MUSIC

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue IX, 21 August 1897, Page 269

MUSIC

THE conceit given by the Napier Banjo Club in the Princess Theatre, Hastings, on Wednesday was greatly enjoyed by those present, and almost every item was encored. The programme included an excellent performance of * Il Tremolo ’ (Gottschalk) and ‘Nocturne in F sharp’ (Chopin), both pianoforte solos by Mr Ashcroft Noall. Several solos were played by Mr Charles Macfarlane, among which * The Courier ’ (Armstrong) was the favourite. A duet, * Roseleaves Waltz,’ was ccntributed by Messrs Macfarlane and Scott, and a trio, ‘ Merry Travellers’ (Bain), by Messrs Macfarlane, O’Meara and Scott. Miss Jago sang 'Flight of Ages’ (Bevan) and ‘Whisper and I Shall Hear,’ both of which were greatly enjoyed. Mr G. E. Mannering sang • Our Hands Have Met, but Not Our Hearts,’ ' Gipsy’s Laughing Song,’ and * Come into the Garden, Maud.’ The accompaniments were all played by Mr Ashcroft Noall. On Wednesday the Christchurch Ladies’ Musical Club met at Mrs Boyle’s residence, Hereford-street, and spent a very pleasant time.

The best of things must come to an end some time or another, and Mr Parker’s sixth chamber concert in Wellington bad to prove no exception to the rule. Chopin and Brahms were bracketed together for this final musical treat, and the result was one of the most charmirg evenings yet spent. On this occasion Dr. Kingston Fyffe acted as lecturer. His remarks on Brahms were particularly interesting inasmuch as a personal acquaintance with this great composer enabled him to give us a vivid idea of his personality. The programme consisted of songsand pianoforte pieces by both

composers, the former being given by Dr. Fyffe and Mr Prouse, the latter by Misses Williams, Stuart, and Parker. One item new to the audience was the setting of Brahms* Liebeslieder for pianoforte duet and vocal quartet, Mrs Quick and Miss Hamerton presiding at the piano, whilst the voice parts were entrusted to Misses Campbell and Upham, and Dr. Fyffe and Mr H. B. Coney. Miss Williams’ solos, * Rhapsody ’ (Brahms) and * Polonaise in A’ (Chopin), were brilliantly given. Mr J. Parker played two Intermezzi (Brahms) in a very correct fashion for so young a performer, but it requires a maturer mind to penetrate Johann Brahms, and to reveal his many weird beauties. We understand that it is the intention of Mr Parker, in conjunction with Dr. Fyffe, to give another concert later on, when the time will be devcted to the English musicians of the Queen’s reign. On Wednesday evening a concert was given at the Opera House by the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Natives Association. A visitor from Dunedin, Miss Kitty Blaney, made her first appearance before a Wellington audience, and delighted everyone by the sweetness of her voice. Miss P. Parsons was encored for her tendering of Arditi's ‘ Beauty Sleep.’ One of the most successful of the items was a song by Mr T. M. Wilford, which received a double encore. Some charming tableaux, arranged by Miss Youmans, were interspersed through the programme. To Mrs A. Levi must be given high praise for the manner in which she worked up the concert.

The oldest drinking song in existence in the English language is in Gamtnes Gurton’s Needle, says the Philadelphia Record, and is called ‘ The Jolly Bishop.’ An overwhelming audience, many of whom ‘ stood out’ the performance in the porch, assembled at St. John’s Church to hear Mr Maughan Barnett’s tenth organ recital on Friday last. The programme included Wdly’s celebrated ‘ Fantaisie Pastorale,’ Dudley Buck’s ‘ At Evening,’ J. Barnett’s ‘Ave Maria,’ a melody in E. minor, by Silas, and the chant ‘ S6raphique,’ portion of

Guilmant’s ‘Marche Funebre,’ all admirably rendered by the talented organist. In addition to these items Mr Barnett also contiibuted a ‘ Bach Fugue,’ a Mendelssohn March, and the first movement of a flute concerto by Rinck, and during the recital he used the vox humana stop with great discretion and effect, the use of the stop having emphasised the beauty of many of the selections. Mr Barnett's abilities as an organist are thoroughly appreciated by the public, and his next organ recital is being eagerly anticipated. There are several stories abroad anent the organ blowers, that useful class of men. and it may be that the story I am going to repeat here, and which I do not remember to have heard before, is known to some of my readers. My friend is an amateur organist, and he naturally told it to me with a good deal of relish. At a certain church a new organist bad been appointed, and on the first Sunday of duty he played the ‘ Hallelujah ’ (Messiah) as the congregation was leaving. The blower was a man of long experience, and, like another member of the fraternity the subject of a very familiar story, he was surprisingly self-complacent. The organist had reached that part of the ‘ Hallelujah ’ where the air gradually works up to *G,’ and all at once there was silence. The tlower had ceased to blow, and the organist was therefore unable to go on. What was the matter ? That was what the latter desired to know ; and the blower gave his explanation, ‘Do you think, asked he, * that I have been blowing the organ all these years and don’t knowhow many strokes there are for the Hallelujah?’ The blower bad, in fact, ‘struck.’ He had reduced the art of playing to mere mechanical effort, and he put it to himself—' If so many strokes were enough in the time of his predecessors, why should the new organist make a demand for a large number more ?’ It cannot be doubted that there was a gool deal of originality in the blower, or it would never have occured to him to do his work on such a principle. The Festival Choral Concert took place on Thursday night, in Wellington.