AUCKLAND'S MUSICAL INVASION

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 335, 23 November 1945, Page 16

AUCKLAND'S MUSICAL INVASION

NBS String Players Go North

sortment of cases and boxes was being unloaded from the red postal van-not the records for to-morrow’s programmes, but an intriguing muster of divers shapes and sizes. Bill Barsby, in shirtsleeveshe is no mean hand on the double-bass -was supervising and assisting the carrying of ‘cellos and his own double-bass, music, all the paraphernalia of musicians ‘|come to play. A musical invasion. The | NBS Quartet and the Light Orchestra | had arrived to give Auckland a fortnight of their music. Few who passed by did more than step aside; few who read of these broadcasts in the programmes gave a thought to the importance and the significance of this visit. It was important, and it was significant. () UTSIDE 1YA a queer asThese two ensembles, the Quartet and the Orchestra, established by the National Broadcasting Service in 1939, are the only permanent full-time instrumental combinations in New Zealand. Formed first as a single string orchestra under the conductorship of Maurice

Clare, London Philharmonic violinist just out from England, they came to the public notice as the nucleus of the symphony orchestra for the Centennial celebrations in 1940 under Andersen Tyrer. Three years ago their sphere of usefulness was widened when Vincent Aspey, May Hyam, Frank Hoffey, and Molly Wright hived off to present chamber music broadcasts as a string quartet. The Quartet is a Team A string quartet is something more than four good players, and these players are good; it is a team. The NBS Quartet is a team that has reached an understanding by constant rehearsal and playing together. This is an achievement that has not been completely attainable here before, and the Quartet’s first appearance in Auckland-an unofficial one at the Friday Lunch-Hour Concert-showed the fruits of these years of association. It was not any particular brilliance about their work-the Bach Suite for Flute and Strings (in collaboration with Frank Poore) and the Mozart Quartet did not call for virtuosity--but the sensitive feeling for detail, for phrase shapes, for

the subtle confidence of accompanying parts, and, more than all, for the complete inevitability of the playing. This was music of a very high order. But the NBS Quartet is for broadcasting and although it is both proper and necessary that they should be kept as often as possible in contact with an audience, it is their radio performance which assumes the greater importance. : On Saturday, October 27, the Quartet broadcast a work by Haydn. This was hardly the same ensemble. The same meticulous accuracy was there, but the lightness of touch and the coherence of tone in the underneath parts had become heavyhanded. Such fine playing could not have deteriorated so quickly and one could only conclude that somehow neither the studio nor the microphone had done them justice. In a broadcast there are many factors which intervene between the music and the ear. Properly handled this music should reach an ideal for broadcasting. ‘The Brahms Quartet on the next Wednesday was much more satisfactory. On the following Monday, in a modest programme given by the String Orchestra, relayed from the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall through 1YX, the Quartet interpolated another Haydn composition which was an apotheosis of string quartet playing. The often-played Serenade which is a movement of this work became newly alive. The truth was demonstrated, that in a string quartet it is very often the, things left unsaid which are important. So conditioned are we to listening to music on records that we tend to judge all performance by these high-perfection examples. It would be profitless to make an estimate of the NBS Quartet’s work ‘on thig basis. It is obvious, however, that they have, by constant and continual musical communion, discovered the essence of chamber music. Listening to them, orie loses that sense of strain which characterises so many performances that unfortunately must be -presented underrehearsed. For the NBS Quartet, music is

both an art and a craft; it is their work, but they have not forgotten that it is also their joy. -And that makes their music good to listen to. The Light Orchestra A flock of sheep is easier to drive than half-a-dozen or so; and a small group of strings is much more difficult to handle than a symphony orchestra. To be effective, its standard of achievement must be much higher. The "Light Orchestra" (unhappy name) under Harry Ellwood’s_ direction, gives music in which the difficulties are hidden beneath the consummate style, music whose suave fluency deceives the ear. The combination of capable players and assiduous rehearsal has again produced performance of quality. Nine strings, and Ormi Reid to undertake a variety of functions at the piano, their programmes range from seldom heard chamber music to pieces which add a savour to the dessert and the coffee. To the titles of a number of their compositions is added the qualification "arr. Gray." Thomas Gray is the team’s twelfth man and although all his work is done, as it were, off. the field, it is none the less important. His arrangements are always in’ good taste and rarely fail: to come off. The NBS Light Orchestra’s best programme was that relayed from the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall through 1YX. It was a popular programme in the best sense of the word and may be summed up by the mood of the final number, Armstrong Gibbs’s "Peacock Pie," quiet enjoyment, restrained exuberance. Winifred Carter’s harp playing was noteworthy, and at various times during the Orchestra’s broadcasts there was some really beautiful solo work by the leader Leela Bloy, William McLean (viola), and, Greta Ostova (’cello), A pianist in a small combination like this must be versatile, and Ormi Reid’s playing deserves especial mention. Not all pianists can be so equally and equably at home both in a subdued continuo and a rapturous semi-concerto part. The most important performance of the Orchestra was its contribution, an unobtrusive one, to the Primary Schools’ Festival, and this alone justified the visit to Auckland. In its accompaniments to the singing the Orchestra at times could | hardly be heard but the more the voices soared above the strings, the more effective, one felt, was the playing. Never was singing more lively, its spontaniety disciplined by the rhythm of the instruments, This was indeed community music. I have left to the last two performances, one which did not come off, and another which was a summing up of the whole visit, a credit both to musicians and technicians. Wrong Foot First From the dismally printed programme with two of its four pages taken up with advertisements and no programme notes, to the last anticlimax of Swanlake, the Symphony Concert Relays from the Town Hall persistently moved on the wrong foot. Just as a representative side rarely reaches the standard of a good club

team, so these players hastily gathered together, from 1YA and 1ZB to augment the visiting combination never achieved an ensemble comparable with their individual capabilities. The programme itself was ineffectively arranged. The Swanlake ballet music, a little hackneyed these days, makes a tame finish. The "Dance of the Comedians" which preceded the interval would have been better at the end. The chief fault of the programme was, that while it had nothing in it of a sufficiently solid character to attract the serious music-lover, it was by no means popular enough to draw those who prefer lighter fare. Vincent Aspey’s performance of Lalo’s lush Symphonie Espagnole for violin and orchestra was the highlight of the evening. The soloist did his best to cope with the orchestra, whose brass. section seemed determined to make it a party, giving way to unrestrained exuberance. The microphone placing evidently overcame this difficulty in the broadcast but those who came to listen first hand must have been disappointed if not irritated. The final broadcast of the NBS playefs was in collaboration with the 1YA strings and was relayed from the University College Hall. Vaughan Williams’s "Fantasia on a Theme of Tallis" is beautiful music; it is also great music. Harold Baxter, who conducted the orch-estra-Elgar’s "Introduction and Allegro" was also broadcast — gave a satisfying reading. Contrasts were perhaps a little too violent, transitions could have been smoother, but the over-all effect was of a sensitive and intelligent approach. As important was the fact that, technically, this was an excellent broadcast. The College Hall seems acoustically well suited for broadcast performance. This music had a stereoscopic liveliness and the microphones brought out all the detail. Auckland’s Own Comes Home This visit of the NBS Quartet and Orchestra has been a memorable one. During their fortnight in Auckland the players gave eleven performances of which five were given by the Quartet alone. They also collaborated with the Light Orchestra on several occasions. Incidentally a second unofficial appearance of the Quartet, this time for the Chamber Music Society, produced one of the finest chamber music programmes Auckland has heard. Chamber music must be popular, for the hall was filled. Auckland music-lovers are thankful to the Broadcasting Service, but since seven of the visiting players were formerly residents of Auckland-Auckland’s music has been the poorer for their going-we may well think their visit overdue.

OWEN

JENSEN

N.Z. Musicians in London EWS has been received in Wellington that the New Zealand pianist Alan Loveday was to play for Princess Elizabeth on October 25, with an orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Rehearsing had already started before the letter to Wellington was written and Sir Adrian Boult had said some very complimentary things about the pianist’s tone and phrasing. It was also mentioned that Colin Horsley, another New Zealander, had "made a big hit recently at’ the Albert Hall (this was reported in the cable news) and was now being booked up all over the place."