Medtner in the South

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 488, 29 October 1948, Page 9

Medtner in the South

WAS well |prepared for the. programme of compositions by Nicolas Medtner, both by reading The Listener article about his championship by the Maharajah of Mysore, and by hearing .the preliminary announcement from 4YA, which gave a brief summary of the composer’s life and works, It is a vast pity, indeed, that Medtner’s wide recognition did not come sooner, since his genius reveals itself through the medium of a style of composition belonging to a musical period now To ears accustomed to the frequent radio performance of works by contemporary composers both revolutionary and orthodox, Medtner’s music sounds as though it had been composed in the heart of the Romantic period,

where indeed its emotional kinship lies, It would be only half true to say that it has echoes of Schumann, Chopin, Tchaikovski, and Rachmaninoff, for the debt it owes to such composers is purely a spiritual one. Medtner is sufficiently original and vital in the prodigality of his musical ideas to claim the stature of a composer of almost the highest rank. Nevertheless, it would have made the recognition. of that stature easier if we had grown up with his recordings. It is true, as the announcer said, that Medtner can do with several hearirgs if the best is to be got out of such things as, for instance, the No. 2 Piano Concerto; it is therefore pleasing to see this excellent and representative programme scheduled for repetition from 4YC, and I hope that northern listeners will not fail to listen and evaluate when it reaches other stations.