Word: sonata
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...will be over the copyright owners' dead bodies. Says he: "You've got to give the public something it can hang onto-some real melody that isn't too long, too involved or too deadly. For instance, they want me to try the Moonlight Sonata, but that goes on too long. If anything goes beyond 32 bars it is hard for the public to assimilate...
Prokofiev: Scythian Suite (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Desire Defauw conducting; Victor, 6 sides), Piano Sonata No. 7 (Vladimir Horowitz; Victor, 4 sides). Two good and noisy pieces by Russia's greatest contemporary. The earlier Scythian Suite (composed for a Diaghilev ballet in 1914) comes out better than the recent (1942) Sonata. Both are recorded for the first time in the U.S. Performance: good...
...Bach: Sonata in E for Violin and Harpsichord (Yehudi Menuhin and Wanda Landowska; Victor, 6 sides). Two stars dazzle in some of Bach's best. Performance: good...
Prokofleff: Sonata No. 7, Opus 83 (DM 1042). This second of Prokofleff's three "War" Sonatas was only completed in 1942, and shows its composer at the peak of his skill as a piano writer. The grotesquely dramatic changes in mood and tempo certainly do not make for particularly pleasant listening but they reveal a highly ingenious and original style of composition. Vladimir Horowitz, who has introduced all of the "War" Sonatas in this country, does a fine job on music that is highly suited to his style of playing. The recording is good...
...substituting harpsichord for piano, Victor has produced a version (DM-1035) of J. S. Bach's Third Sonata for violin and clavier in E flat more faithful to the Seventeenth Century style than the recording cut several years ago by Yehudi Menuhin and his sister Hepzibah. Although the harpsichord part may be slightly less important than the violin, the precision and vigor commanded by Wanda Landowska provide a better accompaniment for Menuhin than the carefully uninspired piano performance by his sister...