HOW AUTHORS TRIP

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13934, 12 July 1919, Page 4

HOW AUTHORS TRIP

,'SOME MUSICAL "HOWLERS." . Musical readers will be interested . <m a little collection of ".howlers" ■ made by. a correspondent of a, Lon- . don journal. He says: k Oh, those noveHsts! Give even t the cleverest of them the opportuui- ' ty of coming a cropper in, a musical .' field, and it iis ten to oneofl a bad mishap. „ Was ib not George Eliot, , 'i:n intellig€in,t antudpatdon, it may j be, of latter-day musical fashioins", v,-.ho (spoke of "Mi© pea-feet accord" of descending fifths? And was it not ... Mai-don Crawford who somewhere cwdlited "Traviata." to Donizetti? Quite recently m a, widely-diiscussed Avork of fiction, I lighted on a reference to "a key like F major fairly .bristling with shai-ps"—-a novelistio a.berratdo'ni recalling that of a fan- more distinguished writer, Williaiii BJaok, when, he alluded to "Mazar't's Sonata in A sha.i-|Di major." One '•almost shudders at the thought of such a nightmare of a key. Agi often a.<? not, indeed, when music get into fiction, one looks" for ! strange happenings. The.re wps that I Co vent Gvn.rden performiance of .' "Tristan" described in "A.n;n Ver- ; onica." Up to. a' pp-int everythittg i went swimmingly, and the mo«?.t per- ' feet Wagneriteig- miight ha>ve approved.- .Then, just when one really)

Mt that the author was sure of hii ground, he gave himself array b) bringingl on King Mark 'at the enc of" 1 the first act.. Waigner was m-orc merciful than. -that. Boiti Mr Wells ha« fallen mi good company. Ever Mr. Arnold Bennett, lusxially among the most careful of ■writers, has now been "caught out." There was ■ a good deal about music and musical folk, in "The Lion's Share"; yet you will discover, in, it not a single howler. ' But in his latest .ncivel occurs la, dbscirLptioni __ of a promenade concert which is quoted by a writer in the Musical Timies. The passage offers yet another illustration of mnisiic's pitfalls—^toi the novelisit. Here it i&: "When they (George 'and Marguerite) got to the hall the band "w-as sending forth a tremendous volume of brilliant, exhiilairatinig sound. A vast melody seemed' to ride omr waves: of brass. Then cam© a final crash. . .. 'What was that piece?' she asked. ■«■•■'. 'Was it Glazounov?' ,He could not be certaiini. It sounded' fine. Surely it sounded Russian. Then he had a glimpse of a „ progr-amme held by a man standing near, and he peered' at it. 'INo. 4^—-E'lgaa-— cSea-Pic'tiuires.' " Sir Henry Wood, I presume, wias absent from his post on the occasion! when Elgar's very popular wodk was performed wiitKout the air of % soloist.But in the matter of concerts you may find generous diversion in many a novel. One that I, particudai'ly treasure tells of a truly epoch-mak-ing affair in the old St. James' Hall of happy memories. There a. famous pianist (a lady) "who" got.

£■1000 a nigiht and-played, as no one ,in the -world.' could' play," was giving, v concert.." The • effect on her audience (a« on her bank balance) was remarkable. "The tumult 'and in.sa,tia;ble outcry of the fAppassionato/ spread like a river over her listener®. They ( listened, and .tlieir hearts lapsed back from the hallucinated unity of. enthusiasm each to its own, identity, an identity"' ■isplated, dnitansifted',-, tocr'turedl csv ! quisitely by the. exipressioai of dire. yearndags."- It ma,y be the : fear j of this sort of thing • that keeps some people 'from attending pianoforte recitals. On the other hamd, _ I should have 'enjoyed the perform-/ a.nee—'as described by another . story teller—^giveni at ;Q|ueen's Hall by a „ pianisti ("■woirld-.ren.owned,' 5 j and no® wonder) who 'fblended' subtly" one of "Gi-eig's weird ! pieces" and' a Chopiin.■■ prelude, and ; then achieved the as'toumdinig fea.t ' of playing—what do you/ +iiintk,?—! the "Eroica." ■■ \ ! Oddly enough, Metredith, who of-' ten betrayed ,no' little insight and ' taste inj his musical allusions, makes •' one of his characters, sit down, to the. pianoi and- play the -.'"Choral" Symphony. But those wSio would } luxuriate in musical faux pas should ; tui"n again, to the delightful pages of "Trilby," For in all the realms \ ofi song (or fiction) there wias never ! surely anyone thait could 1 ■"' hold 'a' candle to the young lady who was able to sing Chopin's' A flat Impromptu—and finish it obligingly ' upon E in alt. '• ' ;

Atiother coirresipocide'nt supple- ' mented the article later "\yith. 'the j following ■ remarks: It is curious that in quoting the desci'-iptiion: of. "Tristan" from "Auto© Veronica'"; you do not refer to tihe -worst bluoider of all,, for Wells .describe® the openinw of the third act, with its •' dekWlatioßj, and refers, to the veiy PilanntaVe melody played •.■by the Herdsman on tiie piccolo! Oa.n:.'you think of any more 'brutal .burlesque ' of this poignant effect than this .cot '■ Ansrlais solo played on the "vnilgar ' little piccolo? * - " I Why do notl the great writer® re- ! fei- in generality to points wi'tK ' which they are not familiar, instead of making errO'n'eoiusi tecKnicia>l referencetg such as-this? r i

The buyiror public should rea]>ao [ that advertised businefises are safe ! to cteal with, because a weak bunihphs connot afford k> advertise. More nnd more advertising is bei:;g accepted ap the hall mark of a ref'nblp business, mid -the nan fidver rised btimnpas is becoming ret?arde& n° Ir.okin* in those quaJities whict make for guooeaß. '