M. A. Butterworth rounded off an instructive and enjoyable evening with a talk on Saint-Sans' Pianoforte Concerto No. 2 in G minor. Saint-Sans was born in Paris on 9th October, 1835, and he died at a very ripe age in 1921. His early works, which were mainly vocal or operatic, were not very successful. He wrote five pianoforte concertos, but only two of them (numbers 2 and 4) are played today. Of the two, number 4 has more technical detail, but number 2 is undoubtedly more popular. It was first performed in 1868 by him in Paris. The first movement opens with a solemn declaration on the piano—a sort of cadenza—at the end of which is an introduction by the orchestra followed by the first theme on the piano. Butterworth illustrated this opening passage with a recording. The introduction is appallingly hard as far as the ensemble is concerned, and in the example, the ensemble is not good. The second movement, marked "Allegro Scherzanda", opens wi.h a short introduct:on on the timpani (very muffled on the recording). The well-known sprightly air, atter being bandied about by the piano and the orchestra, is followed by the piano thumping out a "lolloping" figure, accompanying the orchestra which plays a robust melody. After this, the orchestra sinks to a whisper while the piano plays a fairy-like tune over it. This state of bliss is broken by increasing chords and the second theme, accompanied by the rhythm of the first theme, leads into a recap:tulation and conclusion of the second movement. Our speaker was disgusted with the last movement ("Presto"). It starts in a mighty fashion and points to a mighty movement, but the orchestration is weak, and most of the work is left to the pianist. We did not dwell on that movement. Mr. Waine, closing the meeting, thanked the speakers for an W. B. HAWKINS. excellent evening's musical instruction.
THE SCIENCE SOCIETY Five meetings were held this term, the first of which consisted of five films of a general nature. They were (i) "The Wonder Jet", an account, to date, of jet propulsion. The story started as far back as 1926, when Sir Frank Whittle was a young cadet at Cranwell. The film showed how at first he was met by failure after failure, and in the closing stages it showed some of the first meteors in action against the flying bombs of the Second World War. (ii) "Faster than Sound" dealt with the problem which was presented to scientists as planes reached higher and higher speeds— that of the sonic barrier. The film showed us a research station, and how this problem was attacked by means of pilotless rockets. (iii) "Wonders of the Deep" was concerned with the new technique of underwater exploration being developed as a result of daring 33
