THE CHOIR CONTEST.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1603, 21 November 1912, Page 6

THE CHOIR CONTEST.

' ANOTHER WN FOR GRAFTON ROAD ' It was a great night at the competitions ,last cvenins—tho night set: apart fov the 1-contesfc between the two pleading, choirs

'• COuTOSu Ulfiuewii UK- i»u . ictmiug - UUUII9. 'of the North Island—ilie l 4 eildin.<? ley Choir (under>3lr, Temple While) ' and the Grafton Hoacl Wesley (Auckland) Choir Sunder Mr. K. .f. GfitliiwlJ. The 1 biff linli was filled to its utmost capacity, and thu greatest enthusiasm .vas lnani,

fosted by nil present. This was in a large measure due to the fact that both of the choirs were previously unbeaten in district competitions. The third choir which had entered, St. Mary of the Angels, of Wellington, retired owing to a calamity liable to overtake" any choir—four or five of the ladies had recently married. The Judge's Decisions. The all-important judgment given last evening was. tho one concerning the choirs. Mr.'Wolf said that he had been charmed with the good performances .given, and was sorry tuere were not more entries. He. suggested that larger prizes would attract more entries, 'ine fault was that there were too many solo singers, who were frightened of spoiling their voices by joining a choir. . He could assure such ' that they could learn more about music by joining a choir than in almost aiiy other way. (Applause.) He was afraid that "Great is the Depth and VHail, Bright Abode," were too weighty for the choirs, whom he would very nnicii liked to have heard sing in the Concert Chamber. ■ In the hymn both had a chance of illustrating in tonercolours the beautiful words of Cardinal ~ JSewmaii. They (the choirs) were not quite so good as he thought they would be, and again he emphasised his point that he was there not so much to judge voices as the interpretation Thtj technique ot- tjie voice, of breathing and phrasing, were but the tools of the . singer, which lie must have. There was one passage m tiie chorale-marked "animato which. the Feilding Choir had taken no notice ot whatever. Phrasing was what the choirs spoilt themselves in chieily. He awaraeil tfle merits as follows:— ~ , Feild- Graf-, ing. ton. Tone, blend and balance 18 Enunciation, articulation, _ and pronunciation 1< '' Style, general conception, interpretation and expres- • ■ gJQH ...... w Tune and intonation 19 Attack and precision 1U 11 Tempo and rubato M , Phrasing, accent, rhythm ... [> lu Totals ....—• •••■ ' 1"? The Rev. Father' Hickson (who with Mr., J. M. Clark acted as-judge;,of the impromptu debate), in announcing the result, said that it .was unfortunate that Messrs. Cornish and Mazengarb _(Ao. «/ had confused the issue that evening, .as they were much the best on the_ noon's performance. The first prize had •been .taken by Messrs. .Butcher and, It-Govern with 177 marks, with Messrs. Cornish and Mazengarb second with '11)9The third pair were Messrs. : Treadweli and Stevenson, with IG4- marks. ■Mr. Montague said that it was unfortunate, but no plan hud been devised to disturb the idea that prepared ridings were not recitations.' He noticed that "the competitors hod made the sajno mistakes that evening as they did m the morning, showing that they had practical-. W learnt the piece and could only read it the one -way, mistakes and all. •Beterring; to the humorous recital* Mr. ilontaffuo congratulated Miss Betty Purdom on her effort, and said that he had tried to de'tect an error in her Scotch accent, and •thought lie had. found, .one,. (Laughter.) ,Hiss Purdom selected a.very dimcult piece, and had .given a most interesting performance. Miss Brown ■ gave■ a go°u. reading of a.not-very, difficult piece. Miss. Blanchard (who had not been recalled) came .third. Referring to ths dialogue in costume, * the judge 'said tliat .he .couldnot but admire thfe restraint'of Mr: Aitken iii liis-scene, and'• sympathiser, with him in having to put'up with a creaking stage. Both he and Mrs.' Keedwell and Mr. Bell and . Miss Purdom had given interesting; performances of entirely dissimilar scenes. . . , Mr. Montague (judge of elocution) would be glad.to see competitors in yesterday's elocutionary , iJasics at noon, tori c.y. ' ■ ' TO-MORROWS PROGRAMME,; As the Town Hall has been engaged; for the purpose of- a farewell function to,, his Excellency ths Governor this evening the competitions .jyjJlj be duy. , The programme for. to-morrow will be as follows : Town.Hall—9 a.m., Musical Monologue (own selection);-10.30 a.m.', (Bass Solo, "The Wanderer" (Schubert); • a.m., Duet (gentlemen), "The Moon Hath' Raised Her Lamp on High" (Benedict); 2 p.m.. Champion Piano Solo (first prize. Chappell grandpiano, presented by F. J. Pinny, Ltd.); Grand Polonaise . .in A Flat" (Chopin), and "Nocturne'in D Flat" (Dohler), Concert Chamber—9 n.m.. Oration (own selection); 11.20 a.m., Drainatio Recital (gentlemen), "Herve, Riel"; 2 p.m., Hu- ■ morous Recitation (own selection).