MUSIC

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21775, 14 October 1932, Page 2

MUSIC

NOTES AND RECORDS

By Allegro.

It is said that a desire to express Orientalism is one of the most characteristic features of many musicians today.- This is often the result of the sincere expression of a desire to experience what they have intended to _ express. Sometimes they achieve a feeling very near to that of genuine Eastern music, though this is often spoiled by being given the wrong title, “A Persian Lake/* for instance, being much more expressive of ■the emotions aroused by “ A Chinese House," or vice versa. At* the same time much music has been written as the result of travels in the eastern hemisphere which is as little significant of its subject Some of it is as little true to the life it portends to describe as are the articles of day trippers on the places through which they have passed with a hurried glance. Not every musician who takes a_ trip round the world is able to record his impressions in his own art. One of the difficulties of deciding whether a work is or is not genuinely Oriental is the comprehensiveness of the term. > • A big majority of the music which composers from this side Constantinople write, says a critic, even though it be built up on Eastern modes or of snatches from Eastern songs, is not Oriental. Some of the most capable and gifted composers have made this mistake, or have deliberately made use of this pseudo-Onentalism in order to get certain effects that the exigencies of their work have brought about. Some of the best of such music approaches to the genuine Oriental feeling not because of the fortuitous circumstances of scales or modes, but by the atmosphere arising from a thorough study of Oriental subjects and particularly of Oriental literature. Here we have the other extreme of authentic Orientalism from that of the actual experiences of a composer such as David. In considering the Oriental character of a musical work one has, of course, to ask the question, Which Orient? Orient and Occident are vastly wide terms. David « Orientalism has had good effects on later composers, and a writer in Grove s Die; tionary says that without it “no such dramatic works of Oriental characteristics as Reyer’s ‘Le Statue,’. Bizet’s ‘Djamileh,’ Gounod’s ‘La Rene de Saba,’ Delibes’ ‘Lakme,’ Verdi’s ‘Aida,’ and other ■works could have been created.” Yet it •is impossible not to regard some of these works as below the genuine Oriental standard. , , _ A number of French and Russian composers, among them Albert Roussel and Rimskv-Korsalcoff, have achieved a certain kind of Orientalism as a result of their travels, and it is genuine though it is more the Orientalism of the traveller than that of the native or settler. _ very different, but just as real, is the Orientalism of Borodin, Debussy, Holst, and their like. One mentions these three names as those of composers of entirely different nationality and character, each of whom, however, by his love of Eastern things and by his study of the literature and available music of one or other Eastern country has infused his own music with something of the same character. It is possible, ns has been suggested by the Dutch Orientalist Rient van Santen with regard to the Frenchman, that some early ancestor or each of them may have had Javanese. Caucasian, or Hindu blood in his veins and thus made him more susceptible to subsequent literary and other influence whether acting directly or indirectly. The case of Debussy is certainly a very striking one, for not only did he find a strong affinity in the music of the East Indies immediately he heard it, and unconsciously reproduce many of its most subtle characteristics, but his physical and personal characteristics were not unrelated to those of the Indonesians. This Orientalism is inborn. before it is developed; in many cases it is even unconscious both in its inception and its exPr Where most of the false orientalism of to-day and past generations has gone wrong is not so muen that it has been improperly acquired or that the composers employing it have failed to acquire any of the matter or qualities which make the genuine thing, as that they develop it according to false standards: or by methods, or apply it in their ignorance to matters to which it is unsuitable, Ihe use of oriental modes, of characteristic turns and phrases, is in itself a legitimate means of giving to music a local or racial character, but it is useless, and therefore in art matters as in those of morality, harmful, without the deeper expression which comes from an ; inward feeling of the' principle. The imitation by a composer such as Debussy of _ the Indian gamelon is something very different from an imitation by. a composer who has no natural sympathy with the peoples of the East Indies or any natural power of producing the atmosphere of the country and df its active or deserted temples and vast spaces of wild luxurious vegetation. In this reference we see at once the wide difference there is between the orientalism of David or Santoliquido and that of Debussy. The former present us with the feeling of the Eastern deserts, the latter that of the other extreme of Nature’s cultivation. Similarly the orientalism of Holst, although it started with a visit to an Arabian town, is that of a literary and moral culture rather than of either the bare desert or the overgrown wilds. The orientalism of Roussel is that of the fine civilisation of the Malays and Ainus. It must not be supposed,..however, that all genuine orientalism, that is all music carrying within itself an oriental character, is conscious or deliberate, or that it is necessarily confined to works in which it is the main inspiration. Into many works, especially those of large structure such as Elgar’s “ The Apostles,” _ some Eastern character is worked consciously or unconsciously. Often it is momentary* serving to illustrate a single point, sometimes it infuses the whole wox-k.

Liszt’s striking and colourful "Mefisto Walzt No. 1 ” is recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under Albert Coates. This work is the second of Liszt’s two settings of scenes from Lenau’s “ Faust,” and takes place in the village tavern where Faust and Mephistopheles have stopped to refresh themselves at a village inn. There are music and dancing there, for a wedding is being celebrated. Seizing a fiddle from the hands of one of the village players, Mephistopheles strikes up a wild dance, and this, infused with a spirit of diabolical mockery, gradually set the whole assembly dancing in frenzy. Of all the settings of “ Faust,” there is none more vividly fired with diablerie. It would be impossible to procure a record more appealing to popular taste than " Elegiac Melodies,” played by Mengelberg and the Amsterdam Orchestra. The string section is clear and good, and the playing throughout is on a high level. Following his recording of “ Eri tu,” Lawrence Tibbett has sung the Toreador’s Song from Bizet’s “ Carmen,” with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti.- The American baritone imparts plenty of life into the popular song. He shows a more tender style of singing in the “ Te Deum ” from the end of the first act of Puccini’s "Tosco.” The church bells, the orchestra, and the chorus provide an effective background, and Tibbett shows that he understands to the full Scarpia’s part. The aria “Celeste Aida,” from Verdi’s opera “Aida,” which is magnificently sung by Alessandro Vnlente, is second only to “On With the Motley" in universal popularity as a tenor aria. Rhadames, waiting to hear the decision of the goddess Isis as to whom shall lead the Egyptian armies against the Ethiopians, voices his wish that he might be chosen. The thought of a triumphant return conjures up a vision of his reward, the band of Aida, in whose praise he sings this passionate melody, which rises to a climax on a high B flat. Valente’s voice is perfectly suited to this famous scene. Tile new British Broadcasting Dance Orchestra, under Henry Hall, have made their reputation as one of England’s premier purveyors of dance music, and we may now listen to this combination in recorded form. An issue of interest is a “ Musical Comedy Waltz ” record, being a pot-pourri of 28 old and new musicalcomedy waltzes. A comprehensive series of old-time dances has been issued on records, and these fulfil a long-felt want. _ Dances which are again becoming immensely popular were danced many years ago. Among the selections will be found the lancers, Albert quadrilles, barn dances, the maxina, veleta and numerous recordings of two-steps and the schottische. A recorded cornet solo with orchestral accompaniment holds " Richmond Hill and Telda. The player is Harry Mortimer, a clever artist on his instrument.