SONGS AND VOICES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21206, 31 August 1940, Page 13 (Supplement)

SONGS AND VOICES

COMPETITION JUDGE’S ADVICE DR. STAVON’S PITHY COMMENT A feature of the Wellington Competitions Society’s festival was the helpful and, humorous comments by ;Dr. Frederic Staton, of London, one jof the adjudicators, on the perform- ! ances of the various artists who came | before him. In a kindly yet shrewd manner, Dr. Staton managed very subtly to convey to the performers just where their weaknesses lie. For instance, he was judging a class of traditional songs, two of the numbers chosen being “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” and “The Bay of Biscay.” “I think he would have been better drinking to me only with his eyes,” said Dr. Staton, referring to the competitor who had chosen the more lusty sea ballad. “His heart was bigger than his voice—it was the Bay of Biscay behaving very well.” (Laughter). The Search for Beauty “You singers should ask yourselves where you have failed, and ask yourselves, ‘ls it because I am not always seeking beauty in every respect?’ ” said Dr. Staton, after judging a solo for singers who had not previously won a prize. “Always seek beauty of tone—not quantity, but quality. ‘Seek beauty, and all the other things will be added unto you.’ Seek beauty first,

beauty of tone and beauty of diction, for is there not something beautiful in lovely words when you can hear every word?” That “Music-hall Voice” “I always dread one thing,” said Dr. Staton, after judging an action song section. “When judging a section of this sort, I always feel I am going to hear that terrible ‘music-hall’ tone, which I absolutely loathe. It is not necessary, in my opinion, to produce that tone of voice, because it is not beautiful, but I think the frequency with which it is heard is one of the reasons why I am so much opposed to ‘hot’ jazz. “I don’t object to jazz rhythm, but I do object to the instruments that are used to produce it. It is a bad form of art.”