ORGAN RECITAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2426, 3 April 1915, Page 9

ORGAN RECITAL

An unusually large audience attended the Town Hall last night (the bodv of the hall was crowded) to hear Mr. 'Bernard F. Page's recital of n|usic specially selected'for the Occasion. The chief features of an excellent programpie were the Prelude from/the first'act and tho Good Friday music from the third act of Wagner's "Parsifal," and the "Finale" from No. 6 Symphony in B minor by Tschajkovsky, mere fragments from.a vast field of music■ that would be seldom heard in Wellington but for Mr. Page's industry and enthusiasm. The. "Parsifal" music, universal in character rather than national, expoiuids a great rhapsody of philosophy, mystical poetry, and a religion based on compassion. The beauty of its melodic harmony can be felt even by those with no grea't musical susceptibility. Mr.. Page's registration yielded the vivid contrasts, particularly in the Prelude, so essentia] fpr the highest achievement of Wagnerian music. _ The' selection emulates in a successful manner the extraordinary lugubriousness which winds up that composer's great -sym.phony. Mr. Page's transcription of this noble composition testifies in a high degree his artistic intelligence find ill-, dustry. The overwhelming grief expressed in Chopin's well-known "Marphe Funebye" from the pianoforte sonata in B flat minor received sympathetic treatment, and Mr. Page made the most of tho sweet and plaintive quality of the melody in tho trio. Tho programrn* > was further enriched by the inclusion I of Handel's celebrated "Largo in G" I from the opera "Xerxes." The Largo, I like the Chopin number, belongs to a • class of music that one does not have to ' "grow up" to. The chann lies in their ! simplicity. Mr. Page was compelled to ■ repeat the Largo to satisfy his listeners.