THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 66, 27 September 1940, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

HE 2YA series "New Zealand Brains Abroad" is coming to an end, but an additional talk is planned to cover some of the distinguished New Zealanders who had been left out. Listeners have responded to the invitation to add to the list, and a-number of names has been sent in: There is still time for more contributions. As the NBS wishes to make the roll as complete as possible, the invitation is repeated. Any listeners who know about New Zealanders who have done well abroad, and who have not been mentioned, should send in the names for consideration. The next broadcast of this item is in the programmes for Sunday, September 29, at 3 p.m. Another Hunchback Followers of radio serials have already enjoyed the broadcast version. of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Now comes another malformed gentleman to delight our waking hours and haunt our nights — The Hunchback of Ben Ali." This new serial, a George Edwards Production, will make its debut from 2YD on Monday, September 30, and 4YA Dunedin in the Wednesday evening programme (October 2). We have stolen @ march on you, dear reader, and heard the first episode-and we are able to tell you that the hunchback does not appear for a while, the tale starting rather unexpectedly in the wilds of Scotland, where there is a certain grim

castle, the terror of the local inhabitants, and other entertaining things: Taken from the novel, "Olive," by Maria Craik (who wrote "John Halifax, Gentleman"), this show is officially described as "the story of a curse and its ultimate result." Eggs and the War If the title of next week’s A.C.E. Talk from 1YA, 2YA and 3YA is any indication, the fowls in Dunedin, where the talk comes from, are more conscious of their duty in wartime than their northern sisters. "Disposing of Eggs" is the talk to be broadcast by 1YA and 3YA at 3.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. respectively on Thursday, October 3, and by 2YA

on Friday, October 4, at 3 p.m. Ignoring the National Service talks, the northern fowls are charging tuppence each for all their products. There is no question of disposing of the eggs.:As our artist suggests, that is never any trouble. The difficulty lies in securing them. However, prices are on the way down, and whatever the A.C.E. people have to say is worth hearing at any season. Warning Bird Rimsky-Korsakov, the Russian composer, was a past-master at filling his music with vivid images, and none of his compositions show this to better effect than "Le Coq d’Or." "The Golden Cockerel," as the title is translated in English, is based on a Russian fairy tale of an aged king, Dodon, who receives a golden cockerel as a present from a magician. This remarkable bird knows when. danger threatens the king, and at the psychological moment, warns him by crowing loudly. You will hear more of the story if you tune in to the "Music from the Theatre" presentation of the ballet music at 9.25 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, from 3YA Christchurch. Low Life in London Having already proved a success over Australian stations, the serial "Bundles," which was specially written for Betty Balfour by Edmund Barclay, © should find favour among listeners in this country when it begins from 2YA Wellington at 7.30. p.m. on Thursday, October 3. The character of "Bundles" is similar to "Squibs’-the character which Miss Balfour made famous early in her film career. Yet Bundles is a member of a dying race-the true’ Cockney. The cinema and many other aspects of modern life have done much to efface the speech and even mannerisms of these

people. But at heart they are the same; London is a vast home to them, and in the crowded little streets round the Edgeware Road, life still goes on in much the same fashion as in this play. Now, after a year of war, we are seeing the sterling temper of these Londoners. Carcasses What was the most important economic event in the history of New Zealand? The introduction of refrigeration, surely? Before then the country lived on the sheep, but it was the fleece of the animal, not its body, that kept the young colony going. The carcase was a by-product. Refrigeration made it possible to send millions of carcasses of mutton and lamb to the English market, and opened the way for a huge export trade in butter, cheese and fruit..It made smaller farming more profitable, and changed the balance of political power. There is to be a talk about the vast effects of refrigeration in the "Background of New Zealand" series from 2YA on September 30. The talk has been prepared by F. Lingard, who has already contributed largely to this series. Tale of Five Quid Whatever our idealist friends say, most of us are rather acutely interested in filthy lucre, and that, if nothing else, commends the radio comedy produced by the NBS, "Five Quid Pro Quo," which will be heard at 9.20 p.m. on Monday, September 30, from 2YA Wellington. Tailor-made from the title (Latin: £5 for what) to the plot and dialogue, this show is based on the principle that if A owes B a fiver and B owes C the same amount, and C owes A a fiver, everybody cancels everybody else out-

if you see what we mean without referring to the Puzzle-Puddler. Anyway, as further explanations would only involve the situation more desperately, we suggest you tune in at the appointed hour. Mendelssohn the Jew Even if their political and racial doctrines could be accepted or at least overlooked, there is one thing about the Nazi mode of living which, would stick in all reasonable people’s throats-their attitude to culture. Worst example of its kind in music has been the Nazi ruling on that great German and fine composer, Mendelssohn. Seeing in him not the creator of beautiful music, but

a Jew, the Nazis have forbidden all performances of his works in the Reich and some time ago asked for "purely Aryan" overtures to "A Midsummer. Night’s Dream." Many. were submitted;. none approached the music (written when the composer was .17) of Mendelssohn. In Leipzig a statue of Mendelssohn was removed, but the first action of a visiting British conductor was to lay a wreath on the bare place. And in the British Empire at least his music is still given homage. From 2YA Wellington at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, "Music by Felix Mendelssohn" will be presented. Homer and Homer A head of Homer by Russell Clark appears in this issue to draw attention to the fact that Professor T..D. Adams has selected "Homer and the Heroic Age" as the subject for his Winter Course Talk from 4YA at 7.40 p.m. on Tuesday, October ~1. A study of 3YA programmes persuades us that more explanation is necessary. Professor Adams will concern himself with the Homer who. wrote the Odyssey and. the Iliad. Our worry is not that Dunedin listeners will miss Professor Adams-he’ is sure of his audience-but that Christchurch listeners will confuse the subject of his talk with the Homer whose composition is to be played by 3YA at 8.23 p.m. on Monday, September 30: it is called, "Shoot the Sherbert to me Herbert."