EXPANSION OF ORCHESTRAL WORK

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 344, 25 January 1946, Page 6

EXPANSION OF ORCHESTRAL WORK

N.B.S. Plans Post-War Development

F enough qualified musicians offer themselves for test auditions at the main NBS stations in each of the four centres, it is probable that the National Broadcasting Service will go ahead with its long-delayed plans to develop full-time orchestral work. This scheme, which was discussed as ‘Tong ago as 1937, earned the good wishes ‘of visiting artists and followers of orch- ~ estral music in New Zealand. But, like ‘many other pre-war projects, it had to be shelved while the war lasted. Now the NBS has decided upon considerable musical expansion in various ways, one of which is to offer full-time employment to more musicians who can demonstrate claims for inclusion in a permanent orchestra. The future orchestral policy of the Service has not yet been definitely settled, but in the meantime tests will be made by Andersen Tyrer, English orchestral conductor, who has been in New Zealand since 1940, and who will visit the centres. It is hoped to complete the ‘auditions by the middle of February,

as Mr. Tyrer leaves shortly for England to conduct a series of concerts. At present the Service has the NBS Strings, which are in full-time employment at 2YA, while there are part-time studio orchestras in other centres. During a tour of the main radio stations in 1937 Benno Moiseiwitsch, the pianist, remarked that, since concerto work was vitally important for "musical culture, the formation of gq real symphony orchestra would mean a great

deal to New Zealand. He referred to a combination consisting of symphonic players purely and simply, whether local or imported. There was, said Moiseiwitsch, a. great future for the development of musical culture in the country and, unless it was undertaken in determined fashion, and without too much of an eye to the commercial side, it would suffocate. In the same year Jascha Horenstein, conductor of the orchestra with the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, said that a great deal was talked about musical education. But it was not the slightest use giving a child a musical education

if he was unable to put that knowledge to the test and to its full use when he left school. He declared that money spent on a child’s music at school was wasted ‘if he could not hear good symphony orchestras and concerts as a grown man. The expressed view of the Director of Broadcasting was supported by the visiting musicians. But the director had gone a step further, saying that a symphony orchestra formed an integral part of his ideal of New Zealand’s own Conservatorium of Music. It is pointed out officially thdt invitations to auditions do not necessarily mean positions. Applicants will have to

satisfy the examiner that they are worthy of inclusion, And there is also the question of numbers and balance. There might be, in New Zealand, a goodly number of good violinists, yet a paucity of certain other instrumentalists. All such considerations must be gone into before an orchestra is formed. So the immediate step is the testing of ability, and it remains to be seen what talent is forthcoming. The final decision of the NBS-whether New Zealand is to have its own broadcasting ‘symphony orchestra-depends:very largely on those tests. It is greatly to be hoped that difficulties will be few. ‘° Forms of application for auditions are available at all the main stations.