House Instrument and Singing

MUSIC & DRAMA

THE HOUSE INSTRUMENTAL AND HOUSE SINGING COMPETITION

held in the Memorial Hall on Friday, 7th June, 1968 at 7-30 p.m.

Adjudicator: PETER ASTON, Esq.

This year saw, for the first time, the combination of the competitions for the Baird Cup and the Cape Cup in one night. In order to achieve this, there was an earlier play off for the final round, in which Dronfield, School House and Manor were chosen as finalists for the Baird Cup, and Dronfield, School House, and Queens as finalists for the Cape Cup.

The play-off for the Baird Cup came first, and was opened by entries from Dronfield. T. M. Day (piano) played 3 dances in Bulgarian rhythm from Microcosmos Book 6 by Bela l3artOk. He was followed by R. J. S. Martin and C. J. P. Leake—guitar duet playing Blues, and finally Day played Bach's Prelude in B minor on the organ. Mr. Aston remarking on the lively and rhythmic 'performances by Dronfield awarded them 234 marks.

Next came School House with Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 2 in D Minor for piano duet played by P. D. Wilson and R. A. Howat, followed by the Sarabande for French horn and piano by Marcel Poot played by R. A. Howat and P. D. Wilson respectively. Finally, Wilson played Brahms' Rhapsodie in G Minor Op. 79 No. 2. School House were given 204 marks, and Mr. Aston especially remarked on the vigour of the piano duet.

Lastly, Manor opened with P. G. Wood (organ) playing Karg-Elert's Chorale Improvisation. "0 my soul rejoice with gladness". The other two items consisted of two house ensembles—"God bless the Prince of Wales", and Arthur Benjamin's "Soldiers in the distance". The various players were Cooper, Wood, Midgley, Lightowler, Craven, Andrews and Dunn. Manor were awarded 188 marks. The Baird Cup was awarded to Dronfield.

Next came the play-off for the Cape Cup, each house performing the Arethusa as a set song, plus another song of their choice.

This time School House performed first, with a trio from Purcell's King Arthur—"For folded flocks on fruitful plains" sung by R. A. Howat. P. D. Wilson, and M. P. Baby. The performance of the Arethusa conducted by Howat and accompanied by Wilson was "spirited and vigorous". School House were awarded 174 marks. 33

Queens opened with the Arethusa which was directed from the piano by J. E. Staines, but the part song—the glee "How merrily we live" by Michael Este—sung by J. E. Staines, E. R. Walker, and I. D. C. Summers, was much more successful and "the balance, rhythm, and phrasing were excellent." Queens were awarded 158 marks.

Dronfield opened with the song of their own choice, which was the Round from Britten's Peter Grimes—"Old Joe has gone fishing" sung by H. E. D. Little, A. H. Powell and T. M. Day. The performance of the Arethusa was directed by Day from the piano and contained much "good round choral tone." Dronfield were awarded 172 marks.

The cup went to School House.

It remains to thank P. T. Summers for efficiently taking care of the organisation of the competition, and seeing that everyone was in the right place at the right time, and to thank Peter Aston for kindly consenting to judge the competitions.

R.A.H.

MUSIC PRIZE COMPETITION in The Memorial Hall on Thursday, 13th June at 8-15 p.m.

This concert was held with the prime object of presenting two music prizes—the keyboard and the instrumental prize. Along with this, however, there was also an unusually excited atmosphere, a feeling that this concert was to be the climax of the tellies many musical activities, and also a knowledge that it was to be Mr. Waine's last concert at this School.

The programme opened with a performance of Handel's Courante in 6 for piano, played by E. R. Walker. This was given a broad and spacious interpretation, so often lacking in the playing of Handel's music, and it marks Walker as the most promising musician among the younger members of the School.

After a performance of J. J. Mouret's Fanfare and Minuet for French Horn played by R. A. Howat, the audience moved to the chapel to hear T. M. Day play J. S. Bach's Prelude in B Minor. With his usual skill, musicianship, and great care over detail and presentation, Day gave a very professional performance of this long and difficult piece, and as a result he was awarded the keyboard prize.

After the audience had moved back to the hall, A. L. Jervis played Bach's Praeludium in C (transposed into D Minor) on his guitar. Despite the loud noise of the outside traffic he gave a very relaxed and beautifully phrased interpretation with a good tone quality, and was awarded the instrumental prize.

The performance of the Adagio from Mozart's Sonata in F (K.332) for piano, played by M. J. Black although occasionally lacking in rubato benefited from a performance of precision and technical control. The rondo from Mozart's Bassoon Concerto played by I. D. C. Summers was well played, especially considering that it was on a brand new instrument very different from the one he had been practising on.

Both the 1st movement from the Sonata in D Major (Op. 137, No. 1) for violin, by Schubert and the "Allegro Risoluto" from the Sonatina in C for violin, by Dvorak, played by R. M. Yule and J. D. B. Hargreaves respectively, came across with vigour, and both performances showed a high standard of violin technique. Both Yule and Hargreaves were runners-up for the instrumental prize.

The Rhapsodic in G Minor (Op. 79 No. 2) for piano by Brahms, a difficult piece both technically and in its interpretation was given a powerful and dramatic performance by P. D. Wilson, who was runner-up for the keyboard prize.

After the "Clair de Lune" by Debussy was played by R. A. Howat, J. R. H. Midgley (viola) gave a flowing interpretation of A. Somervell's Autumn Song. The concert ended with two pieces Of jazz—Little Rock Getaway by Joe Sullivan, played by A. S. Bowie (Clarinet) and 8 to the bar played by 1J. L. Linsley, well known in the School for his interest in Jazz.

The Adjudicators were Mr. F. Waine (Chairman), Mr. K. R. Pemberton and Mr. C. G. Sandercock.