"LAUGH IT OFF"
Sir,-I did not hear H. R. G. Jefferson's talk "Laugh It Off,’ commented en in Radio Viewsreel, but I concur with the conclusion that one of our greatest failings is our diminishing sense of humour. It seems to me, too, that our Broadcasting Services have responsibility in this matter. The proportion of humour in our programmes is negligible, and for years I have felt that a greater amount of humour would not only improve the programmes, but have a salutary effect on our people. When British people begin to lose their sense of humour they are in danger of losing their spirit. The Broadcasting Services were the first section to succumb to this regrettable trend, and, what’ is worse, they deny listeners the pleasure of sufficient humour in the programmes. Can anything be done to resurrect the dead sense of humour in programme organisers and so revive the dying sense bumour of New Zealanders?
WOT, NO FUN
(Grey Lynn).
MUSIC AND WORDS Sir,-It is a pity that Delius, having the whole of our literature to select from, did not choose something more worthy of a musical setting than the trash published recently in The Listener. I say nothing of the music itself, apart from the words, because I have not heard the composition; but even if the music has merit, and it may have for all I know to the contrary, its association with a text which, regarded as literature, is about equal to the banalities bleated by Bing, is as laudable as adorning a gutter-snipe with a _ king’s -Tobes. Let me here acknowledge my indebtedness to Shakespeare. Appalachia evidently has its admirers. So, too, I suppose has rubbish like "Glory Road," "Mamma didn’t know, "Pappa didn’t know," and, I make use of a phrase taken from an estimate of -a piece beloved by budding pianists of an earlier generation, "that most detest‘able of abominations" Moussorgsky’s "Song of the Flea."
JOSEPH C.
McEVOY
(Dunedin).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19480102.2.13.1
Bibliographic details
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 445, 2 January 1948, Page 5
Word count
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327"LAUGH IT OFF" New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 445, 2 January 1948, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.