ORCHESTRAL WOMEN

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 15

ORCHESTRAL WOMEN

LESS "CANNED MUSIC"

I After a four months' visit to England and the United 'States, Mrs. Sydney Warde, of Sydney, passed through' Auckland by the Mariposa en route to Australia, states the "New Zealand I Herald." She is accompanied by her .daughter, Miss Roma W,arde. Mrs. Warde said that her visit abroad had convinced, her that the orchestra was regaining much of its lost popularity in both countries. She was, in fact,' greatly surprised at the number of orchestras employed in London, both by day and by night, in theatres, in restaurants and cabarets. Many-of the larger - hotels ia L:on^-'! don and ■.. New York' employed their own, orchestras, said Mrs. Warde. The Continental type of tearoom or restaurant was very popular in the United States. There were also a great-many roof-garden and open-air restaurants. Mrs. Warde: considered that the Americans showed a great deal of taste, originality, and ingenuity" in the appointments and designing of their cafes and restaurants. - '-■;.;

Mrs.'Warde was' surprised to find so many women in orchestras, although the purely women's orchestras were still regarded somewhat as a novelty. In both London and New York the old prejudice against women in orchestras was dying out gradually. The argument rthat- women had less staying power than men for orchestral playing was losing its strength. It was thought, too,, that women possessed a little more enthusiasm" for their work than men. American conductors were not as prejudiced ... against women players as were the British conductors, said Mrs. Warde, although -Sir Thomas Beecham was the first conductor to include women in his orchestra in London.1

In London the women playing in orchestras were chosen only for stringed instruments and occasionally for the piano. .' On the other hand, she had seen women in American orchestras playing the flute, clarinet, saxophone, and even the trombone as well as those who played the harp and violin. Guitars were favourite instruments for women in the United States.