LP HMV ASD 613 -TEST PRESSING- GERHARD SYMPH 1 ETC

£ 44

$ 58

£ 44 Sold For

May 13, 2010 Sold Date

May 6, 2010 Start Date

£ 7 Start price

7 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

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Description

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HMV ASD 613 (1965)

GULBENKIAN SERIES

ROBERTO GERHARD:

Symphony no.1

Dances from the ballet "Don Quixote"

BBC Symphony Orchestra

conducted by

Antal DORATI

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Two single sided white label test discs.

Side 1 on one disc, Side 2 on the other.

Reverse sides both blank.

(This was EMI's standard practice with test discs)

The finished record came with a booklet which is not included with this copy.

GRAMOPHONE REVIEW from 1965 (edited for length)

The Gulbenkian Foundation's important new scheme to record contemporary works not hitherto available on disc, under the title "Music Today", gets off to a brilliant start with this issue of music by Roberto Gerhard, a major composer of the present day who has been shamefully neglected by record companies: at the age of 68, and with an international reputation, he has only ever had one work in the gramophone catalogue—the early Wind Quintet—and that but recently.

Gerhard, a Catalan who has lived in England for more than a quarter of a century, was a pupil both of Pedrell and of Schoenberg; but though he has a penchant for Spanish subjects yet writes in the twelve-tone technique, he has reacted strongly against the facile nationalism which has bedevilled Spanish music during the last half-century or so, and is considerably more harmonic in his thinking than most serial composers.

It is noteworthy that it is the BBC, which has encouraged Gerhard over the years, whose Symphony Orchestra was chosen to launch one of the first discs in the Gulbenkian scheme. It does so with distinction.

Very sensibly EMI have so arranged things that Side 1 begins with the Don Quixote pieces, which are more immediately assimilable and which admirably serve to prepare the listener for the rather tougher experience of the symphony. Let me at once express my affection for the Don Quixote extracts—the ballet from which they are drawn was written in 1940 and used, in abbreviated and revised form, by Sadler's Wells ten years later. Quite apart from the ingenious psychological insight by which the theme of the Don's delusions is hidden within his outwardly 'normal' theme (heard near the beginning on bass-clarinet), and similar symbolic facets of the composition, the music itself is most rewarding, even isolated from the story (which ought, nevertheless, to be taken into account) : the "Golden Age" pas de deux has real beauty, and "The Cave of Montesinos", a chaconne on a strongly rhythmic seven-bar ground, is extraordinarily evocative.

In the symphony, which was composed in 1952-3 and was first heard at the ISCM Festival in Baden-Baden in 1955, Gerhard turns his back on traditional movement structure. "Its form", he has explained, "develops fully from within; its inner articulation depends strictly on duration proportions which are derived from the basic twelve-note series employed. Every movement grows continuously to the end, without repetitions or restatements for symmetrical effect or balance". If this sounds formidable, the composer points out that a symphony without themes need be no more of a paradox than non-representational painting, and that bird-song, Oriental music and certain types of mediaeval music exist successfully without the principle of exact repetition.

Though there is a perceptive analysis of the symphony by Joaquin Horns the composer urges us to let the music speak for itself: "a work of art is not something to be explained". And indeed one would need to be singularly intolerant or insensitive not to find this work moving and impressive, even if one did not in the least 'understand' it. Its inner logic, often beautiful sounds and colorations, and its exuberant invention dispel any suggestion of unintelligibility or incoherence to the unaided ear, though those who can follow the score will find further enlightenment and food for thought. The recording here, like the performance, is first class; and I can safely recommend this disc whole-heartedly to all those interested, or prepared to be interested, in contemporary music.

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CONDITION:

Disc:

The discs have been played a few times and while not damaged in any way, have the appearance of slightly less than pristine discs.

Sleeve:

The sleeve has held two discs (rather than the one disc it was meant to contain) for 45 years and so bulges slightly towards the bottom of the front . There is also some ring-pressure on the front sleeve.

Top edge has a slight tear at the top of the open edges.

Very slightly tired feel to the sleeve but basically sound condition.

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POSTAGE

(A NOTE ABOUT UK POSTAGE)

I use a strong purpose made mailing envelope to send LPs.
These cost about £0.40p each.
I remove the disc from its sleeve to avoid seam splits resulting from movement in the post.

I pack the disc in a poly liner and then insert two stiff cardboard squares to stiffen the package to avoid damage in the post.
The package now costs £2.51p to post within the UK.
Add in the 40p for the mailing envelope and you will see that 9 pence is left over for my time and a certain amount of parcel tape!

UK: £3

EU/SCANDINAVIA: £5

USA: £6

REST OF WORLD: £7

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