ON BOXING DAY IN THE MORNING...

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 548, 23 December 1949, Page 6

ON BOXING DAY IN THE MORNING...

"Commonwealth Christmas" from the BBC

EADING up to the King’s speech (which 2YA will rebroadcast at.3.0 a.m. on Boxing Day) the BBC will broadcast, as in previous years, a round-the-S . programme that link listeners in all parts of the world and especially in the Commonwealth. This year voices from far-away places that have previously been unable to take part in the traditional BBC roundup will be heard. The programme has been called Commonwealth Christmas, and the producer, D. G. Bridson, has this to say about its theme: "To anyone who has watched the big ships pull out ftom Southampton, Liverpool or the Clyde, by far the most dramatic of all peace-time sailings is the sailing of a ship load of British emigrants. What will life really be like for them ‘out there in Australia, South Africa, Canada, or New Zealand? That is the thought behind Commonwealth. Christmas. It will open with the departure of one of these ships and then do its best to answer some of the questions. which must be in the emigrants’ minds-men and women whose Christmas will be spent between two worlds, somewhere or other on the high seas." To gather the answers, much preparation was needed. The Dominion’s contributions are "live" wherever possible, but in. addition three well-known broadcasters recently set out from London on a series of colonial journeys to collect news from the smaller members of the Commonwealth. When they came back they brought armfuls of recordings -Leonard Cottrell from the West Indies, Colin Wills from Africa, and Matthew Halton from Singapore and Hong Kong. Commonwealth Christmas will be broadcast from 2YA at 2.0 a.m. on Box-

ing Day, and repeated from all the YA and YZ stations at 9.0 a.m. the same day. Special for Southland One BBC programme of special interest to Southland listeners will be Have A Go! from an old folks’ Christmas party at Blackpool, where Wilfred Pickles will be distributing food parcels generously sent to Britain by the Southland Branch of the Red Cross Society in Invercargill. By a special arrangement this programme is being broadcast in the BBC’s Pacific Service at 7.0 p.m. on Friday, December 30, and it will be directly rebroadcast by Station 4YZ, Invercargill. This, unusual broadcast came about as a result of an earlier Have A Go! programme broadcast by 4YZ in which Pickles visited a Home for retired actors and actresses in Middlesex. So impressed were Southland listeners by the fortitude of the old people who took part that they decided to send a number’ of food parcels to Wilfred Pickles himself for distribution. "The. Olympians" Broadcast On the same night an outstanding musical programme will be the broadcast of a performance of music from The Olympians recorded in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It will be heard on shortwave only, at 9.0 p.m. on Friday, December 30, in the General Overseas Service (17.715 mec/s; 16.93 metres). This is the remarkable new full-length opera by Arthur Bliss and J. B. Priestley. The music‘for the broadcast has been chosen by the composer and will be introduced by J. B. Priestley. Narration by Henry Reed will be spoken by Robert Harris. Enormous interest has been aroused in England by Peter Brook’s lavish production of this spectacular opera in which the gods of Olym-

pus return to the earth for‘a day. Karl Rankl conducts the Covent Garden Orchestra and Douglas Robinson the chorus. The singers include Edith Coates, Murray Dickie, and Howell Glynne. At 6.45 p.m. this Friday (December 23), the BBC’s Pacific Service will feature a special programme called Pacific Nonsense, starring the New Zealand script writer Ted Kavanagh (formerly of Itma), the Australians: Joy Nichols and Dick Bentley (see page 16), and two more New Zealanders, Colin Horsley, the well-known pianist, and Inia Te Wiata, the Maori bass who is studying in London.