Relayed from The Free Trade Hall,
Manchester
THE HALLE ORCHESTRA '
(Leader, ALFRED BARKER ),
Conducted by PIERRE MONTEUX
LILLI KRAUSS (pianoforte)

Reflections by Dr. J. E. WALLACE

(continued)
THE LEGEND of the sorcerer's apprentice was made into a ballad by Goethe, who, as his habit was, made of the story a live and moving narrative. The com- poser has here illustrated it in music. An apprentice to a sorcerer tries, in the absence of his master, to work a few spells. He tries to make the broom draw water from the river. The broom does its work well, and with such zeal that presently it begins to flood the house. The apprentice, now uneasy, tries to remember a second spell to stop the broom from drawing any more water. He cannot recall it, and, des- perate, chops the broom in two. This is, apparently, the worst thing he could do, for both parts of the broom now become active water-carriers. Happily for the apprentice, his master turns up before the house is literally washed away and breaks the spell. As a matter of fact, with half a hint, the music tells its own tale.
Paul Dukas , born in 1865, is one of the most distinguished of living French composers. His best work, the opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, first performed in 1007, has not yet been heard in this country.