From Birmingham
ROBERT MAITLAND (Baritone) WILLIAM PRIMROSE (Violin)
The BIRMINGHAM STUDIO AUGMENTED
ORCHESTRA
(Leader, FRANK CANTELL )
Conducted by JOSEPH LEWIS
THE poet Dowson, who died so young in the first year of this present century, wrote a ' Dramatic Fantasy,' called The Pierrot of the Minute. It is a dreamlike, fanciful poem, which stirred the imagination of Bantock, and with this as subject, he wrote a ' Comedy Overture ' for Orchestra.
Bantock himself gives us the story thus : —
' Pierrot enters a glade in the park of the Petit Trianon at twilight, led thither in obedience to a mysterious message, which bids him come to sleep one night within these precincts, if he would encounter Lovo. Half whimsical, half fearful, he wonders why he, so careless, thoughtless, and gay, should be filled with wistful longing, and in the fast-falling darkness he lies down on a couch of fern, and falls asleep. A Moon-Maiden descends the steps of the Temple of Love, and, bending over the sleeper, kisses him. He awakens and throws himself at her feet in rapt devotion, though she warns him that the kisses of the Moon are of a fatal sweetness, and that
" Whoso seeks her she gathers like a flower;
Ho gives a life, and only gains an hour."
' But Pierrot, reckless, demands the puro and perfect bliss, though life be the price to pay. With gay laughter and sprightly jest they leam together the lore of Love ; but daybreak approaches, the birds awaken, and the Moon-maiden must leave him. Together they gaze at the coming dawn ; then Piorrot sinking back on his couch, falls softly asleep once more, and the Moon-maiden vanishes.
' The Prelude ends with the awakening of Pierrot, his love-dream being but the illusion of a minute.'