Maori Songs and Mystery Serials

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 486, 15 October 1948, Page 31

Maori Songs and Mystery Serials

EARS have been expressed from time to time that Maori lore and music, handed down from one generation to another. was in danger of becoming lost. One way of preserving it is by gramophone records and to this end, and also for the benefit of present and future radio listeners, the NZBS has gathered much material for Maori programmes from mass welcomes to famous visitors, investitures and other Maori functions. From these, and from studio performances by Maori groups, Airini Grennell, of the programme staff of 3ZB, has selected items such as hakas, ancient chants, later compositions, and Maori versions of Pakeha songs and hymns and made them into a series of eight 15-minute sessions which students of the Maori should find interesting. Glimpses of Maoriland, as the series is called, will start at 3ZB on Sunday, November 7, at 7.0 p.m. and at 1ZB, 2ZB, 4ZB and 2ZA on Sunday, December 5, at 8.30 p.m. That encouragement is _ constantly given to local artists, societies and musical combinations reaching a reasonable standard of performance is shown by the report of the NZBS for the year ended March 31, 1948. The totals for the year include 2291 broadcasts by local performers, 901 recitals by local musical societies and bands, and 2157 broadcasts by local speakers. Recently the ZB stations spent some time selecting recordings by the best performers in the four main centres, and compiling a series of programmes called New Zéaland Presents. Each city will contribute an item to each programme, the items including songs, instrumental works, recordings by dance bands, and. children’s choral singing. There will be 11 half-hour sessions, starting at 2ZB at 9.0 p.m. on Sunday, November 7. Thereafter the 2ZB broadcasts will be at 7.30 p.m. New Zealand Presents will start at 2ZA on November 14, at 8.0 p.m., 1ZB on November 21 at 7.0 p.m., 4ZB on November 28, at 7.0 p.m., and 3ZB on December 19, at 8.0 p.m.

Suppose ayer Ges (Gay See asked you to them a favour igh deliver a pair of spectacles to a friend-just an ordinary pair. You would of course, say "Yes," slip them in your pocket and in due course hand them over to the owner. But things don’t happen like that when Francis Durbridge takes a hand. Durbridge, as NZBS listeners will hardly need reminding, is the creator of Paul Temple, who has a way of making the most fantastic results spring out of very ordinary circumstances. In his latest serial thriller, Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery, Temple, who is flying out to Cairo, is asked to deliver a pair of spectacles to a Mr. Sullivan when he gets there. He agrees, but before he knows where he is, all sorts of things happen, starting with a murder and going on to a series of most determined efforts’ by a number of sinister types to get hold of those spectacles. Durbridge keeps the thrills going for eight half-hour episodes before ‘the mystery is solved, and he is helped by a welltried team who know their way round the Temple country. Martyn C. Webster, who has produced all the ‘Paul Temple serials, is in charge and Paul Temple and Steve (his wife) are. played again by Kim Peacock and Marjorie Westbury. Marjorie’s record of nearly unbroken appearances in Temple shows (she has played Steve in all but the earliest adventures) is bettered only by Lester Mudditt, who has played Sir Graham _ Forbes, of Scotland Yard, in every one. These three, incidentally, are the only characters of whose virtue one can be fairly certain, for Durbridge is remarkably successful in keeping the secret of the villain’s identity till the last episode. Even the cast don’t know the answer till they ate handed the final script. Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery will start at 2ZB on Sunday, November 7, at 9.30 p.m., 3ZB of November 14, at 9.30 p.m., 4ZB on November 21, at 9.30 p.m., 1ZB on November 28, at 10.0 p.m., and 2ZA on December 12, at 9.30 p.m.