CHAUTAUQUA.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1920, Page 7

CHAUTAUQUA.

r. THE ZEDLER SYMPHONIE • QUINTETTE. The musical entertainment portion of yesterday's session of the Chautauqua was in the capable hands of a very clever combination known a3 the Zedler Symphonie Quintette, consisting of Mr. Nichol I. Zedler ('cellist and director, Mrs. Zedler (pianist), S. Salvador Sula (first violin), H. Parsons (second violin), and Miss Helen Fortune (organist and solo soprano). This party made their first appearance yesterday afternoon, before a good audience, and received a very warm reception. There was a brightness and freshness in their concerted playing, while in solo work those who appeared proved themselves artists of no mean merit. Miss Portune sang several songs, and was "heartily encored. A pleasing feature of this party's entertaining is- the little word pictures of the "offerings" to be presented, which' the director gives before each number, and this tends to enable the audience to follow with some measure of intelligence the meaning of the different movements in the pieces played—it is equivalent to an annotation on a programme, and much appreciated equally by those who understand music as well as the imitiated. The quintette also appeared again last night before a very large audience, and gave several solections, including excerpts from grand opera overtures, those from Gounod's "Faust," and Rossini's "William Tell," being amongst the most popular. For the playing of the latter number, which was announced as the concluding item of the programme, the party had to return, to insistent was t\c applause accorded them.

"THE NEEDS OF THE HOUB." ' Judge Alden, who is billed as one of the foremost American lecturers/gave an address last night on the above subject. He is a strong personality and treated his hearers to an intellectual* banquet. While he subjects his audience to some very tense moments, he relieves the strain of these by some quaint humors, of which he has a ready fund at call. In dealing with his' subject he said it did not matter where one lived, there were four definite relationships of the individual to the State. These were commercial, political, domestic, and religious. Judge Alden said he could not speak of the conditions in New Zealand, or as to what were the needs of the hour here, but he did speak with knowledge of his own country, and said that \vhile ' wealth and prosperity had been the inheritance of a great proportion of the population, they had turned away from the finer things, of the spirit and honesty had been replaced by graft and greed. In speaking of profiteering the judge said it was just as much a wrong to rob a man of a penny as to indulge in profiteering on a large scale. To reform a State, the speaker argued back to the individual, and said no state would be reformed until its citizens were as individuals reformed. He believed there was need for a return to the old-fash-ioned standard of morality. The need of the hour was less theology and more Christianity. Judge Alden said if the League of Nations was not adopted by America, it would be because of political reasons alone. He was confident that an appeal to the popular vote on such a matter would be overwhelmingly jn favor of the League- It was recognised there must be a league between Britain and America. In such a league the hope of the future lay. The address was punctuated hy frequent outbursts of applause as the sneaker made point by point with tellJffg effect, especially when he told of how he was led from atheism to a belief in Christianity. The lecture concluded with teh singing of the National Anthem, the lecturer presiding at the piano. To-day, the Symphonie Quintette and Judge Alden will again occupy the Chautauqua platform at both sessions.