MR. ROBERT PARKER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1503, 27 July 1912, Page 7

MR. ROBERT PARKER.

HONOURED BY THE MUSICAL UNION, r. INTERESTING SPEECHES.' Mr.\ Robert'"Parker, the doyen of Wellington's, conductors' and musicians, who' has retired from the couductorship of the Wellington Musical Union, was the control' figure of. a; .very pleasing. ceremony whioh took place in St. Andrew's Schoolroom last evening.' The president of the union (Mr. Geo. Shirtclift'e) occupied the chair, and the Anglican Bishop of Wellington (Dr. Sprott), , and. Mi. F. V. Waters, a very old friend end co-workei .with "Mr. Parker; also occupied seata on the platform.''•'■.'. ■ '• '. The Bishop said that it was with the deepest .pleasure that ho had been called on 'to .say something regarding one who had for so lone-"been associated with the highest and noblest art of which* he was so accomplished an exponent. He could only say that his York had always bee.a characterised by a great reverence,' a most sensitive devoutness, and an entire abBonce of self-display. (Applause.) During the past twenty years many visitors ,to Wellington who had worshipped at the church (St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral), of . whtich" Mr. Parker* is the organist, had written to him expressing their high ap- , preciation of the beauty of the service. . Only a year or so ago Lord Glasgow, 'n a letter, had recalled the beauty of the • Beryice at' St. Paurs-rrthat* after fifteen , years. *■' He -supposed some of'those preeent'foad'read George Eliofs poem; "The Legend of Jubal," which" legend took the old tradition that Jubal was the origin .natOT.of music and inyentpj of the first musical ' T iristrument-rthe lyre... The spe-ikef, recalling passages of .the poeni, told, how Jubal vent forth from Mi own country.'sowing'.the seeds of "harmony where.ho went.' Af.ter'.many'years.Jubal returned to 'his native village", to, find it "a. oity. : There .were processions and rejoicings', in i>rogress, .and on' inquiry he ftvund"' tihafc it' iTOs.'in honpur :: of., his <wn anniversary. The .wanderer' said "I am Jubal," and, after'a.'silenco, there came a shower "of mocking, laughter, and he was beaten with flutes" to' a.;remote ppbtj where he died. , Mr. Parker was the father of rausio in Wellington. For over thirty years" he had fostered the gTpwth nnd development of his ar.t, not indeed ■without criticism and opposition at times, yet he had never lowered his "standard, put ever striven to attain the highest and

best in music.'.'Ho was , not to be allowed ' to share the fate of his illustrious prede 7 cessor. (Jubal). ■' The real living, breath? ing Parker was with them still. While • appreciating the worTc'Jie. had done they had not forgotten the living man, and ■ Jip was glad to take part in showing his affection' and esteem, and doing that honour to th'e chief fosterer of music'in the city of Wellington, which, he had so well 'earned. (Loud applause.) ''"/"■ ~ ■■'■"■'. ' A High Standard. Mr. F. V. Waters, speaking on behalf of the-niehibers of the uhionj said he wished to reflect the enthusiasm and affecr tion personally they all had for Mr. Parker, and to emphasise the whole-souled work;" he had done on be-half of music hi ■ this city'. Many factors had contributed' ■ to bring the ;union to. this dead-end." Whether it; was a wise ! step ■ to. suspend ■ it operations was a moot point. He believed that it w,puld -come to the front again in the near future, and it would be their icgret that-Mr. Parker-would not-be-at the head of-affairs. .(Applause.) vHe had arrangedr the ,-best -iniisic for' 33 years-p-a big part of a mati's'lita When a man did that ho', deserved a rest.' 'Ho' assured Mr. Parker that." every individual member held him , in' the greatest esteem and affection, and it was their unqualified , logret'that he' had riot'been able still to conduct them. (Applause.') ' ■ Mr. Geo; Shirtcliffe said'that he had known Mr.: Parker longer than' anyone' in the room. He (Mr: Parker) had been_ in Wellington- for the past thirty-fonr years, ■; but : : prior . ,tc, •-; that tnat he had jsat under, him as a ehoir-boy in ChristchuT'eh. not much of a ,choir-bby-(laughterH-But *;'he. ipufd-Twell reniem-ber theaive and respect' with 2 'which he looted, up , tp'-him,iri' those 'days."; Hβ , had not. the "same , ajre,' but the ''respect had grown ! inth •the".years, and''in thai' he pnly>hored the feelings of aH'.whohad . not only'. been ,* b'lit' ,phq ihad . come-in contact with' Mr. Parker. ~'One . could riot'help,, but know of.the-admirable nnd.splendid work he had done in Wellington;; and the: high standard of. music; i he hid .set—one that, would be .aimed at for many years, by .those who.come after him. • Such productions as" "The Golden Legend" and "The Spectro's Brido ,, ' could not.well have berni itiven in fcrrr.«r clays without him.' He Had been the-head of the old Festival Choral Society, which had done good-work before the Musical ■ Union- was formed..'. That Choral Society was the outcomeof .n great-musical fpsti val held here,; in. 1893,; and ; out of that came what was now-known as ; the •'Musicar Union.-. iDnring tho-many years he. had conducted the union, hundreds of excellent works had been performed, and he had conducted orchestra and chorus iri' three or four concerts,.a,year, and many works of high character had been produced—work, of a class that has permeated tho communityrrindeed, one could not . calculate the effeot of the work Mr: Parker had done, as conductor, of the Wellington. Musical TTnion. In 1903 he, had conducteda series of great orclies'Tal concerts at. the opening of the Town Hall,, which were remarkably-well attended and appreciated.. . A Presentation. The result of the concert given some ■weeks ago in horionr of Mr. Parker was eminently satisfactory, and it was his great pleasure- to express to him, on be? half of the members of the'union, the , great regret, "for reasons yhich they all Tesjected," that'ho was retiring "from the position of conductor of {he Musical Union." .He Md been responsible for' a great.advancemerit of the art of music in Wellington, and; whilst'they were taking their leave, of him as conductor, it was pleasant to learri'that he was not relinnuishihg .his other musical work, and were sure that he .had many years of useful work beforo him. Tho' speaker, then handed Mr. Parker a purse . containing iElaO, which he was asked .to. accept as evidence of the esteem ;.:• and respect'.in .which they held him.; (Applause.) .: .:■•

■ Mr, Parker's'Reply,' .. Mr. Parker said that at a great gathering jpf I" musicians' recently given in honour of Canon Lyttelton, the latter, after the speeches had been made,''had' said: "I fesl EoinethiDg in ihy heart. It might b? indigestion.. out I" think it is gratitude."" |Ie" felt something in his heart, but as he did not suffer from indigestion he was "euro' it must be gratitude. He thanked the speakers for the" kind remaiky which they had made, mentioning tho privilege it had been to be associated with Bishop Sprott, and tho loyal and faithful help and support which had been acoorded him for 25 years by Mr. F. V. Waters. He assured tho latter gentleman of his deep gratitude for what he had done, and in return had endeavoured to help his boy •(Mγ.-Eric"Waters) to become the first-rate musician he was bound to be. (Applause.) 'He thanked all who had assisted in tho "Golden Legend" concert, and was grateful for the loyal work and help of tho members of the union in the'spocaal effort they had made. Speaking retrospectively, Mr. Parker said there had' been little drawbacks now and again. It was so difficult in this country to keep anything going permanently. HeTe everything was in a state of flux. A man might be here to-day and at the Bay of Islands to-morrow, but speaking generally tho work of the union had been very admirable indeed. Lots of works of the great composers had been creditably performed that one Would..hardly expect to'hear in this remote part of the world, many that one would not /hear, in many towns of •England, but only in the larger centres. It was always- sad to come- to • the end «f anything in. life. Ho felt that very keenly "in connection with severing his connection with the union. But he felt that tho timo had come to draw iD and narrow down his work a iittle. If a man threw himself enthusiastically into his work, he sometimes taxed his nervous force too much, and he felt that he must give up the moro exciting work in connection with imisic and davote" himself more to the "jog-trot" work of teaching. The church work he hor/ed Would bo the last he would have to resign. (Applause.) As one grew oldar, the restfulriesa and beauty of church music, and the reverence and joy of it, lasted longer than the moro exoiting phaso3 of music: He wa-s sorry that the union had come to what Mr. Waters had called a "dead end," but he thought there would always lie a second society in Wellington;' One difficulty was tho'supply t>£ voices, particularly, malq voices;- Jney

had had to draw largely on middle-aged voices (lie was not referring to the ladies). So many young men wont in for athletics that few went in for anything else. It was- very difficult to gel them to go in for choir or choral work, Hβ could not help but feel that, when their athletic days had gone by, they would find life rather barren without something of the kind to occupy them. The Musical Union would come ou again, and they would find that the old war-horse would smell the battle from afar, and feel sorry, that he was not conducting. He did hope that the union would be resuscitated. Someono wa9 bound to come along who would bo acceptable to them. As he looked down, the years, a gallery of faces came befovo him—some had passed away for ever, others had gone to other countries, but it was very pleasant to recall the help they had given him. Among them wcto the Parsons and the Kennedy families, who had given . him much strength and support) There wore lots of others, but ho hardly liked to mention names for fear that he should mis? many who might be recalled. Then there were the ladies who had played the accompaniments, to whom-ho would like to express his gratitude. There had been times when he had failed to realise his ideals, and did not see the results he would have liked to have seen, but that he supposed was often the case; but to all who had assisted him, and many he did not even know by name, he was deeply grateful for their kindness. Now. the parting had come, arid he -bade the members of the union an affectionate farewell. (Loud applause..) During the oyening, Mr. J. E. Bowman sang Handel's "Where'er You Walk." Miss Grace Kennedy contributed a violin solo; Mrs. Lewis, a vocal'solo; Mrs. B. Wilson sang Gounod's "Serenade" (with flute obbligato by Mr. P. K. Thompson) ; Mr. laycock Bang "The Sailor's Grave." The chorus pontributed the part son" "The Vale- of Best" (Mendelssohfl), and "The Students' Parting Song." ■