(Section C)
Led by Laurance Turner
Conducted by Pedro Morales
Peggy Cochrane (violin and pianoforte)
If it is not a record for one artist to be the soloist on two separate instruments in a serious concert, it must be a very rare occurrence. Nor are there many who could do it besides Peggy Cochrane. When the famous Spanish composer and conductor, Pedro Morales, heard her play the Haydn Wood Violin Concerto, he was so impressed on being told that she was an equally accomplished pianist, he thought it would be an excellent idea if she were to broadcast on both Instruments tonight.
And so it comes about that one of the most versatile and one of the very earliest of radio stars is to give the Jean Francaix suite for violin and orchestra and then to play Joaquin Turina's Symphonic Rhapsody for piano and strings. Peggy Cochrane has won renown on the air for her versatility. After making her name as a serious artist, she achieved equal success in Variety. Her 'tune a minute' programmes on the piano have been a feature of Variety for the last three years. She is doing another on September 3, and will figure in the autumn in 'People You Hear.'
Jean Francaix, one of the most promising of the younger French composers -Ã he is still only in the early twenties - a pupil of the well-known woman composer and teacher, Nadia Boulanger.
He already has several large-scale instrumental works to his credit. This suite for violin and orchestra, completed last year, is being given its first performance this evening.
Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan by birth, French by adoption, is well-known as a song-writer. His 'If my songs had Wings' is as popular as anything of its kind in the repertoire. But Hahn has also a considerable number of operas and ballets to his credit as well as incidental music to a large number of plays. A pupil of Massenet, Hahn has in several ways become his successor in the world of French music. In this concert suite, unconventionally scored for wind, two harps and piano, Hahn depicts a ball given by a sixteenth century Duchess of Milan. First we have the entrance of the Duke; then a series of dances with an entr'acte depicting Leda and the Swan; finally the Dukes departure. Some years ago, Senor Morales produced 'Le Hat in Paris' as a ballet.
Joaquin Turina happens to be known in this country by his less personal works, colourful, thoroughly Spanish pieces such as The Procession of the Rocio and the three Fantastic Dances . Actually, his chief interest is in chamber music and 'pure' music in general. By no means the whole of his work is characterised by markedly national colouring. Born in 1882, Turina studied with d'Indy in Paris tor eight or nine years, and so acquired the solid classical outlook of the Cesar Franck school.
This Symphonic Rhapsody, a comparatively recent work, is the first of a projected cycle of works for piano and orchestra.
Fernandez Arbos, Spanish conductor, composer and violinist of international fame, was for many years a familiar figure in London musical life. He was violin professor at the Royal College of Music for twenty-two years (1894-1916). This Intermezzo was originally conceived as a chorus in a musical comedy.
