"PETER AND THE WOLF"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 404, 21 March 1947, Page 9

"PETER AND THE WOLF"

Orchestral Concerts for Children|

PART from what some of them heard in the centennial year, and what they may occasionally now encounter on the screen, there have been few opportunities for New Zealand children of this generation to become familiar with orchestral music as presented. from the concert platform. But in future there will be facilities for filling this educational gap, for part of the work of the National Orchestra of the NZBS is to give programmes specially designed for children. Realising that the first step jn bringing musical appreciation to a child is through rhythm, and that the approach should be joyous, the orchestra prepared two programmes for presentation in the main centres. The first was given in the Wellington Town Hall on Friday, March 14; the second will be heard this Friday, March 21, between 2.0 p.m. and 3.30 p.m., and will be broadcast by 2YA. When children’s concerts are given in. the other centres during the orchestra’s tour, the main local station will handle the "broadcast. These concerts, which are in the main for the benefit of post-primary pupils, have been arranged by the NZBS and the Education Department, which allocates the seats. During the two Wellington concerts, approximately 4,600 children will hear and see the orchestra. It

is suggested that teachers whose classes tune in to the ordinary Friday broadcasts to schools should allow the children to carry on with their listening to include these concert broadcasts, but that is purely a matter for the teachers themselves. All secondary schools have been circularised by the Education Department, giving the programme and other details. During an interlude there will be a "walk through the orchestra,’ which means that the conductor, Andersen Tyrer, will give an explanatory talk about orchestral works and the functions of the different instruments. The programme for this Friday’s concert will be: Overture, "The Merry ‘Wives of Windsor" (Nicolai); a walk through the orchestra; a musical fairy tale, Peter and the Wolf (Prokofieff), with Dermot Cathie as narrator; waltz from The Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovski); "Praeludium" (Jarnefeldt); "Shepherd Fennel’s Dance" (Balfour Gardiner); The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas), and three dances from "Henry VIII." (Edward German). Two of the major works, Peter and the Wolf and The Sorcerer's Apprentice were included in Ernest Jenner’s broadcast to schools on music appreciation last year. Similar concerts will be given in the other ceritres, and broadcast,