RECORDED MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 19020, 15 August 1925, Page 15

RECORDED MUSIC

The return of Dame Clara Butt and her husband, Mr Kenncrly Rumford, will bo in the nature of a visit to friends in New Zealand and Australia. Clara Butt’s records of gems from oratorio are well known, and probably three or four of them will be found in every gramophone library. Perhaps of all her sacred selections for the display of her magnificent voice the greatest is ‘ Creation’s Hymn,’ a work characteristic of the nobility of Beethoven’s work. Tire record in tins instance has the additional interest of an accompaniment by the New _ Queen’s Hall Orchestra, conducted by Sir Henry Wood, recording for Columbia. Quite a number of contemporary composers, consciously or not, owe much in their work to the inspiration of Delibes, the writer of ballet music par excellence. The record of his 1 Coppolia ’ as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Goosseus, for Columbia, fully confirms tho description given by Druneau of Delibes’s ballet music in general—beautiful, distinctive, spiritual, singing, luminous, lively, full of all sorts of ingenuities of rhythm. The ‘ Coppolia ’ record on a single 12in disc contains tbo prelude, mazurka, entr’acte, and valse. It is evident that improvement of public tates and the efforts of the record studios to gratify it are working together. One of the latest proofs of this notion is the recording for Columbia of Haydn’s ‘ Emperor ’ string quartet in C major. The performers, are the London String Quartet, and they have furnished a perfect rendering of the lovoiy work. Chamber music in Haydn’s day was primarily for the delectation of sovereigns and princes, not for the common people. There is no reason whatever why it should not bo so, even in the remotest country places of Now Zealand, wherever four players can be got together. But tho string quartet has a hard row to hoe, even in the cities, and yet what music is more suitable for .tho home? However, the gramophone can supply the place of instrumentalists, and that with perfect performance, as tho records of the London String Quartet of the Haydn C major quartet will demonstrate. The main interest attaching to this work, beautiful in _ every movement, is the Poco Adagio Cantabile,’ -which is a wonderful elaboration of the tune known in church hymn books as ‘ Austria,’ and familiar to everyone. It is difficult to think for a moment of a classical piece of music moro likely to bo intensely popular than this quartet. Let not tho musically uneducated be put off by high-sounding technical terms, but ask to hear tho record for themselves and judge for themselves. ‘Patricia’ furnishes some bright and merry music, it lias just been recorded by the Loudon Theatre Orchestra, and tho selection includes tho principal songs in the play. Reference has been made before in this column to the great riches yet to bo discovered and enjoyed in Hebrew music. _ The hymn sung on the Great Day of Atonement, known as 1 Kol Nidrci,’ as arranged by Max Bruch, is very lainiliar to all habitues of highclass concerts. Tho attention of such te directed to the splendid performance of the work for Columbia by Pablo Casals, tho Spanish ’cello virtuoso. An astonishingly dear record has been made of this ancient hymn as Bruch treated_ it, and the opulent tone of Casals is to bo heard in all its beauty through the medium of the gramophone. Indeed, it would be difficult uti hearing it from the record to believe that it was not being played by the performer in person. ‘No, No, Nanette’ (the Hugh J, Ward production), has badly smitten Melbourne, where It was recently performed _ for tho first time, in duo course it will probably come to New Zealand. its catchy and nnsually lively music hits the popular taste, and that explains the run on the Columbia orchestral selections of the work and the Hannan Dance Band’s records of it. Mendelssohn’s piano concertos have so much gone out of fashion as to lend special interest to tho H.M.Y. issue of the G minor with Moiseiwitsoh as soloist and Sir Landon Ronald as conductor (writes a London critic). If we grant no more to the musio than brilliance and sentiment of a somewhat superficial type, with a plentiful proportion of more padding, we may well ask ourselves also whether the complete elimination of music of its kind from tho concert room has been altogether good for that Institution. With a player so much in his element as Mr Moisoiwitsch is found in this musio it is easy to understand why the concert room was at one time a popular haunt for a class which nowadays goes elsewhere for its amusement.

The issue of the Berlioz 1 Symphonic Fantastique.’ played by a famous French orchestra and conductor (Bheno Baton), took H.M.V. right out of sight of all other recording companies (says J. F. Poste, in a recent issue of ‘ The Gramophone ’)._ Here was interpretation policy carried to its highest point. We are hardly likely to near Setter performances m England, for Berlioz especially needs a French rendering to show him as' he really was. I hear of a striking record recently published by H.M.V., 01,205, where the Light Opera Company sings all or nearly all the songs from ‘ No, No, Nanette ’ and ‘ Rose Marie.’ The remarkable thing (says a critic! is the recording—the volume and the balance. They seem to be quite unusual. As Sir Richard Terry points out in his introduction to the ‘ Shanty Book ’ (Part L) (Ourwen), the sailors of the merchant service never sang the. shan,-.

tics as a recreation, but only at labor. In common with so many folk songs, these were devised to help men at their work, and “ a good shanty-man with a pretty wit was worth his weight in gold. He was a privileged person, and was excused all work save light or odd Jobs.” H.M.V. lias just recorded some sea shanties. One of tho most famous of shanties is ‘ Shcnandoan,’ a tune as lovely in its way as the ‘ Londonderry Air.’ full of tho wind and waves. Tho rollicking ‘ Rio Grande ’ will sweep evervone off their feet. ‘ Billy Boy ’ is really a landsman’s song that has found its way on board ship, being altered in tho process. ‘Can’t You Dance the Polka?’ with its American ilavor and ‘ A-Roving ’ complete a series that does the ear good to hear and warms tho cockles or the heart. Just think of one of the modern-day shop-ballads beside , this salty stuff! These should bo here soon. The two versions of Beethoven s ‘Fifth Symphony,’ recorded for H.M.V. respectively by tho Royal Albert Hall and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, are interesting to compare, but it is difficult to say which is tho better rendering. Tho first-named version is far from being distinguished, either on account of the playing or the conducting, especially tho latter, whore wo apparently have another instance of lade of sympathy between composer and conductor, which has been slated elsewhere. The German records, although considered old in tho light of later achievements, do not suffer from this defect at any rate, it being obvious that there is a master-band at the helm. Tho chief fault is to be found in tho famous bridge passage between the scherzo and finale, where tho solo drum is inaudible i this, however, is heard to bettor advantage in tho English version, as is also the following trombone work. To balance this the other famous passage for tho double-basses is more finished In the German version, and so is the working up to and the finale itself; in effect, the whole work tinder NLkisch is a revelation, apart from small defects, of what he could obtain. Ono should hesitate to dispose of tho latter version, unless there was another, very good indeed, to take its place as an historical achievement.