February 8, 1923
American public and in the hands of American students and amateurs.
THE LONDONDERRY AIR, Arranged for Violin and Piano
By Lionel Tertis
Anyhow, we are getting to know the Londonderry Air! If arrangers keep on arranging it until every composer in the world, in Ireland and out, has had his try at it, we will finally know it—and hate it! The first time we heard it (arranged by somebody) we were delighted. We were thrilled. We felt all kinds of gratitude to Grieg for having invented the plan of arranging folk songs, and to Grainger for having followed in his footsteps. And then, lo! We got weary of such things. Has nobody any invention any more, said we? Must the whole world arrange Negro melodies or Irish tunes or English tunes or hoochy-koochies or Hawaiian plunckyplunks and ukelele- imbecilities? It is nauseating. The arrangers, from Kreisler to the least of the rhapsodists, are doing the world a disservice and themselves an injustice. Not that this arrangement of the Londonderry Air by Tertis is not good. They are all good. That is the trouble with them. If they were all bad they would not matter. They would disappear without making an impression. But they are all good, and instead of the world, famished for a new note in art, getting something upon which to wet its w’istle, it has to swallow oodles of hash and rehash! Ye gods!
F. P.
(G. Ricordi & Co., New York)
YOU'RE JUST MINE, and HEAVEN AT THE END OF THE ROAD (Songs)
That H. O. Osgood, of the Musical Courier staff, can write music which has a distinct popular appeal without being banal is proved by these two songs. The first (text by Gordon Johnstone) is a waltz song, particularly good for tenor, in moderate tempo, with graceful, easily singable melody. The accompaniment has harmonic variety and attractive counter melodies. An effective number for a popular program.
Heaven at the End of the Road, text also by Johnstone, is a catchy Irish song, with a distinctly Irish turn to the verse melody and a' swinging march tune for the refrain, working up to a telling climax at the end, to the words: “There’s a cabin small that’s not a home at all—sure, it’s Heav’n at the End of the Road!” This song, though issued only a short time ago, has already been used with instant success by Charles Hackett, Colin O’More, Theo Karle, Harold Land, and other well known concert singers and no less than four different companies are preparing phonograph records of it. Musically it stands a little higher than You’re Just Mine and will fit into any program. Both songs are published in two keys.
(G. Schirmer, Inc., New York)
PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN E FLAT MAJOR (for Organ)
By Dr. W. Croft
Any organist noting the foregoing caption will at once think of the Saint Ann’s fugue, and such this is, being one of the greatest of the works of the sublime Johann Sebastian Bach. The name comes from the fact that the first six tones comprising the subject of the fugue have been utilized by the Englishman, Dr. W. Croft, for the hymn St. Ann’s, composed about 1700. So that the beloved saint has nothing whatever to do with Bach! It is history that Father Bach wrote the prelude to the fugue as Part III of his Clavieriibung, published about 1739, meant for either piano (with pedals) or organ. Charles Marie Widor and Albert Schweitzer have together edited Bach works, of which this excerpt is important. Everyone knows the former’s name, but that of the Alsatian Schweitzer is less known. He was a Widor pupil, later studying medicine, organist of the Bach concerts in Strassburg, lecturer before the Vienna Congress of Music, 1909. About 1910 he went to the Congo for medical investigation; “still there at last accounts,” says Who’s Who in Music. The edition is nicely gotten up, with four pages of suggestions for performance by the editors, the measures being numbered; printed as all organ music should be—in wide quarto.
OVERTURE TO A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (for Organ)
By Caspar P. Koch
Caspar P. Koch, born in Germany, since 1892 in Pittsburgh, city organist of Alleghany, Pa., since 1914, is the transcriber of this fairy overture by the Leipsic Jew, Mendelssohn. This he has done most thoroughly and carefully, with fingering marked, and every detail of registration; it is planned for four-manual organ, but all organists must be able to re-arrange according to the capacity of their own instrument.
TWELVE CONCERT PRELUDES AND FUGUES (for Piano)
By Horace Wadham Nicholl
That a composer may have tremendous facility in contrapuntal art, invent some melody even, have control of the piano or organ keyboard, and obtain a publisher of prominence, and yet, withal, remain a dry-as-dust musical personage is illustrated in the music of Horace Wadham Nicholl. Born in England, coming to the United States in 1870, he was organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Pittsburgh, after that in New York (1878) at St. Mark’s P. E. Church-in-the-Bouwerie. He composed incessantly, and number 11 of the collection named in the foregoing
MUSICAL COURIER
of its imagined languor. The name probably refers to one of the provinces of Spain, a district. If so, it must be a wonderful place.
(H. W. Gray Co., New York)
A BERMUDA SUITE By Robert Huntington Terry
The Mid Ocean, which is a newspaper published in Bermuda, gives one the impression that this is the first time that wet and delightful little island has been set to music. It may be. And yet, if it is, it is rather surprising. For many a musician goes to Bermuda, and one would think the inspiration of that beautiful place would naturally lead to music. Certainly in this case it has seemed to prove a real inspiration.
Robert Huntington Terry has made nine graceful, simple piano compositions with attractive titles and dedications: Bermuda Beautiful (“To my friends at Mangrove Bay and to all Bermudans”), By the Waters of Somerset, Cathedral Rocks, Moonlight at the Crossways (a waltz), The Heron’s Nest (“herons on the wing”—one of the best of the suite), Sunset at Samdys Churchyard, To an Oleander (another waltz), Crystal Cave (“to the Princess Hotel Orchestra”—with a sort of program which says “A sound of distant bells and tones of an organ as suggested by huge stalacites. The subterranean lake impresses one of its marvellous beauty and one hears the dripping of water from the stalacites.”), Farewell Bermuda.
This is all popular music and reminds one somewhat of the style and manner of Nevin. It is simple, easy to perform, and should find, favor.
(Clayton F. Summy Co., Chicago)
CREDO (in Memoriam)
By Adolf Weidig
This piece is dedicated to Malcolm Cotton Brown “who gave his life to his country.” It was written, apparently, especially for the memorial service, August 4, 1918, Hinsdale, 111. It is a quartet for two violins, viola and cello and is published in both score and parts. It is• based upon the plain song Credo customary in Roman Catholic churches, and is extremely well made. Quite short, devotional in spirit, and suitable in every way for memorial services. It rnigh be played by a string quartet or by a string orchestra. It will be enthusiastically welcomed by amateur players.
(Carl Fischer, New York)
SYMPHONIC RHAPSODY IN F MINOR and ENTR’ACTE By A. Walter Kramer
These are both violin pieces. The first is a rhapsody for violin and orchestra, reduced for the piano. It is not based upon Negro melodies, but a foot note says that two Negro melodies have been used in it, although they have nothing to do with the main subject. The main subject is certainly not Negro in character. It is big, forceful and very effective, well set for the violin, and is developed into a powerful rhapsodic movement that should be very striking with the orchestra accompaniment. An excellent piece of writing that certainly indicates that Mr. Kramer has done well to devote himself to composition.
The Entr’acte is also of Negro flavor. A small, attractive piece, dedicated to Fritz Kreisler, and just the sort one would suppose he would like to play. It is not at all difficult and will be a popular studio number.
SEVEN SONGS By Rachmaninoff
These songs have the following titles: Ecstasy of Spring —Russian text by Tuttshev, English version by Geraldine Farrar; The Mirage—Russian text by Balmont (after Shelley), English version by Geraldine Farrar; Here Beauty Dwells—Russian text by Galina, English version by Geraldine Farrar; Thy Tryst—Russian text by Beketoff, English version by Geraldine Farrar; Oh, Thou Waving Field of Golden Grain—Russian text by Tolstoi, English version by Geraldine Farrar; The Alder Tree—Russian text by Galina, English version by Geraldine Farrar; Oh, Cease Thy Singing, Maiden Fair—Russian text by Pushkin, English version by John McCormack, violin obligato by Fritz Kreisler.
This is a very tasteful new edition with photographs of Rachmaninoff, Farrar, McCormack and Kreisler on the cover. There is no need to speak of the music itself. It is Rachmaninoff, and Rachmaninoff is always delightful. The best of these are those which have the strong Russian character, the peculiar Oriental wailing notes as in Oh, Thou Waving Field of Golden Grain or Oh, Cease Thy Singing Maiden Fair. But all of them are lovely and will repay examination.
0Arthur P. Schmidt Co., Boston)
MacDOWELL ARRANGEMENTS FOR VIOLIN, CELLO AND PIANO
Those received are To the Sea, and Nautilus. Two others are listed along with these on the cover:	A. D.
MDCXX, and Song. They are transcribed by Anna Priscilla Risher. Very attractively and carefully edited. And how beautiful they are! One never sees anew a piece of MacDowell without receiving a fresh shock of delight at the excellence of his makings, the splendid fervor of his muse, his seriousness, his Americanism. He, at least, among American composers, tried to transcribe the bigness and nobility of American ideals—and succeeded, wonderfully. We felicitate both arranger and publisher upon this new effort to place MacDowell attractively before the
46
REVIEWS AND NEW MUSIC
BOOKS
(Oliver Ditson Company, Boston)
HARMONY FOR EYE, EAR AND KEYBOARD By Arthur Edward Heacox
This is a useful book.. Evidently intended for the schools, it is conventional and orthodox. There is. nothing in it that will shock any teacher, nor any attempt at any newness of conception. A chord is still a chord, figured bass as of old, triads taught for a long time before the seventh chord is allowed, etc. Just the same old thing, and yet there is a certain consideration of the psychological or mental side of the instruction, and it is not quite so purely mechanical as the dreadful old Richter type of manual. Ear training begins at the beginning, and also keyboard work (everybody is presumably able to play the piano), and the exercises have some rhythm and are not all hymn tunes or chorals as in the days of old. No doubt the work has all been tried out in actual teaching and has been found effective.
Therefore it is not for the reviewer to sit up in his office and criticise. But it does seem as if the material could be made more “ordinary,” that is to say, more like what even the most youthful of beginners is accustomed to. Even the most elementary of piano pieces for the smallest children use, for instance, seventh chords, and do not have all of the chords in the fundamental positions; yet in this book inverted chords do not appear until lesson sixteen, and the seventh chord not until lesson twenty-six. Is this really necessary?
There is a controversy going on just now in the Paris schools with Vincent d’lndy on the one side and a whole crowd of liberalists on the other. D’lndy, it seems, wants the children in the public schools (in which only one hour a week is allowed for music) taught the. grammar of music. The liberalists say: teach them as they learn to speak, first to talk, to use words, then to know the grammar. That is in music just what it was years ago in the foreign language classes—the conversational method (Berlitz) and the old orthodox method. And we recall a child (in California, it was) who had a task set to harmonize a folk song—Old Black Joe. She did it. But her work was voted all wrong and thrown out, not because it was wrong, but because the class had not arrived at the use of the chords she used in her harmonization. It is like a walking race where contestants are disqualified because they run. They get there faster by running, but in a walking race they must walk, not run.
Such are the arguments on the one side. The argument on the other side is that children must be kept back if they would learn thoroughness; they must learn to handle a few simple elements first before others may be used. It would serve no useful purpose to enter into this controversy here. It is, in any case, impossible to convince either side that they are wrong. There is no argument except experience, and where one teacher gets the best results with the slow method, another will get the best results by jumping into the very middle of things and working both ways. The synthetic method and the analytical method—they probably both are best.	F. P.
MUSIC
(John Church Co., Cincinnati)
SCHERZO FROM SONATA By Harold Morris
This is the scherzo from the well-known sonata which has added so greatly to Harold Morris’ fame both as a composer and as a pianist. It well deserves the success it has won, for it poessesses great facility and fluency of movement and is pianistically most effective. It is not easy. Far from it. It is one of those modern things that tax the finger technic of the player as well as his musician-ship. At the same time it will be found useful as a study by those far enough advanced to use it, and will prove to be a highly successful and popular recital piece. It will also have the effect of creating a desire to become familiar with the rest of this brilliant and interesting sonata.
(/. & W. Chester, London)
FANTASIA BAETICA (for Piano)
By Manuel de Falla
This is truly a gorgeous piece of music. It was composed by the noted Spanish writer in 1919 and is dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein who should be highly complimented to have such great music as this attached to his name even by means of a dedication. What the name means this reviewer has not the least idea, and thinks it a pity , that the publishers have not taken the trouble to furnish an explanation. After a few introductory bars, the piece dashes into a Giocoso movement, very forceful and rhythmic, full of life and the joy of life. The harmony is curious, modern but not excessively so. Technically the work is tremendously difficult—at least way beyond the powers of any ordinary pianist. It flashes and scintillates in the most brilliant manner, and one might suppose it to represent the color and sunshine, light and beauty of Spain, but none
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