra of thirty-four of New Zealand's best players was assembled. The specially engaged singers and the National Centennial Orchestra were augmented by the singers and musicians in the musical societies at the four main centres, and with the enthusiastic support of the committees of these societies and the Provincial Centennial Music Committees this combination of the best of overseas and New Zealand talents, under the skilful direction of Andersen Tyrer, made the Music Celebrations for many people the most enduring memory of the Centennial. The variety and extent of the musical work accomplished is evident from the following summary of the programmes presented at the four main centres: "Faust" (fourteen theatre presentations); "Elijah" (two); "Creation" (one) celebrity concerts (two) ; symphony concerts (three) : orchestral concerts (three) ; choral concerts (three), embracing such works as " King Olaf " (Elgar), " Carmen " (Bizet), " Dr. Faustus " (Anderson Tyrer), " The Dream of Gerontius " (Elgar), " The Desert " (Felicien David), " The Burial of King Cormac " (H. C. Luscombe), " Enigma " (Elgar), " Pathetic " Symphony (Tschaikowsky), " Die Meistersingers Overture " (Wagner), " Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor " (Bach), and many others. At the conclusion of the celebrations in the four main centres the Government arranged a series of celebrity concerts in fourteen provincial towns. As many as possible of these concerts were broadcast. The artists taking part in this tour were Isobel Baillie, Gladys Ripley, Heddle Nash, Oscar Natzke ; a string quartet of New Zealand players comprising Vincent Aspey (first violin), Harry Ellwood (second violin), William McLean (viola), and Francis Bate (violoncello) ; and Clifford Huntsman (solo pianist) and Noel Newson (accompanist). An unexpected and pleasing incident in the music celebrations was the conducting by Sir Thomas Beecham, the greatest English operatic conductor, of the second act of " Faust " in Auckland. Sir Thomas was in Auckland for a very short time, and his generous action was highly appreciated. The cost of the Centennial Music Celebrations was borne by the Department of Internal Affairs and the National Broadcasting Service, the share of the Broadcasting Service in the cost being £13,243. Later in the year Andersen Tyrer was engaged to direct a series of special orchestral and choral broadcasts. The first of these, " Music Makers of New Zealand," included the performance of the prize-winning works in the Centennial competitions for orchestral and choral compositions, and performances by the choirs and string quartets whose performances had won prizes in the Centennial Music Competitions. Other outstanding programmes in this series were a Christmas concert and a performance of Brahms' " Requiem." . Ignaz Friedman, the eminent Polish pianist, gave very successful broadcast recitals and public concerts in the main centres. Engagements were given as usual to the best available local artists and musical societies, choirs, &c. There were 56 broadcasts by musical societies and approximately 1,500 performances by local artists. Miss Mary Pratt, the Dunedin contralto, was engaged to tour New Zealand in the programmes associated with the performances of Noel Coward. From our extensive library of recordings, programmes of the world's best works and artists were broadcast every day from the national stations. Of special interest were commemorative programmes for the centenaries of Tschaikowsky and Paganini. Presentations of recorded operas and ballet music were continued, including the newly recorded " Lucia di Lammermoor " and " The Beggar's Opera." The N.B.S. String Orchestra of twelve full-time players continued to do excellent work under the capable conductorship of Maurice Clare. The value of such an organization as this was evidenced when the Service was required to assemble the National Centennial Orchestra and to provide at short notice the assisting programme to Noel Coward in the public concerts which he gave at the four main centres. The orchestra has had a distinct influence in the raising of performance standards in the Dominion. Plays and Feature Programmes. Plays, serials, and dramatic features continue to be very popular, and a large number have been broadcast. Adaptations have been presented of stage plays by such dramatists as Shakespeare, Johnson, Moliere, Galsworthy, Shaw, A. A. Milne, P. G. Wodehouse, James Hilton, and St. John Ervine, and other plays broadcasts were by well-known radio writers such as Max Afford, Edmund Barclay, W. Graeme-Holder, Hector Bolitho, Dorothy Sayers, Patrick Hamilton, and Val Gielgud.

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