The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-21

Ash Wednesday lnterpoSSu d leii5 i0N7
/ barrier during the week against social
! pleasures, and it is possible that but
little social life win be apparent until
the forty days of enforced quiet upon
society's devotees are complete. Few So
| ciaI engagements are on the tablets
/! during the next month, and unless
C,upid makes bold to ambush a few VIC
/ tins, social circles seem doomed 10
! a life of stagnation for the time being.
aSS43
| The musical event of the past week
| was the concert at the Opera House On
Monday night in aid of the organ fund
/, of ST. Andrews Cathedral The OBJECT
! naturally appealed to all those connect
| ed with the Episcopal church here, but
E, the fact that the performers were lot
| confined to the members of one partIcu-
| lar church, that they were all Deonle
; well-known in musical and social cir
| cles, and that Mr.. Gerard Barton was
/ to make his first bow to Honolulu
audience at a concert in which several
of his own compositions were to De
heard, interested and attracted people
in general As might have been ex-
pected, a crowded house was the Sc
I -
torrents during the greater part of the
| evening, so that several who had tickets
were una BILE to be present.
| The concert did not begin till $50
owing to the fact that two of the most
indispensable performers, namely the
accompanist and the director, We're
well-nigh weather bound at Punahou
During the delay the audience were
able to study the exceedingly neat and
artistic programs and TO familiarize
themselves with the words of the can
tata.
The performance opened with a qriin
tette. Spring Madrigal, sung without
accompaniment, as We're all the part
songs with the exception of the last
quartette, Moonlight and Music The
singing of these showed careful prac-
tice, the voices We're wel1-b1ended and
the songs sung with expression. Per-
haps the most beautiful was the third
quartette "A Sleep Song which was
particularly we'll done, the tune and
phrasing being excellent.
Miss Ada Whitney sang three shoot
songs very prettily; they We're we'll
contrasted and displayed both Mr.. Bar
toms power of writing music to suit
different moods, and Miss Whitney S
ability to interpret them. The duet, |
Love at First Sight is a waltz-song
from Mr.. Barton's light opera which
we hear is to be staged in New York at
the end OF the year, and may be heaid
here first. The air of the duet is catchy |
and tuneful though of course the music |
is quite light, and, as sung by Mrs. e. |
B. Cooper and Mr.. Clifford KimbaH |
it evolved loud applause.
Mrs G.. w. Macfariane, who was in |
splendid voice, gave a fine rendering of |
a song called "Aubade, translation |
from poem of Victor Hugo's; this
won her a weII-deserved encore, for
which she sang Comm thro' the Rye
very charmingly. But her triumph was
to come in Part IL of the program. The
cantata of "Hiawatha's Wedding
Feast had been looked forward to by
many with eager anticipation; they |
were not disappointed and it was a
revelation to Honolulu of what we are
able to do in choral music under a
conductor. The chorus was
thoroughly weII-drilled, the singers had
been carefully selected, and the preci-
sion CT the attacks and confidence APP
parent in the most intricate passages
as well as the remarkably clear enun
citation showed that in Mr.. Barton we
have a chorus-conductor of high abil
ity and one who has the knack OF get
ting out of his material the best there
is in them. Amongst their best work
was the description OF the dance of
-puk-kee-wis, beginning with q
slow and soft passage for the BASES
and gradually spreading to the full
chorus, working up to wild frenzy of
excitement, till the end ,of the dance
when he falls back laughing and fan
ned himself serenely with his fan of
the most beautiful
piece Of chorus is that which just pre-
cedes the solo, sung without acconlpani-
ment. Mrs. Macfarlane's singing of
Onaway, Awake Beloved, was a
splendid rendering of a most difficult
solo, but such was the ease of her meth
od that no effort WIS betrayed and only
hose acquainted with the intricacies of
he music could fully appreciate the
skill of the singer. Her singing called
,orth rounds of applause rot only from
he audience, but also from the chorus,
Who presented her With bouquet of I
'oses at the close of her solo.
The first part of the program, al
hough the compositions were many of
hem beautiful and all of them inter-
4sting, suffered a little from lack OF
7ariation, and one could not help feel
nS that uttIe instrumental work or
male voice would have been an add
ion. As regards the singing of the
horus, their tune and time was perfect, s
tut the light and shade We're not suf-
iciently pronounced, the soft passages s
lever being quite soft enough, result
ng in an occasional noisy effect; the
enors We're = Httl- overpowered by the
est at times, ana another tenor voice
r two would have improved the bal
nee. The attacks were all good With
he exception Of one passage where thu
ostume of Pau-puk- kee-wis is descrfD-
d, when the sopranos and altos have g
adden change from the key. But when D
II is said, seldom has such choral / q
lnging been heard in Honolulu, and it 4
ill be a thousand pities if some means
annot be found of making this a per-
lament choral society. We cannot close
'ithout paying a tribute to the accom-