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280 The Gramophone, Decetnber, 1929 that test. The old light and life must not be replaced by glooming and glooping: we shall not give np the romantic for the sake of the necromantic. I said something a few issues ago (October, page 200) about the Quartet, Op. 41, No.1 (Columbia), so I will not repeat myself. H.M.V. has one movement of this quartet, and one of the Op. 41, No.3 (both Flonzaley). The latter (" Assai agitato") is a capital sample of another quality of Schumann'shis rhythmic resource. That quality is perhaps best exhibited in the piano works, especially in the internal parts of the harmony, which Schumann made so much more important and complex in texture than any other piano writer had done. This quietly agitated movement recalls the l i t t le rhythmic " mystification" in the last movement of the piano concerto (H.iYLV.), when the three-time sounds like two, or like a different kind of three, whichever way you l ike to hear i t . The effect here is different, but also somewhat strange, and in a way exciting; thus i t contributes i ts part to the essential nature of the music. The piano concerto shows the strongest characteristic beauty, I feel (that is, Schumann's strongest) in the slow movement, where the mellifluous, perhaps slightly melancholy poetry of the music epitomises a world of late seventeenth and early eighteenth l i terary work, in prose and poetry, both in Germany and England. One of the several pieces of good luck that Schumann had was in being born when the poets, dramatists and prose writers had so strongly and fascinatingly laid down the foundations of modern romanticism. He, a l i terary and poeticaUyminded musician, fitted his t ime as few composers, outside his contemporaries, have ever fitted i t . All great writers mould their t ime after their own heart, but not many have so well-lined a nest prepared for them at the start as Schumann had. Of the songs we have recently had a fine offering from Parlophone-the "Frauenliebe und Leben" (Woman's Life and Love) cycle, recorded in full by the amply-graced Lotte Lehmann. The stringed accompa.niment disappoints me a l i t t le: why not present the music as Schumann conceived i t , with the piano alone to partner the singer in creating the mood of love, devotion and resignation in which these lovely songs touch our nature ~ The spirit that lives in them is so tender and true that I cannot imagine anyone with musical sensibility failing to be touched and made happy by hearing them. Hear, or better still, play and sing, the second song, "El', del' Herrlichste," and you do not need to be told that here is a true masterpiece of song-writing, and a glorious example of Schumann's mind and heart-music purest in sincerity, because founded in love. Those who like to have the music may care to know of a cheap edition . (with English words only; the Parlophone album contains the German text). I t is published by Jos. ,Villiams (Freer'S edition) at half a crown. We ought certainly to have some of the Eichendorff songs, and also the intimate "Dichterliebe " (Poet's Love) cycle-done, perhaps, by someone like George Parker, whom readers may have heard broadcasting the songs. With the exception of a few single songs, most done by H.l\f.V., and a piano piece or two, we have almost exhausted the l ist of Schumann's recorded music. We have, happily, the gay and ingratiatingly resourceful "Carnaval," where Schumann is magnificently at ease, as he always was in short forms, based on imaginative ideas. Polydor has Op. 7, the Toccata. The sonatas are less successful, but we might well have the G minor (Op. 22) recorded, with i ts sweetly characteristic slow movement. We badly need the" Etudes Symphoniques," done by someone with the force and personality, the technical breadth and mental grip of a Bauer. These variations are among the finest in piano l i terature. The " Papillons " pieces, one or two of the many-tinged " Kreisleriana," the "vVoodland Scenes," and some of the diverting children's pieces, should not be forgotten. For children, Schumann released the piano from the bondage of drudgery; imagination and technique are perfectly blended there. In this connection I am much interested in a remark of Cyril Scott's, who has said that, in a book not yet published, " The Influence of Music on History and Morals," he has" attempted to show that Schumann's music exercised a marked influence on the child- . mind, and helped towards a greater unity and understanding between parents and children." Of other suggestions for recordings that have occurred to me, I mention the glowing yet sensitively sombre" Manfred" overture (done only by Polydor), one or two sections from the unequal but, at i ts best, deeply impressive "Requiem," and some more extracts from (not necessarily the whole of) the chamber works-the piano quartet, Op. 47, that l inks truly with the past, and perha,ps one of the trios-say Op. 63, tha,t searches depths. One of the things in Schumann tha,t attracts sensitive listeners is the trace of sadness, never or seldom weak, and often noble in an impaSSioned, inward-looking way, that veins his work. We know too l i t t le of the meaning of that element in his life. Like most great composers, he has in this respect been underestimated. I f such complexity does not attract you, there are the gallant moods, the whimsies in the chamber and piano music, the polished" Carnaval" mockery, the elegance tha,t never cloys, and the artistry, most richly displayed (yet never obtruded) in the music for his beloved pianoforte, and for the solo· voice. The other side of the shield-the weaknesses-is not swung round to-day; sufficient for us· at the moment to recall, and resolve to taste anew, some of the enriching beauties poured out by this great and tragic paladin of romantic chivalry.
page 9
The Gramophone, Decembe·r, 1929 281 Bobbie's GraIllophone A Short Story By ROBERT DARRELL Illustrations by LAURENCE EAST IT was great fun looking into shop windows, especially Paterson's, where they sold pianos and gramophones, and pretending that you had so much money that you didn't know what to do with i t . Bobbie spent much of his spare t ime at this absorbing game. -Whenever his mother sent him out upon an errand, or he had a spare half-hour, he would run as fast as his none too sturdy l i t t le legs would permit in the direction of the High Street. The bright lights of the electric standards, the gaily illumined windows and the shining interiors of the tram-cars seemed like Fairyland after the dinginess of Parker's Oourt. There, even at midday, the sun did not penetrate, and at night the lamp at the corner shed only a feeble yellow glow upon the slinking forms of underfed cats and the shirt-sleeved men lolling in their doorways. An archway connected Parker's Oourt with Fenders Street, a drab thoroughfare, but comparatively clean judged from Parker's Oourt standards. This in turn led into Vere Street where the houses, each with i ts l i t t le patch of garden, stood back from the pavement, a trifle haughtily, like so many women drawing their skirts about them for fear of contact with anyone hound for Parker's Oourt, or Bishop's o Oourt, or Venner's Court, which were all synonymous to the ladies of Vere Street. A chemist's shop marked the corner where Vere Street issued out into the splendour of High Street. There were huge bottles of coloured liquids in the windows that afforded Bobbie immense delight. He used secretly to wonder what ills they cured, and sometimes even wished that he could develop a pain that would call for a draught out of that heavenly green one. Next to the chemist's was a book shop; the gay colours of the magazine covers would wink at Bobbie attractively as he hurried past. Then came a large dr~per's, and after that, in quick succession, a boot shop, a cafe and' a florist's. The cafe, perhaps, was the most attractive of these; such a glorious warm smell came up from the iron. grating while you stood over i t choosing the sorts of cakes you'd like for your tea. I t was necessary to go by the colours when you had never tasted a fancy cake in your life, or, of course, by the people's expressions while they ate them; except so many people didn't seem to care which they ate, or, at any rate, didn't shew i t by .t heir faces. But i t was outside Paterson's Music Store that Bobbie's boots-(" soulless " but '''oly''his father had once described them and then roared with laughter)would most firmly come to anchor. I f he were lucky that thin man, with the black hair oiled well back, making his head look like a starling's back (Bobbie had seen starlings in the recreation grounds) and those funny horn-rimmed glasses, who served behind the music counter, might be playing the piano, or, better still, demonstrating a gramophone to a prospective buyer. Pianos were all very well, but you had to learn how to play them; gramophones were "the goods "; a small boy of nine could get as fine music out of them as the thin man with the starling-backed hair and the owlish eyes. At least so thought Bobbie, flattening his podgy nose against the window and breathing so hard that every now

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280

The Gramophone, Decetnber, 1929

that test. The old light and life must not be replaced by glooming and glooping: we shall not give np the romantic for the sake of the necromantic.

I said something a few issues ago (October, page 200) about the Quartet, Op. 41, No.1 (Columbia), so I will not repeat myself. H.M.V. has one movement of this quartet, and one of the Op. 41, No.3 (both Flonzaley). The latter (" Assai agitato") is a capital sample of another quality of Schumann'shis rhythmic resource. That quality is perhaps best exhibited in the piano works, especially in the internal parts of the harmony, which Schumann made so much more important and complex in texture than any other piano writer had done. This quietly agitated movement recalls the l i t t le rhythmic " mystification" in the last movement of the piano concerto (H.iYLV.), when the three-time sounds like two, or like a different kind of three, whichever way you l ike to hear i t . The effect here is different, but also somewhat strange, and in a way exciting; thus i t contributes i ts part to the essential nature of the music.

The piano concerto shows the strongest characteristic beauty, I feel (that is, Schumann's strongest) in the slow movement, where the mellifluous, perhaps slightly melancholy poetry of the music epitomises a world of late seventeenth and early eighteenth l i terary work, in prose and poetry, both in Germany and England. One of the several pieces of good luck that Schumann had was in being born when the poets, dramatists and prose writers had so strongly and fascinatingly laid down the foundations of modern romanticism. He, a l i terary and poeticaUyminded musician, fitted his t ime as few composers, outside his contemporaries, have ever fitted i t . All great writers mould their t ime after their own heart, but not many have so well-lined a nest prepared for them at the start as Schumann had.

Of the songs we have recently had a fine offering from Parlophone-the "Frauenliebe und Leben" (Woman's Life and Love) cycle, recorded in full by the amply-graced Lotte Lehmann. The stringed accompa.niment disappoints me a l i t t le: why not present the music as Schumann conceived i t , with the piano alone to partner the singer in creating the mood of love, devotion and resignation in which these lovely songs touch our nature ~ The spirit that lives in them is so tender and true that I cannot imagine anyone with musical sensibility failing to be touched and made happy by hearing them. Hear, or better still, play and sing, the second song, "El', del' Herrlichste," and you do not need to be told that here is a true masterpiece of song-writing, and a glorious example of Schumann's mind and heart-music purest in sincerity, because founded in love. Those who like to have the music may care to know of a cheap edition . (with English words only; the Parlophone album contains the German text). I t is published by Jos. ,Villiams (Freer'S edition) at half a crown.

We ought certainly to have some of the Eichendorff songs, and also the intimate "Dichterliebe " (Poet's Love) cycle-done, perhaps, by someone like George Parker, whom readers may have heard broadcasting the songs.

With the exception of a few single songs, most done by H.l\f.V., and a piano piece or two, we have almost exhausted the l ist of Schumann's recorded music. We have, happily, the gay and ingratiatingly resourceful "Carnaval," where Schumann is magnificently at ease, as he always was in short forms, based on imaginative ideas. Polydor has Op. 7, the Toccata. The sonatas are less successful, but we might well have the G minor (Op. 22) recorded, with i ts sweetly characteristic slow movement. We badly need the" Etudes Symphoniques," done by someone with the force and personality, the technical breadth and mental grip of a Bauer. These variations are among the finest in piano l i terature. The " Papillons " pieces, one or two of the many-tinged " Kreisleriana," the "vVoodland Scenes," and some of the diverting children's pieces, should not be forgotten. For children, Schumann released the piano from the bondage of drudgery; imagination and technique are perfectly blended there. In this connection I am much interested in a remark of Cyril Scott's, who has said that, in a book not yet published, " The Influence of Music on History and Morals," he has" attempted to show that Schumann's music exercised a marked influence on the child- . mind, and helped towards a greater unity and understanding between parents and children."

Of other suggestions for recordings that have occurred to me, I mention the glowing yet sensitively sombre" Manfred" overture (done only by Polydor), one or two sections from the unequal but, at i ts best, deeply impressive "Requiem," and some more extracts from (not necessarily the whole of) the chamber works-the piano quartet, Op. 47, that l inks truly with the past, and perha,ps one of the trios-say Op. 63, tha,t searches depths. One of the things in Schumann tha,t attracts sensitive listeners is the trace of sadness, never or seldom weak, and often noble in an impaSSioned, inward-looking way, that veins his work. We know too l i t t le of the meaning of that element in his life. Like most great composers, he has in this respect been underestimated. I f such complexity does not attract you, there are the gallant moods, the whimsies in the chamber and piano music, the polished" Carnaval" mockery, the elegance tha,t never cloys, and the artistry, most richly displayed (yet never obtruded) in the music for his beloved pianoforte, and for the solo· voice. The other side of the shield-the weaknesses-is not swung round to-day; sufficient for us· at the moment to recall, and resolve to taste anew, some of the enriching beauties poured out by this great and tragic paladin of romantic chivalry.

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