needed; more data, in fact. than anyone ability of the ear to make differentiations now possesses. Yet the thing is at least among the finest shadings. We can DYER -BENNET RECORDS a theoretical possibility, and there seems study the effect of extremely fast and no reason to doubt that it will eventually extremely slow successions of tones, of be a practical possibility. extreme degrees of loudness and soft- But, even now. it need not be neces- ness, of complex rhythmic combina- MARK TWAIN'S sary or even desirable to imitate the tions, of complicated mixtures of tone Boston Symphony in order to put elec- colors, and of all kinds of non -tempered Lr to rid, lctrcavdy/wwrwig4Ic tronic techniques to valid artistic use. pitch phenomena including all varieties w iy°cfrtfa.i4I A more significant task for the electronic of noise -and all this with the possibil- brain and its mentors would be the ity of complete continuity and change generation of sounds and sound combina- on a sliding scale between one form tions that lie outside the genius of live and another. Some of the possibilities, performance. The point that needs em- in a raw state and in musical settings, phasis here has to do with the fantastic are in evidence on this disc and they will broadening of our musical horizons now constitute the real aural interest of the offered by the development of these new recording. means. No conceivable auditory sensation These questions are significant and or succession of sensations, however not only from a scientific point of view. complex, lies outside the range of elec- The accumulation of possibilities and the f i11?A;d1 Cm'eAS.411'B12- tronic techniques -and if that is, for the examination of their psychoacoustical ef- aaaZFa arViC aisrun £Fr.444 r moment, more of a theoretical statement fects are essential first steps in the than a description of a practical working development of an art whose bounds are read by state of affairs, its significance is none- only the limits of human perception - RICHARD DYER theless vast. and, to be sure. of human creativity. E.S. -BENNET The techniques developed at Bell Labs ,40- Wi+e,eam a file/ opGut are not unique in this respect. Similar possibilities are offered by the RCA ALFREDO KRAUS: "Alfredo Kraus NOT FOR CHILDREN. NOT FOR THE EASILY SHOCKED ADULT. Sings" THE IDEAS ARE IRREVERENT. THE LANGUAGE IS AS UNINHII. Victor Electronic Music Synthesizer, cur- ITED AS JOYCE, LAWRENCE, MILLER. IF THERE IS ANY ENGLISH rently installed at the Columbia- Prince- WORD THAT IS INTOLERABLE TO YOU, DO NOT BUY THIS RECORD. ton Electronic Music Center in New Puccini: La Bohème: Che gelida manina. Vieni DYB 1601 12 L All 12" LPs, $4.98 York and actually being used for creative Bellini: / Puritani: fra queste purposes by composers. The Synthesizer braccia. Rimsky -Korsakov: Sadko: Song DYB II 12" LP India. RICHARD is an elaborate and specialized instru- of Donizetti: Lucia di Lammer- ment developed for the specific purposes moor: Fra poco a me ricoverò. Handel: DYER -BENNET of musical composition and it is, at Xerxes: Ombra mai fu. Verdi: II Trova- Well.loved songs and litt.c known songs of present, a far more practical instrument tore: Di quella pira. Liszt: En.tueño de amor. STEPHEN FOSTER iron the c'gi ^al ed i :ens for compositional needs than the IBM De Luna: Que bonita es la mar: 7090. The computer is, for one thing, Volveras; Alegria; Canción de Libertad. for free cata'on. rite: fabulously expensive to use. Another lnnocenzi: Adios sueños de gloria. DYER -BENNET RECORDS point is that computer technique will be handicapped for a long time to come Alfredo Kraus, tenor; Symphony Orches- P.O. Boe rs, v, _,. N.Y. '7. by a lack of information. The correlation tra, E. Belenguer Estela, S. Ruiz de Luna, between the actual psychoacoustical re- A. Iges, conds. CIRCLE 37 ON READER -SERVICE CARD sults desired and the data needed to MONTILLA FM 177. LP. $4.98. produce these results can be finally MONTILLA FMS 2077. SD. $5.98. established only by comparing the end Cambridge records Gustav Leonhardt result on tape with the original instruc- ALFREDO KRAUS: "Gayarre" tions. This check -back technique is time - consuming and expensive. With the syn- De Luna: Por ni puerta; El Roncales. thesizer, sound combinations can be Donizetti: Don Pasquale: Cone é gentil; P. Sweelinck tested immediately and subjected, on Cercherò lontana terra. L'Elisir d'amore: J the spot, to an infinite number of small Una furtiva lagrima. La Favorita: Una Variations gradations and adjustments. Thus. it vergine: Spirto gentil. Lucia di Lammer- f is much easier for the composer work- moor: Verranno a te. Verdi: Rigoletto: Toccatas ing with the synthesizer to find and re- La donna è mobile. Bellini: I Puritani: fine the precise sounds he wants. A te, o cara. Meyerbeer: L'Africaine: O Fantasias Nevertheless, in the long run, the com- Paradiso. Les Huguenots: Bianca al par puter technique may well be the more di neve. Gounod: Ave Maria. Bizet: Les widely used. Electronic music synthe- Pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora. Mr. Leonhardt, of Amster- sizers will always be rare birds, but com- dam, plays 9 great pieces on puters already exist in considerable Lina Huarte, soprano (in Lucia); Al- the splendid Schnitger organ, numbers. When the information needed fredo Kraus, tenor; Symphony Orchestra, Larenskerk at Alkmaar, and on to use them flexibly and efficiently José Luis Lloret, cond. a superb antique harpsichord. has been accumulated over a period of MONTILLA FM 176. LP. $4.98. FMS 2076. SD. $5.98. Mr. Sweelinck , of Amster- years, composers will more easily he MONTILLA dam, would approve his styler able to achieve precise and predictable sensitivity and choice of results. Far more important than the Alfredo Kraus, the Spanish tenor who instruments. silly. hooty canons and the hissing jum- seems to be acquiring considerable im- bles of white and colored noise we hear portance on the European operatic "J. P. Sweelinck: Variations, from the present record are hints of scene, offers some astounding vocalism Toccatas, Fantasias ", CRM something much more significant. This on both these discs. Kraus is, of course, 508 and CRS 1508, joins Cam- has nothing at all to do with the pseudo - the excellent Duke of Mercury's com- bridge's superior collection of music but rather with some of the plete Rigoletto, and he recorded some early keyboard recordings. (A isolated sound events that take place. in Spanish music for Montilla several years Treasury of Early French Or- designing some of these effects, the back. Now Montilla gives us a more ex- gan Music, 3 vol. and Com- authors of this music have -intentionally, tended look at his capabilities by bring- plete Keyboard Works of it should be said -suggested some of the ing us these releases, each of which Rameau, 3 vol.) basic problems of how we hear. represents a grouping of selections from To organ and harpsichord These electronic techniques make pos- motion pictures made by Kraus -El lovers, a pearl; sible right now innumerable subtleties Vagabundo y la Estrella and Gayarre, To others, a revelation; of pitch, rhythm. attack, timbre, loud- the latter being a cinematic biography To Sweelinck fanciers, a must. ness, which in a simple, experimental of the great nineteenth -century tenor. way can he used to investigate the phys- Kraus's voice is an extraordinarily well - movilAble for comment at this time ical and psychological mechanism of focused lyric tenor, full of heady ring. hearing. For the first time, we can pro- Its production is of the extremely for- CAMBRNEE RqRIS INC. duce with ease sounds that approach ward variety employed by the great school, in which 477 Washington Street, Wellesley BI, Mass. the limits of perception in all dimen- tenors of the old Italian sions and directions. We can study the the voice seems to operate entirely with- CIRCLE 26 ON READER -SERVICE CARD 90 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE www.americanradiohistory.com.