(From 2.5-3.0 Scottish Regional will radiate a programme of its own. For details see page 113)
THE TROCADERO CINEMA
ORCHESTRA
Directed by Alfred Van Dam
Relayed from The Troxy Cinema
(Conducted by THE COMPOSER)
THE FOLLOWING NOTE, by the composer of the Comedy Overture, ' Dr. Merryheart ', is an indication of the ideas and the literary allusions that form the basis of the composition.
Dr. Merryheart was well known as an astronomer of original views. His geniality and perpetual smiles earned for him the name of Merryheart. He advanced the strange theory, in a happy peisuasive manner, that the sun, moon, earth, and ' all that therein is ', are part of a vast diatonic scale, having its tonic in the centre of the Milky Way. He would not admit the value of the spectroscope, and held the view that there are no chromatics. Merryheart was of the opinion that we were on the eve of the discovery of the music of the universe, and it would be found in the diatonic scale. It was difficult to believe that he wished to be taken seriously, for his deep reflections on the mystery of the Universe were expressed to the accompaniment of a continuous series of smiles. He always carried with him an illustrated edition of Daudet's delicious satire, ' Tartarin of Tarascon ', and knew it so well that he came to look upon Tartarin as a real hero. If his days and evenings were spent in such whimsies, his nights were serious ones. He was a great dreamer. In his dreams he was prone to loud mutterings, and was known to exclaim, ' I must shoot that lion ! ' He suffered from nightmare and various ghosts would pass before him. He always awoke in a state of great excitement.
' Dr. Merryheart' was written at
Trentham, Staffordshire, in 1911. It was produced in January, 1913, at a musical festival given by the Musical League and the Incorporated Society of Musicians in the Town Hall, Birmingham. A performance by the Queen's Hall Orchestra was given in October of the same year and later by the Scottish Orchestra. ' Dr. Merryheart ' was recently broadcast from Hamburg.
