MARION BROWNE (Soprano) OWEN BRYNGWYN (Baritone)
THE GERSHOM PARKINGTON QUINTET
This last item is the best known piece by one
Franz Schubert. He was so anxious that there should be no confusion between his work and that of his illustrious namesake that he allowed his name to appear on programmes as Francois Schubert , much to the indignation of an anonymous listener who wrote to protest against this ' Frenchifying ' of the great Schubert's German ' Franz.'
This Schubert was a distinguished violinist who served for fifty years in the Royal Orchestra at Dresden, retiring, after some years as leader, on the fiftieth anniversary of the day of his joining. His wife and daughter were both opera singers and both made successful appearances in London on the stage and on the platform of the old ' Monday Pops.'
THE Gopak is a lively Russian Dance with two beats in the bar, one which it is easy to think of as being danced by the Russians in the open air with their winter boots on. It is full of that kind of energy which suggests strenuous exercise amid the cold of winter. The Fair of Svrotchinsk, from which this one is taken, is an opera founded on one of Gogol's Russian stories ; Mussorgsky left it unfinished at his death. There are a few introductory bars, and then the livelv dance tune is taken up by woodwinds and violins with the other strings accompanying, pizzicato. It grows to a boisterous climax and then dies away quietly without slackening speed.