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The

Competition Festival Record

THE ROYAL NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD,
ABERGAVENNY.-August, 1913.

The choice of tests for use at the Royal National
and other Welsh Eisteddfodau has often occasioned
controversy, but the discussion has never before
reached the stage of acuteness that has developed in
connection with the chief tests selected for next year's
'National' at Abergavenny, which we
below:

enumerate

CHIEF CHORAL MIXED-VOICE CHOIRS
(150 to 200 voices).

Choruses in the first part of 'St. Paul.' SECOND CHORAL MIXED-VOICE CHOIRS (Open) (From 60 to 80 voices).

Theme Sublime,' from 'Jephtha' (Handel).
'Yr Ynys Wen' (Isle of Beauty) (J. H. Roberts).

CHIEF MALE-VOICE CHOIRS (60 to 80 voices).

Fallen heroes' (Cyril Jenkins).

No. 53

will deserve and receive no sympathy or encouragement if they turn backward. Let them remember Lot's wife!

services I am willing to submit an alternative selection of 'If the committee care to avail themselves of my further pieces. It must, however, be clearly understood that I cannot adjudicate upon the music in the present programme.'

Mr. Jackson, in a long letter in which he questions whether the basis of the efforts that are being made to erect the edifice of progress is a reliable one,' declares that recent experiments made to raise the character of the tests have been failures, the number of choral entries having fallen off considerably. He goes on to say:

'In view of these facts the committee were bound to come to the conclusion that the fundamental conditions on which the present progressive standard has been erected are not sufficiently sound to ensure an uninterrupted upward movement, and that a natural reaction is desirable to discover a more correct basis upon which to erect the edifice of progress.'

He declares that Welsh emotionalism has not been Oleuni claer' ('Lead, kindly Light ') (Protheroe). intellectualised. He concludes by asking a depressing

LADIES' CHOIRS.

The Pixies' (Coleridge-Taylor). 'Hail to thee' (Smart).

Mr. Granville Bantock was engaged as one of the adjudicators. Now he has resigned on the ground that the tests are not important enough for the occasion, and show a retrograde policy on the part of the committee. This trend of policy is not denied by the Eisteddfod secretary, Mr. R. H. Jackson, who defends it as a reasonable course in view of the whole circumstances of the case. The committee, not being disposed to go back on their choice, have had to decide to accept Mr. Bantock's resignation. The following are extracts from the correspondence that has passed.

On October 1, Mr. Bantock, after expressing his disappointment, says:

question, which, if it is justified, reveals how little has
been accomplished by the Welsh nation-a nation of
choralists-whose exploits in tone and expression
have so often called forth the unstinted admiration of
He says:
the best musicians.

'In all seriousness, I should like to ask you how many choirs you consider there are at present in Wales qualified to effectively render one of Bach's unaccompanied motets in competition? A test of this kind would, I venture to say, spell financial disaster; and, after all, enterprise must be tempered by caution.'

Mr. Bantock in his reply says that until the Welsh make some effort to intellectualise their emotionalism their efforts will fail to interest any beyond their own border, and Wales as an art centre must cease to count. Art is emotion under the control of the intellect'; and he adds :

'You ask me how many Welsh choirs do I suppose capable of undertaking a Bach motet? To which I reply that there are very many Welsh choirs who have shown themselves quite capable of doing so, having already performed, and performed well, much modern music which is more difficult; that the supposed difficulty of the Bach motets is really the dread of the unknown, for in reality the technique of modern choral music is far more exacting than Bach's; and that in any case I only suggest a Bach motet for the highest class, i.e., for prize-winners.

I cannot consent to waste my time over the choruses in "St. Paul," and am astonished to find that no unaccompanied choral work has been selected for the chief competition. In these circumstances, my only course seems to be to offer your committee two alternatives, either the withdrawal of the pieces in question and the substitution of more suitable works or the acceptance of my resignation. If you would replace "St. Paul" by one of Bach's unaccompanied motets and commission one of your modern Welsh composers to write a special unaccompanied part-song, you For our part we confess that the sight of the would avoid the necessity of engaging an orchestra for the Abergavenny syllabus gave us a depressing shock. accompaniments—an unnecessary expenditure-and you It recalled the experience of twenty or more years ago, would be maintaining the standard initiated by the and seemed to be a deliberate retreat from the progress enlightened musical committee at Wrexham. It is a

suicidal policy to take any retrograde steps merely for that has been shown in National syllabuses in recent the sake of attracting a capricious public. Your duty at years. It is lamentable that gifted Wales should these national gatherings should be to provide encourage- voluntarily cut itself away from the stream of progress ment and a stimulus to musical art, and carefully to foster that has distinguished the competition movement in the national spirit of the country, which is aspiring to a England. We cannot help hoping, and believing, higher level in efficiency, technique, and interpretation. that a reaction from this reaction will come from within This is obviously a critical moment, and your committee the Principality.

Pianoforte (under 21).-Valse, Chopin, Op. 34, No. 1. programme, and the entries were numerous, sometimes 1st. Edith H. Wood, Whitnash.

embarrassingly so. There was some good pianoforte playing. The unison violin playing was not satisfactory, but Miss Richard, of Preston, showed excellent talent in the open class. Nine contraltos essayed Ernest Austin's original and beautiful Miss J. song, 'Life,' which was written to Mrs. Barbauld's touching words. Miss Foulds, of Earby, was first. In the children's

MIXED-VOICE CHOIRS.
Test: Moonlight' (Eaton Faning).

vocal solo sections the most remarkable class was that for
girls under sixteen, in which the test-piece was the very
expressive and naïve song, 'At night,' by Randegger.
Some of the performances were wonderfully moving. Three
girls-Doris Young (Millom), Ethel Benson (Barrow), and
Annie Sutherland (Birkenhead)-tied for first place. School Ist.
choirs competed in singing Percy Fletcher's cantata, The
walrus and the carpenter.' The Millom St. George's Girls'
(Mr. H. G. Cooke) gained one more mark than Barrow; St.
James's Girls' (Mrs. G. Ashburner) were second. On the
evening of the children's day, the combined choirs gave a
delightful performance of the cantata.

On the third day all the classes were open, and there were heavy entries. Sixty tenors, baritones, and basses competed in the solo classes. There were some exceptionally fine choral performances during the afternoon and evening. The celebrated Barrow Choir, under Mrs. Bourne, took part, and won two first-prizes, but in the men's choir section they were beaten by one mark by Mr. Grosse's Lancaster Choir. A feature in the chief mixed-voice class was the advance to the front made by Mr. Ernest E. Unsworth's Carnforth Choral Society. Here again only one mark separated them from the first place, which was taken by the Barrow Choir. The adjudicators were Dr. W. G. McNaught and Mr.

Arthur Wilson, of Stockton.

The following is a summary of the chief awards of the open day: (Maximum, 80 marks.)

Tenor Solo. Ah, moon of my delight' (Liza Lehmann), 23 entries. 1st, Mr. Victor J. Higman, Barrow, 72; 2nd, Mr. Albert A. Wood, Workington, 70.

Baritone Solo.-'Roadways (Balfour Gardiner), 23 entries. Ist, Mr. Jack Woodruff, Millom, 73; 2nd, Mr. Virgil Crowther, Earby, 72.

Bass Solo.-Young Dietrich' (Henschel), 16 entries. 1st, Mr. W. J. Dobie, Dumfries, 74; 2nd, Mr. Stanley Cross, Barrow, 73.

Female-voice Choir Competition.- Encinctured with a twine of leaves' (Coleridge-Taylor), 6 entries. Ist, Blackpool Orpheus (Mr. Clifford Higgin, conductor), 71; 2nd, Carnforth Choral Society (Mr. Ernest E. Unsworth), 70. Male-voice Choirs.—'Sorrow's tears' (Cornelius) and 'Crusaders' (MacDowell), 4 entries. Ist, Lancaster (Mr. R. T. Grosse), 71 and 73, total, 144; 2nd, Barrow (Mrs. T. Bourne), 68 and 75, 143.

Madrigal. Ye that do live in pleasures plenty' (Wilbye), 7 entries. Ist, Barrow Madrigal Society (conducted by Mrs. T. Bourne), 73; 2nd, Carnforth Choral Society (Mr. Ernest E. Unsworth), 71.

Mixed-voice Choirs Challenge Shield Competition.'O'er Jordan's banks' (Max Bruch) and 'Come o'er the sea (Havergal Brian), 6 entries. 1st and Challenge Shield, Barrow Madrigal Society (Mrs. Bourne), 76 and 73, 149; 2nd, Carnforth Choral Society (Mr. Ernest E. Unsworth), 75 and 73, 148.

Ist.

6

Hughes) 78 The adjudicators were Mr. W. H. Cradock (Manchester Cathedral) and Mr. Luther Greenwood (conductor of the Colne Orpheus).

THE BLACKPOOL GLEE AND MADRIGAL
SOCIETY.

A notable coming of age was celebrated at Blackpool on November 11, when the Blackpool Glee and Madrigal Society gave a concert to mark the twenty-first year of its existence. The retrospect printed in the programme recounts many splendid achievements. Mr. Herbert insight of interpretation, and generally he has done noble Whittaker was a pioneer of the new choral technique and service to the cause of choral music. The programme on this occasion brought forward many gems, by the performance of which the Choir has from time to time won its triumphs. We shall now look forward to the jubilee of the Choir, and meantime offer our heartiest good wishes to its members

and conductor.

WEDNESBURY.-November 16.

The chief events in the course of the first Wednesbury and District Competitive Festival were contests for children's In the former, choirs and for church and chapel choirs. Fletcher's 'Song of the summer winds' was the test and, out of nine entries, Station Road Girls' School, Aston (Miss A. L. Toye) were first, and Dorset Road Girls' School, Darlaston (Miss M. Millner), were second. Among the church choirs Bilston Wesleyan (Mr. F. A. Bendall) won the first-prize, and Rushall Congregational (Mr. Tom Dean) the second for their singing of Woodward's anthem, 'The radiant morn,' and the hymn, Lead, kindly Light.' There were various solo classes for juvenile competitors, and an actionsong class. Dr. Alfred J. Silver adjudicated.

QUEEN'S HALL, LONDON.-November 20.

The annual chair' Eisteddfod, held under the auspices of the C. M. Church, Falmouth Road, S. E., attracted an excellent choral entry. Of the five mixed-voice choirs that sang Jenkins's They that go down to the sea in ships,' the best was Folkestone Philharmonic Society (Mr. H. E. Fletcher); Choral Union (Mr. F. Wilson Parish) third. Twelve Essendine (Mr. W. Kendall) was second, and Maidstone choirs entered in the Male-Voice Class, the test for which was Paliard's The Hebrew captives.' The prizes were won as follows: 1st, Cardiff (Mr. Roderick Williams); 2nd, Pontypridd Maritime (Mr. F. Temple Evans); 3rd, Kenfig Hill (Mr. William Rees).

Prizes for solo-singing were won by Miss Lily Clatworthy (soprano, 28 entries), Miss Myrtle Jones (contralto, 27 entries), Mr. W. M. Griffith (tenor, 20 entries), and Mr. Nevin Jones (baritone, 41 entries).

The adjudicators were Mr. D. Jenkins and Dr. Caradog Roberts.

NEW COMPETITIONS.
BOLTON.

At a meeting held in Bolton on November 5, it was decided to hold a Competitive Festival. At the time of going to Press we have not been informed as to the date.

CROYDON.

A musical Competition Festival will be held here on March 10 and 15. The secretary's address is' Beethoven House,' 28, George Street, Croydon.