THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 431, 26 September 1947, Page 4

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

Sinfonietta J. MOERAN’S Sinfonietta, played * by the BBC Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Clarence Raybould) will be heard from 3YA at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1. Sinfonietta is one of Moeran’s larger compositions and is a good example of his later style. His earlier works were mostly on a small -scale-chamber music, songs, choral music, and pieces for the piano. Many of them were influenced by the folk of Norfolk which he has studied closely. Incidentally, though Moeran ‘spent much of. his life in Norfolk, his | origin is Irish. He was educated at Up--pingham School, at that time one of the few English public schools which made a feature of music. He began to compose there at the age of 17. In 1913-14 he spent 18 months at the Royal College of Music in London, but for the rest of his musical education he relied mainly on his own experience and on the influence of Phillip Heseltine and | Bernard van Dieren. Death of a Sealion W ELLINGTON listeners have already had an opportunity to hear the BBC programme commemorating the Battle of Britain, and it is now to be broadcast from 1YA for the benefit of Auckland listeners at 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1. The script was compiled by the Australian commentator Chester Wilmot, and in order to present an authentic picture from both sides, he drew extensively on German naval archives, the minutes of meetings between Hitler and his advisors, shorthand notes of his speeches to his generals and admirals, and the Orders for "Operation Sealion" issued by the German Army High Command — both for the landing and for the _ anticipated military government of occupied Britain. Enemy war diaries and log-books have also been used, and all these, combined with similar British records, have helped to build a complete picture of. the Battle, not only as it was fought in_the skies, but also on the high seas, in the coastal defcnces, air-raid shelters, homes and factories of England. The telling of the story from both sides should make the programme of the highest interest to all listeners. Ex America HE young American composer Harl McDonald had the good fortune to be brought up on a Colorado cattle ranch, and he later made use of his childhood memories in his orchestral work, Santa Fe Trail. After some years composing and teaching he was from 1930-33 engaged in special research’ work (with two electrical engineers and a physicist) in the field of measurement of instrumental and vocal tone, new scale divisions, and resultant harmonies, and the recording and transmission of tone. Whether or not he incorporated any of the results of this work in his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (composed in 1935), listeners will be able to judge for themselves if they listen to 4YA-at 8.13 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, to a recording of the work

by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. The Pianists are Jeanne Behrend and Alexander Kelberine. Cleanliness is Next _ VERY year has its silly seasons and there are strong (if diverse) grounds for thinking Spring is the silliest of them. Husbands, for example, who have lived out the winter, of their discontent and look forward to happy hours in the garden, feel exasperated when houseproud wives take the appearance of the

rathe primrose as a signal to embark on a hectic campaign of house-decorat-ing. Out-of-the-way high corners must be denuded of cobwebs, and then there are odd painting jobs for the woodwork and a little paper-hanging here and there. Stains in’ the carpet, reminders of winter evening parties, cry aloud for the shampoo and only when all that is done may one take up the shovel and the hoe and go into action. But perhaps an A.C.E. talk, scheduled for 4YA at 10.0 ‘a.m. on Friday, October 3, will present us .with some short-cuts out of this drud@ry. Its title is "Special Cleaning Problems." e Profile of a Parson H. RODGERS, author of Profes"sional Portrait of a Country Parson, writes from his own experience as a Presbyterian minister in Northern Ireland. He gives a very true picture, we are told, not only of the parson himself, but of the village community in which he lives and works. The production Professional Portrait, in the radio versiorfwhich is by his fellow-Ulsterman, Louis MacNeice — was originally broadcast from the BBC’s Belfast studios. Now it is to be heard from 3YA on Friday, October 3, at 10.0 p.m. Mahler’s Greatest Work HE conductor Bruno Walter, who conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the presentation of Mahler’s The Song of the Earth, to be heard from 1YX on Saturday, October 4, at 9.0 p.m., is one of the greatest pupils of that composer. The story of Mahler’s brilliant career as conductor of the Viennese Opera and later of the New York Metropolitan is probably familiar to many people, but his reputation as a composer had not, until recently, spread far beyond his native Germany. To-day English-speaking countries are taking an increasing interest in his nine enormous and unwieldy symphonies, mainly due to the efforts of disciples like Walter and Mengelberg. The Song of the Earth, generally considered his greatest work, is sometimes classified as a symphony, but is more correctly a song-cycle, and is based on the German

translations of six old Chinese songs, Although once described as _ being "among the most completely pessimistic music ever heard," its poignant and haunting beauty has, in fact, made it very popular to-day. The vocal parts in this performance are taken by Charles Kullman (tenor) and Kirsten Thorberg (contralto). Stabat Mater "HIS choral work is a polyphonic setting by Pergolesi of the liturgical hymn of the same name which is still sung in the Roman Catholic Church. The authorship of the original text is unknown, but it is often attributed to Jacopone da Todi, who died in 1306. Pergolesi (1710-36) composed a considerable amount of sacred music, including a mass for the city. of Naples commemorating the earthquake of March 20, 1731. According to popular report Stabat Mater was composed in 1736 after a breakdown in health following the failure of his work L’Olimpiade — a circumstance which calls to mind the similar story told about the composition of Handel’s Messiah. Pergolesi is said to have.retired to a Capuchin monastery, in whose peaceful surroundings his mind turned once more to the Church, causing him to write this final work which is his chief claim to fame to-day. There is still considerable controversy over the value of Pergolesi’s ~ work, and some critics maintain ie "his Stabat Mater is mcelodically . his ‘comic operas inferior to those of Leo and Logroscino, and his masses commonplace." Listeners will be able to form their own opinions when they hear a performance of Stabat Mater by the Nottingham Oriana Choir and the Boyd Neel .Orchéstra which will be broadcast from 2YC at 9.1 p.m. on Sunday, October 5. :