Music: New Records, Nov. 27, 1950

As a spare-time composer who wrote most of his music early in the century, professional Insurance Man Charles Ives (TIME, Feb. 23, 1948) managed to anticipate most of his contemporaries. Often based on old hymn tunes, his music abounds in polytonal harmonies, complex rhythms; much of it is log-cabin crude and just as American. Symphony No. 3, finished in 1904 and revised in 1911, gathered dust in Ives’s Connecticut barn until 1946, when it got its first performance and won him a Pulitzer Prize. The calm first movement is particularly prizeworthy. The National Gallery Orchestra (Richard Bales conducting) has given the symphony a good performance in a new recording by WCFM Recording Corp. (2 sides LP).

Other new records:

Copland: Sonata for Violin and Piano (Joseph Fuchs, violin; Leo Smit, piano; Decca, 1 side LP). One of U.S. Composer Aaron Copland’s later (1942-43) and most lyrical pieces, masterfully performed. The record carries a matching performance of Stravinsky’s neo-classical Duo Concertant on the other side. Recording: good.

Grieg: Haugtussa (Kirsten Flagstad, soprano; Edwin McArthur, piano; Victor, 2 sides LP). Grieg’s rustic cycle of eight songs might never be missed, but as a vehicle for Flagstad’s glorious soprano they are worth hearing. Recording: good.

Poulenc: Mass in G (the Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Shaw conducting; Victor, 1 side LP). Composed in 1937, this Mass, austerely but tenderly reverent, is one of the best works that have yet come from Frenchman Francis Poulenc. Shaw’s clean choral work is up to his usual high standard. On the other side: Benjamin Britten’s graceful A Ceremony of Carols. Recording: excellent.

Schubert: Sonata In C Minor (Webster Aitken, piano; Elaine Music Shop, 2 sides LP). Since 68-year-old Artur Schnabel retired from touring, concert audiences seldom get to hear any of the three splendid “Grand Sonatas” Schubert composed in the last year of his life (1828); most other pianists consider them too long and repetitious. This one, the first, does not have so much spontaneous melody as the other two, but Schubert lovers will not want to miss it in Aitken’s strong, clean performance. Recording: excellent.

Schumann: Quintet in E Flat, Op. 44 (Artur Rubinstein, pianist; the Paganini Quartet; Victor, 2 sides LP). Rubinstein at his best in an excellent ensemble. Recording: excellent.

Schumann: Carnaval (Claudio Arrau, piano; Decca-Parlaphone, 2 sides LP). Chilean-born Pianist Arrau won his first U.S. fame with this romantic piece. Playing cleanly, deeply and without schmalz, he shows the reason why. Recording: good.

Varèse: Intègrales, Density 21.5, lonization, etc. (Rene Le Roy, flute; New York Wind Ensemble, Juilliard Percussion Orchestra, Frederic Waldman conducting; Elaine Music Shop, 2 sides LP). Percussionist Edgard Varèse is a Buck Rogers of music whose drummings, thumpings, clangings and shrillings make the compositions of such modernists as Stravinsky seem old-fashioned arid conventional. Here is a full sampling for the hardy. Recording: good.

Verdi: Ernani (Gino Penno, tenor; Giuseppe Taddei, baritone; Caterina Mancini, soprano; Giacomo Vaghi, basso; Licia Rossini, mezzo-soprano; Vittorio Panano, tenor; Ezio Achilli, basso; Orchestra of Radio Italiana, Fernando Previtali conducting; Cetra-Soria, 6 sides LP). Verdi’s fourth opera, rarely performed, proves that, at 30, he was full of his matchless calliope tunes and vigorous choruses, even though he lacked the polish and coherence that came later. Performance and recording: good.

Verdi: Rigoletto (Jan Peerce, tenor; Leonard Warren, baritone; Italo Tajo, bass; Erna Berger, soprano; Nan Merriman, mezzo-soprano; the Robert Shaw Chorale and RCA Victor Orchestra, Renato Cellini conducting; Victor, 6 sides LP). Just about the best cast that can be heard in this old blood-curdler; a topflight production. Recording: excellent.