Current Chronicle Author(S): Henry Cowell, Karl H

Current Chronicle Author(s): Henry Cowell, Karl H. Wörner, Everett Helm, Peter Gradenwitz and Claudio Sartori Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct., 1952), pp. 595-620 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/740141 . Accessed: 01/10/2013 05:09

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This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CURRENT CHRONICLE

UNITED STATES

New York

Percussion music, to many musicians and laymen alike, suggests somethingloud and noisy,with determinedthumps in so-called "prim- itive" rhythmson those instrumentsof indefinitepitch that decorate our bands and orchestras: drums,tom-toms, cymbals, clap-sticks,etc. This is not an invitingkind of music to most people; theywould prefer to have percussion instrumentskeep their customary places in the background, with occasional punctuation, in works whose primary interestlies in pitch relationshipsand in rhythmsthat relyonly in part on percussionfor their delineation. The period since the twentiesin contemporarymusic has not been a stronglyexperimental one, but nonethelessthere have been several developments: the area in which there has been most explorationand expansion is that of percussionmusic. In 191 3 Luigi Rossolo decided that "futurist"music should elim- inate musical tone and deal with regulated noises only. This seems to have been an abstract idea, and it cannot be said to have produced any classical gems of noise. Yet Ionization, by Edgard Varkse, perhaps the mostfamous percussionpiece of the firsthalf of this century,sprang fromthe composer'sassociation with futuristesthetics. My own experiments with percussionmusic and organized noises, between 1923 and 1936, derived chieflyfrom my interestin the elaborate palette of sounds and their highlyorganized treatmentin the Orient, and from dancers' request for percussionaccompaniment. My pieces were sometimes tonal, sometimesnot. "Pure" percussionmusic abjures tones of definitepitch; it deals in shades of refinementof noise. John Cage and Lou Harrison both became known for their pure percussion music, and as leaders of percussion orchestras.They both started from the less abstract field 595

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of music for the moderndance, and theirmusic of the thirtiestypically employed several kinds of instrumentsthat were used in sets of five or more sizes. Although these sets were not tuned to exact pitches,the general pitch level within a certain range became important,in con- trastto Varese, who was more interestedin pure noise-makers:chains rattled in tubs, sirens, and so on. While Varese's Ionization is for the most part loud, John Cage's excursioninto "prepared piano" music establishedseveral degrees of pianissimo. The Junior Council of the Museum of Modem Art recentlypre- sented a concert of music for percussion, composed between 1926 (Thomson) and 1952 (Surinach). Examples of music by purists Varkse, Cage, and Harrison were not included; similarlyno attempt was made to show the extraordinaryadvances in handling percussion that have been heard in the improvisationsof the great jazz drummers -advances that have made their way into certain concert music too. The schismaticswho produced the Museum of Modem Art program were obviouslyinterested in presentinga third approach, showingthat the use of some percussionin a small melodic chamber group may have a place, and that not all percussion instrumentsneed be treated as lacking in definitepitch. The programwas intended to round out the picture presentedby the recentlymore frequentconcerts of the other "schools." At the Museum concert the piano, which is not always allowed its due as a percussioninstrument (since its "singingtone" is so care- fullycultivated), was treated plainly as a Hammerklavier.Xylophones were prominent,and timpani were used more than less definitely pitched drums. As mightbe anticipated,one of the earlierworks, William Russell's March Suite (x1937), was closer than most to the purist school. The five marches make carefullycontrolled use of many kinds of noises, each different,each extremelyeffective. There are also chords on the piano in which the pitchesmay be detected.Yet theirvalue is primarily percussive,not harmonic or melodic, so this work managed to qualify on a programin which all percussionpieces must be sullied by definite pitch at some point. The earliest work presented was Virgil Thomson's Five Phrases from Song of Solomon (1926). A single vocal line throbsexpressively in Near Eastern fashion over a single percussioninstrument that gives the simple fundamentalbeat. The voice supplies the pitch, while a tom-tomor sometimesa cymbal sounds the rhythmgently.

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The most recent work was Ritmo Hondo (1952) by the Spaniard Carlos Surinach. It uses modern counterpoint,between clarinet and trumpet,xylophone and timpani. There is special emphasis on the ease with which percussion enters into canonic forms,without aban- doning its conventionalassignment to keep the rhythmincisive. P. Glanville-Hicks'sSonata for Piano and Percussion (95I) did not differentiatebetween the piano and a percussionsection, as the title might suggest,but rather turned out to be more or less a duet between piano and xylophone,with kettle drums and some non-tonal percussion in the background. Here one of the interestingthings is the influenceof the "purists" on the writingfor the piano and xylophone, in a work conceived as chamber music. The pitches of these instrumentsare handled non-sequentially,so that their abilityto produce a variety of isolated sounds becomes significant.They are not used to make melodies or chord successions. The third movement shows the influence of Oriental percussion practices, especially the Indonesian gamelan. This sonata was the most varied of the program's works. Elliott Carter, in his Suite for Timpani (1950), undertookto find out whetherinterest could be sustained for 9 minutes50 seconds in a work for one player on the regular orchestralkettle drums, and the consensus among the hearers was that it could not - this in spite of the fact that Carter, one of the leaders in modern American composition, wrote very well indeed for his instruments. Paul Bowles's Music for a Farce was writtenin 1938; it is a take- off on the old vaudeville and music-hallorchestras that oftenconsisted of a handful of players,chief among whom was the percussionist.This is satire, and it succeeds in being amusing. The percussion does not contributean element of its own to the music; it ratherconfirms and exaggerates the rhythmof the trumpet,clarinet, and piano trio to underlinethe joke. The program as a whole successfullymade the point that the past 25 years have seen the use of an increasedpalette of percussionsounds, some of them really subtlycontrolled, and that not all of these developments belong among "pure" percussionworks. There has been an improvementin the use of percussion in orchestralwriting, and in combination with small groups, that tends to pass unnoticed. The pieces of Glanville-Hicksand Surinach,for example, show an advanced kind of integrationof percussion into chamber groups, unheard of beforethe experimentsof the purists.This is not to say that percussion

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 598 The Musical Quarterly instrumentsmanage to hold their own against melodic instrumentsin interestor varietyas yet, but the currentis obviouslyflowing strongly in that direction. One aspect of the matter is at present crippling,and it urgently needs solving if the full range of percussion elements is to take a consideredplace in cultivatedmusic. This is the question of notation. Only can writedown fairlyaccurately the beats of the orchestraldrums and the familiarrolls on the snare drums,the customarycrack of the cymbals,and so on. But in direct proportionto the composer'sdesire for a wide varietyof new sounds, the abilityto notate them accurately diminishes.Many of the newer sounds are made on unconventional instruments:rice bowls of the composer'sown selection,brake drums, metal utensils,sheets of brass and tin, etc. Because a precise notation has yet to be invented,the composermust describethe instrumentand its technical performancein great detail, and even so, differentper- formancesof a given work will differgreatly. Some composers (Colin McPhee, Percy Grainger, Virgil Thomson come to mind) own the special gongs or drums for which they have written,and lend them for performance,with directionsas to where and how hard and with what to strike. In the many instanceswhere a composer wants a familiar instrument to be sounded in new ways, he inventshis own notation. This has the double disadvantage of being impreciseexcept to its inventor, and of requiring bulky explanations still because its symbolsare not universallyunderstood and accepted. There is now great need for agreementon concepts of tone quality so that a general notation may be possible. What has been developed by the experimentsis a scale of timbre values. Expansion of presentpercussion practices in Westernart music can only come about by bringing in these many new timbres; the percussive use of the piano and the xylophone necessarilyremains tonal because almost no varietyof tone quality is possible. Only among the non-tonal or "pure" percussivesounds is there enough variety to challenge comparisonwith the world of pitch-tones,and much greater precisionin classificationand use of the formerwill have to be achieved beforethe challengeis a veryserious one. Notation of the conventionalpitch instrumentswas made possible by general agreement on organization of pitch and rhythmand on the symbolsfor the resultingpatterns, and by reasonable similarityin performers'training and experience. Some such path must ultimately

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Current Chronicle 599 be followedin everyfield of experiment,it seemsto me, if the experi- mentalists'compositions are not to remain a personal secret.

People who workexperimentally with new soundsseem to have trouble distinguishingbetween the materials of musical composition and the compositionsthemselves. They are apt to rush theirnew sounds prematurelyinto pieces that are hardly creative work in the generally accepted sense, and that are easily identifiedas vehicles for the new sounds rather than works in which these sounds form an integrated part. Men like Alois Haba, Julian Carrillo,and Harry Partch,for example, have all made interestingexperiments in the microtonalfield, withoutmaking microtonesan indispensablepart of theirmusic. Proof of microtones'usefulness is stillbest supplied by certain Oriental music. It is thereforerefreshing when a composer offershis experiments franklyby that name, withoutconfusion. Vladimir Ussachevskydid just thismost disarminglyat a recentComposers' Forum, presentinga series of electronic sounds that depend on tape recordingapparatus, with which he has recentlybeen experimenting.These were not compositions, and no attempt was made to call them so. But the sounds are certainlya possible resource for composers. Ussachevskydescribes his work as follows:

In magnetictape we have, for the firsttime, I believe, the multiplemeans of modifyingmusical sounds after they have been recorded,or while they are being recorded.This is possible because of the flexibilitywith which tape can be cut up, spliced in any order,reversed for playingbackward, speeded up, or slowed down or erased at any point,and so on. Modificationof sound duringor afterrecording is now activelyexperimented with by several groups of composersin collaborationwith electronicengineers. In anotherrelated but still distinctcategory may be placed the extensiveexperi- mentswith entirelynew types of sound, purelyelectronic in origin,as well as the introductionof non-musicalsounds (often simplynoises) into the fabric of a sound composition(i.e. the Musique Concrete group in France; John Cage's experimentsas yet unheard here). My own experimentsup to this time have been restrictedto the use of sounds well below and well above the conventionalpiano range; to modificationof the tone quality of the soundswithin conventional range; and to electronicrepetition of any such soundsby means of a speciallydesigned gadget. The soundsproduced by the latter create a peculiarlydimensional impression, and permitmany indi- vidual variationsin dynamiclevel, in notes soundingsimultaneously. A conver- sation among several people, mixed with music, has also been subjected to the

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 600 The Musical Quarterly gadget,with effectssometimes simply amusing, sometimes evoking a more pro- foundnostalgia or hypnoticfeeling. One might add that Ussachevsky'selectronic repetitions are con- trolled, and vary from three or four to an indefinitenumber in the space of a quarter note at about tempo allegro. The repetitionsoverlap. One would not expect such a series of mechanical repetitionsto be related to human experience,yet to nearly everyonethe effectseems to suggestsome half-forgotten,elusive experience.Several people have testifiedindependently that the sounds correspondto what is heard at one level of consciousnessduring the process of going under an anes- thetic; othersrecall having heard such automatic sounds in dreams. Ussachevsky'sprocess consisted,among other things,of recording tones above and below the piano range (but withinpipe-organ range), recorded with the piano, and then re-recordedfaster or slower. The percussivequality of the piano produced sharplydefined, rapid groups of tones quite unlike those of the organ in the same register.An A two octaves below the lowest A on the piano was produced by playing a recordingof the lowest A at one-fourththe speed. The fundamental pitch was inaudible, but its powerfullow overtonesproduced an other- wise unheard-oftimbre. Ussachevskyis now in the process of incorporatingsome of these sounds into a composition.The pitfallsare many: we wish him well! HENRY COWELL

AUSTRIA

The I951I I.S.C.M. Festival was held at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany,the 1952 Festival at Salzburg,Austria. Both eventsare worthy of being regarded as symbolsof the returnof the two countriesto the internationalmusical scene. The Salzburg Festival was at the same time the commemorationof the thirtiethanniversary of the I.S.C.M., which was establishedafter the firstInternational Festival of modemrn music at Salzburg on August I I, 1922, as the project of Austrian musicians. There were some changes in the proceduresusually followedin fes- tivals of the I.S.C.M. According to an experimentsuggested by the

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Current Chronicle 601 delegates at Frankfortlast year, every active National Section was representedin the programsby at least one work, in order to give a comprehensivepicture of what is being produced in the musical world. The result was a considerableincrease in the works performedin the concerts.Within ten days we heard eleven concertsand a Mass, in all 55 works of 52 composers from 24 nations of five continents. (The chorusesby seven contemporarycomposers performed after the opening ceremoniesby the Wiener Akademie-Kammerchorare not included in this enumeration.) If we consider the works as a picture of the world situation of modernmusic we may summarizeour impressionsin fourpoints of view: i) The so-called neo-Classical styleis the predominantfeature; 2) Dodecaphonism is winningmore and more adherentsin nearly all countries; 3) The influenceof folkloreon instrumentalmusic has perhaps not yet diminished; 4) Form is the main problemof contemporarymusic.

i) Neo-Classicism,beginning in 1923/24 with the retour a Bach simultaneouslyin worksof Stravinskyand Hindemith,has now involved all eras of music history.From Bach as the musical and historical center,contemporary composers are looking backward to the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance as well as forwardto the Romantic and post-Romanticeras and to Impressionism.A new and not even surprisingpoint of view of some composersextends to the Expressionism of the years shortlybefore and after the firstWorld War and results in what may be termed neo-Expressionism. The Sixth Symphonyby the Swiss Conrad Beck (b. I9o01) has Hindemithian traits in the firstmovement, but is more lyrical; the second and third movementsrecall the melodic and dramatic line of Tchaikovsky.Beck's manner of building up the tune, of repeating it in connection with the change of instrumentalcolors, is Romantic throughout.The Danish composer Knudaage Riisager (b. 1897) is a pupil of AlbertRoussel. His Sinfonia serena forstrings and kettle-drums has no nationalisticfeatures and is writtenin a partlylinear Baroque and a partly neo-Classical style with more or less personal and conventional feeling. The fifty-four-year-oldHungarian composer Tibor Hars6nyi has been living in Paris since 1923. His Symphonyin C is a of French and and conglomeration i9th- 20th-centurystyles popular, not folkloristic,Hungarian tunes. The effectiveThree Pieces for Or-

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chestraof the Belgian Marcel Quinet (b. 1915), professorin the conservatoryof Brussels,are well orchestrated,but writtenin a vein of post-Romanticand Impressionisticeclecticism. Sincere in its emotions, but in no way original in its neo-Romantic mannerismsis the Canto de Amor e Paz for stringsby the Brazilian Claudio Santoro (b. 1919), a pupil of H. J. Koellreutterand Nadia Boulanger. Written in the specificform of the Italian neo-Baroque are the Canzoni per Orchestra by Giorgio Federico Ghedini (b. 1892). The work of the well-known Italian composer makes free use of the historicaltype of the canzoni as a settingof numerouscontrasting parts, full of dramatic vitality.No less historicalis the Suite for two flutesand stringsby the Austrian Georg Gruber (b. 1904 in Vienna), composer of sacred music. The clear and concise seven movementsare rich in counterpointand written in differentchurch modes. The youngestform of neo-Classicism,neo- Expressionism,is at least the least academic. Neo-Expressionismis sub- jective reactionand commentaryon today's world. It is interestingthat all neo-Expressionisticworks performedat the Salzburg Festival must be discussed in connection with the twelve-tonesystem. Not one of these symphoniesand symphoniccompositions was really convincing, either by its ideas, or by its expressionand form. Not very differentwas the impressionmade by the solo concertos with orchestrausing standardizedforms. Paul Csonka, born in Vienna in 1905 and living in Cuba since 1938, writesa Concertinofor oboe, bassoon, and orchestra,a vivid and freshduo concertantein the 18th- centurystyle. The Second Piano Concerto, with strings,composed in 1944 by the Norwegian Claus Egge (b. 1910), who was a pupil of Fartein Valen and Walther Gmeindl (Berlin), consistsonly of seven academic variationsand a fugue on a Norwegian folktune. The Japa- nese Yoritsune Matsudeira (b. 1907) is more interesting.As a pupil of Alexander Tcherepnin he acquired a command of the European principles of variation. The idiom of his Theme and Variations for piano and orchestrawill be discussed furtherbelow as a particular example of folklorism.The Concerto for Violin and small orchestraby the Hollander Marius Flothius (b. 1914), who is a self-taughtmusician but influencedby Willem Pijper, betraysmuch technical skill and is charmingby reason of its combinationof virtuositywith melody and the brevityof its three movements. The tendenciesof the neo-Classical chamber music scarcely differ fromthose of the orchestralworks. The Sonata for clarinet and 'cello by the EnglishwomanPhyllis Tate (b. 19 I1) is writtenwith consider-

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able skill for the two instrumentsand has its charm in the unproblem- atic flow. The Variations for piano solo by Alfonso Letelier (Chile, b. 1912) display the variation style of Brahms and Reger; they are boring in their neo-Romantic conservatism.The Sonata for trumpet and piano by Karl Otto Runolfsson (b. 1900oo,Iceland) may be mentioned only as a rare and praiseworthyexample in the literaturefor trumpet. The famous French conductor Jean Martinon (b. 19Io) wrote his String Quartet expertlyin the spirit of his master Roussel, with less personal artisticimagination, but with masteryof the four instruments.The witty and rhythmicMusic for Clarinet, Trumpet, and Viola of the thirty-four-year-oldAustrian Karl Schiske was an unsuccessfulexperiment because the combination of the three instruments offendedthe ear. Bach influencesare combined with personal feeling to form an interestingwork in the Sonata for Violin Solo by Marcel Mihalovici, born in 1898 in Bucharestand living in Paris since 1919. The neo-ImpressionisticDuo for Flute and Harp of the Hol- lander Lex van Delden (b. I919) is really charmingin its sounds and its poetry. Sterilityis the danger of all classicism.The Theme and Variations for two violins by Ronald Tremain (b. I923 in New Zealand, a pupil of the Royal College of Music, London) and the String Trio in two movements (Passacaglia and Fantasia sobre el coral "Wer nur den lieben Gott liisstwalten") by the ArgentinianPaul Graetzer (b. I914) are not personal enough to be interesting.The Sextet for Winds by Nils Erik Ringbom (b. I907, Finland) is conversationaland conventional. Three piano pieces by Stefans Grov6 (b. 1922, South Africa) are writtenin a neo-Classical manner of the Stravinsky-Hindemithstyle. None of these works was first-class. As an impressiveexample of contemporaryecclesiastical Gebrauchs- musik the Mass in C (1936) by Joseph Messner (b. 1893) must be mentioned.It is a solemn,dignified, and effectivecomposition for mixed voices, brass, and kettle-drums,recalling Bruckner,and writtenas a result of the special acoustical propertiesof the Salzburg cathedral, where it was performed. It is not astonishingthat contemporarymusic for organ is written for the most part in the neo-Baroque style. Modern music for organ, excellentlyperformed by Robert Schollum, was representedin works of Olivier Messiaen (b. 1908, France), Robert Schollum (b. 1913, Austria), and Paul Amadeus Pisk (b. 1893 in Austria, living in the United States since I937) and SiegfriedReda (b. I916, Germany).

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Schollum's Second Sonata is in its combinationof linearity,Romantic expressiveness,and dodecaphony a mixture of styles. Pisk and Reda are unoriginaland purelyacademic. Messiaen is interestingand partly convincingfor the abundance of bold sounds and colors, phantasyand mysticism. 2) It was the surprisingresult of the Salzburg Festival that the general advance of the twelve-tonesystem was apparent. Works of at least fifteencomposers of the middle and young generationwho occupy themselveswith this technique were heard. The most excitingimpulses of the festivalarose fromsome of these compositions.The impressions may be summarizedas follows: dodecaphonismis merelya technique admitting completely differentpossibilities of expression and mood; there are radicals, continuingthe extremestyle of Anton von Webern, moderates who are seeking to combine atonality with tonality,and finallycomposers incorporatingit in a freely-conceivedstructure and idiom. The three youngestwere the most radical and the most orthodox. Henri Pousseur (b. 1929, Belgium), in his Three Sacred Songs for soprano and string trio follows Anton von Webern too strictlyand writesabstract music of littlepersonal distinction,but showingcompe- tence as well as promise. The Frenchman Pierre Boulez, born 1925, Messiaen's pupil, known as a wild but consistentyoung man through the Parisian and Donaueschingen scandals, was representedby Le soleil des eaux, two poems by Rene Chor for soprano, tenor,bass, and orchestra.The work may perhaps be characterizedas expressingsome- thing beyond the abstract; the orchestralcolors and sounds are bright, glittering,and buoyant in a new way that owes nothing to French Impressionism.Another radical is Roman Vlad, born 1919 in Rumania and livingin Italy since 1938. His Tre invocazioni for voice and piano with Latin words are confessionsof an extremeecstatic Expressionism. Neo-Expressionismin a typicallyGerman sense is representedby Bernd Aloys Zimmerman (b. 1918). His Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, writtenin 1950, is full of turmoil and dramatic tension, sincerein its feeling,a pictureof the apocalypticcharacter of our time. The Hymnes a la beaute' for soprano, alto, choir, and orchestraby the Swede G6te Carlid (b. 1920) are translationsof the verses of Baude- laire into the abstract musical language of his own individuality.The Viennese Hanns Jelinek (b. 1901oi) belongs to the Schoenberg school in the orthodox sense. His artisticmeans and his musical expression are dependenton the post-Romanticstyle of Mahler, Schoenberg,and

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Alban Berg. He developsin his Fantasyfor piano, clarinet,and orchestra a strong dramatic feelingwith vigorous accents and a subtle ear for sounds. The Englishman Humphrey Searle (b. 1915) attains in his Poem for twenty-twostrings a fine and sensitivemusic recalling the atmosphereof Impressionisticmodels. Personal feelingrecedes before a poetic idea. In the Sonata for piano of the talented Claus Adam (b. 1917, son of Austrian parents, living in America since 1931) personal feelingseems to be outdone by constructivism.The self-willed musical language of the Swiss Edward Staempfli's(b. 1908) Variations forwind instruments,formed by a freeuse of the twelve-tonetechnique, showed an original mind at work. Don Banks, born in Australia in 1924, living in England since 1950 as a pupil of Mityas Seiber, shows some influencesof Hindemith and Bart6k in spite of dodecaphonism. A mature work in technique,form, and expressionis the Chorfantasie nach einem Fragment von Hilderlin by the German WinifredZillig (b. 1905, pupil of Schoenberg), writtenin strictobservance of twelve- tone principles and steeped in strong emotion that at times rises to hymnicexaltation. Finallythere were some compromisesbetween atonalityand tonality, attemptsto write alternatelyin both styles.Whether there really is a chance of a new way here will be seen only in the future.The three MythologischenFigurinen for orchestraby the German Rudolph Wag- ner-Regeny (b. I903) are only light music employingsome modern techniques;the Piano Concertoof the AustrianCesar Bresgen (b. 1918) mixes folklorismwith atonal portions; the Italian Mario Peragallo (b. 1i910o) writesa piano concertorecalling Liszt in the conglomeration of lyricism,dramatic power, and virtuosity. 3) There are chieflytwo possibilitiesof using folk tunes in modem music: eitheras quotation or as raw material. Accordingto a footnote in the program-bookJoseph Tal (b. I9Io in Germany,living in Israel since 1934, directorof the Israel Conservatoryof Music) writes in a style based freelyon European 20th-centurymusic and Jewish folk music. His Sonata for violin and piano, consistingof three movements each correspondingto one of the three parts of the sonata form, is predominantlylyrical.' Harsinyi's use of popular Hungarian tunes (Symphony in C) resultsin music that is often vulgar. The Sonata for violin and organ by Josip Slavenski (Jugoslavia, b. 1896), written in 1919, is an odd combinationof folklorismand sophistication.Some 1 See p.614f.

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parts consistof melodic folk tunes,others of effectsbased on chords of the overtonesas long pedal-points.No less odd, but freshin its rhythmic vividnessis the piano concertoby Cesar Bresgenmentioned above. The Simfoni'na antiteza by Matija Bravni'ar (b. 1897, Jugoslavia) uses melodic folkloristicmaterial from Jugoslavia in a potpourri with changing instrumentalcolors often recalling Tchaikovsky. The most talented attempt,convincing for its technical skill and exotic charm, was the Theme and Variationsfor piano and orchestraby the Japanese Yoritsune Matsudeira. The harmony and orchestrationof the theme, writtenin imitationof Japanese folklore,suggest the original sound; the variations are differentWestern types,e.g. a song without words, a boogie-woogie,and a toccata. 4) Today all theoretical discussionson modern music culminate in the antithesisof tonalityand atonality.That is trulystrange, since the specific problems of present-daymusic lie in the search for new musical forms.We do not yet have new formsas definitetypes com- parable to the concertoof the Baroque era or the sonata of the Classical and Romantic periods. The strivingafter new and valid formsseems to have been the central problem of contemporarymusic since the twenties.A cross-sectionof the worksin the I.S.C.M. Festival confirmed this situation,typical of all periods of transitionin music history. KARL H. WORNER

GERMANY

Whatever else the music of Wolfgang Fortnermay or may not be, it is highly competent. It is more than that: it is extremelyskilful. Fortner knows his craft in all its phases. He has a thoroughmastery of counterpoint,rhythmical device, techniquesof variationand development, and orchestration.In so far, he is a musician's musician. In the past he has on occasion been accused of being cold and cerebral,of having too little to say and too much to say it with, of having more skill than inspiration.Such criticismmay have been justified.But as regards his new 'Cello Concerto, it most certainlywould not be. The Concerto speaks not only with address but with emotion; it speaks not only to the intellectbut to the heart; it is music not only for the

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connoisseurbut for the public. Testimonyto this fact was amply provided at the recentworld premierein one of the "Musica Viva" concerts in Munich, where a capacity audence gave the new Concerto and its composer an ovation. Fortneris a twelve-tonecomposer, but not an aggressiveor experi- mental one. Compared with the music of some of his confederates, such as Pierre Boulez, or with that of Webern or even with some works of Schoenberg,his music sounds conservative.Indeed, if one did not know that Fortnerwrites in the twelve-tonetechnique, one might not suspect it from the sound of the music alone. The importanceof the technique in the formal structureis of course another matter; here it is indispensable.In the 'Cello Concerto, in any case, the fact that the work is writtenin the twelve-tonetechnique is a matter of secondary importance.Of primaryimportance is the strongfeeling of conviction and sinceritythe Concerto conveys.It is honestas well as expertmusic, and it is "clever" onlyin the best sense of the word. Part of its cleverness lies in the orchestration,which is nothingshort of masterly.Fortner not only writeswell for the orchestra,with a complete knowledge of the possibilitiesof each instrumentand of orchestralcolor, he also writes with great imagination,finding new sounds and creatingan orchestral palette of wide range and variety. Yet the total impression- and this impressionis strongerin the 'Cello Concerto than in any other of Fortner'sworks known to this - writer is that Fortneris in the traditionof German symphonicmusic fromBach throughBrahms and Mahler to Hindemithand beyond. (It is not suggestedthat Fortnerand Hindemith are similar in theirstyles; theyare distinctlydissimilar.) The word neo-Classichas sometimesbeen applied to contemporarymusic in which formalelements play an equal role with freer,more outspokenlyexpressive procedures. The word has also been used to designateworks in which actual devices, techniques, forms,and even melodic and harmonic characteristicsof Baroque and "Classical" music (music of the I8th century predominantly) are employedin a modernidiom. In the formersense one mightbe justified in speakingof the 'Cello Concerto as a neo-Classical work. The formal balance is neatly preservedand the balance of formand expressionno less so. One aspect of the Concerto deservesspecial mention: the ex- pressivenature of the melodic substance representsgreat progressover some of Fortner'searlier work. The melodic line maintainstension and gives directionto the music. Passages conceived primarilyin terms of rhythmalternate with the melodicpassages (oftencontrapuntal in nature

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but with a clear linear profile), providingvariety and points of relief fromtension. The Concerto is scored for large orchestraincluding harp, celesta, xylophone,and various percussioninstruments. Commensurate with an orchestraof these proportions,the fundamentalconcept is symphonic, much in the way the Brahms concerto is. The solo instrumentis by no means buried or overshadowed by the orchestra; but it is incor- porated into the whole fabric in an organic way, rather than being treated as an accompanied virtuoso part. The writing for 'cello is demandingand thoroughlyexpert, demonstrating the instrument'smany aspects and possibilitieswithout once stepping out of character. The Concertois in threemovements: Allegro poco moderato,Poco allegretto, and Variations. There is no real slow movement; its absence is com- pensated for by the broad section near the close of the firstmovement and the slow opening and close of the third. The firstmovement opens stridentlyand powerfullyin 3/4 meter, employing,from time to time, strongsyncopation. At measure 5 the violins have the followingfirst version of the twelve-tonerow:'

Ex. Vin.1i VA. jo li . I A lf,.

The solo 'cello enters at measure 13 against an ostinato figurein the strings:

Ex. 2 POM"=P powi rumP== o= -Avi'm==onP i~n Pn PRPON -In FMP~M Pam MeII + --1F l tI Re de-1 _ Me.solo 40 .

n c al

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This soaring theme is then heard in the orchestraand later it is heard in its inversion,after which the "head" of the theme is subjected to independent development.The movementis episodic in character (a lively poco scherzando is interpolated) without detrimentto the sense of flow and progression. The second movementis in the nature of a slow scherzo,in which the orchestracarries the burden of the material. A sarcastic,tongue-in- cheek kind of melody, borderingat times on the banal and recalling similarpassages in the worksof Milhaud, is accompanied by decoration in the solo part. At measure 18 the solo 'cello has the followingmelody: Ex. 3

-'Ve. solomm era- , * .

The third movementis a series of free variationsin which Fortner displays not only great technical ability but also a fine sense of pro- portion in his alternationof tempos and in his sensitivemanipulation of textures.The movementbegins Andante with a long-spun melody in the orchestrathat is taken over by the solo 'cello. This is followed by a delicate passage of a "busy," scurryingnature. A fugato section, in which the inversionis heard togetherwith the normal subject opens as follows: Ex. 4 : _ H1

p ip V i a. I ' I ,

Cb. 8" bassa

J I .L._-_ .. ,-r-,. : 1 ' . .. "-' ;,, 17 A ,0

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A well-constructedcadenza combinescantabile passages with a restrained virtuositythat does not appear as an end in itselfbut is structurally justified.An ostinatofigure is then built up fromp to f, and a broad passage bringsthe work to a close in an atmosphereof apotheosis. EVERETT HELM

ISRAEL

Four outstandingorchestral works by Israeli composers- written in the past two years and firstperformed this spring and summer- show clearlyto what a great extentthe country'sprominent musicians are preoccupied with the problem of expressingin music their own feeling for the new homeland, their spiritual absorption, and their impressionsof its landscape and atmosphere.While in the past decade most composerschose popular dance rhythmsor other folkloristicele- ments with which to imbue their music with some national color, all of the new workstend to the stylerecently described here as "Eastern- Mediterranean"; melodic invention,rhythmic organization, and instru- mental coloring take their inspirationfrom the traditional Oriental style.Dance formsstill have a prominentplace in this music, but they appear in a more stylizedguise, rather spiritualized.The attitude of these composersis not a narrow nationalisticone; they have come to live in and get assimilatedto an atmospherecompletely different from all they knew formerly,and the resultantimpact of this "new world" had before long to find an artisticoutlet in their musical work. It is interestingto note that this trend can now be found in the works of composers from differentcountries of origin and of varied musical education: the four works under review were composed by musicians from Eastern Europe and from Germany,two of them being in their fortiesand two in theirfifties. The titles of the works alone prove the tendenciesoutlined: Paul Ben-Haim calls his latest orchestralSuite From Israel; Karl Salomon's symphonyis named Nights of Canaan; Menahem Avidom has written a MediterraneanSinfonietta; and Aviassaf Barnea simply describeshis work as Israeli Suite. Barnea and Avidom won the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's prize in a competition for a short orchestral work (when

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pieces by Bernd Bergel and Haim Alexander were also recommended for performance); both were performedby the Orchestra in subscription concerts. Avidom's work was played in Paris, while Ben-Haim's Suite and Salomon's Symphonyalso had theirworld premieresabroad, in Ziirich and Stockholmrespectively. Ben-Haim's Suite From Israel (written in 1951) pursues- and attains- its aim in the most consistentway. While in some of the otherworks influences from the otherend of the Mediterranean(Spain, France, Impressionistcoloring) frequentlygain an upper hand, there is stylisticunity and integrityof a high order in the music of Ben-Haim. His principal means of re-creatingthe Eastern-Mediterraneanatmos- phere are his melodic lines and instrumentation.Oriental melody, as is well known,is not based on a temperedscale, and the Oriental singer and instrumentalisthave throughout the centuries preserved their virtuosocapacity for ever-changing,improvisatory, variation. Ben-Haim does not resortto micro-tonesproper, wisely refrainingfrom tryingto give a Westerncomposer's music an "authenticOriental touch" (which would certainlylead to an impressionof falsity); he rathercreates the atmosphereof Oriental singing or playing by moving around certain importantmelodic notes and by embroideringhis motifsmelodically. A typicalexample of this can be found in his recentlypublished Sonata in G for violin alone, which was played for the firsttime by Yehudi Menuhin (and edited by him for publication) this spring:' Ex. (MAOoa~evro) vVa V 0 oreo

In orchestration,the principaltendency is a frequentchange of coloring, the avoidance of full and heavy tutti effects,and a rather unorthodox distributionof instruments.In addition to a "classical" orchestraBen- Haim's Suite employs a great variety of percussion and, apart from a a harp, harpsichord.The harpsichord,especially in its juxtaposition to the harp and to the body of strings,adds - strangelyenough - quite an exotic touch to the music, since it sounds in the orchestra ratherlike an Oriental qanun. The firstcomposer to use the harpsichord The 1 examples are printed by permissionof Israeli Music Publications, Tel-Aviv, Israel; sole for representatives the Western Hemisphere, Leeds Music Corporation, New York.

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 612 The Musical Quarterly in this way was Alexander Uria Boscovich in his orchestralSemitic Suite; in America, Alan Hovhaness has achieved a very similar effect in the combinationof piano and stringsin his strikingPiano Concerto. While Ben-Haim may be seen to have thrown overboard most of - the European composer'spost-Romantic and modernisticheritage of which only the achievementof techniquesand formsseems to remain- there is a much strongerecho of the European past in the music of Karl Salomon. His Nights of Canaan, scored for large orchestra,has a definiteRomantic touch, though melodically and rhythmicallythe work falls into the "Eastern-Mediterranean" sphere as well. The most engaging, and most interesting,of the four movementsis the second - a dance movementbased on a strikingfolk tune. As in all of Salomon's compositions,a virtuoso art of melodic variation and a masterlycommand of orchestralwriting are most impressivein this work, which is a noteworthycontribution to the still not too varied symphonicrepertory of Israel. Of the four worksreviewed here, this is the only full-lengthsymphony, and it claims the listener's attention throughoutthe twenty-fiveminutes it takes to perform. Aviassaf Barnea (whose original name was Bernstein) stems from the Eastern-Europeanschool and both the Russian traditionand the work of the Russian-Jewishnational composershave lefttheir mark on his music. It is only in his most recent works that Barnea has found new ways of expressionand leftbehind the Eastern-Europeanheritage, which in his music had particularlybeen echoed in heavy harmoniza- tion. Being a piano-pedagogueof reputehimself, Barnea cultivatesa field that has probably meant a turning-pointin his musical development: he wrote piano pieces for his young pupils, looking for subjects and themes of interest for Israel's youngest generation. The result was a number of piano albums that contain many charmingpieces, along with some still commonplace material, and laid the foundation for larger works in which a similar simplicityand straightforwardnessof expressionwere attempted.Important in this directionare the various sets of Seven Preludes which Barnea has composed for differentinstru- ments: so far he has writtensuch sets for violin and piano, for violon- cello and piano, for piano alone, and for clarinet- the latterbeing the maturest,most attractive,and most original of the series; he is now at work on a series for brass instruments. The Israeli Suite (the firstperformances of which were conducted by William Steinberg during his visit to Israel) is scored for large orchestraand consistsof fivemovements: a Prelude in a quick pace and

This content downloaded from 137.204.1.40 on Tue, 1 Oct 2013 05:09:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CurrentChronicle 613 gay moods; a pastoralmovement styled Landscape, a Dance in 3/2 rhythm,Nocturne, and Finale. In the last,the materialof the Prelude is contrapuntallyworked out in combinationwith a new,broadly con- ceivedmelodic theme. Most characteristicis the centralDance, which frombeginning to end is essentiallyhomophonic-melodic: the strongly rhythmicizedtheme is accentuatedby heavy harmonicblocks, which howevercan hardlybe interpretedas havingharmonic functions (Ex. 2); theyhave a predominantlypercussive effect, while in a laterdevelop- mentthey assume a contrapuntalcharacter - but as a subordinateand accompanyingcounterpoint, as is shownin Ex. 3. Ex. 2 Allesromodearabo

Ex. 3 A

. ..4 it IL l

The Mediterranean Sinfonietta by Menahem Avidom (Mahler- Kalkstein), firstperformed at Paris in May this year under George Singer and played in Israel for the firsttime under the guest conductor Milton Katims, is the freshestand least pretentiouswork of the four; it was composed in the autumn of 1951 and was firstmeant to be a one-movementwork - the composercompleted a Dance Overturefirst and then decided that it did not have the character of an opening; he then made it into a finale and added an opening movementand a slow middle movement.Stylistically speaking, Avidom must be put into the neighborhoodof Ben-Haim; yet Avidom's work has a lightertouch than Ben-Haim's and is perhaps more closelylinked to Western-Medi- terraneanismthan the older composer's music. There is a generous measure of wit in the opening movement,and some charmingrhythmic twistscolor the fundamentallysimple melodiousnessof the slow inter- mezzo; in the manicolored Finale the amusing second dance theme

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seems to have been born of a Latin-Americanfather and an Oriental- Mediterraneanmother. Among other orchestralpieces performedduring the season four seem worthyof at least a passingnote: the Israel PhilharmonicOrches- tra, withJosefa Schocken (soprano) as soloist,included in a subscription seriesthe song cycle My People set to poems of Else Lasker-Schiilerby Erich Walter Sternberg- this is post-Mahlerian,post-Straussian music of considerableimpact. Frank Pelleg played with the same orchestra the world premiereof Marc Lavry's Second Piano Concerto,music on quite a differentplane: light, quick-moving,entertaining music influ- enced by both Khachaturian and Gershwinyet stronglyimbued with local color. The Kol Israel BroadcastingOrchestra in Jerusalemunveiled Hanan Schlesinger'snew Sinfonietta,a full-fledgedsymphonic work of somewhatRomantic character,and Haim Alexander'sSix Israeli Dances - an orchestralversion of a recentlypublished piano work: a very talented composer's competentlyorchestrated light orchestral piece which (in the composer'sown words) sets out to do for Israeli dance types what Grieg did for the Norwegian counterparts. The publicationof some older Israeli works has drawn attentionto some outstandingpieces that are revived here fromtime to time, fore- most among them the wittyConcertino for Trumpet and Orchestraby Joseph Kaminski (published by Israeli Music Publicationsin the composer's reductionfor trumpetand piano); the firstmovement of this fine work is marked Un poco Vivaldi, its theme being a travestyof the main subject fromthe most hackneyedof Vivaldi's violin concertos, the constantplaying of which by his pupils probably drove the violinist Kaminski quite crazy. Around the parodistic quotation of the theme Kaminski builds a movement full of spirited development and he followsthis with an Improvisation,a slow and lyricalmovement which is heralded, as well as closed, by the solo instrumentwith a cadenza that has a liturgical touch and is duly answered by the orchestral "choir" with an "amen"-like response.The Finale, a boisteroustaran- tella, follows without interruptionand the colorful orchestrationand captivating rhythmsgive a most vivid conclusion to this artful and originalcomposition. Kaminski's latest work, his Violin Concerto (com- pleted last year) has not yet been performed. The most important Israeli chamber music work of the year is JosefTal's Sonata for Violin and Piano, composed in the autumn of I95I and performedat the Salzburg I.S.C.M. Festival this summer. Tal (whose former name was Gruenthal) does not belong to the

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"Eastern-Mediterranean"school, yet through his constant preoccupa- tion with Biblical themes and with the dance he too has arrived at a musical style with strong Oriental affinities.His recent choreographic composition,The Ascent to Jerusalem (commissioned and performed by Deborah Bertonoff),was a mostoriginal and captivatingexperiment: though using a variety of musical instruments,the composer wrote almost throughoutthe extensivework only solo melodies,to which the dance itself provided contrapuntalmaterial. Movement and melodic verve are also the Violin Sonata's most strikingcharacteristics; strong rhythmicorganization lends additional force to the expressivenessof the music. A passage like the one shown in Ex. 4 will prove that Tal achieves resultsnot quite unlike Ben-Haim's (see Ex. I) though the tendencyis certainlynot the same:

Ex. 4

ALn.so_ ,- I 1 " .,t.IJ a-J - - - P fo"M

L I I " I i , I iI i ! [ !I Iam PM = . ....I dm0 ",- ,P ". - = :,. - . =

......

In form,the Sonata presentsthe interestingand novel experimentof shaping a three-movementwork in the scheme of a classical firstmovement: the opening Moderato representsthe first-subjectexposition; the Andantino correspondsto second-subjectexposition and to the development; the final movement (Moderato) is given to recapitulationand coda. PETER GRADENWITZ

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ITALY

Acting as sponsorof a National Committeefor the commemoration of the fiftiethanniversary of Verdi's death, La Scala set itselfa rather large program (which at the last moment had to be shortened by dropping some works already announced on the playbill) composed largely of the works of Verdi, including the first(Oberto conte di S. Bonifacio) and the last (Falstaff). La Scala then proclaimed an inter- national contest, open to composers of all countries and tendencies, withoutage limit,for an opera of threeor more acts, a completework, unpublished or never previouslyperformed in its entirety,and never presentedin any other contest. The prize: four million lire and per- formanceon the stage of La Scala. The announcement,dated May 5, 1950, appeared over the signatureof the superintendentof the Corpo- ration of La Scala Theater, Dr. Antonio Ghiringhelli. One hundred thirty-eightcontestants took part in the competition. The committeewas made up of Igor Stravinsky,honorary president, Guido Cantelli, Victor de Sabata, Giorgio Federico Ghedini, Arthur Honegger, Arrigo Pedrollo, and Luigi Ronga. The winner was Juan Jos6 Castro, with Proserpina e lo straniero; honorable mention went to Don Chisciotteby Vito Frazzi and Masaniello by Jacopo Napoli. The winningopera was performedat La Scala last spring,as prom- ised, the composer himselfdirecting. But the outcome did not fulfill expectations,considering the importanceof the contest.The plot used does not seem best suitedto opera: Omar de Carlo, an Argentinianlike Castro, was the unfortunatelibrettist of the work. He has confusedly relatedthe storyof a countrygirl of Argentina,torn between the modest amours of her countrysideand the more decisive and less modest ones of the citybrothel. These are the two areas into which her life divides. To break this unstable balance, there comes a foreign aviator who mingleswith his new love for Proserpinaremorse at having killed his own wife during the bombardmentof a city. (The wife appears on stage as a phantom evoked by the self-tormentof the husband.) Natur- ally the strangerends by being killed by one of the many lovers of Proserpina,and in his death the heroine finds a certain obscure puri- fication. The narration is turbid and confused, the analogy to the ancient myth of Proserpina poorly contrived,since one can scarcely compare this Proserpina-prostituteto the tender mythical Proserpina, goddess of springand mercifulqueen of the dead. The finalredemption never approaches the miraculous,the action is static. It is certainlya

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poorlydigested imitation of the subtle Parisian theatricalfantasies which in recent years have sprung from attempts,often successful (even in the movies), to revive ancient myths in modern dress. But where Anouilh or Cocteau can create an atmosphereof dreamypoetry, Castro sticksfast in a flat realism akin to vulgarity.The initial errorlies, then, in the choice of the class of text; but the choice itself betrays the unrefinedtaste of the composer,a taste that has had ample space to displayitself in the constructionof the score. This is not ugly music, but it is certainlymusic withoutinterest and almost certainlywithout future. Castro writeswith a blunt-pointedpen that leaves large blots on the score. Nevertheless,the public and critics of La Scala would not have taken arms against Proserpina (even though the accentuation of the name of the heroine grated on the Italian ear: we actually say Prosde'r- pina, glidingly,while the entirescore is writtenfor Proserpina, accenting in the Spanish manner, and the able Italian translatorof the text could not solve this difficultproblem) had the committeeof judges of the contest not been so imprudent,in announcing the winner, as to declare itselfenthusiastically for the opera in a eulogyon the composer's meritsthat made him seem a secure champion of the art. Such un- deserved judgment excited all the Italian and foreigncritics gathered for the firstperformance of the chosen opera, so that they cried out against the score, creating a battle and arousing polemics that should never have occurred. The tumult having subsided, we can conclude that a masterworkcertainly has not been discovered.Probably this was the best of the 138 operas presentedin the contest,and the committee had reason to choose it. If such is the case then it means that the present-dayworld can no longer produce a worthwhileopera, at least outside the great composerswho could not compete because theywere part of the judging committeeof the contestitself. In reaction to this premiere,or perhaps solely in homage to its own citizen-composer,Florence chose to presentas part of its Maggio Musicale the opera listed next after the winner of the contest: Don Chisciotte,by Vito Frazzi, who teaches compositionat the Conserva- toriodi musica di Firenze. But even this attainedonly a succes d'estime, the public remaining rather indifferentto a score writtennobly and with an experthand, but stillwithout vital musical content.Thus again, the performanceof the second opera vindicated the action of the committee.As for the work singled out for third place, that will be performedduring the Scala season next year. At that time the composer

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selected by the Verdi contestwill enjoy the judgment of the public as well as that of the committee.It remains only to wish it an outcome more fortunatethan that of its predecessors.But all thiswill be revealed next year. The opera of Vito Frazzi, then, came fromMilan to interruptthe cycle of Rossini works which has been unfoldingon the Florentine scene: Armida, Conte Ory, Tancredi, Guglielmo Tell, La pietra del paragone, La scala di seta, along with the Didone of Cavalli and the new work of Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco (Aucassin et Nicolette) and the performancesof the New York City Ballet, which, as in Paris, has won a triumphalreception at Florence. In the very midst of the Rossini festivitiesof Florence, Natale Gallini, noted collectorof musical autographs,announced from Milan that he was in possessionof an unpublishedscore of Gioacchino Rossini. This came too late forthe work to be included in the presentationsthat had already begun at Florence, but was enough to regain for Milan the interestof the Rossinians gathered at Florence. It was in No. 31 of the review,La Scala, of this year that Natale Gallini announced that he had owned an unpublished Rossini score since 1948 and that he was finallyable to presentit in its exact historic context.It was not an opera but theatermusic for the tragedy,Edipo a Colono, of Sophocles translatedinto Italian by GiovanbattistaGiusti and publishedby the house of Bodoni at Parma in 1817. The autograph score consists of one volume in oblong quarto, 32 x 24 cm. The orchestralforces are those customaryfor the Rossini operas. There are fourteennumbers, for orchestra,for chorus, and for the bass soloist (Edipo) : i. Sinfonia: Andante sostenutoin C major; Andantinoin C major; Allegro in C minor;Andantino in C major 2. Preludiettofor orchestra 3. Recitativofor bass: "A questa terraillustra" 4. Coro: "Dall'alma celeste" 5. Recitativofor bass: "Ed altra esimia lode" 6. Concertatofor bass, chorus, and orchestra:"Per te novellagloria" 7. Recitativoe aria for bass: "Fussi pur io 1a dove" 8. Coro: "O Giove egiaco" 9. Recitativofor bass: "Nudo e colui di senno" I0. Aria for bass: "Meglio fora non mai" Ii. Recitativofor bass: "Ecco il miserostato" I2. Arioso for bass: "Se a me non e vietato" 13. Aria for bass: "A te innocentee misero" 14. Coro finale: "O tu dell'Orco custode indomabile"

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Rossini probably wrote the score between 1815 and 1816. Indeed, in a note to the publication of the text of the tragedyGiusti declares: A famousmaestro di cappella set my chorusesto music and was generously recompensedby me. Soon after,it struckme that in many pages the accompani- mentwas lacking.I complainedto him and he took back the score; and I could not get it back, though I questioned him about it countlesstimes during the followingyear. His friendssay that he treatsme thus for a joke; but jokes of thiskind may resemblethat of a certainfamous clown who, duringthe solemnity of a holiday and in the presenceof a king who was witnessingthe ceremonies, stole the golden snuffboxes from the pockets of the astonishedcourtiers with wondrousdexterity.

But Giusti was probably exaggerating: not understandingmusic, he had misinterpretedthe writingof the maestro and had believed incompletea score in which Rossini had provided only a figuredbass for the arias. Nevertheless,these published remarkswere to suspend foreverthe relationsbetween the poet and composer who had collab- orated in 1815 on the Inno dell'Indipendenza text, by Giusti, music by Rossini. Rossini punished the poet by permanentlywithdrawing the score, which must,then, have been composed a littlemore than a year before 1817, probablysoon afterthe Inno dell'Indipendenza. What did the composer do with his music? Nobody knows. In I843, however, Maestro Gabussi of Bologna found, no one knows where, the score in question and assigned it to the Parisian publisher,Masset. The latter, before exercisingthe assignment,applied to Rossini for authorization, which the master bestowed in a declaration still to be found pasted on the verso of the frontispieceof the score: "I, the undersignedG. Rossini, composer,authorize M. Masset to print in whatever formhe will my manuscript,Edipo a Colono, which he has acquired from Signor Gabussi, and I promise to recognize any assignmentshe may make abroad. Gioacchino Rossini, Paris, June 28, 1843." Did Rossini retouch the brief score on this occasion? Probably so, and he probably realized those parts that he had not writtenout at the time of the collaboration with Giusti. Masset, however, did not - publish the entire score, which separated from the tragedy- had no reason forbeing, but used onlytwo pieces fortwo chorusesto French text, which he entitledLa Foix and L'Espe'rance. The rest remained unpublished.Thus stands correctedthe informationabout thesechoruses given by all biographersof Rossini, includingRadiciotti.' Afterthis the historyof the manuscriptis surroundedby a bit of 1 Gioacchino Rossini, Vol. 3, Tivoli, 1929.

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mystery.In 1948, a Milanese dealer in rare books notified Natale Gallini that he was offeringa Rossini autograph forsale. Gallini exam- ined it and found,first of all, that- pasted in back of the frontispiece -the autograph bore a photo of one of his older brothers,Pietro Gallini, who had died as a youthin America in 1892. This fact imme- diately induced him to acquire the manuscriptwithout furtherado. It was only afterwardsthat he realized the importanceof the find. But how had it come into the hands of Pietro Gallini? Perhaps through Bottesini,the celebrated double-bass player, who had been a great protectorof the young Pietro Gallini at the beginningof the latter's career as pianistand who had oftensent him musical giftsfrom abroad, and especiallyfrom Paris. Probably he also gave him the autographed score of Rossini. Pietro Gallini, in turn, must have given it to some friendwho lived in France, insertinghis photographas visual souvenir. The manuscriptthen passed to public auction, as shown by an old semi-cancelledlabel pasted into the manuscript: it was actually sold at auction in Paris in I923 for I8,ooo francs. It must then have passed throughother hands and finallyinto those of the Milan book- dealer, Pozzi, who sold it to the presentowner, Natale Gallini. A final point of curiosity:Gallini showed the autograph to Tosca- nini, who wanted to performthe Sinfonia at one of his concerts.But Gallini gave up the idea, preferringto wait for the occasion of an integral performanceof the unknown relic in the frame intended by the composer: as incidentalmusic fora performanceof Edipo a Colono. Perhaps Florence this year would have been the ideal spot for such a premiere; but the organizersof the Maggio Musicale Fiorentinowere probably unaware of the existenceof this score, which still awaits, as it has since the time of its writing,its firstpublic performance. CLAUDIO SARTORI

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