W.E.A. MUSIC LECTURE.

Shannon News, 13 July 1928, Page 2

W.E.A. MUSIC LECTURE.

NEXT COURSE TO COMPRISE EVENINGS WITH COMPOSERS.

Further instruction in the use of the voice was given to the members of the W.E.A. class in Musical Appreciation by Mr Edwin Dennis, A.E.C.M., in the I)e Luxe Hall on Monday evening. By way of introduction a record was put on the gramophone of Mischa Elman's inteipretation of Drigo's "Serenade." Speaking first of the vowel "oo," the lecturer said that this was probably the most difficult vowel to sing, because it was usually sung with a closed mouth, and in closing the mouth there wag a tendency to stiffen the jaw. When producing this sound, the space the upper and lower jaws should.be about the size of a threepenny-piece. Mr Dennis went on to speak of the consonants, dealing first with the liquid ones. The "1" was made fairly eas.ly by the tip of the tongue lying at the back of the teeth, the central part of the tongue being flat and the sound passing over it. This 1 consonant was frequently used in the expression of gaiety, as in the "la-la-la" of a certain type of song; and it figured in words of a kindred light character, such as "laughter," "love" land "liberty." The "n" and "ng|' sounds should pass from the epiglottis into the cavities of the nose. If the latter was blocked an ugly tone, called a nasal twang, was produced. "M" was possibly the easiest consonant to produce. The lips were closed and the sound directed through the nasal cavir ties. "M" and "e" in combination [ formed probably the best sound for ! obtaining resonance. "R*' was rather difficult, as it could not be vibrated unless attached to seme other sound. Care had to be taken that .it was not produced gutturally. This -could be overcome by practising.it with "ee" prefixed to it. With "v" the tone was held by the top teeth and the bottom lips. It was often associated with words of a vicious type, such as villain, vixen and vanity. "W" was a consonantal form of "u," and it frequently expressed passive moods as in "wait," "watch" and "want." "Y" was found in words of a more or less imposing nature, such as "Yule," "yoke," and "yeoman." l x Mr Dennis referred again to the limitations of the piano in orchestral work. He quoted John Honeyman, who might be considered old-fashioned, but who had voiced the general feeling of the average instrumentalist in describing, the violin as the king of in struments and as the most soulful because" it offered every possibility of tone. The same writer had remarked that parents of children obtained instruction for them in the use of the piano in many cases when the young pupils were probably hungering for the beautiful tone of the violin. Thousands of people automatically sent their children to learn the piano; the pupils might not be in the slightest degree musical, yet this seemed to be regarded as a part of their education. A record was put on the gramophone, of "Caprice Viennoise," composed and played by Fritz Kreisler, the worldfamous violinist. The lecturer called attention to the double-stopping, aud pointed out what a severe test it constituted. He remarked that one or two otherwise brilliant players had failed because they could not accomplish it. Another record of the great artist's playing* was the "Meditation" from "Thais" (Massenet), expressing the heroine's troubled thoughts before renouncing a life of sensuality to take up the self-denying role of a Christian convert. A vocal record followed, demonstrating Chaliapin's treatment of "Slander is a Whispering Zephyr,", from "The Barber of Seville" (Eos-1 sini), aud afterwards his interpretation bf "The Song of the Flea." Mr Dennis explained that- the name of 'Flea" was given to a type of people who used to haunt the old Imperial Court in, expectation of favours from -Royalty, and. the song was a skit on such a. person.

Mr Dennis proceeded to givj an idea as to how 1 eomposers work. He stated that, although there was an outpouring of what the composer felt, in the piece that he created, yet he had to remember that it might be performed before an audienee or audiences, and sometimes his music travelled down the centuries, and so it had to.be moulded according to eorreet laws of harmony and form. Performers would.be forgotten in the course of years, but the names of eomposers like Gounod and Verdi would live for ever. The average person might imagine a composef to be a man with wild eyes and unkempt hairj spilling ink in a frowsy den. Whilst there might be some that type, however, the majority were not so. There must be inspiration, but there was also much detailed work, with many erasures arid ' amen/dments. The lecturer quoted an article by Edgar Allan Poe stressing this point. Taking an example from modern composition, Mr Dennis said that in one or two of Sir Edward Elgar's earliest works there were features which the critic felt could be improved on, but in his later works these deficiencies were not found; through conscientious and hard study they had been overcome. Geniuses had existed like Schubert who could compose several songs in a day, but those simple little melodies were not of the monumental proportions of the symphonies of the great masters. Had Schubert attempted to construct such works as Beethoven did, ho would probably have needed to carry out a great deal of erasing and re-writing. Brahms had said to a young composer, It seems you are too easily satisfied. Keep going back to it and working at it again until it is a finished work of art and until there is not a bar that you could improve en.'/ ,

A record was played of Kreisler's rendition, with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, of "allegro non troppo" movement of Mendelssohn's Concerto in B minor. Two further violin records were put on. One was Mischp, Elman's rendering* of the ever-pppula.r "Traumerie" of Schumann. The other

record was Dvorak's Slavonic Dance in G sharp minor, played by Jascha Heifetz. In intimating that this lecture completed the twelve of the first course of this season, Mr Dennis announced that he would give in the next course a series of evenings witk composers. The first lecture would deal with Beethoven. He intended later to speak about other famous composers of the past, in chronological order. The lecture on Sehubcrt, however, might be postponed as he was expecting special gramophone in recognition of tha£ composer's centenary this year. Some modern writers would also be considered —Albert Mallinson, Montagu Phillips, Wakefield Ca'dman, and Sir Edward Elgar. The lectures would be amplified with gramophone records and with his own vocal assistance so as to bring out the variety of the music produced by the great composers. The gramophone and record* used at the lecture were lent by His Master's Voice Co., for which Mr K. Aitkeri i» the local agent.