On Music
NEWLIN, DIKA
ON MUSIC By Dika Newlin American Panorama The tremendous increase in the production and consumption of music of all sorts, since the advent of the LP record, is a fact of incalculable...
...All "deathless music...
...The addicts of electronic music may find this surprisingly conservative...
...fundamental integrity and verity—too often the former is preferred...
...When each month's surge of new recorded material is so vast, some less publicized but very worthwhile recordings inevitably get "lost in the shuffle," especially the works of lesser known American composers who deserve a wider hearing...
...Such a policy has certainly led to criticism of the series on occasion...
...One of the grand old men of American music has a grand old time thumping tone-clusters and strumming inside the piano...
...This "modern madrigal" in which the Federal Income Tax form is musically immortalized became one of the most publicized CRI works...
...A survey of the CRI catalog (obtainable by writing to the company at 170 West 74th Street, New York City 23) reveals several interesting facts...
...Irwin Heilner—Chinese Songs...
...While Columbia and Mercury were recording a goodly number of American works, there was a tendency for these to disappear from the catalog all too quickly...
...Just as a sampling of CRI'S list, here are a few works which, for one reason or another, might hold special interest: Avery Claflin—Lament for April 15...
...But along with these we find many of the younger people who are just beginning to be known...
...CRI'S avowed aim in selecting repertoire is to present "a panorama of the creative scene in contemporary American music...
...To begin with, a few statistics: In eight years of existence, this company has issued some 200 works by over 120 American composers...
...First of all, the selection of works pays far more than lip service to some of the best-known American composers (Copland, Cowell and Ives come to mind...
...Henry Cowell — Piano Music...
...Here we can meet the good, bad and indifferent in American music of our time, the "Radical Right" and the "Far Left" (I use these terms in a musical sense only, of course...
...Very few of these works have ever been recorded elsewhere, and some of the composers (particularly the younger ones) have appeared on this label alone...
...Runner-up was Columbia Records with 50 works...
...Outstanding is the "feel" for the texts...
...Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky—A Poem in Cycles and Bells for Tape Recorder and Orchestra...
...but perhaps also a nice change of pace from the 22nd recording of the Tschaikovsky Violin Concerto...
...All of which brings me to a rather unusual American record company: Composers Recordings, Incorporated (CRI...
...CRI came into being...
...Sensitive settings by a fiftyish composer who deserves to be better known...
...There was a necessity for a series of contemporary American works which would remain permanently available...
...Hi-fi" buffs have sometimes criticized CRI for insufficient attention to sonic values...
...A heretical thought: Would it not be a good idea for many record listeners to give a little more attention to the work being played rather than to the way in which it shows off their modern stereophonic equipment...
...Thus, through the enterprise of a number of individuals and the active cooperation of American Composers Alliance (a body of serious composers closely affiliated with Broadcast Music, Inc...
...Some critics have undoubtedly felt that the approach is too permissive and inclusive, that such-andsuch a work by Composer X, for instance, should never have been released...
...Some good stunts here...
...However, to future students of American music this "panoramic" quality may prove to be a special attraction of the series...
...In the never-ending antithesis of der schöne Schein vs...
...Perhaps not...
...ON MUSIC By Dika Newlin American Panorama The tremendous increase in the production and consumption of music of all sorts, since the advent of the LP record, is a fact of incalculable impact on America's musical life...
...das gute Sein— glossy appearances vs...
...The statistics become even more interesting when we realize that, for example, out of 300 contemporary American works issued by recording companies between 1960-62, by far the largest number (60) appeared on the CRI label...
...In my experience, the quality of the recordings in this respect has been showing considerable improvement...
...CRI was born in 1956 out of a deeply felt need...
Vol. 47 • October 1964 • No. 22
