From page 15 of ' When Two or Three '
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at the Organ of the Regal, Edmonton Ambroise Thomas , although known almost wholly now by Mignon, was the composer of at least twenty operas and full-sized ballets which enjoyed great popularity in the second half of last century. In his own day, indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that he was easily the most popular of composers for the Paris stage.
The latter part of his life, however, was spent in teaching or head of the famous Paris Conservatoire-a post which he held for twenty-five years.
It was the success of his opera Hamlet, following on Mignon which won him that distinction, and to Mignon he owed the reward of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, which was given him on the occasion of its thousandth performance. The plot of the opera is taken from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister.
'Tracing History Backwards'
3a - 'Surplus and Scarcity'
Stephen King-Hall
Founded in 1928, the Parker-Crook
Trio is noted for its presentation of classical and light classical programmes. The present combination-one which has broadcast since June, 1935 - consists of Vera Parker-Crook (piano). Joan Fynney (violin), and Bernard Richards ('cello).
Vera Parker-Crook gained a scholarship at the Royal College of Music, and it was while she was a student that she broadcast from Savoy Hill with the Audrey Ford Trio. Joan Fynney has been with the trio since 1932 ; and Bernard Richards , of course, is a brilliant 'cellist, who, amongst other activities, plays for the International String Quartet.
Leader, Frank Thomas
Conductor, IDRIS LEWIS
Nature Study
Round the Country-side
5 - ' Feeding Birds'
C. C. GADDUM
This afternoon Mr. Gaddum will discuss the value of feeding birds in winter as a means of taming them. He will describe various ways of feeding birds, by means of bird trays, bird tables, etc. ; and the different kinds of food to put out.
Finally, he will point out the best way to observe the birds feeding, and make suggestions as to how observations should be logged from the vajrious data collected.
Teachers will find it helpful for the class to have either illustrations or specimens of the following : a starling, blue-tit, great tit, and woodpecker.
2.25 Interlude
2.33 English Literature-5
Some Books I Like
' The Prisoner of Zenda ', by Anthony Hope
HOWARD MARSHALL
JOYCE NEWTON (contralto)
THE NEW ENGLISH
STRING QUARTET:
Winifred Small (violin) ; Eveline Thomson (violin); Winifred Stiles (viola); Florence Hooton (violoncello)
Haydn has been called the ' Father of the String Quartet ' ; that distinction can scarcely be denied him, for when he first began to compose, the form which he subsequently developed practically did not exist; while before he died Mozart had written all his wonderful quartets, and Beethoven, on the threshold of his career, was writing fuch marvellous works as the Rasoumovsky Quartets.
Haydn wrote more than eighty quartets in all and they are grouped, more often than not, in sixes, as in this Op. 9. The most outstanding movement of the second quartet in E flat is the minuet which is based on one of Haydn's most beautiful melodies. He himself liked it so much that he afterwards wrote a charming little set of variations for piano on it. This is the first of Arnold Bax's quartets. It was composed in 1918 and dedicated to Sir Edward Elgar. Both in construction and material it is a simple and straightforward work and is perhaps the most popular of Bax's quartets. There is a theme in the last of the three movements which might almost be an Irish folk song. Actually, however, it is an original melody.
Directed by HENRY HALL
including Weather Forecast and Bulletin for Farmers
Brahms
Early Lieder
Sung by JOHN ARMSTRONG (tenor)
Sechs Gesange , Op. 6 (concluded)
3. Nachwirkung (Meissner) ; 4. Juchhe ! (Reinick) ; 5. Wie die Wolke nach der Sonne (von Fallersleben) ;
6. Nachtigallen schwingen (von Fallersleben)
Sechs Gesange , Op. 7
1. Treue Liebe (Ferrand) ; 2. Parole (Eichendorff) ; 3. Anklange (Eichendorff) ; 4. Volkslied (Die Schwalbe ziehet fort) ; 5. Die Trauernde (Volkslied); 6. Heimkehr (Uhland)
E. M. STÉPHAN
' Plato looks at Popular Government'
R. H. S. CROSSMAN
A Musical Sequence
Produced and conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON with THE B B C MEN'S CHORUS and THE B B C THEATRE ORCHESTRA
Leader, Montague Brearley
by Ernst von Dohnanyi
Ernst von Dohnanyi, who was born at Pressburg in 1877, is one of Hungary's foremost musicians, and has won high distinction as a composer, pianist, and conductor. He studied at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music, Budapest, and later under Eugen d'Albert; in 1908 he became professor of the piano at the Berlin Hochschule, and in 1919 director of the Budapest Conservatoire. Since 1897, when Dohnanyi made his debut in Berlin, he has become world famous as a pianist. He appeared in England for the first time in the following year, when he played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G under Richter, at Queen's Hall. 'Not only', says J.B. Trend, 'is his technical accomplishment extraordinarily complete, but the breadth of his phrasing, his command of tone-gradation, and the exquisite beauty of his tone, are such as to satisfy the most exacting lover of classical and modern music, and in both an intensely poetical nature is revealed'.
including Weather Forecast and Fore- cast for Shipping
Major R. H. THORNTON
Last week a dramatic feature was broadcast entitled ' Conquest of the Air '. It was a foreword to the new series of aviation talks that is to be introduced this evening by Major Thornton. This speaker is not a professional airman. He is a well-known Liverpool shipping director who is keenly interested in transport, and frequently uses an aeroplane for business and pleasure. His vigorously-expressed views have often appeared in aeronautical publications. The future of aerial transport, he thinks, lies chiefly in the two words that form the title of his talk, ' Cheap Speed '.
A feature of the talk will be a number of questions which he will challenge subsequent speakers to answer.
in ' The February Revue for 1936 '
