More Music from Edinburgh

New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 716, 2 April 1953, Page 6

More Music from Edinburgh

IMES have changed since Edinburgh’s . first musical festival 130 years ago. Though that festival was considered a success and appealed greatly to a small minority, one of its criticsa Doctor of Divinity-went so far as to blame it ina sermon and a pamphlet for two serious fires that destroyed many old buildings in the Royal Mile. These, -he considered, were a direct expression of the disfavour in which the Almighty held such vicious orgies as musical festivals. Since the Edinburgh Festival was re-established in 1947, most people have come to agree.with the opinion expressed by the Duke of Edinburgh when, speaking at the opening of last year’s festival, he said that "none of us will come to harm if we over-indulge this sort of fare." The Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama, to give it its full title, is a truly international affair. When he opened it last year the Duke was accompanied by representatives of more than 40 countries. The audiences, too come from all parts of the world. And something of the international flavour of the programmes is shown in the four transcriptions made by the BBC at the festival and now to be broadcast from NZBS stations. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. under Sir Thomas Beecham, begins the series with a concert specially arranged during the festival for the BBC Transcription Service. The programme consists of Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 and

Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 34 and 38. Each work is introduced by Sir Thomas. The Scottish Junior Singers are heard in the second programme singing folk songs from the British Isles, three songs from. Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, and two songs by. Scottish composers. The choir is joined by Diana Poulton, who plays four lute pieces from the Straloch Manuscript of 1629 and a group by John Dowland. The Scottish Junior Singers was founded in 1948. Most of the singers are girls-some still at school, somie beginning to earn their living: Agnes Duncan, the founder and conductor, was once principal contralto at Glasgow Cathedral. : The series continues with a concert by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra conducted by Karl. Miinchinger, who founded this orchestra in 1946 from among leading German and Austrian instrumentalists. After six months of rehearsals the orchestra began a series of triumphant tours in the greatest musical centres and was soon considered the finest chamber orchestra in Germany. The latest BBC Edinburgh Festival series ends with Schubert’s song cycle The Fair Maid of the Mill, sung by the Austrian tenor Julius Patzak, with Gerald Moore at the piano. These concerts will begin from 3YC at 9.5 p.m. on April 6 (continuing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday), and from 1YC at 8.15 p.m. on April 7. They will be heard from 2YC and 4YC about a fortnight later, and after that from YZ and X stations.