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By Harold E. Drake
Relayed from St. Michael's Cornhill
A toccata was originally a piece for displaying one's agility in touch (toccare = to touch), but Bach never wrote mere show pieces. His Toccata in D Minor has been described as a classical storm.' Certainly there is in it a wonderful impression of elemental power and freedom, though of course it has no actual pictorial idea behind it. Its imaginative quality, from the point of view of pure music, is a sheer delight.
The Fugue begins with a mood in complete contrast to the Toccata, but towards the end we are reminded of the work's brilliant opening; the Coda, as it were, binds Toccata and Fugue together.
Bach's six Organ Sonatas, written in three 'voices' only, contain some most expressive pieces, several of which have become concert-room favourites, in orchestral arrangements by Sir Henry Wood and others. They are a little deceptive on paper, appearing simpler to play than they really are. It is a common saying among organists that 'If you can play Bach's Sonatas really well, you can tackle anything,' for they demand absolute co-ordinated independence of hands and feet.
The Fifth Sonata has three Movements— a lightly-speeding cheerful one, a suave slow Movement, and another lively one with plenty of imitative chatter between the three voices engaged.

THE rugs and carpets of the East are full of cunning craftsmanship and beauty of design, and the connoisseur has a tine field for his knowledge and taste. Miss Lorimer is head of the Oriental department of a big West-End store, and also an expert Oriental archaeologist. As part of her work she periodically raids the East for rugs, carpets and hangings of peculiar interest, and brings back also many art treasures of other kinds.
(Picture on page 118.)

This is the first of a series of talks in which Captain Eckersley will keep listeners informed of happenings in the wireless world. They will not be 'technical' talks; that is to say, he will not tell anybody how to build a set that will get Tokio, at a total expenditure of seven and sixpence. But he will talk about new technical developments in wireless engineering on the larger scale.

Contributors

Speaker:
Captain P.P. Eckersley

2LO London

Appears in

About this data

This data is drawn from the Radio Times magazine between 1923 and 2009. It shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was subject to change and may not be accurate. More