Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Saturday 4 July 1936, page 18


Music and the Drama

By H.T.H.

A MUSIC festival, somewhat similar to that being arranged for Brisbane in September during his visit.' but on a larger scale, was

recently directed by Dr. Malcolm Sar»ent in Wales. He has had a great leal of experience of festival work, and it may be that his advice will be found helpful in the expansion of the movement locally in future years. Having been restored to health after the serious illness which obliged him to defer his arrival in Australia, Dr. Sargent indicated that his vitality had been renewed and his enthusiasm recovered, in what a London commentator describes as a truly delightful enterprise, conducted in association with Sir Walford Davies. This was the Three Valleys Festival, organised in aid of the Welsh unemployed. It was held in the Immense pavilion erected for the Welsh National Eisteddfod. An invitation had been, extended to the unemployed of Merthyr, Aberdaret and Rhondda to form a choir of 1200 voices, and for each of the several concerts there was an audience exceeding 7000. A reviewer stated that 'better singing and better listening could not be desired, and this in sptte of the fact that many members of the choir had made long railway journeys to reach the Eisteddfod pavilion at Mountain Ash.' An excellent performance of tha 'Elijah' was conducted by Dr. Sargent, and this was broadcast. The Welsh music sung included J. Morgan Lloyd's 'The Rising of Arthur,' and an orchestral suite by Llewelyn Gower. . + + + ^z1*!*

Music Notes Messrs. J. and N. Tait report that Richard Crooks, the famous American tenor, has achieved a triumph in Sydney, with record attendances at his concerts, and the utmost enthusiasm among the audiences. He captivated his hearers, not only as a singer but as delightful personality. He is described as a great artist who does not find it necessary to display temperament, but establishes friendly relations between platform and auditorium with a genial style and happy manner. The Empire broadcast from London by Miss Rae Phillips (Rachelle Cavallo), the Brisbane pianist, who has established such a successful career abroad, was received clearly for the most part in the relay through 4QG. The statics were not sufficient to mar enjoyment of her muslcianly style and technical accomplishment. Her wide

sympathies and adjustment to differing schools and periods were Illustrated In the understanding treatment of the Intermezzo in B minor, opus 119 (Brahms); Debussy's Prelude, Sarabande and Toccata; Bach's March, Polonaise, two minuets, and march from the Anna Magdamena Book. Mr. Neville Cardus Is best known to a considerable section of the Australian public as an entertaining and wellequipped writer on cricket, but he writes with authority on music also. In the 'Manchester Guardian' he remarked that broadly speaking the elements by which composers expressed themselves were melody, rhythm, and harmony. By harmony he meant not only notes simultaneously sounded, but the colour added by different instruments. In the perfect composition those three elements were to be heard perfectly balanced— but there were hot many works that achieved such an ensemble. If a composer were engaged mainly in lyricism melody, would be the chief factor; If his purpose were atmosphere or characterisation or a descriptive picture, he would draw principally on harmony and rhythm. The clue to the proper approach to a work was often to be found in the prominence given to melody or rhythm or harmony. The beginning of the A major piano concerto of Mozart was a long-phrased singing theme which at once ' told that the composer's mood was felicitous, serene, or lyrical; there could scarcely be a modulation to tragedy or stress without a shock which would render the preceding music ill-chosen. On the other hand, Beethoven opened -the Fifth Symphony with two fournote thumpings. One need not talk of 'Fate Knocking at the Door,' but it was obvious that Beethoven was not trying to get a song into motion. In the second Queensland State Schools' Eisteddfod, in Brisbane in August, the choral work wnj be com

prised of a chief choral contest, open to all State primary and intermediate schools; second choral contest, for State primary schools with an attendance under 300; unison choirs,, for children under 12 years of age; own choice competition, open to all State primary and intermediate schools; country section, for schools situated in towns of less than 10,000 inhabitants; and sight singing test, open to all State school choirs. ? * * Stage— Repertory— Ballet Five -noted Am'erican artists were engaged In New York for the J. C. Williamson Ltd. production of 'Three Men on a Horse,' which will open at His Majesty's to-night. These include Gay Seabrook, a noted actress, who appeared in Will Rogers's last picture; Jonathan Hole, Betty Hanna, and Louis Tanno. A compliment unprecedented in relations between the screen and the stage was paid by a large number of film stars, who attended a performance of this farcecomedy at Los Angeles by one of the seven companies touring the United States with It. They sent to the author a beautiful volume containing their favourable opinions, with theii autographs and photographs. 'The Price,' a play by Miss E. Thompson, of East Brisbane, has been chosen for performance at 3LO, MelIvtiirtio

Misses Phyllis Danahcr and Clare O'Bryan, members of the Royal Academy of Dancing, will present their pupils in a dance recital, Including operatic ballets and character dances, on July 10. There will also be two mime plays. The principals themselves wiU participate in the recital. The success of Joyce Denny's new play at the Croydon Repertory Theatre, London, 'was not due to originality of plot, but rather to the gentle atmosphere of old-fashioned sentimentality, which Is something of a novelty in these hard-boiled days, a reviewer remarks.. 'Rain Before Seven' is very much a woman's play It has an Australian setting for the greater part. The performance of La Meri, the famous art dancer now appearing in Melbourne and soon to be seen in Brisbane, are described as a passport to many picturesque and unfamUiar lands* to which she is an admirably qualified guide and interpreter without scenic aids to imagination for ex5*'^*^ and_ modern