GARDENING, ART, AND UTILITY

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26633, 19 January 1952, Page 3

GARDENING, ART, AND UTILITY

Summer and Autumn Flowers. By Constance Spry. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd. 116 pp. The Hydrangeas. By Michael HaworthBooth, F.L.S. Constable and Co , Ltd. 205 pp. Cloche Culture in New Zealand. By Alan G. Merfield. A. H. and A. W. Reed, Ltd. 64 pp. The name of Mrs Spry is a famous one in the decoration world of London, where students from many countries attend her Modern School of Flower Work. A really beautifully illustrated book, “Summer and Autumn Flowers” is very practical on the art of “doing the flowers.” Genius is seen in her ability to make set pieces of leaves, grasses, simple garden flowers and the more exotic blooms. She shows how to be "a millionaire for a few pence” in a bright, chatty style of writing. The 24 colour prints are alone worth the price of the book; they were printed in Holland. By way of good measure, 12 monochromes are also included. Increasingly popular and now coming into bloom in Canterbury, the hydrangea is a shrub of which little has been written in the English language. While being strictly accurate in the botanical sense, Mr Haworth-Booth has written his monograph for the ordinary gardener. It is the first authoritative English handbook on the genus hydrangea (the middle syllable of which he says, be pronounced “ran,” not “rain,” which makes an ugly sounding word out of a pleasant one). All the species are described in detail and the author also deals informatively with the cultivation of the garden varieties. The booklet on cloche culture advocates, of course, the use of sheets of glass, with metallic clasps, for the earlier cultivation of plants and vegetables. It advocates, in effect, the growing of plants under glass. Although Mr Merfield makes a strong case for cloche cultivation, the fact is that if his methods were followed, the cost of cultivation would be excessive on a commercial basis. Some may disregard cost in obtaining early food and gardening plants. To them, Mr Merfield’s booklet may have most appeal. MUSIC Toscanini. By Howard Taubman. Odham’s Press. The Year’s Work in Music, 1950-51. Published for the British Council I by Longman’s, Green. Taubman's volume is likely to be popular, particularly in America. One can guess that it was designed to be so. It is biography in the strictest sense. Presenting an almost continuous narrative of the conductor’s life from student, days onwards, it makes no attempt to assess the significance of Toscanini's work or his .influence on others. It lacks a purposeful analysis of the man’s character, although the reader can form his own ideas from the given material, superficial though it may be, at times. The author has missed an opportunity to describe to musicians (in technical language, if necessary), what actually happens in a rehearsal unde’r the maestro. Such a chapter could profitably have replaced some of the earlier sections, which are repetitive and annoyingly anticipatory of later events.

It is no exaggeration to say that Toscanini vitalised the American orchestral tradition. Early in the century he led the Metropolitan to its zenith. Later, in the field of symphonic music, with various orchestras, he produced performances of the highest technical standard. This, rather than interpretative fluency, has continued to characterise American orchestral work. His experience with London and Viennese orchestras seems to bear this out. What were the reasons for his success? An acknowledged slave-driver, acutely self-critical, rudely hypercritical, he spared no effort to be sure of everything. Aided by a phenomenal memory and the keenest aural sense he misses few imperfections. A life devoted to the study of scores and continual contact with orchestras has given him experience which few can equal. “Hard work” and adequate rehearsal time ensured good results. The seemingly endless procession of anecdotes may tire the reader, but they contain much of interest. Toscanini’s personal eccentricities, his contact with party politics in Italy, his attitude to other conductors—perilously close to jealousy on the face of things—all these combine io present a character of extraordinary

diversity. Italian opera and Verdi, La Scala and Eayreuth, South America and Salzburg are all dealt with, insofar as they concerned Toscanini. His efforts on behalf of some composers and his opinions of others evince a sure perception which time is already confirming. His tastes are broad’y cosmopolitan. with Wagner and Verdi remaining a staple diet. Only in political thought was he intensely nation-ali'-t. Toscanini’s brushes with Fascism and Nazism show this; but the constant reiteration of his patriotism, in a book such as this, savours of expedient jingoism. The Year's Work in Music is an annual survey containing 10 articles by various authorities, a most valuable bibliography of recently published music and a list of recorded British Music. Tobin’s essay on “Modern Instruments” --is perhaps the most informative, while A. Hyatt King, writing on “The Study of Music in British Universities” is illuminating, if not in the facts he marshals, most certainly in the conclusions he draws from them. The Festival of Britain is covered fully and the new Festival Hall appears in one of the nine very clear illustrations.