More Annotations, Please

New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 886, 27 July 1956, Page 31

More Annotations, Please

OME of the most delightful concerts I have ever heard were given by the Little Orchestra Society of New York. Much of the pleasure came from the lively and engaging introductions to

each piece, given by a commentator who sat at a little table on the stage. I think most people will agree that James Robertson’s occasional comments at National Orchestra concerts enhance the value and interest of the music. And Owen Jensen has demonstrated often enough that a few well-chosen words can add immensely to the enjoyment of even a familiar work played on the radio, This being so, I am depressed at the infrequency with which new works of some importance are introduced from 1YC. Annotations are heard less frequently than they used to be, and seem to be more scrappy when they are read. Only rarely do we get enough clues to squeeze the best out of works like Rubbra’s Fifth Symphony or Roussel’s The Passing Sandman. It is unlikely that works which demand introductions would be heard more than once by anybody in a year, so that the idea that listeners would become irritated has little validity. And I feel sure that most YC listeners are not likely to resent having some guidance given them on the assumption that they do not know it already, especially if it is presented with the suavity of a Jensen or a Robertson,

J.C.

R.