Drei Morgenstern Lieder. Sopran und Klarinette by Mátyás SeiberReview by: Edward ChudacoffNotes, Second Series, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Mar., 1957), p. 203Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/891699 .

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VOCAL MUSIC

Matyas Seiber: Drei Morgenstern Lieder. Sopran und Klarinette. Wien: Universal Edition; U. S. A.: Asso? ciated Music Publishers, 1956. [7 p., $2.00]

Seiber's Morgenstern Lieder are the most unusual of the songs reviewed here. The texts, written around 1900 by the German poet, Christian Morgenstern, seem almost surrealistic in their bizarre- ness, e.g. "The knee goes alone through the world. . . ." The voice line reflects this strangeness through various vocal techniques including Sprechstimme and glissando. The first song, "Die Trichter," is primarily melismatic and involves can? onic relationships between voice and clarinet. In contrast, the second and third use more chromaticism, more dis- junct motion, and greater independence between the parts.

These three short songs, lasting just over four minutes, are not easy to perform. The clarinet part, while idiomatic, re- quires extensive technique. In addition to purely vocal demands, there are thorny tonal paths with few traditional harmonic signposts from the clarinet. The dramatic mood of each song, which must be care- fully dsfined and projected, is perhaps the element which makes them so inter? esting, so effective, and in a way so beautiful.

Alfonso Montecino: Cuatro canciones. Four Songs. Washington: Pan Amer? ican Union; distributor: Peer Inter? national, New York, 1956. [14 p., $1.25]

Alfonso Montecino's attractive Cuatro canciones use "popular Chilean poetry," for which the composer has combined lyric melodies with an intriguing, but not too difficult, accompaniment support- ing the vocal line without duplicating it. The music is tonal and the texture usually thin. Chromaticism and dissonance (both found primarily in the piano part) and rhythmic imagination clearly place these songs in the twentieth century. The in? tended voice is not indicated, but both high and middle voices might find the range from 6 to g" quite reasonable. An English version is also included.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Fiinf Lieder fiir mittlere Stimme und Klavier, Op. 38. (Ed. Schott, 4533.) Mainz: B. Schott's Sohne; U. S. A.: Associated Music Publishers, New York, 1956. [15 p., $2.00]

Korngold's Fiinf Lieder are conserv- ative?indeed, they look backward for musical language. The harmony is triadic with tonal contrast depending upon triads moving by half step; the rhythm is com- monplace and devoid of interest. The accompaniment is full, often heavy, and usually doubles the voice. The vocal line, while not especially different from many other songs in this style, is singable and should provide no unusual difficulties. Both English and German texts are pro- vided. Arthur Bliss: Elegiac Sonnet, for tenor, string quartet, and piano. Lon? don: Novello; U. S. A.: H. W. Gray, New York, 1955. [Score, 14 p.; 4/-, $1.35]

Bliss has very deftly defined varying moods in his Elegiac Sonnet for a dead musician. Interest gravitates more to? ward the rhythm than the harmony, which is triadic with much stepwise or chro- matic root movement and numerous non- harmonics to increase sonority and per? haps suggest the modern. Neither the vocal line, usually doubled by the instru? ments, nor the idiomatic instrumental parts seem difficult. A strong sense of metrics and clear harmonic rhythm should solve some ensemble problems. If the tenor can penetrate thick and often active accompaniment without destroying the character of the music, the Sonnet should be moving and effective.

Fernando Lopes Graca: Quatro Cantos do Natal. Fac-simile do manuscrito original. Separata do No. 63 de "Gazeta Musical." Lisboa, 1955. [6p.]

The Portuguese composer, Fernando Lopes Graga, has here set distinctive Brazilian folk songs with excellent taste. The vocal lines, which range only through the octave e to e"', are natural. The simple piano accompaniment, without de- tracting from the lovely melodies, adds

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