RECORDED MUSIC

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 10 December 1927, Page 15

RECORDED MUSIC

THE GRAMOPHONE IN CHURCH.

A gramophone recital during Divine service was recently intrenjneed at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. Merthyr. The selection chosen was Mendelssohn's recitative “Hear My Prayer,’’ with the air that follows it. “Oh. For the Wings of a Dove,” sung by the choir of the Temple Church, London. It is claimed that this is the first occasion in which a gramophone record has figured as part of a church service in Wales. Discussing th© innovation with a “Western Mail” representative on Monday. Mr. J. Jones, of Merthyr, who has heen closely identified with gramophone development, said: “This novel idea is one which the churches in general might copy with profit as a means of meeting a popular dctnany for brighter services.” * * * ♦ IN LIGHTER MOOD. Tn lighter mood amongst recent H.M.V arrivals ate the Revellers, who display their peculiar gifts as a vocal quintet in 82468. containing the quaintly humorous “So Blue.” and on the other side, “The Birth of the Blues.” which is described in some quarters as “the hit of the season.” and has a crooning, haunting quality. There are also light records by Derek Oldham (of “The Vagabond King”), the Smith Brothers, and the Light Opera Company (in “The Desert Song”), and, in instrumental records, the Savoy Orpheans in selections from “Castles in the Air” and “Lady Luck.” and Do Groot and the Piccadilly Orchestra. ♦ * ♦ ♦ RACH. THE MASTER. For it was not novelty that made appeal to him. but art. A new instrument could be made to heighten the expression of the beauty wttfiin. Deep within him was an almost unconscious technique that* served as a never-failing vehicle for a deeper fund of pure beauty, that filled his soul. The third Brandenburg Concerto (His Master's Voice, D 683—4) is an instance. Never has a more ordered beauty been hung upon a smaller peg. That favourit,. arresting phrase of his, a mere teedlc-ee, toodlc-00. is the seed of the first movement, and out of it grows a wonderful structure that bustles along with a compelling exhilarating force. The group of fiddles is divided into three, as are the violas and 'cellos, and these groups bandy the theme about amongst themselves, * ♦ ♦ ♦ FROM THE “HALLS.” The late Fred Emney deserved immortality for his wonderful studies o|-low-life, which culminated in his brilliant portrayal of “Airs May” in “A Sister to Assist ’Er.” His daughters. Joan and Doris, to-day are perpetuating his memory by their clever impersonations of the characters which he made famous, Joan con. vulsing us by her intuitive performative of th© part of “Mrs May.’’ The Zonophone Co., with usual enterprise, have already recorded these two artists. Following a recent issue of '“A Sister to Assist ’Er,” we have the recorded performance of “The Arrival of a Rival.” Again. Joan keeps us in roars of laughter. Every little quip and jest comes from this record with a realism reminding us forcibly of Fred Emney in the same role. (Zonophone.) f * £ ♦ ♦ GILBERT AND SULLIVAN. Zonophone Light Opera Company, in Vocal Gems from “The Yeomen of the Guard” (Zone. A 321. “lolanthe” and “Pinafore’’ have already appeared). The Zonophon recording entitled “Gems from ‘The Yeomen of the Guard' ” is in the nature of snippets, but should not be despised on that account. The snatches of song and chorus, agreeably rendered by His Zonophone Light Opera Company, with the help of a competent orchestra, are admirably recorded. The makers deserve thanks for instituting this moderate-priced series of Gilbert and Sullivan selections, and their reproductions of other favourite items, both vocal and instrumental, are of equally good quality. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ AN AUDIENCE THRILLED. There were no singers on the stage nor any instrumentalists; yet an audience filling the Cardiff Empire recently was thrilled with tho magic of melodious music. An unseen nightingale trolled its throbbing song from an H.M.V. disc, and the audience. conveyed by the magic carpet of imagination, travelled to an enchanted glade in a wood where the leaves were rustling under the stars. The nightingale trilled its throbbing song and then fused into music played by human hand in a symphony of sweetness. ♦ * * ♦ ROUSING MALE VOICE SONGS. Orpheus Male Choir (unaccompanied)—“March of the Men of Harlech,” and “Song of the Marching Men.” A powerful choir record of two well-known titles. There is a quality and strength about tnis combination, which should build them a fine following among phonograph enthusiasts. Zonophone 2910. * * * * JULIA CULP RECORDS. Comes the glad news, says a London paper, that three new electric Julia Culp records are already listed in the German H.M.V catalogue. In them Madame Culp sinus “Der Tod und das Madchen” and “Der Lindenbaum” of Schubert. “Derr Nussbaum” and “Du Bis.t wie eine Blume’’ of Schumann, “Feldeinsanikeit’’ of Brahms and “Verborgenheit” of Hugo Wolf: a very handsome contribution. Make a note oi these. * A * * “JOLLY GOOD OLD HUNDREDTH.” The following letter, addressed to “Honourable Stanley Roper. Orgam-r and Composer, England.” hareached Air. Roper at the Chapel Royal. St. James’. His playing oi tho "Old Hundredth” and the chpues of Rig Ben were recorded for "Hfs Master’s Voice” r —

“Honourable Mr. Roper,—Nobility ' and gantry oi Gold Coast is mad last, moon with joy of you master’s voice gramophone music of Mr. Big Beu and traihe noises and jolly good old 100th. “1 like you am organist and choirmaster Westleyon Chapel and I beg you honourable Mr. send me you music of you performance old 100th. Oh it is very wonderfully. My choir of chapel like you royal choir of chapel is most excellent but no organ alas woe is us only drum and tambreen and school bell. It gives me most pleasure to demonstrate out to you that I earnestly ask you one favour.—l remain i n graceful anticipation. Enos Ajakaye.” * fit A * A NEW IDEA. A branch of a well-known firm of gramophone record manufacturers has converted a large audition room into a miniature theatre, with thirty, “stalls” and a tiny stage. Visitors are invited to seats in the theatre to hear the records played, and to gain the necessary “atmosphere" the senses of sight and smell are called in to assist that of hearing. By means of clever scenery designed by a wellknown scenic artist, lighting effects, living tableaux, and faint perfumes the listener hears the record under the best conditions. A “Morning Post” representative was present it the first "performance.” He was presented with a printed programme and shown to a stall. The lights were extinguished as a gramophone was set in motion, and with the first strains of the anthem, “Hear Mv Prayer” dim coloured “Spotlighte” gradually illuminated the stage, where was seen a Crusader Knight m a listening attitude. This soeno gradually disappeared and the next represented the interior of a cathedral. with the motionless figure of a choir boy in the foreground and a lighted altar as a “backcloth.” lrcense floated across the room, and the illusion was complete. ♦ ♦ * * BACH GEMS If Bach had had a modern ptano there is little doubt that ho would have out-Lisztcd Liszt. The Aral two Preludes and Fugues (H.M.V. L 1196) from the famous Forty-eight have th" most extraordinary hfe. He can suit nil tastes. If the ’cello is your favourite instrument there are six (dance) suites for it, and his choruee’ like the Hosanna (H.M.V. DITI.M and the Pater Omnipotentem (H.M.V, D 1114) ran floorl your sou! with beauty. All this is great musie. born of human life.