MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 722, 22 January 1910, Page 9

MUSIC.

(By Teeble Clee.)

Tho Tempo Rubato. ... . '.' ■ '' ,! ■;" , ;At last musicians have an authoritative statement on the, much-debated subject of tempo .rubato, ~ that is, • 'tho: incessant modifications of pace, now; abrupt , , now. subtle, and scarcely, perceptible, which impart ' life and expression to music. Paderewalci,' who of all living musicians, is best quaMed . to. speak: on this.'.'eub-" jeet (not 'ohly..;because.lio is tho.greatest pianist of the time, but because he. is a uountrjTuan of .Chopin,. of whose music tempo rubato 'is .tho very essence) gives Ins reasons, in the. chapter he contnbutcd; to."Successin Musio and Howvlt Is Won, . does not.beUcve in tho doctrine that-the left hand:must-always keep strict time—a f doctrine tho absurdity of; which has: been frequently exposed in this -journal. Ho- mentionsVChopin pieces rn which "the left hand-does not play the part of a conductor,-buf'niKt distinctly. that:of .'B'-prima donni.'-'; Ho controverts tlio; notion', that .it"; is ; only-in-Polish or Hungarian music tliat'tlio.'tempo rubato is called fori"mentioning works by Beethoven, and even by Mcndolssphn,' where.it must, be' applied. "It appears,"- lie says, frequently in .popular, music,(especially m dances, consequently .it ought to bo Jissd in' the works of Chopin, > Schubert, Schumann .; f-Papillons,' ' '■'. : ' Carnival.'),' Brahms, Liszt, Grieg, and; in- all compositioiis which' have folk-musio'.as a foundation.: '■■l > ractically,\it can.'bo used anyin eome iarioestral music,, where there ,'ia, room foruo. paseion,■'. whore -.the ,:sererie purityi-of archi-' , tepture, a majestic..dignity.; andi-ropose'i lead 'to spheres; ofalmost immaterial aaU unearthly ;beauty." ; ,V V >S: j;.. , .-■■■':",'• i; : v t?.

./'lt would •■.be ! ;wfonff,";'i , aderewski , :. : 'c6n-: tinues,' "to pretend that tempo rubato-is £ho exclusive privilege.of the higher,'artistic, form in music. - Popular instinct evolved it'probably long before I .tho first sonata was^written'..;.- Expressed, though nameless, it. has' always, been in all'jia- 1 ' tiorial music. .-• It, is tempo; rubatq, which mokes ■ tho' Hungarian' dances 'so fantastic, fascinating, capricious; . which so' ■often mates. .the;; Viennese ■ .waltz | sound like:2-I.instead of 3-4. Time ;'which Rives to the mazurka;that!p'bcujiar accent , .on ' tho'■ third beati ■ resulting i sometimes in Wil-1p..; '/.To :be ■e'mptipnal fri". musical interpretation; yet' obedient!teethe initial tempo and true to the metronome, I ;means about as much as .being sentimental in ■engineering. /■Mechanical .'execution:and emotion ; are. inooinpatable. ■ To play Chopin's G minor ' nocturne with- rhythmic rigidity and pious respect, for tho in-, dicated rate of movement would, bo as intolerably, monotonous as absurdly pedantic,'as. to recite Gray's, famous.'Elegy , .; tothe beating of a metronome." ;' V_ Paderewski also pays his respects, .with delicious irony,. to thoso who hold that if you play slower in ono place 'you must make .up' for it by playing : faster' in ■; an-' othorl ""Some people, evidently led. by laudable principles of equity, 'while insisting upon the fact of stolen time, .pretend'.that what is stolen ought to.be restored. ..Wo, duly acknowledge tho highly moral "motives of this. : thebr'v, ' but wo humbly confess ■ that our-, ethics 'do not reach.such a;high level." ■■'■■■■■ .: :■'..,: : :

Wellington Musicians at Home. ~ Arnold Trowel], .the ■Wellington 'cellist, mado an app«aranco recently with Mr: V. V. Akeroyd's Symphony-' Orchestra, at ■Liverpool, and again; mot with a reception such is. only .accorded-to. tho . inusically great. Says the ''Liverpool Courier".:—; "Mr. Arnold Trowell is l a young but highly gifted artist on the 'cello; aud his : playing was fii-st-rato as regards both tlio technical side of his work and. the musical feeling which ; intensifies and vitaliseseverything he doe's.. His- is a silverymore than .'a big tone, and ; its haunting sweetness charmed in all the. pieces which tho Australian 'cellist essayed.' The inelo-; dious outline lof'De-Swcrrs Concerto, was most , : tastefully enunciated,' and' that strange. .conglomeration v,o£ technical points and tricks which . Pa'ganini furnished ;, in his astonishing .version .of 'Non fin il.esta'.wasia;.marvel, of execution." ; " , : "' - - ■■■.:..,'.. ! ■ .

• thing wo must'take , strong objection to. is the freedom: which is -taken: ■in-calling Mr. • Trowell an- Australian 'cellist. As soon ris a '.New,; 'Zealander does' .anything in.', the artistic world, he! or she is tjo'oncr or later converted into an Australian. Miss Nora Xong, the; Wellington girl, who .'lias succeeded as '-' a* pi'iina donna in grand, opera, lias • already been referred to as an Australian", and only the other , day I heard of Clutsani, pianist and composer of halladsi writ down as an Australian,' when New Zealand has every' claim' to any. reflected glory that might be.lying round.■■-. . Mr: Trowel) . was recently associated with 3lr. Cyril Towsey in a concert given :at'.Douglas (Isle of , Man); ; The local •paper says of tho Wellinglon musicians :— ; "Mr.: Cyril Towsey is , a , pianist of dis:. tinction. -In ;pTaying, as soli, 'Thq Wanderer'- (Schubert Liszt),- liiid: tho"'Sclieruo in B.flat minor' (Chopin), he also played the : acdompaniments "to Mdllo. Verlct's songs, 1 'and to.. Mr. •■arnold.: .Trowell's' -cello solos. The 'latter!:gave somo' remarkable performances on .-this comprehensive. instrument, • out of. which ho extracted effects having .'ail. the tender graco of a violin, and .tho .nmplo; fullvolumed voice tones so peculiar to tho' .instrument.'.-His first solo was an intricato'set of variations on a, theme of Schubert, arranged'"■. by- Scrvais.. In. resppnso to the encoi'o; ho played a charm-' ing , 'Nocturne,' : composed by .-. liimself. His; second ' programmed item• was ■'; a 'Rhapsodic Hongrois' (Popper),,in which' he was again. encored, his responso being 'Am Springbrunnen' (Daviedoft').".. ■:.

.'-., Lovers of , umsic will donbtlcss bo pleased to learn.that those'firmly established favourites,' tho I'isk ..Jubilco Singer.s contomplato. commencing-'another, tour of -Kow Zealand, aftorv an absence of .SDino: four years, ; . Wellington will bo the storting.pointy.tlio Town Hull.having boeii booked i'or 'a scasou, couiuiciicing on Saturdig, -ITobruaiy-l!).- ■-■' ; ■-;■ ■