SYMPHONY SURVEY.

New Zealand Listener, Volume 8, Issue 195, 19 March 1943, Page 2

SYMPHONY SURVEY.

sir,--Congratulations to Marsyas on his most excellent symphony survey in your last issue, As it will (one hopes) cause a little heart-searching among programme organisers, this is a good time for any of us who feel strongly on the matter to put forward a suggestion or two. I think it would be fatal to the development of a lively musical taste to have any further degree of centralisation in programme control: the idiosyncrasies of the individual programme organisers must be allowed substantially to remain. But even granting that they be given a fairly free hand to display their preferences in special programmes, there is still time to provide that each listener should be able within the span of one year to hear all the major works of the great composers (with the exception perhaps, of oratorio and opera which is a more lengthy business). This could surely be done, Take, for instance, the case of Auckland with its four stattons. During the so-called "classical hour" in the afternoon no major works are broadcast; we used to fare better, and I understand the southern stations still do, but we are the poorer here by 52 symphonies (or their equivalent) per annum. Then in spite of these four stations, the whole of Saturday, day and night, will pass with nothing more than a few small crumbs from 1YX at 9 o'clock, while 2YC and 3YL are given two full hours each of symphonic programme. On Sunday we are given a snack at 3.30 and then nothing till 8.30-some-times nothing even then. This in spite of the fact that 1YX and 1ZM are putting forth hours of non-stop recordings. Gramophone records of the major works are now practically off the market, even for those who still have money left to buy them. Is it fair then, for the NBS to keep unused on its shelves records which it alone can procure and which it buys with our monev?

ALMAVIVI

(Auckland).