South Yorkshire Times, January 29th, 1934
Thurnscoe Music Festival
Child Art
The Discovery of “Talent”
A Barnsley “Champion”
Slump in Choral Classes
The third annual festival of music at Thurnscoe, held in the Methodist Central Hall on Saturday, maintained the high general standard of the two previous years in the solo classes, but there was a big slump from last year’s splendid entry in the choral classes; due probably as much to Thurnscoe’s difficulty of access as to the favourite scapegoat “Industrial depression. The public however attended in satisfactory numbers. Dr. J. Frederick Staton was the adjudicator.
Best of the Day
Popular vote would probably acclaim the winning effort in the boys’ treble solo class as the most pleasing item in an interesting day, and this apparently squared with Dr. Staton’s view, for Harry G. Bennett, of Cleckheaton, last year’s winner, again topped the class with the only award of 90 marks given during the day. It was certainly a delightfully “live” and vivacious performance of Alcock’s “The crown of the spring,” one of the day’s most charming test pieces.
A Notable “Double”
The boy soloists were generally superior to the girls in the vocal classes but a little girl took notable honours with a well-merited “double” in the piano forte classes. This was Joyce Keighley, of Halifax, a very young artist, who not only came out comfortably on top of a really good class of competitors of her own age; but proved an equally good winner over older players in the intermediate class in which indeed, she got even higher marks than in the junior class. In accomplishing this performance, she revealed remarkable versatility in the playing of two pieces of such contrasted rhythm and spirit as Thina’s “Fun on deck” and Wilm’s “Butterfly,” and completely justified Dr. Staton’s description of her as “simply bubbling with rhythm.”
Pleasing Contraltos
The contraltos were again the best of the batch of adult vocal soloists and again provided the “champion” artist, Miss Annie Ashworth, whose lovely voice was easefully the master of the “Samson and Delilah” aria chosen as test. The sopranos generally found the dramatic demands of the Gounod piece a little outside their capacities, and Enid M. Leather, who took the class with a characteristically charming performance, was given Dr Staton’s friendly warning to leave such heavy work for the voices and physique more fitted to it, and use her purely lyrical soprano for the lighter work for which it was intended.
Miss Annie Tingle
Miss Annie Tingle (picture) and her West Melton male choir successfully resisted the challenge of Mr. A V. Chambers and the Mexboro’ choir, and retained the Barnsley British Co-operative Society’s trophy. The mixed voice choir class was saved from possible extinction by a bit of local patriotism which drew commendation from D. Staton for the two Thurnscoe choirs who were the sole competitors. The Central Hall choir enjoying “ground advantage” to use a sporting term, won the class from a new organisation of some promise bearing the name of the Thurnscoe Choral Society.
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