Twilight of the Gods: The Beatles in Retrospect by Wilfrid MellersReview by: Richard MiddletonMusic & Letters, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Jul., 1974), pp. 337-338Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/734236 .

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on the Great and no fewer than five on the Choir and seven on the Swell. Only the pedals were less complete than at Holy Trinity, stopping short at a fifteenth. The whole specification shows strong early Cavaille-Coll influence. This organ survives, having been rebuilt in I962 as a very large two-manual. Kirtland was joined in partnership by Frederick Jardine, and under the name of Jardine the firm survives.

The book is amply illustrated with pictures of Renn's cases, which may be Classical or Gothic in style-never very outstanding but never offensive, and always of fine craftsmanship. For any serious student of the history of British organ-building this book is highly recommended.

CECIL CLUTTON.

Twilight of the Gods: the Beatles in Retrospect. By Wilfrid Mellers. pp. 2I5. (Faber & Faber, London, I973, ?2.95.)

We may as well first of all clear away the common objection to writing seriously about 'pop' music at all (when, that is, such writing actually provokes objection rather than mere hoots of mirth). As Wilfrid Mellers writes in his preface, 'pop', like any music, can be discussed in technical terms-and in fact must be, if we are to talk about it, as music, at all. Whether or not the 'pop' musician knows the name of the technique he is using is neither here nor there; most folk, popular, jazz and other un- lettered musicians do not; moreover, it is doubtful if Beethoven had heard of sonata forn, though he created many of the greatest examples. It is the skill rather than the terminology that matters, especially where the non- literate musician is concerned. Even if all 'pop' were musically worthless, it would deserve study, since low artistic quality does not necessarily exclude significance-or, one might ruefully add, musicological investiga- tion. As it happens, 'pop' has achieved enough to justify our interest, on asthetic as well as sociological grounds. If this seems a dubious proposi- tion, Professor Mellers's book may be warrnly recommended as supporting evidence.

Certainly it is books on 'pop' by musically intelligent, informed and literate authors which are chiefly required. Among the glut of journalistic pap relating to the subject, serious discussion of the music is the category which is lacking, and the present book is therefore very welcome. If it is a sign that musical academia is awakening to the danger of its voice being usurped, as far as the subject of 'pop' is concerned, by less conven- tional sources, then it is doubly valuable. But I fear it is too much of a drop in the ocean to warrant such a conclusion. Moreover, adequate treatment of popular music demands a new kind of academic: with training not only in music but also in anthropology, sociology, psychology and communications. This because in 'pop', more than in most music, the sounds contain but part of the meaning, and also because it bears many of the signs not so much of a new style as of a new culture, or perhaps sub-culture, which therefore needs consideration from an inter-cultural perspective. Professor Mellers is one of the few in our blinkered culture to retain a sense of the 'whole man'; but, as I am sure he would agree, a little learning, or even a moderate amount, is still a dangerous thing. As so often in his writings, one is sometimes here offended by the selectivity and paucity of the evidence, just as one is luxuriating in the excitement of the insight. For example comparisons between 'pop' and the music of other (primitive and other non-Western) cultures abound-rightly, I would say; but they do need more careful substantiation than mere subjective assertion. Significantly, such comparisons are at their most effective- when early Beatles songs are related to African and other primitive

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musics-when most concrete. Again, the potted tour of world-music history, familiar from previous Mellersiana, makes a problematic appearance; so, quite often, does the typical breathtakingly over-sweeping statement, promising more than it can fulfil. What, for instance, is one to make of this: "The Beatles, in common with other geniuses such as Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, knew the right time and place to be born" (p. 32) ? Or of the equation of the Beatles' stylistic periods with Beethoven's? Similarly, the connection between general and specific, psychological meaning and technical manifestation, which is essential to a Mellers anialysis, is, as usual, not always clearly drawn. Previous knowledge of Professor Mellers's philosophical position is necessary if the argument is alwvays to be followed. Otherwise one is left asking exactly why, for ex- ample, modality is 'timeless' and 'present-affirming'.

But when all this has been said, one is prepared to put up with the problems of 'Mellers-speak' for the sake of the insight and breadth of reference which it generates. And here we are not disappointed. The book traces the evolution of the Beatles' style from its beginnings in their youthful, life-affirming exuberance in rock'n'roll-crazy Liverpool to its fragmentation today, as the four members of the group go their separate ways. En route it takes in the Beatles' growing maturity and the con- comitant development of their music out of mere dance-ritual and electronic-age entertainment towards something with many of the qualities of art. This evolution is described by means of a survey of almost all the Beatles' songs, each of which is analytically discussed. What emerges is a fascinating and stimulating picture of the Beatles' role as cultural heroes of a certain kind (or kinds, since their significance changed and developed); and also a clarification of just why their music is so much better than almost all other 'pop' music. As Professor Mellers makes clear, the Beatles' achievement in producing music of some value and honesty in the midst of the 'pop' industry cesspool is indeed as- tonishing. After reading his book, we have a better idea of just how they did it. One of the clearest demonstrations of the Beatles' stature lies in the fact that, like Bob Dylan but unlike most 'pop', they developed. Out of simple beginnings came an awareness of tension, duality, pain and prob- lem; and this 'middle period' was in turn succeeded by its 'solution': an immersion in the world within, its dreams, fantasies and unconscious truths, both light and dark.

If one of the strengths of this book is that it directs us constantly to the music, and in considerable detail, the corollary of this is that so much analytical material can become wearying and, eventually, numbingly meaningless. Even with record and score by one's side, the quantity of detailed reference is sometimes overwhelming. The truth is that the book consists of superb seminar material (and enough for a term's work at that); once written down, losing the immediacy of the seminar situation, it becomes hard going at times. Yet this paradox is unavoidable: without the analytic detail we would have no book. And at the end the threads are somewhat drawn together in a concluding chapter of considerable importance, on. the Beatles' significance as culture-heroes and myth- figures, the relationship, in their music, between commerce and art, and their social meaning. Not a music example, a chord progression or a pentatonic shout in sight here, and I would have liked rather less of them through the book as a whole-was it necessary to discuss quite so many of the songs ?-together with an interspersion of the analytical detail with more of this concluding material. This would have made the book easier to digest; but we should in any case be grateful for the richness of the diet.

RICHARD MIDDLETON.

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