Première sonate pour orgue, op. 14/1: La folie de la croix by Claude Ballif; Deuxième sonatepour orgue, op. 14/2: Ce beau poisson d'amour qu'est Jésus mon sauveur by Claude Ballif;Troisième sonate pour orgue, op. 14/3: L'agneau de Dieu by Claude Ballif; Quatrième sonatepour orgue, op. 14/4: O doux et bon pélican by Claude BallifReview by: Herbert BielawaNotes, Second Series, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Jun., 1977), pp. 938-939Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/897708 .

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MUSIC FOR SOLO INSTRUMENTS

Claude Ballif: Premiere sonate pour orgue, op. 14/1: La folie de la croix. Paris: Editions Choudens (C. F. Peters), 1974. [34 p., $7.50]

Idem.: Deuxieme sonate pour orgue, op. 14/2: Ce beau poisson d'amour qu'est Jesus mon sauveur. Paris: Edi? tions Choudens (C. F. Peters), 1974. [31 p., $7.50]

Idem.: Troisieme sonate pour orgue, op. 14/3: L'agneau de Dieu. Paris: Editions Choudens (C. F. Peters), 1974. [29 p., $7.50]

Idem.: Quatrieme sonate pour orgue, op. 14/4: Odouxetbon pelican. Paris: Editions Choudens (C. F. Peters), 1974. [35 p., $7.50]

Reviewing four compositions in identical form by one composer reduces greatly the chance to make comparisons. The four sonatas for organ by Claude Ballif are, in fact, intimate members of a single opus number. They are, however, each major works of some thirty or more pages in length. They are also all in three distinct movements.

The musical style in these pages is typical of most composers during the mid-fifties, when these were written. Most impressive here is the rich assortment of texture densi- ties that change at a rather swift though judicious rate. Because of this common feature one would not easily distinguish one sonata from another in a listening test, for instance, unless intimately acquainted with them. Never mind. They are all impressive and moving works having, in fact, their own special integrity which Iies deeper than their textural surfaces. Even after a cursory study of these pieces, one senses that their musical and dramatic depths are unlimited.

As might be expected, they are also deep- ly mystical. Ballif undoubtedly inherited the propensity for this from Messiaen, with whom he studied in the early fifties. The music itself certainly invokes this quality, and the highly symbolic subtitles of the sonatas reinforce this conjecture: "la folie de la croix," "ce beau poisson d'amour qu'est Jesus mon sauveur," "l'agneau de Dieu,"

and "o doux et bon pelican." Going still deeper into this aspect of this beautiful music, we find a Latin title for each move? ment which is a phrase in praise and prayer to God. The Latin is also found in the musical score itself, here and there below the pedal part. The pedal line at these points, contrary to expectation, does not seem to be a cantus fragment. Curiously, the text could in many instances be sung, the prosody is so good. At other times, however, the words cling awkwardly to the pedal and even to rests! The title text is repeated throughout the movement, not extended. In the second movement of the first sonata the text unexpectedly turns into German, then back to Latin for the follow? ing reiteration. Is one to "think" on these texts when performing the piece? Are they meant to seed the mind of the performer? Is this for the theorist? Or is it a strictly personal thing?

Ballif himself is a curious blend of Frenchman and German, having studied composition with the Germans Boris Blacher and Josef Rufer as well as with French masters. One might expect him, therefore, to be a twelve-tone serialist, especially at the period when these pieces were written. But while the sonatas certainly sound twelve-tone, every attempt to trace a series gets bogged down sooner or later. If this music is serial, it is obviously masked by extreme permutational manipulations. Although the fast moving events project atonal fields, slower moving events may well fix on one or two particular tones for pages.

The four sonatas are rhythmically complicated with swift shifts in speed and meter. Changes in registration are also generally swift, though occasionally one combination may last surprisingly long. The melodic contours are severely disjunct. Chords often contain one or more knots of semitone clusters, but the textures are anything but turgid. Rather the density changes constantly from thick to thin, sometimes on the note-to-note level. Musi? cal gestures are shared equally by both hands and feet, thus sending them repeat- edly in and out of three divisions of the organ, sometimes in the course of only a few thirty-second notes.

Credit is given to Louis Robilliard for

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the registration of these fine pieces, a fact which suggests that Ballif is not, himself, primarily an organist. (Most of his music is for chamber ensembles, not organ.) Oth- erwise the writing in these sonatas, as de- manding as it is, technically and rhythmi? cally, is highly idiomatic for the organ. Every pedal figure, for instance, is designed to be executed by alternating feet, even in complex passages. They are certainly recital pieces?fit challenges for the accomplished organist. Although sometimes bewilder- ingly complex, the sonatas are intelligently and masterfully written.

The binding and paper stock used in these Choudens printings are unusually tough and the calligraphy is beautiful and easy to read. Strongly recommended!

Herbert Bielawa San Francisco State University

John Dowland: The complete lute fantasias, plus Semper Dowland semper dolens, and Loth to depart. Ed. by Stanley Buetens. Instrumenta antiqua, Box 1381, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, 1975. [Tablature, 37 p., no price given]

This strange edition of John Dowland's lute fantasias would hardly satisfy any type of reader, either professional or amateur. It reproduces twelve lute solo pieces only in a tablature form and without a modern transcription. The tablature, however, is not a faithful reproduction of the original, but a "composite" based on various versions from different sources. Furthermore, the editor did "not consider it necessary to footnote every change of an obvious mistake in an original," and when "a note or chord is used in some version but not in others, [he has] put it in parentheses so the lutenist can decide whether to use it or not." In short, from this print the reader cannot find out exactly how a piece appears in any one of its original sources. Thus, the edition is not for amateurs who normally do not know how to read a lute tablature, nor is it for professionals who should know the exact differences of various versions of a piece and have the ability to decide by themselves what they should do at their performances.

The collection consists of seven authentic Dowland fantasias, three anonymous fanta-

sias which are generally regarded as his (nos. 71-73 according to Diana Poulton's list in her book: John Dowland [London: Faber 8c Faber, 1972], p. 486), and two more pieces by the composer which are not fantasies and "can be considered as a bonus." There is no editorial note nor commentary, but the table of the contents includes a list of the sources, without folio numbers, for each piece. The list of sources, however, is not complete, nor is it always reliable. The fifth fantasy in the collection (no. 6 in Poulton's list), for example, is found at least in four sources to my knowl? edge, but the editor lists only two. The fantasia with the title "Farewell" (no. 3 in both this edition and Poulton's list) does not appear in the Cambridge Mss. Dd. 2. 11, as it is indicated; instead, the best version of this piece appears in the Cambridge Mss. Dd. 5. 78. 3, ff. 43v-44.

A majority of editions of lute music published in the last decade include both the original tablature and a modern tran? scription in one form or another. The more usual procedure is to print both of them together on one page. More recently, the Oxford University Press series of lute music has printed them separately, reproducing the original tablature in a facsimile form whenever possible. Either of these two procedures has its own virtues and short- comings. Personally I prefer the former procedure, but the latter is perfectly ac- ceptable, too. I would even accept an edition without a modern transcription, so long as the tablature edition is excellent enough; now that many performers can play lute from tablature, such an edition can be useful. But in that case, I strongly recom- mend that the editor should stick to one single source, since each version of the music reflects the personality of that partic? ular source. The editor of the present collection states that, by assembling the best bits from the various original versions, his "versions. . . are . . . hopefully better than any one of them," but I would say that such an optimistic expectation would re? main a mere illusion.

Masakata Kanazawa The International Christian University, Tokyo

Joseph Lauber: Quartet for double basses. London: Yorke Edition (Gal-

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