ORGAN RECITAL

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 251, 18 July 1921, Page 8

ORGAN RECITAL

ANOTHER LARGE AUDIENCE. The new arrangement regarding the municipal organ recitals seems to suit Wellington people. Tho second Sunday night recital was given by the city organist (Mr. Bernard Page) in the Town Hall last night, and despite the counterattraction of a concert by the Professional Orchestra, the recital was attended by several hundred people. There was no charge for admission, but a collection taken at the door to defray expenses realised a larger sum than the sale of tickets used to produce at week-night recitals. The audience, which filled a large part of the gallery, obviously enjoyed the music, and the organist was applauded heartily at the close of each number on the programme. Air. Page’s first number was Handel’s “Largo in G,” from the opera “Xerxes.” This composition, more simple in construction than many of Handel’s works, is full of charm, and tlie organist played it delightfully. The numbers that followed were all of a fairly simple nature, within the compass of tho ordinary citizen's understanding of music. A dainty gavotte by Alartini, one of the great composers of organ music of the eighteenth century, was warmly appreciated. The song “O Star of Eve,” from “Tannhauser” (Wagner), was played most attractively, tho organist making the most of tho beauty and romance that belong to this composition. Aloussorgsky’s "A Tear” and Crackci's “Caprice in G Minor” wore -also very pleasing numbers. The programme closed with the famous “wood music" from the second act of “Siegfried” (Wagner). The voices of the forest, with the calls of birds and the sweep of the winds, are presented vividly in (his work, and Air. Page was particularly successful in developing the more delicate phrases of tho composition. Another recital is to be given next Sunday night.