Evening star., 1954-04-04
7urntobIe Talk


sequence turned out in this
century. the temptation is to
decide that choral compost
tion as a major activity ended
with Brahms.
This isn't quite true, of
course. We have, for instance,
Honegger's Joan of Arc
at the Stake" and king
David" Janacek's "Slavonic
Mass" Schoenberg's Cure
lieder" (not, though, far from
Brahms either musically or
temporarily and Prokofieff's
Alexander Nevsky" and ION
Guard for Peace" And we also
have several impressive prod
ucts of the great English chor-
al tradition, among them Will
liam Walton's "Belshazzar's
Feast"
"Belshazzar's Feast" is such
a robust, flamboyant affair
that 1t Is surprising it hasn't
acquired more popularity in
this country. Walton'S ac-
count Of Babylonian revels
and disaster is richly pictu-
rescue enough to arouse the
most sedate audience. Sir
Adrian Boult is the leader of
an excellent new recording of
the work which has been
issued by Westminster, utiliz-
ing the London Philharmon-
ic Choir and Philharmonic
Promenade Orchestra, and in
which the singers enunciate
with notable clarity. Dennis
Noble Is the capable baritone
soloist. This is surely Wal
tons most consequential pro-
duction to date, and one de-
serving Of closer acquaint-
ance. And there is hardly any
conductor better qualified to
superintend its dissemination
than Boult, who except for
Bcecham seems to be the
most English of English con-
ductors.
Striking Constellation
Westminster's alliance with
Boult has also brought forth
new recordings of Gustav
Holst's "The Planets" and
two Vaughan Williams pieces.
"The PlanetS"-one of them
used to be theme song on
a local radio record-hour -
embody a striking constella-
tion of orchestral sounds,
ranging from harps to xylo-
phone and organ. plus a word
less wcmen's chorus, and the
disc has already become a
hi-f1 showpiece. On the
Vaughan Williams disc pair
ing a ballet suite called "Old
King Cole" and music written
to accompany a play by
Aristophanes. "The Wasps,"
we encounter the dean of
England's composers in a
lighter mood than usual. "Old
King Cole" in particular, is
filled with high good humor.
Benjamin Britten, Vaughan
Williams more youthful COM
patriot, wrote his Young Per-
sons Guide to the Symphony
Orchestra" as the score of a
documentary movie, which
might lead one to doubt it's
concert value. This doubt is
stunningly dispelled by Eduard
van Beinum and the Amster-
dam Concertgebouw on a new
London release. This one, too,
was made to order for the
high fidelity enthusiast. On
the back. as a kind of anti
dote to the pyrotechnics, Van
Beinum manages some elo-
quent tonal painting in the
four sea interludes and pas
sacaglia from Britten's opera,
Peter Grimes"
Bridging q Cop
That usually distinct bor-
derline between popular and
classical is intriguingly bridged
in the Concerto for Piano and
Nine Players by the late Con-
slant Lambert, another Britcn
with a flare for striking ef-
fectS. The nine players are
flute, three clarinets. trumpet,
trombone. cello, double bass
and percussion, and there are
moments when the tonal ar
chitecture is decidedly sugges-
tive Of a subject of Lamber-
tian enthusiasm named ELL
ington. Theodore Bloomfield
is the baton-wielder here, and
Menahem PreSsler the pianist.
On the reverse of the MGM
disc Pressler offers a batch of
little solo pieces by that other
late Briton, Lord Berners, in
Guiding some whimsical fu-
neral marches for a canary,
a statesman and a rich aunt.
BernerS also gave us that suite
called 1.-THE Triumph of Nep-
tune" which includes a drunk