THE MAESTROS
THE WIRELESS ORCHESTRA
Conducted by JOHN ANSELL
Tom Jones , produced at the Apollo Theatre in 1907, has been performed by more operatic societies than it would be easy to count ; any later work which ousts it from its position among the first favourites will have to be exceptionally rich in all those qualities of melody, rhythm, harmony, and wholesome sentiment and humour, which blend here into a typically English whole. Graceful, melodious, light, the music is in every way original, stamped with a strong individuality; always refined, never stooping to cheap or meretricious effects, laid out for the orchestra by the hand of a master, it is all respected and admired by musicians as it is loved by the man in the street.
LISTENERS must have noticed that the composer of ' Passing By ' appears usually on programmes as E. C. Purcell , whereas, theiname Purcell itself very often stands alone. In this latter case it means that the music is by the great Purcell, Henry, one of the greatest, or, as many people think, the very greatest composer this country has ever produced. E. C. Purcell is a much less eminent descendant of the great man's, of whom very little is known except this one song. deservedly popular for its simple old-world charm.
FEW modern English composers of light and graceful music have earned our gratitude more fully than John Ansell , the popular conductor of the London Wireless Orchestra. Al though in every way a thoroughly-equipped musician who is at home in the most serious realms of music, he has no great sympathy with any of the ultra-modern tendencies, nor with music of sombre and gloomy purport. Ho would have music bring more brightness into the daily round, and his own is all fresh and wholesome. The subjects he chooses arc many and varied, but whether it be the merriment of children, the sea and ships, dances, or shoes, ho always leaves his hearer with a happy sense that the world is not so dull a place as he may have thought.