Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 7 (1927-04)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 299 Recorded ? Contest Conducted by VORIES FISHER A S noted in the Recorded Remnants else- where in this issue, Mr. and Mrs. Vories Fisher are leaving shortly for a visit to Paris, so it has been thought advisable to post- pone the actual voting until their return. It was planned, as mentioned last month, to print a vot- ing blank in this number, but since the contest has been conducted by Mr. Fisher since its be- ginning, it is thought preferable not to carry on the voting in his absence. While Mr. Fisher is in Europe, the Contest will be under the direction of Mr. George S. Maynard, Superviser of the Art Department of the Boston Public Library, and Assistant Chair- man of the Contest Commitee. Readers are in- vited to send in further suggestions of unrecorded or acoustically recorded works to be voted for. W ITH the advent of the most recent very realistic recordings I am fast coming to the conclusion that the most satisfactory type of music to have in the home, and in par- ticular the small apartment that so many of us live in in the large cities, is the chamber music variety. I have been greatly influenced in this view by my wife. For a long while I held out saying that I wanted the orchestra at home as much as I wanted the quartet, but now I am con- vinced that this is not true and I am forced to this conclusion when I consider the number of times that I play the quartets compared to the Symphonic works. The new method of record- ing has really brought the body of musicians that are playing into the room, and I am sure that no one would say that they wanted a symphony or- chestra under the bed. In particular the new Wagner recordings issued by both Victor and Columbia are such really fine records and so very realistic that in a small room they are too much. But a Beethoven quartet—! That is something different. It has always been an ambition of mine, if I ever had enough money, to have a private quartet that would come and play for me when I wanted, and, what is much more impor- tant, what I wanted. It is fast becoming appar- ent that I will be able to satisfy this ambition much sooner and in a much more economical fashion than I had ever dreamed. Of course, I do not mean to say that I do not have the great- est admiration for orchestral material that is to- day being offered, and I shall in all probability keep on buying it. I still hold to my statement that the Columbia Company seems to have caught a secret in piano recording that has escaped the other companies so far. The H.M.V. set of the Chopin Preludes made for them by Cortot is fine,—I do not say a word against it; but they have not yet the real piano that we find Grainger using in the Chopin B Minor Sonata. One thing I do find in the French Gramophone catalogue that is of some interest is the Ravel’s La Valse (W758 &759) conducted by Albert Coates. This should be rather good and inasmuch as it was issued in the January supplement I as- sume that it is a new recording. I do not remem- ber having seen it in any of the English lists, but I may have missed it. As I write, the new Beethoven Quartets are beginning to pour in. What a joy they are! And really splendid recordings! I can see that Mrs. Fisher and myself are going to stay home a few nights and put in a little intensive study. Mr. Deems Taylor finishes up a very interest- ing article in the March Vanity Fair by saying, “Some day a genius among musical managers will present the ideal chamber music recital. He will hold it in a room not more than forty feet square. The chairs will be low, roomy, and overstuffed, and not less than two feet apart. The floor will be strewn with rugs, the walls will be hung with pictures, and the light will come from the sides and not from overhead. The players will be the London String Quartet, and their program will consist of Warwick-Williams’ arrangement of ‘The Flowers of the Forest,’ the Mozart C Major Quartet (The one with the introduction that the critics object to so violently), and the quartet of Claude Debussy. Every hearer, upon arriving, will have his coat, hat, rubbers, brief-case and other baggage politely taken away from him and checked free and will be introduced to the other guests. Upon reaching his chair he will find be- side it a small table, upon which will be the fol- lowing articles: 1 ash tray; 1 package of cigar- ettes, two cigars, 1 decanter fitted; 1 siphon, ditto; 1 bowl of ice; 1 tall glass.” I have taken the trouble to quote this at some length because it so well fits into what I have said above. The rapid and revolutionary development of the phonograph industry is creating for us this very possibility in our homes. If someday, Mr. Tay- lor, you will come to a concert chez moi, you may come in your pajamas if you want, and I think that I can fulfill most of your qualifications in- cluding the Debussy Quartet. Vories.