Evening star., 1950-06-12
Music Notes
Robert Wards Sonata No. L Receives
Perfect Touch From Herbert Sorkin
By Elena de Soyn

~ SS4SlB
BY Elena de Soyn
Robert Ward, the composer, was
fortunate indeed to have had his
Sonata No. /" presented here for
the first time by such an outstand-
ing team as Herbert Sorkin, vio-
linist, and Brooks Smith. pianist,
in the National Gallery of Art last
night.
1t goes without saying that his
sonata was a great vehicle for a
violinist who possesses Mr.. Sorkin' s
vibrant. warm and luscious tone,
! and his talent to make the lifeless
page glow with meaning. The COM
position is a rhapsody on a
grand scale. imaginative, passion
ate, songful and brilliant. It re-
quires also a >virtuoso pianist who
has the intellect and ability to
weed out the unessentials by sub
ordinating them to the leading
voices. Mr.. Brooks was the right
person to help to interpret a work
which had so much in it. Together
the two artists formed a formid-
able partnership and made the
performance a memorable one. Mr..
Ward, in the audience, was called
forward to share in the ovation
which followed.
The fact that Mr.. Sorkin played
this sonata, Stravinsky's Suite on
Themes of Pergolesi," no less tax
ing, and Bach's unaccompanied
Sonata in G Minor" from
memory, helped him to penetrate
each note with that artistic in
sight which comes only from an
Unborn gift and arduous study. In
addition to a purely mechanical
prowesS, which goes into the exc
cution of Bach, one was also aware
of the labor of love with which he
fashioned each inf1nitesimal nu-
ance and brought out the grandeur
Of the masters style.
But the program did not end on
the same level of display which led
one to believe that Mr.. Sorkin's
ways OF giving sonata recitals were
in a class by themselves. The fact
that he found it necessary to per-
form Mozart's Sonata in A Major.
K. $685." last on the program, from
music, left one surprised, to say
the least. After such a feat of a
prodigious memory, assurance and
mastery it seemed such an un-
necessary comedown, especially
since the recital was amply long
without Mozart.
Music Clubs Present Concert.
A concert emphasizing the i'm
port of American music was pre-
sented by the District of Columbia
Federation of Music Clubs in the
Phillips Gallery yesterday after
noon. An excellent program of
representative composers of the
recent past and present was ar
ranged by Marie Seuel- Hoist,
chairman of American Music of
the Federation. The performers
were: The Page String Quartet,
Mack Page and Alexander Levin,
violins, Samuel Feldman, viola,
and Ben Levenson. cello; Gordon
Barnes. baritone, Claire Howard,
contralto, Virginia Houghton, So
prano. and Margaret Tolson,
pianist. Paul Higgenbotham and
Rea Winters were the accom-
panists.
The program opened with two
movements from Randall Thomp-
sons String Quartet in D Minor"
This melodious work is refreshing
for its artless beauty of sound, not
unlike that of the great Bohemians
Smetana and Dvorak, yet thor
oughly individual. The sadness of
the second movement has the dig
nifty of a dirge. Although modern
istic in idiom, Samuel Barber's ia
nous Dover Beach," sung by Mr..
Barnes, accompanied by the Page
String Quartet, lost nothing by
comparison. judging by the fine
reception accorded it by the au-
dience. Mr.. Barnes introduced
further Charles Ives Evening"
and walking" in which the diff
f1cult vocal part floated with ease
over the piano.
Composers of the past generation
were represented by Mrs. H. H. A.
Beach'S "Ah, Love But a Day.;
Hageman's do Not Go, My Love"
Woodman's II Am Thy Harp;
Critics. by a Lonely Forest Path
way" and Horsman's '"The Bird of
Wilderness" sung by Miss Howard.
Miss Houghton chose a group
which contained a few novelties
such as Theodore Chanoler's "The
Rose" and the Wind" and Kath-
ryn Hill Rawls' "The Balloon
Man." Carpenters "Slumber Song"
Dukes "Loveliest of Trees" and
Berger's "Toadinha" completed the
group. The successful recital was
climaxed by the performance of
Ross Lee Finney's piano Sonata
No. 3" played by Miss Tolson, in
troduced here by her earlier this
season.
The Thomas Jefferson Memo