MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1138, 27 May 1911, Page 9

MUSIC.

(By TnEBLE Clee.) Pianoia and Evolution. G. B. Shaw, who'was a musical critic before he became, a playwright, delivered a lecture in London tho other day, in which he asked his audience to throw themselves a little into the future. As usual, peoplo had not realised what the advent of the various pianolas and piano-players meant. It meant ultimately the abolition of tho piano keyboard. Hitherto the arrangement ol hand and keyboard in piano-playing had been the -source of many imperfections. The keyboard had tyrannised over music. A great deal of tho form and shape- of our music was really duo to the mechanical limitations imposed upon it by the keyboard. The composer of the future, however, would be able to compose music without any relation to the keyboard at all. What we wanted, .Mr. Shaw continued, and what we should have eventually, was a totally new kind of music, the composer of which would not bo fettered by liie knowledge that tho player could not get his hands wherever ho pleased. He declared that at present it was impossible for a piano ever to be properly in time, but with, say, fifty-three notes within the compass of the octavo, pianotuning could be brought to such perfection that every fifth would only be- the 11,000 th part of a semi-tono. But with tho keyboard, if there were fiftythreo notes to the octave, nobody woul.i have sufficient manual dexterity to play it. The pianola would introduce a now kind of music, in which all sorts of intervals were employed that were not employed at present, and would give them a new technique and new resources in sound.

About "Tho Rose Cavalier." Tho Leipzig correspondent of tin "Musical Leader" appears to have been, on tho whole, favourably impressed by Strauss's new opera, ''The Koso Cavalier":

Of all the composer's happy thoughts, .".nri there are innny in the opera, tinino36 tit-Rntif\i\ is the motive of tho silver rose. Xo such ethereal effect lm been produced by any composer since AYagnor wrote the Vorspiol to "Lolmiprin." Had Strauss done nothing oho this alnne would . stamv) him as tlm J'loatest living master of orchestration. 'Iharacteristic of the genius of tli-» man is the way in which ugly progrev <iir,ns nutl bad part writing aio turned into ths nniM, df'.iciov.s bit ra ihe opcrn.' The waltz , themes, of" which so muo'i 'ihs boon snid, arc trivial but attractive, and just rnoush of them are liohrd to whet the appetite for more. It seems a little like shooting at sn.ivtmvs" -with a cannon, to set an orchestra of one hundred and twenty-two men at such work, but thnt is Ihe composer's own business. Tho least 1 ffective of the whole score is the nIro'luction to tho third act. a rest-ess unci uninteresting pandemonium.

After the visit of the Sheffield Choir tn n Wellington Choral Society will, on July 7, commend , rohonrsinn; n work ''■at Ins not prr-viouslv been given in Xew Zcnlaml: Cowen's dramatic iiriitoWi. "Until," and tin , concert wit] lc h"lcl in September. The sneiety !ns also decided that Handel's "Messiah" will be given ns usual in December

The distinguished French organi.st and composer. M. Aloxandrc Guilmant, died last month at Mcudon, where he had made his home. Ho will long bo ivmembered for his compositions, which included a symphony for organ and orchestra, seven sonatas, numerous concertos, and other works.