THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 554, 3 February 1950, Page 26

THINGS TO COME

66 HE effectiveness of a musical farce," said a critic, "is not necessarily proportionate to the amount of complicated workmanship its composer has put into it." The critic was in this case talking of Prokofieff’s early opera, The Love of Three Oranges, in which a fairy tale prince is condemned by an evil witch to fall madly in love with some oranges. One orange saves the situation by breaking open and disgorging a beautiful flesh-and-blood heroine. eminently suitable as an object of love. In spite of having a female cook who sings in a baritone voice, the opera did not please the critic. "It has," he said, "neither the vocal interest nor the musical and dramatic substance to invite any lasting affection. The plot .is tenuous and childish, and aside from the famous march it hasn’t got a good tune in it." Fortunately the NZBS knows this as well as the critic, and they have featured the march, played by the Salon Concert Players, in An American Popular Con. cert from 3YC at 7.30 p.m. on Monday, February 6. Whom the Gods Love... N treatment and feeling the Sonata in G for violin and piano by Lekeu was considered to be far ahead of its time. The Belgian composer was a pupil in Paris of Franck and d’Indy, and composed chamber music and other things that. showed™ great promise-a_ lyric scene "Andromeda" won him the second Prix de Rome in Belgium. His death from typhoid the day after his twentyfourth birthday probably robbed the world of a great composer. The Sonate in G, dedicated to Ysaye and much played by him, will be heard from 2YZ at 3.28 p.m. on Monday, February 6. Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra HE newly-formed Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra aroused some controversy in England a year or two ago. since it was created by a combination of municipal organisations around Leeds at the very time (1948) that Sir Thomas Beecham was saying such hard: things about municipal music-making in eeneral down in London, The idea behind the Y.S.O. was that music should : be subsidised in the same manner as art galleries and public libraries, and the Leeds Corporation, With nine of the surrounding borough councils. put up the finance. It has already established itself as one of the jeading orchestras in England. according to The Musical Times, and next week listeners will be able to hear it in what is probably the first recording to be broadcast in this country. The station is.4YZ. and the time 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 7 The conductor of the Y.S.0. is Maurice Miles, and there are 75 players, An apPrentice conductor is also being trained Influence of the Bible "HE Englishman and his Bible have ' been indissolubly wedded for centuries. It was to him history, doctrine and prophecy, morality, wisdom and law," says Professor ] Isaacs in the first | of two short talks issued by the BBC. The Bible in English Lite and Letters,

Writers such as Shelley, Wordsworth, Milton and Shakespeare drew heavily upon the Bible for inspiration and imagery, and the speaker illustrates this point by comparing quotations from their works with the passages which

were probably in one of several different ways, their source material. The Bible in English Lite and Letters will . be heard from 1YC on consecutive Tuesdays, beginning on February 7, at

10.0 p.m. It has been placed immediately after the Tuesday evening symphonic programme, and will be followed at 10.14 by Music from Oratorio, the whole being designed to provide an evening of particular. appeal to the serious listene: A series of programmes including short talks and verse readings has been planned for broadcast after Professor Isaacs’s talks at approximately the same time on Tuesdays. . Pop Tunes for a Poor Year NOTHING much went right if 1941, * " "The casualty lists from Greece, Crete and Libya filled the newspapers, Coventry and London burned under night raids. the Russians reeled back towards Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov, but in spite of all that the paper boys still whistled’ as they went round on their bicycles, probably the same tunes that the debutantes hummed as they polished their finger nails, or the restaurant cooks as they pared the vegetables. What tunes were they? Jingle Jangle Jingle? I'll Never Smile Again? The Hut Sut Song? (Remember? ".. with a brawla brawla suet.) Nat Brandwynne. whose orchestra used to be in that elaborate playroom at 3 East 33rd Street. New York, known as The Stork Club, turns to 1941 in the series Songs of Our Times at 8.0 p.m. from 1YC on Friday February 10. : Back to Berlin (CHRISTOPHER SYKES, author of "several books, including Four Studies in Loyalty and Answer to Question 33, recently revisited Berlin at the invitation of the BBC. It was the first time he had been there for 13 years, and in a radio feature reflecting a remarkabte insight into the German character. he set an impression of the desolation of the city today against his memories of life and kultur in the Berlin of the late ‘twénties and early ,'thirties. Sykes started his career an as honorarv

attaché in the Diplomatic Service, first in Berlin and then in Tehran, Then he travelled in Persia and Afghanistan. and fo. a time, was The Times correspondent in Tehran, He had a distinguished career during the war, and in

1946 was special correspondent of the ‘Daily Mail, covering the Persian Azerbaijan compaign. His Return Journey to Berlin will be heard from 1YA at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday. February 12, Letters of Lawrence ‘THOUGH naturally inclined to scholarship and letters, T. E, ULawrence (of Arabia) showed singular practical ability and capacity for leadership, and became a legend in his own lifetime. His book. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, published in 1926 in a limited edition, immediately began to fetch fantastic prices, and a much abridged and expurgated edition was published for the general public under the title Revolt in the Desert. Recently Sir Ronald Storrs, eminent authority on the Middle East, made a recording for the BBC series The Written Word, in which he discusses the writings of Lawrence. He deals mostly with Lawrence’s letters, the variety, versatility and universality of which are beWildering. As he says, they illustrate almost every interest---except human passion. The talk, which will be heard from 2YA on Sunday, February 12, at 3.15 p.m., will be particularly interesting for the picture of Lawrence himself, drawn by a man who knew him intimately. : Science for Everyman HE BBC series New Horizons which will be broadcast from several NZBS stations’ in February, presents scientific facts in a form easily understood by the layman. Varied both in subject and treatment, these programmes have as their genera) aim the presentation of a clear and detailed picture of science today, more particularly of some aspect of scientific work that is new showing exciting development. The subjects range from, how the brain works to the fight against typhoid fever (which ‘has all the tenseness of a good detective story), General advise: to the whole. series is Sir Henry Dale, O.M.. one of Britain’s most distinguished scientists (who, incidentally, arrives in New Zealand at the end of this month) One programme in the series~The Brain at Work"-asks the provocative question, "Can an Octopus’ Remembe??" and describes experiments carried out in, the famous Zoological Aquarium at Naples, showing how new methods make it possible- to study the brain in action. As well as the octapus experiments the programme includes a broadcast of actual "brainwaves" and a dramatic presentation of some of the work carried dut by the Canadian surgeon Professor Pen. field. The series will, begin simultaneouslv from four stations an Siundeu

February 12 (1YA at 4.30 p.m,, 3YA at 9.55 p.m. 4¥YA and 4V¥Z at 4.0 p.m.,), and will be heard subsequently from the same stations at fortnightly intervals, Later, 2YA — will broadcast the series, beginning on Sun. day, February 26, at 9.30 a.m