Open Microphone

New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 893, 14 September 1956, Page 20

Open Microphone

NEWS OF BROADCASTERS ON AND OFF THE RECORD

ONE LITTLE WORD

EIGHT years after May Brahe composed the song "Bless the House," John McCormack discovered it, but before singing it he said: "This song will never have the same appeal unless it is made personal to the listener.’ He

changed "the" to "this" and it sold well over 1,000,000 copies. The London music publishers,

Boosey and Hawkes, told me this when they heard of the composer’s death at Sydney, aged 71, writes J. W. Goodwin from London. Another May Brahe song which sold more than 1,000,000 copies was "I Passed by Your Window," published in

1917 as part of a song cycle. "It’s Quiet Down Here" was made world-famous by Clara Butt, and May Brahe also had a great success with "Thanks Be to God," which she wrote under the name of Stanley Dickson. It was a Mark Hambourg recital at Melbourne which inspired May Brahe to compose and her early work was published in Melbourne, but later she came to England. She was married at 17 and her two daughters both live in Australia. On Thursday, September 27, at 7.15 p-m., Christina Young, who was a friend of May Brahe, will be heard from 2YA in a recital of her songs. Christina Young met May Brahe in London in 1937, and when the composer came out to Australia in 1940 they met again and were close personal friends till Miss Young returned to New Zealand in 1954. *

CRAFTSMAN

\WJHEN Thomas Goff, maker of the NZBS’s new harpsichord, was being demobilised from the British Army, he was asked what occupation he was to follow now he was back in civilian life. "JT want to make harpsichords," was his unexpected answer. The officer was equal

to the occasion, "ihat's the best reply I've had today," he said,

Thomas Gofi was soon busy making the instruments he had chosen to work on, and his first harpsichord, No. 1, made its public appearance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. It was played by Dr.

I i i i i te a Thornton Lofthouse, a celebrated pianist and harpsichord player at present in New Zealand, Dr. Lofthouse told The Listener that this had indeed been an historic occasion, for it marked the return of the harpsichord to the English concert platform. Since then the use of the harpsichord in baroque music has gradually spread over England, and the quality of the instruments made available by Thomas Goff has been one of the main factors in this revival. Each

year in London there is now a four-harpsichord concert in the Festival Hall, and Dr. Lofthouse commented on the fact that the audience at these concerts was predominantly a young one, invariably "very interested and growing year by year." Goff has also pioneered the electrical equipment necessary to amplify the harpsichord tone from a microphone placed immediately above or. below the sound board. He has recently made a lute, also able to be amplified for concert performances. "This lute was used in a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion," said Dr. Lofthouse, "when it was played by the young English lutenist Julian

: Bream. It was possibly the first time the lute had been used in this work." Dr. and Mrs. Lofthouse often visit the house where Thomas Goff keeps his instruments, and Mrs. Lofthouse said that Thomas Goff may have inherited his skill from his mother, Lady Cecilia Goff, who is a fine craftswoman herself, having made carpets and embroideries which were much admired by Queen Mary. "Now that this instrument has arrived here safely it is a great surprise to me that Mr. Goff can keep away," added Dr. Lofthouse. Dr. Lofthouse, who will be playing the harpsichord in the St. Matthew Passion in Wellington on October 3, has, during his life, mace a great contribution to the study and interpretation of the works of Bach, and has taken a leading part in the recent revival of his works. A special feature of this has been his revival of the harpsichord continuo. Familiar to thousands of Londoners, Dr. Lofthouse’s part in a Bach performance has been b sccaik te in this way: "Seated at the modern harpsichord in the centre of the orchestra, from a mere figured bass in the-score, he weaves with a thousand delicate nuances the extempore harmonies which link orchestra and voices into one organic whole." +

\WitH sO many ideas discussed about the best way to present modern music-whether in concerts on its own, or sandwiched in between well-known works-we asked Robert Masters for his (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) opinion while he was in New Zealand recently. "I think the best thing is to broadcast it, or put it in special concerts of modern music," he said. Fhe Quartet plays a lot of modern works and several composers have written works especially for it. A quartet by Benjamin Frankel which it played in New Zealand is dedicated to the group, and when they get back to London they hope to find that a new quartet by Malcolm Arnold will be ready. "It'll probably arrive the day of the concert" said Muriel Taylor. And Nannie Jamieson told us how they once got the last movement of a new quartet the day before they were to play it. *

PENNY

S Penny in A Life of Bliss, Petula Clark is probably one of the most widely-heard players on the air on Sunday nights, and avid listeners ourselves we were interested to read the other

Gay that at 45 sne 1S as fresh and engaging as when she entered show business

160. years ago. "1 hate being calied an ingenue," she told a Radio Times re-

cently, "but I suppose it’s true." And as if to prove her point she angwered an inquiry about the colour of her hair: "You could call it Titian, but really it’s just toffee-coloured." Petula Clark is, of course, wellknown outside radio, as any regular filmgoer will tell you. She has appeared on the stage and in a couple of dozen films, has her own television programme and has made a great many records. Petula -who, by the way, doesn’t like to be called "Pet"-was born in Surrey and first appeared on the stage when she was seven. Three years later she sang at the Royal Albert Hall. As our picture suggests, she is a small, neat person. Outside her busy life in the entertainment world she swims, canoes, rides and plays badminton. a

PRIZEWINNER

x SPECIALLY well known to New Zealanders for his BBC programme The Voyage of Magellan, the poet Laurie Lee was recently awarded the Foyle Poetry Prize. "Mr. Lee, unlike most of our poets, has never been bureaucratised," said "Atticus" in the London Sunday Times. "He has never taught, never lectured, never taken political

orders, never worked (or almost never) in an office-never sold

out in a word, for respectability." When asked, Laurie Lee is himself a bit surprised that he exists at all and puts it down to a miracle. But he also has a warm word for the BBC, which has helped to keep him alive and recently sent him to Spain. The son of a sea-faring man who gave up the sea and settled near Stroud, in England, Laurie went to London when he was 20 after running away from home and sleeping by the wayside for four weeks. From London he went to Spain, where he spent a year playing the violin for .a living. In 1951 he married a niece of Sir Jacob Epstein and now lives in Chelsea. His recreation? Like Mozart, he has a passion for playing billiards,