Studio Concert by National Orchestra

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 954, 22 November 1957, Page 17

Studio Concert by National Orchestra

ALEX LINDSAY, one of the bestknown musicians at present broadcasting, will be guest conductor of the National Orchestra for its studio concert on Tuesday, November 26. He was subleader of the Orchestra on its formation in 1946, but left the following year to form his’ own String Orchestra. He is frequently on the air as conductor of this orchestra, or as violinist with various chamber music ensenibles. Liking classical music or jazz, but nothing in between, he is also heard occasionally as a dance band instrumentalist. For the studio concert, Mr Lindsay (below) has chosen Mendelssohn’s overture "Calm Sea and a Prosperous Voy-

age," Fauré’s suite "Pelléas and Mélisande," and Britten’s "Sinfonia da Requiem." The last work has a singular history. Britten was approached through the British Council in 1940 and asked to write a symphony for celebrations connected with the reigning dynasty of a foreign Power. He agreed, provided only that no musical jingoism was called for. The foreign Power turned out to be Japan, and the celebration the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Mikado’s dynasty. Other European composers had received similar commissions. Britten completed a work which is permeated with a sense of the horror of war, and handed it over, feeling that it was not inappropriate in view of the war between China and Japan then proceeding. About: six months later he received through the Japanese Embassy an angry complaint that the Christian dogma and liturgical ceremony which was the basis of the work was a calculated insult to the Mikado. The work was fejected. With the help of W. H. Auden, Britten drafted a suitable reply, but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour ended the correspondence. The scheduled performance is believed to be the first in New Zealand. (YCs, 9.5 p.m., ‘Tuesday, November 26.)