Behind the Scenes
HE studio broadcasts of the NBS '" String Orchestra have found many listeners since they began some time ago. Have you ever thought, however, while you are enjoying a suite for strings, an overture or something like that, what a tremendous amount of work is involved behind the scenes? The other day The Listener interviewed a musician whose main work is done in just that way-behind the scenes and out of the limelight. It is, nevertheless, highly important work. The gentleman’s name is Thomas Gray, and he is shown at work below. "You mustn’t expect anything too highly-coloured from me, you know," began Mr. Gray. "I haven't left a wife and five starving children behind in England, or anything spectacular like that." Thomas Gray comes from EnglandNewcastle way-and has been interested in and intimately connected with matters
musical since the age of four, when he began to appreciate various tunes and melodies and rudimentary harmonies at his father’s knee. By the time he was nine he had completed his harmony; student’s counterpoint he finished at 12; and composer’s counterpoint (which he studied under Dr. W. Townsend) when he was 17. Mr. Gray is the composer of 24 songs, several suites and overtures; he is at present working on a ’cello concerto and a viola sonata, and he has completed two movements of a symphony, which he hopes to have presented in Wellington when it has been scored. His official capacity is that of arranger and orchestrator with Maurice Clare and the NBS String Orchestra, and many of the pieces presented by the orchestra are arranged by him.
TE MAURI MEIHANA, the Rotorua Maori singer (shown above), is one of the most able exponents of the songs of her people. Originally "discovered" by Gil Dech, she has been featured on a number of recordings which she made in Australia. Many listeners will probably recall that she made a tour of the main stations early in 1937. She will be heard in a bracket of songs on Thursday, August 29, from 2YA Wellington
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19400830.2.15.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 62, 30 August 1940, Page 7
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343Behind the Scenes New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 62, 30 August 1940, Page 7
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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