MUSIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20311, 20 January 1928, Page 5

MUSIC.

NOTES AND RECORDS. Leo, Jan, and Mischel Cherniavsky who are expected to revisit Dunedin shortly, are said to have made rapid strides in their profession. Their nest tour will be their sixth visit to the Southern Hemisphere, where their names are now household words. A violin record by Albert Sammons contains “ The Devil’s Trill Sonata ” (Tartini), in four parts. Though Sammons has produced some splendid records in the past—notably the Bruch concerto —his rich tone has never sounded bettor than in this composition of Tartini s. Tartini was one of the first great Italian violin composers, and did much to develop the technique of violin-playing. The sonata owes its title to a dream, “ One night I dreamt that I had made a bargain with the Devil for my soul. Everything went to my command. . . . Then the idea suggested itself to hand him my violin to see what he could do with it.” The Devil played with such taste and precision that Tartini awoke, eeized his violin, and tried to reproduce the beautiful solo. The sonata is in one continuous movement, based on a sorrowful melody, in which the trill is repeatedly heard, and is contrasted with livelv and rhythmic passages in harmonies. The recording brings out the true violin tone. A series of Elgar records has been produced in commemoration of the 70tn birthday of the composer. There are sis double records of his Second Symphony, played by the London Symphony Orchestra, under the composer's own direction. From the technical point of view taese seem to suffer from an insufficiency ot light and shade, but the records should be invaluable as an authoritative guide to those who wish to acquire real familiarity with the music. There are further two double records of The Dream of Gerontius,” in which the listener will admire the singing of Miss Margaret Balfour and the exceptionally good choral work, “ Praise to the Holiest in the Height.” Further, there are two small typical pieces, “ Chanson de Nmt and “Chanson de Matin,” which, if not of first-class musical interest, are fine examples of sonority in recording. These records should be here shortly. Of two records made in York Minster of music by Byrd and Gibbons, the Byrd record is very good, and contains fine examples of bis music in two different styles (states a London critic). “ Christe, qui es lux et dies,” which is, however, sung in English, represents Byrd’s Roman Church music, in which he adheres to traditions of the old Church inodes, yet without fettering his individuality. It is an extraordinarily noble piece of music. “ This day Christ was born” is treated in the madrigal style, which is more generally familiar to the public of to-day. It is a magnificent example of Byrd’s complex polyphony. Gibbons’s fine anthem, “ God is gone up, shows how the new style was developed by a musician of the succeeding generation. A record by Harold Samuel ot four movements from Bach’s Partita in B flat reproduces his characteristic performances very well, if we except an jangling note. Just now organ records are passing through a stage out of which most fields of gramophone music have already emerged (remarks an English critic). It is the old story of “ cut ” versions, limitations to a few pieces that everybody knows, or—worse still—the playing on the “ king of instruments ” of popular music never intended for that medium, and frequently very unsuited for the purpose. lam not referring now to kinema organ selections, for that is admittedly a sphere, with a new technique of Its own, which will in course of time doubtless work out its own salvation so far as kinema patrons will allow it. Present records are by Dupre, Dr Ley, and other acknowledged masters. Orchestral recording has gone ahead bo rapidly that the centre of interest has tended to shift from the mechanics to the performance. It is impossible to deny that orchestral reproduction now gives an almost perfect illusion. The new process, like the old, only less so, is inclined to pick out the higher tones abnormally, with a result that scream of some sort is rarely absent in the louder passages and in ensembles generally. There were recently recorded two orchestras, the Philadelphia and the_ London Symphony, the former playing the ■‘Si 7 overture and the closing scene of “ Gotterdammerung, and the latter “Siegfried” Wagner and the Lohengrin” prelude. The recording Is presumably the same in both ins^ c ®f’ Jj. in the matter of performance the Amen can orchestra wins. Needless to WD has a permanent conductor. don Symphony is the case of a first -elass body of players that can never have under its guest conductor system. a reaUy fine and consistent style. With tuu cini) and “ Concert Waltz in A (01«« effective numb? Witt'' T good' of hobgoblin fiendishness. -Hie opera which it cornea is Le , a cceg g work which has not had much success ° U From °the^fift'eenth to the seventeenth century various instruments were in use, the strings of which were plucked. Nowadays one family, that of the lutes, is almost extinct except among su £“ ent T"‘ siasts as the Dolmetsch family. The mam dolin and banjo still have adherents , the harp seems likely to retain its place in the full orchestra; but the guitar has chiefly found favour in other lands. In Andres Segovia it has found a modern exponent of considerable skill, as is evident from a disc affording a Bach Gavotte and a “Theme Varie,” written bv Fernando Sor, an accomplished Spanish guitarist who settled in Paris just about a century ago. This disc will be here shortly. As the public becomes from day to day better acquainted with the music of Puccini’s opera, “ Tnrandot. interest in the recordings increase proportionately. It is an opera that repays study. One can easily discern the immense trouble to which the composer went to secure the authentic Chinese atmosphere. Two records give four notable excerpts. They ar e “Signore Ascolta ” and “ Morte di Lin,” sung by Maria Zamboni (soprano), and “ Nessun Dorma ” and “ Non Piangere Liu,” sung by Francesco Merli (tenor). “ Ai Suzelte ” and “ All of My Sins are Taken Away ” (Negro Spirituals) have been recorded by Edna Thomas. There is always a warm welcome for Edna Thomas and no collection can be comnlete without’ some examples of her Negro Spirituals. “ All of My Sins ” is much on a par with her other spirituals, but in “ Ai Suzette,” a charming love-song of New Orleans, she breaks new ground, and shows her winning capabilities to even better advantage. How rare it is to hear something really funnv on a record! So often one feels that "the absence of the artist robs the work of that vital spark of personality so necessary to humour \et ai! the subtlety, all the humour, are paraded in the two drawling American "oices of Moran and Mack, and in the mscnsicnl patter that they introduce. Their record is “ Two Black Crows.”

The Sheffield Choir, conducted bv Sir Henry Coward, has recorded “ The HalleJujah Chorus ’’ and “ Worthy is the Lamb ” (Handel’s “ Messiah ”). The repu tntion of this choir and the conductor is so firmly established that it takes a great deal cither to enhance it or to damage it. The present record is not perfect, but gives repreduction undreamt of a few years ago,