Relayed from The QUEEN'S HALL
(Sole Lessees, Messrs. Chappell and Co., Ltd.)
British Composers
THE B.B.C. SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Principal Violin, CHARLES WOODHOUSE)
Conducted by SIR HENRY WOOD
FREDA TOWNSON (Mezzo) HELEN PERKIN (Pianoforle)
THE WIRELESS CHORUS
PURCELL, thought to be by some the greatest composer England has produced, was bom in 1658 or 1659 in London, and died there in 1695. It is thanks to the industry and enthusiasm of the Purcell Society that we possess a great store of his music, grave and gay, for almost every known combination of voices and instruments, ranging from opera to quite small pieces. The great wealth of beauty, and, above all, the utter sincerity of all that he wrote, are steadily reaching wider popularity, and it is quite safe to prophesy that his place of honour in English music is for all time assured.
This voluntary has been arranged by Sir
Henry Wood , for trumpets, trombones, drums, and organ. A solo trumpet, with organ accompaniment, plays the first strain, which is answered by all the winds and organ together. The solo trumpet has a second phrase, answered this time by organ and drums, and again all the brass and organ reply. There is a little interlude for brasses and drums alone, succeeded by a tutti. Next the organ has a short phrase, and a repetition of the second strain by winds and organ forms the close. (A article on Purcell appears on page 629)
JOHN IRELAND'S name does not appear very often in orchestral programmes. While others court the glamour and publicity of orchestral performance, he prefers to work in the more secluded world of chamber music, where ho has won the highest honours; the only orchestral works he has brought before the public are The Forgotten Rite and the Rhapsody Mai-Dun, which was broadcast on August 21. The new concerto is Ireland's finest work of the kind ; it brings into the concerto form a style of pianoforte writing highly personal to the composer, one in which the showy devices of most concertos have no place, and it displays a charm and amenability that have not always been noticeable in Ireland's music. There are three movements, of which the first is a complex modern version of classical sonata form. The second movement, which is mainly lyrical and expressive, is interrupted at its close by a drum passage which grows quicker and animates the whole orchestra, leading straight into the Finale, a cheerful Allegretto in which much play is made with a rhythmic tune. It is worth noting that the instruments of, percussion make their first entry in this movement. The Concerto was written specially for Miss Helen Perkin , who has played it to B.B.C. listeners before. Miss Perkin, who is herself studying composition, has identified herself with Ireland's music, of which he says she lias an intimate understanding.
Mars-The Bringer of War
Venus-The Bringer of Peace
Mercury-The Winged Messenger Jupiter-The Bringer of Jollity
Saturn-The Bringer of Old Age Uranus-The Magician Neptune-The Mystic
(Conducted by THE COMPOSER)
THE orchestral suite, The Planets, is Hoist's largest piece of orchestral composition.
It was written during the War, and first played in 1918 at a private performance organized by H. Balfour Gardiner , and later by Adrian Boult. In 1919 the Royal Philharmonic Society gave the first public performance. It has since been played in every considerable city in Europe and the United States.
The Planets is scored for a very full orchestra, with a chorus of female voices in the last number. The significance of the work is neither astronomical nor mythological, but the moods are to be construed rather as symbolizing the influences of destiny and the constituents of the spirit.