Review: 18th-Century EmbellishmentAuthor(s): Niall O'LoughlinSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 118, No. 1615 (Sep., 1977), p. 731Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/959489 .Accessed: 31/05/2011 13:36

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Gordon Jacob, said to be published by Breitkopf & Hartel, are in fact published by Boosey & Hawkes. To describe Refrains and Choruses by Birtwistle and the Wind Quintet by Henze as among their re- spective composer's best works seems silly. The proof reading of this section is not good compared with the rest of the book, which is generally excellent. The final discography, though selecting valuable recordings of many players' styles and techniques, contains far too many deleted records to be of much use to all but the most determined of record hunters.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

18th-century embellishment Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775

by Betty Bang Mather and David Lasocki. McGinnis & Marx/Peters, $15

The problems of ornamentation in 18th-century music are enormous. Many of the practices of the time were clearly understood by performers and composers, but these usages were not always codified. It is our good fortune that composers who were also theorists like J. J. Quantz and C. P. E. Bach were able to pass on to us some of the pro- cedures. We are also lucky that many composers, as well as some contemporary performers, felt the need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable ornamentation. This book, sub-titled 'An anthology with introduction', offers a substantial selection of examples of contemporary ornamentation. This is prefaced by an excellent nine-page introduction to the subject, presenting as clearly and concisely as one could wish the principles involved. The an- thology itself is quite substantial, and is divided into two halves, illustrating on the one hand the normal practice of composers from Italy, Germany and England and on the other composers from France. Examples from the work of Quantz natur- ally take up a large part of the first half. Most of this illustrates many suitable ways of ornamenting a large number of stock melodic phrases. Tele- mann's Methodische Sonaten provide another valuable source for 18th-century ornamentation. The judicious seleclion here exemplifies the possible variety involved, especially in repeats and reprises. French ornamentation is generally more precise with most of it exactly specified and notated. However, there are numerous examples by La Barre, Hotteterre, Monteclair, Boismortier and Blavet which show what might also be expected of per- formers. All the examples are well laid out with ornamented versions on separate staves from the plain ones for easy comparison and figured bass included where appropriate. The notes on the sources and examples cover all essential points briefly. The selective list of modern editions and bibliography are most useful. A most worthwhile publication that is both practical and scholarly.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

'The greatest conductor' Karajan by Paul Robinson (The Art of the Conduc-

tor). Macdonald & Jane's, £3.95 As a monograph of a conductor of controversial character as well as widespread fame, this bio- graphical sketch and musical assessment stays just this side of idolatry, although Mr Robinson's standpoint is clearly enough defined. For him,

Gordon Jacob, said to be published by Breitkopf & Hartel, are in fact published by Boosey & Hawkes. To describe Refrains and Choruses by Birtwistle and the Wind Quintet by Henze as among their re- spective composer's best works seems silly. The proof reading of this section is not good compared with the rest of the book, which is generally excellent. The final discography, though selecting valuable recordings of many players' styles and techniques, contains far too many deleted records to be of much use to all but the most determined of record hunters.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

18th-century embellishment Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775

by Betty Bang Mather and David Lasocki. McGinnis & Marx/Peters, $15

The problems of ornamentation in 18th-century music are enormous. Many of the practices of the time were clearly understood by performers and composers, but these usages were not always codified. It is our good fortune that composers who were also theorists like J. J. Quantz and C. P. E. Bach were able to pass on to us some of the pro- cedures. We are also lucky that many composers, as well as some contemporary performers, felt the need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable ornamentation. This book, sub-titled 'An anthology with introduction', offers a substantial selection of examples of contemporary ornamentation. This is prefaced by an excellent nine-page introduction to the subject, presenting as clearly and concisely as one could wish the principles involved. The an- thology itself is quite substantial, and is divided into two halves, illustrating on the one hand the normal practice of composers from Italy, Germany and England and on the other composers from France. Examples from the work of Quantz natur- ally take up a large part of the first half. Most of this illustrates many suitable ways of ornamenting a large number of stock melodic phrases. Tele- mann's Methodische Sonaten provide another valuable source for 18th-century ornamentation. The judicious seleclion here exemplifies the possible variety involved, especially in repeats and reprises. French ornamentation is generally more precise with most of it exactly specified and notated. However, there are numerous examples by La Barre, Hotteterre, Monteclair, Boismortier and Blavet which show what might also be expected of per- formers. All the examples are well laid out with ornamented versions on separate staves from the plain ones for easy comparison and figured bass included where appropriate. The notes on the sources and examples cover all essential points briefly. The selective list of modern editions and bibliography are most useful. A most worthwhile publication that is both practical and scholarly.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

'The greatest conductor' Karajan by Paul Robinson (The Art of the Conduc-

tor). Macdonald & Jane's, £3.95 As a monograph of a conductor of controversial character as well as widespread fame, this bio- graphical sketch and musical assessment stays just this side of idolatry, although Mr Robinson's standpoint is clearly enough defined. For him,

Gordon Jacob, said to be published by Breitkopf & Hartel, are in fact published by Boosey & Hawkes. To describe Refrains and Choruses by Birtwistle and the Wind Quintet by Henze as among their re- spective composer's best works seems silly. The proof reading of this section is not good compared with the rest of the book, which is generally excellent. The final discography, though selecting valuable recordings of many players' styles and techniques, contains far too many deleted records to be of much use to all but the most determined of record hunters.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

18th-century embellishment Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775

by Betty Bang Mather and David Lasocki. McGinnis & Marx/Peters, $15

The problems of ornamentation in 18th-century music are enormous. Many of the practices of the time were clearly understood by performers and composers, but these usages were not always codified. It is our good fortune that composers who were also theorists like J. J. Quantz and C. P. E. Bach were able to pass on to us some of the pro- cedures. We are also lucky that many composers, as well as some contemporary performers, felt the need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable ornamentation. This book, sub-titled 'An anthology with introduction', offers a substantial selection of examples of contemporary ornamentation. This is prefaced by an excellent nine-page introduction to the subject, presenting as clearly and concisely as one could wish the principles involved. The an- thology itself is quite substantial, and is divided into two halves, illustrating on the one hand the normal practice of composers from Italy, Germany and England and on the other composers from France. Examples from the work of Quantz natur- ally take up a large part of the first half. Most of this illustrates many suitable ways of ornamenting a large number of stock melodic phrases. Tele- mann's Methodische Sonaten provide another valuable source for 18th-century ornamentation. The judicious seleclion here exemplifies the possible variety involved, especially in repeats and reprises. French ornamentation is generally more precise with most of it exactly specified and notated. However, there are numerous examples by La Barre, Hotteterre, Monteclair, Boismortier and Blavet which show what might also be expected of per- formers. All the examples are well laid out with ornamented versions on separate staves from the plain ones for easy comparison and figured bass included where appropriate. The notes on the sources and examples cover all essential points briefly. The selective list of modern editions and bibliography are most useful. A most worthwhile publication that is both practical and scholarly.

NIALL O'LOUGHLIN

'The greatest conductor' Karajan by Paul Robinson (The Art of the Conduc-

tor). Macdonald & Jane's, £3.95 As a monograph of a conductor of controversial character as well as widespread fame, this bio- graphical sketch and musical assessment stays just this side of idolatry, although Mr Robinson's standpoint is clearly enough defined. For him,

Karajan is 'a genius-perhaps the greatest conductor who ever lived', and most of his 123 pages are devoted to stating the case for his judgment. The author is music director of a Toronto radio station, and a composer and lecturer, and a Toronto colleague, Bruce Surtees, a record collector and reviewer, has supplied a 31-page discography.

Karajan's background and early years are informatively summarized, and I am intrigued to learn that he was dismissed from his first appoint- ment at Ulm after five years 'for his own good', the Intendant fearing that he would never otherwise break free. The familiar case is made for Karajan's membership of the Nazi party virtually as a condition of his employment at Aachen from 1934, the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany at the time, but having quoted the 1967 New Yorker interview in which Karajan declared, 'I would have committed any crime to get that post', the author makes no attempt to follow up the interesting implications of that remark.

Nazi intrigue is blamed for setting Furtwangler and Karajan in professional opposition to begin with, and the older man is later accused of 'paranoia and intransigence' in preventing Karajan from being engaged at Vienna, Berlin or Salzburg in the 1948-54 period. Mr Robinson, however, seems unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert Pendergast, which appeared in the Saturday Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in Britain, where Karajan is recorded as saying of Furtwdngler: 'We were never close as individuals but I attended his rehearsals at every opportunity. One day I am going to write a book about con- ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a chapter to Furtwangler'.

The author has little time for conductors who could be regarded as Karajan's rivals. Apart from Furtwangler, Solti is accused of coveting Karajan's appointment with L'Orchestre de Paris, and a French government minister, Marcel Landowski, of 'duplicity' in engineering Karajan's replacement by Solti. Allegations of this kind need to be justified by authoritative sources; Mr Robinson gives plenty of dates and references for quotations from Press reviews, but leaves more important issues disconcertingly unsupported. He is not reluctant to intrude his own views: one Karajan performance is 'the ultimate realization of what-the composer intended', but those early records with the original Philharmonia, which some of us believe played a not unimportant part in establishing Karajan's wider post-war reputation, are cursorily dismissed for inferior quality of sound as well as character of performance.

It is interesting to learn that after the 'badly botched rendering of the American national anthem', when Karajan took the dead Furtwangler's place for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour in 1955, he secured a new arrangement of it by 'William Walton, one of England's leading com- posers', when he returned to the USA with the Philharmonia later the same year. Mr Robinson attempts a balanced account of Karajan's troubled years at the Vienna Staatsoper, and of his relations with his native Salzburg which eventually brought the foundation of the Salzburg Easter Festival. Karajan's attempts at filmed opera find little favour, but less attention than it deserves is given to his developing interest in the technical aspects of musical reproduction methods.

A chapter on 'Karajan and the Critics' seeks to analyse one or two adverse comments by Paul Henry Lang, William Mann, David Hamilton and Martin Bookspan, which leads the author into a

731

Karajan is 'a genius-perhaps the greatest conductor who ever lived', and most of his 123 pages are devoted to stating the case for his judgment. The author is music director of a Toronto radio station, and a composer and lecturer, and a Toronto colleague, Bruce Surtees, a record collector and reviewer, has supplied a 31-page discography.

Karajan's background and early years are informatively summarized, and I am intrigued to learn that he was dismissed from his first appoint- ment at Ulm after five years 'for his own good', the Intendant fearing that he would never otherwise break free. The familiar case is made for Karajan's membership of the Nazi party virtually as a condition of his employment at Aachen from 1934, the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany at the time, but having quoted the 1967 New Yorker interview in which Karajan declared, 'I would have committed any crime to get that post', the author makes no attempt to follow up the interesting implications of that remark.

Nazi intrigue is blamed for setting Furtwangler and Karajan in professional opposition to begin with, and the older man is later accused of 'paranoia and intransigence' in preventing Karajan from being engaged at Vienna, Berlin or Salzburg in the 1948-54 period. Mr Robinson, however, seems unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert Pendergast, which appeared in the Saturday Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in Britain, where Karajan is recorded as saying of Furtwdngler: 'We were never close as individuals but I attended his rehearsals at every opportunity. One day I am going to write a book about con- ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a chapter to Furtwangler'.

The author has little time for conductors who could be regarded as Karajan's rivals. Apart from Furtwangler, Solti is accused of coveting Karajan's appointment with L'Orchestre de Paris, and a French government minister, Marcel Landowski, of 'duplicity' in engineering Karajan's replacement by Solti. Allegations of this kind need to be justified by authoritative sources; Mr Robinson gives plenty of dates and references for quotations from Press reviews, but leaves more important issues disconcertingly unsupported. He is not reluctant to intrude his own views: one Karajan performance is 'the ultimate realization of what-the composer intended', but those early records with the original Philharmonia, which some of us believe played a not unimportant part in establishing Karajan's wider post-war reputation, are cursorily dismissed for inferior quality of sound as well as character of performance.

It is interesting to learn that after the 'badly botched rendering of the American national anthem', when Karajan took the dead Furtwangler's place for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour in 1955, he secured a new arrangement of it by 'William Walton, one of England's leading com- posers', when he returned to the USA with the Philharmonia later the same year. Mr Robinson attempts a balanced account of Karajan's troubled years at the Vienna Staatsoper, and of his relations with his native Salzburg which eventually brought the foundation of the Salzburg Easter Festival. Karajan's attempts at filmed opera find little favour, but less attention than it deserves is given to his developing interest in the technical aspects of musical reproduction methods.

A chapter on 'Karajan and the Critics' seeks to analyse one or two adverse comments by Paul Henry Lang, William Mann, David Hamilton and Martin Bookspan, which leads the author into a

731

Karajan is 'a genius-perhaps the greatest conductor who ever lived', and most of his 123 pages are devoted to stating the case for his judgment. The author is music director of a Toronto radio station, and a composer and lecturer, and a Toronto colleague, Bruce Surtees, a record collector and reviewer, has supplied a 31-page discography.

Karajan's background and early years are informatively summarized, and I am intrigued to learn that he was dismissed from his first appoint- ment at Ulm after five years 'for his own good', the Intendant fearing that he would never otherwise break free. The familiar case is made for Karajan's membership of the Nazi party virtually as a condition of his employment at Aachen from 1934, the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany at the time, but having quoted the 1967 New Yorker interview in which Karajan declared, 'I would have committed any crime to get that post', the author makes no attempt to follow up the interesting implications of that remark.

Nazi intrigue is blamed for setting Furtwangler and Karajan in professional opposition to begin with, and the older man is later accused of 'paranoia and intransigence' in preventing Karajan from being engaged at Vienna, Berlin or Salzburg in the 1948-54 period. Mr Robinson, however, seems unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert Pendergast, which appeared in the Saturday Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in Britain, where Karajan is recorded as saying of Furtwdngler: 'We were never close as individuals but I attended his rehearsals at every opportunity. One day I am going to write a book about con- ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a chapter to Furtwangler'.

The author has little time for conductors who could be regarded as Karajan's rivals. Apart from Furtwangler, Solti is accused of coveting Karajan's appointment with L'Orchestre de Paris, and a French government minister, Marcel Landowski, of 'duplicity' in engineering Karajan's replacement by Solti. Allegations of this kind need to be justified by authoritative sources; Mr Robinson gives plenty of dates and references for quotations from Press reviews, but leaves more important issues disconcertingly unsupported. He is not reluctant to intrude his own views: one Karajan performance is 'the ultimate realization of what-the composer intended', but those early records with the original Philharmonia, which some of us believe played a not unimportant part in establishing Karajan's wider post-war reputation, are cursorily dismissed for inferior quality of sound as well as character of performance.

It is interesting to learn that after the 'badly botched rendering of the American national anthem', when Karajan took the dead Furtwangler's place for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour in 1955, he secured a new arrangement of it by 'William Walton, one of England's leading com- posers', when he returned to the USA with the Philharmonia later the same year. Mr Robinson attempts a balanced account of Karajan's troubled years at the Vienna Staatsoper, and of his relations with his native Salzburg which eventually brought the foundation of the Salzburg Easter Festival. Karajan's attempts at filmed opera find little favour, but less attention than it deserves is given to his developing interest in the technical aspects of musical reproduction methods.

A chapter on 'Karajan and the Critics' seeks to analyse one or two adverse comments by Paul Henry Lang, William Mann, David Hamilton and Martin Bookspan, which leads the author into a

731