School Concert

The sides of great ocean liners towered up from the quayside— grain elevators were spurting wheat into the holds of barges—pit props, fruit, wool, iron, and many other commodities were being unloaded.

The wire hawser holding a bundle of pit props slipped in mid-air, the pit-props fell onto the quay, into the water, onto the deck of the ship, onto the roofs of a couple of railway vans—what a din ! Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked. They could not help being attracted by a sound like that—even on Hull Docks, Hull, Britain's third port—Britain's most important fishing port—the largest dock in the North.

Would they have been attracted by the shriek of a tug's buzzer? D. J. WILSON.*

*The above article, by a member of the VIth Form, was accepted for publication by the 'Yorkshire Herald' and is reproduced here by permission of the Editor.

The School Concert, presented on the Saturday before the end of term, was universally acclaimed a success. Character and individuality were given to the concert by a certain liveliness, a gusto, and a pleasing confidence. "Songs of the Fleet", by Stanford, opened the programme. Perhaps this choice was a little ambitious, since the varying moods and the musical descriptive passages demand delicate interpretation. The soloist, Tom Moore, the orchestra, and the chorus all performed well individually, but the effect as a whole lacked unity and blend. Once or twice, Mr. 'Moore seemed to find it a little difficult to make his voice felt above the chorus and orchestra. Yet "Song of the Fleet" possessed much appeal, and they proved to contrast pleasantly with the rest of the programme.

In the Harty suite from Handel's "Water Music", the orchestra displayed its command of greatly varying tone, and range. There was confidence in the disciplined vigour of the more boisterous pieces, and in the careful restraint, and full-length bowing of the quieter passages. This selection proved popular, and everybody enjoyed it.

In the second half of the Concert the Third Part of the "Messiah" was presented in its entirety. This choice was original, for this part of the "Messiah" is often neglected, although "I know that my Redeemer liveth"—in which Mary Collier's singing filled many people with great pleasure—is well known. Indeed, such movements as "Thanks be to God", "If God be for us", and "0, Death, Where is thy sting?" are very rarely performed. Not only did the inclusion of these movements have great interest value, but they revealed themselves as works of 28