MUSIC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20701, 26 April 1929, Page 5

MUSIC.

notes and records.

By Alleged,

Tim® was when Dr Arthur Somervell’ to whom has come the honour of knightjjoody accounted a leader among young British- composers.” He did not, however, confine his talent to music in the mnaller forms,.for early in his career he composed a Mass for the Bach Choir. Twenty-eight years ago he became inspector of music under the Board of Education and Scotch Education Department, a post ho resigned about a. year ago. His predecessor was Sir John Stainer. .Mozart’s curious composition, “ DaVidde Penitente,” which was written as a contribution to a fund organised in Vienna in 1/85 for the benefit of .musicians’ ■widows, has just been revived in Munich after having been overlooked or forgotten for nearly half a century. The revival seems to have been a considerable success. Yehudi Menuhin, 12 years old, was recently offered a birthday present bv a wealthy American. The bov selected a Stradivarius violin valued at £12,000. is reported that an architect in Vienna has designed what he calls a super-piano.” It looks like an ordinary piano, hut its sounds are produced by light, and electricity. Quarter-tones can be produced and a great variety of tonal qualities. Eric Korngold is introducing the instrument to the public. A famous string quartet was visiting a ■ P u’ oV i l r Clal town aDd at tbe first recital, the Mayor gave the members an official welcome. He spoke ■in glowing terms of the local interest in music and'the support the townsfolk invariably gave to concerts. “In fact,” he said, “ you’ll make so much money in this town that you’ll be able to afford another two or three instruments iii your little baud.” A London writer says that Mr GoosSena is at work on another opera, with Villon as subject. In the course of his tour with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra he gave the first American performance of the suite taken from Lord Berner’s music to the "Triumph of Neptune.” His brother Leon—a prince of oboists—-had been achieving rare success with his recitals. According to an American- journal, Chaliapin and Marguerite D’Alvarez are to appear soon in sound pictures or movietones, Mme. D’Alvarez ig stated to be contemplating a series of operatic subjects in costume for a British company. The potentialities of this new development are obviously illimitable, and one learns that M'Cormack has already been approached by an American firm. The National Anthem is a mystery. Nobody knows who wrote it. Henry Carey, who wrote “ Sally in Our Alley,” and was the great-grandfather of Edmund Kean, is sometimes claimed as its author. But he never claimed to have written "God Save the King ” during his lifetime. There is also a story that “God Save the King” was sung in the chapel of James II when William of Orange was on his way to England. This would definitely rule out Carey as author. The other most-favoured claimant is Dr John Bull, who lived in the beginning of the seventeenth century. But perhaps it is too good to be true that a musician with so appropriate a name should have, produced our National Anthem.

A mammoth gramophone record with a 4,000,000-mile length of groove would La made if the sound tracts on a year's output of records were made continuous. The average length of groove of a 10-inch record is 530 feet per side, and on a 12inch record 840 feet per side. The needle travels over an. average of 37 inches of groove .per second.

There is no question about the boom in the gramophone industry. “ There are two reasons for it,” said an official of one of. the manufacturers. "The first is the electric recording and the second the durability and high quality of tho modern record. Wo use microphones for all recording now. Electrical recording is universal in our studios. It is done by means of a microphone which is almost exactly the same as those used for broadcasting. Sometimes, where an orchestra is concerned, about six microphones are used simultaneously. Thus we can pick up practically every sound. I do not think we are damaging wireless at all. One of thi most popular items in the wireless programmes is the broadcasting of gramophone records. WiroleSa certainly helps us. Each time a new song is broadcast effectively the gramophone sales go up. The sale of records last year was half a* much again as in the previous year.”

Good discs ane Beethovan’s “ Egmont ” overture, “Symphony in E flat, final movement,. and from “ Figaro ” “ hon pin cosa son” (Mozart); Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony ’’ (first movement); Wagners * Mastereitigers 99 overture and “ Liebe'strod ” from “ Tristan ”; Debussy’s “Aprca Midi d’une Faune ”; Moussorgsky’s “ Town of Kazan” and “Galitsky”; Puccini’s “Che Gclida Manina”; Tschaikowsky’s “Andante Cantabile,” from “ D Major Quartet”; Byrd’s “hantasia for String Sextet ; Rondo C.aprissioso ” jvS^int-Saens)by Rene Chcnet; Bach’s .. ff String Air,” by Menges; Chopin’s Berceuse” arid "E Flat Nocturne” by Backhaus; and Schiibert’s “Auf den Wasser zu Singen ” and “Grctchen am Bpinnrade, sung by Elena Gerhardt. A gay symphony is the Mozart in E flat (No. 39), contributed by the Berlin State Opera Orchestra under Erich Kleiber (only three discs, though the complete symphony). It retains all Mozart s usual flourish and tunefulness, but displays leas of those tricks and phrases of -which he wag so fond, and so often employed in the better-known works. Every branch of the orchestra is com* petent in its work.

The \ lenna Philharmonic Orchestra has provided.a disc characterised by brilliant instrumentation of Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony.” The Vienna Orchestra’s characteristic qualities in the old days was of; a dancing orchestra, which kept good rhythm.

.The “ Petrouchka ” suite (Igor Stravinsky), placed by the Symphony Orches■tra conducted by the composer, ie a recent recording. Stravinsky, one of the moat discussed composers of recent years, is at present in England, aud some months ago was persuaded to direct a performance of Pet^ouchka/ , This recording does not give all of the music originally written; Petrouchka.” is a ballet. The story is very briefly this: The first tableau, or scene, represents a Russian provincial fair. One of the sideshows is a puppet play. The showman introduces three puppets—Petrouchka. a Moor and a dancing girl. The showman plays ins cornet and winds his barrel organ. A musical box on his little stage begins to play. He perforins a conjuring trick, plays on his pipe and brings the llncu P ”? pet / A° ll . fe - They dance (ami the end of the first record concludes their dancing). The 'second tableau shows that Petrouchka j s in love with the empty-headed dancing girl, who docs hot respond. She favours the swarthy Moor. •a, w ancea lirKt bv biT nself and then with. her. Petrouchka curses in shattering trumpet arpeggios! The two puppet suitors do not get o n well together. I he. .fourth scene shows the carnival again—-all gaiety, with nursemaids dancing with coachmen and grooms and much ether amusement. Threatening sounds are later heard proceeding from the little P, u P pat theatre. Out rushes Petrouchka, the Moor, on his heels with a large sword, there is, a crash ■ on the cymbals, and Petrouchka is killed. Then there is silence, and funeral music follows. Fll^Jw? rd u t *i.u e rec . omrn ended is that of Elisabeth Rethberg in two popular passages from Verdi’s “ Aida,”—“ Return Victonous. and O Patria .Alia.” The accompaniment is well done by the Berlin fctate Opera orchestra under Fritz Zwem the singer is noted by.her phrasing ami *'ident sympathy with the material. arc some of Robeson's record inns • (i Water Hoy” (a rr. H T. Burleigh) „nd «w^ a v Vay rc. (mu- Lawrence Brown). Wrire Ton There? ” ( aiT , h. T. BuiJmgh), sung by Robeson and Lawrence Brown. Bye and Bye ” (ai r. H. T, Burleigh), also Witness” and “I Got a Home in Dafc Rock,” “ Swing Low Sweet Uhanot, and “Joshua Fit de Battle.” On Ma Journey” (arr. Boatner) and I -J Feel Li ke a Motherless Child (arr. Brown). “Deep River” ;, ar f- BurleighUand “I’m Coin’ to Tell God All My Troubles ” (arr. Brown). ti ■ Blease Doan’ Let' Dis Xlaryes’ (arr. Burleigh) and “ Scandalise My Narae’ (arr. Burleigh). "Seem Lak* v° » ,(Johnson) and “Down de Lover’s Bane (Cook).- There are also “01’ Man River 'Jfrom “The Snow Boat” (Kern), played by Paul Whiteman and his concert orchestra, with Paul Robeson and mixed chorus. On the reverse side of this recprd, Paul Whiteman and his orchestra JflaK vocal gems from "Tho. Show Boat.”