Items From The ZB's

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 132, 2 January 1942, Page 21

Items From The ZB's

now going the rounds of the ZB stations is a presentation, in two half-hour parts, of Coleridge-Taylor’s cantata Hiawatha, the first part of which, " Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast," was heard from 4ZB on Sunday, December 28, and plays from 3ZB, 2ZB, and 1ZB on succeeding Sundays. Hiawatha, which is based, of course, on Longfellow’s poem, was for years an annual institution at the Royal Albert Hall, London, where it was performed by the Royal Choral Society under Dr. Malcolm Sargent. The recordings which ZB listeners will hear were made in the Albert Hall by Dr. Sargent, and have captured something of the vast spaciousness of the hall as well as the spectacle of Cole-ridge-Taylor’s colourful music. the Sunday programmes COLEREAAE-TARLOR. was the son of a native of Sierra Leone and an English mother, and the marked individuality of his music is perhaps a reflection of his mixed race. He composed the first part of Hiawatha at the age of 23. He beaas a small pocket edition of the Poem, sketched out a rough draft of the cantata, and then memorised the words : and lived with them until his music was ‘nothing less than gn expression in an‘other art form of the scenes Longfellow wrote about, It took several years to complete the cantata, the final part of ‘which, " Hiawatha’s Departure," was first performed by the Royal Choral ‘Society in the Albert Hall on March 22, 1900. The overture to the whole work was heard for the first time the May. The work was a great and lasting success, and carried the name of Coleridge-Taylor throughout the musical world. : * * "THE 10.0 p.m. Sunday feature Under the Crooked Cross is a combination of music and ‘narrative featuring those several countries once high in artistic prestige which now lie in the shadow of the swastika. Next Sunday evening, January 4, 1ZB will feature the music of Austria, suitably introduced and explained, while from 2ZB and 3ZB will be heard the works of famous Czech and Polish composers. The " Norway" ‘series from 4ZB will be opened with Halvorsen’s stirring "March of the Boyards," followed by Grieg’s " Nor‘wegian Bridal March" and items from his Peer Gynt suite. The Norwegian Light Symphony Orchestra will be heard in Norwegian folk tunes, and soloists in the programme will be Kirsten Flagstad and Ole Bull, the Norwegian composer and violinist. ;