Conductor, Lieut. F. Vivian Dunn
Antonia Butler (violoncello)
Relayed from The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Of Saint-Saens' two 'cello concertos, this one in A minor is the favourite. It is played throughout without a break, though the time and character of the sections change as in a concerto with detached movements. The impetuous figure with which the soloist opens the work forms the chief motif of the first section. It is followed by a tripping waltz rhythm. which again is succeeded by a slow movement constructed, somewhat un- j usually, out of a series of passages each leading to a climax. A brilliant and virile section in quick time closes the concerto.

(Harp, Marjorie Buckle)

These pieces for chromatic harp and strings were commissioned for certain competitions held at the Brussels Conservatoire, where a class had been formed for the study ot the ancient harp in a modernised form. The music is comparatively simple and the harmonic scheme is a pleasant one.
There is, too, characteristic use of ancient modes.

After its first performance at the Concerts Colonne in Paris in 1904, the critics, for whom Debussy was still something of an enigma, labelled the work 'dissonant', and complained that Debussy's work continued to have no architectural quality and that it was vague, disturbing and almost morbid. They appeared to agree that some people might like Debussy, for it was a question of taste - either one chose to like it or found it bitter. It would be difficult today to find a critic who would commit himself to an opinion so reactionary.