THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 163, 7 August 1942, Page 2

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

O those of us who remember Mary Pickford in her heyday the title of the talk by The Very Rev. A. K.. Warren, "The Work of the Orphanages", will immediately summon to our inward eye pictures of poor little orphans in skimpy gingham frocks scrubbing the orphanage corridor, doing the orphanage washing, minding the orphanage babies, scouring the orphanage saucepans. And though little orphans may grow up into film stars, the work of the orphanage still goes on. But to-day there’s a different emphasis. It’s not the work done by the orphans, but the work done for them which makes the more impressive total, and we imagine that this is the aspect which the Dean of Christchurch will discuss. His talk will be one item of a concert given by the Orpheus Choir in aid of the combined orphanages to be broadcast from 3YA at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 12. Antics Et Musica Had the 2YA programme scheduled for next Monday evening featured the court of Frederick William I. instead of that of his son Frederick the Great, we might have expected the Musica Antiqua resounding over the microphones of the Dominion to be that of heavy boots neatly aimed at the hindquarters of unresisting courtiers, of moans of undernourishment and _ indigestion issuing from the lips of visiting royalty, of draughts whistling through the over-ven-tilated and chilly palace, or of the tramp of the boots of outsize grenadiers in the courtyard of the palace. However Frederick the Great was different, at least superficially, and parsimonious as he was, he liked to give the impression that he encouraged the arts. Perhaps it was his father’s habit of breaking his flute over his head that gave. Frederick a certain determination to make his court ring with musical instruments. So if you would like to transport yourself back into the eighteenth century and hear some of the music (probably French) typical of the Prussian Court at that time listen to 2YA next Monday evening. Arts And Crafts Whoever was responsible for compiling the symphonic programfhe which 3YL will broadcast on August 15 apparently aimed to please as wide a circle as possible and at the same time include one or two recordings which are not heard very frequently. For those who like the cosmopolitan graces of Rachmaninoff there is his Third Concerto, played by Horowitz and the London Symphony Orchestra, and "documentary" fans should be satisfied with "The Steel Ballet" suite of Prokofieff, presented by the same orchestra (under Albert Coates), or Honegger’s "Pacific 231", a locomotive impression, played by the Coppola’s Symphony Orchestra, And, lest applied science should seem to be getting too much prominence, the programme concludes with Alois Melichar

and the State Opera Orchestra, playing Moussorgsky’s "Pictures from an Exhibition." Onward And Backward? We wish we could feel happier than we do about the talk to be given by F. H. Sagar, in the Winter Course series from 1YA on August 13, on the subject of recent advances in physics. Don’t misunderstand us, we’re all for the physicists advancing, as long as they do advance, but if they are going to go traipsing off after an irresponsible like Albert Einstein, no-one can be quite sure where we'll all end up. Let Einstein put a crimp in time, as he claims to have done

with space, and before we know what we're at we’ll not merely be back where we started from, but back a lot further than that. The whole theory of curved time looks like a threat to the foundations of unionism. There’s going to be a fine old how-d’ye-do when workers start claiming for overtime they worked next week, wasn’t there? Egging Them On In spite of what we were told about the heavy demands being made by the fighting services, we have believed all along that there was more than that behind the current egg shortage; that, in brief, the root cause was the hen. And now we find our prognosis confirmed in the topic for 1YA’s farming talk next Monday-"The Brooding of Chickens," by E. C. Jarrett. Not, we would have you understand, that we are accusing the Dominion’s fowls of staging a stand-up strike, nor do we suggest that any of ‘them are unwilling to cut the cackle and get down to business, but the trend of hostilities must have been doubly upsetting for them. With all the Japanese sexing experts either interned or back

in the home-pen and the unfortunate’ chick quite unable to say whether it is Angus or Agnes, it is no wonder that there. is more brooding than breeding in Dominion hen-houses, If Mr. Jarrett can point to a way out of the impasse, chickens, as well as chicken-farmers, will doubtless be grateful. Mixed Menus We were once told, by a lady who was used to housekeeping in outlandish parts of the world, that she always liked to keep a cold tongue in the larder or on the sideboard for emergencies, and if she could not get a cold tongue in Central Arabia or on the North-West Frontier or Samarkand she would make do with a carefully cooked camel’s hump. Although we suspect that this lady kept her tongue in other places than the larder, her story raises all sorts of interesting possibilities of the resources that might be exploited by housekeepers in the far-flung outposts of the Empire. We have never visited Zanzibar but it sounds savage enough to provide the most interesting menus of boa constrictor broth, lion chops, or crocodile au cassarole (we would prefer him well and truly in the soup). Such hints and information will be provided by Mrs. Beryl Dowdeswell in her talks on "Housekeeping in Zanzibar" which may be heard from 2YA on Friday, August 14. From the Radio Theatre Several features recorded on Wednesday evenings with audiences in 1ZB’s Radio Theatre will soon be put over the air. Among those completed are Arthur Wrathall’s "Something’s Bound to Happen", which -has provided many laughs for those in the theatre, and Arthur Collyn’s "Over the Place", a series of semihumorous sketches with music. Reg Morgan’s programme "Lavender and Old Lace", which was played to audiences on Friday evenings, and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" heard on Thursdays, have also been recorded and will soon be broadcast from all stations. Peasants or Pomp? Having suggested in another paragraph that music will paint the scene of the Prussian Court of Frederick the Great, we propose that you might like to play a musical visit to Russia. You may then decide with William Shakespeare whether old customs, in the shape of peasant dances, retreats from Moscow, muteracker suites and the like, make life more, sweet than that of painted pomp. We look forward with interest to the musical interpretation of Russia in "Music Paints the Scene" which may be heard from 2YA on the evening of Friday, August 14.