Around The Nationals

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 142, 13 March 1942, Page 20

Around The Nationals

equipped to talk of "T. E. Lawrence the Man" than Sir Ronald Storrs, a former governor of Jerusalem, who did actually record a talk of this name for the BBC. Admirers of T. E. Lawrence will remember from his magnum opus, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," the part that Storrs played in Lawrence’s adventures, and they will have the opportunity to hear Storr’s talk when it is broadcast by 1YA at 2.30 p.m, on Sunday, March 15. * * * ANTON RUBINSTEIN, whose . "Fancy Dress Ball" Suite (originally a set of twenty pianoforte duets) will be heard from 3YA on Wednesday evening, March 18, was a pianist-composer almost as famous for a witty remark as for his music. In a letter to his publisher Senff at Leipsig in 1889 Rubinstein said something that has been quoted (and mis-quoted) innumerable times in the intervening half-century: "My whole existence is ridiculous. God forgive my parents-TI do not forgive them, for the ridiculous is also the tragic in this case. Judge for yourself. The Jews consider me a Christian, the Christians consider me a Jew; the Germans consider me a Russian, the Russians a German; the pedants take me for a ‘musician of the future,’ the ‘musicians of the future’ for a ‘pedant.’ Do you know any other person as ridiculous as I am? I do not." * Ea * IR FREDERICK COWEN’S first musical friend, when he was about five years old, was Henry Russell, composer of "Cheer, Boys, Cheer!" and "A Life on the Ocean Wave." Russell gave young Cowen a silver cup as a souvenir of the first performance of his operetta "Garibaldi," which the lad composed when he was eight years old to a libretto by a girl cousin. It had a run of two consecutive nights in the Royal Opera House back parlour. After the Italian war. was over Garibaldi visited London and made a state visit to the Opera. Cowen’s father was the treasurer to the Opera House at the time, and he took his composer son into Garibaldi’s box in order that he might present the Italian hero with a copy of his operetta. Sir Frederick Cowen features in the "Makers of Melody" series from 4YA at 11.0 a.m. on Thursday, March 19. people could have been better ae * Ea JFFREDERIC D’ERLANGER’S ballet "The Hundred Kisses" (Les Cent Baisers) was the first venture of this gifted composer into the realms of ballet. It was first produced by Colonel de Basil’s Russian ballet at Covent Garden. Boris Kochno, who was responsible for the scenario, took the story from Hans Andersen’s fairy tale "The Swineherd," the moral being that some things that do not glitter are still gold. The music of "The Hundred Kisses" will be heard from 4YA on Thursday evening, March 19,