Konzert für Flöte und Streichorchester, Op. 29. Klavierauszug by Werner ThärichenReview by: John SolumNotes, Second Series, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Winter, 1962 - Winter, 1963), p. 127Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/894251 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 02:20

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.72.154 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 02:20:15 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

has temporarily disguised its shortcom- ings by attaching itself onto the shirt tails of those genuinely creative trail- blazers whose talents are so profound in their constant search for new idea- experiences that their discoveries are natural and logical outgrowths of their creativity. But talent is talent-any great creative talent can make itself apparent irrespective of the styles, fash- ions, or modes employed-and the ab- sence of it cannot be replaced by the pure fact of being "avant-garde."

Claude Ballif is an example of the case in point. In writing his Mouve- ments pour 2 for flute and piano, he has assembled a grab-bag of all the 12-tone cliches on record, has added nothing con- structive to the collection, and has not succeeded very well in hiding his com- positional deficiencies. His two main preoccupations appear to be the use of flutter-tonguing on the flute and the extension of the upper range of the flute by high notes heretofore unwritten for the instrument. The fact that such notes do not exist for practical purposes on the flute does not deter this composer from persistently scoring them.

Werner Tharichen: Konzert fur Flote und Streichorchester, Op. 29. Klavierauszug. Berlin: Bote & Bock; U. S. A.: Associated Music Pub- lishers, New York, 1960. [Score, 34 p., & pt., $6.00]

An initial study of this flute concerto reveals one fact about the composer (a fact that becomes increasingly apparent the more one studies the work): Tha- richen is a composer who knows what it means to perform and to communicate. At first this may seem somewhat naive as a statement. Yet when one considers the vast amount of "unperformable" music being written today-cerebral ex- ercises which reveal much about the com- poser, including, frequently, the absence of even an elementary understanding of the nature of artistic communication- such a statement becomes more meaning- ful. As a matter of fact, it is interesting to note that many of the greatest com- posers of history have also been among the greatest performers of their time,

has temporarily disguised its shortcom- ings by attaching itself onto the shirt tails of those genuinely creative trail- blazers whose talents are so profound in their constant search for new idea- experiences that their discoveries are natural and logical outgrowths of their creativity. But talent is talent-any great creative talent can make itself apparent irrespective of the styles, fash- ions, or modes employed-and the ab- sence of it cannot be replaced by the pure fact of being "avant-garde."

Claude Ballif is an example of the case in point. In writing his Mouve- ments pour 2 for flute and piano, he has assembled a grab-bag of all the 12-tone cliches on record, has added nothing con- structive to the collection, and has not succeeded very well in hiding his com- positional deficiencies. His two main preoccupations appear to be the use of flutter-tonguing on the flute and the extension of the upper range of the flute by high notes heretofore unwritten for the instrument. The fact that such notes do not exist for practical purposes on the flute does not deter this composer from persistently scoring them.

Werner Tharichen: Konzert fur Flote und Streichorchester, Op. 29. Klavierauszug. Berlin: Bote & Bock; U. S. A.: Associated Music Pub- lishers, New York, 1960. [Score, 34 p., & pt., $6.00]

An initial study of this flute concerto reveals one fact about the composer (a fact that becomes increasingly apparent the more one studies the work): Tha- richen is a composer who knows what it means to perform and to communicate. At first this may seem somewhat naive as a statement. Yet when one considers the vast amount of "unperformable" music being written today-cerebral ex- ercises which reveal much about the com- poser, including, frequently, the absence of even an elementary understanding of the nature of artistic communication- such a statement becomes more meaning- ful. As a matter of fact, it is interesting to note that many of the greatest com- posers of history have also been among the greatest performers of their time,

has temporarily disguised its shortcom- ings by attaching itself onto the shirt tails of those genuinely creative trail- blazers whose talents are so profound in their constant search for new idea- experiences that their discoveries are natural and logical outgrowths of their creativity. But talent is talent-any great creative talent can make itself apparent irrespective of the styles, fash- ions, or modes employed-and the ab- sence of it cannot be replaced by the pure fact of being "avant-garde."

Claude Ballif is an example of the case in point. In writing his Mouve- ments pour 2 for flute and piano, he has assembled a grab-bag of all the 12-tone cliches on record, has added nothing con- structive to the collection, and has not succeeded very well in hiding his com- positional deficiencies. His two main preoccupations appear to be the use of flutter-tonguing on the flute and the extension of the upper range of the flute by high notes heretofore unwritten for the instrument. The fact that such notes do not exist for practical purposes on the flute does not deter this composer from persistently scoring them.

Werner Tharichen: Konzert fur Flote und Streichorchester, Op. 29. Klavierauszug. Berlin: Bote & Bock; U. S. A.: Associated Music Pub- lishers, New York, 1960. [Score, 34 p., & pt., $6.00]

An initial study of this flute concerto reveals one fact about the composer (a fact that becomes increasingly apparent the more one studies the work): Tha- richen is a composer who knows what it means to perform and to communicate. At first this may seem somewhat naive as a statement. Yet when one considers the vast amount of "unperformable" music being written today-cerebral ex- ercises which reveal much about the com- poser, including, frequently, the absence of even an elementary understanding of the nature of artistic communication- such a statement becomes more meaning- ful. As a matter of fact, it is interesting to note that many of the greatest com- posers of history have also been among the greatest performers of their time,

either as instrumentalists or as conduc- tors: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Mahler, and others. Perhaps fate will use this criterion to select those composers of this century who will survive the judgment of time.

It would seem likely that Tharichen wrote this concerto in close collaboration with the flutist, Aurele Nicolet (who performed it in 1953 with the Berlin Philharmonic), since it is so extremely well tailored to the instrument. Writing in a chromatic idiom which may be placed loosely in a stylistic category not unlike Hindemith or Piston, Tharichen has sensitively anticipated the needs of the soloist and has featured many at- tractive aspects of the instrument. Tha- richen is to be commended for using a string orchestra, since the flute, in gen- eral, sounds at its best when heard against a backdrop of strings and, more- over, may easily be lost when pitted against the strength of a full orchestra. Perhaps the concerto is somewhat on the lengthy side-a performing time of 26 minutes is listed on the score-and of the work's four movements, the An- dante, in particular, seems over-extended. This is a relatively minor fault, how- ever, in a work that is impressive in its craftsmanship, is solidly assured in its handling of the solo flute, and, above all, has something interesting to say.

JOHN SOLUM

John Antes: Three Trios, Op. 3, for Two Violins and Violoncello. Ed. & arr. by Thor Johnson & Donald M. McCorkle. (Moramus Edition of the Moravian Music Foundation.) New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1961. [Min. score, 44 p., $1.75; Min. score & pts., $5.00]

The Three Trios of the Moravian min- ister John Antes (1740-1811) appear to be the first chamber music compositions known to have been written by a native American. They were probably composed between 1779 and 1781, while Antes was serving as a missionary in Egypt! A few years later the parts were published by John Bland of London.

Even though Antes was an amateur composer, the technical craftsmanship

either as instrumentalists or as conduc- tors: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Mahler, and others. Perhaps fate will use this criterion to select those composers of this century who will survive the judgment of time.

It would seem likely that Tharichen wrote this concerto in close collaboration with the flutist, Aurele Nicolet (who performed it in 1953 with the Berlin Philharmonic), since it is so extremely well tailored to the instrument. Writing in a chromatic idiom which may be placed loosely in a stylistic category not unlike Hindemith or Piston, Tharichen has sensitively anticipated the needs of the soloist and has featured many at- tractive aspects of the instrument. Tha- richen is to be commended for using a string orchestra, since the flute, in gen- eral, sounds at its best when heard against a backdrop of strings and, more- over, may easily be lost when pitted against the strength of a full orchestra. Perhaps the concerto is somewhat on the lengthy side-a performing time of 26 minutes is listed on the score-and of the work's four movements, the An- dante, in particular, seems over-extended. This is a relatively minor fault, how- ever, in a work that is impressive in its craftsmanship, is solidly assured in its handling of the solo flute, and, above all, has something interesting to say.

JOHN SOLUM

John Antes: Three Trios, Op. 3, for Two Violins and Violoncello. Ed. & arr. by Thor Johnson & Donald M. McCorkle. (Moramus Edition of the Moravian Music Foundation.) New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1961. [Min. score, 44 p., $1.75; Min. score & pts., $5.00]

The Three Trios of the Moravian min- ister John Antes (1740-1811) appear to be the first chamber music compositions known to have been written by a native American. They were probably composed between 1779 and 1781, while Antes was serving as a missionary in Egypt! A few years later the parts were published by John Bland of London.

Even though Antes was an amateur composer, the technical craftsmanship

either as instrumentalists or as conduc- tors: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Mahler, and others. Perhaps fate will use this criterion to select those composers of this century who will survive the judgment of time.

It would seem likely that Tharichen wrote this concerto in close collaboration with the flutist, Aurele Nicolet (who performed it in 1953 with the Berlin Philharmonic), since it is so extremely well tailored to the instrument. Writing in a chromatic idiom which may be placed loosely in a stylistic category not unlike Hindemith or Piston, Tharichen has sensitively anticipated the needs of the soloist and has featured many at- tractive aspects of the instrument. Tha- richen is to be commended for using a string orchestra, since the flute, in gen- eral, sounds at its best when heard against a backdrop of strings and, more- over, may easily be lost when pitted against the strength of a full orchestra. Perhaps the concerto is somewhat on the lengthy side-a performing time of 26 minutes is listed on the score-and of the work's four movements, the An- dante, in particular, seems over-extended. This is a relatively minor fault, how- ever, in a work that is impressive in its craftsmanship, is solidly assured in its handling of the solo flute, and, above all, has something interesting to say.

JOHN SOLUM

John Antes: Three Trios, Op. 3, for Two Violins and Violoncello. Ed. & arr. by Thor Johnson & Donald M. McCorkle. (Moramus Edition of the Moravian Music Foundation.) New York: Boosey & Hawkes, 1961. [Min. score, 44 p., $1.75; Min. score & pts., $5.00]

The Three Trios of the Moravian min- ister John Antes (1740-1811) appear to be the first chamber music compositions known to have been written by a native American. They were probably composed between 1779 and 1781, while Antes was serving as a missionary in Egypt! A few years later the parts were published by John Bland of London.

Even though Antes was an amateur composer, the technical craftsmanship

127 127 127

This content downloaded from 62.122.72.154 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 02:20:15 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions