THE CARLTON MASON SEXTET
FLORENCE OLDHAM (Songs at the Piano)
A GOOD deal of Moszkowski's bright and melodious pianoforte music is happily known to listeners. In spite of his Polish-sounding name, he was a German who held a leading place as solo pianist and teacher in more than one great German school. He made many appearances in London, first at a Philharmonic Concert in 1886, and for the last time in 1908, when he conducted a programme of his own music in the Queen's Hall.
Among his more important works is the Opera Boabdil, on a story dealing with the Moors in Spain. It was produced in Berlin in 1892. It includes a very effective Ballet, with its scene at the Court of the Lions in the Alhambra Palace. The Ballet forms part of the wedding festivities of Boabdil himself, the last of the Moorish Kings. The Malaguena. one of the numbers in the Ballet, is a characteristic dance of old Spain in vigorous triple rhythm ; it can depict quite varying moods — majestic, tender, or boisterous, and Moszkowski exploits its possibilities here in the most brilliant and effective way.
As a young man of twenty-two,
Debussy won the coveted Prix de Rome, the highest award which French music students can gain. In the previous year he had been runner-up in the competition for the same prize, and a number of other prizes had already been awarded to him for accompaniment, for counterpoint and fugue. This is the work with which he won the Prix de Rome, and in many ways it has to be confessed that it betrays a somewhat immature hand.
Melodious and smoothly flowing it certainly is, and the air of Lia, the Prodigal's mother, is a fine number which seems to be assured of lasting popularity. Another air, sung by Azael (The Prodigal), is also effective, but on the whole the work is of a rather slight order. It is often described as an opera, and has been given in stage versions, but it is really a cantata intended for concert performance. By the Burnside On the Loch
Harvest Dance
FLORENCE OLDHAM Songs