THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 443, 19 December 1947, Page 4

THINGS TO COME

| A Run Through The Programmes

For the Balletomane USIC to be heard in 1YX’s session for the balletomane next week’ is from Cotillon, a notable example of the so-called "decadent" school of ballet-its appeal is sensual, not intellectual. It concerns a ball which finishes in a burst of gaiety. There is excitement, but we are left with only vague ideas of what it is about. The ballet was conceived by the poet Boris Kochno, to music by Chabrier. That Chabrier’s music should suit this school of ballet is not surprising for the composer was an associate of the symbolist poets and impressionist painters, and their ideas must have influenced him. The choreography was created by Balanchine, and when it was first produced for de Basil in 1932, the leading role was taken by Tamara Toumanova, who is. known to many who have not seen her on the stage, as a result of her film appearances. Cotillon will be heard from 1YX at 10.10 p.m. on Monday, December 22. Family Drama : NE of the most striking demonstrations for students in the BBC training school is a recording of how to give a talk and how not to. They hear a woman scared into breathlessness, a masterful female of the huntin’ and shootin’ type, and a dreamy, arty-crafty person whose misguided friends had obviously told her she should go on the stage. Finally -they hear the talk as it should be given, and all four characters are depicted by Gladys Young, a British radio actress. After being given a contract on the London stage on the strength of her showing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Gladys Young left the theatre and never returned to it, and for 20 years she has been acting solely for the microphone. She will be heard in Barbara Couper’s family drama Thine Inheritance, from 3ZR at 8.0 p.m. on Christmas Day, playing the part of a woman whose son goes to the bad. Music of the Orient cae MANY people have stressed — the importance of New Zealand knowing better the peoples of the Far Eastto us the North-West-and one way to a greater understanding and appreciation is through the cultures of these countries. To New Zealanders the music of the Orient is strange and often unpleasant, but this is, of course, no reason why it should remain a deep mystery to us; it is after all, attractive to a large proportion of the world’s population and to ignore it is to take the attitude that everyone is out of step but our Johnny. Those who wish to learn something of Oriental music will be interested in a session to be broadcast from 1YX at 10.10 p.m. on Saturday, December '27. Three recordings of Chinese music-which has influenced the music of the whole of the Far East-will be heard and there will also | be recordings of Japanese and Siamese music, and that of India, which forms, in music. as in other things, the middle between the Far and the Near East. Brief commentaries will be given on the music forms illustrated by the recordings.

Weather Changes OR farmers, yachtsmen and others who like to have up-to-the-minute news of what the weather is doing, or is likely to be doing later in the day, the NZBS has decided to repeat the 7.15 am. daily weather forecast in a link of the main and auxiliary stations (IYA, 2YA,3¥A-" 4YA,.: 2YH, -3ZR, 4YZ) at 9.0 a.m. each morning. This will begin as from Monday, December 22, and it means that from that date

a recording of the 7.15 a.m. forecast (as a rule) will be broadcast. But in the event of weather. conditions having changed in the interval a fresh report will be made frorn the weather office. When this comes into effect the session With the Kiwis In Japan on Sundays (and, when they resume in 1948, the Correspondence School sessions’ on Tuesdays and Fridays) will begin: at 9.4 a.m.

Search for Uranium OST of us know something about the stars and planets millions of miles away in the sky, and man has explored just about every square mile of the land surface of our own planet, but how much do We ‘know about the land at the bottom of the sea that covers nearly three-quarters of the earth’s surface? Geologists -know, that under water the land continues just the same in submerged slopes and plateaux, cliffs, valleys, and mountain ranges, but only recently (the first attempt was made in 1872) have scientists started gathering information from the ocean floor and finding out what kind of * animal life exists there and what mineral deposits can be discovered. Some of the story of man’s exploration of this underwater universe will be told by J. P. Feeney in a talk from 2YA (at 7.15 p.m. on Friday, December 26) entitled Under the Sea. He describes what men see when they go down in submarine or diving bell, and what they find when they reach the bottom. He mentions particularly a voyage made last year by His Majesty’s submarine Tudor, which began to examine the floor of the Atlantic between the Shetlands and the Bay of Biscay. The Tudor was on a special mission-a search for some of the deposits of uranium which are suspected to exist in the bed of the ocean. a Music by Bruch ‘TO-DAY the name of Breslau conjures up a picture of Nazi concentration camps; but there was a time not so long ago that it was associated with pleasanter things, among them music. In this sphere it was known for its large organ (five manuals, 187 stops, and 30 composition pedals) ‘which was built in

1913. It was also the home for seven years of the German composer Max Bruch, whose works are featured in the 1ZM session To-night’s Composer at

7.0 pm. on Sunday, December 28, Bruch was born at Cologne nearly 110 years ago, and after studying in various musical centres he lived first in Berlin and then at Bonn, From 1880 until 1883 he was conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, and at the conclusion of this appointment he conducted at Breslau until 1890. He became professor of composition at the Hochschule in Berlin in 1892, and remained there until he retired in 1910. After a long life of musical activity he died in 1920, His works for violin or ’cello with orchestra are most popular with the public, but many music-lovers consider his greatest compositions are to be found in his choral works. Holiday Sport BROADCASTS of the Plunket Shield cricket will be the main sporting feature of the Christmas programmes, though an added attraction for some will be the announcement of the results of the New Zealand chess championships. These latter will be given in a link of the main National stations after the London News at 8.0 a.m., beginning on December 27, and continuing daily until January 4. On Christmas Eve 3YA will give commentaries on the cricket match Auckland v. Canterbury, beginning at 11.15 am, arid continuing throughout the day. Progress reports will be given from 2YA. On Christmas Day this match starts at 2.30 p.m. and the same arrangements will apply. In addition 2YA will give commentaries throughout the afternoon on the Wellington v. Otago match, starting at 2.0 p-m. The Auckland v. Canterbury match will conclude on December 27, and the Wellington v. Otago match on December 29. Stumps scores for both matches will be given on each day of play in a National Link at 6.40 p.m.