MUSICAL TREAT

Southland Times, Issue 24873, 13 October 1942, Page 3

MUSICAL TREAT

FIRST CONCERT BY AIR FORCE BAND The universal appeal of band music drew a large audience to the Civic Theatre last night for the first concert of the present visit of the band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. This , fine military combination has already \ established a high reputation in Inver- . cargill and it enhanced it by an out- • standing performance last night. The • audience was most enthusiastic and ; showed its obvious delight in the items. The Mayor (Mr A. Wachner) extended a welcome to the band, and said it had been instrumental in raising large sums for patriotic funds during its tours through the Dominion. He was sure the present visit would be highly successful in raising funds for prisoners of war and in stimulating recruiting for the Air Force. The conductor (Flight-Lieutenant Gladstone Hill) acknowledged the welcome and said the bandsmen were grateful for the fine gesture of Invercargill citizens in taking the players to their hearts and their homes. Everywhere the band received hospitality approaching the point of embarrassment. It was pleased to assist patriotic efforts because what the band was doing in New Zealand was small compared with what the men in the forces were doing overseas. The chairman of the Invercargill Metropolitan Patriotic Committee (Mr P. L. Hodge) also welcomed the band. MILITARY PRECISION Since its last appearance in Invercargill the band has added to its numbers, its quality and its repertoire. With its full section of woodwind it has opportunities for featuring tone colour to an extent that is exceeded only by a full symphony orchestra, and consequently the band can present a programme of extraordinary variety, including classical music, with complete facility. The conductor has trained his bandsmen to a high pitch and can command that knife-edged precision for which the brilliant British military bands are famous. He guided the band last night through an exacting programme and achieved effects of which any conductor might be proud. It was a grand musical performance with just sufficient touch of spectacle to add thrills to musical appreciation. When the drummers took their places in the march numbers their flashing sticks and white gauntlets made a fine display. Flight-Lieutenant Hill had the assistance as deputy-conductor of FlightSergeant R. H. Simpson, a former resident of Invercargill, who was a prominent member of the Southland Battalion Band until about 16 years ago. Flight-Sergeant Simpson conducted in several marches and notably in the novelty number “Our Task,” in which the band presented an impression of a day of station duty from “Reveille” to “Lights Out,” with fine snatches of musical and bright comedy touches. The band’s items included the marches “The Thunderer,” “Britannia” and “Action Front,” the overture “Oberon” (Weber), a charming arrangement by Calliet of Stephen Foster’s “Jeannie with the light brown hair,” the tango “Lady of Spain,” the waltzes “Catalina” and “Sleeping Beauty” (Tchaikovsky) the colourful triumphal march “Entry of the Boyards” (Halvorsen), the hymn “Silent Night,” an impressive Maori lament, “Tangi” (Alfred Hill), and the “Cockney” Suite (Ketelby). Sergeant H. Geard and Bandsman R. J. Loper played a comet duo, Bandsman R. Miller a trombone solo, Bandsman E. G. S’jndberg a xylophone solo and with Warrant Officer J. H. Hardwick a xylophone duet. An instrumental trio consisting of Sergeant E. K. Thurkettle and Bandsmen A. Ramsay and D. Lavin played Widor’s Serenade and a saxophone quartet consisting of Flight-Ser-geant Simpson, Corporals F. Robb and R. Floyd and Bandsman K. Harris played “Believe me, if all those endearing young charms.” The band will give an open-air concert at the show grounds this afternoon and its final concert in the Civic Theatre tomorrow night. It will also give marching displays tomorrow. WELCOME TO CITY A large number of citizens assembled at the railway station yesterday in cold and stormy weather for the arrival of the band of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. On the platform to welcome the band officially were the Mayor (Mr A. Wachner), the town clerk (Mr W. F. Sturman), the chairman of the Metropolitan Patriotic Committee (Mr P. L. Hodge) and the chairman of the special committee of the Invercargill Returned Services Association in charge of the effort for prisoners of war (Mr R. T. Meredith), all of whom informally welcomed the band and its conductor (Blight-Lieutenant Gladstone Hill). Headed by the Battalion Boys’ Band, under Lieutenant A. McMaster, the band marched to H. and J. Smith’s tea rooms for lunch and later at the Town Hall the bandsmen met their hosts and hostesses with whom they are billeted for their stay in Invercargill. They spent a free afternoon.