They Can be Proud of Broadcast - "Local Event" Great Credit to Rushden
Chosen by the B.B.C. to inaugurate a new series of broadcasts, Rushden musicians teamed-up with splendid effect on Wednesday evening. Their "Local Event'' concert was definitely an event of which the town could be proud.

The St. Cecilia Singers, the Temperance Band and Mr. Douglas Gilbert (tenor), had the talent and the confidence to represent Rushden as a place where music flourishes not less sturdily than in Wales or the North Country. Of all the broadcasts which have built up credit for the town, this was the one that counted most.

"Local Event" was to be bright and homely—not too stiff and starchy. It took place in the Queen Street School, from which both band and choir had been relayed in the past, and it employed quite a number of B.B.C. men, including the announcer, who added something interesting to the bare bones of each introduction.

The choir stood on the school platform and the bandsmen, on the floor, were placed at right-angles to the singers. An invited audience of not more than a hundred friends had freedom to applaud and made whole hearted use of it.

Combined items by choir and band and by Mr. Gilbert and the band made the concert different from any which have been relayed from Rushden in the past. There were also separate performances, making for refreshing variety.

Lot of Pleasure
The local conductors, Mr. C. T. M. Francis (choir) and Mr. William Scholes (band) directed their own musicians in the "solus" numbers, but when the Singers and the "Temps" were together Mr. Tylee, Deputy Musical Director, Midland Region, took control—a duty which evidently gave him a lot of pleasure. Miss Mary Gomm, of the St. Cecilians, did all the piano work in her usual efficient way.

"Happy Japan," the opening chorus from "The Geisha" brought the voices and brass together. It was an unusual test of balance, but it worked out so well that listeners could follow even the bass vocal line in comfort. As for the top notes to which the sopranos leapt near the end of the chorus, they were delightful.

Sustained and ringing, Mr. Gilbert's voice came through admirably in two songs with the piano. This was the tenor's second broadcast, and it must have pleased all hearers by its firmness and spaciousness.

The "Temps" were equally sure of themselves in "Lilac Time"—especially when the tempo quickened—and their chief cornettists, Albert Roberts and Ernest Denton (announced as "Ernie"), gave a clean performance, with a springy and well wound-up effect, in a duet, "The Harlequins."

Still The Best
Though the Singers had "old favourites" on their programme they were not guilty of taking them casually, and "O Peaceful Night," the most familiar of all, was still the best—especially in the matter of diction. The basses had a very good evening, being spared the fate of many such departments whose tone is only half heard at the receiving end.

Plenty of band was not too much for Mr. Gilbert in his first song with the Temps. This was "Love, could tell thee," and the robustness of the joint performance did not come amiss in so fervent a song. The singer had a clearer field, however in "My Pretty Jane."

"Hail! bright abode"; the big bold chorus from "Tannhauser," was a fine choice for the concluding choir-and-band ensemble, the trumpets announcing it in real style. Breadth and volume were not quite what might have been expected, but the switches from male to female voices had telling effect, and the band was working up to a full climax when the penalty of lost seconds came inexorably in the form of an aggravating fade-out.