Evening star., 1952-09-21
TurntobIe Talk:
French Horn Rewarded
In Poetic Brahms Trio
BY jones G. Deone

made a notable impression with
its record Of the lyrical Dvorak
quintet. does the playing. and
London Is the maker. The
sound is excellent.
Hindemith'S writing embraces
great variety. In 1914. on COM
mission from Elizabeth Sprague
Coolidge, he composed ballet
score called "Herodiade." The
ballet was danced at the Lii
brary Of Congress by Martha
Graham. Another unusual work,
written nine years earlier, Is
der Schwanendreher." It is
a concerto for viola and small
orchestra. based on German
folk melodies.
Vienno Symphony Plays
vox has paired them on q
single disc, with the Vienna
Symphony under Herbert Haef-
ner performing. Both are lis
tenable. Der Schwanendreher"
being more conventional. In
"Herodiade" the piano is used
Interestingly to accent the quiet
dissonant score, which Is for q
chamber-size ensemble. The
performances seem adequate,
and the sound is realistic. In
the concerto Guenther Breiten-
back extracts robust tones from
the solo viola.
Schoenberg's "Erwartung," for
soprano and orchestra. is not
pretty music. It is q dramatic
monologue with q gruesome
theme-murder. The focus is
on the emotions Of the victims
beloved. and the music-convey-
ing the emotional ebb and flow.
becomes at times almost tor
tured. Schoenberg. perhaps the
most enterprising Of modernists,
is well equipped to write such q
score. Those who admire his
idiom now may study this ex-
ample on a Columbia recording,
performed energetically by Dor
othy Dow and the New York
Philharmonic under Dmitri
Mitropoulos.
On the reverse is Ernst Krenek's
Symphonic 'Elegy for String
Orchestra" composed in menu
ory Of q Schoenberg disciple,
Anton Won Webern. Pleasantly
astringent. It's dissonances make
tasty seasoning for the usual.
more conservative musical diet.
\ 4 y
Heitor Villa-Lobos in 1897
took time out from composing
for gourds and other jungle in
StrumentS for q try at sacred
music. He wrote a mass named
for Saint Sebastian. patron Of
Rio de Janeiro. The musical
idiom is a combination of the
style Of 18th century choral
composers Of Spain and Portu-
gal and more recent Brazilian
folk influences.
Werner Jansen and q mixed
chorus at the University of Cali
fornia perform the mass. which
calls for no accompaniment, on
"a Columbia disc. The music
seems strange and austere
when compared with traditional
masses. The words Gin Latin)
are not always intelligible, but
the performance is vigorous, and
the recording is satisfactory.
Sponsored Church Music
Religious music Of a more ia
miliar kind is on another CO.
lumbia issue. Called Music Of
the Liturgy in English" it con-
sistS Of the plainSong, chant and
Merbecke communion service
used in Episcopal churches. Stu
dents Of the General Theological
Seminary Of New York sing the
plainsong, and q mixed choir the
other selections. The Joint Com
mission on Church Music spon-
sored the recording as q guide
to choir leaders and singers.
There was a day when Mem
delssohn's g minor piano con-
certo wass played more often
than almost any other. It
seems to have come upon harder
times, but the concerto hasn't
lost the qualities that made it SO
popular. On q svox disc, orazio
Frugoni gives a fieet-fingered
performance with the Vienna
Symphony. conducted by Rudolf
Moralt.
On the reverse are two Men
delssohn overtures. neither very
often performed in this coun-
try-"Beautifuf Melusine" and
"Calm Seas and Prosperous Voy-
age" Hans Moltkau is the con.
fl,1nfoy. THE ,.nOo,.>a;,>.. =. ,,,~. ~a-,..