the Guildford
Philharmonic
HE
Guildford
Philharmonic
Orchestra gave its
Hall
on
performance
Saturday
of
The
last Civic
the
season
music
ranged
from Bach
to Hindemith. The
concert,
and
the
Civic
Hall
season, were brought to a great
climax by Holst’s “Two Psalms.”
e
Ol i
“The 4th Brandenburg Concerto
opened the concers, and it was
played very styiishly; it was good
to hear the first movement played
at the right speed throughout.
This is a concerto tor three solo
Instruments:
violln
and
two
flutes. The soloists proved to be
a formidable trio. William Armon,
the leader of the G.P.O., we have
heard as soloist before, but never
so
convincingly
as
this,
His
delivery is very clear and always
musical.
The two flautists were Henry
Messent
and
Anthony
Walker,
both ex-pupils of Gareth Morris
at the Royal Academy of Music.
Their tone blended very well, and
at no
time did the orchebma
drown the soloists.
The
other
purely
orchestral
work
was the theme and variations
(“The - Four
Tempera~
ments”) for plano and strings, by
Hindemith.
There” is
a
chromber
element
music
in the work, and
the
string = quartet,
played
by
the
principal
of
each - department,
brought the music up to a very
high standarq indeed.
The two choralworks were per-
formed by conibining together
two choirs — the Philharmonic
and - the
Proteus.
vouth
choir
—
the.
‘Holst’s “Two Psalms" is a mar-
vellously
effective
piéce
when-
well done, and the very refined
sounds from the choir resulted in
8
very ‘beautiful performance.
The
tremendous
climax
was
\superbly achieved.
strength
of 88 singers was
enough for Holst’s purposes. He
scored the music for strings aud
a brass band. each of which has
to keep the tone down. But the
choir
up
frequently
mole
o1
less
the brass pand.
ice that-neverthe—
less keeps its quality, evan in the
W T
louder passages,
The other choral work was
Constant Lambert’s “Rio Grande.”
at one time the best-known piece
of his entire output.
was‘ the
Achucarro
Joaquin
planist
in
both
this work and
in the Hindemith, Achucarrg is
no stranger
to.
Guildford audi-
ences, and his style exactly suits
the demands of this piece.
very
jazz. influence 1is
The
strong, and though it is extremely reminiscent of the period
between the two wars, it has
dated less than almost any other
jazz-influenced = piece
of
the
period. Walton’s “Facadei® perhaps. is the other period piece
still to be heard today.
Rhythm is the main ingrediere‘g
got
swallowed
completely
by
'
in the score' and the combin
choirg achieved the tricky timing
well.
Yet
this
needs
cholr
to
develop another sort of tone for
this kind oi piece, a littie rougher
and less pure than that, which
was so gooed 1n their pexfoxmance
of the Holst Psalms.
=
Again the choir was fiometimes
quite obliterated by t,hey brass
section of the orchestra. And the |
brass was by no means faultless. |
The “chordingTM* b&i&&efi w&sems =
there all the time, nor was
ensemble perfect.
:
the
The strings made light of theu'
difficult ' syncopations, and the
battery of percussion plavers are
to be congratulated on their successful completion of g diffieult |
stretch of road. Elizabeth Castle
was the centralto soloist, and the|
orchestra, led by William Armon,
1 a2 m not sure whether the com-
pined
The two vocal solos. were sung
by Virginia Miskin (soprano) and
Roy France (tenor). Miss Miskin|
sang very prettily; Mr, France
was
conducted
Handley.
by
-
Vernon
&3
Mr, Handley was glven a véry
well-deservec ovation at the end
of the concert, The miost successful season in the histoery of
Guildford municipal music had
bezn(?rought to a rousing climax.