Ambitious Musical Programme

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31114, 18 July 1966, Page 12

Ambitious Musical Programme

Orchestras of the Christchurch School of Instrumental Music combined with Christchurch Teachers’ College Choirs to present an ambitious programme in the Civic Theatre on Saturday evening. There was ample evidence throughout of careful preparation and at times a particularly high standard was reached: in fact, the contribution of the Symphony Orchestra was not merely a demonstration of the players’ developing instrumental technique but rather a serious musical performance which could be accepted as such. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor is representative of the composer at the height of his achievement and makes considerable demands of an orchestra, musically and emotionally. Such a work could be considered beyond the capabilities of a student orchestra and it is to the credit of the Symphony Orchestra and its conductor, Mr Rolf Just, that this was not the case.

Constant and well-judged tempi allowed each movement to speak for itself. String tone was generally clear and vib-

rant though “celli lacked vitality a times. The woodwind section had good blend and rhythmic accuracy, especially in the slow movement where the strings could not quite match them in this respect. The balance between wind and strings was good at all times and an authentic orchestral sound allowed for a pleasing performance. Mr Brian Sandle was soloist in the ’Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 by Saint-Saens. His was an impressive performance, confident and musiciahly. Each technical hurdle was taken with ease and lyrical passages were played in a resonant cantabile Style. The orchestra provided adequate support in an accompaniment which is, slight enough to allow the soloist to be heard, but the tutti sections could have been more brilliant. More delicacy and charm was needed in the minuet. Mr Stephep Delany conduc ted the Second Orchestra in items which served to show an intermediate stage in the school's programme. The violins and woodwind gave evi-

dence of sound instruction, brass and lower strings being rather less confident. An unfortunate result of intensive rehearsal was a tendency to race ahead of the conductor. Intonation might have improved had on-stage tuning been more closely supervised. The Teachers’ College Secondary Division Choir conducted by Mr Robert JPerks, sang “The Last Word’s of David,” a motet by Randall Thompson. The work is typical of the composer’s style, diatonic in the main but with a few digressions in the name of contemporary music. It needed more sustained depth and weight of tone than a small choir can be expected to give. Miss Marlene Evans played the accompaniment with style. The spiritual “I hear a Voice A-Prayin’” was more successful, and was sung with good tone, blend, and rhythmic cohesion.

A combined choir was conducted by Mr George Martin in Vaughan Williams’s cantata “In Windsor Forest” The accompanist was Mr Keith Newson. This is a pleasant

work displaying humour, beauty and grandeur by turns. The performance, however was rather pedestrian. Blend and tonal richness were generally in evidence but there was little attempt at dramatisation in the scene involving Falstaff and the Fairies, and the Drinking Song was purely hypothetical. The choir was joined by a small string orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus.” Indifferent intonation and cohesion were unexpected since these were presumably the most competent players from the Symphony Orchestra. The combined orchestras were directed by Mr Perks in an arrangement of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Judicious editing allowed the less experienced players to make an effective contribution at points of climax. The arranger, Cadlliet, used a few tricks that would have made Tchaikovsky or even Wagner envious. It was an entertaining performance and this version bore a passing resemblance to the original. —B.B. (