MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2711, 4 March 1916, Page 9

MUSIC.

TBr Teh lb Ci/bi.l An Advance. During the present week '}ias been accomplished a union of choral forces in Wellington that I have long advocated in this column. _ Thougn Wellington is a fairly large city, it has been cogently in more ways than oae that there is not room for two big choral societies. Their very existence has been the cause ■ of the weakening of both. This was shown ever so clearly to the' looker-on last year when was witnessed the rather ridiculous spectacle of the two societies performing "The Messiah" in the same hall within a week of each other, and both performing the great work most indifferently, to put it mildly. Wise counsels have since, and the committees of both bodies got together, submitted proposals to their' members, which were ratified on Thursday evening. ■ The union of the Royal Choral Society and the_ AVellington Musical TJnion is an event in our musical Tiritory. and I entertain the hope EJiat it will be one fraught with artistic and material profit to all concerned. I cannot pass this matter without expressing a word of Tegret for the injudicious remarks of some of the more talkative members of one of the societies on the subject of the conductor. Whilst every member of a society such as the one concerned is entitled _ to speak his mind at an annual meeting, there are means of expression of one's opinion in public without deliberately bludgeoning one who is not there to -eply. Melba's Return. Mme. Melba's arrival date in Sydney is now fixed for April 8 by the Niagara, this news being due to the diva's definite decision not to extend her stay in the United States. In a mid-Janu-ary letter to Mr. John 1 Lemmone, of Sydney, from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Philadelphia, Mme. Melba writes:— "The day before yesterday "I sang before 5000 people at the New York Hippodrome (I sins two days running), and what an 'ovation 1 had! I really am singing wonderfully, so that I don't know how I do it! Lord Richard Nevill and Mme. Sassoli (mother of the harpist who at the time was touring with Geraldins Farrar) were amongst those presont, and thoroughly enjoyed the concert. There is a very serious epidemic of the grippe about, and the doctors don't, know what to do, but it does not extend to California. I could have sung four times in New York, three each in Philadelphia and Chicago, and am due shortly .for four appoarar.ces in Boston. I could have stayed, until April, and been very busy, but not for me. lam longing to get. back to Coombe" (Lilydale, Vic.). In a letter from Government House, Ottawa. Mme. Melba writes: "My cup of happiness is full, for yesterday H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught pinned on my breast an order which. is one of the oldest orders in the world. lam now a Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The order itself is very beautiful, a white Maltese cross with black ribbon at the -back, and a black bow. • I am having a most happy visit, and T.R. Highnesses are most kind and thoughtful. The concert was in the theatre, which is small, but it was packed, and we ma.de 5200 dollars net —£1040." Muslo's Real Saul. Anna E.'Ziegler, the well-known New York vocal teacher, writes as follows It is a deplorable fact that an overwhelming majority of music lovers and patrons have not the faintest idea of the art of music, and what the understanding of this art means in a life. What is commonly called "music, a rhythmic repetition of tones, uninspired, simply a matter of calculation, does'not reach the soul life. It pleases only the lvost crude and primitive senseof rliythmio noises, is to be found in all savages, and really only takes the_ place of tho clappers and tom-tom noises of these. True, the people think they like the melodies of the so-called music they are hearing. That is their mistake. They would not even listen to those melodies, if unaccompanied by the lioisy rythms. Just try it, aiid you will find this to be a fact. To the singer it is important, that he or she is the only musician who deals solely and alono with the melody directly. Tho singer, as it were, takes the place of the soul of the music. The motive is always found 111 the melody. While studying and after conquering the physical, impediments of the vocal organs, caused solely by wrong breathing, the student of singing should therefore study constantly what lasting, good music is, and how it is composed. It would 6oon develop in the consciousness that a sense of rhythm and knowledge of harmony are of just as much importance to the singer as to the instrumentalist and. composer. _ Only thus can we have inusicianly singers, and only thus can sir.gers help to lift the present conditions into a more general recognition of the difference between mediocre music and music which invariably' uplifts. To make an immediate start, inform yourselves from those who know what music it worth studying and ptudy only that, both by attentive listening to real artists, and seeking recognition of the works. Do not foliow the wrong custom of singing these wonderful works with unfinished voices and lack of breath or thought control. Mme. Sembrich and. all the other great singers never did that. They were musicians before they sang the great masters' songs.