Chamber Concerto, for violin, piano, and thirteen wind instruments played by Frederick Grinke (violin)
Kendall Taylor (piano) Arthur Gleghorn (flute) Arthur Ackroyd (piccolo)
Alec Whittaker (oboe)
Donald Bridger (cor anglais)
Reginald Kell (clarinet)
Frank Hughes (E flat clarinet)
Mendelssohn Draper (bass clarinet) John Alexandra and Vernon Elliott
(bassoons)
Roy White and Frank Probyn (horns)
Harold Jackson (trumpet)
Anthony Thorpe (trombone) Conducted by Edward Clark
The limit of musical ingenuity would appear to be reached in this Chamber Concerto, written in 1924 for Schonberg's fiftieth birthday. The work begins with a motto introducing the musical notes in the names of Schonberg on the piano. Webern on the violin. and Berg on the horn. The motto does not appear as a theme in the body of the work. but as the basis of the rhythms. The first movement. Thema scherzoso con variasione, is for piano and wind ensemble, and although it consists of variations it is also in sonata form. The theme serves as a complete sonata exposition and the first variation, allotted to the piano, is similar to a repeat of the exposition, which is usual in classical music. Variations two, three, and four comprise the development section, while the fifth variation takes the place of the recapitulation. (Incidentally, the second variation is the theme played backwards, the third is an inversion of the theme, and in the fourth the theme is both inverted and played backwards.) The second movement. Adagio, is for violin and wind ensemble, and is in two parts, in the second of which much of the opening material is inverted and played backwards. It is. however, in the finale that the most astounding things happen. It is described as a Rondo ritmico con introduzione, and is for piano, violin, and wind ensemble. In it. both the first and second movements are heard again, played simultaneously. The introduction to the movement takes the form of a cadenza, based on material heard earlier in the work.-
HAROLD RUTLAND