MUSIC

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 6

MUSIC

(By "Treble-Clef.")

Municipal Military Band. It is to bo sincercly hoped that tho military ombroidery now attached to tho Municipal Tramways Band, in the form' of' a complete range -of woodwind instruments, is'not to bo restricted to concerts. There is somothing peculiarly exhilarating in the tone of a full military hand, and that exhilaration is wanted at the present time more than i't is evor likely to bo. wanted. I would, liko to suggest that the Tramways Band, which does not as a rule figure in military parades (for a good reason), should bo specially invited to participate in the final parado in Wellington of tho Seventeenth Reinforcements. It may be that tho now members of the band havo no uniforms, but that is of small moment as long bb" tho tono of the military band is there, even if " only heard in "The British Grenadiers" and "Tho Girl 1 Left Behind Me." The brass bands of tho City have don& good work at these parades, and have been of incalculablo, if indefinable, value, but tho advent of a military band would add a new zost to tho parade.

Poniatowskl in tlio Trenches. Prince Stanislas Poniatowski who, despite his Polish name, is a descendant of a family which has been emphatically French since the'days of Napoleon—ono of tho forefathers having been a marshal of the "Littlo Corporal" —has with his two brothers boen in tho French anny sincc the beginning of tho war.' His grandfather was Joseph Michael Xavier Fraifcis 'John Poniatowski; a. friend of Napoleon 111, who wrote a great many operas, but who is known to this generation principally by his "Yeoman's Wedding Song," which still appears in inexpensive collections of popular ballads. Prince Stanislas has, inherited the musical taste of tho family, and although stationed at the .very front near Verdun he finds time in the brief spaco when his regiment retires for a resting period to follow his artistic passion, as is testified to in letters received by his friend, the young French pianist, Jean Verd, who is now in New York. Here is an extract from one: "I am here, happily for me, with excellent musicians, war invalids; a, violinist, Stcheopar, and a pianist, Faure. - Thoy havo opened new horizons for me—Wagner, Bach, Beethoven, Chausson, Franck, Lekeu, etc.—to such an extent' that all the Italian music I idealised so much formerly seems to me stultifying insanity. You sec I have profited from the war. Later I will undertake tho musical education of my father, who has also been misled."

Beecham the Preserver. Once more Sir Thomas Beecham occupies tho foreground of tho muscial scene in Londlon. "With all gratitude to him, it is a little humiliating to consider that but for the accident of his presence, with means to give effect to Ms wishes, opera would bo at a standstill in London; whilst it is still active in the capitals of all the fighting nations, except in Cetinjo, and perhaps Belgrade. Even the infinitesimal grant to musical purposes that figures in the national Budget has been cut down. Perhaps some day it will occur to our leaders that tho two greatest organisations for 'peaceful penetration' that the world has ever known, tho Roman Catholic Church and the modern German Empire, have been intelligently ana rightly alive to the proselytising influence of music. It is no more accident tliat both lipva beeij, the former deliberately, and the latter unconsciously, anxious to preservo their music free from foreign elements. How to Tell. ■How can you-tell whether you are gifted in music P One of the best tests is tho amount of enjoyment you find in your music. If your practising becomes laborious; if you find that your mind is wandering while you play ; if you find a greater joy in other things than your music, you are haruiy destined to beoome great in the art. If, however, you find that you cannot keep away from tho piano; if you think music, dream music, and find that yon take moro pleasure in working in music than in anything else, it is not unlikely that you will become moro successful if you have -the musical gifts.— Harold Bauer in tho "Etude."