THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 522, 24 June 1949, Page 4

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

Pasteboard Panorama ALTHOUGH the contention of St. : ° ~ . of that cards were invented by the devil is not now generally accepted, their origin still remains obscure. They are said to "have been invented about A.D, 1120 in the reign of the Chinese Emperor Seun-ho, for the amusement of his concubines, but there is also a _ tradition that they were known in India from prehistoric times, and their origin ascribed variously to the Brahmins, the Egyptians, and the Arabs. They appeared in Europe about the middle of the 14th Century, brought from the East by the Crusaders, perhaps, or by the Moors to Spain. And once introduced they established themselves with remarkable rapidity in England, where they were fashioned gleefully by English craftsmen duly sheltered by Edward IV’s import controls. The history of playingcards is a fascinating subject, admitting of endless conjecture, and the short talk on the subject to be heard from 4YA at 2.15 on Tuesday, June 28, should whet listeners’ appetites for wholesale digestion of some standard work such as Henri Rene d’Allemagne’s Les Cartes A Jouer, Light Music from 2YA T 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, the 2YA Concert Orchestra will broadcast the first of a series of programmes featuring modern English composers of light music. The Orchestra will be conducted by Julian Hemingway and assisted by Molly Atkinson (soprano) and they will play in this first studio concert music by Roger Quilter, including his incidental music to the fairy play Where the Rainbow Ends, and the ballet suite The Rake. Molly Atkinson will sing with the Orchestra the songs "Over the Mountain" and "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal." In future broadcasts by this group, music by Alec Rowley, Eric .Coates, and Sir Edward Elgar will be played, the programmes being heard on alternate Wednesdays, at the same time, from 2YA. The title of the series is Music in 20th Century England. Expendable Resources FOR the past few hundred ‘years mankind has indulged in an almost wanton squandering of the world’s natural resources, a process vastly speeded by, and / conducted with greater efficiency because of, modern technical progress. It is becoming, increasingly evident that these resources are expendable, that the Horn of Plenty is far from bottomless, and that such waste must lead inevitably to an accounting of some sort. | Humanity is beginning to know about the existence of the problem, says Pro-. fessor K. B. Cumberland, holder of the newly instituted Chair of Geography at Auckland University College, but it is doubtful whether we realise the full implications, particularly when it is remembered that while resources are rapidly dwindling, the world’s population is rapidly increasing. Three talks on The Use and Misuse of Resources in | the South West Pacific are to be broadcast by Professor Cumberland from 1YA. The first, dealing with the general problem, will be heard at 7.15 p.m.

on Thursday, June 30, while the problem in the Pacific Islands, and in New Zealand will be covered subsequently.

Organ Music SERIES of programmes of interest to all lovers of organ music will start from 2YC at 9.0 p.m. on Friday, July 1. The series, which features masterpieces of organ music played by world-famous organists, starts with a programme of recorded éarly organ music (from 1325 to 1700) played by

Carl Weinrich. At the same time on succeeding Fridays listeners will hear such works as César Franck’s Pastorale, Op. 19, his Chorales, Nos. 1 and 3; Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, and in A Minor, his Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, and his Fugue a la Gigue. Handel’s Concertos Nos. 2, 4, and 9, Parry’s Bridal March and Finale, Harwood’s Paen, Op. 15, No. 3, and Mulet’s Toccata, will also be heard. The organists include such well-known artists as Fernando Germani, Marcel Dupre, the late Dr. G. D. Cunningham, Harry Goss Custard, Jeanne Demessieux, Dr. G. Thalben-Ball, and Dr. William McKie.

Sealskin Trousers Ric LINKLATER has made an unusual radio play out of his short stery, Sealskin Trousers, and it was recently produced by the BBC with a cast including James McKechnie, Betty Linton, and Ralph Truman. The play tells the story of a seal-man who found a human bride, and when it was first broadcast in Britain it was described by the radio critic of The Observer as an exemplary production. The play had vivid fantasy, he said, and spacious and exciting narrative that subjected the listener to many emotional somersaults in its 30-minutes playing time. In its structure and quality of writing he thought it a radio masterpiece. Sealskin Trousers will be broadcast’ from 1YA at 10.01 p.m. on Friday, July 1. Il Trovatore ERDI, whose only operatic theory was that "the theatre was meant to be full," didn’t compose anything very revolutionary in II Trovatore. In fact the complication of the libretto of this work, rendered almost unintelligible at times because of the composer’s passion for brevity and condensation, has sometimes led to its dismissal as being merely absurd, That is unfair, of’ course, but nevertheless it is true that the opera is of interest to us these days primarily because of its collection of magnificent and highly expressive tunes which, as has been observed, "have survived imitation, parody, inadequate singing and barrel organs" for nearly a century. As

such it is eminently suitable for broadcasting, and listeners to 3YA/ will be able to hear it at 8.5 p.m. on Sunday, July 3. The playing time is just over two hours. Music As You Like It BAR full of quarrymen, shepherds and farmers singing "I!kla Moor," in a country pub, an amateur string orchestra in Derby, the Singers’ Club in Birmingham, brass bands from Cornwall and the North Country, and the Royal Marines at Chatham putting all they know into "Lilliburlero," are some of the brightest items in the BBC programme The Englishman’s Music, which will be heard from 4YA at 9.22 p.m. on Sunday, July 3. The programme is described as a panorama of the’ native music of England, played and sung by men, women, and children who make music because they like it. And when players and singers are so clearly enjoying themselves it’s a pretty safe bet that listeners will enjoy themselves too. The" Englishman’s Music presents as wide a choice of English music as could be gathered into the compass of one programme, and it even includes a girl’s school choir and the bellringers in the tower of a Suffolk village church, It was written by that great expert on traditional music, Dr. Thomas Wood. Male Call a OVERS of real honest-to-goodness male voice singing will find the substance of a delightful evening in a studio recital by the Royal. Auckland Choir, conducted by Harry Woolley and with Alan Pow at the piano, which will be presented from 1YA at 8.12 p.m. on Saturday, July. 2. The programme includes such robust stirring choruses as "Strike the’ Lyre" (Cooke), "Comrades in Arms" (Adams), and "Song of the Northmen" (Maunder), contrasted with the quiet and subdued music of "The Little Sandman" (arr. Brahms), "Down in Yon Summer Vale" (Wood), and "O Sortow Not" (Truhn). "Sylvia" (Speaks), and "On the Sea" (Buck) complete the recital. The recorded piano interludes by Solomon are "Rhapsody in G Minor" and Intermezzo in B Flat Minor (Brahms).