Evening star., 1939-08-06
Review of RECORDINGS

certain instruments and themes
have been assigned to the different
characters and an illustration Of
each is played on the first record.
Thereafter, as the tale progresses,
these themes are interviewer with
delightful humor and change of
mood so that there is no mistaking
the drama taking place and the part
each character plays in it.
Never was there such a happy,
carefree tune invented as that rep
resenting Peter while the bird has
his say by means of the flute and
the duck by the oboe The cat
sinks along to the staccato tones
Of the clarinet, while the heavy
movements of the grandfather is
recreated by the bassoon The wolf
is ominously announced by three
horns and the rescuing hunters by
kettle and bass drums.
We have another idea about Mr..
Prokofleff now, for any one who
could SO thoroughly reproduce in
musical form and with such evi-
dent personal enjoyment the whole
atmosphere of this fairy tale must
be nice person to know.
Primarily for children but of in
terest to grownups also is Roy Har-
ris' "Children's Suite" which takes
the last disc of the recording of his
Sonata for Piano" The works are
performed by his pianist-wife, Jo-
hama Harris. This short suite was
written last Christmas morning for
a young girl student, and its several
very short movements are entitled
Bells Sad Children, Happy
Children" and "Slumber." The
study in contrasting ideas and point
of view which the Prokofieff and
the Harris writing for children Of
fers is extremely interesting.
The sonata is barren work for
the ear, but Mr.. Harris describes his
plan as, in the prelude, "a study of
chord line in rhythmic groups of
two pulses alternated by rhythmic
groups of three pulses" The second
movement is a variation study of
CHORD line rhythmic motif of II
pulses" and "a free-scale polytonal
pastoral style of melody" The third
movement is the development of "a
study in two-voice fugato" and the
coda dramatic development of
the prelude.
After an excursion into the latest
works of these noted modern COM
posers one can return to feast on
the beautiful recording of Jascha
Heifetz and Emanuel Bay of the
Beethoven Sonata in G Major" AL
fred Cortot's performance of the
Chopin Concerto No. in F Minor"
with an orchestra conducted by
John Barbirolli, and the Kreiner
String Quartet's playing of Mozart's
first quartet and the menuetto from
his quartet No. 13 in D Minor"
The Cortot release will first focus
the attention, for it is somewhat
of an event to have a recording
by Cortot. This beautiful concerto,
the output of most youthful
Chopin experiencing his first real
love affair, is played with the ut
most emotional sensitiveness by the
great French pianist. The exquisite
second movement, which both Liszt
and Schumann found enhancing, is
most tenderly and POLITICALLY per-
formed here, while the brilliant
final movement has all it's light
ness and grace stressed in Mr.. Cor
tots playing. The concerto was the
first written, but the second to be
published.
The third sonata of Beethoven's
opus 80 has ideal interpreters In
Heifetz and Bay, whose joint per-
formance Is smooth, elegant and
artistic in the extreme. Impressive
also Is the Kreiner String Quartet's
playing of the first quartet Mozart
ever wrote, the work of boy genius