Music: April Records

Arthur Footer Suite for Strings, Op. 63 (Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting; Victor; 4 sides). A fresh, well-built Brahmsian piece. Salem-born, Harvard-trained Composer Foote (1853-1937) was a far sounder craftsman than most present-day U.S. composers. Performance excellent, recording good.

Brahms: Song of Destiny (New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Bruno Walter conducting, with the Westminster Choir; Columbia; 4 sides). Brahmsians have always rated the Schicksalslied, based on Hölderlin’s Hyperion’s Song of Destiny, among Brahms’s most stirring scores. Performance good, recording fair.

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (New York Philharmonic-Symphony, Igor Stravinsky conducting; Columbia; 8 sides). A reissue of the composer’s recording of his famed musical bombshell. Performance definitive, recording good.

Beethoven: Quartet, Op. 132 (Buda pest Quartet; Columbia; 10 sides). This version of great late-Beethoven has the edge on the previous Busch Quartet (Victor) recording in polish. Performance excellent, recording good.

Mozart: Divertimento for Violin, Viola & Cello, K. 563 (Jascha Heifetz, William Primrose, Emanuel Feuermann; Victor; 8 sides). All-star cast, probably the most brilliant that could have been assembled, with a resulting whole that is nearly but not quite the sum of its parts —Heifetz sometimes neglects teamwork. Performance excellent, recording excellent.

Julius Reubke: Sonata for Organ in C Minor (E. Power Biggs; Victor; 6 sides). Composer Reubke, a star pupil of Franz Liszt, died at 24. His Sonata turns out to be a pleasing, romantic work. Performance good, recording good.