Church and Organ Music. Church Music: The Use of Bands
1919; Musical Times Publications; Volume: 60; Issue: 916 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3701831
ISSN2397-5318
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Musicological Studies
Resumotions, a personal quality that makes it convincing.It is too often forgotten that the underlying idea of these 'burlesque scenes' is essentially the tragedy of human helplessness.Their symbolism is subtle.The Moor, having failed to master the cokernut by violence, proceeds to worship it as being more powerful than himself, thus hinting at the origin of primitive religion.It is this feature of combining deep inner significance with outward burlesque that makes 'Petroushka' as thoroughly modern in its dramatic conception as it is in its music.'The Firebird' is Stravinsky's earlier ballet.The music of it was originally ordered from Liadoff, but he procrastinated, and meanwhile M. Diaghileff heard the 'Scherzo Fantastique' by Stravinsky.It was only five or six minutes of music by a then unknown graduate of the Petrograd Conservatoire, but the creator of the modern ballet is a man of quick decisions, and within twenty-four hours Stravinsky received the commission that proved his stepping-stone to fame.There are fewer folk-tunes in this ballet than in 'Petroushka,' but one of these is a very beautiful theme which had already been employed by Rimsky-Korsakoff in the slow movement of his delightful' Symphonietta.'By the time these notes appear in print Tcherepnin's 'Narcisse' will have been added to the list of revived ballets, and a few days later a new ballet, the first to be actually produced in London, will make its appearance.It is based on lesser-known compositions by Rossini, with choregraphy by Massine-consideration of it must be reserved for our next issue.Meanwhile most of the ballets recently performed at the Coliseum have made their re-appearance.We have had the ever-fresh 'Good Humoured Ladies'-a 'musical comedy' if ever there was one-to music by Scarlatti.We have renewed acquaintance with Schumann's 'Papillons ' and 'Carnaval.'We have seen again the Oriental splendours of 'Scheherazade' and the Tartan exuberance of the dances from 'Prince Igor.'The delicate romantic reverie of 'Les Sylphides' still lures us with Chopin's music, and last, but not least, the 'Children's Tales' have lost none of their popularity.In fact we would couple this last production with 'Good Humoured Ladies' as the two most noteworthy emanations of the new movement, for they indicate in outline the direction it is taking and the prospect is an alluring one.M. Henry Defosse and M. Ernest Ansermet have shared the honours of the repertoire, and each in turn has handled the orchestra in masterly fashion.To revert to those 'orchestral interludes,' they opened with Rimsky-Korsakov's Overture on Russian Themes and Glazounov's 'Stenka Razin.'The latter is an early work approximately contemporaneous with his second Symphony, another remarkable composition of which London knows nothing.Like Mendelssohn, Glazounov wrote most of his best work in early youth, when his ideas flowed more consistently to academic devices.Hence in Germany, and in countries influenced musically by Germany, he is best known by Symphonies like the sixth and eighth, which are a joy to the schools, whilst the Latin countries, not to speak of Russia itself, favoured the second Symphony and 'Stenke Razin.' Unfortunately it is a little long for the present purpose, and its performances are therefore not frequent.A delightful introduction was the Overture to Moussorgsky's unfinished opera, 'The Fair at Sorotchinsk,' followed by a Scherzo that proved equally pleasing though much less characteristic.Another was the Scherzo which Borodin dedicated to T. Jadoul, and which was afterwards incorporated in the orchestral version of his 'Petite Suite,' where it is combined with the Nocturne in the place of the conventional Trio.
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