MUNICIPAL CHOIR

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 171, 10 October 1927, Page 14

MUNICIPAL CHOIR

AN ENJOYABLE CONCERT On Saturday night the Municipal Choir was considerably reduced in numbers, and the singing was rather below its usual standard; but there were some pleasant performances of music. Mendelssohn’s “Grant Us Thy Peace” is. naturally, not an amusing or exciting work, but it is an eminently “sound” one. Elgar’s “Prince of Sleep” is a good example of modern partsongs, having pages of fine conception and delicate execution. Yet, as a whole, it does not seem to achieve such memorable beauty as the poem of Walter de la Mare: I met at eve the Prince of Sleep, His was a still and lovely face; He wandered through a valley steep, Lovely in a lonely place. . . This was no easy thing to interpret, and the performance had much to commend it. The Hebridean “Eriskay Love Lilt,” arranged with unpretentious art by Hugh Roberton, was also well done. Granville Bantock’s “The Standard on the Braes o’ Mar,” a too ingenious setting, was not so successful. In this the choir sang with plenty of animation, but lost its tone in the quick declamatory passages—were they taken, perhaps, a little too quickly for the singers’ capacity? The same defect was noted in Balfour Gardiner’s “Cargoes” (the well-known poem of John Masefield), and here was room for more variety of colour. All these were enjoyable, however, in their degree, and should have been rewarded by a larger audience. Mrs. Emmeline Mcßeath was suffering from a cold or throat-trouble, but gained much applause by her singing of “Che faro” and “Three Fishers.” As additional numbers she sang “My Bear Soul” and “All Through the Night.” Miss Margaret Stoddart was in excellent form, and had chosen some attractive music. With Mr. Leo Whittaker she played the first and second movements of Grieg’s Sonata in F, a rather weak but very likeable, or even lovable, work; and later she played Tartini’s Variations on a theme of Corelli (“La Follia”), a piece of classic art which is always good to hear. Mr. Barnett’s performances of Bach are probably th€j most wholesome features in our musical life. This time he gave again his admirable reading of the Toccata in F. In a group of lighter pieces he included a transcription of Wagner’s “Traume,” a quite beautiful song which has not, apparently, been sung or played in Auckland during many years. Mr. Edgar Randal, organist for the Mendelssohn motet, and Mr. L*>o Whittaker were efficient accompanists. R.J.B.