Elegie für Viola und kleines Orchester by Matyas SeiberReview by: Leo TreitlerNotes, Second Series, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Sep., 1960), p. 658Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/892420 .

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nor worst of its genre, but is a witty and refreshing addition to ithe repertoire. The Bergsma piece is seasonally limited, and maybe makes too much fuss over a tune better left in its simple carol form, but it is ingenious and competently effective fuss throughout. Mr. Giannini is Schubertian or Mendelssehnian in the sense of an overflowing natural outpour- ing of music; both scores demonstrate this, one within a formal framework, one with the announced intent of enter- taining. The Surinach concerto includes every Latin cliche ever invented, but it is loud and recognizable and will un- doubtedly he played here and there. The Kubik symphony does the same with American cliches; shorter, it would be an utterly delightful suite or divertimento.

A collection with unlimited budget should have all these varied scores before it has complete Ives or Cowell. If your resources are less, do select a few that seem most appropriate for your needs; this list is an impressive production on the part of American composers and publishers.

LOCKREM JOHNSON Matyas Seiber: Elegie fur Viola und kleines Orchester. [1.1.2.1.-2.3.1.0.

Perc.-Str.] (Ed. Schott, 4585.) Mainz: B. Schott; U. S. A.: Asso- ciated Music Publishers, New York, 1958. [Min. score, 16 p., $1.75]

Here are three pieces well suited to amateur groups. Seiber's Elegie is a one- movement, eight-minute affair, scored for strings, single winds, two horns, three trumpets, and percussion for one player. It is a most attractive piece, really, creating the atmosphere one would antici- pate from its title. To those familiar with the friendlier idiom of Bela Bartok it will be readily accessible. So much so, indeed, that it may inspire an im- pression of deja vue. But whether that matters is a question not meant to be discussed in the naveq of this ioirnal. Robert Heppener: Derivazioni per orchestra d'archi. Amsterdam: Done- mus; U. S. A.: C. F. Peters, New York, 1959. [Min. score, 52 p., $2.50; orch. material available for rent]

The Derivazioni of the young Dutch composer, Robert Heppener, is a piece

upon which I report with some hesita- tion, for I don't quite understand it. A slow Introduzione e Tema is followed by seven variations, all clearly derived from either theme or introduction. Per- formance time would be roughly thirty minutes. The "theme," so far as the variations are concerned, is a kind of harmonic progression which reaches its climax in the upper register of the violins. It is very long and, with the exception of the obvious climax, quite amorphous. The progression of chords, characterized by major-minor triad com- binations, makes little sense, aurally or in any other way. Unfortunately the order is basic to the variations, so that I find myself baffled repeatedly. As the theme appears too long, so does each variation, and the piece as a whole. While individual events are easy enough to hear, there is no sense of necessity about their sequence. Perhaps, if one had to choose, one would rather have it the other way around. Paul Hindemith: Suite franzosischer Tanze . . . fur kleines Orchester eingerichtet. [2.2.0.1.-0.1.0.O.-Lute -Str. (viola I, II, III and cello I-II or Violin I-II, viola, cello I-II)] (Ed. Schott, 4983.) Mainz: B. Schott; U. S. A.: Associated Music Pub- lishers, New York, 1958. [Score, 32 p., $4.00]

From publications of Pierre d'Attai- gnant, Hindemith has selected six short dance movements by Claude Gervais and Estienne du Tertre. His purpose is "to have modern performers follow the prac- tice of their earlier colleagues in orna- menting, elaborating, and improvising upon a plain four- or five-part texture." The originals, given in facsimile, are transcribed for violas and cellos, with ornamented doublings for single wood- winds, trumpet, and lute. String players are advised to use mutes and to play without vibrato; the winds are intended to recall their respective ancestors. The setting is flexible, any number of instru- ments may participate, strings may be substituted for winds, ancient instruments may be used whenever available. There should be no difficulties of performance. But players should not be persuaded that

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