Music About Town
The visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip to Canada has inspired the composition of all sorts of music, some of it good and a lot of it bad. One of the best works that has come to my attention is a new one for chorus and orchestra entitled, "Song of Canada," written by the brilliant young Canadian composer, Oskar Morawetz.
Mr. Morawetz uses his voices in an interesting way, grouping them into all sorts of combinations as the work proceeds. In the finale, "O Canada" appears in the orchestra as a counterpart to a melody being sung by the chorus. "I have used elaborate technical means to prepare the final climax," says Morawetz, "but at the same time the main line of the melody is simple
enough to be understood by any
average listener. I had in mind a work possessing artistic merit but still intelligible to everyone."
The first performance of "Song of Canada" was originally scheduled to be given by Sir Ernest MacMillan over CBC next Wednesday evening, but because of the change in the royal plans, it will be postponed
another week.
