ETHEL FENTON (Contralto) ANATOLE MELZAK (Violin)
THE WIRELESS MILITARY BAND
Conducted by B. WALTON O'DONNELL
THE melody which forms the chief tune of the Overture Fingal's Cave, sometimes called The Hebrides, was written down immediately after a visit which Mendelssohn paid to Staffa and Iona, off the west coast of Scotland, and sent home in one of his delightful letters, describing the visit with all his own buoyant enthusiasm.
The Overture begins with lower strings and bassoons, presenting a theme which depicts the long rolling Atlantic breakers, and later the same instruments give us the second chief tune. The Overture is built up on these singly and together; a very beautiful instance of their use in combination is heard near the end, where flute and horns join to play them very softly.
INTENDED by his parents to be a lawyer, and for some time a Civil Servant, Chabrier had no regular instruction in music, and the brilliance of his work is regarded as inspired by a really natural genius. He had his own fair share of the hardships and misfortunes which so often attend on genius, and was only fifty-three when he died.
This sparkling piece was composed after a journey in Spain, and is based on the national dance tunes. There is an introductory section in which the tunes are hinted at, and then we hear the first, a Jota, and a Fandango, both brilliantly set forth with full orchestration. The next two tunes are smoother and more easily flowing, and the fourth is again livelier. The fifth, the most obviously Spanish of the themes, has since become very widely known apart from its use in this Rhapsody. The whole work is straightforward and clear and conceived in the gayest spirit.
TCHAIKOVSKY'S Overture, '1812' was not originally intended for concert performance. In Moscow they built an imposing church to commemorate the turning back of Napoleon's armies from before the city, and for its consecration this Overture was specially composed. It was meant to be played in the open square in front of the church, and at each corner of the big force of musicians engaged, there were to be real cannon fired off at the emphatic moments in the music. That performance never actually took place, but the piece has since been played, not only in Russia, but elsewhere, in accordance with Tchaikovsky's original idea, with real cannon obeying the conductor's baton just as the players do. Although its patriotic significance is its strongest claim to our interest, it is, of itself, a stirring piece of festival music.