Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-17
NEWS OF MUSIC
By DAY THORPE

During the last six or eight
years the repertoire Of music
available on monograph rec
ords has grown so large, the
average quality of sound has
So improved. and the care,
imagination and general musi-
cal awareness Of the record
companies have so developed.
that the record library Of today
can be no less a touchstone of
the musical tastes Of its owner,
and can cater to afiinities no
less esoteric, than the shelves
Of books Of the bihliophile.
A minor but fascinating re-
suit Of the tremendous guam
tity and discriminating quality
of records now available is the
birth Of the art Of discography
the classification and index
ing Of records.
One Of the finest examples
Of this art is Record Ratings"
Grown Publishers, $3.50
compiled by Kurtz Myers Of
the Detroit Public Library and
edited by one of the most
competent musical scholars of
Washington. Richard S. Hill.
head Of the reference section
OF the Music Division of the
Library Of Congress. The book
has just been published and is
a volume which can bring
many delightful hours to those
individuals who are captivated
by authoritative reference vol
umes. who have some Of
Melville's sub-sub-librarian's
blood in their veins.
Three Comparable Efforts
There are three other record
catalogS. and only three that I
know, which in any way match
the Importance of the Myers
Hill book-and none of the
three can take its place or
substitute for each other.
The first monumental record
catalog was Darrell's Gramo-
phone Shop Encyclopedia, pub
lished in 1886. 1t was COM
plete. accurate, and a ground
breaker in the field of scholarly
compilations of records, but
its two later reviSions (not,
as I remember, by DarrelD
inclined to be hasty and in
accurate commercial jobs of
no intrinsic value. OF course
it is of only historical interest
today.
Then, with the advent of the
LIP record, the Swami catalog
came into existence, and later
q rival, THE Long Player"
These catalogs have an in
calculable advantage over all
others in that they are revised
monthly and are as up to
date as any but the most vo-
raciouS record-collector could
wish. Otherwise they offer
their ponderouS competitors
no competition, since the speed
with which they are edited and
published, and, in all fairness,
the end for which they are
designed, make them unusually
susceptible to error, ambiguity
and omission.
Encyclopedia and Supplements
In 1852 was published the
greatest Of all general record
catalogs-Clough & Cumin's
Worlds Encyclopedia of Re-
corded Music" Two supple
ments have since appeared,
but nevertheless it is about
two years lag Of its material.
1t attempts to list every record
issued anywhere in the world
since 1925, and the amount of
information it gives about each
record, and the extremely high
level Of accuracy, is truly
staggering.
mo less staggering to one
whose admiration for the vol
ume has grown over the years
with his use Of it as a general
reference volume is the au-
thors' list of errata in the
second SUPPLEMENT-
In Clough & Cumin you
can f1nd an incredible fund of
research on the editions used
In recorded performances, cuts
made, whose cadenzas are
played, and siniilar interesting
information otherwise often
difficult to ascertain. Quality
OF recording or performance
is not taken into account.
And Now, Record Ratings"
Now to consider the latest
Of the great encyclopedias
Record Ratings"
1t has two features not found
IN its fellows.
The most distinctive feature
is that it lists reviews of the
records which appeared in 81
magazines and one newspaper,
and indicates whether the
reviewer considered the per-
Torrance excellent. adequate,
or inadequate.
The second feature is a
complete and perhaps unique
index Of all performers and
organizations orchestras,
choruses. etc.
The editors take much stock
In the first Of these features.
for the long and entertaining
preface opens with the SEN
tence Record Ratings is
essentially a guidebook point
ing the way to a tremendous
body Of critical writing about
records"
A melancholy prospect. say
], but perhaps I am prejudiced.
At any rate. one can quickly
tell from the book the con-
1@n &