Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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SHAWNICAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE The School Concert IT was a great pleasure to be present at the School concert on the 21st of March, and to be asked to write my impres- sions of it for the School Magazine. Any critic of a school orchestra should take into account the youth, for the most part, of the performers, and the ex- treme difficulty confronting the conductor, of having a con- stantly changing list of members, the elder of whom leave just as they are getting more dependabl e, and so making it necessary to start over again each year. In view of this inevi- table fact it is a matter for congratulation that the concert this year shewed a marked advance, both in the music played and in the actual rendering. The intonation was better. The strings, including the double bass — that difficult instrument to play in tune, especially for a youthful player — all did well. The wood-wind was good and the brass effective. The friend who was responsible for the Tympani was always on the spot. Before leaving the orchestral work, a friendly criticism will not perhaps come amiss. In every small orchestra the wind instruments have a tendency to overpower the strings. As only very proficient wind instrument players can play softly, in tune, the obvious way to improve the balance of the full orchestra is to strengthen the playing of the strings. This should not be impossible if the string players would put more fire into their work in the forte passages. At the concert the string players gave the impression of being afraid to play out. Those of us who had the opportunity of hearing the Seattle Orchestra recently will remember with what spirit the string players carried out their work. While this is doubtless a coun- sel of perfection, there is nothing like emulation to arrive at achievement, so the point is worth mentioning and a word from a friendly outsider will not, I hope, be misunderstood. To the boys who form the orchestra I would like to take this opportunity of saying what a privilege it is to have a school orchestra. To be able to take part in the practice of 31

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SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE out of their stride after the first half minute, but Macrae took a risk in not responding earlier to Lake ' s spurt. Lake ' s were stroked with great determination but their bodies were not uniform enough ; their finishes were too ragged to make them fast against a head wind ; and they allowed their opponents to catch them napping at the start. Tennis - Squash - Basketball TENNIS was again popular in the Summer Term. Ames and Bradford were first and second respectively in the Ladder Competition. A good many new players have taken up Squash and there is always a number of people wanting games. A match was played against Cowichan in which the School was success- ful. At the moment of going to press one court is receiving a much needed coat of paint. Basketball has many supporters. A great many games were played during the Easter Term when Rugger was over for the season. 30

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SHAW NIG AN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE orchestral music opens the musical mind and develops a musi- cal sense that will prove of great value through life. To have taken part in school work either in chamber music or in larger orchestral works, will render the listening to chamber music or to full orchestra far more enjoyable and intelligent. The two numbers played by the quintette were delight- fully chosen, and the performance of them shewed that great pains had been taken with the music, though the impression left on the listener was that nervousness probably weakened the effect. A word of commendation must be given to J. B. Cornish, who played the Schuman piano solo with much intelligence and finish and obvious appreciation of the music. To the choral music unstinted praise is due. The quality of the boys ' voices was excellent, pleasing and unforced, as is always the characteristic of the school singing at Shawni- gan. Close attention had evidently been given to the enuncia- tion of the words, which came through very clearly to the back of the hall. The spirit of the pieces was also well ex- pressed. It shewed how much thought had been put into the training. The smaller choir of boys gave very satisfactory render- ings of all their numbers, Where E ' er You Walk being noticeably good. The full choir was also very successful. Especially good was Since First I Saw Your Face, though both the other numbers, modern and more difficult, were very pleasing. Con- sidering the small number of adult singers, the balance of tone was surprisingly good. The last two numbers on the programme, which brought all the forces of the school into action, made an impressive close to an admirable concert. As is shown by the names of composers on the programme, none but the best class of music was performed. This has been noticeable in all the concerts I have heard at the School. The musical taste of the School is being held to a high level, an influence for untold good is being exerted that will be far- 32