The Noël Coward Song Book by Noël CowardReview by: Richard S. HillNotes, Second Series, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Mar., 1954), pp. 285-286Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/892692 .

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two-note motifs into which the row-forms are often broken; the use of mirror- patterns; the transparent orchestration with its many and well-spaoed rests; and the frequent tempo-changes, coupled with metric shifts, which flexibly follow the implied rhythms of the two texts (surrealistic poems by Rene Char and Paul Eluard). Nevertheless, it would be manifestly unfair to dismiss Monod as merely a Webern epigane. The work in

hand does reveal a distnct individuality which one would like to know better from other published works.

The pleasing farmat and appearance of the pages add materially to one's pleasure in studying this work and re- mind one anew of the worthy place which New Music publications hould hold in libraries desiring a truly repre- sentative coverage of conterporary music.

DIKA NEWLIN

SONG COLLECTIONS Noel Coward: The Noel Coward Song Book. Wiith an introduction & annota- tions by Noel Coward; illustrated in co1our & black & white by Gladys Cal- throp; frontispiece portrait by Clemence Dane. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. [312 p., illus., music; $7.50]

When discussing The Rodgers and Hart Song Book in the issue of NoTEs for June 1952 (p. 401), the sociological importance of these collections for the history of musical comedy in New York was stressed. As an Englishman, Coward might be supposed to fall outside of that main pattern, but anyone who man- aged to catch a faiT proportion of the better musical cotmedies and revues in New York during the late twenties and early thirties knows that in oine respect Coward 'had a grer impact on our light music than any other composer ex- cept Cole Porter. Thi-s is not to say that musically Coward comes even close to such native composers as Berlin, Kern, and Gershwin, but like Cole Porter he wrote his aown lyrics, and it is generally the deft .sophistioation of the words that lends distinction to the best of his songs. Moss Hart and Ira Gershwin had been working in somewhat the same direction, but Coward and Porter had the tremen- dous advantage of creating both words and music simultaneously, and as a con- sequence they seem to have been able to oap the genenal verbal revolution. Before they were through, even such old hands as Kern and Berlin changed their ways and began slicking up their lyrics.

If it is advantageous for the same in- dividual to write both the words and music of a song, it is still better when

he has sufficient talent to do the enatire show. "Someday I'II Find Youl" from Private Lives has probably been played and recorded as often as any stage song of the period, but it only achieves its maximum effect when performed in its context in the play. The episode in- cludes that often quoted line, "Strange how potent cheap music is," and as the scene is recorded on Victor 36034A, no observation could be more clearly sub- stantiaited. Gertrude Lawrence negotiates the complete song once in her own in- iimitable if somewhat precarious fashion, but it is used as background music throughout most of the disc, and it is hard to ;say whether it is the song or Coward'is brittle dialogue that contri- butes most to the total effect. One thing is absolutely certain, however, and that is th.at the combination is infinitely more "potent" than, either component taken separately. The same heightening of effect is also apparent on two other Vic- tor discs, 36191-92, with scens from "Shadow Play" and "Family Album."

In his introduction, Mr. Coward boasts of taking only a single lesson in music 'theory. On learning that Ebenezer Prout had forbiddlen parallel fifiths, he never went back for a second lesson. Even at that time, his main love was the theater and acting, with music contributing to the total effect buit usually merely as a secondary elemnent. Whet-her it comes as a cauise or re-sult, a comparison of the recordings makes it clear that Coward found his best interpreters among actors rather than among singers. Neither Lily Pons in, the complete recording of Con- versation Piece (Columbia SL-163) nor

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Maggie Teyte singing excerpts from the ,same play on English Deoca F.3919 has half the impact of Yvo,nne Printemps (Victor 1684), in spite of the fact that the latter is strategically off-pitch more often than she is on. When Coward's own performance of "M,ad Dogs and Englishmen" on VictoT 24332 or Beatrice Lilli'e'!s "rendition" of "I went to a marvellous party" in the Liberty Music Shops' album are acompared with the text printed in this volume, it will be found that both concentTiate oin a fine parlando style d,esigned for putting over the words without letting the rather trite melocdhies get in the way (any more than is neces- sary. Naturally all songs seem better wben artfully perfomnied than when laid out on the cold printed ipage, but now that ,this very representative collection has been brought together, it begins to lo,ok as if Coward owed more of his reputation to his gifts as author, actor, and procducer than to his musical in- ventiveness. Any library with a theater collection will automatically get this very handsome volume, but, although their readers may fin-d many things in it, they will probably not be able to deduce from it wlhy so mainy of the New York pro- ductions played regularly with "standing room only" on the sign out in front.

A Treasury of Hymns. The best-loved hymns, carols, anthems, child,ren's hymnns, and Gosipeel songs, selected and edited by Mlaria Leiper land Henry W. Simon; historical nioite,s by Wall-ace Brockway; decorations by Frank Lieberman. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953. [viii, 376 p., large 440; 6.00]

Essentitally, this is a collection of popu- lar songs. Since they are hysms, they are naturally li ited for the most par;t to songs of a religious nature, but the chief criterion guiding the selection was that the hymns must be ones that "people liked to sing." To some extent, the editors depended on their own prefer- en,ces and tastes-'hence the surprising number of Bach chorale settings-hut more often they followed the lists of "favorite hyms" supplied tiheme by many willing collaborators. Since tihe editors elso checked tAhrough hymnn books of all

the likely denominations, the final selec- tion is unquestionably broader and more variegated than that found in any stand- ard hymn book of comparable size. And yet it has turned out X be oddly limited in one respect. I have not actually counted and tabulated the types of hymns, but it is my impression that an overwhelming majority of them are typical of the second half of the nine- teenth century. Indeed, even when the credit lines would seem to point to a much earlier origin-as in the oase, for example, of "As the sun doth daily rise," words Latin and tune 13th Century French-tihe form of the hymn actually printed has been translated and arranged to a ipoint wlhere its flavor is wholly nineteenth-century.

I suspoect that the reason for this is the editors' reliance on their lists. The "favorite hymns" of most people are those they sang in church when young, and as a consequence you will find here far more of tihe slightly fruity s;pecimens from Hymns Ancient and Modern than have survived in most modern hymnals, edited by professional hymnologists with a broader historical background and better musical taste. Since the selection in this Treasury (especially the more spontaneous of the Gosipel hymns) is obviously nothing that would be pre- scribed todiay by the Board of any church, the volume will be used chiefly for sing- ing hymns around the, piano of a Sun. d.ay evening, or sometimes on rather more bawdy oocasions. For either purpose, the volume can be recommended. It is at- tractively decorated, for the most part witth designs, flourishes, and splashes of color rather than with pictures. I am afTaid that I get more irritatioln than pleasure from Mr. Brockway's notes at the foot of each hymn. When they are not intended simply to amuse, they tend to be pretentious without being truly in- formative. They generally take up very little space, however, and probably will do no harm-particularly if one does not trust them too implicitly-so that on the whole the wlume does very well what it sets out to do. It would be captious to ask for more. RICHARD S. HILL

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