THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 59, 9 August 1940, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

N the middle of August, if the traditional excuse for leave has any truth in it, all the grandmothers of Christchurch die annually. All the clerks of Christchurch want time off to go to the funeral; and it is not by accident that the funeral procession usually ends at Riccarton or Addington. Next week in Christchurch is Grand National Week. The racing begins this week, the provincial festival will be Officially blessed on Saturday next by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, when Mr. Sullivan opens the New Zealand Industries Fair, and by next week it will be so completely under way that ninety per cent. of the population will either want to drop work altogether or will find they cannot get any done. The Christchurch broadcasting programmes fully recognise the importance of the occasion. A reference to 3YA for next week will show that all the important items are included for relays. Divers Things You’ve probably heard Cyril Fletcher’s wisecrack, on being informed that his Uncle Obadiah was a man of divers interests: "I didn’t know he was a swimmer." We are not talking about

aquatic activities when we mention divers things-but of the programme "Radio Variety!" which will be presented at 8 p.m. on Thursday. August 15, from 2YA, Wellington. Featured in this studio production are several well known New Zealand artists — notably, John Parkin, pianist; Anne Luciano, singer; Edward Sundberg, who wields a deft hammer on the xylophone; and Viv. Middleton and his Harmowaians. There are other delectable ingredients, including an accordion solo, a five-minute mystery play-and all under the care of a sauve compére, so you should find this show plenty of fun! Gold! It is difficult now to visualise what the conditions were when men had to carry their swags over the hills into the Shotover River or penetrate into the wild, heavy-forested, and river-divided country of the West Coast, in their

search for gold. Only stout hearts could storm such defences and hold on when they got there. The weather was often appalling, the risk of being drowned when crossing rivers was considerable, and for a long time food was very scarce. The enterprise of these diggers, their industry, their honesty, and their good comradeship make a wonderful story. Few of them had as much luck as the prospector in our picture. In the "Background of New Zealand" series at 2YA on Monday, August 12 at 7.40 p.m., this search for gold will be the subject. Two miners will discuss what the diggings were like in 1867. Victoriana Marches On The NBS production "Victoriana," presents a kaleidoscopic picture of the life and times of the sixty glorious years of Victoria. No. 8 of the series, subtitled "The Nation at War," will be broadcast at 9.15 p.m. on Sunday, August 11, from 4YA Dunedin. This tells of the Crimean War, and revives many names of places and men that live still in the hearts of the older ones among us — Sebastopol, Varna, Gladstone, Lord Raglan, and many others, Architects The amount of bad building design in New Zealand inside and out has been due largely to the popular attitude to the architect. He has been looked upon as a luxury, and even to-day there are some extraordinary misconceptions about his work. Some people think that all he does

is to draw a pretty elevation for his client and say, "Six and a-half per cent. please." However, there’s been a considerable improvement in the public’s attitude towards architects in the last year or two. New Zealanders are now ready to learn from him. How an architect sees things will be set out in a talk at 3YA on Wednesday, August 14, when R. S. D. Harman, a well-known Christchurch architect, and F. A. Shurrock, of the local School of Art, come to the microphone at 7.32 p.m. El Sombrero De Tres Picos That, if you know your Spanish, means the three-cornered hat, which is the title of a suite of dances by de Falla, the Spanish composer. When the Russian Ballet visited Spain, Diaghileff was so much interested in the work of de Falla that he commissioned him to write a ballet on the subject of Alarcon’s novel, "El Sombrero de Tres Picos." The music is full of the national strains of the composer’s country, with Andalusian, Southern and Moorish influences all playing a part. Station 1YA Auckland will broadcast de Falla’s ballet music at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday, August 11. Paris Lovers of the Paris that used to be have now dried their eyes and squared their shoulders and begun to look forward to the day when the city will once more be French and the hub of the artistic world. But for those who have loved her for what she has been, Delius’s atmospheric music, "Paris--The Song of a Great City," may evoke some mem-ories-perhaps of little bookshops in the sunlight by the Seine; or the narrow, teeming streets of Montmartre, the heights of Montparnasse, the Champs Elysees when Spring is in the air, the Moulin Rouge, or that little cafe round the corner in the Rue de la Paix. It will be presented at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday, August 11, from 4YA. Young Composer Jean Francaix is one of the prominent young composers of our times. He was born at Le Mans in France in 1912, and is the son of the director of the conservatorium. His first entrance into the limelight was in 1932 when his "Eight Bagatelles for String Quartet and Piano" was presented at the Vienna festival of the International Society of Contemporary Music. A few months later, the performance in Paris of his first symphony provoked a demonstration of protest, so unusual was its idiom to the ears of Parisians. Instrumental music and several ballets have followed since that time. The Philharmonic String Trio will play Jean Francaix’s "Trio for Violin, Viola and ’Cello" at 8.46 p.m. on Wednesday, August 14, from 1YA Auckland. Maths. for the Masses The late Mr. Justice Alpers said that he looked forward to thé time when it would be considered that mathematics was not part of the education of a gentleman. That attitude to mathematics of course is not universal, otherwise

there wouldn’t be professors and lecturers on the subject, and popular books like "Mathematics for’ the Million." What is much more important, civilisation on its material side would pretty well come to a stop. That there is a human side to mathematics is the opinion of Professor R. J. T. Bell, of Otago University, who will tell listeners about it at 4YA on Tuesday, August 13, at. 7.30 p.m. Fashion Men ‘don’t. worry so much about spring as do women. It does not mean much more than a change from the old red flannel to white cotton. If they get one summer suit that is about as much as most of them can manage. Perhaps some day in a new and better world we shall have talks to men-about the new fabrics for the season and new styles in waistcoats "and . waist-lines. Meanwhile, the NBS is catering for. the women in the season that is traditionally supposed to be the season of gladness and new hats. "Lorraine," whose advice on dress is already well-known, will begin a series of talks on Spring and Summer fashions in the morning Women’s Session from 2YA on Thursday, August 8, at 10.45 a.m.