MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1948, 3 January 1914, Page 9

MUSIC.

[BY. SYLVIUS.]

John M'Cormacit Season Sir, Jolm M'Conmack, the IrlsliAmerican tenor, needs no introduction to the Wellington. public. Two year# ago ho gave -oho concert on Jiis way through i'ro:n -Australia to America, and fcucceeded.'without an effort,in singing Ilis way into t-he hearts of everyone present—and tile audience vr'as one of t'lio largest tho Town Hall had accommodated. Ho has n piire lyric tenor of peculiar sweetness and wonderful carrying pGiterj-'aijd'his'jiatiHifality has"given Trim i qualities which .lend sympathy-and. .interest to ..his vocalisrii; >Wh'o is 'there among that Wellington audienqo who docs not cherish tho mennffy of John 31'Coriuaek singing _sneh'songs .as. "Atolly,. Bawn," "I. Hear You■ Catling '-Mc)" and "A Logan Love .Song" ? And who can forget the, fervent. sympathy. of his 'fine interpretation of ".My Tiny. Hand . is Frozen" from' tho first act of Puccini's "La Bohenio"? It was worth walking ten miles in soft sand to hear. ' It is pleasing , to. note that these numbers ore finding a. place ■in his programmes on _this occasion. Associated with Sir. SPCortuack on this tour are: Miss May Huxley; soprano; Mr. Donald M'Heatli, violinist; and Mr. Vincent. O'Brien, pianist.

, .Only: two coßcerts- will be given in Wellington—at the, Opera House on January 9 and 30.

Tfta Art of Conducting,

The conductor's art as wo know it at the present day is of comparatively modern growth. Conducting with a baton was a thing unknown, at least in this country (England), until Spohr introduced the custom in IP2O, although one infers from this that tho custom had boon adopted in Germany somo years previously. Up to this period the. principal' violin was the leader in fact as well as'in iiame, and played and beat timo -alternately with his bow, while the so-called conductor's chief duties seem t.o have been to sit at a piano with the score before him and . fill in any missing notes or correct wrong ones. Ji is not difficult to imagine what tho 1-cndcringf) of the great orchestral works of the -.earlier masters must havo been under those circumstances, as compared with tho performances' to which we are • now accustomed to- listen.

The development which music gener* ally has undergone, the ever-increas-ing complexity .of 'modern.- orchestral works,"the 'growth in the resources of the orchestra, as. well'as in tho individual, capabilities, technical and artis-. tiv; of the players, have all gradually tended "towards an equal development of the' conductor's art. It is.no longer a more-or less mechanical thing whir.h can easily bo acquired by any-musician, but is requires resources and gifts.of a high order, and as.such it'now stands' pn tho same artistic iovel as all tho ither executive branches of the art of . mttsic. —From an. essay on "The Art of Conducting," -Mr. Fred Cowcn in tho "Musical Educator." Discovery of a, Strad. ■■ Th«re is such'a'legion of yarns about file discovery fit genuine Strads in barber shops, hay-mows, and - fishermen's cabins-, vlie instruments afterwards turning out to bo worth about two. dollars each, that it is a relief to learn that the real article was discovered not long ago among tho- effects of Sir W. Kouso licughton, in England. By looking up the family records, it was found that tho violin had been in tho possession of tho family since 178 D, and had not been used for 100 years, it was in perfect preservation, and had not been improved by any meddlesome repairer. It was- taken to Hill and -Sons, tho famous experts of London, and pronounced genuine. It was valued at 10,000 dollars. It was found to possess a . magnificent tunc, and ■ was sold to l''rank Gittehon, tho gifted sixteen-year-old Philadelphia violinist, who mado his debut in Berlin this year.

Within tho past hundred years eonvents, monasteries, and the houses -of tho n'obility havo been tho most likely places for finding genuine Cruniona instruments. When the groat superiority "of Cremona violins began to be recog,hised, it beeanio a fad among tho nobility and anion;', the Catholic clergy to possess, ono - or more Cremona instruments.- and often an entire quartet- was purchased, •■'llecognising this fact, violin collectors , and dealers have often travelled 'through K,it:opo calling at coucastle*,, and tho lirmcj.-'ol'.'-'the.. lnhnftv,. and offering to buy;''till*'' old: string instruments' which .'were' often found ' there. Many.'valuable. 1 instruments have oftsu. hceir.fuuud -ili-SS.his.nv.f^-v