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The Midnight Meditation [&] Love Is More by David DiamondReview by: Ellis B. KohsNotes, Second Series, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Mar., 1955), p. 333Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/892007 .

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in conventional style. It is appealing in mood, melody, and tone color and calls for fairly large hands.

The Little Piano Book of Persichetti contains 14 easy pieces in contemporary style. Wide variety in mood and tech- nical aspect constitute a strong appeal to the imaginative student. Dmitri Kabalevsky: Five Sets of Vari- ations for Students, Op. 51. New York: Leeds Music Corp., 1954. [24 p.; $1.50]

Kabalevsky's Five Sets of Variations possess all the charm, imagination, and pianistic adroitness we have learned to associate with this composer's works for young pianists. He writes in a way to delight ears and fingers. The sets progress from easy to moderately difficult. There are excellent annotations by Guy Maier.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Six Pieces in Form of Canons, Op. 156. New York: G. Ricordi, 1954. [36 p.; $2.00]

Six Pieces in Form of Canons by Castel- nuovo-Tedesco are not really teaching material but they would be a stimulating assignment for the advanced student. The Cradle Song and Little March are attrac- tive in mood with interesting canonic writing and unforced effects. The Waltz (Hommage a Chabrier) and Elegy (Hom- mage a Faur6) are truly romantic and the former particularly will be a welcome change in this genre for the advanced student's repertoire. In the Toccata and Tarantella things are kept on the move but, in spite of the clear and incisive writing, one finds a lack of tonal interest.

MARGARET TOLSON

SONGS Virgil Thomson: Five Phrases from the Song of Solomon, for soprano voice and percussion. New York: American Music Edition, 1953. [6 p.; $1.25]

The five short songs, written in Paris in 1926, suggest near-eastern incanta- tions. A single percussion instrument (tom-tom, cymbal, or woodblock) is the sole accompaniment. The style may strike some as severely bare, but the exotic emptiness of the night and the lonely soli- tary voice conjure up vivid images. The exposed vocal line requires great control and musicianship to do it justice., Jack Beeson: Five Songs. New York: Peer International Corporation, 1954. [11 p.; $1.00]

The Frances Quarles texts afford Bee- son an opportunity to be strongly dra- matic, quietly lyrical, or jocular. The vocal writing is largely declamatory, so the chief musical interest lies in the piano part where thematic unity is frequently achieved through the development of ac- companiment figures. David Diamond: The Midnight Medi- tation [&] Love Is More. New York: Southern Music Publishing Co., 1954. [23, 5 p.; $1.50, $.60]

The four dramatic movements of the cycle "The Midnight Meditation," dedi- cated to William Warfield, make heavy demands upon both singer and pianist. Prevailingly chromatic, feverish with

changes of tempo and dynamics, there are austerity and strength requiring the high technical and interpretive powers of two evenly matched performers. The range of mood and gesture suggests Dia- mond might have regarded this as a so- nata for voice and piano.

"Love Is More" reveals the composer in a more relaxed style; E. E. Cummings' text, to quote the author directly, is "most mad and moonly." Heitor Villa-Lobos: Man of the Forest. New York: Southern Music Publishing Co., 1954. [9 p.; $-75] Camargo Guarnieri: Farewell [&] Haunted. New York: Associated Music Publishers. [5 p. each; $.60 each]

The three Brazilian works are unfail- ingly effective, the type sometimes patron- izingly referred to as "encore pieces." Villa-Lobos' is the most extended of the three, and it has an elaborate piano part with characteristic harmonic coloring. The balanced phrases, the simple mech- anism of the accompaniments and the dia- tonic lyricism of all three make them readily accessible to any singer. All are for medium voice. Samuel Barber: Hermit Songs, Op. 29. New York: G. Schirmer, 1954. [28 p.; $2.50]

The delightful texts of Barber's very effective songs are in no small way re- sponsible for their great charm. They are

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