ORGAN RECITAL AND CONCERT AT CROMWELL

New Zealand Tablet, 30 September 1915, Page 49

ORGAN RECITAL AND CONCERT AT CROMWELL

The organ, recital and concert on. September 10 for the benefit of the organ fund of the Church of the Irish Martyrs, Cromwell, were a decided success, both from a financial and musical point of view (says the Dunstan Times). The organ, which is a real pipe organ, was much admired, and Mr. Ritchie’s skill on the instrument delighted the audience. The organ is a much-needed instrument for country churches. Though not so powerful, of course, as the older and larger instrument, yet it is quite, powerful enough for a fairly large church. It has otherwise all the tone and sweetness of the larger instrument, with the great advantage of being much more easily played and kept in order, needing extremely little attention for tuning oi lepairs. In fact, as a whole it is the most satisfactory of all the organs, reed or pipe, for church use. The opening duets were badly handicapped owing to the condition of the hall piano, which was a great pity, as the young ladies (Misses P. McLoughlin, B. Waddell, and F. Robertson) are uncommonly good players. The children’s acting and singing (Misses Noel O’Kane, Thelma Williams, and Vera Harrington) brought down the house, and had to be repeated a couple of times. Little Miss Noel O’Kane’s skill on the' ’cello fairly captivated the audience. Miss McDonald’s rendeiing of the Marseillaise ’ in French evoked a storm of applause, and was indeed a rare treat. Mr. T. Fennell deservedly met with an emphatic recall for each of his two songs. Miss Williams, too, was heartily applauded and recalled. Another item which brought Hie most emphatic applause from all sides of the house was Mr. McDonald’s dancing, which was one of the most enjoyable iterhs of the programme. One or two items had to be omitted owing to unavoidable disappointments at the last moment, and though the concert lasted for about two hours, the audience seemed quite willing to wait a good deal longer and to think that the time had been all too short. At the interval Very Rev. Father .Hunt heartily thanked the performers and all who had contributed to the success of the concert.