PP 1945 hah THE INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF MUSICIANS 2011 Ав A 20 A THE BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY MUSIC JOURNAL "THE REPORT" COMPRISING: 9566 *THE BULLETIN" VOLUME 1, No. 2. NOVEMBER, 1929 THE REPORT 120-801 THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF MUSICIANS. All contributions, notices, and reports of meetings must reach the Society's offices on or before the 15th of the month. The Editor will be pleased to consider original articles, but cannot guarantee their insertion. CONCERNING STATUS AN ancient Scottish dame was asked some meddlesome questions concerning her religi ous views and spiritual experiences. To these she made the excellent reply: "They're better felt than telt." Something of the same kind might be said in answer to questions regarding the status of any calling. We know what the word implies; we may even recall a piece of schoolboy lore about sto, steti statum, stare, with the mean- ing "to stand," and the long list of variant meanings, beginning with "stand as opposed to sitting," and including Livy's quaintly modern use of the term in the sense of cost, as when a youth of to-day says that his new hat stood him in for a guinea. The diverse uses of the words derived from the Latin sto might furnish themes for many essays, but our present purpose will be served if we consider the implications of the derivative status, or, as we might say, standing." When we talk of the standing of an individual we refer to his grade as compared in some respect or respects with others. Thus we may speak of the standing of a doctor in his profession or, in another way, of his standing in suburban society. The latter may be different from the former, since he may be a mediocre prac- titioner but an excellent companion, or vice versa. But as a doctor he will have a more or less. defined status. For example, he will be able to claim, from the start, more show of respect and greater consideration than would be given to an itinerant seller of patent medicines or to a village herbalist. This greater respect and consideration would be given, at any rate in the beginning, even though he might be individually and intrinsically less worthy than the other two. Why is this? Simply because he is called a doctor. It may be that he has not attained a doctorate in the 25 academic sense either in surgery or in medicine, but it is well understood that he is a member of a professional body which has a high standard of admission and expects all its members to. observe certain rules of conduct. Anybody may peddle patent medicines if he can afford the trifling cost of a pedlar's licence. Anybody may dispense decoctions of sarsaparilla or wormwood without let or hindrance, but nobody may pose as a recognised and qualified medical practitioner without being duly admitted to the guild or fraternity known as the medical profession. The charlatan who attempts it will run the risk of penal servitude, for the community has decided that the bodies of citizens must not be exposed to the attentions of ignorant leeches. It is true that the citizen may employ an unqualified man if he chooses, but he knows what he is doing and takes the risk. The existence of a duly recognised medical profession leaves no room for any widespread fraudulent pretence. Unfortunately the community has less regard for things of the mind and spirit than for those connected with medical treatment. Anybody may essay to teach or profess music, and few of our citizens will have any means of ascertaining whether the attempt is justified by knowledge, skill and experience, or whether it is a piece of impudence supported only by a brass plate and a brazen cheek. Nor will the citizen who is of an inquiring turn of mind find it easy to distinguish the real musician from the pretentious charlatan. Each may have three or four capital letters after his name and none but the instructed may say what the letters signify or whether they represent true musicianly attainment attested by a respon- sible body. They may indicate only the payment of a fee by no means trivial for a diploma which

November, 1929 A MUSIC JOURNAL THE BULLETIN THE OFFICIAL ORGAN THE BRITISH of MUSIC SOCIETY (Founded in 1918 by Dr. A. Eaglefield Hull). Incorporated 1919. Patron: THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF BALFOUR, P.C., F.R.S., O.M. President: THE LORD HOWARD DE WALDEN. SIR HUGH ALLEN, K.C.V.O., M.A., D.Mus. PROFESSOR GRANVILLE BANTOCK, M.A. SIR THOMAS BEECHAM, Bart. Vice-Presidents: MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. S. BRANCKER, K.C.B., A.F.C. ALBERT COATES, Esq. W. W. COBBETT, Esq., F.R.C.M. SIR FREDERICK COWEN, Mus.Doc. SIR H. WALFORD DAVIES, Mus. Doc., LL.D. MRS. VERNON DEAN, M.A. FREDERICK DELIUS, Esq., CH. MRS. JAMES DYER. SIR EDWARD ELGAR, O.M. REV. E. H. FELLOWES, Muş. Doc. SIR DAN GODFREY, Hon.R.A.M., L.R.A.M. SIR HENRY HADOW, C.B.E., M.A., Hon.D.Mus., SIR HAMILTON HARTY. SIR WILLIAM MCCORMICK, M.A., LL.D. J. B. McEwEN, Esq., D.Mus., F.R.A.M. MRS. W. LEE MATHEWS. SIR S. ERNEST PALMER, Bart, F.R.C.M. SIR LANDON RONALD. GRAHAM PEEL, Esq. DAME ETHEL SMYTH, D.B.E., Mus.Doc. SIR ARTHUR SOMERVELL, Mus.Doc. THE RT. REV. THE BISHOP OF OXFORD, F.R.S.L. D.D., G.B.E., Hon. D. Mus. PROFESSOR DONALD TOVEY, B.A., F.R.S.E. LADY MAUDE WARRENDER. SIR HENRY WOOD. Full Membership: One Guinea per annum. Committee of Management: Chairman: SIR. HUGH ALLEN, K.C.V.O., M.A., D.Mus. Vice-Chairman: W. W. A. ELKIN, Esq. CECIL H. BATESON, Esq. ADRIAN C. BOULT, Esq., M.A. GERALD M. COOPER, Esq. EDWARD J. DENT, Esq., M.A. MISS KATHARINE EGGAR. MAJOR J. T. BAVIN. DR. S. H. NICHOLSON, W. RUSHWORTH, Esq. COL. J. C. SOMERVILLE, C.M.G., C.B.E Lt-Col. R. H. TATTON. FRANCIS TOYE, Esq. Hon. Treasurer: COL. J. C. SOMERVILLE, C.M.G., C.B.E. Secretary: W. H. KERRIDGE, Esq., M.A., Mus. Bac., A.R.C.M. Hon. Representative of London Centres: MRS. R. LUCAS. Hon. Representative of Northern Centres: W. R. FELL, Esq. Offices: 117-23 GREAT PORTLAND STREET, LONDON, W.1. Telephone: Langham 3021. OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY The British Music Society exists to promote the organisation and development of music in the British Isles and the British Empire, to build up a body of musical opinion capable of making itself felt whenever and wherever the interests of music and music-lovers are at stake, and to spread the knowledge of British music of all periods at home and abroad. It encourages its members, wherever they may be situated, to work towards this end by cultivating every kind of musical activity, and not least by making music among themselves, believing that thus the love and knowledge of music are chiefly stimulated and strengthened. The Society is not intended to supplant or compete with any existing organisation; it desires rather to co-ordinate scattered musical activities for the prevention of waste, and overlapping. It enrols not only practising musicians, professional and amateur, but all who are conscious of the importance of music as an element in national culture. 37

A MUSIC JOURNAL IN HEARING AND DOING the last number of the Bulletin a general survey of the Society's activities was made, including a reference to the Society's objects as set forth in the Prospectus. It was suggested that the time had now come for a larger con- ception of the Society's function and scope. Let us consider one of the recommendations whereby the B.M.S. would stimulate and strengthen musical interest in this country. The Society encourages its members to cultivate every musical activity, "not least by making music among themselves." Such an appeal should evoke ready response from the British, of all people, for they have the reputation of being a nation of men and women in action. Therefore it betrays a shrewd estimate of our national propensities when British musicians encourage their fellow- countrymen to do something in music. Some time ago Mr. H. C. Colles, the Times music critic, touched on this feature in our national life. He argued that we were not by nature a nation of listeners, as are the Germans, and that the best way to stimulate an Englishman's interest in music was to make him musically active. Our pre-eminence in choral music is proof of his con- tention. We may not break into spontaneous song as do the Germans when, with lute and guitar strung over their shoulders, they go forth as "Wandervögel" into the forest. But with a little coaxing our native shyness may be overcome on a propitious occasion; then we readily join in song with others. Our chief disadvantage lies in the fact that, unlike Germans, Russians, Czechs and other innately musical folk, we do not know the words of many of our national songs by heart. If we knew them we should probably sing in company more often than we do. Pupils of the late Sir Walter Parratt, who for many years was organist of St. George's, Windsor, will recall the valuable advice he gave to young organists in regard to their recitals. "Always arrange," he would say, "for the con- gregation to stand and sing a hymn half-way through your programme. After they have let off steam, people will settle down to the second part of your programme with a sense of relief." Sir Walter's pupils can speak from practical experience of the excellence of his advice. A Bach fugue or one of Rheinberger's most lugu- brious sonatas may safely be placed at the head of the second half of the programme in an organ recital, especially if, in addition to singing, the congregation is provided with a further outlet for involuntary as well as voluntary action, by the sudden presentation of a collection-plate, preferably from behind. Everything should be done to encourage active participation in music, even if the participation involves nothing more complex than Community Singing. Insistence on 38 November, 1929 this is especially desirable nowadays because of the insidious danger lurking in most things that should be for our good. The superb achievements in gramophone recording and in particular the bewildering richness of the feast the B.B.C. nightly offers us do constitute a real danger. The danger may be two-fold. Music thus invisibly produced may discourage those with artistic sus- ceptibilities from attempting themselves to do what they suspect may be beyond their powers, passive acquiescence in all that they hear. but it is more likely to lull the indolent into a For Mr. J. W. Turner the danger is great indeed. In a recent article in the Radio Times he deplorable declares that "the broadcasting of music is too easy listening means loss of sensitiveness." According to Mr. Turner, "in this lack of effort, of choice, of direction, in this mere passive submission to music, much if not all the virtue goes out of hearing music." He may be over-stating his case: all the more reason why we should persist in encouraging the listener to supplement his listening with some form of practice, lest Mr. Turner be proved to be in the right, and Broadcasting suffer a set-back it does not deserve. Music is unique among the arts in the facilities for corporate activity that it affords. The painter, the sculptor and the author as such lead essen- tially solitary lives so indeed does the composer. But since music demands performance for its expression unlimited opportunities are opened up for the executive musicians in combination. A group of artists may paint from the same model, but they are all painting different pictures. A dramatic company embodies a corporate life of common interest, but it would be intolerable if all the actors spoke at once. Music alone among the arts makes possible a corporate life with simul- taneous, though not identical, musical activity. And of all forms of simultaneous musical activity none provides such an infinite variety of interest and enjoyment as orchestral playing. In this respect music can triumph over every kind of sport. To the number of players engaged in any one cricket or football match there is a traditional limit which none but the most daring would venture to assail. Community cricket is beyond the dreams, and probably the desires, of most true sportsmen; whereas for clasticity in regard to numbers an orchestra is unsurpassed except by a choir, and in both it is chiefly the question of balance that imposes the limit. Local Centres can do nothing better to enliven musical interest than by forming, where possible, an orchestra, which will bring people together in joyous spirit, combining the exhilaration of both work and play. It may begin in a modest way

November, 1929 HUGO YAGIJOH AYAN with a few violins playing in unison to the accompaniment of a piano. This will provide a nucleus. Such a group will attract other instru- ments, once it has become known; and when it has developed into an orchestra, however small, it can perform a service of inestimable value to the Centre. One of the chief difficulties in connection with an orchestra is the provision of music, the hire of which tends to make subscription to an orchestral society high and even prohibitive. Choristers are generally willing to buy their own music, whereas orchestral players are not so ready to procure their own parts of overtures and symphonies. When they can be persuaded to make the outlay, on the plea that each can practise the music at home, expenses in running an orchestra can be considerably reduced. * * In the matter of orchestral activity the Liver- pool Centre stands well to the fore. It has its own String Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Gordon E. Stutely, who has had unrivalled experience in orchestral work. Not only does the orchestra give regular performances of music for strings; it can also provide accompaniments for Bach and Handel Concertos, for instance, and for many solo works having an accompaniment for string orchestra. Muswell Hill, which has not the many advantages possessed by Liverpool, is also to be congratulated on a valiant project that THE THIRD A MUSIC JOURNAL is soon to be realised. That Centre now proposes to establish an orchestra under the distinguished conductorship of Mr. Charles Hambourg, the eminent 'cellist, who has generously offered his services in this good cause. Though the idea. was only suggested in the late summer, about forty members have already enrolled, largely through the untiring efforts of the secretary, Miss B. Mulvaney. This orchestra has the promise of a number of wind players; in con- sequence rehearsals will not be devoted entirely to music for strings. Further particulars of this enterprising Centre will be found on page 47. To band together forty orchestral players during the course of the summer holidays is an achievement of which any Centre may well be proud. * The outstanding feature in our national musical life during the last twenty years is the remark- able increase in the interest taken in orchestral music, even by the general musical public. Thirty or forty years ago people would assemble in the Albert Hall on a Sunday afternoon for an organ recital; now they go to the Albert Hall or the Palladium for an orchestral concert. In the pro- vinces also the same tendency is to be seen. This widening of interest is worthy of every encouragement; the maintenance of its own. orchestra by any Centre is one sure sign of health and prosperity. CONGRESS CRITICS' BUCHAREST IN 1927 Monsieur Paul Ginisty, Chairman of the Association de la Critique dramatique et musicale, the Parisian equivalent of our "Critics' Circle," conceived the idea of summoning to Paris delegates from the various similar institu- tions in the Old and New World, in order to bring about a closer acquaintance between critics of different nationality and to study together professional questions in their inter- national aspect. Both the French Government and the City of Paris took a lively interest in the scheme, and the first Congress was accordingly held in the midst of official festivities, receptions and gala performances, which contributed largely to its brilliant success. On the invitation of the Austrian Government the second Congress took place in Salzburg, in August, 1928 with equal lustre. On both occasions Britain was represented by Mr. Ashley Dukes, Mr. Philipp Carr and my- self. At these Congresses the idea of an Inter- national Federation of Critics was mooted and discussed; it was the task of the Third Congress to carry out the wish expressed by its pre- decessors. This time the Rumanian Government 39 AT W.H.K. had offered its hospitality and discharged it with a generosity and a splendour surprising even to those who had witnessed the Paris and Salzburg events. We were received by Queen Marie and the Boy-King at their Chateau of Pelishar, and our four meetings were held in a setting of con- tinuous official meals, receptions, and perform- ances. Deputations met us at the frontier; the principal papers teemed with articles, photo- graphs, caricatures, interviews; the cost of our sojourn was defrayed by the Government, and attentions of every kind were showered upon us. It was in this atmosphere of good-will that the International Federation was definitely founded and a provisional Committee formed to elaborate its statute. The writer, who, this time with Mr. Percy Scholes, represented the London Critics' Circle, was elected one of the six members of this preparatory Committee. Three countries vied with each other to set the stage for the next Congress, and after much discussion we decided in favour of Prague, in 1930, with a recommendation that Vienna be elected for 1931 and Lisbon for 1932. L. DUNTON GREEN.

-LEVINSKAYA HOLIDAY COURSES IN LONDON- For Musicians, Teachers and Pianists. MONDAY, DECEMBER 31st, to SATURDAY, JANUARY 4th, 1930 Opening Reception by invitation, Sunday, December 30th, at 8-15. 12 Lectures, 6 Demonstration Lessons (with children and adults), 3 Master Classes, Open Debate after each Lecture. This new feature has been introduced to give an opportunity to all members to express and air their views and doubts, and have them publicly discussed, criticised or supported. Pianoforte authorities are welcomed to join in the debates. Latest Striking Tributes, 1929. A MUS.DOC. and COMPOSER writes: "When I first heard your little pupils at the Wigmore Hall I seemed to be listening to Wonder Children,' for their achievements were like miracles compared with the usual results of ordinary teachers as a friend enthusiastically exclaimed If you shut your eyes you could imagine it was Cortot playing," Subsequently, on joining your August Teaching Course it soon became apparent how these wonderful results were achieved for every problem of Planoforte teaching (and how many and complex they are!) had been solved and the difficulties overcome by your system which aims at a perfect control of mind and body and is indeed the quintessence of all previous methods."(Signed) Cecil Hazelhurst, Mus. Doc., F.R.C.O. 7/10/1929. A PIANIST and TEACHER writes: "After attending the whole course, I am convinced your method will become the universal method of the future. It appears to me perfect for the following reasons:- 1. All the tone-effects of the great artists have been analysed, and can be reproduced by your method. 2. The test of a real teacher lies in the progress made by his dud' pupils. The proof of the correctness of your principles and your wonderful teaching powers lies in the amazing results you obtain with the talented and the untalented alike. On the to mislead the would-be player or teacher, contrary, anyone who studied conscientiously with you would be able to grasp your method in its entirety, and hence impart it to others"-(Signed) Elsie B. Williamson, L.R.A.M. 13/8/1929. A MUS.BAC. writes: "After studying with you for a few months and putting to the test your wonderful New Science of Pianoforte Technique and Tone-Colour by means of Mental and Muscular Control which you so ably and so clearly expounded to us at the recent Holiday Course for Music Teachers, I feel constrained to write and say that I have nothing but admiration and enthusiasm for a system which produces the very highest standard of perfection, I know of no other method or system which commands such a multitude of tone-colours that can be utilised by the artist at almost a moment's notice with the certainty that he cannot possibly err. Your instructions are so pointed and apt that there is no room for misunderstanding. The long-established difficulties and inconsistencies of the past are swiftly swept away and they are replaced by a directness of appeal, a breadth of outlook, and a maximum of efficiency which is so convincing that one feels it is only a question of time and your system will become the only correct way of doing things pianistically."(Signed) N. Victor Edwards, B.Mus. (Oxon.), F.R.C.O. 9/10/29. 3. There is no confusing mass of contradictory detail For full particulars, prospectuses, syllabus, terms, etc., write the Secretary, LEVINSKAYA COLLEGE, 2 Leinster Residential Accommodation Available. Gardens, HYDE PARK, W.2 Telephone; Paddington 0370. THE LONDON SCHOOL OF DALCROZE EURHYTHMICS 23 Store Street, W.C.1. Visiting Principal: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (Geneva). Director: Percy B. Ingham, B.A. Director of Musical Studies: Ernest Read, F.R.A.M. Mistress of Method: Ethel Driver, L.R.A.M., Dalcroze Diploma. A VACATION COURSE FOR ADULTS will be held at the London School of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, DECEMBER 30TH TO JANUARY 4TH inclusive, under the direction of Miss Annie Beck, Dalcroze Diploma and Miss Maria Bird, Dalcroze Diploma. Prospectus from. THE DALCROZE SCHOOL 23 STORE STREET, LONDON, W.C.1. Tel.: Museum 2294, 10 to 1 and 3 to 5. LAIN KIMEY GUILLAIN is resuming her VIOLIN LESSONS- YSAVE METHOD Professionals, Amateurs, and Children ENSEMBLE LESSONS TO PIANISTS Professionals and Amateurs Violin and Piano Sonatas Accompaniments of Solos and Concertos Telephone: Primrose Hill 2714 16 Fairfax Road, N.W.6. (and West End Studio) 40

November, 1929 A MUSIC JOURNAL THOUGHTS OF A LAYMAN By W. MCNAUGHT USED to enjoy listening to music, especially in the days when I had to write about it. The enjoyment was two-fold: assimilation and communication. The first of these processes was a pleasure (I am not speaking of recitals) that I shared with the audience; in the exercise of the second, however, I had a great advantage. The desire to communicate views is strong and wide- spread. After a piece of music, especially a new piece, has been performed, there immediately arises from the audience a clatter of arbitrament and valuation; verdicts ring down the corridors, estimates are exchanged over coffee cups, and mankind, having passed through an intense experience, manifests an epidemic desire to get some of it off his chest. Meanwhile the newspaper critic, knowing that while everybody is talking nobody is listening, goes quietly away, complac- ently aware that his own ideas, which he has the best part of an hour to arrange, will be multiplied heaven knows how many thousands of times, and, endowed with all the oracular force of print, will be read by hundreds of people who are powerless to interrupt. While he conducts this massed attack upon his fellow-citizens, the critic himself sits snug and protected in his cave of anonymity. Truly he leads a privileged exist- ence. Of course certain faculties must be in the possession of one who could enter into it, but they are of little value in the affairs of the world generally, and it is a heaven-sent system, that thus provides him with a means of employ- ing them. The world, thinks the music-critic, has been kindly arranged. But now it is a threatened world. Horrid spectres are about it, and he must face them if he has a conscience, as of course he has. He is not dealing, this time, with one of those negligible attacks from below to which the critical world has been accustomed ever since it began. For some years there have been heard murmurs of dissatisfaction from within the gates; and now a leading critic has publicly challenged his own and everybody else's credentials, instilling doubts in the mind of every scrupulous critic whether he has any right to go on calling himself one. For nowadays, it appears, anyone who would practise the trade of music-critic must be not only a musician and a writer; he must be a philosopher, a psychopath and a musical biologist, and he must humbly believe that the men who shall combine these faculties in the proper degree are not yet born, the present and probably the next genera- tion of critics being engaged in merely preparing the ground for these mighty cultivators of the future. These are solemn thoughts, very disturb- ing to an honest mind, 4I Having mentioned honest minds I must show that I possess one by being duly disturbed and by peering a little more closely and anxiously than usual into the business of weighing up music. My own trouble began with the reading of Frank Howes's The Borderland of Music and Psychology, a tangling and upsetting book from which I emerged feeling as enlightened about conations and things as M. Jourdain was on the subject of prose. However, a course of Benn's sixpennies and a someone else's eighteen-penny- worths set me on the philosophic path a slightly wiser and much sadder man, and I can now listen to music and do other things in the proper atmosphere of detachment. While the simplest acts that we perform in our daily lives, such as thinking and eating and feel- ing ill, have been promoted into mysteries, how shall we envisage so complicated an act as judging a piece of music? Merely to listen and to register one's reaction is not enough. Nobody knows what hidden errors may lie in so obvious a process. For instance, what is a piece of music? A series of thoughts which a composer has written down, as best he can, by means of notation and expression marks? The written copy is clearly no more than a set of directions for the use of instruments, and if nobody ever obeys them or looks at them, no judgment can be formed-for we are considering a piece of music as material for judgment. The thoughts must be translated into sound (we will put score-reading aside for the moment) and the sounds must be heard by somebody. By whom? If you get an Ashanti to listen to Flos Campi or the slow movement of the Jupiter you will not cause the thoughts of Vaughan Williams or Mozart to become assess- able in his mind. Substitute the average promenader for the Ashanti. You will get nearer to reality, but if in the balcony there sits a more perceptive listener, then we may ignore the average promenader and his impression of the music, for if this can be bettered it is imperfect and therefore does not correspond with the music. And the perceptive listener's impression counts for nothing if there is a more acute and pene- trating mind at work in the grand circle-a music critic's, for instance. Here, you may think, is finality. But is it? Take the finest critical mind that exists; it need not be that of a journalist; may belong to a conductor, or a composer, or an amateur. Will you assert that no finer mind for our purpose could exist? Who will hold so groundless and arbitrary a belief? Clearly we must bring to our aid some super-mind capable of grasping all the breadth and depth of a piece of music and all the actualities and implications

A MUSIC JOURNAL of its style and technique and thought and emotion, and of bringing every detail and element and relationship together into one complete syn- thesis of aesthetic comprehension. Until such a synthesis has formed itself in somebody's mind during the cognizance of a piece of music, that piece of music has never been perfectly heard; that is to say it has never existed. We must ask, moreover, of our ideal listener that he shall not harbour any sympathies in connection with the composer and his music, for such bias must inevitably bring some deflection into the act of listening. He must be as impartial as a law of nature. Further, he must make no response within himself to emotional elements in the music; emotion is not self-critical, and a man subject to it is not properly scrutinising every- thing that the music brings to him. The performance too, has to be considered. It must be of absolute perfection, and what this means would take pages to set out, covering as it does the whole physical and mental field of the act of performance. Players, singers and con- ductors must not only execute the music with the most consummate technique and with the finest art; they must feel the music with the composer's feelings, re-create it from some springs akin to those which gave rise to its creation. We are seeking perhaps an impracticably remote ideal, but everything short of the ideal must, with its acknowledged imperfection, be classed as unreal. It has been claimed that perfect performance can be obtained only in the mind of a score- reader. What is meant, I suspect, is that the pro- cess eliminates the cruder faults of every-day music-making, setting the strings in tune, smoothing the brass, clarifying the choral voices, amending the rhythms, and so on. There still remains the duty, now shifted to the score-reader, of being intimately sympathetic to the composer, and in asking for this we seem to retire further than ever from the borders of human faculty. Take as an instance any orchestral work by Delius that was performed during the festival. Sir Thomas Beecham and the composer had to November, 1929 join in long consultation before the conductor, who had already studied the score, could form a proper conception of the musical thought that lay unrevealed in manuscript or print. Can a score-reader supply, from the resources of his mind, everything that Delius and Sir Thomas Beecham evolved out of those discussions and at the same time fabricate in his imagination all the masses and contrasts and counterpoints of many-coloured sound that live in an orchestral score by Delius? Could a score-reader, perusing the St. Matthew Passion, conceive voices and instruments and a cathedral to encompass them and him? Our model score-reader must indeed be possessed of imaginative sympathy to a high degree; whereas in his capacity of listener we have enjoined him to avoid any such thing. Is it pernicketty and precious to insist on these absolute standards of performance and listening? Surely not. We all know how widely our impres- sions of a piece of music differ from one performance to another. Some modification goes on within us, unknown to ourselves, and music which was formerly alive for us now sounds half dead. Or owing to some stimulus to our alertness we notice a crowd of points in a work that we had not noticed in a dozen carlier performances. Can it be said that, as far as our impression goes, the music existed when it was half dead, or that it existed when those points were unnoticed? No; there must be no falling short of perfection in performance and listening, not by one iota or hair's breadth, if we are to be satisfied that a piece of music has, for the time being, really existed. Probably the man on whom so much depends, the all-wise listener, has never yet lived, nor ever will. As to performance-who can say that we are more than beginners in the art? Taking it all round, it seems a tenable proposition. that no piece of music has ever yet existed. Except perhaps jazz. And now, since I have a crude liking for a certain symphony which some rough-and-ready fellows are about to play in Manchester I shall switch off the nonsense and switch on 5GB. NEW COLUMBIA There is no more reverent player of Schumann than Fanny Davies, whose beautiful playing of the Scenes of Childhood is recorded on two discs. They will be treasured by lovers of Schumann and especially by those who have often heard the great pianist in the past. Established favourites are well represented in the list, among them the Oberon overture, superbly conducted by Mengelberg, the Casse- Noisette Suite (Oscar Fried) and Dvořák's 42 RECORDS Slavonic Dances (Sir Henry Wood). These three records show the Columbia Company at its very best. Respighi's The Fountains of Rome, on two discs, are particularly effective. The brilliance of mid-day in The Fountain of Trevi, and the hushed beauty of sunset in The Villa Medici Fountain are strikingly portrayed in the com- poser's wonderful orchestral colouring. The Milan Symphony Orchestra under Molajoli is heard to great advantage.

November, 1929 A HOLIDAY WITH MUSIC ONE of the annual fixtures sponsored by the British Music Society took place again at Oxford in August, when the 8th Summer School in Music Teaching, which is organised by the Federation of British Music Industries and directed by Major J. T. Bavin, was attended by students from all parts of the country, as well as from overseas. At the opening dinner, the chairman, Mr. Adrian Boult, said that in his opinion the English nation takes its music far too seriously, but this accusation cannot be levelled against the two hundred students who attended two, and some- times three, lectures daily for a fortnight. They worked, it must be admitted, and worked hard, but there was a light-heartedness abroad that cast a holiday spirit over the whole affair. This year the men stayed at Worcester College, while Lady Margaret Hall was the home of the women students. All the work was done at the University Music Room, the oldest hall of its kind in Europe, where Haydn and Handel used to conduct, so that the whole course was carried through in an atmosphere of rich antiquity. As for the lectures, after all, the most import- ant part of the proceedings, they occupied every morning and evening and were on such varied subjects as voice-training, aural education, con- ductors' classes, direction of choirs, choral societies, festival work, school singing classes and everything pertaining to school musical educa- tion, and were given by such experienced lecturers as Basil Allchin, Mabel Chamberlain, Dr. George Dyson, F. C. Field-Hyde, Hubert Middleton, B. Walton O'Donnell, Geoffrey Shaw, A MUSIC JOURNAL Richard Walthew, Cyril Winn, and last but not least, Major Bavin himself-all of them people capable, musically, of practising what they preach. Most of the lecturers enlivened their classes with practical illustrations, and into these the students entered with the utmost good will. An outstanding feature of this course was the way in which the lecturers did not confine them- selves to the lecture-room, but became friends out of working hours, always ready with valuable advice. The recreative side of the course, played almost as large a part as did the educational side in making the school a success. Every afternoon was left free, and full advantage was taken of this by the students. There were visits to all the main" sights" of the city, such as the Shel- donian, Bodleian Library, Clarendon Press, and most of the colleges-including the new Rhodes House while motor trips were arranged to such places of interest in the vicinity as Blenheim Palace, Kenilworth and Warwick Castles, Strat- ford-on-Avon, etc. For those who preferred more concentrated and energetic exercise than sight-seeing there was tennis on the courts at Lady Margaret Hall, golf at Summerfields, and unlimited boating. while there was a very successful match between a Summer School cleven and the staff of Worcester College-successful, that is to say, from the social, if not from the cricketing point of view. No, Mr. Boult is wrong, or at least so far as the students of the Oxford Summer School are concerned. They certainly did not take their music too seriously. E. T. RUSTAD. THE COURTAULD-SARGENT CONCERT CLUB MANY applications have reached Headquarters large addition to the membership of the B.M.S., from members of the B.M.S. who hoped to obtain, through the Society, tickets offered at special rates to members of musical societies. and clubs. Such applications cannot be granted; and we have Mrs. Courtauld's permission to give the reason. The admirable scheme adopted by the Concert Club is a very simple and specific one-to encourage people "whose salaries can be reckoned in shillings a week," to quote Mrs. Courtauld, to come to these special concerts. In the general announcement appearing in the papers there was some ambiguity of statement. People who read that the tickets at reduced rates were procurable only through professional or business organisations, musical societies, clubs, etc. con- cluded that societies like the B.M.S. would be included. Mr. W. J. Turner, in a recent article in The New Statesman, almost prophesied a 43 for he suggested that individuals who cannot afford the higher prices will "join some body like the British Music Society," in order to obtain the special tickets! In elaborating her scheme Mrs. Courtauld had in mind business houses such as Messrs. Self- ridge, John Lewis, Peter Jones and others; also the Civil Service, Banks, and similar institutions, where members of the staff have already organised themselves into musical societies for the encouragement and practice of music. The statement in the press therefore should be corrected to read: only through the musical societies, clubs, etc., of professional or business organisations. Hence members of the B.M.S. are in no way eligible. We regret we were not in a position to make an earlier announcement and so avoid disappointment.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC The British Music Society's work for contemporary music is accomplished mainly through its LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CENTRE (C.M.C.) Chairman: EDWIN EVANS, Esq. Secretary: W. H. KERRIDGE, Esq. MEMBERSHIP.-One guinea per annum. The Centre is conducted on the same lines as any other Centre, except that it is distinguished by a particular function instead of a particular locality. It has its own Committee, but its secretarial work is carried out by the B.M.S. staff. Any member of the Society is admitted to its Concerts. CONCERTS.-About six concerts of contemporary music, British and Foreign, are given annually, to which members of the Centre have free admission and, for the time being, the privilege of bringing one guest. Public concerts are also arranged from time to time. PROGRAMMES-At present only chamber music is performed at the Centre's concerts, and only works composed within the last fifteen years. The Selection Committee of the Centre, which comprises many well known composers and critics, is anxious to discover unknown works, which the Secretary will be glad to receive for consideration, from members and non-members alike. If passed for performance by the Selection Committee, such work will be included in the Centre's programmes. Sections of the C.M.C. are also established in Manchester and Liverpool. The Contemporary Music Centre became, in 1922, the British Section of the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC Chairman of Delegates' Council: E. J. DENT, Esq. Festival Selection Committee for 1930: M. M. BUTTING, IBERT, MALIPIERO, PISK and SCHULHOFF. The International Society for Contemporary Music was founded in 1922 for the pro- motion of interest in contemporary music by every possible means, and particularly by the improvement of facilities for musical interchange between different countries. An ANNUAL FESTIVAL is held, for which music is chosen by a Selection Committee appointed by the Delegates of the National Sections. The 1930 Festival will be held at chamber music concerts will be given. Société de Musicologie. Liége in September, when choral, orchestral and Our dates will coincide with the Festival of the The 1931 Festival will be held in Oxford, special facilities for the event having been offered by the Oxford Musical Press. SPECIAL FUND.-In order that British artists may be sent to perform the British works at the Festivals, the C.M.C. opens yearly a Special Fund for their expenses, for which contributions from members and others are most urgently required. The Centre's ordinary concert funds cannot bear these expenses, and while artists are extremely generous, the cost of travel and accommodation ought to be offered to them. 44

November, 1929 Nov.Day. Time. 4 Mon. 8-o 8 Fri. 8-0 12 Tues. 8-0 13 Wed. 8-01 14 Thur. 8-0 8-0 15 Fri. 18 Mon, 8-0 20 Wed. 8-0 22 Fri. 8-0 25 Mon. 8-o A MUSIC JOURNAL SOME FORTHCOMING CONCERTS QUEEN'S HALL Name. London Symph. Orch. B.B.C. Symph. Orch. Philharmonic Choir.. B.B.C. Symph. Orch. Royal Philharmonic Society.. Halle Orchestra. London Symph. Orch. Courtauld-Sargent B.B.C. Symph. Orch. British Women's Sym- phony Orchestra B.B.C. Symph. Orch. Royal Philharmonic Performance. Orch'tral Concert. Ditto. Choral Concert. Orchestral Concert Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Symp'ny Concert. Orch'tral Concert. AEOLIAN HALL Nov.Day. Time. Name. II Mon. 8-15 International String Quartet.. 13 Wed. 8-15 Frank Mannheimer 14 Thur. 8-15 Marjorie Ffrangcon- Davies Beveridge Webster Jean Sterling Mackinlay Performance. Chamber Concert. Piano Recital. 15 Fri. 16 Sat. 8-15 Samuel Dushkin and Lieder Recital. Sonata Recital. 3-15 21 Thur. 22 Fri. 23 Sat. 22 Fri. 8-15 Tudor Singers 8-15 Poltronieri Quartet 8-15 Tudor Singers 4+ 8-15 Stratton String Quart. 23 Sat. 8-15 Stratton String Quart. 26 Tues. 3-0 Marietta and Martha Song Recital. Chamber Concert. Song Recital. Chamber Concert, Song Recital. Chamber Concert. Amstad and Alice Recital of Old Ehlers 27 Wed. 8-15 Frank Mannheimer Ditto. 27 Wed. 8-0. Ditto. 28 Thur. 8-0 Society Ditto. 29 Fri. 8-0 Halle Orchestra Ditto. Dec. 3 Tues. 8-o Berlin Philharmonic Music. Piano Recital. Orchestra Ditto. 4 Wed. 8-o Audrey Chapman 29 Fri. 8-15 London Concert Orch. Orch'tral Concert. Orchestra Ditto. 6 Fri. 8-0 30 Sat. Dec. 6 Fri. 3-15 Jean Sterling Song Recital. Nov.Day. Time. 7 Sat. 3-0 Lionel Tertis B.B.C. Symph. Orch. Ditto. WIGMORE HALL Name. 4 Mon, 8-30 Alan Bush 5 Tues. 5-30 Suggia 5 Tues. 8-30 Charles Proctor 6 Wed. 8-30 "Wednesday Evening Concerts " 7 Thur. 5-30 Malcolm Davidson 7 Thur. 8-30 Tessa Richardson 8 Fri. 8-30 Seymour Whinyates and Kathleen Long 3-0 Egon Petri 9 Sat. 12 Tues. 8-30 Myra Hess 13 Wed. 5-30 Gertrude Peppercorn 15 Fri. 5-30 Malcolm Davidson 16 Sat. 3-0 Francis Tovey 19 Tues. 5-30 Suggia 19 Tues. 8-30 Jelly d'Aranyi 20 Wed. 8-30 "Wednesday Evening Concerts " 21 Thur. 8-30 Vladimir Cernikoff 3-0 Adila Fachiri 23 Sat. 23 Sat. 8-15 St. George's Singers 27 Wed. 5-30 René le Roy 27 Wed. 8-30 Augustus Milner 28 Thur. 5-30 Claire Croiza 30 Sat, 3-0 Francis Tovey Dec. 2 Mon. 8-30 Elena Gerhardt 3 Tues. 5-30 Suggia .. 4 Wed. 8-30 "Wednesday Evening " 3 Tues. 8-30 York Bowen Concerts 7 Sat. 3-0 Orloff Nov.Day. Time, Performance. Pianoforte Recital 'Cello Recital. Pianoforte Recital Chamber Concert. Song Recital. Song Recital. Pianoforte Recital Piano Recital' Pianoforte Recital Piano Recital. Song Recital Piano Recital. 'Cello Recital. Violin Recital. Chamber Concert. Piano Recital. Violin Recital. Recital of Motets, Madrigals and Folk Songs Flute Recital. Song Recital, Song Recital. Piano Recital. Song Recital. 'Cello Recital. Chamber Concert. Piano Recital. CENTRAL HALL, WESTMINSTER Name. 16 Sat. 11-0 Children's Concert Performance. Orchestral Concert Dec. 7 Sat, 11-0 Children's Concert . Ditto. 45 Mackinlay 8-15 Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin Pianoforte and Violin Recital. Viola Recital GROTRIAN HALL Nov.Day. Time. 11 Mon. 8-30 13 Wed. 8-0 16 Sat. 3-15 20 Wed. 8-30 Name. Orrea Pernel Clarisse Speed Backhaus Beatrice Harrison and Clifford Huntsman 23 Sat, 3-15 Orloff.. Dec. 7 Sat. 3-15 Wanda Landowska Performance. Violin Recital Pianoforte Recital Piano Recital. 'Cello and Piano- forte Recital. Piano Recital. Piano Recital. SECRETARY'S ACTIVITIES. LAST month the Secretary visited several of the Centres to give a lecture and to discuss B.M.S. affairs. At York the lecture on Characteristics of British Music was illustrated vocally by Miss Nancy Dyson, L.R.A.M., and with piano solos by the Rev. Cyril Jackson, Minor Canon of York Minster. At the lecture on the same subject in Belfast, Madame Curran was the singer; at Torquay, there were songs by Miss Iredale and Mr. Hardy, and Violin solos by Miss Murdoch. At Plymouth, the lecturer was on Character and Temperament as revealed in Music, and was illustrated with gramophone records. A discussion on local B.M.S. problems followed. It is hoped that visits to other Centres will be made during the coming year. "MILO." THE first number of Milo, the official organ of the Imperial League of Opera, of which Mr. Peter Warlock is Editor, arrived too late for comment; this will appear next month.

A MUSIC JOURNAL Sydney November, 1929 СТЯНОЙ BRANCH NEWSМОВ Reports and contributions should reach the B.M.S. office by the 12th of the month. ANOTHER successful Conversazione was given by the Sydney Centre, on May 7th, in Beale's Concert Hall, the programme, almost entirely by contemporary composers, being given by young artists. Those who took part were Miss Evelyn Blanche, Alice Dyer, Doris Northott, Florence Elin, Thetis Hoope, Rene Tomson, Margery Allomes and Joyce Bloom, and Miss Hector Coombes, Willy Krasnik, and Harold Wyndham. The accompanist was Miss Josephine Bell. The principal work performed at the next Con- versazione, held in the Lyceum Club, on June 28th, was John Ireland's fine Sonata in A minor, played by Misses Ruth Conway and Edna Scott- Craig. This work, despite its popularity else- where, has seldom been heard in Sydney, and on this occasion it made a decided impression, the beautiful slow movement being especially enjoyed. The B.M.S. String Quartet played the Purcell- Hurlstone Suite and the first movement of Stanford's Quartet, No. 5, in Bb, and Miss Virginia Bassetti and Mr. William Dallison sang agreeable songs by various English and American composers. The B.M.S. annual inter-schools competitions, held on August 9th-10th, attracted no fewer than seven hundred competitors and revealed at general advance in standard since these com- petitions were inaugurated four years ago. The Dempster Music Shield (donated by Mr. J. W. Dempster) was again won by the Croydon Presbyterian Ladies' College. The Dempster Elocution Shield was secured by the Sydney" Church of England Girls' Grammar School. The winner of the J. Hugh McMenamin Commemoration Prize (donated by Mrs. James Chalmers) was Miss E. Firth, of the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School. The Annual Conversazione of the B.M.S., held in conjunction with Royal Art Society's Exhibi- tion in the Art Gallery of the Education Build- ing, on August 19th, again attracted a large gathering of members and friends. An attractive programme of works by British composers was rendered by Miss Constance Burt (soprano), Mr. L. Godfrey Smith (pianist), Mr. Clement I. Williams (baritone), and the B.M.S. String Quartet under the leadership of Mr. Moore MacMahon. The accompanist was Miss Enid. Conly. The president of the Centre, Mr. Lindley Evans, took the opportunity to say farewell to the Society's patron, Lady de Chair, who is shortly leaving for England. 46 Blackheath The Blackheath Branch was started in 1919 by Miss Ethel Waddington in quite a small way, concerts being given in private houses and a good deal of the music being provided by members. From the beginning the branch has been interested in chamber music (string quartets always being the most popular), and has had an especially warm corner in its heart for modern composers. As it has given six professional concerts a year for some time one will under- stand that many interesting works have been performed. Some of these concerts stand out more than the rest; for instance, when Arnold Bax came down and Harriet Cohen gave a recital of his works many years ago, when Armstrong Gibbs gave an evening of his own compositions, when the Oriana Choir gave a concert in the Blackheath Concert Hall, when Maurice Cole, Winifred Small and Aubrey Brain played the Brahms Horn Trio, when the Brosa Quartet played the César Franck, when Charles Draper and the George Woodhouse String Quartet played the Brahms clarinet quintet, when Ilelen Gaskill and the Rowena Franklin String Quartet played the Arnold Bax oboe quintet, and so on. There have been interesting lectures too, two by Mr. M. D. Calvocoressi, the first on Bela Bartok and Kodaly and the second this year on the "Original Boris Godunof" with excerpts performed by members, most of these being heard for the first time outside Russia: and in Jauary last Sir Hugh Allen gave a delightful lecture on "How Bach taught his Children." Besides these professional concerts the Branch gives two members' evenings a year and one folk party in a member's garden. The members' evenings are arranged and carried out by members who are thus provided with an incentive to make music amongst them- selves, On October 3rd, Ethel Bartlett and Rac Robertson gave a recital of works for two piano- fortes. The programme was well-balanced and not too long. It included sonatas by Bach and Mozart, Moy Mell and Hardanger, by Arnold Bax, and a group of short pieces by Glière, Rachmaninoff and Arensky. A Members' Evening will be held on Tuesday, November 5th, at 8-15, at the Blackheath Chambers, and on December 3rd there will be a Violin and Piano Recital by Orrea Pernel and Kathleen Cooper in All Saints' Parish Hall. Blackheath. M.L.

November, 1929 CENTRE ORCHESTRAS AND ENQUIRIES have come from several B.M.S. members who wish to know if any London Centres have an orchestra or a choir which they could join. We give some particulars that may be of interest to enquirers. MUSWELL HILL. This is the only London Centre that has an orchestra formed from among its members. Rehearsals, which are to begin in November, will be held at the Athenæum, Muswell Hill, on Thursday evenings. Mr. Charles Hambourg is the Conductor. Members of the Centre may join this orchestra without extra charge; non-members will be asked to contribute 10/6 for the season. Further information may be obtained from Miss B. Mulvaney, the hon. secretary, 37 Muswell Avenue, N.10. HENDON. Mr. R. H. Walthew, the newly- elected president of this Centre, who was for some time Conductor of the University of London Musical Society, has generously offered to conduct a Ladies' Choir, if such can be formed. Particulars may be obtained from the hon. secretary, Mrs. Kingsford, 60 The Drive, N.W.11. BLACKHEATH.-While Blackheath has no orchestra or choir attached to its Centre there is the Dorian Choir, conducted by Mr. Leeds, one of the vice-presidents of the Blackheath Centre. Information may be had from Mrs. M. Lucas, 10 St. German's Place, Blackheath, S.E.3. Though not connected in any way with the B.M.S. the following orchestras and choirs are conducted by the B.M.S. secretary, Mr. W. II. LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CENTRE AT the Committee meeting, held last month, it was decided to give the first concert of the series on Tuesday, November 5th, instead of on the following day, in order to avoid clashing with concert of the "Wednesday Series of Chamber Concerts at the Wigmore Hall, which has been arranged for November 6th. a 35 As announced last month, the concerts will be held in the Armitage Hall of the National Institute for the Blind, 224 Great Portland Street, W.1. At the concert on November 5th it is hoped that Signora Margliano-Mori will sing the Stagioni Italiche of Malipiero and a group of songs by Castelnuovo-Tedesco. It is possible that the latter composer himself will be at the concert and accompany Signora Maragliano-Mori. Frank Mannheimer will be the pianist on this occasion and will play the following works:-Toccata et Variations, Honegger; Sonatine (sur des modes hindous), Maurice Emmanuel; Three Impromp- tus, Tansman; Deux Légendes, Lyell Barbour; and Bourrée, Albert Roussel. 47 A MUSIC JOURNAL CHOIRS Kerridge, who will welcome any members of the Society who may wish to join. are UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MUSICAL SOCIETY.- President: Sir Hugh Allen; Vice-President: Professor Percy C. Buck. Rehearsals held at the University of London Club, 21 Gower Street, W.C.1, on Thursdays- Choir, 5-15 to 6-30 p.m.; Orchestra, 6-30 to 7-45 p.m. Subscription for the academic year is 7/6 for undergraduates and 15/- for others. The subscription entitles one to membership of both sections, and to attendance at the informal evenings devoted to Chamber Music which are held at the Club on alternate Thursdays, at 8-15 p.m. There are vacancies for all instruments except flutes and clarinets. CHELSEA POLYTECHNIC, Manresa Road, S.W.3. -Orchestra: Monday, 8-15 to 10-0 p.m. Choir: Tuesday, 8-30 to 9-30 p.m. The fee for orchestra is 10/6, for choir 6/6, for the session ending in July, 1930. In the orchestra there are vacancies for all instruments except 'cellos and clarinets. NORTH-WESTERN POLYTECHNIC, Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, N.W.5.-Orchestral and Choral Society, fee 10/6 for the session ending July, 1930. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings-Choir, 7-15 to 8-30 p.m.; Orchestra, 8-30 to 9-45 p.m. Further information concerning any of these activities may be obtained from the secretary at Headquarters. NEW MUSIC THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS has six or seven Bach Cantatas edited and arranged by Dr. W. G. Whittaker, and several by C. Kennedy Scott. Dr. Whittaker has also arranged some twenty Schubert songs, ostensibly for school and class singing. The average price of a song being threepence, they should do much to popularise Schubert still more, especially as they are also provided with Tonic Sol-fa notation. There are also Four Songs of the Northern Road from Dr. Whittaker's own pen, of which No. 1, The Empty Purse, is probably the most taking. Dr. Sanford Terry's little book on Bach's Magnificat, Lutheran Masses and Motets com- pletes the studies of Bach's choral works which he has contributed to the Musical Pilgrim series. Illuminating comments, number by number, illustrated by plentiful musical examples make the reading as stimulating as it is attractive. Sir Arthur Somervell has written some helpful and at the same time most attractive Four-part Sight Tests. They are in three 1/3 books, each containing about twenty-four short pieces for mixed choirs.

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