THINGS TO COME A Run Through The Programmes

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 12, 15 September 1939, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run

Through The Programmes

HE first immigrants arrived in Wellington on the Aurora nearly one hundred years ago, on January 22, 1840. But there were forerunners to the Aurora. The Tory, carrying Colonel Wakefield and staff, sailed into Port Nicholson on September 20, 1839, one hundred years ago this month. Wakefield had taken a look at the Marlborough Sounds and then came on to Port Nicholson under the pilotage of the whaler Dickie Barrett, who was connected by marriage with the Port Nicholson Maoris. This centennial is to be marked by a talk at 2YA on Monday, September 18, at 840 pm. by W. Toomath, well-known for his activities in connection with the Early Settlers’ Association. Ruskin Right-And Ruskin Wrong Economists used to say that John Ruskin was a very good art critic but that he did not know about economics; and artists used to say what a fine economist Ruskin was, but that what he knew about art would fit a very small page. His influence, however, was great in both spheres, and it is still potent. He was one of the great moral forces of the Victorian Age. Ruskin is to be the subject of a talk at 1YA in the Winter Course series on Thursday evening, September 21, at 7.30. Love, Life and Laughter When Puccini wrote "La Boheme," he was expressing in music the gay life of Parisians at the end of. the last and the

beginning of this century. That life, lived in the setting of old Montmartre, is dead now, but the opera lives on. "La Boheme" is a curious mixture of happiness and sad-

ness. It tells of four young men, artists and writers and musicians, and also of Mimi, the tragic little Paris seamstress. Listen in to 4YA, Dunedin, at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday, September 17, when the opera will be presented. In The Fur Lands The great fur producing countries within the Northern Arctic Circle have a music peculiar to themselves. Enforced isolation in the lands where men hunt valuable skins as eagerly as gold, has made the themes of their folk music strong through loneliness. There is also a kind of wild barbarity, which is inseparable from music which has been conceived without the influence of other music. "Music from the Fur Lands," an informative session broadcast from 1ZB every Monday morning at 9.30, strikes a new note in its treatment of the music which is characteristic of Northern Russia, Siberia and Alaska. Light Upon Lunacy What is the "new" poetry of to-day driving at? Some people regard it as a gospel: others think it is near to lunacy. It doesn’t scan, they say: it is obscure; and in any case it isn’t poetry. Listeners who are interested in the work of T. S. Eliot, Spender, Auden, and others, will look forward to two talks to be given at 3YA by Professor W. A. Sewell, Professor of English at Auckland University College. He will try to explain how these poets are linked with the past and how they have struck out for themselves, what they want to say, and how they say it. Virtue In Fiction When Fanny Burney first published "Evelina" (in 1778, if you must know) she tried to remain anonymous. But father gave the show away and Fanny became famous. Virtue was rewarded with an appointment as second keeper of the robes to Queen Charlotte. There are no Mrs. Delaneys to arrange such matters nowadays, but if you ° listen to the readings by Professor Adams from 4YA at 9.20 p.m. on Friday, September 22, you will realise that "Evelina" was neither the first nor the last example of virtue facing an inconsiderate world- but that Fanny Burney scored a "first" in literature and has been copied ever since. Studio Concert Party? Dame Rumour has it — and we strongly suspect that there is more to it than mere

gossip — that very shortly 2ZB’s staff will be launching out with a party of concert artists. We cannot give the details, but with the wealth of talent available among the members of the staff, it would not be at all surprising if the concert party and the programmes were first-rate. We have in mind, of course, such artists as the Bohemians, Eric Bell, and many instrumentalists on the staff, not to mention the numerous good voices. Maybe we shall be able to tell you more later. The Games Go On If the Exhibition must go on, then so must Rugby, and at this early time of writing it seems safe enough to say that the All Black trial and the North v. South Islands match will be played in Wellington on September 23 whether Athletic Park is smooth and green or reinforced with sandbags. The world may burst asunder, but we should be poor New Zealanders if we did not play our football to the last. A good thing, too, And we particularly want to hear Frank Kilby and George Aitken reviewing play and players at 7.25 o'clock from 2YA in the evening after the games. Parrot Fashion We have all repeated things and been told: "Don’t be a parrot!" The introduction of this remark may seem irrelevant; but no one would want to be the parrot in the BBC sketch, "Poor Polly." In fact that particular parrot receives a very rough spin, and the amount of trouble the inoffensive bird causes when it is brought to the Ogboddy household by a sailor must be heard to be believed. From 1YA, Auckland, at 9.45 p.m. on Wednesday, September 20, this amusing little comedy will be presented. The Glad News We are going to make a point of listening to 1YA at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, to hear the station gardening expert. We have for years been stubbornly refusing to be satisfied about the pronunciation of the word gladeeolee. He is going to talk about gladaiolai culture, or it may be gladeolee culture, or gladeolai culture. At present they’re just plain flowers to us-and Bill, the boy, calls them poppies. Listen to this talk, Bill, for the NBS and Mr. Thornton will undoubtedly have their own ideas.

Priestley Postponed Listeners who had hoped to have heard by now the first instalment of J. B. Priestley’s unpublished novel, "Let the People Sing," which was to have been re-broadcast from the Empire Station through 2YA on Saturday evenings, will appreciate that the course of international events has decreed otherwise. More vital broadcasts have priority to-day but it is hoped that listeners will not have to wait very long before more normal schedules are resumed. Constabulary Duty Have you ever been interviewed by a policeman? It’s often the most interminable business, He wants to know everything. If you have only left the light off your bicycle he wants to know the engine number of your car. Perhaps we are prejudiced, but we are

looking forward to putting the men of law and order under fire for a change over 2YC on Thursday, September 21. The NBS has scored a double, and will turn the tables on a policeman, who has to say what type of radio programme he likes for 30 minutes after 8 p.m.; and a traffic inspector, who will be interviewed at 8.42 p.m,