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The Gramophone, August, 1929

two predecessors, and yet even as I write tllOse words I am ashamed of saying so when I think of that lovely Andante and that solemn Minuet.

The Tenth Quartet. Opus 74 in E flat. This is the one sometimes called the harp quartet on account of the pizzicato arpeggios in the beginning. Here we have another of those ravishing ·adagios of the trecond period together with an exhilarating presto. I t is an easier quartet for a beginner than the three Rasoumoffskys, but the fourth movement is comparatively dull.

The Eleventh Quartet. Opus 95 in F minor This is a short quartet dedicated to Beethoven's secretary. I don't know that I have anything much to say about i t , except that i t marks the end of the second! period, and the entry into the third.

The Twelfth QUartet. Opus 127 in E flat. This is the first of the posthumous quartets which were published after Beethoven's death.

The Thirteenth Quartet. Opus 130 in B flat. This is a very long quartet, and i t was still longer as written. The immense fugue with which i t concluded is seldom played with the quartet, and has not yet been recorded for the gramophone. The Fourteenth Quartet. Opus 131 in C sharp minor.

This is, I think, the easiest of the late quartets for the beginner. There is an exquisite fairy-like l i t t le melody which seems to take us right back to the fairy-like melodies of the Fourth Quartet. I regret that this quartet was not recorded by the Lener comPination instead of the Capet; the old acoustical version of the Lener (which was also published by the Columbia Company, of course) still gives me more pleasure than the one which has superseded i t .

The Fifteenth Quartet. Opus 132 in A minor. This long quartet contains Beethoven's song of thanksgiving after recovery from an illness, written in the Lydian mode. This, I think, is the quartet I recommend as the second for gramophone students of the posthumous quartets to tackle.

The Sixteenth Quartet. Opus 135 in F majo?·. This quartet I don't much care for. I t is shorter than any except the Eleventh Quartet.

In the Columbia series of the above quartets, the Fifth, the Tenth, the Fourteenth, and the Fifteenth have been recorded by the Capet String Quartet, and the others by the Lener String Quartet. I should mention that there is a very fine performance of the Sixth Quartet by the Virtuoso String Quartet in an H.M.V. album, and also of the Sixteenth by the Flonzaley Quartet in a 10-inch H.M.V. album. The Virtuoso combination have recorded the Ninth and the Twelfth Quartets. Their version of the Ninth Quartet is certainly as good as the Lener combination, but I definitely prefer the Lener in the Twelfth

Quartet. I prefer the old acoustical version made by the Lener String Quartet of the Tenth Quartet to the Capet version of i t . But better than either was the N.G.S. recording made by the Spencer Dyke Quartet. On the other hand, the Spencer Dyke recording of the last quartet was less successful. However, I recommend all students who propose to acquire these sixteen quartets of Beethoven to confine themselves to the Columbia versions, because, until some other recording company issues a complete set, I think a better notion of Beethoven would be gained by sticking to one method of recording.

Here, merely from a point of view of easy appreciation, is the order in which I advise these quartets to be acquired: the Fourth, the Tenth, the First, the Sixth, the Third, the Second, the Fifth, the Eighth, the Seventh, the Ninth, the Fourteenth, the Fifteenth, the Twelfth, the Thirteenth, the Eleventh, the Sixteenth.

Of other recordings last month I must call special attention to the magnificent version of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, played by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski, and published by H.M.V. on five 12-inch black discs. I suppose an album is included, but if i t be, none came my way, so I don't know. This symphony is ideally suited to show off Stokowski at his best. For a long t ime this symphony remained my favourite of Beethoven's, and I fancy i t will make the most immediate appeal to anybody who imagines himself to be frightened of ops. A baby in a perambulator might get out and dance to the second movement.

From the vocal records this month the most impressive is a 12-inch in the Parlophone Odeon Series with the Finale from Johann Strauss's l ight opera, Die Flede1·maus. Lotte Lehmann, Karin Branzell, Grete Merrem-Nikisch, Richard Tauber, and Waldemar Staegemann, with the Berlin State Opera House Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Weissmann, produce between them a truly magnificent affair (R.20085). The record maintains the high level and nothing better at 6s. 6d. will be found anywhere. Tauber is in particularly good form and the famous waltz melody is prominent.

Among the l ight vocal records Nellie Wallace on a 10-inch H.M.V. really pulls i t off with Tally Ho! Under the Bed, on the other side, though good, is not quite so amusing (B.3034). There is also a glorious comic record from Columbia of George Graves and Miles Clifton in The 'Ole in the Road, by Seamark (9829). This is worthy to take i ts place beside any of Columbia's triumphs of the past.

A correspondent sent me a reproachful postcard to ask why I had changed my favourite tune from The Rhinemaiden's Song to the Minuet in Don Giovanni. I suppose the answer is that there is no such a thing as a favourite tune!

COMPTON MAOKENZIE