Programme Notes Turangalila

Current Chronicle
Author(s): Peter Gradenwitz, Frederick Goldbeck, Martin Cooper, V. Kryoukov, Edmond

Appia, Leonard Burkat, Henry Cowell, Frederick W. Sternfeld, Nathan Broder, Vincent
Persichetti and Jan L. Broeckx
Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Apr., 1950), pp. 259-306
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/739819
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CURRENT CHRONICLE
UNITED STATES
Boston
Of the music of Olivier Messiaen Virgil Thomson wrote four

years ago, "What strikes one right off on hearing any of his pieces
is the power these have of commanding attention. They do not
sound familiar; their textures-rhythmic, harmonic and instrumental
-are fresh and strong. And though a certain melodic banality may
put one off no less than the pretentious mysticism of his titles may
offend, it is not possible to come in contact with any of his major
productions without being aware that one is in the presence of a
major musical talent. Liking it or not is of no matter." '
Within a short period I have heard three of Messiaen's large
works of recent years: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1941) for
clarinet, violin, 'cello, and piano; Sept visions de l'amen (1943) for
two pianos, and the world premibre of a symphony commissioned by
the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Turangalila (1946-48); and
am convinced of the truth of Thomson's early opinion.
Messiaen is "an original". Careful examination of his music dis-
closes a conception and execution that resemble no other. In all the
history of Western music I know such interest in rhythmic organi-
zation only in Guillaume de Machaut's Bone Pastor,2 a motet almost
perfectly isorhythmic in all three parts.
The nature of Turangalila is such that serious consideration of
it opens up a new world of thought on the techniques of musical
composition for our time. For the sake of exposing certain aspects
of the composer's modus operandi, I shall consider the symphony
here movement by movement in varying detail. I offer not a defense
but a demonstration.
The symphony is in ten movements totalling in duration approxi-

mately sixty-eight minutes. Its title, Turangalila, is said to be a poetic
Indian word meaning love song also used as a girl's name, and to
1 New York Herald-Tribune, Sept. 23, 1945.
2 Werke, III, 65 (169).
259
260 The Musical Quarterly
have rhythmic connotations. The instrumentation
piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bas
bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, cornet, three
keyboard glockenspiel, celesta, vibraphone (the thre
in ensemble as a gamelan), Ondes Martenot, obblig
angle, temple blocks, wood block, small Turkish cy
cymbal, hand cymbals, Chinese cymbal, tam-tam,
racas, tambourin provengal, snare drum, bass dru
strings.
1. The first movement, an introduction, opens with a com-
manding figure chiefly low in the strings, reinforced at points of
rest by winds. A quick call, after thirteen measures in octaves, makes
known the secundal harmony of the music that is to come.2a
M~ode ,u eu vif
E x .l. _ &_im p ut,

BsJ.,.Tr'b. ?fft? . LI - --b%?
This is followed immediately by a descending whole-tone scale, a

shriek from the strings and Ondes, and then by the first of the sym-
phony's three cyclic themes.
Ex2 Lourd2pres
3Trbs.,Tubalnt- >4 >
Another section follows in which a series of arabesque-like figures

accompany the descending scale. This leads through a group of
phrases derived from the introductory material to the second cyclic
theme,
Ex.3 Lent
-A ! Fl
which is followed by a cadenza f

2a All the examples in this report, except
of Durand &- Cie, Paris, France, and Elk
owners.
Current Chronicle 261
The next section is one that shows th

found in this work and also the d
music comprises three simultaneous
its proper rhythmic organization, p
formula in the percussion, a bass fig
that consist of the repeated piano ch
trumpets and piano (facsimiles facin
happening is this:
Ex.4 Moakd ? nrE _ . I INS.

!3 ~ r , ...... r ..... -
Bassomas _
CeIkos,Basse__A . .. . . . .. ... . .. ._
Strin S rr I _
mSnmreflrum
~aine eC)=b PM *pq V. in PRII
_ _ _ _ -AWIi
----, rl c t t ...... j Im
i) 'hJ i [] M-'-"L
Im ilm
t tn
The gamelan and bass instruments pl

consisting of a repeated figure in 5/
whose rhythm reminds one of a mediev
The strings, too, have their mode.3
j J j ; n.
The snare drum repeats a non-retrogradable rhythm, expanding it
on each repetition,4 while the Chinese cymbal is struck at intervals
diminished successively by the value of one sixteenth note. The
gamelan music continues until the trombones return with their
thirds for a new climax under a syncopated figure heard strongest
3 It was only after the above was written that I realized that I had not looked
into Messiaen's book, Technique de mon langage musical (Paris, 1944), to see what I
could find that might bear upon this symphony on which he was to begin working in
the summer of 1946. There I noted (Vol. 1, p. 6) that "CArngadeva, the Hindu theore-
tician of the 13th century, left us a table of 120 Decitalas, or rhythms. In this table
we find the rhythm 'RAgavardhana' ":
This rhythm reversed
and then with its dotted half reduced to three equal parts is
This pattern is one by which Messiaen has been much and long taken. It appears, for
example, in the fourth of Chants de terre et de ciel (1938), Arc-en-ciel d'innocence
Ex.5 Un Plent
le so-lil t'e-cri- ra sur I' -pau-le de ma-tin
and in Le mystire de la Sainte-Trinite from Les corps glorieux (1939) for organ.
Ex. 6 i. .' t,lintain
edalpM legfato
Carngadeva's table is published in Part I, Vol. I of the Lavignac Encyclopddie, pp.

301-04. The rhythm Rdgavardhana is No. 93 in the table. Turangalila
is No. 33-
4 For Messiaen a non-retrogradable rhythm is musically the quantitative equivalent

of "MADAM ADAM", identical whether read from left to right or from right to left.
In Ex. 4 the central point in each non-retrogradable rhythm is marked with a cross.
,r"jr
' -T
CS
dl lB * ,:.::,::.::.::-- : I):::.:' .::::::::: .....:: .:i;~L-:
low " "
Permission for reproduction granted bv Durand & Cie, Paris, France, and Elkan-Vogel Co., Inc.,
Philadelphia, Copyright owners
Page 18 from the Original Manuscript of Messiaen's Turangalila
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Permission for reproduction granted by Durand

Philadelphia, Copyright owners
Page 19 from the Original Manu
from the trumpets and horns, and

arabesque, four strokes of the Chin
bass drum.
2. The second movement is the first of two called Chant d'amour.
Here the composer evokes two aspects of love in violent contrast:
impassioned earthly love-ideal and tender love. There is an intro-
duction after which the theme of the two loves is plainly exposed.
Ex7 Pa;-"ia-',- umpevip
I i iltt eeT~l
. . . . 0 , 1 7. . .
This is the refrain that recurs between episodes of variat

development that concern themselves also with the intro
matter, treating the refrain rhythmically, melodically, and b
imposition of material. A brief coda closes the movement.
3. The third movement is the first of three entitled Tu
in which Messiaen again composes in rhythms. Among oth
happening early in the movement for example, is a passage
double quantitative augmentation and diminution, in a
progression, take place simultaneously in horn and 'cellos
tively.
Ex 8 Un piUenl
s 8 4 * L as5
Counting the sixte

1, of the 'cello, 11.
four less, 7. These
of arithmetic pro
+2 and --1.
There is not space here to mention all the rhythmic techniques
employed in this movement but I should like to offer this example
of a retrograde rhythmic canon.
Ex.9 T s ,,air (, Fl. Cl

A-F (2)l.
F1 6,)> -3
(12) .
(sf u ,)
Jr- i j,- i-
pp
. - .1 'z~~P3---
~ () . i; ' ,-J..
dim.()
The coda refers briefly to both the melodic and rhythmic

materials of the movement.
4. The fourth movement, the second Chant d'amour, is a scherzo

with two trios, a familiar form, but here in the da capo the two trios
are superimposed upon the scherzo.
Ex.lO
Salorw L AAIA 4
A41o Ij
-. -..q _ , ...
Tmio I L vp o
v . . . . . . ,,. . . . . . . . .
T~~olI ". ... . .,' r r-!" ! " - - . . . . -
This the composer calls a simnultan

themes (only distantly related to wha
terpoint) but with separate entrance
song, four rhythms, and the trombon
5. The fifth movement, Joie du s
formance the effect of the conventi
theme is heard as a refrain with coup
two developments, and a recapitulati
6. The entire sixth movement, Jardin
but 65 measures in length, tres mnoddr
flute, a clarinet, the percussion, and t
strings without basses. Four periods

movement - a, a', ba2, coda. The theme
EX. 11 Tres h nn er',tr te dre

Pi=DP
On~ae
and
. ... -,
pa ,.: h _ mIw
is the last of the three cyclic themes.

7. The seventh movement is Turangali
exploration of rhythms and sonorities. A
tion there are six measures of what the
timbres.
Ex]2.modere 8-
AT~~t 8;2
i P i I L& I [L. I I 1 1. 1r~CL
This is followed by a section devoted to co

rhythms (rhythmic modes altered by add
melodic modes or scales by accidentals
devoted to a theme dispersed among the w
point of bird songs. Then the six-measur
all its accompaniment are repeated in retrogr
rhythmic complexity is exposed, and the
a close by the superimposition upon the chro
point of both the direct and retrograde m
8. The eighth movement concerns itse
ment de l'amour. It is another movement of
has said, between two movements of technique. H
a device of orchestration that plays an important part
tion of the techniques employed in composing in r
In the Chinese cymbal part of Ex. 4 we have seen
his habitual notation for percussion instruments. M
set down only the point at which the cymbal is to be
he attempt to set the exact duration of the free vib
he has actually conceived a period of time beginni
and continuing until the next is attested by the not
findings here, where the movement begins with a r
in which each percussion note is doubled by four-pa
bass clarinet and double basses pizzicato, the str
clarifying the attack and the clarinet adding reson
After a passage devoted to an exploration of the
composing in chords, Messiaen arrives at the body
ment, which is devoted to the development of the t
themes and their derivatives that are the melodic material of the
entire work. The development begins in the principal key of th
symphony, F-sharp major. There is a second development th
starts in D major and then the loudest of all the fortissimi in t
symphony signals a recapitulation-or as the composer more accu
rately puts it, a re-exposition-, a piano cadenza that refers to t
opening, and a seven-measure coda that telescopes references to t
themes.
9. The ninth movement, Turangalila 3, opens with a theme

Hindu in character,
Exl3 eod. TpI

A (V Chimeg - Awl%
d Cl.
which is followed immediately by a quint

use of a rhythmic chromaticism of 17 v
varying in duration from the value of o
value of seventeen) dispersed among the
5 For Messiaen's thoughts on other problems in th
rhythmiques, in Technique de mon langage musical.
Ex.14 Modaer 7 3 216 17

Woodblock __.-______-M
Tab. prov.
P15 14 121 16
p 8 10 16
14
12 15
13 . . .. 11 13
Here, against an ostinato in t

bourin provenpal and woodblock
in what Messiaen has called cont
retrograde rhythmic canon (cf.
with exchanges of instruments
one added to each value, two, a t
this movement only to supply
Ex. 13 has been superimposed
ment is doubled by the sustaine
each doubling is in a melodic mo
the woodblock, four second vio
with the maracas, two 'cellos wi
with the tam-tam.
With all this, the theme appears diminished, in notes of equal

value, in irregular augmentation, and in repeated notes.
to. The finale is again strongly in F-sharp major. The theme
EX15 *4odire, avc- une -ande > joie

Ex~$ " ,,,,, . '. '- , >
-A ff,
continues in a dominant phrase and is repeated beginning on the

second beat of the 3/16 measure but retaining the original stresses.
Under the theme is heard the recurring pattern of the Ragavardhana.
There is a bridge to the in
lovertheme from iiiL1
r~~? r~rr the sixth
I LImovement (Ex.
IV LILI l~~
11), now diminished, in E-flat, and the second them
ment.
Ex16 if o9,-
From these the entire finale is developed, always in fast sixteen

notes developing melodically, and brought to a close.
LEONARD BURKAT
New York
During the fall of 1949 the First Symphony of Roger Sessi

was performed for the first time in New York.' In January 1
Sessions's only other symphony, his second, was given for the
time here in an excellent performance by Mitropoulos, with
Philharmonic. The two works were written twenty years apart
First Symphony is youthful, dashing, delightful, more extrav
than one would suppose possible from Sessions, with much sy
pation and many accented off-beats and meter changes. The Se
Symphony is a work of greater reflectiveness, marked by a kin
philosophical introspection and a full maturity. There are s
few Stravinskian elements, but they are so well integrated int
general fabric as not to suggest Stravinsky at all. The First Symph
has traces of Schoenbergian influence in a rather obvious form
Second Symphony has shifted strongly in the direction of diss
chromaticism, without now actually sounding like the mus
Schoenberg at all.
Schoenberg's early dissonant style (as in the Five Orche
Pieces, Op. 16) results in a dark, mysterious, and compelling compl
His later i2-tone row development abandons some of the t
fantasy in favor of a music that is obviously based on a rigid t
nique, but while it can be analyzed intellectually, the fabric of
passages is still opaque. Sessions nowadays makes use of many i
cations of 12-tone row technique, without being rigidly boun
it nor, indeed, employing it exactly at any time; in his cas
chromatic dissonant fabric is always shining and clear.
1 It was reviewed in The Musical Quarterly, XXXVI (1950), 94.
The opening violin passage (Ex. 1)

vals and dissonant melodic outline of
Exl
VlnCopyriht 1949 by C. Schrmer, Inc.
Copyi-ight, 1949, by G. Schirmer, hic.
It is significant, however, that while this melodic line looks ver

chromatic, it is based on key structure. At any given point the re
tion of the music to a key may seem remote, yet the symphony star
with a movement in D minor, followed by a scherzo-like moveme
suggesting the relative major (F major with a raised fourth degre
The third movement, slow and lyrical, suggests B-flat minor, chan
ing to B-flat major. The last movement, in the style of a milita
march with an extra beat (in 5/4 meter), is built about D maj
Going back to the opening passage, we find that a tonic 6/4 cho
is suggested, with the first three melody notes in D minor. The e
of the melody, C-sharp to A, suggests the D minor dominant. T
melody in between does not use 12 tones and then repeat them
for example, the first note, D, is used again after 15 intervenin
notes, while the note G, 14th in the series, comes again after only
intervening notes. The repetition of the notes in exact order is he
of less importance than the melodic figures that are formed, and tha
are the basis of constant development throughout the Symphon
The first 16 notes of the melody, for example, appear in melod
inversion in the violin part 2 measures before C (Ex. 2). A furth
Ex. 2
Form I p 94FE 'rpmerI
Copy right, 1949: by G Schirmer, Inc.
significant departure from 12-tone row practice is t

Schoenberg school sees to it that no melodic fragment
gests a chord or a diatonic scale, it may be seen that g
in the Sessions series may be related to some key. Fin
pointed out that 12-tone row music seldom gives the i
sustained rapid-moving tempo. The Sessions Second Sy
all its philosophical polyphony, has three genuinely fa
and despite the obvious complexities, there is a sen
and optimism.
Motivos de Son, by Amadeo Roldin, is a series of

soprano with a small orchestra that includes ma
percussion instruments. Its first performance in N
good one indeed, was presented by Hershy Kay con
York Chamber Orchestra.
We are used to Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments only

they have affected Broadway rhumbas; most of us know only t
imitation in the popular field. RoldAn, who was for many years
conductor of the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, had thoro
training as a serious musician in Spain and France. His African b
gave him access to Afro-Cuban ceremonials in which much of
original African musical tradition is preserved in Cuba. He also
course, knew the many popular dance groups that play the rhum
and other dances with so wonderful a display of multiple rhyth
He weaves Afro-Cuban rhythms and melodic snatches into sop
ticated songs which have a Latin deftness and lightness. The m
dies are his own, of that Spanish character with slight deviatio
which is so much prized by Cubans. There is always a harm
feeling, often built on a tonic-dominant complex. Just as the famou
Alberti bass was for a certain period the most useful figuration
simple chords, so there is a typical Cuban figuration to be foun
the music of every Cuban dance band, and which RoldAn of
borrowed (Ex. 3).
VXnS.meaSures 5-6
Ex 3
)pZ
A sense of rhythmic polyphony comes from the use of several

simultaneous rhythms. These are sometimes all based on the same
16th-note unit, as in Ex. 4, and sometimes use accents and cross-
duration, as in Ex. 5. Here it will be seen that in the three measures
shown, each contains tone durations of 4 in the treble against 6 in
the bass, while the whole group contains 4 against 9 equally spaced
accents. All of these examples are from the first song: Negro Bembdn.
Ex4 _
Bogso low
bigh
laracas ]
Clave cencerro 4
Ex.5 V n.pizz.
6I >>
>6 6
Via
Arduous as this description sounds, the rhythmic complexities of

Roldan's score do not make the music seem impenetrable, but rather
enhance its sparkle and fun. The audience reaction was one of sur-
prise and delight-surprise, because only a few enthusiasts have
known that RoldAn was one of the most forceful of Latin America's
composers.
The New York City Opera Company has revived Prokofieff's

comic opera The Love for Three Oranges in a riotously amusing
production with colorful costumes and masks. There was much
clever dashing in and out by dancers in spots where choreography
was not used in the early Twenties, at the time of the piece's first
production here. The staging at that time was far less entertaining,
and the general opera-going crowd did not like the music at all. It
seemed to most of them excruciatingly discordant. What is now
heard as good-natured humor was then considered in many quarters
only a deliberate attempt to be unpleasant. Now the music is gen-
erally accepted as enhancing the funny statements and situations; it
makes no pretense of weight, but is sparkling and debonair. Fast
moving for the most part, it is refined in scoring, never thick.
This opportunity to rehear early music by Prokofieff-of the sort
on which his reputation is based-was especially welcome in view of
a first performance here, this season, of his Sixth Symphony, played
by the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra. This Symphony is a
serious attempt at significant and weighty statem
heavily late 19th-century in style, with none of th
of the earlier Prokofieff. It seems plainly to belong to
the composer is not at home.2
Clearly the Sixth Symphony was written for the
present-day symphony-loving Russian people. It ma
that the Russian musical public has been trying to
an art based on its own history and resources. Russ
a classic music, in the sense of a style allied to those o
and Beethoven. It also never developed a modern d
and after the revolution of 1918 it lost contact wit
pean composers like Schoenberg and Stravinsky
efforts are behind so many of the present developm
music. Russia's own serious music, therefore, lies a
"romantic" period, from Glinka to Rimsky-Korsako
surprising that essays by Prokofieff in such other fie
plified in his Classical Symphony and his dissonan
little understood by Russians. It is unfortunate, ho
should serve to throw him into the position of tryi
commonplace symphonic sentimentalities in a style
all belong to him. One wonders whether he is real
and stodgy as his recent music sounds, or whether
cumstances he would still write with something of
liance and resourcefulness.
When Stokowski recently performed Carl Ruggles's Organum

with the Philharmonic for the first time anywhere, the warm and
glowing performance created great interest and excitement. Rather
to the surprise of both composer and conductor, the work achieved
a real popular success. Audiences have gained wide experience since
the Twenties, when all dissonant music sounded alike and horrible
to them. Nowadays, the audience of the New York Philharmonic
discriminates. It hissed and tore paper resoundingly this winter at
the rather cerebral dissonant music of Anton Webern; but it ap-
plauded Ruggles vociferously. The difference obviously lies in the
fact that Ruggles's web of chromatic, atonal sound is felt fully and
vitally by the composer, to a point of extraordinary contagion; the
2 See the review by Vincent Persichetti elsewhere in this issue.-Ed.
music is full of verve. It is rich, full-b

Pure calculation does not enter in
are nevertheless embodied in it a
composer loves to ponder and discus
row, but he prefers not to have the
a melodic line, all the same. Twelve tones, however, seem to him
too many. He likes from 7 to 9 different tones, with the rest of the
5 to 3 remaining tones free. Another moot point with Ruggles is
the doubling of the same notes in a chord at different octave levels.
He will ordinarily no more use an octave doubling (except of a
whole line) than a harmony instructor would use consecutive octaves
in a harmony exercise. But he will argue for hours about occasional
specific instances in which he thinks such a doubling is desirable-
usually in a final chord. Its chief justification in such a case comes,
of course, from the universal sense of a more concordant closing
chord. No matter how dissonant the fabric, the final chord must be
less dissonant.
Another subject that comes in for a great deal of discussion with

Ruggles is melodic continuation. Ruggles likes to start his lon
melodic sweeps with a germ of a motif which grows and expands
The opening of Organum shows such a continuation in simples
terms. The germ is the interval of a semitone; the first melodic frag-
ment (Ex. 6) is formed by inverting this after a leap of a major third.
EX.6 10lto Lento

199-%IIA
nj. afeInpo
1PW
Cbe
t PMIo li 11 1 1 j
poco accel.
The intervals
the hearts of
is expansion b
bursts its bo
change to sev
is four octav
counterpoint
are applied to
So Ruggles often begins sustained tones which are
sonances by preparing them as dissonances first (Ex
Ex7 via. ;=etc.
CF .
These technical points, though they contribute to the consistency
of texture of Organum, are unnoticeable in listening to the vital,
surging, ever-growing work, a work in which there is enough mate-
rial, in highly concentrated form, for a complete symphony. Ruggles
occupies in American music a position similar to that of Webern
in modern Teutonic music: both have written a rather small num-
ber of short, condensed, highly finished pieces of dissonant textu

Ruggles, however, preserves a dynamically continuous flow in h
melodic outlines, while Webern deliberately separated his melod
into disjunct fragments.
HENRY COWELL
The recent Broadway season has given us quite a few motio

picture scores by Eastern composers, most notably two by Coplan
Red Pony (directed by Lewis Milestone) and The Heiress (directed
by William Wyler). It is unfortunate that reviews in the daily new
papers rarely mention the name of the composer responsible fo
film's music; nor do they discuss his work with the critical attention
that is bestowed upon, say, a play with incidental music. As a resu
the cinematic work of those who do not command the name of a
Copland, Honegger, or Walton receives not even a single lin

credit, and thus the pioneering efforts of Gail Kubik go on with
much fanfare in the regular channels of criticism.
The trade paper Variety, though, was quick to notice that t
outstanding feature of C-Man (Laurel Films Production, 19
directed by Joseph Lerner) was its "musical score which domina
the sound-track even more than the dialogue". Kubik has had c
siderable experience in the media of mass communication a
whether conspicuous or not, his music is always functional and
help to the show. Witness his score

Belle and Thunderbolt), and his H
York premibre of C-Man was another
and ingenuity which were allowed
restrictions imposed. Lerner wisely
in his work.
Faced with the financial necessity of paring his orchestra down

to a mere thirteen players, Kubik experimented with novel micro-
phone techniques to produce the sounds he intended. The airplane
sequence near the beginning of the film offered an obvious challenge:
the means of transportation (plane, car, train) proceed mechanically
while an important event vitally affects the travelling protagonist
A satisfactory musical illustration of these two components demand
the creation of two strands of sound that are distinct even while they
make sense in their combination. For this purpose Kubik split his
chamber orchestra into two groups, one functioning in the manner
of a commentator who builds up a sense of expectancy and dread,
the other a wandering, aimless trumpet melody, doubled occasionally
by clarinet or viola. The "ripieno" (Track I) was recorded in the
usual way. But in the "concertino", for purposes of dramatic propriety
as well as of sonority, Kubik aimed at a disembodied quality of ton
and achieved it by staggering the trumpet tune against itself. This
curious echo effect was produced by recording the same musi
through different sound-heads, yielding two identical tracks (2 and
3) which, succeeding each other by a tenth of a second, produce th
etherialized tone quality that suggests an airplane moving in the
night, at the same time blending in a counterpoint of sonorities with
Track 1 (the dramatic commentary) and Track 4 (the realistic noise
of the airplane drone).
One of the major requirements of a screen composer writing for
feature films is the ability to create a good night-club scene. Her
the sound-track ceases to be mere background and audiences becom
more directly aware of the "stage-music". Consequently, an effort i
made to satisfy, if not to surpass, audience expectations. Sometime
an old and established song is disinterred and often another composer
or arranger is called in to provide an authentic Tin-Pan-Alley touch
Most of the larger studios have music-publishing outlets which
market sheet-music arrangements if a song becomes popular. Laura
a song based on a tune from the film of that name, was such a stag
gering success that it graduated into the hit-parade class. One of th
scenes for C-Alan is laid in a Harlem night-club. For
obligingly wrote a brisk little number, Do It Now (s
Victor). There is, of course, nothing extraordinary
Kubik's ability to make do with what musical reso
hand which, at the time of the "take" of this scene, consisted of
Larry Neil, who had written the words for the song and who now
sang it for camera and soundtrack. With no orchestra on the spot the
composer had the actors who functioned as the night-club audience
join in the chorus, ending up with what is known as a "shout-song",
which completely camouflages, at least at a first hearing, the absence
of an instrumental accompaniment.
Special praise should go to Frank Glazer, who handles the tone
colors of the piano, particularly the sonorities of the lower half of
the keyboard, with uncommon skill. The tension in this film, unlike
that in the usual whodunit, is not created by electronic instruments.
Instead the composer has taken the simple old standby of the orches-
tra and has extracted new hues from traditional sources.
FREDERICK W. STERNFELD
Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata, completed last summer and per-

formed by Vladimir Horowitz in Carnegie Hall in January, repre-
sents Barber's final emancipation from the neo-Romantic traits that
dominated his early compositions and is thus the culmination of a
development that has taken a decade to reach its goal. The formal
patterns used here are more or less traditional and they are based
on a key center-E-flat minor-but the work is emotionally pro-
founder than many of his earlier pieces and technically farther ad-
vanced than any of them. Its grand sweep, its largeness of utterance,
reminded this listener of Beethoven, and its intensity made him
think of Bart6k.
It is the first work of Barber's that employs 12-tone writing, of

which there is some in the first movement and a good deal more in
the third. While the texture is almost entirely chromatic and dis-
sonant, the themes are sharply defined and stand out clearly. The
opening Allegro, which is in sonata form, is based on the following
themes and motifs, all presented in the exposition section:
Ex. l Allegro energico I - 10
1 1 1
I? . IF
If
10-
v mp espressivo........
,---%--- --.__ .
Cop
Th
tio
the
ing
fre
of
EXA
(:o
This movement is perhaps a bit light in weight for
bors, but it serves its purpose, which is to relieve
moment. In the next section, we are plunged into
of all of Barber's slow movements. Here he uses d
as a system, as a means of achieving a unified struc
as a means of intensifying the emotional power of
is not one 12-tone row but several; they are empl
accompaniment material; and Barber does not h
chords formed from a row with notes not belong
shows the principal theme of the Adagio (mm. 3-4,
first row (mm. i and 3-4, left hand), and the secon
hand).
Ex.3 Adagio mwdo Jciria4Ba
Copyrght. 1950 by Schrmernc.
Copyright, 1950, by G.
Ex. 4 (mm. 19-20) shows a var

19), and its enrichment (m. 20
Ex.4 ' 4- ;
1.0 v--.... 1J a
Copyright, 1950, by G. Schirmer, In
One or another of the five rows used appears in 26

in this movement. The finale is a spirited fugue w
dissonant material suddenly yields to a delight
American folk-dance flavor, in pure E major,
one in E-flat minor. This fugue, a t

enormously difficult; it ends the wo
Some thirty to forty full-length pia
posers were published in the last th
half-dozen are performed in public
lished a place for themselves in the re
that this tiny number has now been
If the position of the American pi

tory is not a cheering one, what
American violin concerto? Perhap
category that continues to be perfo
Barber's; and similar composition
Piston languish unheard. The main
virtuosos are inclined to gamble, an
suaded by timorous conductors an
Schuman's Violin Concerto, the latest American work of this sort
to be heard hereabouts,1 will become a part of the repertory remains
to be seen. That it deserves to, this writer has no doubt, for it is a
work of power, magnificent craftsmanship, and a high order of
imagination.
The solo violin is the hero of this drama. It is on the stage most
of the time and, although a full orchestra is used, the instrumental
balances are so delicately calculated that the soloist is always clearly
heard, except for a moment in the last movement, where his part is
deliberately engulfed by the tutti violins, to emerge as they subside.
As befits the nature of the solo instrument, it is given material of
a more lyrical character than Schuman has been wont to write. This
trait is subtly exploited, for example, in a passage following the
cadenza in the first movement, where the violin ruminates lyrically
and with mounting intensity over an agitated, sharply rhythmic
figure in the strings and then in the muted brasses.
Like most of Schuman's mature orchestral works, the Concerto
is tightly integrated. The whole first movement grows out of its
principal subject:
1 The Concerto, commissioned by Samuel Dushkin, was completed in 1947 and
first played by Isaac Stern with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Munch in
Boston last February and repeated by the same performers in New York a month later.
Ex.1 Angow-_,ao de.84

vin. . , A--. ! ----
,f.
v A k . O ,," A! i? z[
Orch R47 7, '''im~
.... a .LL
0 "91 L 1 b I I I NI I
09 IL
"
beA
Ord" jrJ
.... .... .. . . iq I
lAL O d yb. . _ , .
A sow
1 1 =ffzF
0opyrig t. 19
.. . ..... . . .... . . . ..... .] . ; ,- ,
which is itself an exam

type of theme. So, too
related to Ex. i (compa
in both examples):
Ex. 2 PresAo leggieroJ

I IV
Copyright. 1950. by G. Schirmer, Inc.
Another unifying device is the frequent use of both major and minor
thirds. In the two fast movements they appear simultaneously in
chords (as in the accompaniment in Ex. i); in the slow movement
they are usually employed horizontally, there being a constant
oscillation between minor third and major. In this movement, a
poetic Interlude, the violin sings a long melody that is accompanied
by block chords that are consonant in themselves but dissonant to
the melody. The effect is of a bitter sweetness, from which the bitter-
ness vanishes in one lovely passage where the woodwinds and strings
have the melody to themselves in consonant harmonies. The
sprightly and energetic finale is marked by an idio
of the instruments that is striking even for Schuman
and brasses particularly are handled in masterly fas
Logical relationships of the type employed in th
easily perceived on one hearing, even by musici
because themes like Ex. 1 are unfamiliar in contour and structure.
It is to be hoped that the musical public will be given an opportun

to become familiar with them.
N. B.
Philadelphia
The Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111, is Serge Proko-
fieff's pastoral symphony. Of sparser orchestration than the Fifth,
and made of more directly projected material, it moves in clean,
clearly focused chamber lines which ask of its performers expressive
phrase-shaping and a generally sensitive approach. The form of the
middle movement is especially strong and the alternating lyric and
austere moods in the first work beautifully. But, somewhere, some-
how, a few trite themes creep in and corrupt part of the work. The
symphony was first performed in Moscow on October io, 1947, and
is one of many works by leading Soviet composers that have been
shelved since the appearance of the Central Committee's critical
document. Eugene Ormandy performed it this season at the regular
subscription concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The Sixth Symphony, written during the years 1945-46, has three
movements. The prevailing tonality, E-flat minor, does not "account
for the sombre feeling" in much of the work. A routine transposition
into any other minor key would remove none of the shadows and
certainly would not change the rhythmic character, which is respon-
sible for most of the sombreness. In an extended work, a six-eight
pastorale figure such as:'
Ex.l 6 = 4P I .b et.
carries its own danger signs, warning of possible rhythmic ruts
ahead. The pulse is likely to bog down and become a humdrum of
muffled thuds. For centuries composers have fought this persistent
1 The examples from Prokofieff's Sixth Symphony are printed here by permission
of Leeds Music Corporation, copyright owners.
motion by interpolating three-four

cross rhythms. But Prokofieff seem
six-eight momentum, from the dance
Ex. 2 Lue????-t
. LA .--ro mc Wc.....c"I
.-e: , - , etc.tr
p P 7
the song of the second:
Ex 3 modersto
through the sweeping development section:
EX.4 . axM .g ,od .I-.

thouh heswepn develoment ,sectiotn:._' i._
choosing to ignore the nagging regularity of the dotted-quarter

pulse-pokes. Lurking in the development is the ever-faithful rhyth-
mic joker that Prokofieff pulls out when caught in an obstinate
rhythmic force. It is the repeated note pattern that pretends to
engage sharp-edged planes in rhythmic conflict.
Ex.5 fai .'r& * &a . . ..... . . .. .. .

Bin. . .. " " etc.
Trb..TubP e
pi=, tm,
In early Prokofieff this bony angularity of lashing pulses was

part of the initial thematic material which pushed ahead with
harmonic accents of steel. However, in recent years this pattern has
been used as one would caulking compound. It fills in the emotional
gaps left by the run-down pulse, and here acts as an intermission skit
timed to check the growth of the pastoral idea. There is little
organic development. The octave textures of the B t
which are subtly used, might be applauded if it w
climaxes, which are embarrassingly punctual.
The Largo movement begins in a beautiful tangle
untwists far enough to allow the rich opening them
Ex. 6 Largo
AVf6 INA IF-;Cr
4
Ai - -VL u
The line is long

giving in to the P
Ex. 7 . .
Refined ornamentation and shifting melodic rhythms are refresh-
ing deviations from the first movement. An apparently innocent B
theme treated with a heart-beat accompaniment:
Ex A8 L LargoR oom ion
m omlto espr.
(p tenuto)
becomes involved with other elements in the work and evokes a

magical mid-section of piano and harp chords:
Ex.94,
l
with the celesta at their heels. The

thematic entries is reversed so that
once again ensnared by the original
The martial finale is treated as a r
harmonic and melodic standing in t
mitted to make comments while th
tune. Each time the rondo A comes back for more its face reddens
a bit. At one point the three woodwinds manage to shake off th
tuba but all the fiddles substitute for him with chordal glissando
This urges the woodwinds to whip scales downward and the trum
pets to play fast notes like violins. The conscience-stricken piece
makes quick reference to the slow theme of the first movement a
comes to an abrupt double bar. If it were not for the main theme
Ex.lO vivace
crec.
and
Emx1 Vivace
FL Ob.CL .
iF' ,i'i il,i-

the finale would bowl the audience over.
VINCENT PERSICHETTI
BELGIUI AND THE NETHERLANDS
Brussels
The greatest event in the musical season last fall was without
doubt the performance over the national radio of the opera Les
Eumenides by Darius Milhaud, the text of which is Paul Claudel's
translation from the Greek of Aeschylus.
Although the work was composed between 1916 and 1924, a
complete performance of it had never been heard b
For the Belgian public, as well as for the public
Europe (since the performance was also broadcast
and Dutch radio systems), this offered a unique occ
idea of this gigantic work as a whole.
It goes without saying that the composer has forme
of the atmosphere, the dramatic significance, and
essentials of the original drama. And Milhaud has
as a musical archaeologist. He is fundamentally an a
has created a work inspired by his own vision and in
late the feelings with which the contemporary era rea
posed by that human spirit which animated th
longer do these problems appear to us primarily rel
rather, we think of them as psychological and esthetic
Milhaud himself calls this work an opera, but it i
Rather, it is a musical drama, or above all a sonorous evocation.
An analysis of this immense composition is quite difficult. One does
not analyze the ocean's roar. As to architectural conceptions, the
opera does not appear to have any rational or thematic plan. It is a
work in which instinct for sound and dramatic genius reign unas-
sisted. Vocal development, harmonization, and orchestration all
seem to be the result of purely intuitive invention, in which the
reason intervenes only to write down the notes, and not to elaborate
on the sounds. The chords are conglomerates of sound, built up-
or, rather, "found"-by a spirit entirely emancipated from harmonic
theories, yet aware of the subtleties and powers innate in music. The
lyricism is not that of a metrical or symmetrical melody; it is not a
"calculated" melody; rather, it seems a gesture in sound-large,
expressive, synthetic. The orchestration never loses itself in pictorial
or descriptive coloration, but constitutes a varying and moving
d6cor, in which the echoes of human sentiments reverberate. The
whole is a flame of genius, not a road to be plodded. Only Milhaud
has been able to bring it about that this way of working irrationally
has resulted in something approaching a masterpiece. For a latter-
day composer, inspired by the Eumenides, there is scarcely a chance
of success, and every imaginable danger.
Among Belgian works, it seems to me that the most individual
composition that has been given public presentation is an opera
based on Shakespeare: Coriolan by August Baeyens. Here is a dra-
matic work especially written for the radio, which means that it has
been adapted to the demands of a me

of the concert hall. In the first pla
reduce the mass of sound so that th
instruments and the voices would n
phone. In the second place, he absta
rhythms, so that dramatic developm
necessities in a dramatic work int
should be preserved.
From the technical and radio poin
plete success-all the more important
tofore this conception of radio oper
of any other Belgian composer. Fro
view, the esthetic significance of C
primarily in the precision and perfe
as well as in the sparkling curve and f
tives, which approach the spoken w
In this work Baeyens seems espec
writing, consistently elegant yet nev
with a preestablished harmonic bas
dering off into a kind of absurdity
Occasional points of return suffice t
ment on a tonal basis-fragile, to be
In matters of expression we must
which Baeyens has been able to mai
all turgidity, in this solemn text of S
more weighty by the academic Dut
ated a work truly alive.
Rotterdam
On November 25, 1949, there was a performance in Rotterdam

of the oratorio The Apocalypse by Henk Badings, a monumental
work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra. Badings belongs to the
generation born between 90oo and 1910, and is often considered
the most illustrious representative of contemporary music in Hol-
land, particularly since the death of Willem Pijper.
Badings is originally from Bandoeng (Java), where he was born
in 1907. He studied composition with Pijper, but at the same time
was also studying engineering. During the years jus
he was an assistant in a technical school at Delft and a teacher at the
Rotterdam Conservatory of Music. At the beginning of his artistic
career, the linear and atonal influence of Pijper's music made itself
clearly felt in Badings's work. Subsequently he has created for him-
self a musical idiom that is very much his own-more harmonic,
often sprinkled with coloristic effects and echoes of post-Impres
sionism.
His work embraces all branches of music: four symphonies, four

violin concertos, two 'cello concertos, many chamber works (includ-
ing three string quartets), songs, choruses, Orpheus (a ballet), and
operas (among others, The Ruses of Love).
The Apocalypse is a work of great scope, from the point of view
of both structure and expression. The oratorio is divided into two
parts and seven "chapters". The prologue is a choral recitative, fol-
lowed by the second chapter, The Rending of the Heavens, with
spoken text (the account of St. John), a vocal quartet (the four
animals), and choruses, which are given decorative support by the
orchestra. The third chapter, The Book of the Seven Seals, is the
most dramatic and, from the musical point of view, the most com-
plex, its expression being rich in both meaning and mystery. This
chapter concludes the first part. The second part consists of The
Disasters on Earth, The Last Judgment, The Vision of the Celestial
City, and Epilogue.
For this work of literary inspiration so full of imagination, almost
surrealistic, Badings has known how to adapt a kind of music that
is homogeneous, logical, and yet quite illustrative, or rather evoca-
tive, for it never has to fall back on a multiplicity of descriptive
means which such a subject as the Apocalypse would offer to music.
The evocation in the work is purely sensual, not plastic, and it seems
to evolve essentially from an abstract type of lyricism joined with
a kind of harmonization that makes extensive use of altered notes
but is quite subtle in its resonance; at times the effect is very aeria
In thematic development, the principle of the "generating
cellule" and the cyclic conception predominate. By these mean
Badings has been able to maintain in all parts of his work a feeling
of unity and coherence which too often is lacking in the works of
broader inspiration by his compatriots today.
JAN L. BROECKX
ENGLAND
Three chamber works have recently attracted the attention of

connoisseurs in England. Two are by composers already familiar to
the public, Walton and Rawsthorne, and the third by a younger and
slighter, as well as less known, composer, Peter Wishart.
WAalton's Violin Sonata was played in London in February by
Menuhin and Kentner, and Menuhin was entrusted with the final
editing of the violin part. The sonata is in two movements, an
Allegro tranquillo and a Theme and Variations. The mood of both
is predominantly lyrical, with dramatic moments in the first move-
ment and some dramatic variations in the second; but there is no
sharp contrast between the two moods or the two movements, and
this is a blemish in what may be called the psychological structure
of the work as a whole. It lacks a satisfactory shape and needs a third
movement, for as it stands we have an unequivocal beginning and
then a second movement that might be a middle movement or a
finale but cannot be both. As a finale it lacks size, and the variations,
though employing a wider range of violin technique than the first
movement, have not the cumulative force necessary in order to
clinch the argument of a full-scale sonata. But with these funda-
mental reservations the music itself is certainly worthy of Walton.
The work exploits the cantabile qualities of the violin rather
than its potentialities for brilliant display. The harmonic idiom is
conservative but never tame and the major-minor ambiguity typical
of much of Walton's music is to be found fairly frequently. The
piano-writing, though sometimes angular, is never purely percussive
and the use of flowing accompaniment figures is a distinctly tradi-
tional feature. The feeling of tension common to most of Walton's
mature works is almost wholly absent and the lyrical, meditative
mood of the music is interrupted by playfulness rather than by any
note of tragedy.
Alan Rawsthorne's Concerto for String Orchestra (1949) is in
three movements. The first is a Molto allegro, a closely-knit contra-
puntal movement in which figuration and apparent ornament are
almost entirely organic and derived from one or other of two basic
ideas treated in augmentation or diminution (a favorite device of
Rawsthorne's), inverted or otherwise varied. The resulting harmony
is taut and astringent, sometimes to the point of acidity, but the
whole movement is unfailingly alive and draws great strength from
its economy and compression of material and emotional expression.
The second movement starts with an ostinato, dirge-lik
announced by the violas with pizzicato 'cello accom
its tonal ambiguity and the numerous false relation
of Rawsthorne's idiom.
This movement is as predominantly homophonic as the first is

contrapuntal, but in neither is there any suggestion of a concertante
treatment of the strings. The last movement returns to a contra-
puntal texture and makes use of more adventurous divisions of the
orchestral body. A quartet of soloists is separated from the main body
for a short period and the soloist of the first violins is given some
passage work marked con bravura. The main body of the movement
is marked allegro piacevole and the whole mood and gait of the
music is much easier and more relaxed than in the first movement.
The 3/2 rhythm is not often broken, though it is frequently va

and a fugato passage is interrupted by a fortissimo for the whole bo
of strings in unison marked declamando.
The work made little mark when it was first performed in E
land, at a Promenade Concert in the Albert Hall last August. T
hall was too big and the orchestra too little rehearsed, so that
intensity of the first two movements was never communicated to t
audience (or else unrealized by the orchestra) and the effect
Rawsthorne's close thinking and compressed writing was simply
of crabbedness. When the work was played in the autumn by
Boyd Neel Orchestra in the much smaller Chelsea Town Hall, t
judgments were entirely reversed and the work stood out
remarkably strong and typical example of Rawsthorne's music.
Peter Wishart was born in 1921 and won a Post Graduate
Scholarship at Birmingham University, which he used for a period
of study with Nadia Boulanger after the war. He has written mostly
chamber music for strings and the work I particularly wish to men-
tion is his Four Pieces for violin and piano. The first of these is a
Rondo, whose introductory bars proclaim beyond doubt one of the
main formative influences on the composer's style, Stravinsky.
The second movement, a Nocturne, is virtually one long canti-
lena for the violin, accompanied by repeated chords in the piano.
Both instruments are muted throughout and the effect of the whole
movement is one of almost classical poetry. The third piece is a theme
and variations. The theme (Ex. 1), announced at once by the violin,
is marked by its rhythmic neatness, the interval of the 7th, the three
repeated notes, and the 16th-note groups which are almost devel-
ExI Allegretio(J.69) V
7f
Copyright, 1949, by the Oxford University Press, London
oped into a separate theme even before the first variation. The last
of the four pieces is a Cavatina. Here there are harmonic remini-
scences of the Nocturne and some neat writing in canon between th
two instruments. The middle section recalls Stravinsky's idiom ver
forcibly-short, nervous phrases and broken rhythms, especially in
the violin part, against light chords in the piano and then as orna-
mentation to a deliberately clumsy theme. The return of the opening
section is in a cloudless F major and the G-major chord with which
the movement ends is unexpected without dramatic emphasis.
These pieces are wholly unpretentious. The writing is alway
careful and distinguished and at times approaches real elegance
The material chosen is well suited to the medium and the balance
between pure pattern-making and emotional expressiveness is ni

held. Chamber music remains the special province of the conn
seur but by means of broadcasting many are forming a taste fo
kind of music that they would instinctively consider beyond th
comprehension. The three works discussed in these notes are w
calculated to encourage such listeners while, to the enthusiast, t
will provide welcome evidence of the vitality of their various ge
MARTIN COOPER
* *
FRANCE
We are, all of us
standards those o
it megalomania-ar
was doubtless bol
be not a little con
Future" on his fir
tionably those wh
Beethoven, and ar
Sunday afternoon
Brandenburg Co
them to look, and
chords, fantastic s
would not regard
I am reading, partly in MS, partly in proof (for
lishers, Heugel and Amphion, are going to print
works' by the most eccentric, i.e., the least preten
French composers: Pierre Boulez. His handwriting
(curiously similar, by the way, to that of my old frie
godfather of Mr. Thomas Mann's desperate compos
enable a tone-deaf graphologist to give a quite satis
of his style: notes like pinpoints, the marks between t
utive; on the front page no capitals used, not even
initials. A tiny, wiry, angular lettering, difficult to r
monly precise. No fat at all, little flesh, plenty of sine
ized character, yet strangely matter-of-fact. A dogg
Ariel with, possibly, a sense of humor, and certain
of geometry.
But, crossing over from psychological backgrou
foreground, we remark that Pierre Boulez has, aft
Webern, carried several steps farther what may be cal
of avoidance" of the Schoenbergians. Twelve-tone
known, avoids, in the harmonic field, the resoluti
leading notes, and avoids in form the corollaries
results of square harmony. Yet other essentials of mus
all the most important, rhythm and meter, had hi
"free", at the disposal of the composer's fancy: no
respect, viz. no immoderate fear of using traditional m
And, in fact, rhythm has proved to be by turns the w
strongest side of the Viennese School. Lack of rhyt
part of the Romantic Wagnerian heritage-has been
elsewhere, a familiar reproach addressed to the "ato
the other hand, often in Schoenberg, and in Alban B
a ghostlike allusive waltz rhythm-part of the Rom
heritage-stood out, nay, seemed to be the key of t
account for its general allusiveness. Of all tradi
rhythmic patterns, waltz rhythm is the most flexib
always haunted by the spirit of rubato. It provide
chance of compromise; it has been, indeed, the ears'
quicksands of melodic disruption and harmonic su
To extremist Boulez, I'm afraid, this reassuring,
choly, survival of the waltz has appeared as a conc
: First and Second Piano Sonatas, Sonatine for Flute and Piano
Two Pianos.
moldy sentimentalism, and altog

crashers into the forbidden garden
recourse even to the ghost of so-ca
the lapse into so-called natural C m
added, to the all-pervading "wrong
rhythm".
The third bar of his Second Piano Sonata reads-a comparatively
simple instance but presenting in a nut-shell not too easy to crack,
the conflict between meter and rhythm and rubato-as follows:2
Ex.1
etc
Try, to begin with, to beat this meter (at the requested quick pace
of quarter = 152), a pencil in either hand, on your table's edge:
Ex. 2
p "I ?=
As soon as you are able to turn these syncopated sixtee

into genuine resilient eighth-triplets, you will be giv
ticket to the shore of the both limping and winged po
devised by Pierre Boulez. On the side of structure, too,
two ultimately conflicting rules: everything, even the
ment, has to be kept under structural control; nothing
escape from being related to everything else, to the w
all its parts; but, on the other hand, easy symmetries (
for example, accepted with relish) and any sort of mec
tailing of elements are avoided. The postulate is that i
unfolds by means of variations of strictly homogeneous el
principle of their variations has to be itself constantl
quote, almost at random:
2 The examples from the Second Piano Sonata are printed here by
Heugel et Cie., copyright owners.
Ex.3 , _ .Wo
"W 16,
!.00"
All
This ton
whole set
following
impetuos
....."' r-- l-
Ex.4 (j=152) A-- r

,I... , -"J .1. q _ [ , , ' r .. . . . , _ 3_
Lot' 3~-c
will afterwards recur in "total inversion" but again not without a

subtle and complementary breach of symmetry.
I jg rap~eet I I--L
8A- -i
Whether or not such structural relati

grasped by the listener, makes obviously no
hears a Haydn symphony and rightly p
musician, without spotting in the least t
make it preferable. A trained musician
without detecting its near-Byzantine form
though very spasmodic and almost terrif
pening. There is a great difference betw
Boulez sonata. But between the methods
listeners there is no difference of kind,
difference of degree.
Time and again neo-Classicists and, m
spick and span twelve-tone academ

attitude of the classic artisan-and-no-nonsense, maker of "musical
objects" by means of objective and traditional craftsmanship, "as
were Bach, Mozart, and the others". Boulez claims nothing of the
sort, but it has been his fate, his strength, and, up to date, his limit
to be the latest artisan of the once classic, then romantically battered
and eventually volatilized fugue and sonata-cum-counterpoint tradi-
tion. And as such he had to accept this heritage at a moment when,
as Lewis Carroll, dear old prophet, put it, he could not but be aware
of the
S.. number of cases, in which making laces
Had been proved an infringement of right.
He has, therefore, discarded lace-making altogether, whether
quaint industrialized concerto-grosso lace or fashionable spidery
twelve-tone lace. His fabric is made of a both evanescent and highly
explosive material: 12 protons rather than 12 tones and a set of
rhythmic neutrons whirling around an elusive and perhaps merely
hypothetical nucleus. The fascination of experiment and the odium
of being overconscious, never relaxed, and exacting to the limit
(and sometimes beyond) for himself-and for his listener, have fallen
to his lot-in other words: the joys of the young composer of all
times, and the anxiety of the ragged musician of our day.
FREDERICK GOLDBECK
ISRAEL
Three recent symphonic compositions, all of them completed

in 1948 and performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in the
1948-49 winter season, clearly show where Israeli music is moving.
The composers seem to have overcome the first, experimental
stage in their dealing with Oriental influence. While imitation of
Oriental (ancient-Hebrew-Oriental and Arabian) singing and instru-
mental performance produced rather peculiar results in the early
years of Palestinian music, certain stylistic elements typical of the
Orient have now become part and parcel of some composers' styles.
The three works in question could not have been written anywhere
but on the soil of an ancient country that is being built anew; th
Oriental elements-described as "Eastern-Mediterranean" by the
composers-are obvious in melodic invention, rhyth
tion, and orchestral coloring. But in complete con
Israeli works, like Boscovich's Semitic Suite or Mahler-Kalkstein's
Folk Symphony, the new compositions are not concerned with color
and folklore primarily but have made them servants to their inspira-
tion. It seems, thus, that Israeli music has made strides these last
two years towards maturity and stylistic originality.
Oedoen Partos's Song of Praise, a concerto for viola and orchestra,
was the most impressive-and by far the most original-of the
symphonic compositions. Pirtos, who was born in Budapest in 1go07
and has been in Palestine for more than twelve years now, is a
disciple of ZoltAn Kodily and an ardent student of the music of
Bart6k; from his student days he has been interested in the study of
folklore and in employing folkloristic traits in musical works with-
out becoming a slave of the material. In his best-known composition,
Yiskor (In Memoriam) for viola and strings, Partos has developed
an ingenious little fantasy out of the melodic germs of a traditional
Eastern-Jewish tune; in his Choral Fantasia (for mixed chorus and
orchestra) he has employed Yemenite material in a fascinating way.
The idea of a concerto for-viola and orchestra kept Pirtos busy
for many years till he at last sketched the present work and com-
pleted it within a few months in the spring and summer of 1948.
The psalm-like character of the prelude and the exalted mood
reigning throughout the huge main movement of the concerto
inspired the composer to call the entire work Song of Praise; describ-
ing the composition simply as a viola concerto would also unduly
minimize its symphonic character. In form, the work is a symphonic
prelude on two related themes and a sonata movement comprising
nine variations on a theme derived from the prelude; emotionally,
the composition takes us from the meditative and epic mood of the
prelude through all shades of exalted feeling to the vehement pas-
sion of the final variations, till meditation reigns again in the
epilogue. The entire thematic content is foreshadowed in the two
main themes of the "psalm" prelude: these are a Maestoso and a
lyrical version of its chord progressions:
Ex.1 Modlrsto maesto
Copyright. 19,19 Israeli Music Publications, Tel-Aviv - New York
Ex. 2.A_ O W-k

',
Ar% pW Fm fi
' . ,etc.
Copyright, 19,19 Israeli Music Publications, Tcl-Aviv -New
The subject of the variations, related to the op

lyrical version, also serves as first theme in the
Ex. 3 . > gro ,

P efP-
Copyright
The fina
second s
intones a
and ther
Psalmist'
to its be
For this
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tradition
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existing
experien
work; Pir
Not quite
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ties; only
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students
ful work in which the "con brio" moods dominate over the more
poetical sections. Like Pirtos, Ben-Haim wrote the solo part for
own instrument; he is a pianist himself and can be relied upo
give the keyboard artist his due.
The Ben-Haim Concerto has the traditional three movements:
an Allegro movement with slow introduction, an expressive Andante,
and a concluding Rondo. The composer has given subtitles to the
movements: Vision, Voices in the Night, and Dance, but follows no
literary or pictorial program in their elaboration. The first move-
ment opens with a calm prelude: pianissimo piano arpeggios are
accompanied by soft tympani rolls and murmurings of muted 'cellos
and double basses; a theme first takes shape with the entry of a
muted trombone. The remaining brass instruments and later also
the woodwind build up a theme out of the motivic germs of the
beginning, till the main section-Allegro con brio-of the movement
begins with the piano solo. From here on, the movement develops
in sonata form. There is a rhapsodic cadenza, preceding a very soft-
voiced coda. The rapid and fierce conclusion of the movement comes
as a surprise. The second movement is one of those poetic nocturnes
for which Ben-Haim has become justly famous; its fragmentary
melodies and rhythms-moving around a tonal center in small steps
-and its orchestration create that "Mediterranean"-Oriental atmo-
sphere which we have mentioned. The quiet mood and delica
atmosphere reigning in the opening dominate the beautiful mo
ment, in which a viola d'amore solo creates an added dolce effect.
The finale follows without break; it is a gay dance-movement
in 3/8 time in which the charming main theme gets a dainty
orchestral coloring. The temperamental flow of the dance is twice
interrupted; once by a short lyrical episode and again by a cadenza.
Like a true Oriental dance, the movement gains in momentum and
tempo towards the end and concludes in frenetic ecstasy.
M. Mahler-Kalkstein's Second Symphony, the David Symphony,
is the least substantial and least sophisticated of the three novelties;
like his First, this also is a "Folk Symphony", and in spite of its lack
of a true symphonic spirit has a charm of its own. It has been noted
that the musical works inspired by Biblical history and legend
on the ancient soil of the land of Israel are few so far, while the
composers of Europe and the Americas-both Gentile and Jewish-
have frequently drawn on the Bible for great symphonic, choral, or
dramatic compositions; it may be surmised that the experience of
the Israeli composer creating in the newly-built land has not yet
calmed down sufficiently to enable him to do full justice to the
greatness of the Biblical themes. The few important works that have
been composed on Biblical themes

Sternberg's Twelve Tribes of Israe
Joseph Gruenthal's Exodus (all fo
oratorio Song of Songs; Alexander U
a Biblical ballet on the story of Sa
Kalkstein's David Symphony-writ
December 1948-is not a biographic
not even concerned with David t
marily been interested in the human
to kingdom, and the four movem
described as a symphonic suite mar
psychological development; the d
Brave and Clever in Israel" clearl
temporary composer sees his ancien
Boyhood, the composer quotes the B
yet the youngest, and, behold, he k
is made up of a moderately slow in
which another passage is quoted: "
a beautiful countenance". The second movement, Adolescence, is
concerned with the Goliath story; this is a regular scherzo with trio-
David is first seen as the shrewd fighter who "took his staff in his
hand and chose him five smooth stones" and as the poet who can
calm down the grumbling King's fierce moods "... and David played
with his hand as at the other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's
hand.. ." In a somewhat illogical way, the scherzo section (the fight)
is repeated without variation after the King Saul episode; yet this
can be interpreted as meaning that the composer sees David as a
youthful spirit who had to fight right through his life. The third
movement, Exile, is the slow and meditative portion of the work;
it is pastoral in character and tragic in mood. The finale, in which
the David theme that recurs from the very beginning to the end of
the work is brought to its apotheosis, shows David in Jerusalem,
where he again has to prove his braveness and cleverness, at the cross-
roads of the Bathsheba episode.
This is no great and impressive work like Partos's or Ben-Haim's,
but it has merits of its own; the listener is left with the impression
that he has heard a popular version of a great and moving story-
King David's story compressed and "digested" for the people and
the children.
PETER GRADENWITZ
SWITZERLAND
Vladimir Vogel's Thyl Claes

Vogel's epic oratorio is derived from an extraordinary book,
The Legend of Eulenspiegel --that "Belgian Bible", as Camille
Lemonnier has termed it-written by Charles de Coster. In unusually
forceful and savory language the Belgian author has evoked a feel-
ing of the suffering and struggles that the Low Countries experienced
under Spanish occupation in the 16th century. Vogel's work is
divided into two parts. The first, entitled Oppression, retraces the
vicissitudes of invasion by the Spanish hordes, the birth and young
manhood of Thyl, son of the charcoal-burner Claes, the hateful
persecution of the Protestants under the Inquisition, and the death
of Thyl's father at the stake. The second part bears the title Liber-
ation. It relates the people's revolt against the oppressor, the re-
sistance (the maquis of the 16th century), the bloody struggle, and
finally deliverance. In the midst of every episode stands Thyl, a
figure at once vivid and legendary, an incarnation of the Flemish
soul, a frail body animated by the flame of heroism, of love, and of
vengeance.
This painful and yet magnificent page of history has seemed
to Vogel symbolic. He has seen in this epic the very image of all
the catastrophes of oppression and the promise of final victory of
the spirit over material violence, and he has devoted all the powers
of his artistic nature to the service of this grand theme. To under-
take such a task the composer has needed unusual intellectual firm-
ness and lucidity. His conception of the subject has demanded new
musical resources. He has accordingly set to work, selecting and
utilizing them with admirable discernment and artistry. From con-
siderations such as these he has conceived and developed a bold
technique of choral recitation.
The composition of this ample diptych extended over a period
of nine years. The first part of Thyl Claes, completed in 1938, was
performed the following year in Brussels by the "Renaudins", a
choral group that had already specialized in the reciting-choir
technique. The war overtook Vogel in Switzerland; since his score
was left behind in Brussels, he entirely rewrote what he had done,
and it was in this new form that the work was produced by the
Geneva Radio in 1943. Immediately thereafter Vogel set about fin-
ishing his composition, and in 1947 the Geneva Radio performed
the second and last part of the work. The development that had
Vladimir Vogel
taken place during the nine years

large creation is clearly evident fr
the two parts. The first exhibits a
much his own, yet not rigidly cons
has been rigorously subjected to th
Schoenberg. It would seem that th
might thereby suffer. But it has n
so strong, his dramatic feeling is so
the work does not reveal this inner transformation of the musical
idiom. A study of the score, however, reveals what Vogel has g

in vigor and subtlety by accepting this discipline. In this way h
found the means of expression conducive to bringing out the
in his nature, and has used these means with a mastery that si
larly enlarges the scope of our perceptions and emotions.
In carrying out his monumental conception, Vogel has
thought it necessary to resort to physically powerful means.
orchestra is remarkably spare: it admits of only a reduced ense
of strings, a group of wind instruments without oboes and h
two saxophones, a piano, a harp, a percussion section manned
four musicians, and in certain lyric passages a soprano voice. A
and a female narrator bring out the elements of dramatic act
of which the spoken chorus forms the framework. With this limi
equipment Vogel has launched out on his great adventure and
composed a work unprecedented in music.
His speaking chorus proceeds from an essentially musical c
ception. According to a technique that is quite his own, the c
poser has achieved the transference of certain values that have
thought proper only to the realm of pure sound. His chorus is
a new kind of orchestra, having resources comparable to a cer
degree to those of an instrumental ensemble. Vogel gives a fun
to words that is sometimes plastic and sometimes dynamic
cording to the exigencies of the action or of the expression,
dominance is given to the phrase, the word, or even the sylla
The word caresses you or agitates you, envelops you or pierces
it is like velvet or like steel, insiniuating or imperious; it enters y
body as well as your soul, and often reaches the depths of the unc
scious where it engenders a mysterious vitality. Some of the choru
conform to architectural principles, others convey pictorial s
tions, still others cast startling flashes of illumination over sentimen
and passions. But all of them carry the mark of an intellect th
as vigorous as it is subtle. Guided by his artistic int
invaded with sureness an unknown region, and ha
once to consolidate his conquests and invest m
lyricism.
To translate the drama of Thyl Claes in its plenitude and com-
plexity, Vladimir Vogel uses two kinds of music: a music entrusted
to the orchestra and the woman's voice, and a music spoken by the
chorus. The orchestra, however, often accompanies the choristers.
It then identifies itself with them, sustaining phrases, supporting
the scansion of the words or underlining the beat of the syllables.
In some manner or other the word is reechoed and often greatly
prolonged by the instruments of the orchestra.
In his conception and execution of Thyl Claes, Vogel displays
that spirit of synthesis which seems most likely to preserve the
universal character of great themes. His work bears witness to what
can be done by an artist who is master of his craft and wishes to
achieve new means of expression. As for the sentiment in his work,
it touches us profoundly by the quality of its human message.
EDMOND APPIA
U. S. S. R.
The past two years have seen a large number of new works b
Soviet composers, many of which, acclaimed by Soviet music-love
have won Stalin Prizes, the highest award conferred by the Sov
Government.
These outstanding works belong to the most varied fields o

music and are dissimilar in form and content; yet they all share
certain common features, namely ardent Soviet patriotism, seriou
ideological content, and deep ties with the folk music and classic
musical traditions of the people. Soviet composers write beautifu
harmonious music capable of satisfying the high esthetic deman
and artistic tastes of the Soviet public.
In this brief article I shall deal only with several of the work
that were performed for the first time during 1948 and 1949, a
symphony and chamber-music concerts given by the Moscow Stat
Philharmonic Society.
In the oratorio genre, a leading place was won by the patrioti
Homeland Cantata, by the young A

The basic theme of this cantata is
free, creative labor. A work of fi
form, the cantata stirs the listener
force of its ideological content; by
its expressive and thoroughly natio
The Socialist Homeland is also the theme of Vladimir Bunin's
Second Symphony. "This symphony", said the composer, "is of
epic character. I tried to express in it my thoughts about my co
try, its vastness, might, and grandeur; about our heroic people
boundlessly devoted to their country, who are confidently march
forward in the great struggle, to a radiant future." Bunin's Sympho
testifies to the composer's deep-rooted ties with Russian folk m
and the traditions of Russian classic symphonism found in the wo
of Mussorgsky and Borodin.
Another work that follows the traditions of Russian symphon
music is L. Knipper's suite, Soldiers' Songs, consisting of four br
parts, each devoted to episodes from life in the Soviet Army. Des
the intentional thriftiness of instrumentation-the suite is written
for a small orchestra-it is distinguished for its rich imagery, and
vivid, colorful orchestration.
Of great interest are two mugams by Amirov, a talented young
Azerbaijan composer. The mugam, one of the oldest forms of music
in Azerbaijan, consists of improvisations which are epic in character
but are composed in strict conformity with established rules as
regards harmony and rhythm as well as the alternation of musical
episodes of varying character. Employing the tunes of the mugams,
Amirov fully revealed their musical content through the medium
of the modern symphony orchestra, and succeeded in creating sym-
phonic works, rich in melody and tone-color. By preserving to the
full the originality of these inimitable examples of folk music, the
composer has made a valuable contribution to the treasure-house of
Soviet music.
Leili and Mejnun, a programmatic symphonic poem by Kara

Karayev, another young Azerbaijan composer, is noted for its dra-
matic expression and vivid orchestral coloring. The poem is based
on the work of Alisher Navoi, 15th-century Uzbek poet, which tells
of the boundless and tragic love of Leili and Mejnun, their fidelity
and friendship.
A great deal of attention was attracted by the highly emotional
and temperamental piano concerto of the young Dag
Gasanov. Adhering to the traditions of Russian pian
(particularly of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov), t
is built around themes indigenous to the songs of
peoples, which lend to Gasanov's concerto vivid, nat
acter. The work is splendid proof of the tremendou
made by the formerly backward peoples of Daghest
The great success of music in the Lithuanian SSR
Balis Dvarionas's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The rich the-
matic material of the Concerto is national in character, the com-
poser making lavish use of genuine Lithuanian folk melodies. The
Concerto combines profound emotionalism with broad symphonic
treatment masterfully effected. In this work Dvarionas develops the
best traditions of classic violin concerto music.
The past year has seen a further splendid addition to violin con-
certo literature-a superb work by Kabalevsky. This is the first of a
cycle of concertos (for violin, for 'cello, for piano) planned by this
composer for young musicians. In his Violin Concerto, Kabalevsky
strove to convey the thoughts and feelings of Soviet youth, to whom
the piece is dedicated. The Concerto scintillates with joyous, radiant
tones. The gaiety of the finale, replete with youthful fervor, is
emphasized by the warm, hearty lyricism of the central part. This
work is based on the sweeping, tuneful melodies typical of Russian
song.
An important addition to 'cello music is the Second Concerto by
Kabalevsky.
In speaking of Soviet composers' new works in this form, mention
must also be made of Vasilenko's Concerto for Harp, which is dis-
tinguished for the skill and brilliant virtuosity characteristic of the
renowned composer.
An interesting experiment in creating a new form of musical
drama, intended for concert performance, was made by the composer
Yurovsky in his symphonic poem Zoya (after the poem of the same
name by Margarita Aliger, dedicated to the heroic feat of the Soviet
patriot, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya). In this work, for orchestra, chorus,
soprano, and readers, the composer has attained great dramatic force
and expression, and succeeded in basically combining the elements
of music and the spoken word.
Also dedicated to the immortal image of the heroine Zoya Kos-
modemnyanskaya is Monologue on Tanya (for bass and orchestra)
by the Ukrainian composer Dankev

dramatic merit and excellent composit
In the search for new forms, a su
achieved by the young composer Ustv
Razin's Dream for bass and sympho
continuation and development of th
symphonism in the vocal-symphonic
first work in the field of symphonic m
The young composer Alexei Mura
during the past concert season with h
(after Urals Tales by the Soviet write
ner), which was highly acclaimed by S
Of the chamber-music compositions
in 1948-49 those distinguished for pr
the Fourth Quartet by Glibre, the Sec
composer Philippenko, the Seventh
Shebalin, Sonata for 'Cello by Myask
young composer Yordan. All of these
by the Soviet press and large audience
field of chamber music.
This far-from-complete review of some of the best symphonic

and chamber-music compositions written by Soviet composers during
the past two years, gives some idea of the vast creative activity of
Soviet composers; of the wealth, depth of content, and variety of
their works; of the heights that Soviet music has attained today.
V. KRYOUKOV
The Musical Quarterly endeavors to inform its readers about

significant activities in the field of contemporary musical composi-
tion. We are not able to cover the entire field, nor can we report on
every country in every issue, but by judicious sampling we can at
least keep abreast with the main events. Most of our reports come
from correspondents who act as our ambassadors at large, but some
communications come unsolicited, which of course does not make
them less welcome. The above report from the USSR is one of these
surprise contributions, a surprise in more than one sense. To us this
rich, highly developed, idyllic, and undisturbed musical life, securely
founded on sound ideological principles, is at on
enviable. According to a recent article in Sovietsk
6, 1949) "the American musical press is flesh of the
rupt bourgeois press of the USA which disseminate
propaganda of imperialism and hatred of manki
Quarterly in particular is a bad offender, accordin
friends, and shows "in full measure all the sins of
geois thinking. The defense of the long since rott
'pure art', shameless propaganda of formalism and
totally lacking in ideas-all these repulsive traits so
contemporary American culture as a whole, emerge
clarity on the pages of this 'scholarly' musical orga
sorry state of affairs, and in comparison with the unc
emerges with sufficient clarity from our Russian r
have a leg to stand on. Still, when we try to get an id
mentioned in the report in such glowing terms, w
positive impression, and that is that their composers a
politics are irreproachable from a certain point of
we surely cannot match them, for we are peculiar
music, good or bad, and do not care a nickel whet
ment likes it or not. (We may betray an even mor
fact which may cost us our daily bread-hence the
Government, God bless it, cares even less for mus
even though our Chief Executive is a pianist of
The Musical Quarterly exercises considerable care
of articles for publication (this of course is ruthles
under ordinary circumstances a rhapsody like the abov
not pass our star chamber. We are lamentably negl
touching on ideology and unnecessarily critical as to
an attitude which is an old bourgeois relic not yet ext
However, we could not in clear conscience deprive o
pleasure of glimpsing, at least from the distance, t
of music where every composer is perfect and every w
piece.-EDITOR.

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Current Chronicle

Author(s): Peter Gradenwitz, Frederick Goldbeck, Martin Cooper, V. Kryoukov, Edmond

Of the music of Olivier Messiaen Virgil Thomson wrote four

The symphony is in ten movements totalling in duration approxi-

2 Werke, III, 65 (169).

E x .l. _ &_im p ut,

This is followed immediately by a descending whole-tone scale, a

3Trbs.,Tubalnt- >4 >

Another section follows in which a series of arabesque-like figures

which is followed by a cadenza f

The next section is one that shows th

Ex.4 Moakd ? nrE _ . I INS.

The gamelan and bass instruments pl

This rhythm reversed

Ex. 6 i. .' t,lintain

Carngadeva's table is published in Part I, Vol. I of the Lavignac Encyclopddie, pp.

4 For Messiaen a non-retrogradable rhythm is musically the quantitative equivalent

dl lB * ,:.::,::.::.::-- : I):::.:' .::::::::: .....:: .:i;~L-:

low " "

Page 18 from the Original Manuscript of Messiaen's Turangalila

Permission for reproduction granted by Durand

Page 19 from the Original Manu

from the trumpets and horns, and

Ex7 Pa;-"ia-',- umpevip

This is the refrain that recurs between episodes of variat

Counting the sixte

Ex.9 T s ,,air (, Fl. Cl

The coda refers briefly to both the melodic and rhythmic

4. The fourth movement, the second Chant d'amour, is a scherzo

This the composer calls a simnultan

strings without basses. Four periods

EX. 11 Tres h nn er',tr te dre

is the last of the three cyclic themes.

This is followed by a section devoted to co

9. The ninth movement, Turangalila 3, opens with a theme

Exl3 eod. TpI

which is followed immediately by a quint

Ex.14 Modaer 7 3 216 17

Here, against an ostinato in t

With all this, the theme appears diminished, in notes of equal

EX15 *4odire, avc- une -ande > joie

continues in a dominant phrase and is repeated beginning on the

From these the entire finale is developed, always in fast sixteen

During the fall of 1949 the First Symphony of Roger Sessi

The opening violin passage (Ex. 1)

It is significant, however, that while this melodic line looks ver

Copy right, 1949: by G Schirmer, Inc.

significant departure from 12-tone row practice is t

Motivos de Son, by Amadeo Roldin, is a series of

We are used to Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments only

A sense of rhythmic polyphony comes from the use of several

Arduous as this description sounds, the rhythmic complexities of

The New York City Opera Company has revived Prokofieff's

When Stokowski recently performed Carl Ruggles's Organum

music is full of verve. It is rich, full-b

Another subject that comes in for a great deal of discussion with

EX.6 10lto Lento

Ex7 via. ;=etc.

ber of short, condensed, highly finished pieces of dissonant textu

The recent Broadway season has given us quite a few motio

Copland, Honegger, or Walton receives not even a single lin

help to the show. Witness his score

Faced with the financial necessity of paring his orchestra down

Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata, completed last summer and per-