THE MALE CHOIR.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1918, Page 5

THE MALE CHOIR.

| • *,,, TBE*SBCSOKDsSEA«ON. v ■ .;| The .popularity of -theoNew ■* Mails Choir further evidenced •nigiht, when the first concert of ■B»*'p ;eelcond season was given at the Tteroplar Half, The strength of (&lpj.| choir has Ibeen augmented by the s&•§ ■elusion of a number of new voices, aftf'l these have more than made up for ;men who have gone away to eaanp/./| There was a large audience and) thvji items were all thoroughly appreciate^, .1 In gome respect, however, the cono64£!| was disappointing. The ohoir aippeavss:% insufficiently prepared for the work &'% 1 was called upon to do. The worst. &a- * ture of its singing was the lack of aban-■, don, which is so essential to successful J concerted work. There wag also evident !3 throughout the programme a tendency % to develop too big a tone at the expense ', of tonal quality. The choir was more effective in its subdued passaged, > and more attention to this would -mj&j : '_', improve the quality of the singing. The £■ .attack at times was indicisivo, and tha ' 'ensemble ragged. There were 'aomje- con- .3 spkmous instances of mispronuMelalnfcm,.!.i! and careless enunciation wees fredaatfyr. A apparent. There were, however, merffis * in the performance of -which' both «on» '£ ductor and choir may well be prowl ? The balance of the parts was- well mai* ; : tained and the blend of the voices TCM. tsa pleasing feature. Included in Hub t : choir items given were several ttdaptd- r tions trf weM-kooiwn songs, the popular ,\ "Three for Jock" (W. H. Squire) prov- .';, ing a fitting opening, tbougib. the nunt- 'j her would have been more effecfivevif . it had been given with a little '/ tlie lilt and the oure-free spirit <xf the \ sailor. In "0 Dry Those Tears" (Reagp);' '". the voices were too heavy, and fbe> wc&&! i needed more of caressing treatment, in ; thi.s, there were . some weaknesses m V phrasing and the emphasis was at times c wrongly iplaced. ■ V The choir was moro enjoyable- iiHiljiji ', popular "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son* S (F. A. Kendall) and in the encore "Tip 'J the Death," though in that at times thei ,; voices were forced and jerky. Theyattnjii ' an arrangement of Alyward's "Song of ' the ftow" with much spirit- The other ■£ numbers wore Kuchen's ''Young Musk ?} cians" and "Knightfall." The latter wan , probably the choir's best item. The tone ' was good, the sustained notes were deaJV,A ly held, and the diminuendioea were "Well y, executed. For an encore they hummed '< the well-known hymn tune "Sandon." ,■» A quartette party ««onsistin!? of Messrs t F. Hooker, R. A. S'anders, E. Holden, snd W. H. Broome sang the playful "fflnmk- t ITU's Doggye" (Mackenzie)'but the-ef- "; fort was decidedly immature, 3!ae} - voices did not blend and there wfcfe ..*, no cohesion between the parts. Rw fen! "' encore they sang "The Quest." Later in >, the evening an arrangement of the soug ~ "Because" (Guy a' (BDard>lot) -was givep! as a double quartette by Mes-ms P. A&->- ' er, N. Bay, Harvey, Bollringer, >, Reid, Ambury and Veale. ' . ••>) Of the assisting axiirifces, 'Mafllpiin SpW -. Symes (Waaganui), who pbsseaseae dffljt* il\ toalto voice of ricb. qrroiliity and ff erable range, was most eordSally reJcarmE. i"; Her first song was "Angus JfeodonaJH* "■. (ißoeckel). In this she appeaßal some- .' whiat stilted and resfirdoted, btft fIES : oomipletely won' Tier hearers is <&»' i; encore, "Womiaa. , 'B Way" aifter the '. ing of which eh» was presiantod Vfx&i a' bouquet. !For her second retaD &e SsniJ -'• f ; Willeby's well-iknoiwn "Owaing H«mtf ~' Tn the second ipart of iShe pßograminiS '■ Blymes essayed al ieawy "fiaak &j v/ Glueb's "Che Faro," yis®& she ' style, geiSng *b» true feeSfeg -'.' of remorse from ths phrase °H«re 1 Uiti. ■ [ thee, love, for ever?" The app&juse &&s'>. '" ■instantaneous at the eoucrasioat off ffcg>. •■ mim&er, and she responded vriKh fffffo ;Call of the Maytflme," BSgTjoW^f',,'; Sunshine Coming Soonf '.'' The other vocalist was Mr IS, Ba».- ' 'one of the unost piopular of local tones. He was not very ambitions in SS i .selection of Pinsute's "Queen (rf the > Harth." Mr Day possesses a, ■, , tvery pleasing quality but his exaggexaiw 'i ed use of the vfcalto effect, roMbed JiW . '! work of what would otherwise hayei m<tde it a very meritorious perforraafflßfc secured a recall and sang Elgin?*' . "Pleading."

Mr Arnold 0. Stumoak played a piano* ' iforte solo entitled "Fudandia," by Sibe- „.' lius a composer little known, and not- , ; much appreciated. The work was given with'fitting deliberation. Mr. Sturrock was encored, but fell into what can only be termed an unpardonable error by playing Mendelsohn's "Funeral March.'' <.-, The item was most inappropriate and '• hardly becoming. ' ' The introduction of the elocutionary items, such as those given iby Mr 'Frank '" Stanford (Stratford), was a risky inmwa. ' tion in the Society's programme, and * their inclusion will need to be very cau- ■ ; tiously considered. The items selected ■ were of a decidedly "cheap" and ques- • •' ■tronable variety and out of keeping' ' with the class otf concert. Moreover ibhe twenty-fflve minutes of the first half of '■ the evening was in itself a condemnation of his judgment. His "After Dinner Toasts" might easily have been given-.' '", without the song which accompanied'! ? •each.. For encores he gave "No 115: •'' Art Thou Weary?" and "The Bittei 1 . ■ End." In the second part he gave a. - comic item entitled "Pa's Initiation,*"' and for an encore (by request) a serious ;piece entitled "Kitchener," with apologies for alternating serious with humer- •" ous items. He was recalled, and gave 'Paddy Clancey's Burial.'' The accompaniments were played by ' Mr. Sturrock, with his accustomed ability. Mr. F. W. G. McLeod conducted, the choir.

The>concert will be repeated to-night. ■