Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 9 (1930-06)

312 The Phonograph Monthly Review June, 1930 ticular scene was given as a ballet by the Diaghileff organ- ization long before Strawinski wrote his Sacre and it was then called “Soleil de nuit.” Ever since the Monteux recorded version was announced in France, we have been anticipating the recording and release of a Stokowski set. Well, here it is . . . let us see (or hear) what he has to offer us ... . (Score page numbers refer to the four hand piano ar- rangement published by Edition Russe De Musique). Part 1. Adoration of the Earth 1. The introduction on the first side suggests the mys- tery of the physical world in Spring. The recording of this section is superb and Stokowski succeeds in making the music sound clear without the occasional muddiness of the composer’s version. 2. The second side takes in the Foreboding of Spring and the Dance of the Adolescents (Youths perform a cere- monial dance under the instruction of a 300 year old wo- man; the girls enter and join in the rites) and the Abduc- tion (some of the youths perform a mock-abduction or “marriage by capture” with the girls). The tempo is very clear in the abduction and the recording of this side is far superior to that of the Strawinski. 3. Vernal Dance (or Spring Rounds). The first part of this dance, played by the E-flat and bass clarinets under flute trills, is not unlike a Russian folk song. The second and major portion of the dance is polytonally harmonized, the rhythm is pounded out incessantly by the drums. Of the climax on page 33 (1 inch from end of record) Law- rence Gilman has said: “I know of nothing anywhere in music that has the quality and effect of this great middle section ... it is music of elemental and terrifying power.” Like the previous two sides, the tempo and recording are excellent. 4. Part four contains the Games (not “Conflicts”) of the Rival Cities (a sort of community meeting of athletic games), the Procession of the Sage (a Cortege of the eld- ers escorting the Sire of all the Sages, a man with a long beard whose appearance is the signal for all to be seized with a violent tremor), and the Adoration of the Earth (4 measures of music during which the Sage prostrates him- self face downward on the earth, blessing the soil and in- voking rejuvenation) and the Dance of the Earth which carries the first half of the ballet to a tempestuous close. This closing section is particularly clear in contrast to Strawinski’s version. Part 2. The Sacrifice 5. Introduction. Stokowski’s reading is not nearly so lyrical as Strawinski’s in this particular section. The rapid woodwind flights in the middle section are harsh. The muted trumpets, however, are excellent. 6. Dance of the Mysterious Circles (young girls do a ceremonial dance, the object of which is the choice by hazard of the destined victim) and the Glorification of the Chosen Virgin (the Virgin remains motionless from here until the sacrificial dance; the groups dance the movements of glorification). This version of the glorification is much faster than Strawinski’s and could be slower for more clari- ty. The timpani accompanying the pizzicati sections could be more pronounced. 7. Evocation and Ritual of the Ancestors (the elders evoke the spirits of the ancestors and perform the rites of the mystical bridal dedication to the sun). The ritual (page 66 of score) is much better than Strawinski’s which is al- most inaudible at the close. 8. Sacrificial Dance of the Chosen Virgin (The Virgin who has been motionless suddenly breaks into a spasmodic dance expressing the last ecstasy of the victim, from exal- tation to frenzy, and frenzy to exhaustion. The measure signature is 5-16, 3-16, 4-16. 5-16 with hardly two bars with the same signature coming together! When the victim col- lapses, the elders spring upon her and lift her rigid corpse at arms* length above their heads). Stokowski has given us a fine Danse Sacrale. The fury is there, the tempo is perfect and the intensity is just right. The six descend- ing notes in the monotonous middle section come out un- usually terrifyingly on this record. To sum up, Stokowski’s set brings out the sharpness of the score much better than Strawinski’s. The records of the first half, however, are generally superior than those of the Sacrifice. Stokowski’s first introduction, his Dance of the Adolescents and the Sacrificial Dance are superb in every respect; his tempos, with the exception of a few hur- ried passages, are correct; the work is absolutely uncut. It would indeed be very difficult to choose the better set of the two, but personally I would choose the Stokowski if I could not afford the luxury of both. William H. Seltsam BOLERO Brunswick 90039-40 (2 D12s, $1.50 each) Ravel: Bolero, played by Maurice Ravel and the Lamoureux Orchestra, Paris. Victor 7251 (2 D12s, $2.00 each) Ravel: Bolero (3 sides), and Satie (orch. Debussy): Gymnopedie No. 1 (1 side) played by Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Bolero is more than a seasonal sensation: It has been the cause of more commotion than probably any piece of music since Le Sacre. (For very different reasons, it goes without saying!) First, echoes of the original ballet per- formance drifted to these shores. Eventually the music it- self arrived, devastating in succession the audiences of the Symphony orchestras in New York. Boston, Philadelphia, and so on down the line. The records have followed promptly, first from the composer’s baton via Polydor and Brunswick, and hot on their heels, by Koussevitzky for Victor. Like most sensational works the Bolero has achieved a fantastic reputation. The descriptions in print, even in some symphony program books, are often astonishingly in- accurate. Even those who have heard the work cling to the idea that the unit of repetition is a short and simple theme, and that the steady crescendo lasts well over twen- ty minutes. (In the Victor set the entire work can hardly take over thirteen or fourteen.) A study of the score is to be recommended, both to make the structure of the work comprehensible and to get the full flavor of the dia- bolical ingenuity with which Ravel has contrived his or- chestration. The tempo signature is “Tempo di ballo, moderate assai.” A side drum sets the bolero rhythm that persists through- out, and after four preliminary measures the flute announc- es the first sentence of the theme (in two phrases of eight and nine bars respectively). There is a measure of inter- lude—bolero rhythm alone—and the clarinet repeats the first sentence literally. Another bar of interlude and the bassoon has a contrasting sentence, likewise in phrases of eight and nine bars, with an additional measure of inter- lude. This too is repeated literally by the E flat clarinet. From the entrance of the flute up to the interlude follow- ing the E flat clarinet’s solo seventy-two measures have elapsed, and these seventy-two measures form the unit of further repetition. Calling the first sentence of the theme “a” and the contrasting one “b,” the unit can be designat- ed “aabb,” and this whole unit is now repeated a second, third, and fourth time, followed by “a” and “b” unrepeated, with the last measures of “b” merged with the concluding passage. In other words there are eighteen statements of either “a” or “b” with a different instrument or group of in- struments taking the melody each time: 1 (a) flute. 2 (a) clarinet. 3 (b) bassoon. 4 (b) E flat clarinet. 5 (a) oboe d’amour (an alto oboe half-way between the ordinary oboe and the English horn). 6 (a) flute and trumpet in octaves. 7 (b) tenor saxophone. 8 (b) sopranino saxophone (the highest of the saxophone group). 9 (a) horn, celesta, and piccolos. 10 (a) oboe, oboe d’amour, English horn, and clari- nets. 11 (b) trombone. 12 (b) flutes, piccolo, oboes, Eng- lish horn, clarinets. 13 (a) same plus first violins. 14 (a) same plus second violins. 15 (b) flutes, piccolo, oboes, Eng- lish horn, trumpet, first and second violins. 16 (b) same plus clarinets, soprano saxophone and violas. 17 (a) wood winds, soprano and tenor saxophone, trumpets and high trumpet in D, and first violins. 18 (b) same plus trom- bone (“ff possible”). Near the end of 18 occurs the as- tonishing modulation in E major. The incessant rhythm suddenly breaks up and the work explodes in what is ac- curately termed a tornado of sound.