12 trechos selectos by Fr. Manuel Cardoso; José Augusto AlegriaReview by: Robert StevensonNotes, Second Series, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Sep., 1956), pp. 698-699Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/892832 .

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style, make ingratiating material for the junior choir. But the Ten Command- ments are a serious matter, for a child as well as for an adult. They are too sober to be decked in such pretty garments. Everett Titeomb: A Morning Hymn. SATB. Boston: C. C. Birchard, 1955. [4 -D, $-161 Everett Titcomb: To the Name that Brings Salvation. SATB. New York: H. W. Gray, 1956. [7 p., $.20] Everett Titcomb: Rejoice Ye with Jerusalem. SATB a cappella. St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1955. [7 p., $.20]

The general style of Everett Titcomb's anthems is calculated to protect the serv- ice of worship from the intrusion of the unfamiliar. Most of the counterpoint is close to animated harmony and most of the harmony is close to that of the hiymn book itself. All three of the anthems listed here begin with identical progressions: an A major chord followed by a G major chord. Two have the square metrical patterns of their hymn texts. The third, Rejoice Ye with Jerusalem, is somewhat freer rhythmically, being a setting of an introit. This is a contribu- tion to the valuable series of choral music for particular Sundays being developed by Concordia. Cecil Effinger: The Glorious Day Is Here. Easter anthem for mixed voices. New York: H. W. Gray, 1956. [11 p., $.25]

This Easter anthem makes a gratify- ingly festive sound, like great brass choirs sounding forth triumphant for- mulas. There is no real choral writing, the voices, blending note-against-note fashion in their own fanfare with words. Roger C. Hannahs: Missa brevis, for choir of mixed voices and organ (or piano). Philadelphia: Elkan- Vogel Co., 1956. [19 p., $.60]

Recently awarded a first prize by Saint Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, this work is squarely in line with the present High Church con- cept of the Missa brevis in English. It is well-proportioned and agreeably varied in texture. As to the thematic material, especially that transferred cyclically from

movement to movement, some motives better suited to pedal parts than to choral parts do duty for both. Others need at least a dotted note here and there to break up their plodding character. The Missa brevis should pave the way for further endeavors along similar lines. Frank Scherer: Contemplation on the Crucifixion. An oratorio for mixed voices with tenor, baritone, and bass soli and accompaniment for organ or orchestra. New York: H. W. Gray, 1956. [Piano-vocal score, 88 p.; $2.00]

The performance by the Oratorio So- ciety of New Jersey at Columbia Univer- sity-an excellent performance directed by the composer-left this reviewer with the impression that this work does not adequately solve several important prob- lems: namely, how to sustain the interest of the listeners throughout the Passion story according to St. Mark with hymns from various centuries providing the metrical part of the oratorio; how to match the dignity of the accepted musical treatments of the subject; how to avoid dramatic expedients long since debased by over-availability in film and radio music; and, most difficult of all, how to get over the ground quickly in sung English narrative without an awkward use of intoning and recitativo.

HENRY LELAND CLARKE

Fr. Manuel Cardoso: 12 trechos selectos. Transcritos em notagio moderna e revistos pelo P.' Jose Augusto Alegria. (Cadernos de re- pert6rio coral, Polyphonia. Serie azul, N.' 2.) Lisboa: Sassetti & C.a, 1955. [(xiv), 62 p., 16mo; Esc. 12$50]

The second in a series of booklets de- voted to Portuguese classical polypho- nists, the present anthology opens with the Sanctus movements from Manuel Cardoso's Veni Sponsa Christi Mass. The next item is an Angus Dei I, listed as belonging to his De Beata Virgine Mass. The plain-song derives, however, from Mass XVII ("For the Sundays of Advent and Lent"). The remaining nine indexed items in the present anthology are all taken from Cardoso's last published vol- ume, his Livro de varios motetes (Lis-

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bon: Joao Rodrigues, 1648). Issued when he was 77 with dedication to the collector of the famous Lisbon musical library, King John IV, this 1648 "book of motets, Holy Week music, and other things" was not only published at the close of one of the most brilliant careers in Portuguese musical history but was actually made up of pieces composed in his old age, if Cardoso's testimony in his dedication (por ser filho da velhice) be taken at face value.

Of the items culled from the 1648 col- lection for reprint in the present anthol- ogy, only three would seem thus far to have appeared in modern practical edi- tions: namely, Panis angelicus (J. E. dos Santos's A polifonia classica portuguesa), Ingrediente Domino, and Domine, tu mihi lavas pedes (Samuel Rubio's Antologia polif6nica sacra, I). Comparison of the Maundy Thursday antiphon for the Wash- ing of the Feet discloses no significant differences between the present tran- scription by Alegria and Rubio's (printed at Madrid in 1954). Both raise the pitch a whole step, both recommend identical dynamic fluctuations, both prescribe the same text-underlay. Algeria replaces a fermata with a minim rest at m. 14, a license which will, however, be welcomed by choristers singing without a baton- waving director.

But comparison of the Palm Sunday responsory, Ingrediente Domino, on the other hand reveals that Rubio added the versicle which liturgically belongs with this responsory (LU, 590), whereas Ale- gria omits it. This is the responsory which contains, interestingly enough, a French augmented-sixth chord certified with printed accidentals in the 1648 im- print, and transcribed as such in both Alegria's and Rubio's reprints (m. 10). In Alegria's other transcriptions of re- sponsories (Tristis est anima mea and Velum templi) he does each time print the versicles-which in Cardoso's usage are to be sung not polyphonically but by a tenor soloist.

If the present samples are to be taken as an earnest of Cardoso's powers, he was a first-rate artist whose larger works would certainly seem deserving of re- print in a stylish edition. The musico-

logical world will be under great debt to the distinguished patron of the present booklet, Dona Elisa de Sousa Pedroso, if she graciously sponsors publication of Cardoso's Opera Omnia; for the renown of Portuguese classical polyphony will certainly shine thereby the brighter.

ROBERT STEVENSON

Johannes Consilium: Si de nouveau (If Now Again). SATB a cappella. [6 p., $.18]; Pierre Hesdin: Deuil, double deuil (Grief, Double Grief). SATB a cappella. [6 p., $.18]; Anonymous: Le jaune et bleu (The Gold and Blue). SATB a cappella. [6 p., $.18]; Anonymous: Le Mal que j'ai (The Hurt I Have). SATB a cap- pella. [4 p., $.16]; Anonymous: M'a t'il laisse (Has He Left Me) ? SATB a cappella. [8 p., $.20] Transcribed, edited, and translated by Albert Seay. New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1955. Anonymous: Il estoit ung bon- homme. SATB, unaccompanied. [7 p., $.25]; Anonymous: Et la, mon amy. SATB, unaccompanied. [7 p., $.25]. (Ser. A: Choral Masterworks of Yesterday; general ed., Albert Seay.) Colorado Springs: Colorado College Music Press, 1955.

With the exception of II estoit ung bonhomme all the chansons listed above are from the various Attaignant chanson publications of around 1530. They add significantly to the vocal repertoire and will receive an especially enthusiastic re- ception from lovers of early 16th century music. Mr. Seay's editions of these post- Josquin chansons are neatly-spaced, relatively free of editorial dynamic and tempo suggestions (his Colorado College series contains none), and have both the original French and English underlay. Most of the pieces would sound best "one on a part" or performed with two voices and two instruments. Deuil, double deuil would go very well with a small choral ensemble if altos and tenors in- stead of sopranos and altos were used on the upper parts.

In the present edition both these parts lie too low for the female voices while the bass tessitura is comparatively high. This sort of scoring will not make for a

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