Alt-Rhapsodie: Sigrid Onégin-Leben und Werk by Fritz PenzoldtReview by: Philip L. MillerNotes, Second Series, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Sep., 1954), pp. 570-571Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/893029 .

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beyond the simple and very much out- dated protection against illegal copyings. Particularly impressive is a letter by Richard Strauss, written in Munich in 1898 and reproduced here in facsimile, in which he urges revision of the Ger- man copyright law and lucidly analyses the problems of the contemporary com- poser. This series of statements soon after led to the formation -of GEMA and similar performing right societies in many parts of the world.

The imposing volume does not, how- ever, limit itself to articles on the his- tory and the immediate tasks of a per- forming right society. There are articles by many of the leading composers and musical writers of Germany. Werner Egk writes about opera, Boris Blacher about ballet, Joseph Haas about church music. Wolfgang Fortner discusses the relationship of the listener and the com- poser, Heinrich Sutermeister tells us about that perennial headache, the libretto. None of these and similar con- tributions by managers, publishers, radio experts, and men from the field of popu- lar music struck me as particularly ex- citing. It would appear that a lot of prominent people were invited by GEMA to say something and did so with the least amount of effort. Most of the articles are typical Festschrift contribu- tions, small and weakly burning candles on GEMA's very heavy and shockingly expensive birthday cake.

H. W. HEINSHEIMER

A Guide to English Folk Song Col- lections, 1822-1952, with an Index to Their Contents, Historical Annotations, and an Introduction. By Margaret Dean- Smith. Foreword by Gerald Abraham. [Liverpool]: University Press of Liver- pool in association with The English Folk Dance & Song Society, 1954. [120 p., 8vo; 15/-]

In 1951, Margaret Dean-Smith brought out her Index of English Songs Con- tributed to the Journal of the Folk Song Society. In this new companion work, she catalogs the English folk song col- lections published between 1822 and 1952 and indexes their contents. Both volumes will greatly facilitate the iden-

tification of English folk songs, or frag- mients thereof.

A Guide to English Folk Song Collec- tions limits itself to collections published in England proper, excluding the rest of the British Isles and the English-speaking world. Thus Cecil Sharp's classic collec- tion, English Folk Songs from the South- ern Appalachians, is not in the Guide. Miss Dean-Smith informs us, however, that she used it as a means of identifica- tion and in the choice of titles, and she recommends it as "the next and inevi- table step" for students desiring to pursue a song beyond her Guide.

The compiler's scholarly introduction sketches the history of the folk song movement; reviews the origin and inter- pretations of the term "folk song"; and has some interesting comments to make on English collecting and collectors. This introduction, together with Miss Dean- Smith's historical annotations of the folk songs, adds immeasurably to the refer- ence value of this important work.

RAE KORSON

Alt-Rhapsodie: Sigrid Onegin-Leben und Werk. Herausgegeben von Fritz Penzoldt. [3. Auflage.] Neustadt an der Aisch: Verlag Degener & Co., 1953. [342 p., ports., illus., 8vo]

Sigrid Onegin's memoirs first appeared in 1939. The singer died in 1943. The original "editor," her husband Fritz Penzoldt, has re-arranged and re-worked the material for the new edition, adding a final chapter to close the story. (A free English translation, prepared by Geraldine de Courcy, remains unpub- lished.) Proverbially, prima donnas' memoirs fall into two classes-either they are completely uninformative and innocuous, or they are inclined to be chatty-or should one say catty? Too often they fail miserably to convey any- thing of the artist's special "bouquet." Onegin's outpouring falls into neither classification. One remembers her not only for her superb contralto voice, for its astonishing range and flexibility, but quite as much for her ebullient person- ality, so full of life and verve that her presence was sometimes overwhelming. However much of the actual writing

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Mme. Onegin did, one feels that the freely expressed views and opinions are definitely her own.

She begins her autobiography even before the event of birth; she expresses herself on musicians in politics; she does not hesitate to speak of her colleagues, though she confines herself to those whom she can mention with admiration. She is happy to be compared with such singers as Jenny Lind, Alice Barbi, Adelina Patti, Amalie Joachim, Hermine Spies, Marianne Brandt, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, or Emmy Destinn-in fact, it pleased her very much to be hailed as Schumann-Heink's successor. Like the sun and Yum-Yum, Onegin really knows her worth; indeed, the reader could do with a few less testi- monials to "the world's greatest con- tralto." Her observations on America are of interest. Coming here first in the wake of World War I, a German artist, for all her Swedish birth and her first husband's Russian name, she visited us regularly until 1938, when under the shadow of coming events she ran into anti-German demonstrations. She has a good deal to say about her short engage- ment at the Metropolitan Opera, and about the American system of concert- giving. One chapter is devoted to a dis- cussion of "Meine Rollen," and for singers there is one called "Vox humana (Von der hohen Kunst des Gesanges)." The Anhang includes lists of conductors under whom she sang, the orders con- ferred upon her, her operatic roles, and the arias in her repertoire, as well as the recordings she made. The discography would be more useful if record numbers had been included.

PHILIP L. MILLER

The Harpsichord; An Introduction to Technique, Style and the Historical Sources. By Eta Harich-Schneider. Kassel & Basel: Barenreiter-Verlag; St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, [1954]. [70, 22 p., music, 8vo; paper, $2.50]

As the harpsichord is to the piano, so is this sparkling little book to more ponderous treatises on keyboard tech- nique. The crystal clarity of its style is free from wordy, subjective, or psy-

chological explanations. Direct, even conversational in tone, it describes the fundamental aspects of good performance in its seven chapters on Touch, Finger- ing, Phrasing, Ornamentation, Tempo and Rhythm, Registration, and Figured Bass Playing.

The text is rich in quotations and translations from theorists and masters of the Baroque period and in practical references to specific passages in the music itself. There is an appendix con- taining some 20 examples of music, ornaments, etc., laid in at the back, and there are 8 fine photographs of the author's hands at the keyboard. The book is a condensation of the author's Die Kunst des Cembalospiels, published by Birenreiter in 1939 (236 pp.), and omits the examples in the text, the index, and most of the bibliography. It does nevertheless include a good list of "Sources."

The author studied with Landowska, and taught in the Hochschule fiir Musik at Berlin from 1933 to 1939. While on a concert tour she was caught by the War in Japan, and afterward taught at the U. S. Army College there, meanwhile studying Japanese music. Since 1949 she has again been playing concerts in Berlin and in New York. Her thoroughly practical as well as artistic approach to music for the harpsichord shows through in this book, and her enthusiasm is so infectious as to set this reviewer to prac- tising on her instrument again.

HARRIET NICEWONGER

The Young Pianist; A New Approach for Teachers and Students. By Joan Last. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1954. [xii, 155 p., illus., 8vo; 12/6, $2.00]

This book, written by one of England's prominent teachers, is concerned primar- ily with the early years of piano study, particularly for children between the ages of six and eleven. Its presentation of procedure and materials is concise, prac- tical, and musically sound. Beginning as it does with the very first lesson it should be a boon to the young and inexperi- enced teacher. The teacher of wider experience will find many helpful sug-

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