Electronic Debussy
It is unfortunate that a critic of James Goodfriend's stature should pan Isao Tomita's new electronic Debussy album (August), but it was entirely predictable that he would do so. Mr. Goodfriend and his cohorts have consistently demonstrated their inability to judge a recorded work on its own merits, without resorting to comparisons right and left to the "original version" or the "definitive version." It would seem impossible for many a critic to listen to the electronic Arabesque without compulsively thinking of the piano version of the same piece-an unquestionably beautiful original version. And yet Mr. Tomita takes Debussy one step further-not better or worse, not on a different plane, but on the same level, and simply with different musical sensibilities.
Why is Debussy any worse merely because he is not played on the original instrument? Apparently to Mr. Goodfriend, the synthesizer, with all its attendant electronic servants, represents an encroachment upon the obvious musical purity of the piano or the symphony orchestra. Would he have been so eager to criticize Dame Myra Hess' transcription of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Bach's "popular" Cantata 147? Dame Hess transcribed it for an instrument Bach never saw, probably never imagined, and totally changed the setting from its previous cantata stature. Nowadays, how many people listen to the cantata? But Mr. Goodfriend would not dare pan the good Dame Hess' work, because it has been universally accepted among even the musical cognoscenti (a group of which Mr. Goodfriend desperately hopes he is a member). Until the nature of such reviews changes, they will stand as classic examples of closed-mindedness.
DAVID FIRESTONE; Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. Goodfriend sadly replies: I hale it when people insist on making sitting ducks of them selves. But since the shot is obviously being demanded, okay. Let's begin by straightening out facts. First, it's "Dame Myra." not "Dame Hess." Second, Bach not only imagined a piano, he saw a piano, played on a piano, and very probably wrote music for the piano (see, for easily accessible example, Charles Rosen's notes for his recordings of The Art of Fugue, Goldberg Variations, and Musical Offering, Odyssey 32360020). Third, nowadays, many people listen to Bach's Cantata 147, for there are at least four currently available recordings of it and live performances crop up all over. At the time Dame Myra Hess transcribed Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, not many people did listen to the cantata because there were no recordings of it then and live performances were probably rare.
But there is something else about Dame Myra's transcription, apart from its con temporary functionality, that distinguishes it, and many other fine transcriptions, from Mr. Tomita's unnecessary transmogrification: it is tasteful. I should not be required to forget every Debussy performance I have heard in order to properly evaluate Mr. Tomita's, but even if I could or would, what I hear from "Snowflakes Are Dancing" (even the title is a misnomer; Debussy's title was The Snow Is Dancing) is not merely tasteless in comparison with something else, but intrinsically tasteless.
The problem with all apologists for the Moog with whom I have so far come in con tact is that they assume the instrument itself automatically assures the quality and importance of whatever is played upon it. It does not (see 'The Simels Report" this month); it is merely another instrument, and its potentialities are only potentialities. Thus far I have heard no one exploit those potentialities to produce anything that is either of quality itself or preferable in any respect to the same music on another instrument. There may yet be such music, but there isn't now, and "Snowflakes" certainly is not it.
Met Mail
The suggestion of your Canadian reader ("Editorially Speaking," August) that the Met tour these United States by doing a year in each major city is particularly amusing to me, for in the public relations aspect of my job as the Met's advertising coordinator it usually falls to me to answer letters that begin: "I have this great idea that will save the Met .... " Half of them are in the crackpot category (use piano instead of orchestra, do three shows a day, fill up the aisles with more seats), and half are somewhat sensible, though almost always unworkable for reasons I care fully explain. Sometimes I think all this mail is just a bother, but I force myself to remember that these people wouldn't be writing if they didn't care deeply about the Met. At any rate, each and every one is answered-that is, un less I get latched onto by a genuine crazy like the man who writes me obscene letters be cause we don't do some obscure Gluck opera with Beverly Sills. Maybe I'll sick him on STEREO REVIEW-he even accuses me of being in conspiracy with the record industry that refuses to record this same opera!
PATRICK L. VEITCH Metropolitan Opera New York, N.Y.
Still Waiting for the Seventies
Steve Simels showed remarkable insight in his description of Seventies rock ("Waiting for the Seventies," August). Although a few groups have shown technical and theoretical advances since the Sixties, they remain few and far between. The exploratory thrusts of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (thanks to the genius of Keith Emerson) and of Uriah Heep are among the few recent works introducing any effective advances in the world of rock today.
The inability of present rock to advance with out falling back on the past reflects also the unwillingness of audiences to voice a desire for totally new concepts. To encourage the new and unique requires the flexibility found in the Sixties, not the apathy of the Seventies. The Seventies will arrive. But when?
J. DAVIS Frewsburg, N.Y.
As if I weren't already worse than de pressed by rock-and-roll's current sad state, I had to go and read Steve Simels' August column, which was no help at all. I, for one, am getting sick and tired of Waiting for the Seventies. I'm twenty-two, after all, and the way things are going, I'll be too old and senile to know or care if, when, or whether anything new finally comes along. Oh well, all things considered I guess we've had a pretty fair fifteen or twenty years, so I shouldn't complain.
But if, God forbid, rock-and-roll really is as near death as it seems these days, I do wish someone would end its misery (and mine) and give it a decent burial.
LINDA FREDERICK; Lebanon, Ohio
Four-eyes
In reference to Elliott Gorlin's August letter about renaming STEREO REVIEW "when the world goes quad," I have another suggestion. Since many a conversion to quad does not mean scrapping an entire stereo system but, rather, the adding-on of the back channels, an interim solution would be to send two copies of each issue to every subscriber! But, doubtless, you will find something wrong with that too.
E. D. HOAGLAN; Omaha, Neb.
Hmm . . might he the answer for those who complain that they whiz right through each issue from cover to cover in one sitting.
The Original Candide
I believe that the original recording of Candide is one of the first examples of real stereo, not "artificially induced stereo" as Paul Kresh stated in his otherwise splendid review of the two Candides (August). Also, it should be noted that the producer of the new Candide (and of Columbia's best shows of late), Thomas Z. Shepard. has left Columbia for RCA. Let us hope that not only will Columbia keep recording shows, but that RCA will now record them as well.
ROGER GRODSKY; Madison, Wis.
There was indeed a real stereo issue of the original recording of Candide (August). In fact, if you listen to that stereo recording, you will find minor differences from the mono is sue. They were obviously different "takes" in the still experimental stereo sound of the mid-Fifties, and slightly more words of spoken dialogue were included. The performances are virtually identical, of course-a tribute to the professional dependability of the talented cast.
EDWARD BUXBAUM Brooklyn. N.Y.
Reincarnations
I had planned to get the "new" Westminster recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or until I read Eric Salzman's review in your August issue. I then realized that I al ready had it under the guise of MK 222-C. I suppose this again illustrates, if any reminder were needed, the caution one must exercise in dealing with the many reincarnations of Russian material.
Mr. Salzman is puzzled over the fact that two conductors are listed, but from the information given with the MK recording it seems that Kovalyov is in charge of the chorus, and Akulov the orchestra. It may also be of some interest to know that the conductor of the excerpts from The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia (whose plot has been described as a cross between Parsifal and Brigadoon) is Svetlanov.
GREGG PRIVETTE; Florence, S.C.
Richard Freed's August review of the new Leopold Stokowski/New Philharmonia New World Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra recording of that same symphony is incorrect (as are the album liner notes) in stating that "Outline of Themes" is spoken and played on the piano by Leopold Stokowski in this recording. It was spoken by Leopold Stokowski, but it was played on the piano by Artur Rodzinski. The recording was made on October 6, 1927. On that same day the two artists also recorded the discussion of themes for the Franck Symphony in D.
In this same review Mr. Freed misinterprets the Edward Johnson notes when he states "but it was the first of the five that have been released to the public." In actual fact the 1925 early electrical recording was released in mid-I926 on records 6565-6569 without an album number. Then, when Stokowski re recorded the symphony in 1927, Victor for some unknown reason used these same numbers, but put them in Album I of the new Musical Masterpiece series. That early 1925 recording is of great interest and reflects the vast differences which occurred in the recording art in just two years.
ROBERT L. GATEWOOD Warren, Ark.
Exceptions to "Philadelphia Rule"
In his recent article on the Asian travels of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (July), Roy Hemming incorrectly observes that following "1936 all but one of Ormandy's recordings have been with the Philadelphians." I assume that the exception to Ormandy's "Philadelphia Rule" that Hemming has in mind is the New World Symphony recording on Columbia- a disc that features Ormandy conducting the Lon don Symphony Orchestra. However, there is also the recently reissued performance of Strauss' Die Fledermaus on the market. In the Strauss work Ormandy conducts the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Further, rumor has it that the unnamed conductor in the Prades Festival recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with Pablo Casals as soloist (on Odyssey) is none other than Maestro Ormandy.
BRUCE ADAMS; Lawrence, Kan.
Mr. Hemming replies: The exception I was referring to-based on Mr. Ormandy's answer to an interview question--was indeed the Dvorak New World, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. In response to Mr. Adams' query. however. Mr. Ormandy commented: "Mr. Adams is quite right. At the interview! was just thinking of my large-scale orchestral sessions. I did the Fledermaus as a special favor for Rudolf Bing. to show my admiration and respect for him and the Met.
The Schumann recording I did at the request of Pablo Casals with great happiness and respect for the artist. The recording was made in a church in Perpignan. France. I had unfortunately forgotten about these recordings during the interview." [Mr. Ormandy has perhaps also forgotten certain recordings of rather evanescent repertoire he made for Columbia with a "salon orchestra" long ago. apparently prior to his recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony. -Mus. Ed.]
Small-town Bands
I enjoyed Robert Offergeld's nostalgic review of the "Jack Daniel's Original Silver Cornet Band" in the August issue. However, I feel that some misinformation crept into his comments pertaining to the band itself. Although the band's instrumentation may well contain three cornets, two altos, a tenor, a baritone, and a helicon, it also contains one hell of a piccolo player and at least one very fine mallet-playing percussionist, as evidenced by the xylophone and bell playing on most of the selections. Finally, Mr. Mc Ritchie's arrangements are by no means representative of the type of music performed on small-town bandstands early in this century. No self-respecting silver cornet player even owned (much less used) a mute, and several of the selections on this recording utilize muted brass extensively. Also, at least one tune, The Tennessee Waltz, was written almost a half century after the demise of the town band.
There is often a disagreement between musicologists and performers concerning whether or not a particular work should be done "authentically" or made to sound "well," and I don't mean to get involved in that issue.
Rather, I would compliment the Jack Daniels firm for underwriting and issuing a 1974 version of the town band. For those interested in hearing authentic band literature from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries per formed on historic instruments by amateur players, fluffs and all, I would recommend an album entitled "The Golden Age of Bands," directed by Professor Arne Larson and avail able from him at the University of South Dakota. What is a concert in the park without such chestnuts as American Patrol?
CHARLES WINKING; Quincy, Ill.
Is not Mr. Winking's report of the "demise" of the town band somewhat exaggerated?
Vienna Orchestras
David Hall's review of the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 (August) is in error. The performance is by the Vienna Symphony, not the Vienna Philharmonic. Lorin Maazel's recording on London is with the latter orchestra. Thus the two versions are by different orchestras and not by the same one as stated by Mr. Hall. Incidentally, the Vienna Sym phony is the organization fortunate enough to have Carlo Maria Giulini as its recently appointed music director.
EDWARD D. WLADAS; Chicago, Ill.
Younger Bing
In "Bing Crosby: The Man Who Invented American Popular Singing" (August), Joel Vance did not mention the RCA album "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (LPV 584). These Crosby recordings also date from 1928-1932. Here Crosby teams up with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra and Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra.
The recordings are good mono. An older Columbia release, "Bing Crosby in Hollywood, 1930-1934," is another "early" Crosby set.
WARREN D. FIGUEIREDO; Baton Rouge, La.
At the risk of being the five-hundredth person to tell you, Columbia's "The Bing Crosby Story," reviewed in August, is a reissue of Epic E2E 201. I bought my copy in early 1968, if memory serves. Also, if memory serves, the price was considerably less than the $11.96 which Columbia is now asking for the set. I hope this somewhat astronomical price for a reissue is not a sign of things to come at Columbia.
CHARLES J. HOWIE; Kingston, N.J.
It's OK. Charles: you're only the 499th.
Dangerously Loud
In his August letter, Geoffrey Prankus warned about the dangers to good hearing from listening to very loud music. The editorial comment was that the jury is still out and that perhaps we will know the answer in a couple of decades.
I would like to testify to an example of what we have to look forward to in a couple of decades or less. My hearing deficiency was caused by the loud noises I experienced thirty years ago while flying in military aircraft during World War II. It did not take long for the symptoms to develop, and I have had to live with them for many years. One reason why there may be some confusion about the effect is that there is only a partial loss of hearing.
This is known as "the notch," so that while I have full hearing at the lower frequencies, I have lost more than 75 percent of my sensitivity at 3,500 Hz. The result is that I often have trouble understanding conversations, and some passages of music are quite inaudible.
The problem with loud music is real. It has gotten to the point where all popular music must be amplified, even in a small room. My wife, who is a nurse in a junior high school, has commented on the large percentage of children with hearing problems. Your comment didn't help.
Louis H. PETERSON; Woodbridge, N.J.
The Editor replies: There are a lot of loose ends here. Is rock music really as loud as the racket that deafened Mr. Peterson in the war? Granted that his wife encounters many youngsters with hearing problems, can they all he traced to loud rock music? Have the percentages actually changed over. say, the last decade, or are the measurements simply more accurate, the testing more comprehensive? Isn't the general noise level of our technological civilization higher these days? Could that be a strong contributor? And are these hearing difficulties, whether from rock or other sources, permanent? A definitive scientific study, under carefully controlled conditions. might answer these questions once and for all, but it is not likely to have any great effect on those who regard their ears and their hearing as their own business. Smokers will smoke, drinkers drink, and rockers rock, I'm afraid. If we were to embark on a Noble Legislative Experiment called "Decibel Prohibition," however, sound addicts would at the very least have trouble keeping their transgressions against tranquility a secret!
Lightfoot's Magic
We appreciated Noel Coppage's article on Gordon Lightfoot (August), and we agree that to really appreciate Mr. Lightfoot's talents one must see him in concert. On stage, the instruments and his voice create a spell of unsurpassed magic; never resorting to gimmicks, he always gives a superb performance.
To call Lightfoot a musician's musician, a writer's writer, and a singer's singer would be an understatement.
BOB, MARLYS, AND SUSAN LANDEEN; Paramount, Calif.
Ruth Etting's Admirers
Please relieve a curiosity that has itched away at me for some time, but really became inflamed when I read Peter Reilly's review of Ruth Etting's "Hello, Baby" (July). Was the late Cass Elliot the "superstar" devotee of Ruth Etting that Mr. Reilly referred to in his review? As an ardent admirer of both ladies' singing, I've often wondered if Cass Elliot knew of or was influenced by Ruth Etting.
WINFORD S. DANIELS; Washington, D.C.
Mr. Reilly replies: Itch no more. It was Bar bra Streisand that I meant. The specific al bum was the re-release on Columbia, issued to cash in on the success of Love Me or Leave Me, of Etting's classic performances.
Streisand, with her unerring (and basically conservative) instincts, realized that Etting was part of the best of the past and so re-worked the singer's sound to suit her own temperament.
Carpentry
lam writing in response to two August letters about Peter Reilly's great June review of the Carpenters. It's unjust for these two readers to take constructive criticism and manipulate it as ignorant insults. Somewhere down the line the main intention was lost. The sole purpose was for Mr. Reilly to write his evaluation. I, for one, credit him for giving an honest, truthful opinion. I was satisfied with the write-up and pity those who thrive on the childish music the Carpenters shell out.
EDWARD BRNA; Somers Point, N.J.
Traveling Headphones
I'm surprised headphones weren't considered in Paul Kresh's article "Traveling with Music" (July). For some time I have been raveling with an old Borg-Warner eight-track player-amplifier and Brown stereo phones. I have the same advantages as at home-and I don't bother other people!
ROBERT JENNINGS; Vero Beach, Fla.
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