THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 526, 22 July 1949, Page 26

THINGS TO COME

Tan Your Own Hide ANNING, as every schoolboy knows, is a process with a direct bearing upon a hide. It can be performed in a variety of ways. One of the most primitive is the slipper process which, when carried out in a spirited manner, can be quite effective. Then there have been cases of school prefects who, enjoying the first heady taste of authority, have employed canes, though this process is better known in one of New Zealand’s oldest schools as "spatting." There are of course more pleasant recipes for tanning, such as an hour or two in the sun, or the exterior application of tan from a bottle. There is to be a talk about Home-Tanning of Skins from 2YZ on Wednesday, July 27, at 10.0 am, but we suspect that it will deal strictly with the form of tanning that converts animal hides into serviceable leather, Script by Tennyson ‘TENNYSON’S plays were not a success on the stage. He had little contact with the theatre and was seriously handicapped by this lack of experience. But, as Tyrone Guthrie, who adapted and produced Tennyson’s _ historical drama Queen Mary for the BBC, pointed out in an article in the Radio Times, some of those weaknesses cease to be weaknesses at all in another medium. For instance, again and again in this play, Tennyson makes what is, in terms of the theatre, the serious mistake of having a character describe in some detail what the audience can see for itself. But. in radio, where the audience is deprived of the use ‘of sight, such description is an immense assistance to the mind’s eye, and some of Tennyson’s description of this kind is work of his finest quality. Queen Mary will be heard from 2YA at 7.56 p.m..on Friday, July 29. The name paft is played by Joan Cross and other leading roles are taken by Leon Quartermaine, Franklin Dyall, Pamela Brown and Laidman Browne, The Fallen Idol \WHAT lay on the other side of the green baize door? Philip was frightened. There was Baines, the butler, of course, the friend whom he almost idolised in his moments of day-dreaming, but there was also Mrs. Baines, cold, domineering, and terrifying. Who knew what secrets the basement room would reyeal to him? It was another world, a bewildering adult world that he entered for a few dramatic hours one week-end while his parents were away. The story of The Fallen Idol, the British picture that was awarded first prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival, will be heard from 2YC in their session From Screen to Radio, at 7.30 p.m, on Saturday, July 30. The speakers includé Graham Greene, author of the short story "The Basement Room," on which the film is based, Carol Reed, the director, and the stars-Sir Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, Sonia Dresdel, and Bobby Henrey. Excerpts from the sound track are included in this BBC

programme, and selections from the background music, which was composed by William Alwyn. The Geisha UM ‘the opening notes of any- one of the songs from The Geisha"Jack’s the Boy," "Star of my Soul," "Chu Chin Chinaman"-and it’s more than likely that you'll still find someone who can finish the air. The Geisha

recalls an important date in the history of comic operaApril 25, 1896, when it was given its first performance at Daly’s Theatre, London. Now it has made a come-back on the air through the BBC. In the programme. recorded

‘at the time of the original broadcast from the Midland Region Studios, Sidney Jones’s: music and the words of Owen Hall and Harry Greenbank are played and sung by the BBC Midland Orchestra and Chorus, with well-known musical comedy artists in the leading parts. Janet’ Davies plays Mimosa, Betty Huntley-Wright is Molly, Frederick Harvey and Clifford Deri.-are Fairfax and Cunningham, and the leading comedy part, Wun-Hi, is played by Dudley Rolph. Gilbert Vinter conducts, Frederick Grisewood is narrator and John Tylee is the producer, The Geisha will be heard from 2YA at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, July 30: Schumann’s Spring Symphony ROBERT SCHUMANN called 1840 his "Song Year," and by the same token 1841 could be called the "Symphony Year," 1842 the "Chamber Music Year," and 1843 the "Choral Year." The curious habit he had of taking up one department of music at a time was probably partly due to the intensity with which he threw himself into anything that interested him, and partly to a desire to overcome his technical shortcomings by concentrated study. For despite the freshness and beauty of his ideas, his lack of intimate understanding of any of the orchestral instruments, except the piano made him uncertain in writing for them, and he often tried to play safe, with consequent loss of effect. His First Symphony’ ("The Spring") was composed shortly after his> marriage to Clara, and she noted in her diary that the first sketch was made in four days in January, 1841,, and the first performance conducted by Mendelssohn, on the last day in March. The public received it with favour, though with some bewilderment. A recorded version will be heard from 3YA at 3.0 p.m. on Sunday, July 31. Poet’s Corner ‘THE latest group of programmes in the BBC’s Chapter and Verse series is called "an anthology series about great poets who have written in English.’ The programmes involve’ readings from the whole range of English poetry, with selections from Wordsworth, Blake, Keats, Pope, the Irish Poets, Tennyson, Shelley, Browning,

The Elizabethans, Samuel Johnson, and Matthew Arnold. Two special programmes, entitled "Irish Poems,’ and "The Poets on the Poets," are included. In each programme there are usually three readers, one woman and two men, and a slight biographical sketch of the poet is interwoven with typical selections from his work, and in some cases a short explanation of his methods. The sefies starts on Sunday, July 31, from 1YA (at 2.0 p.m.), 2YA (at 3.15 p.m.), and 3YA (at 4.0 p.m.). Voice and Harpsichord HE word "baroque" strikes a familiar * chord, but we imagine: there are many listeners who could not say offhand precisely what is implied by it. The Concise Oxford gives "whimsical style or ornamentation" when applied to music, and the term is most frequently used in speaking of the music of the 18th Century. But reference to a dictionaty is by mo means wholly satisfactory. Perhaps a better idea may be gained from hearing Music from Barogue Times, a seties of three prograthmes from‘1YA by Constance Manning (soprano) and Layton Ring (hafpsichord), which begins at 6.5 p.m, on Sunday, July «31. This first recital includes works by Couperin the Great and Domenico Scarlatti, who were probably the greatest keyboard composers of the period. Nowadays, through force of circumstances, their work iss more commonly known ‘in arrangements for piano, but Music from Baroque Times will provide an opportunity for hearing it in its true medium-presented by the harpsichord, for which it was written. }