Northern Lights
Any discussion of Nordic music (June) is incomplete without reference to the superb Scandinavian composer Kurt Atterberg. His beautifully conceived late-Romantic Symphony No. 2, conducted by Stig Westerberg on Discofil, is simply out of this world.
DANIEL JONES; Eldridge, Calif.
I was most happy to read Richard Freed's June article, "Music's Northern Lights," as I have long wondered why there has been such a glaring neglect of Scandinavian composers in the American catalogs.
Turnabout issued Larsson's Orchestral Variations from the old London TW series and could perhaps bless us with more such re releases--Leon Jongen's Malaisie and Joseph Jongen's Troisieme Suite d'Orchestre, for example. Swedish Society Discofil has contributed a few Nystroem works: the Sinfonia del Mare (No. 33207); the Wiren Serenade for String Orchestra, coupled with Larsson's sumptuous and lilting Pastoralsvit (No. 33176); and Wiren's Sinfonietta, coupled with Kurt Atterberg's Suite for Violin, Viola, and Strings (No. 33167). Philips could issue some of their European-sold goodies here, such as Eivind Groven's Margjit Hjuske, Op. 48, and Brudgommen, Op. 16. And there are Dutch composers who have recorded innumerable Radio Nederland transcriptions, some of which have been issued commercially in Holland. It's time for new ground to be broken, and what better way than with a whole body of fine music that has already won wide acceptance in Europe?
WILLIAM C.H. FRASE; Minneapolis, Minn.
It was nice to see someone finally give some attention to the Scandinavian composers (June). It is long overdue, and I hope that some enterprising record company will make arrangements to release some of the fine records on the Swedish Discofil label. Westerberg's 1971 recording of Nystroem's Sinfonia del Mare, which is a vast improvement over Tor Mann's old Dial release, should certainly be made available in the U.S., as should Westerberg's recording of Rosenberg's Louisville Concerto, which outshines the Louisville Orchestra's own release of this work. And I agree with Richard Freed in calling for a new recording of Stenhammar's Second Symphony. I hope Mr. Freed plans a follow-up on his excellent article.
IRVIN E. SASSAMAN; Tamaqua, Pa.
I enjoyed Richard Freed's article, "Music's Northern Lights" (June). One work I would have liked to have seen included was Svendsen's Zorahayda. A radio program (WQXR's "First Hearing") that played it last year indicated it was issued by Philips. But it hasn't appeared in the Schwann catalog since, and correspondence with Philips has produced no information about it, so I assume the recording is not available in the U.S.
LAURENS A. BLANDERS; Nashville, Tenn.
Zorahayda was released on the Phonogram Norway label in that country, and will not be released in this. The address in Norway is Phonogram A/S, Postboks 5327 Rosenborg gaten 19, Oslo 3, Norway.
Heartiest congratulations to Richard Freed for "Music's Northern Lights" (June), a tempting smorgasbord of fine recordings reflecting the Scandinavian musical mainstream. However, Mr. Freed's lament about the "lack of interest and curiosity on our part" needs modification at the present time. For example, we have the Carl Nielsen Society of America, the enterprising Genesis label (a gold mine of Scandinavian rarities), and discographers like David Hall, who has plugged away for years on behalf of Scandinavian music. My own contribution is a new 264-page survey, The Nordic Sound (Crescendo Publishing Co., Boston), the first American book specifically devoted to the subject.
JOHN H. YOELL; Los Angeles, Calif.
Yes, all very good-but discographies are not recordings! Devoted smaller labels and importers aside, this music remains in limbo until the American majors release it.
Barbara Cook
Having been a devoted Barbara Cook admirer ever since I first fell in love with her in 1961 in The Gay Life as the delicate Liesl, rescuing with beauty and grace Dietz and Schwartz's sentimentalized melodies from mere Broadway bagatelles, I've wondered why she never reached the pinnacle most similarly gifted artists eventually scale on Broad way. Music Editor James Goodfriend's excel lent review of her new. album (June) answers some of my questions.
I must admit to finding what he has to say rather harsh on Miss Cook, but so very telling. Miss Cook's revolt against the willowy-elegant roles she so superbly essayed on Broadway has taken a very curious turn.
Happily, it seems to be good for her, and her devoted fans want her to be happy, too. But this devoted fan must dissent when even dear Barbara goes too far astray. As for not singing anything from Candide. when Miss Cook appeared at Brothers and Sisters in New York, requests were heard aplenty for "Glitter and Be Gay," but the lady gently refused, confessing she just couldn't "make it the way it was written." Not any more.
DANIEL GREGG; Bronx, N.Y.
Gloria Gaynor
Peter Reilly, in his disheartening review (June) of Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye," states the album as a whole is dominated by "strait-jacketed" and "tin-ear" production. It is apparent to me who has the tin ears.
Ms. Gaynor's album is one of the most ingeniously created and stimulating musical experiences around today. Mr. Reilly's com plaint that "the tracks blur into each other like a juke box playing the same record a hundred times in a row" completely misses the mark. The disco trilogy of Honey Bee.
Never Can Say Goodbye, and Reach Out was planned and precisely executed in such a way that the three songs merged into one another;
this was no haphazard recording accident. It is unfortunate that Mr. Reilly failed to perceive this, as well as the excellence of the entire album.
Luis H. MORET; New York, N.Y.
Mr. Reilly replies: Mr. Morel only strengthens my point-not only is it juke-box programming, but it teas done on purpose. Trouble is, I don't have, and wouldn't want, a juke box in my home, and I suspect I'm not alone in that.
Tracking Error
One would expect Julian Hirsch's very favorable evaluation of our Model SL-1300 turntable in the February issue of STEREO REVIEW to stir us to nothing less than unqualified gratification. Alas, customer misinterpretation of one paragraph in that report- apparently through no fault of reviewer or editor has clouded our reaction. In that paragraph.
Mr. Hirsch noted that, when he first measured lateral tracking error, he found it "higher than we would have expected." It turned out that he had initially erred by I millimeter in positioning the cartridge for correct overhang (it should be 52 millimeters, or 23/64 inches, from the back of the head shell). After Mr. Hirsch corrected his adjustment, error was found to be "almost too low to measure." He correctly added that future units would be supplied with an overhang-calibration device.
Shortly thereafter, we became aware of some rather bizarre misinterpretations placed on Mr. Hirsch's remarks. These included the mistaken view that the arm was inherently flawed, that it would damage records and stylus, and would even be completely redesigned. It's difficult to understand how these misconceptions came about, but let us try to clarify the issue.
(1) With overhang off by one millimeter on the SL-1300 arm, tracking error remains with in the limits that would be considered quite acceptable for some other arms whose effective length is 8 1/2 inches or so-in other words, no worse than the inherent error found in many of today's well-regarded arms. The resultant increase in harmonic distortion would probably not be audible, and there certainly is no chance of damage to records or cartridge. Mr. Hirsch did not warn of disaster; he simply reported tracking error "higher than we would have expected." Knowing the arm's effective length to be 9 1/16 inches, we assume Mr. Hirsch meant that he expected extremely low error as distinguished from reasonably low error. [He did. --Ed.]
(2) Without an auxiliary overhang gauge, correct adjustment is inconvenient, but not impossible. And, in any case, the ease or difficulty of overhang adjustment has nothing to do with the tone arm's geometry and/or de sign. We therefore have no intention of redesigning an arm that has won deserved praise from so many independent sources. The only change is the inclusion in newly packaged production of a reliable, easy-to-use gauge for the present arm. At the moment, there is no way for the purchaser (or for us) to know whether he's getting an SL-1300 with a gauge in the carton, but we will be pleased to send a free gauge to anyone who asks for one and includes the serial number of his turntable.
The address is Technics by Panasonic, One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, N.J. 07094. (Incidentally, the same gauge may be used on our SL-1100A and SL-1200 turntables, as the overhang for the arms is also 52 millimeters. The gauge, however, is not usable with other turntables or tonearms.)
SIDNEY C. SILVER; Technics by Panasonic; Secaucus, N.J.
Who Cares?
I read with interest William Anderson's May editorial "Who Cares?" As an owner of a high-quality stereo system, I too must take issue with the statement that the pop market doesn't care about record quality. I am tired of paying $7.00 or more for an album that has major defects or whose sound quality is poor.
At the prices we now pay for records, I don't think it would be unreasonable for record companies to take more care in their pressings, and I will continue to return defective records as long as the companies continue to turn out shoddy merchandise.
TOMMY ALLEN; Amarillo, Tex.
Since I'm a disc jockey and music director at WMON-AM, Montgomery, West Virginia, I was particularly interested in "How to Make Good Records" (October 1974) and the summary of readers' reactions in the May 1975 issue.
Despite the fact that more radio stations are now switching to cartridges, thus eliminating most disc-related problems, they still must contend with them during initial dubbing (and the annoyance of surface noise is compound ed by jocks who stack discs face-to-face, in stead of keeping them in cases). The biggest complaint I have against record companies is the problem of "off-center" records. You can get seasick just listening to some of these records. I cannot understand why it is so hard to get the hole in the center. Some discs, so flimsy they can almost be bent double without breaking, are badly warped after only a few weeks of playing. And warps on fresh records are unbelievable, both the Postal Service and the packagers being culpable.
I suggest that record companies stop sending four or five copies of records to each station. If each company saved all the vinyl, packing material, time, and postage involved just in sending promotion material, they could spend more on producing a quality product.
Listen to the people and to the broadcast industry, record companies!
RICHARD LIVELY, JR.; Montgomery, W. Va.
Pope's Good Friend
Alexander Pope, the foremost poet of eighteenth-century England, championed Mu sic Editor James Goodfriend's indictment of G. F. Handel, "the root cause of the distinctly unfriendly relations that have existed between music and the English language since his time" (June) in the fourth book of his The Dunciad (1742).
In lines 53-56, Pope writes:
O Cara! Cara! silence all that train:
Joy to great Chaos! let Division reign:
Chromatic tortures soon shall drive them hence, Break all their nerves, and fritter all their sense, . . "Division" is the long, often chromatic series of notes sung to the same syllable of one word, found so often in Handel's vocal music, and leading, as Pope notes, to the "neglect of that harmony which conforms to the Sense." Mr. Goodfriend should be pleased to find himself in agreement with the best minds of the eighteenth century.
PAUL HENNESSEY; Binghamton, N.Y.
Music Editor James Goodfriend replies: Indeed I do, and for one reason in particular: the concern of the best minds of the eighteenth century with music, a subject that does not concern very many of the best minds of the twentieth century-much, I fear, to its detriment.
Garland Tribute
Thank you for Robert Kimball's excellent and concise article on Judy Garland (June). It's about time someone presented an appreciation of this fine performer's talents and abilities, as opposed to the representative writings on the heartbreaks and tragedies of her life. Liza Minnelli's sensible, unsentimental remarks provided a welcome addendum to this fine article.
RALPH LATIMER; New York, N.Y.
I loved the picture that ran with the Judy Garland article, and while in Woolworth's the other day was surprised and overjoyed to find it packaged with the "Judy Garland in Concert" album.
AMELIA FRIEDMAN Bronx, N.Y.
The two-disc set (Trophy Records TR 7-2145) was culled from the best of Judy's CBS TV specials and electronically reprocessed for stereo. It will be available through December 31 at Woolworth's for $7.95 (disc) and $8.95 (eight-track tape).
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Also see:
NEW PRODUCTS: A roundup of the latest in high-fidelity equipment
RODRIGUES ON SPEAKERS--An expert observer reports from the front, CHARLES RODRIGUES