VARIOUS FEATURES OF MUSIC

Shannon News, 11 May 1928, Page 2

VARIOUS FEATURES OF MUSIC

DESCRIPTION OF INSTRUMENTS CONTINUED. THE USE OF'THE VOICE. Information bearing on orchestration was continued in the lecture giveil in the De Luxe Concert Chamber on Monday evening, by Mr Edwin Dennis, A.R.C.M., tutor of the, \\ .L.A. classes in “The Appreciation of Musis," and lie 'also introduced the subject of voice production. There was a good attendance, and the tutor opened the proceedings by putting on the gramophone a record of an educational character demonstrating the sounds of various instruments, which he explained after each example, One side was devoted to brass instruments —the horn, the cornet, the tenor trombone, the bass trombone and the bass tuba, and it. concluded with an ensemble of two trombones and the tuba, with which a rcligioso effect was produced. The other side of the record reproduced the percussion instruments — the timpani, the side drum, the cymbals, the tambourine, the castanets, the glockenspiel, the tubular* bells, the celeste, and the harp. A record was also played which demonstrated wind instruments —the piccolo, the flute, the oboe, the cor anglais, and the bassoon.

MUSICAL FORMS,

Mr Dennis went on to describe musical forms. When a piece was said to be in "canon," it meant that the same part was sung by two voices, one a few beats ahead of the. other. In some church tunes it would be noticed that, a bar or two after the commencement of the melody, the tenor would take up exactly the same part. The same device was employed in "rounds," with,which most people were familiar. A "suite" consisted/ generally speaking, of four or five little pieces joined together. Taking one of Handel’s pieces as an example, the lecturer said that there was, a prelude, then, an allemande (a kind of dance in four-four time), then a courante 1 (a lively, running measure in three-eight), then a sarabanda (from the Spanish name of a folk dance and in three-two time), then a gigue (a lively dance in V compound time). Speaking.of the term "contrapuntal," Mr Dennis' said that if hih hearers could grasp the meaning of this, they would understand more than 95 per cent of alleged musicians in this country did. In the’ forms of concerted vocal music- there was. an absolute monarchy and a' republic; in the former one person was dominant, and in the latter everybody had something to say. In the National Anthem the melody was written .in the top line, and the four parts made a complete harmony. If a piece-was written in counteipoint, however, every part was of interest in itself. This, was observable in "The Messiah." A pieee that was not in contrapuntal form might be very effective by itself; but in the chorus,* "And the Glory of the Lord," there were four glorious melodies woven together, making a wonderful effect. Bach and Handel wrote eontrapuntally also from beginning to end. The word "counterpoint" was a long one, which frightened most people. It was used by examiners, and it seemed to cause more students to fail than any other factor. The "Amen" chorus was a great example of counterpoint. If any of those present had a book of Bach’s preludes and fugues they would see that his works were written eontrapuntally. Mr Dennis put on the record, "And the Glory,” to illustrate the form with which he was dealing. - TRANSPOSING WITH THE HORN.

Referring to instruments again, Mr Dennis remarked that B flat on the cornet was equivalent to C on the piano. In the horn family there were the hunting horn, the saxhorn, which were similar to bugles, and there was the horn usually played nowadays—the orchestral French horn; This instrument used to be registered by hand, but in the modern type it was equipped with valves. The present horn was used distinctly as a transposing instrument; it could be used for transposing into any key by inserting shanks of different lengths into the horn. Whatever key a piece of music was written, it could be played in the key ef C by the horn, if a suitable shank was used. Mr Dennis added that New Zealand was old-fashion-ed in that the high pitch was used in music. Australia had followed the example of Europe and America, 'with the result that the pitch there was a quarter of a tone lower than in this country. The higher pitch here was a source of annoyance to visiting soloists who wished to sing to the organ. It was always disconcerting to a soprano or a tenor if the organ or piano pitch was not right, and in the course of a big performance it imposed a severe trial on the singer who had been used to an instrument of a lower pitch.

What was described by the lecturer as the best record he had heard was then played. It was the “Invitation to the Waltz’’ (von Weber), played by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Strokowski; and the work of the various groups of instruments was much admired on account of the emphasis given to the parts. BRINGING UP THE VOICE. Concerning the use of the voice, Mr Dennis said that the sound of it should be made by the breath passing over the vocal chords. The sound was invariably made in that way, but, owing to oilr English language, people screwed up their throats. There was not one person in a hundred who spoke distinctly. It would be found that a shop assistant was so -accustomed to people not speaking clearly, that if he was addressed with distinctness he would say, “I beg your pardon?” If people were to allow their voices to come out from their throats by using their breath easily and correctly, there would not be any stoppage of sound, and the words would be clear. The

lecturer referred to three classes of breathing—clavicular, intercostal diaphragmatic, and abdominal; and he said that if people did not mind how deep they breathed, they would overcome the intercostal and achieve the adbominal. In clavicular breathing they tried to swell the ribs. The nat- , ural place to breathe was round the waist, and that was where a babybreathed—it was the natural place to swell. The old-fashioned ideas of army training had made men stick out their chests and draw in their abdomens. Diaphragmatic breathing did not make a person round-shouldered. He had been using it for about 12 years; it was most healthy. He found that people on learning the exercises became giddy very quickly. This was caused through the poison at the bottom of the lungs being cleared away,, and the oxygen taking its place, temporarily affecting the brain. From the sounding point of view, abdominal breathing was desirable because it gave the effect of the long column, the principle of which was well exemplified in organ pipes. Mr Dennis announced that next week he would give jsome instruction on diaphragmatic breathing, and in the course of his treatment of the subject of voice production he would include information on resonance, diction, and the use of the tongue, mouth and lips. ; The records used by.the lecturer are kindly lent by Hia Master’s Voice Company, for which Mr K. Aitken is the local agent.