By Ouve Dux London, Jan. 7.
Sir John Boyd-Orr, the great authority on diet, told us in a broadcast this week to eat porridge. It contains more Vitamin A and far more lime salt and soluble fats than white bread. Bacon and butter, he declares, are luxuries; he would not risk the life of a single sailor in bringing them to us across the North Sea But Sir John Boyd-Orr is a Scotsman, which suggests a certain partiality in b.s arguments, The Queen is said to have drawn up a series of menus for the Royal household. Like the late King and Queen Mary in the last war, their Majesties mean to ration themselves like their subjects. Buckingham Palace is already on a war-time footing. Numbers of the staff have joined up and the rest have had their expensive liveries put away. State rooms are closed and dust-sheeted. All the second-floor suite, formerly used by the Princesses is closed. It will not be wanted till peace returns. And for vegetables and flowers, the Royal farms will have to do all the supplying. It must be remembered, incidentally, that war charities make big inroads into their Majesties' income, People are taking to food-growing very seriously, it is estimated that 5,000,000 gardeners' and allotment toy drum, a toy tambourine, triangles and the like.
Sir Kenneth Clark, Director of the National Gallery, conducted, though he can play no instrument, and conducted very well. Moisievitch played the triangles and the quail. Elena Gerhardt beat a tambourine. Myra Hess and Irene Scharrer were the cuckoos. It is the joyous privilege of this part that it reduces performers and audiences alike to helpless laughter, Anyway the Symphony was the greatest success.
Another of. Haydn's symphonies is now due for revival, called I think (for it is many years since I heard it) the Farewell Symphony. He wrote it in revenge for not being able to get money to pay his orchestra. One by one the musicians go on strike, shut up their music books, blow out their candles and depart. The symphony fades out on one second violin playing in semi-darkness. It is a piece of music that needs very careful rehearsal, but when well done it is most taking and effective.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.