THEY SING THEIR WAY THROUGH LIFE

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 32, 20 January 1939, Page 14

THEY SING THEIR WAY THROUGH LIFE

N OT many radio or stage artists can claim that a large part of their © repertoire comes from the British Museum, but duettists Viola | Morris and Victoria Anderson, now touring New Zealand under a month’s | contract to the NBS, can put forward that claim. | These two bright personalities, pictured here by Spencer Digby, have _ entertained audiences in England, the United States, Canada, Hawaii, ‘ Australia, New Zealand. Everywhere they have met with the same en- : thusiastic reception. | Born in Australia, they gravitated to London, independently taking voice tuition under the celebrated Harry Plunket Greene. By chance Mr. . Greene discovered that their voices had exactly the same qualities. He ; suggested they try out duet work. They did; Mr. Greene was enthusiastic. — Their voices blended perfectly.

4 HEN famous London ; voice teacher Plunket Greene first discovered the amazing blend in the singing voices of Viola Morris and Victoria Anderson, it is possible that even he did not realise just how perfectly they went together. It remained for an operator of the ABC to discover that. When they were giving a performanee over the air in Brisbane, he studied the radio waves created by their voices.

For the first time in his career, said the operator, he saw two voices record the same line exactly. Neither | voice registered a slightly higher note than the other. 100 Songs WHEN they decided to go further into the intricacies of duet singing, the two young women went to the British Museum and there copied out over 100 traditional songs written for two voices.

rare They went back beyond the Elizabethan composers. Most of these pieces gave no indication of musical interpretation, so the duo arranged their own interpretation. During a recital in Honolulu, says Miss Morris, a queer thought struck her. ‘‘T wondered,’’ she said, ‘‘what Purcell and others of these long-dead composers would have said if anyone had told. them their songs would be sung hundreds of years later, in countries not known by them."’ The team also discovered two-part songs by Brahms, Schubert, Dvorak and others. Pieces as little known as were the traditional numbers. They took these for their repertoire, and the revelation

— that the classieal composers had written these particular numbers surprised the majority of those who heard them. Station officials in Ameriea queried the composers’ names, Conquest O, with a repertoire consisting mainly of unknown traditional and: classical numbers, Miss Anderson and Miss Morris prepared to take the world by storm-and succeeded. ‘*No one else in the world is doing the same work as we are doing,’’ Miss Morris remarked; but she modestly refused to admit that she and her partner were directly responsible for the success that had come their way. "We owe everything to our teacher, Mr. Greene,’’ she insisted. Modern art songs were then added to their repertoire, solos and duets. Oratorio is sung, tuc. They featured last year in an American coast-to-coast radio broadcast of a Bach festival heid in Stockton, California. On their return to the States at the end of this year, they are to appear in @ special presentation of the ‘‘Messiah.’’ Before that, howeyer, they have to fulfil an unusual engagement: they are seheduled for 15 recitals in Java, a country where they have not been. "‘And I’d Iove to do South Africa,’ said Miss Morris. But time, and engagements, prevent these two from satisfying all their wishes. They left London before the Coronation, and are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to return. ‘*We are hoping to get back there after we have been to the San Francisco World Fair in November of this year," Miss Morris remarked. ‘‘¥ love London,’’ she said. They have been requested to bring back to America With them some songs of the Pacific Islands, native song's and works by New Zealand and Australian composers. Most native (and Maori) songs, Miss Morris stated; did not suit their voices very well, but they were hoping | to take back something re- | ‘preséntative. The works of | Alfred: Hill hid won their attention...

"4 aitel Out Of Tune ? SKED if they preferrea platform .work to radio work, the first hint of-a slight difterence of opinion arose. ‘‘I prefer stage work,’? Miss Andérson said. ‘‘ With the radio you miss the personal touch, and the veaction of audiences.’’ Miss Morris, however, had no real preference for either medium, ‘You do have slight differences of gpinion, then?’’ asked the ‘‘Reeord.’’ "Well, we have our moments, ’’ "Miss Morris laughed, with a tell-tale twinkle which suggested these moments might take all sorts of forms. She added: ‘‘When we are broadcasting we both try to visualise our audiences, and to sing to them as if they were before us.’’ Surprise Im America JJURING their nine years of happy partnership, a considerable time has been spent in the States, where they found a remarkable pride among people who could boast of being of British descent. ‘‘There doesn’t appear to be a really individual American citizen, and things British appeal greatly,’’ Miss Anderson said. ‘""We were guests at one fine home one night, and our hosts had a drop of British blood in their veins. They were unbe- hevably proud of this fact, too. ‘‘Our host started putting on rolls of musie on to a piano, and we noticed that one piece was ‘God Save the King.’ ‘*P'm going to play this," he said, ‘and you just watch them all stand up!’ As the ‘them’ eonsisted of a large crowd of people all playing bridge at the moment, / we protested. We felt he was putting the piece on m our honour. because we were the only Britishers present. ‘* "Phat’s all right,’ he re‘plied. ‘They’ll stand up, and if they don’t I’Ik make them.’ _ "Well, he put on the roll, and believe it or not, the instant it started, everyone put down his or her cards and stood up, and they stood in a real tribute-paying silence. It was one of the most amazing meee we ever encotittered.’" °