TIME AND TUNE.

Shannon News, 29 June 1928, Page 2

TIME AND TUNE.

♦ ■* VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL ADVICE. ME EDWIN DENNIS'S LECTURE. Much ground was covered by Mr Edwin Dennis, A.R.C.M., W.E.A. tutor of the Musical Appreciation class, in his lecture in the De. Luxe Hall ou Tuesday evening. . Records were played of selections from "Cavalleria Rusticana" (the opening chorus and Lola's song), and "I Pagliacci" (the Chorus of the Bells). These were two of the one-act operas that really lived, said'Mr Dennisj they were usually presented on the one programme. Resuming the consideration of vocal work, the lecturer dealt with combinations of difficult consonants, and-gave the class a number,of phrases to. practise. He wont'on to speak of' the value jf .-ruling a:-; an aiu to health, pointing out that practically everybody could do a little singing. Most of the prominent artists lived to a ripe old age," and they did not suffer much from lung trouble'. The opinions of a musi- ! cal and a medical authority on the physical advantages of singing were quoted, emphasis being laid on the importance :of deep breathing. Mr Dennis remarked that the greatest enemy that a singer could have was a cold, and he advised any who'suffered in this way! not to suppress a sneeze, which was Nature's means of getting rid of the germs. As an effective treatment for a cold in the incipient stages Mr Dennis advised anyone so suffering to mix a small quantity of salt and carbonate Of soda in a cup of water, pour some of the liquid into the palm of the hand, sniff it up the nostrils, and allow it to escape by.the nose.and mouth. This would clear away the mucus and probably cure the cold. Having brought some songs with him, Mr Dennis sang them in order to allow the class to judge the effects of the exercises in diction, resonance, and expression 'to which he had referred in past lessons. He said that glorious voices were all very well, but if the words were not made clear the story was not told, and if the tone colour was not right the audience would not be greatly interested in the performer. Mr Dennis, playing his own accompaniment on the piano, sang two pieces by Schumann—" While gazing into thy dear eyes" and "Thou art like unto a flower." As the names imply, they are tender conceptions, and he gave a delicate yet distinctive interpretation of them.

A little talk on Schubert followed, and a record of the Unfinished Symphony (No. 8, ; in B minor) was put on. In explanation of this composition and its lack of an authentic ending, the lecturer stated that Sir George Grove and Sir Arthur Sullivan went to Schubert's birthplace, at Lichtenthal, near Vienna, and in an old box found manuscript showing that he had been at work on the final part of the symph'ony. Schubert died, when he wa s 31, after an arduous existence. He was a legitimate successor of Beethoven,' though he was not a builder in the same form as Beethoven,, who would take two or three scraps of melody and-write an imposing sonata around it. Melodies seemed to teem from Schubert, who must have been always in touch with inspiration. On the back of a menu card in a restaurant he jotted down. "Hark, hark, the Lark," one of his most famous lyrics. Selvubert wrote something like 600 songs, apart from very many symphonies and pianoforte works. He was essentially a singer, and bad a very beautiful voice.

Reverting to the - Unfinished Symphony, Mr Dennis stated that the melody had been brought to. a conclusion by a later hand. Nearly the whole of the symphony was in three-four or three-eight time. The lecturer called attention to a peculiarity of the rhythm, and how it could be misinterpreted. He stated that years ago he took charge of an orchestral society of 38 members, and it was decided to produce the symphony, the members stating that they had previously played it at two concerts. At first he could not make the playing coincide with his beat, but later he found out the cause of the trouble. The movement was written in three-four time, but in groups of four semi-quav-ers; and as the first of these quavers was not particularly marked, the piece as the. orchestra had been playing it sounded as though it had been written in. six-eight time. Schubert had a really "hard life; he sold a large section of his works for 800 (less than £4O), and the man who nurchased them sold one piece alone for 21,000 gulden. The composer sent some of his works to Goethe, with a request to be allowed to dedicate his works to the great author; but, like some other communications to eminent people, the letter got astray. Schubert's life was full of disappointriients, and it was quite possible that hi the Unfinis'iied Symphony there were expressions of the bitterness of his experiences, together with representations of the brightness of optimism which would permeate his temperament from time to time.

Mr Dennis fulfilled a promise made at a previous lecture and sang "Come away, Death," from "Twelfth Night" (Arne), to demonstrate the -musical interpretation of Shakespeare's intention of producing an appropriate atmosphere —in this case one of gloom. He stated that this was one of eight songs which he had had to sing at the examination • for A.R.C.M., Uondon. By way of contrast to the foregoing item, the lecturer sang a very pretty piece entitled "A Sprig of Boronia" (Florence Hull). He had a few words to say about the use of the mezzo voce, which, he explained, was singing in a-half voice, but not in falsetto. Generally it was not much attempted by other than professional singers. It was accomplished by singing very softly in the high parts, without breaking the voice. He demonstrated a bright, full "tone on the top A, and then a repetition of the same note in mezzo voco, and pointed out that a great amount of swell

could be attained by the latter means, whereas if falsetto was sung there could the same note in mezzo voce, and pointwas turned over into the head, and it worked from the vibrations of the head. The gramophone and records used at the lecture were lent by Hia Master's Voice Company, for which Mr K. Aitken is the local agent, ;