by LEONARD H. WARNER
Relayed from St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate
HERBERT SIMMONDS (Baritone)
(from Birmingliam) :
Songs by Marjorie Palmer (Soprano) and Harold Howes (Baritone). ' A Midnight Attack ' — A Congo Story by "Trekker." Dorothy English (Mandoline)
A Light Nautical Programme
From Birmingham
THE BIRMINGHAM STUDIO ORCHESTRA
ENDELSSOHN several times put into his music the impressions that scenes of nature made upon his mind. His popular Hebrides Overture, for example, was the result of his visit to the wild, rugged scenery of the Scottish islands. ,
In Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage we have his interpretation of another's thoughts about the ocean, as well as of his own impressions. His chief inspiration was a poem of Goethe, which depicts the sea in two moods, first sleeping, smooth as a mirror, and then stirred by a favouring breeze, before which the ship flies homeward.
There are two separate Movements in it, a slow one, suggesting the Calm at Sea. and a lively one, inspired by the second part of Goethe's poem, The Breeze.
THE WIRELESS MILITARY BAND, conducted by B. WALTON O'DONNELL
THIS work has already been described in The
Radio Times. It will be sufficient to remind hearers that though it was not written for Shakespeare's tragedy, it is possible that (as Wagner thought) the Composer had in mind when writing it the scene in that play in which Coriolanus yields to the prayers of his wife and mother, and refuses to besiege his native city, from which he has been banished. For this, his allies condemned him to death. The two chief melodies employed may well stand, the first for the hero, and the gentler second for the women.
At the end the opening melody is heard in faltering, weakened tones, and we realise the tragedy of the hero's death.
SPANISH Dance rhythms have attracted several
Russian composers. This Caprice, a favourite concert piece for both this and its original orchestral form, consists of a string of short Movements in various Spanish styles, which follow one another without pause.
The first is an Alborado, or morning greeting-a vigorous ' waking-up ' piece.
Next we have a tiny set of Variations on a theme. Then the Alborado is repeated, with varied orchestration.
A Scene and Gipsy Song follows, and the last dance is a Fandango (originally a dance to the accompaniment of guitar and castanets).
A Comedy by STUART READY
From Birmingham
THE scene is enacted in the kitchen of Matilda's cottage at Withingbottom. A large and airy room, with a door leading to the street, it has a big oval table set ready for tea. A dresser full of china and cooking utensils stands on the left of the door, with a saddleback couch standing opposite. The room is clean and tidy and has an air of homely comfort. The widow is busy preparing tea, when Emma Dowsett enters without being noticed. She coughs, and the widow nearly drops the tea-pot.
Among the all-too-few leading Composers of today who have turned their attention to the Military Band is Hoist, who has written two delightfully tuneful Suites for the Brass-and-Wood-wind combination.
The First Suite is made up of three separate pieces - (1) a vigorous Chaconne (a piece in which one bit of tune is repeated over and over again in the Bass, occasionally in other parts); (2) an expressive Intermezzo ; and (3) a lively March.
