Arranged by the PEOPLE'S CONCERT SOCIETY in co-operation with the B.B.C.
Sixth Concert of Fifth Series
Relayed from the Northern Polytechnic
THE KENDALL STRING QUARTET and KATHLEEN COOPER (Solo Pianoforte)
Part I
Devoted to Music by Mozart (1756-1791)
Two Movements from Quartet for Strings in F
Minuet-Allegro
Pianoforte Solo, Rondo in D
Two Movements from Quartet for Pianoforte and Strings in G Minor
Allegro-Finale (Rondo)
The second part of the Programme will include miscellaneous items, the titles of which will be given out by the Announcer.
This listing contains language that some may find offensive.
from the Prince of Wales Playhouse, Lewisham
'FILM fans' look forward eagerly to Mr. Atkinson's fortnightly review of noteworthy new pictures ; he always has something fresh and stimulating to say.
Sung by DALE SMITH
THE fourteenth to the nineteenth songs of the cycle are now to bo sung.
XIV. Hochlandisches Wiegenlied (Highland
Cradle Song). A lullaby (the words by Burns) to a baby of a roving clan, who is playfully told of his future career-as a cattle stealer.
XV. Mein Herz ist schwer (My heart is heavy).
A setting of a poem of Byron. The speaker calls for the music of the harp, to bring forth a tear that shall save the heart from bursting with grief.
XVI. Röthsel (Enigma). Everyone knows
Byron's clever conundrum beginning
'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell.
Schumann has set the enigma in a declamatory style. In the last line a clue is given-' Oh, breathe on it softly, it is but a ('tis what ?) it is but a breath.'
(The solution to the enigma is the letter H.)
XVII. Leis' ntclern hier (Row gently here). A setting of a gondola song by Tom Moore. The lover, preparing to climb his lady's balcony, while the gondolier keeps watch below, piously reflects what angels we should be if we took half the pains for heaven that we take for love !
XVIII. Wenn durch die Piazzetta (When through the Piazetta). Another love song by Moore-a brief page about a rendezvous.
XIX. Der Hauptmann's Weib (The Captain's
Lady). This is a setting of the well-known Burns poem. beginning
0 mount and go,
Mount and make you ready ;
0 mount and go
And be the Captain's Lady.
Her lot shall be to see her love in battle, and then, ' when the vanquished foe sues for peace and quiet,' to enjoy the sweets of love.
S.B. from Liverpool
After discussing the modern office-block, church and small house. Professor Reilly proceeds to an architectural problem still further from being solved - that of the street considered as an architectural whole. Since the early nineteenth century London, for instance, has allowed its streets to grow up haphazard, with the results. that we see in such heterogeneous strings of ill-assorted buildings as Oxford Street and the Strand. Within the last year or two we have seen the final disappearance of the old Regent Street, one of the great triumphs of street-design, and its replacement by a modern attempt which, in the opinion of many critics, is a lamentable failure. Professor Reilly is known to hold strong views on this subject, and what he has to say on the new street - a picture of which appears on the next page - and on the whole question of street-design will be of particular interest to listeners.
An Opera by Gluck
Cast:
The Wireless Symphony Orchestra
The Wireless Chorus
Conducted by Percy Pitt
Chorus Master - Stanford Robinson
Acts I. and II.
Gluck's Orpheus is probably the earliest written Opera that still keeps the stage-the ordinary, more or less commercial stage, that is, for there is an earlier work (and a British one) that is still frequently heard in private and semi-public performances-Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. We in this country do not often hear the Gluck masterpiece (though there have been some very notable performances of it within recent times) but it is in the regular repertory of the chief Opera Houses of Europe, as well it may be, for it is full of lovely tunes (the lament of Orpheus, Che faro? 'What shall I do?' is, in itself, a melodic treasure), and has some very moving dramatic moments.
The plot of the Opera \is based on one of the legends of the old Greek world. Gluck follows the legend in its usual form, but gives it a happy ending.
The work is, in this performance, divided into four Acts.
At the opening of the Opera, Orpheus and his friends are lamenting at the tomb of his bride, Eurydice, who has died from a serpent's sting. Amor, the god of Love, brings word to Orpheus that he may descend to the underworld, and, by his wonderful singing and harping, win her back to earth-if only he can refrain from looking on her until the return has been accomplished.
In Acts Two and Three Orpheus descends, and after fierce trial prevails upon the powers that reign below to give Eurydice back to him
Act Four. In their long journey back to earth he is over-tempted and cannot resist looking upon her, and so loses her, but she is finally restored to him by the gods as a reward for his suffering.
Those who care to read something about Gluck's life and his great work for Opera may like to read Berlioz' Gluck and His Operas (W. Reeves, 5s.). or Newman's Gluck and the Opera. This book is out of print, but may be seen in many Public Libraries, where also may be consulted Hadow's The Viennese Period (Vol. V. of the Oxford History of Music, published by the Oxford University Press at 25s.), and the article on Gluck in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. There is a chapter on Gluck in Remain Rolland's Some Musicians of Former Days (Kegan Paul, 4s. 6d.)
(A libretto of this Opera is published by, and is obtainable from, the B.B.C. For full details see the announcement on page 392 of this issue.)
CYRIL LIDINGTON
In Items from his Repertoire
