Page 15 Advertisements Column 2

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21086, 10 February 1934, Page 15

BACH AND CHOPIN Bach. TJv IMhcr Mrvnell. threat Lives Duckworth. 13f> pp. (3/tlf..! C'hoiin. By Basil I\Tr;inc. Great L ! v n « Series: Duckworth. 110 P!'net.) Through AYhiicombc anil Tombs, Ltd. The:;c two volumes in Duckworth's Great Lives Series can be recommended, for good short biographies of Bach and Chopin are difficult to come by. Of the two, Mrs Esther Meynel!, with a greater love for her subject, lias written t'.-e better book. From the very meagre details of Bach's own life that are available she has put together what she requires lor a sympathetic and very human picture of Bach. The tireless industry of the composer, in service to his family, church, and patron, though faithfully recorded here, is as incredible as ever. The music itself is not dealt with in detail but, as in Mr Maine's book, touched on as it comes into the narrative. For his account of Chopin's life, Mr Maine is fortunate in having the recently-published translation of Chopin's letters by Mrs Voynich to draw on. Many new details of Chopin's first trip to Vienna, for instance, add to our knowledge of a composer who, above all others, remains hidden behind his music. The George Sand episode here escapes the bucketsful of sentiment usually poured on to it. For this Mr Maine must be thanked.