THINGS TO COME A Run Through The Programmes

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 37, 8 March 1940, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run

Through The Programmes

whaleboat came into Auckland Harbour under sail, and tacked up the Waitemata against a strong wind in masterly style. An old salt sitting on the waterfront looked at the whaleboat in admiration. "Look at the way he handles here," he exclaimed, "it’s enough to make a man a Christian, isn’t it?" The man who was sailing the’ boat was Bishop Selwyn. This story illustrates the muscularity of that very muscular Christian, the most spectacular of all the figures in the New Zealand mission field. George Augustus Selwyn had both piety and manliness. He could walk from one end of the North Island to the other as successfully as he could preach the gospel, and navigating a schooner came to him as easily as framing a constitution for the Anglican Church in New Zealand. Selwyn could not be left out of any series of articles or talks on the early churches here, and he is to be the subject of a talk at 2YA on Sunday afternoon, March 10, in the NBS series, "Leaders of the Churches in Early New Zealand." The speaker will be the Bishop of Wellington, the Right Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland. R The Simple Life \As*everyone who has read her contributions to The Listener will know, the simple life is not too simple for Mary Scott to make it sound real, and interesting. It is certainly not as simple as our artist has depicted it. ee upon a time many years ago a

Not only can Mary Scott write about the simple life, she can also talk about it, and will in fact be talking about it at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, from 3YA, in "Leaves from a Backblocks Diary." As Promised James Bertram, as we promised in our last issue, will give the first of his.talks on China

from 2YA at 7.10 p.m. on Monday, March 11. His subject will be "Background of War." Also as promised, Mr. Bertram is a contributor to The Listener this week. Listeners should now know enough about him to make them eager to hear him on the air. League For The Deaf People who are deaf don’t get as much sympathy as those who are blind. It is a curious thing that there are any number of jokes about deafness, but very few about blindness. Yet the deaf or partially deaf man or woman can be more cut off from society than the blind. There are now leagues for the hard of hearing in many countries. Their job is to help the deaf person to get the better of his.infirmity. One of the activities of the organisation is to get parents to understand the importance of medical advice for their children, and to escape from quackery. There is to be a conference in Wellington of the New Zealand branches of the League for the Hard of Hearing‘in the second week in March, and there will be a talk by Mrs. Hurd-Wood at 2YA on Monday, March 11, at 7.45 p.m. The Band The return to Dunedin of the St. Kilda Band was to some extent the musical counterpart of the Achilles’ return to Auckland. Many of the players left home untested. They returned, the winners. Dunedin knew, of course, before they left, that they were good, and the band’s performance at the championships in Wellington left no room for doubt that the home city’s pride was justified. Just to be sure that everyone in Dunedin will know how good they really are, the band will play from 4YA at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12. Two of the fine young players mentioned elséwhere in this issue will play a cornet duet (Christensen and Francis), and the band itself will play the competition test piece, the " Tchaikovski" selection, arranged by Rimmer. Trial By Jury Contrary to popular belief, "Trial by Jury," which 4YA will broadcast at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 11, was Gilbert and Sullivan’s second effort in collaboration. Their first, "Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old," was a flop in 1871. But four years later all the town flocked to see "Trial by Jury." From that day the composer and the rhymester went from one success to another. "Trial by Jury" differs from the other G. and S. operas in two respects: it is complete in one act and there is no spoken libretto. For the

radio, these features have been a decided advantage. Listeners hear the entire opera right through, and can complain only that it is too short. Schumann The Journalist Most people know Schumann was a composer, but how many know that he was also a journalist? In fact, he founded and edited a musical paper which fought powerfully against the weaknesses and follies of musical life in his day, and was of great service to the art by bringing recognition for Chopin and many other lesser composers who otherwise might have spent years in obscurity. However, it is his music and not his writing that you will hear on Sunday, March 10, if you listen to 3YA at 3 p.m. From Invercargill For 4YZ the week after next will be more than usually interesting. On Saturday, March 23, at 5.45 p.m., they will broadcast a special session in connection with the 92nd anniversary of the Province of Southland. On Wednesday, March 20, at 8.45 p.m. Invercargill will hear Dorothy Hanify, a pianiste of distinction, who has recently left Wellington to live in Invercargill. Miss Hanify will play a recital of Debussy. On Friday, March 22, at 8 p.m., 4YZ will broadcast a concert of Passion music, including Wagner’s "Good Friday Music" from Parsifal, Choral preludes by Bach, and a transcription of the finale to the "St. Matthew" Passion (Bach) arranged for the organ. Winter Courses All National stations are beginning to get busy with the Winter Course series of lectures, which are given once a week. These are designed to blend instruction and entertainment, and they range in subject from kitchen to castle. The Centennial will loom pretty large in them this year. Lecturers will be recording the past and weighing up what has been done. Station 1YA will probably be first off the mark with a series on "Our Early Colonists," beginning on Thursday, March 14-"Who They Were," "Why They Came," "How They Came," and so on, The speaker will be a recognised authority on the early days, the Rev. A. B. Chappell. Even The Fish Man can breed fruit that resists blights, wheat that’s immune from rust, animals to suit his exact requirements. He can interfere with some success in nearly every natural process. He even interferes with fish. Al-

though the acclimatisation societies have not yet discovered how to breed a fish that bites for licence-holders and disdains poachers, they have done and are doing many other almost as wonderful things. Their work will be discussed from 3YA at 7.35 p.m. on Friday, March 15, by A. G. Familton, of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. Sweet of You to Say So The irrepressible P. G. Wodehouse once put in front of one of his books the dedication: "To my wife, without whose kindly help and consideration this book would have been written in half the time." That’s the rough idea, anyway, speaking from memory. Dedications in general are intriguing things, and most have a story behind them. In old times musicians hopefully dedicated their

latest works to wealthy gentry, and sometimes were rewarded by patronage and a little greasing of the palm. Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann took in each other’s washing and dedicated pieces to each other like a lot of blushing bridesmaids. But in literature, the prize dedicator must be Herrick, who for a parson, had a surprising number of Julias, Antheas, and other fair ladies to address in verse. If you would like to hear more on the subject, watch out for a programme to be presented soon by Roy Hill, entitled "His Lordship’s Most Humble ee Maori Singing Since we can’t hear listeners clapping, or making whatever sort of appreciative noise they do make by their own firesides, we can only take letters as evidence of their appreciation or disapprobation. For the broadcasts of Maori singing it seems from correspondence that everyone has a soft spot. Enthusiasts will all be glad to hear that the Ngati Poneke Maori Club is still going strong and will broadcast again through 2YA at 8.5 p.m, on Thursday, March 14.