Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1931-01)

January, 1931, VoL V. No. 4 141 Bruckner Slowly phonographic representation is being given to the immense Bruckner repertory. The seventh symphony, con- ducted for Horenstein for Polydor (reviewed on page 313 of the June 1929 PMR) remains the major item, but some of the other symphonies are being recorded in part. Two European H. M. V. discs contain the scherzos from the third and fifth symphonies. The former—one record side—• is played by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anton Konrath (H. M. V. AN-192), and the latter (two record sides) by Dol Dauber's Salon Orchestra (H. M. V. AN-189). . The second side of AN-192 contains Johann Strauss* Pizzicato Polka. The scherzo from the fifth sym- phony is the more interesting, with effective changes of pace and mood, and the performance is better than one would have been led to expect from Dauber’s tango records re- leased in the Victor International lists. Yet I am afraid that I am no Brucknerite. The seventh symphony has its big moments, as have the choral works, but there are desolate wastes when the great-hearted peasant tries impotently to strike the grand manner of a Wagner or Richard Strauss in his palmy days. The present scherzos reveal him on more congenial ground. They have a pleasant Schubertian warmth, but one must not look for too much more. John Ireland Ireland shares with Delius the rare quality of reticence. His works are not thrown half-baked into the concert world. He writes sparingly, but almost everything is worth intent hearing. Apart from the popular setting of Masefield’s Sea Fever, and a piano piece or two, his works had been largely overlooked by the phonograph until the Columbia Company— a whole-hearted champion of British composers—gave him an opportunity to record his sonata for ’cello and piano, with Antoni Sala playing the ’cello and the composer the piano (English Columbia L-2314-7). A booklet accompany- ing the set provides excellent notes on Ireland and the sonata. It is not an “easy” work. Ireland has been re- proached with angularity and austerity. But a little hardness saves music from going ripe too quickly. Time will mellow Ireland’s music as it has mellowed that of Brhams and many another. The sonata has qualities of intensity and clarity of thought that give it force and that save the sterness of much of its material from, repelling one. Sala, a first rate ’cellist, joins the composer in a performance as thoughtfully planned and as cleanly drawn as the music itself. The string tone records beautifully; the harder piano tone less well. On the odd record side Ireland, solo, plays a dainty piano piece, April—warmer, more rhapsodic and fanciful than the larger work, and while it lacks the latter’s conviction alnd nobility, it is more* readily charming. An album set to be placed beside the ’cello sonatas of Delius and Arnold Bax (H. M. V.) as exemplification of the notable achieve- ments by contemporary British composers in this particular form, one that is as difficult to essay successfully as it is effective when capable handled. Schumann's Carnaval Close on the release of three notable album sets of the Carnaval suite (played by Godowsky for Columbia by Rachmaninoff for Victor, and by Cortot for H. M. V. comes an orchestrated version by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Landon Ronald on H. M. V. D-1840-2. The transcription is that used by the Russian Ballet, a pastiche assembled from orchestrations by Rimsky-Korsakow, Glazounow, Liadow, and Tcherepnin. The performance is done with considerable vivaciousness and the music adapts itself pliantly enough for ballet purposes. Yet its character is singularly altered. It is prettified, sentimentalized, cheapened. Is the music inherently as theatrical as orchestra- tors and conductors make it sound here? I cannot believe so, and cling to the infinitely more Schumannesque and ex- pressive piano version. If the present discs have any place it is wholly for ballet practice and performance (yet no doubt there are many who will find the synthetic coloring more to their taste than the genuine). R. D. D. Many of the splendid records others will import later may ^ be had from us now. © - We are the pioneers, the Home of the Find — 53 join our mailing list. S5 3 S D= g ^ International Records Agency © © Box 171 Richmond Hill, N. Y. ^ P^i Meltrope Sharpeners Burmese Colour Needles ’juj] WCO[l^[CT(g|}aKO^(gK]AIL[L Debussy Danses Debussy: Danses Pour Harpe (Danse Sacree et Danse Profane), for chromatic harp accompanied by string orchestra, played by Lily Laskine with a Symphony Orchestra con- ducted by Piero Coppola. French H. M. V. W-1025 (D12). A few years ago the National Gramophone Society made a happy contribution to the Debussy discography when they recorded the Danses in the piano arrangement accompanied by strings. The present disc has the advantage because of the utili- zation of the chromatic harp (which has strings arranged so as to cross each other), for which the composition was originally scored. However, the chromatic harp is seldom used in con- cert performanes, due to the difficulty of its mastery. The difference in the effect of the much required buoyancy of this music leads us to favor the harp over the piano. If there is a “story” attached to the music we have not been able to ascertain what it is. However, the need of a story to such music is negligible. While one is inclined at times to sense a precursor to the Prelude d Vapres-midi d’un jaune (which came fully ten years later), it remains clear that Debussy was trying to get away from the realism of life to the music of dreams that would later embody his wonderful impressionism. We may choose, if we wish, to fit a story to the titles—for instance, the theme of sacred and profane love—but it remains music of two contrasting moods: the first of sweetness being contrasted by the second, dis- sonant, or “profane.,” part. Whatever Debussy’s intention, this composition is novel in its simplicity. The first dance, in 3/2, consists of an introduction of seven measures for the orchestra followed by the dance proper in which the harp is never too much in the fore, nor is the accompaniment weak. The scoring for strings is an especially felicitous touch, for we all know how Wagner often ruined the effect of his harps by drowning them out with the sonority of stronger instruments. The second dance, in 3/4, has an introduction of fourteen measures, the harp making its ap- pearance on the fifteenth, in dissonant ascending chords. Towards the end there are two sections ( Le double moins vite and Animez) which one is inclined to think are the parents (or grandparents) of the Faune. For one who loves the music of the harp this record will provide a veritable feast. It is well recorded, although there are occasional traces of surface noise. Mile. Laskine gives an adept performance and Coppola never forgets that he is accompanying a soloist. A splendid addition, is this, to the small list of good harp records. W. H. S. IN THE NEXT ISSUE: A Survey of Recorded Pianists, by Harry L. Anderson Bach Preludes and Fugues by R.D.D. |i A review of the Mozart Quintet for Strings, || by Prof. Kenneth B. Murdock 0.2 <8 u * LtJ o pZ s c/a o