The Danish Music Review

The Danish Music Review

The Many »Barbers«

(223)

In the common opinion the opera »The Barber in Sevilla« is identical with Rossini's opera of this name. Povl Ingerslev-Jensen, répétiteur at the Royal Opera, the author of this article states that actually there exists a large number of operas of this name. The idea of the opera may be traced back to the old Italian mask-comedies. In 1775 Beaumarchais wrote his cornedy: »Le barbier de Seville, ou la précaution inutile« which was the very first of the about 15 operas of this name which in the course of time have seen the light.

All these operas, however, except that of Rossini, are entirely forgotten now.

Music-Tribunal

(231)

»Det unge Tonekunstnerselskab« (Association of Young Musicians) which is the Danish section of the I.S.C.M. will after a French pattern introduce a new sort ofconcerts in this season. This idea was brought forward by Povl Rovsing Olsen, the Danish composer, correspondent of the »Dansk Musiktidsskrift« in Paris. Once a month an audience of experts assemble for concerts where new music is performed. Before the performance of each composition the composer is introduced to the listeners and interviewed. Then the work is played and after that an accuser and a defender draw forth the eventual weak and strong points of the composition, and then the discussion is open for the audience. The concert and the discussion is recorded and later on broadcast. The first experiments with this concert-practice are now being made in Copenhagen, and it is to be hoped that the Danish radio will take up a favorable position towards these experiments.

Apropos the Music Festival

(226)

Occasioned by the article of Niels Viggo Bent-,?,olz about the I.S.C.M. music festival in Amsterdam (Dansk Musiktidsskrift no. 8, page 183-189) Johan Bentzon gives an account of the administration of these music festivals, maintaining that the proper aim of the I.S.C.M. should be to give young composers a chance of being tried and only exceptionally perform works already known. However, the author is convinced that the jury will always be amenable to critique. In connection herewith Leif Thybo, the composer, states that the work of the jury must be followed with some scepticism considering the many insignificant works performed at the festival in Amsterdam.

Finally we cite from an article by Folke Törnblom, the Swedish music author (»Musikvärlden« 1948, no. 7, page 214) an observation to the effect that the administration of the I.S.C.M. music festivals is not working satisfactorily as the choice of the compositions to be performed at the festival was not made exclusively accordin,s to the demands of art, as well as the election of the members for the jury was not effected quite loyally, at any rate not in the case of Sweden.

Miscellaneuos

Leif Thybo, the composer, reviews on page 233 the newly appeared textbook by Pov I Hamburger: »Koralharmonisering i Kirketoneart« (Harmonization of hymns in church modes). The books is said to be elaborated with great historical and pedagogical superiority. Specially the author gives an excellent account of the position of style of the harmonization in church modes both in relation to vocal polyphony and to the principles of major and minor scales. The book contains an abundance of note figures and must be considered a. valuable augmentation of the text-book literature, time-saving and inspiring for both the pupil and the teacher.