Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1930-11)

November, 1930, Vol. V. No. 2 39 music ever written. It is eternally young, because it was written by inward necessity. It will stay young and new when our so-called ‘modern music’ will have become obsolete.” Mr. Bloch, as it hap- pens, has expressed better than any other of his race the Jewish temper in music. His tribute to Gregorian Chant is expressive of the supra-de- nominational appeal of this ageless music. The revival of Gregorian Chant is one of the glories of modern musical achievement. It was begun in the last century by Dom Gueranger, the first Abbot of the restored Abbey of Solesmes, a Benedictine monastery in France, founded originally in 1010, and carried on by his successors, most notably by the late Dom Andre Mocquereau, whose painstak- ing researches restored the secret of the ancient style of vocalization, and under whose training the Solesmes monks learned to sing the chants as they were intended to be sung, free from the stiff re- straint of metrical accent and an exclusively major and minor modal system that have encrusted even the greatest works of modern music. To scholars and to the Catholic clergy and choir- masters the Solesmes recordings are obviously of supreme value, but I must emphasize as strongly as I can that their value is no less—if for differ- ing reasons—to everyone of any musical sensibil- ity. I request every reader of The Phonograph Monthly Review to hear at least one record and to learn that sublimity in musical expression is not dependent on a great orchestra, a trained virtu- oso, a “personality”, or our whole present-day harmonic and rhythmical system. For those who are interested in the history and technique of the chant itself, the booklet by Dom J. Gajard, the Solesmes choirmaster, provides an excellent brief survey—a very model of all that the booklet ac- companying an album set should be. The chants sung for recording are published by Desclee and Company, Tournai, Belgium, who also publish Dom Mocquereau’s summary of his researches, Le Nombre Musical Gr&gorien, of which an English translation is announced for early publication. In addition there are articles on the Solesmes Abbey and the “Spirit of Gregorian” in the April 23rd issue of The Commonweal, New York. The latter article is written by Vincent C. Donovan, who took part in the earlier records of the Ordinary of the Mass, under the direction of Mrs. Justine Ward. It is a far stride from the Gothic—sensitively strong and delicately massive—art of the Middle Ages to the bracing air and thin sunlight of twen- tieth century Finland, yet Jean Sibelius in express- ing himself has expressed his race and his coun- tryside with something of the communal spirit of the anonymous composers of the chants. Be- ginning with the third symphony Sibelius strikes a note more personal and concentrate, more char- acteristic of modern feeling in general than that of a people, but in the first and second symphonies he speaks to a wider public than the restrained, concise, highly impregnated language of his later works can ever command. Since the first days of this magazine, it has consistently maintained the necessity of these recordings, at last made pos- sible through the truly public spiritedness of the Finnish government. The English Columbia com- pany surpassed itself in making the records of Dr. Professor Kajunus’ performances. Sibelius’ sym- phonies possess tremendous rhythmical impulse, a quality that is usually lost sight of in emphasizing the more obvious dark coloring of the instrumen- tation, but Kajunus, although not a young man, demonstrates the wisdom of the composer’s choice for conductor, and plays both works with magnifi- cent muscularity and verve. The recording is powerful but it does not distort. Perhaps the string tone is a bit nipping, but it is invigorating- ly so, and the distinctive orchestral colors are ac- curately maintained. The pounding scherzo of the first, the rising tonal surge of the finale of the second, the plaintive ingenuous song of the slow movement of the first demonstrate the various facets of the recording director’s skill and care. I have played these records again and again, using the full amplification of an electrical phonograph and Burmese Colour Needles and the effect is as fine as I have yet to hear from the phonograph— entirely apart from the overwhelming thrilling effectiveness of the music itself, which I venture to predict will hold a position within a very few years analagous to that held by the Brahms sym- phonies today. It is music cast in the same heroic moulds outspoken, unspoiled, and gloriously whole-hearted. I had hoped to write more about the Burmese needles this month, but I shall have to defer my comments until next issue. They involve more care than steel needles, or even the fine gauge grip variety, for a mechanical sharpener must be used to get the best results, but these results are so good that I feel they more than repay the effort expended. The haphazard phonophile will hardly care to expend the extra trouble, but the person of sensitive ears and a insatiable desire to get at once the most artistic and the most realistic re- production will find them a step nearer the ideal. Certainly the reproduction they afford of such discs as the Solesmes and Sibelius recordings is more thoroughly satisfying than anything I have yet known. R.D.D.