ACOUSTIC CHAMBER
MUSIC SETS (1899-1926):
A DISCOGRAPHY
by Frank Forman
First Web Version, 2003 August 9
PLACEMENT OF THIS DISCOGRAPHY INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
This discography was submitted to the Journal of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections on 2000 January 24 and appeared in the Journal in three parts: Volume 31, No. 1 (2000 Spring, received by me 2000.5.26; Volume 31, No. 2, received 2000.12.2; and Volume 32, No. 1, received 2001.5.26. I turned a copy of this original submission into a booklet and gave it to Jane Penner, head of the music library at the University of Virginia. She assigned it the catalog number ML156.4.C4 F67 2000.
A number of corrections and additions were made during the course of publication and also the addition of the Purcell set, which I added at the end so as not to disturb the numbering. By agreement with the Journal, the work was to become freely available to researchers one year after the final publication of the third part. Accordingly, it entered the public domain on 2002.5.26. The world is now free to appropriate and copy the work and even litter with errors and misrepresent the intentions of the author. This edition, prepared for the World-Wide Web, but available from the author in WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, adds a number of minor corrections and reissues on compact disc.
RECAPITULATION OF THE MAIN ENTRIES
The scope of the discograhy is expansive and includes two-disc sets with a filler, incomplete and abridged recordings, solo piano works, reductions to chamber music forces, and chamber (including solo piano) music played by larger ensembles. But in this recapitulation, only the principle performer on complete, unabridged recordings (except that repeats may have been omitted) of a chamber music work in the strict sense of excluding piano works is given in parentheses.
ARENSKY: Quartet 2.
BACH: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; Concerto for Two Violins; Chaconne from Partita 2 for Violin Alone (Menges; Tertis (viola)); Partita 3 for Violin Alone (Marteau); Cello Sonata 2 (Howard Bliss); Violin Sonata 2 (Primrose); Cello Suite 3: "Suite No. 6 for Full Orchestra" (plus a listing of all other Bach sets).
BEETHOVEN: German Dances; Quartets 1 (Catterall), 2 (Catterall), 3, 5-6, 7 (Spencer Dyke), 8 (Virtuoso; London), 10 (Spencer Dyke; Léner), 14 (Léner; London; Gewandhaus), 15 (Léner); Serenades, Opp. 8 and 25; Sonatas 8, 12, 14, 17-8, 21, 23, 26-8; Violin Sonatas 5 (Zeiler; Lorand), 9 (Zeiler; Huberman); Trio in C, Op. 87 (Gewandhaus Quintet); Archduke Trio, Op. 97.
BERIOT: Violin Concerto 7.
BLISS: Conversations (The Composer, directing).
BRAHMS: Quartets 1 (Catterall), 2 (Leo Abkov; Léner)); Clarinet Quintet (Thurston + Spencer Dyke SQ); Sextet 1 (Spencer Dyke SQ + Lockyer + Robinson); Viola Sonata 1 (Tertis); Violin Sonatas 2 (Lorand) and 3 (Catterall); Clarinet Trio (H.P. Draper + Squire + Harty); Paganini Variations.
BRIDGE: Three Idylls (Virtuoso Q).
BYRD: Fantasia (Byrd SQ) plus Harpsichord Pieces.
CHAMINADE: Three collections of piano pieces.
CHOPIN: Chopiniana-Potpourri; Nocturne 2.
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Violin Sonata (Sammons; Catterall).
CORELLI: La Folia Variations (Příhoda).
DEBUSSY: Children's Corner Suite; Petite Suite; Quartet (Spencer Dyke; Leo Abkov).
DELIUS: Violin Sonata 2.
DVOŘÁK: Bagatelles; Quartet 12 (Old No. 6) (Spencer Dyke; Leo Abkov; Bohemian), Dumky Trio.
ELGAR: String Quartet, Piano Quintet (Ethel Hobday + Spencer Dyke SQ); Violin Sonata.
FAURÉ: Piano Quartet 1.
FRANCK: Quartet (Virtuoso); Sonata (Thibaud; Catterall).
GRANADOS: Spanish Dances.
GRIEG: Holberg Suite; Lyric Suite; Piano Works; Peer Gynt Suite 1; Piano Sonata; Violin Sonatas 2 (Sammons), 3 (Tertis, viola).
HANDEL: Violin Sonata in D, Op. 1, No. 13 (Menges); Trio Sonata in g, Op. 2, No. 7 (Fachiri + d'Arányi).
HAYDN: Quartets, Op. 3, No. 5 (Busch;, Léner); Op. 64, Nos. 3 (London), 5 (Spencer Dyke), 6; Op. 76, Nos. 2 (Léner), 3 (London), 5 (Léner).
HINDEMITH: Kleine Kammermusik, Op. 24, No. 2 (Gewandhaus Wind Quintet); Quartet 3 (Amar).
HUGUENIN: Woodwind Trio 2 (Lefebvre + Bas + Vizentini).
INDY: Quartet 2 (Barbillion); Tableaux de Voyage.
IRELAND: Violin Sonata 2.
KLUGHARDT: Wind Quintet (Gewandhaus Wind Quintet).
KREISLER: Quartet.
LALO: Symphonie Espagnol.
LAURISCHKUS: Lethonia (Gewandhaus Wind Quintet).
LISZT: Consolations; Hungarian Rhapsodies 2, 14.
MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto; Quartet 1; Songs without Words; Piano Trio 1.
MOUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition.
MOZART: Violin Concerto 6; Quartets 13 (Kutcher), 14-5, 17 (Léner), 18 (Leo Abkov), 19 (Léner), 21; Oboe Quartet (Goossens + Spencer Dyke SQ members); Clarinet Quintet (Charles Draper + Spencer Dyke SQ); Quintet 4 in g, K. 516; Serenades 11 (Kleiber, cond. Berlin State Opera Wind Octet), 12 (Szell, cond. Berlin State Opera Wind Octet); Musical Joke; Violin Sonata 34 in A, K. 526 (Catterall); Clarinet Trio; Piano Trios 4-5.
PAGANINI: Violin Concerto 1.
PURCELL: Fantasias (4).
RAVEL: Introduction and Allegro (supervised by the Composer); Le Tombeau de Couperin.
SAINT-SAENS: Two sets of piano and piano/violin works.
SCARLATTI: The Good-Humored Ladies.
SCHÖNBERG: Verklärte Nacht (Spencer Dyke SQ + Lockyer + Robinson).
SCHUBERT: Quartets 13, 14 (Leo Abkov; Edith Lorand); Trout Quintet (Ethel Hobday + London SQ members + Claude Hobday); String Quintet (Cobbett SQ + Charles Crabbe); Piano Trios 1, 2 (Craxton + Dyke + Parker).
SCHUMANN: Carnival; Études Symphoniques; Quartet 1; Piano Quintet; Violin Sonata 1.
SMETANA: Quartet 1 (Leo Abkov).
STAMITZ: Trio 3 in F, Op. 1, No. 3.
TARTINI: Didone abbandonata Sonata (Chemet); Devil's Trill Sonata (Wolfstahl; Rostal).
TCHAIKOVSKY: Quartet 1 (Virtuoso); Rococo Variations (Piatigorsky); The Seasons; Piano Trio.
THUILLE: Sextet in Bb for Piano and Winds, Op. 6.
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: On Wenlock Edge (Elwes + London SQ); Phantasy Quintet (Music Society Q + Pougnet).
VIDAL: Danses Anciennes.
VITALI: Chaconne (Příhoda; Sammons).
VIVALDI: Concerto in A, Op. 3, No. 6.
VOLKMANN: Cello Concerto.
WAGNER: Siegfried Idyll.
WARNER, H. Waldo: Quartet (London).
WIENIAWSKI: Fantasia Brillante.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Scope
II. Importance
III. Symbols and Notes
IV. A Word on Proof-Reading This Discography
V. Order of Entries
VI. Labels (19)
VII. Summary Statistics and Superlatives
VIII. Main Entries
IX. Addenda
1. A New Set, Overlooked in the Main Discography (Purcell)
2. New Data on the National Gramophonic Society Recordings
3. A Note on Music Boxes
X. Fillers to the Sets (52)
XI. Exclusions from This Discography
XII. Appendices
1. Acknowledgments
2. Artists: Groups
3. Artists: Individuals
4. Artists by Instrument
5. Dates of Recordings and Issues
6. Bibliography
7. Index of Recordings by Label and Matrix
SCOPE
W.W. Cobbett defines chamber music as "music suitable for private rooms performed by not more than one instrument per part" (Cobbett: I:238). A set is defined here as anything more than one record. No sets of piano rolls were considered, and I found no sets of cylinders or plates for music boxes. This discography uses a more expansive definition than Cobbett's and includes, not just chamber music in stricto sensu, but (more than doubling this discography) also:
1. Three-sided works in two-disc sets with fillers or even three-disc sets with two fillers.
2. Abridged recordings. Recordings with repeats omitted are not treated as incomplete, though information about repeats is rarely available.
3. Incomplete recordings.
4. Solo instrumental [only harpsichord, piano, violin, viola, and cello found. There are many single acoustic discs of organs but, alas, no sets. However, organs are represented as accompaniment to a violin in two entries, Corelli and Vitali].
5. Non-chamber music played in chamber music transcriptions.
6. Chamber (including solo instrumental) music played by larger ensembles.
Exclusions: Cobbett also calls chamber music, "winged sounds finding their way to the earth's lovely places" (Cobbett I:495). The definition is, of course, too broad: much other music satisfies the description. It may also be too narrow, in that perhaps some of the recordings in this discography do not meet this description, but rather than exercise editorial judgment, all such disputable works are included. Excluded from this discography are numerous individual discs of Chopin, sometimes in numerical sequence. But none of these recordings appear to be anything more than single discs issued at the same time. The same is true of the many cello compositions of David Popper. (On the other hand, the three discs of Mendelssohn Songs without Words do appear to constitute an intended sequence.) Also excluded are recordings of performers, known primarily as instrumentalists, playing their own compositions, such as Pablo de Sarasate, violin; Franz Drdla, violin; Alfred Grünfeld, piano; and the forgotten Rudolph Kronegger, piano. From here we shade into non-classical music, e.g., perhaps Rafaele Calace playing his own compositions on the lute, Michel Haling on the accordion, and certainly Segis Luvaun on the Hawaiian guitar. The line had to be drawn somewhere!
IMPORTANCE
Chamber music playing has changed more than that of any other kind of classical music. So these old acoustics represent a real window on the past. But, although chamber music is the most serious of all music (if not all art), these acoustics are rarely collected. Half of all collectors of classical music (itself a tiny minority of record collectors) collect vocal recordings, which are at the opposite end of the spectrum from chamber music. Of the rest, half collect conductors; then come collectors of violinists and pianists. It is unlikely that even five percent of classical collectors concentrate on chamber music or more than one in a thousand makes a serious effort to collect acoustic recordings of chamber music.
So the sets listed in this discography are largely unknown: fewer then half of them are to be found in the eleven-volume Voices of the Past series. While not likely to be expensive if ever encountered, they are very unlikely to be encountered in the first place. Many of the discographers whose works were consulted very often did not have access to the discs and so could not record the matrix numbers. Perhaps fewer than 100 copies of many of the sets were ever made.
My hope is to get cassette tapes of as many of these acoustic chamber music sets from collectors around the world as I can. I shall then make duplicates at my own expense for universities that offer courses in the history of music performance. Courses in the history of music itself abound, but much rarer are courses in the history of the performance of music. This state of affairs is strange, since music is, above all, a performing art. See the pioneering book by Robert Philip, Early Recordings and Musical Style: Changing Tastes in Instrumental Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
This discography, now that Claude Arnold's A Discography of the Orchestra of acoustic recordings has been published, documents perhaps the largest single gap in our knowledge of the recordings of classical music, as far as sets go. There are, of course, tens of thousands of single discs of all sorts of classical music recorded by the acoustical process, but a cursory run-through of the eleven volumes of Voices of the Past leads me to think that there are fewer sets of vocal music than there are of chamber music. I have counted a couple of dozen sets of excerpts from operas (and perhaps a dozen that are allegedly "complete"), a Franz Naval recording of Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin, a Thom Denijs recording of Schumann's Dichterliebe, some anthologies of early vocal works by many composers, but not very much more. But I have used in this discography a very expansive definition of set, which means that three Caruso discs from the same opera might qualify as a "set." Accordingly, there may be in fact as many vocal sets as there are chamber music sets. I leave the challenge of compiling an acoustic vocal sets discography to those qualified to do so.
SYMBOLS AND NOTES
LP = long-playing 33 1/3 r.p.m. disc.
CD = compact disc.
Dates are given by year.month.day, the system used by physicists, French Canadians, and Japanese. There were no sets of acoustic chamber music recordings made after 1926, though Marilyn Horne, for example, made a recording by the acoustical process in the 1970s.
All discs are 12" 78 r.p.m. (of course, speeds were far from standardized in those days and may vary anywhere from 60 to 90 r.p.m.), unless specified otherwise.
The only use of a harpsichord by principal artists on any of these 215 recordings of 158 works by 54 composers on 19 labels (or their fillers) is the Violet Gordon Woodhouse recording of four Byrd pieces.
This discography uses the opportunity to correct the entries in many of the discographic sources that were used in its compilation. This does not entail anything less than the highest respect for the work of these discographers, whose broader scope forbade them to spend as much effort on this narrow subset of the field as the present discographer. Enthusiasts who scour some of the source discographies and other reference books may therefore be spared the efforts here to resolve discrepancies.
Nearly all the reissues on LP and CD are devoted to performers.
Compton Mackenzie was the founder and, for many years, the editor of The Gramophone. His observations are quoted many times throughout this discography, as are those of Walter Willson Cobbett, an indefatigable promoter of chamber music and the author of Cobbett's Cyclopedic Guide to Chamber Music. Mackenzie's life is covered in the recent book by Patrick Allitt, Catholic Converts: British and American Intellectuals Turn to Rome (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997), reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement, 1998.1.30.
A few reference works are repeatedly used throughout this discography and are given in italics. Besides Cobbett, they are Claude Arnold's The Orchestra on Record, James Creighton's Discopaedia of the Violin, R.D. Darrell's The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music [GSE], Ronald Taylor's Columbia Twelve-Inch Recordings in the United Kingdom, the various volumes of the Voices of the Past series, and F.F. Clough and C.G. Cuming, The World's Encyclopedia of Recorded Music [WERM]. References to names in the discography are to authors whose works are cited in full in the bibliography.
A WORD ON PROOF-READING THIS DISCOGRAPHY
"The American Mercury is prepared to pay an infallible proof-reader an honorarium of $1,000,000 cash a year, if and when he is discovered in this world. The proofs of the magazine are scrutinized every month with a degree of care approaching the furious, and yet errors--and some of them appalling ones--constantly creep in, as they do in all other magazines. The proof-readers on the staff of the printer are men of the utmost skill in their profession: one of them holds the Police Gazette diamond belt as the champion of the United States, and another has been invited to lecture at Oxford. Moreover, the editorial staff is loaded with very gifted comma-hounds, and between them they read the proofs of each issue thirty-eight times. Nevertheless, blunders of the worst sort continue to elude them.... If the super-proof-reader advertized for above can be found, they will cease--and he will earn his $19,230.77 a week. But if all the candidates for the post turn out to be merely human, as the present proof-readers are and the editors with them, then the series of imbecilities will continue."
This passage was written by H.L. Mencken for The American Mercury for 1928 July. Mr. Mencken, the great newspaperman from Baltimore, Maryland, was also a life-long music lover and amateur piano secundo in his Saturday night get-togethers with fellow amateurs. Many of his enthusiastic writings have been collected in H.L. Mencken on Music: A Selection of his Writings on Music together with an Account of H.L. Mencken's Musical Life and a History of the Saturday Night Club, edited by Louis Cheslock (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961).
Mr. Mencken's remarks on the idiocy of the phonograph were partly responsible for stimulating this discography. He first made such remarks in the acoustic era and had in mind, of course, the popular music of that time. (Very little jazz, which he thought even worse, was recorded acoustically.) I wondered, therefore, what chamber music recordings he might have been able to listen to on the phonograph.
ORDER OF ENTRIES
The entries in this discography follow the general principles, if not quite always the specific guidelines, proposed by Jerome F. Weber, "Formulating Guidelines for Discographies," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 28.2 (1997 Fall): 198-208.
1. COMPOSER in ALL-CAPS BOLD. The composers are numbered and indicated by Cnn>>>.
2. Work and catalog number (in small caps), date of composition, and (if there are only incomplete recordings) the parts thereof on the recording. These are usually designated by "n, tempo (or other name)," where n is the number of the movement. The works are numbered and indicated by Wnnn>>.
3. Recordings are indicated and numbered by nnn>. Recordings are listed chronologically by recording date, as far as can be done accurately. There are many conjectures. All recordings appear to have been made in recording studios.
4. The number of sides of the principal work of a set (that is, excluding the fillers) is placed in [brackets in small caps].
5. Recording date or dates, often approximated. For notes on methods for dating, see appendix. These dates are indented two spaces.
6. Matrix numbers and takes (preceded by mx and in italics). When recorded on several dates, the dates and matrix numbers are intermingled. In the early days, repeated takes were more often required due to complications in the recording process than to dissatisfaction by the artists. Matrix numbers are indented three spaces.
7. Record label and catalog numbers, with dates of release and (often) deletion in parentheses ( ). LP and CD reissues are included. (No 45s reissues were traced, not even the Kreisler/Zimbalist Bach Double Concerto. Nor were any cassettes or 8-track tapes found. There was a phoney stereo reissue, of a filler to the incomplete Casals recording of Bach: Cello Suite 3, but no quadraphonic reprocessing.) The Gramophone Company continued to carry single-sided disc side numbers even when it joined two sides together to make a double-faced disc. Issues under the same label are separated by colons (:); issues under different labels are placed on separate rows. All are indented four spaces.
8. Details about fillers to various 78 r.p.m. issues and other information are included as warranted. Filler information is indented five spaces.
9. Information about later recordings, especially by all or some of the artists participating in the acoustic recordings. Most of these works were recorded again, by some group or other, during the electrical 78 r.p.m. era. This will be the case unless specified otherwise. I did not search the universe and its attics in all cases for possible later recordings and consequently may have missed some. That some works were never rerecorded shows how adventuresome--or perhaps commercially naïve--recording companies were, even in the early days. This information is also indented five spaces. When the same performers recorded parts of a work on one or two sides before the recording entered in this discography, information on the earlier recordings is also included.
LABELS (19)
Berliner: United States.
Brunswick: United States.
Columbia: England.
Columbia: United States.
Edison Diamond Disc: United States.
Gramophone (a/k/a His Master's Voice): England, unless otherwise specified. Forerunners of the Gramophone Company, Ltd., such as Gramophone and Typewriter, are generally not distinguished.
Homochord: England.
National Gramophonic Society of London: England (a subscription series).
Odeon: Germany.
Parlophon: Germany (Parlophone in England).
Pathé: France.
Polydor: Germany.
Regal: Spain.
Velvet Face: England.
Victor: United States.
Vocalion: England, plus one American issue.
Vox: all Germany in this discography.
World: England (See Brahms: Quartet 2 for information about this label.).
Zonophone: all France in this discography.
I believe electrical recordings appeared on all these labels, except Berliner, World, and perhaps Velvet Face, which lasted until 1927.
SUMMARY STATISTICS AND SUPERLATIVES
55 Composers (plus 15 more on the fillers)
159 Works (plus 42 more on the fillers)
216 Recordings (with 52 fillers)
19 Labels
Note: The superlatives are those determined by the data known to this discographer.
Oldest set: Chopin: Nocturne 3. Bronisláw Huberman, violin, with piano. 1899.
Second oldest set: Chaminade playing her own works. 1901.
First unabridged recording of a string quartet: Haydn (Hofstetter): Quartet in F, Op. 3, No. 5. Busch Quartet. 1922.
First discs played by Compton MacKenzie on his first phonograph: Schumann: Piano Quintet. Last disc of the set issued 1922.2 and first played by MacKenzie on 1922.3.
Most belated issues: Recorded 1917 and issued 1921: Coleridge-Taylor: Violin Sonata (Sammons and Murdoch). Recorded 1917 and issued 1920: Beethoven: Quartet 1 (London String Quartet) and Mozart: Quintet 4 in g, K. 516 (London String Quartet with Alfred Hobday). All of these works may have been recorded later, though. See the individual entries.
First chamber music group, apparently, that was organized for the purpose of making recordings: Virtuoso Quartet. Founded by the Gramophone Company in 1924.
Last issued sets: Haydn: Quartet in d, Op. 76, No. 2. Léner Quartet and Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin, played in an orchestral version. Stanley Chapple and Cuthbert Whitemore, Aeolian Orchestra. 1926.5.
First born composer: William Byrd: 1543.
First composition: one of Byrd's.
Last born composer: Paul Hindemith: 1895.
Last composition: Delius: Violin Sonata 2. 1923.
Composer with the most entries: Beethoven: 26 entries. Brahms has 8, Haydn 7, Mozart 18, Schubert 5, and Schumann 5.
Works with the most entries: Beethoven: Kreutzer Sonata and Franck: Sonata: five each.
Most recorded work listed in this discography: Dvořák: Humoreske. This is the most recorded work on the violin, with over a hundred recordings listed by Creighton. Short works like this one, fine for fillers and singles, are not recorded as nearly so often as they were during the 78 r.p.m. era. By this time, the number of recordings of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony must number over two hundred. The Fifth Symphony very likely remains the most recorded "set" (or rather, a work that would take up a 78 r.p.m. set) of all time, as it was during the 78 r.p.m. era and in current CD catalogs. Some things never change.
First born artist: Camille Saint-Saëns: 1835.10.9.
Last born artist: Jean Pougnet: 1907.7.20.
First died artist: Gervaise Elwes: 1921.1.12.
Last died artist: Max Rostal: 1991.8.6. (Wilhelm Kempff died 1991.5.21.)
Longest lived artist: Pablo Casals: 97 years.
Shortest livied artist: Renée Chemet: 44 year, if she died shortly after she vanished in the Far East.
Perhaps one of these artists is still living in 2003.
MAIN ENTRIES
(The Discography Proper)
C01>>> ARENSKY, Anton Stepanovich
1861 July 12 Russia-1906 February 25
W001>> Quartet 2 in a, Op. 35 (1894). Abridged recording.
001>Catterall Quartet, [3 sides].
1920/21.
Gramophone.D 560B (1920) plus D 606 (1921).
Note: The identification of the very first entry in this discography is tentative. Voices of the Past lists D 560B as "Quartet Op. 35a-Variations" and D 606 as "Quartet Pt. 1 and Pt. 2." Arensky wrote two string quartets, No. 1 in G, Op. 11 (1888) and No. 2 in a (1894). Originally, the second quartet was written for violin, viola, and two cellos and published as Op. 35. Arensky published it as an ordinary quartet for two violins, viola, and cello as Op. 35a.
Filler: D 560A contains, according to Voices of the Past, "Quartet G major, Allegro--Mozart," presumably Quartet 14 in G, K. 387: 1, Allegro vivace assai. GSE identifies D 560 by "*", meaning an acoustic and does not list D 606 at all. WERM lists neither disc, nor any electrical recording of the music. Both Arensky quartets are available on CD. The orchestral version of the variations [on Tchaikovsky: Legend (song, 'When Jesus Christ was but a child'), Op. 54, No. 5] received no acoustic but three electric recordings, all taking up three or four sides.
C02>>> BACH, Johann Sebastian
1685 March 21 Germany-1750 July 28
W002>> Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in d, Schmieder 903, Chwiałkowski 6.307 (ca. 1720, revised. ca. 1730)
002>Harold Samuel, piano, [3 sides].
1923.10.
mx Cc 3610-2/11-1/09-2/13-1.
Gramophone.D 782/3A (1923). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.2.
LP: Pearl [England].GEMM 147, "Harold Samuel."
CD: Koch Legacy [U.S.].3-7137-2 K2 (1992), "The Art of Harold Samuel," a two-disc set.
Filler: English Suite No. 2 in a, S. 807: 5, Bourrée I (Chwiałkowski 6.59) and 6, Bourrée II (Chwiałkowski 6.60). Included in both reissues.
W003>> Concerto for Two Violins in d, Schmieder 1043, Chwiałkowski 3.3 (ca. 1718-23). Abridged recording.
003>Fritz Kreisler and Efrem Zimbalist, violins; with String Quartet (Rattay, Bianculli, Fruncillo, Rosario Bourdin). Conducted by Walter B. Rogers. Transcribed for two violins and string quartet by an unknown hands, or perhaps by all four hands of The Violinists in cooperation, [3 sides].
1915.1.14 (thus Arnold. Creighton II has 1915.1.4 under Kreisler but 1915.1.14 under Zimbalist).
mx C 15560-4/1-3/2-2.
Gramophone.2-07918/20/22 (single-faced) (1915.3): DB 587/8A (1924).
Victor.76028/30 (single-faced) (1916): 8040/1A (1934/5).
LP: Victor.LM 6099 [U.S.], "The Art of Fritz Kreisler," a 2-disc set: A 430569 [France]: RB 6525 [England].
LP: Rococo [Canada].2005.
LP: Melodiya [U.S.S.R.].Д 26323 (1969), "Fritz Kreisler."
LP: Pearl [England].GEM 101
LP: Pearl [England].GEM 132.
LP: The Strad [England].LB 4 (filler on LB 3).
CD: Biddulph [England].LAB 021/2, a two-disc set, "Fritz Kreisler: The Complete Acoustic Victor Recordings with Orchestra."
CD: RCA Victor Gold [U.S.].09026-6149-2, all of Kreisler's Victor acoustics (includes the filler).
Filler: DB 858B and Victor.8041B is Tchaikovsky: Quartet 1 in D, Op. 11: 2, Andante cantabile, played by the Kreisler Quartet on mx C 17671-1, 1916.5.10. The filler first appeared in 1916 on single-faced Victor.74487 and was later doubled with the Largo from Handel's Serse on mx 14342-8, Fritz Kreisler, violin; Carl Lamson, piano, on Victor.6184 (1923), the Handel having appeared originally on single-faced Victor.74384 (1913). I presume the filler has had several reissues but am uncertain which are coupled with the concerto.
W004>> Partita 2 in b for Violin Alone, Schmieder 1004 (ca. 1718-23). Incomplete recording: 5, Chaconne (Chwiałkowski 4.49)
004>Isolde Menges, violin, [4 sides].
1923.
mx Cc 4451-1/2-1/3-2/4-2.
Gramophone.D 875/6 (1923) (reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.9): AW 4252 plus AW 4254 [Italy].
005>Lionel Tertis, viola. Transcribed for the viola by the Performer, [also 4 sides].
1924.11.25.
mx AX 755/8, all take 2.
English Columbia.L 1644/5(25.7-28.2), advertised in The Gramophone 1925.6.
American Columbia.67071/2-D = discs 6 and 7 in set M 13 [14 sides].
CD: Pearl [England].GEMM CD 99184, "Lionel Tertis."
The Columbia Bach Album, set M 13, containing this Tertis Chaconne, is a seven-disc set that was the largest gathering of the works of the great Lutheran master up to that time. The album consists of:
Discs 1-3A: Concerto for two violins in d, Schmieder 1043, Chwiałkowski 3.3 (ca. 1718-23), [5 sides]
Arthur Catterall and John S. Bridge, violins; Hamilton Harty, Orchestra.
1924.4.10.
mx AX 395-1/6-1/7-2/8-2/9-2.
Single discs: (American Columbia) 67066/8A-D.
Disc 3B: Suite (Orchestral) No. 3 in D, Schmieder 1068, Chwiałkowski 1.3 (1729/30): 2, Air, [1 side]
Hamilton Harty, Symphony Orchestra. Conductor's name given only on the American issues.
1924.3.4.
mx AX 356-2.
Single disc: (American Columbia) 67068B-D. Filler to the Concerto. The Air was released in England as the first side of English Columbia.980(24.7-30.8, reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.7), as "Celebrated Air (air for G string)" (so-called owing to August Wilhelmj's 1871 arrangement for solo violin to be played on a single string), recorded by the "Court Symphony Orchestra," and has on side B, mx AX 359-1, also recorded on 24.3.4, Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar (Czar) of Sultan, of His Son the Famous and Mighty Hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess, Chwiałkowski 1.12: Flight of the Bumblebee plus Liadov: Musical Box, Op. 32. This disc, however, gave "Court Symphony Orchestra" instead of "Symphony Orchestra." Now the Rimsky-Korsakov plus Liadov were issued in the United States under 67096-D, which had as its reverse side Bach: Partita 3 in E, S. 1006: 3, Gavotte, conducted and arranged by Sir Henry J. Wood, members of the New Queen's Hall Orchestra, on mx AX 4-2, 23.5.16. And the Gavotte appeared in England under L 1515(24.1-28.2). Side B of L 1515 has Beethoven: Rondino in Eb for wind octet, Grove 146, Kinsky 25, Chwiałkowski 7.2, again arranged and recorded by Wood and NQHO, on mx AX 5-2, also 23.5.16. Such tracking down of these details is among the delights and travails of the discographer, recalling Dr. Johnson's definition of a lexicographer: "a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge."
Discs 4-5: Suite (orchestral) 2 in b, Schmieder 1067, Chwiałkowski 1.2 (1729/30), [4 sides]
Robert Murchie, flute; Hamilton Harty, Symphony Orchestra.
1924.1.20.
mx AX 319-1/20-2/21-2/22-1.
Single discs: (American Columbia) 67069/70-D.
Discs 6-7: Chaconne, transcribed for the Viola by the Performer, [4 sides] (listed above).
Lionel Tertis, viola.
1924.11.25.
mx AX 755/8, all take 2.
Single discs: (American Columbia) 67071/2-D.
The main works were issued on English Columbia and not in any sequence: the Double Concerto on L 1613/5A(25.3-28.2, reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.3); the Suite No. 2 on L 1557/8(24.6-28.2, reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.6); and the Chaconne on L 1644/5(25.7-28.2, advertised in The Gramophone 1925.6). But the filler to the English Columbia issue of the Concerto is different: Spohr: Duet 10 in D, Op. 67, No. 2: 3, Larghetto. (Arthur Catterall and John S. Bridge, violins with no accompaniment). Recorded on 24.4.10, mx AX 408-1. The Spohr got coupled in America as the filler to the Schubert Trout Quintet on set M 18 = 67113/7A-D. The English Columbia release of the Schubert, L 1698/1702, had as its filler Glazounov: Interludium in Modo Antico, 25.9.8, London String Quartet, mx AX 1088-1. Whether the Glazounov was issued on an American Columbia record, I do not know, for American Columbias are not nearly as popular among collectors as the Victors and are far less well documented. Creighton lists only the six John S. Bridge sides mentioned here. Bridge was also the second violin of the Catterall Quartet until 1925 and is further represented in this discography. He is nearly as forgotten as Huguenin, below, though his performances have more personality than most contemporary ones.
W005>> Partita 3 in E for Violin Alone, Schmieder 1006, Chwiałkowski 4.54-4.60 (ca. 1818-23)
006>Henri Marteau, violin, [5 sides].
12.11.26 and 13.2.14.
mx 2479ah (12.11.26), 15038L (13.2.14), 2480ah (12.11.26), 15039L (13.2.14), 15040L (13.2.14) (Sarabande and Jig; one movement per side otherwise).
German Gramophon [Gramophone and Typewriter].49773/7 (double-faced discs cataloged by side numbers).
LP: Masters of the Bow [Canada].MB 1020, "Henri Marteau: Complete Recordings (1912/1929-32); Göran Olsson-Föllinger; Florizel von Reuter; Ferenc Arányi," a two-disc set.
The filler, 49778, is Boccherini-Marteau: Quintet in E, Op. 13, No. 5: 3, Minuet (Bull), mx 2481ah, recorded 12.11.26, played by Marteau and an anonymous pianist. Included in the LP reissue.
W006>> Sonata (Cello) 2 in D, Schmieder 1028, Chwiałkowski 4.124 (ca. 1717-23)
007>Howard Bliss (brother of Arthur), cello; Stanley Chapple, piano, [4 sides].
probably late 1925/early 1926.
Vocalion.K 05218/9(26.3).
W007>> Sonata (Violin) 2 in a, Schmieder 1015, Chwiałkowski 4.108 (ca. 1718-23)
008>William Primrose, violin; H.Y. Templeman, piano, [4 sides].
Probably late 1923/early 1924.
mx Cc 3915-3/6-3/7-2/8-1.
Gramophone.D 939/40 (1924). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.1.
LP: Masters of the Bow [Canada].MB 1030, "William Primrose" (his complete recordings on the violin).
CD: Pearl [England].in set BVA II.
W008>> Suite 3 in C for cello alone, Schmieder 1009 (ca. 1718-23): Incomplete recording: 1, Prélude (Chwiałkowski 4.75); 4, Sarabande (Chwiałkowski 4.78); 5, Bourrée I (Chwiałkowski 4.79); 6, Bourrée II (Chwiałkowski 4.80) [with the first Bourrée repeated after the second]; 7, Jig (Chwiałkowski 4.81).
009>Pablo Casals, cello, [4 sides].
1915.4.23 and 1916.4.15 New York City.
mx 37 257-1/9-1/8-1 on 15.4.23 (1, Prélude; 4, Sarabande; 5 and 6, Bourrées) plus 48 697 on 16.4.15 (7, Jig).
American Columbia.A 5782 (1, Prélude and 4, Sarabande) (one side each) plus A 5697B (5 and 6, Bourrées, labeled just (single) Bourree on the record) plus A 5875A (7, Jig).
LP: American Columbia.bonus disc (side nos. XLP 14783/4) to SL 185, "Prades Festival," a ten-disc set of the music of Bach recorded in 1950. Contains 1, Prélude and 4, Sarabande only.
LP: Musicians Foundation [U.S.].TF 1001. Contains 1, Prélude and 4, Sarabande only.
CD: Wing [Japan].WCD 35 (ca. 1994), "The Early Recordings of Pablo Casals".
CD: Biddulph [England].LAB 141 (1997), "Pablo Casals: the complete acoustic recordings, volume I (1915-16)".
Fillers: Columbia.A 5697A (called side A here only because of the matrix numbers) has Popper: Mazurka in g, Op. 11, No. 3, with Charles A. Baker, piano. mx 37 256-1, 15.4.23. Reissued on American Columbia.7358; LP: Pearl [England].GEM 106; LP: Everest [U.S.].SBDR 3323 (phoney stereo); CD: Wing [Japan].WCD 35 (ca. 1994), "The Early Recordings of Pablo Casals"; CD: Biddulph [England].LAB 141 (1997), "Pablo Casals: the complete acoustic recordings, volume I (1915-16)".
Columbia.A 5875B (called side B here only because of the matrix numbers) has Haydn: Concerto (cello) in D, Op. 101, arranged by François Gevaërt: 2, Adagio, with anonymous conductor and orchestra. mx 48 695 on 16.4.14. Reissued on CD: Wing [Japan].WCD 35 (ca. 1994), "The Early Recordings of Pablo Casals"; CD: Biddulph [England].LAB 142 (1997), "Pablo Casals: the complete acoustic recordings, volume II (1916-20)".
W009>> "Suite No. 6 for Full Orchestra," selected and arranged by The Conductor
010>Sir Henry J. Wood, New Queen's Hall Orchestra, [4 sides].
1925.2.5.
mx AX 909-2/910-2/911-1/912-1.
English Columbia.L 1684/5(26.1-28.2).
American Columbia.67172/3-D.
The six numbers are as follows: No. 1, "Prelude" (Well-Tempered Clavier 3 in C#, Schmieder 848, Chwiałkowski 6.246 (1722): 1, Prelude. No. 2, "Lament" (Departing Brother Caprice in Bb, Schmieder 992, Chwiałkowski 6.400 (1703/6): 3, E'un generale lamento deglia amici (Adagissimo)). No. 3, "Scherzo" (Partita 3 in a for Clavier, Schmieder 827 (1726/31): 6, Scherzo (Chwiałkowski 6.189)). No. 4, "Gavotte and Musette" (English Suite 3 in g, Schmieder 808 (by 1724/5): 5, Gavotte I (Chwiałkowski 6.67); 6, Gavotte II (ou la musette) (Chwiałkowski 6.68)). No. 5, "Andante Mistico" (Well-Tempered Clavier 22 in bb, Schmieder 867, Chwiałkowski 6.266 (1722): 1, Prelude). No. 6, "Finale" (Cantata 29, "Wir danken dir, Gott" (first performance 1731.8.27 for the inauguration of town council), Chwiałkowski 7.29: 1, Prelude). Layout: side 1: nos. 1, 2; side 2: nos. 3,4; side 3: no. 5; side 4: no. 6.
Wolfgang Schmieder, in his monumental Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalisches Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs (B.W.V.) (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1950) has a Suite No. 5 (Schmieder 1070, Chwiałkowski 1.5 (in italics, designating a lost, spurious, or doubtful work), but says its authenticity is doubtful. It is also not regarded as authentic in Grove, and, having heard its first recording, a stereophonic LP conducted by Jean-François Paillard, I don't see how Schmieder ever thought it could possibly have been written by Bach. (Yet there are those who question Bach's authorship of his perhaps best known piece, the organ Toccata and Fugue in d, B.W.V. 565!) The "fifth suite" was, however, published in Bach-Gesellschaft, ed., J.S. Bach Werke, 47 vol., Leipzig: 1851-99, in volume 45 (published 1897), one of several appendix volumes. Coming this late in the series, I suspect the work was put into an appendix because the editors themselves were dubious about its authenticity. Other possibilities for "Suite No. 6": WERM lists a "Suite in G" arranged by Eugene Goossens from various Bach works and "The Wise Virgins Ballet" Suite, compiled by Constant Lambert and arranged by William Walton from yet other Bach works. Perhaps one of these compilations was regarded as the fifth suite in the acoustic days, but as they were both first recorded electrically, they may not have been compiled by the time Wood's "Suite No. 6" was issued. But either is a possibility, making there some 8 orchestral suites in all, only the first 4 genuine.
Later recordings: The clavier works were all recorded electrically on keyboard, and the sinfonia to Cantata 29 has electric recordings in arrangements for piano, two pianos, and organ. The first recording in its orchestral version was on a monaural LP. I do not know what sort of arranging Sir Henry did for his acoustic recording of this last. I trace no further orchestral arrangement of any keyboard works in this "Suite No. 6," though WERM lists many, many orchestrations of other Bach works.
Non-chamber acoustic Bach sets:
Besides innumerable recordings of the Air on the G String and other violin showpieces, there was very little Bach recorded during the acoustic era. Of the vocal music, I have found several sides sung in the original languages, two arias from Cantatas and one from the St. Matthew Passion sung in English, and several recordings of the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria. The only works recorded that occupied more than a single disc are the 8 sets covered in this discography, the 2 other sets of orchestral works in the American Columbia Bach album detailed above, and 5 other concerto recordings and 1 recording of a suite. Since there are only these 6 other acoustics sets of the great Lutheran master, they may as well be listed here, for a total of 16 sets:
Brandenburg Concerto 3 in G, Schmieder 1048, Chwiałkowski 3.9 (1711/3)
Eugene Goossens, Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, [3 sides].
1922.10.5.
mx Cc 1935-3/6-2/7-2.
Gramophone.D 683/4A (side nos. 3-0826/8) (1923.4): W 550/1A [France].
Filler: Bach: Suite 3 in d, Schmieder 1068 (ca. 1729/30): 2, Air. Same forces. 1922.12. mx Cc 2215-4. D 684B (side no. 3-0829): W 551B.
Georg Hoeberg-Copenhagen, Berlin State Opera Orchestra, [3 sides].
probably late 1924.
mx 1629½/30½/31½ as.
Polydor.66014/5A (side nos. B 20480/2) (1925.1).
Filler: Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel (1909): Bridal March. Same forces and date. mx 1637as. Polydor.66015B (side no. B 20483).
Concerto 1 (Klavier) in d, Schmieder 1052, Chwiałkowski 3.14 (1730/3, arranged by the Composer from a lost violin concerto, which I believe has been found and recorded, though not possibly as vibrantly as the recording Joseph Szigeti made in 1940 of a reconstruction by Reitz)
Harriet Cohen, piano; Sir Henry J. Wood, Orchestra, [6 sides].
1924.9.24.
mx AX 601-1/2-1/3-1/4-2/5-1/6-2.
English Columbia.L 1624/6(25.4-28.2, reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.4).
Concerto 2 (violin) in E, Schmieder 1042, Chwiałkowski 3.2 (1717-23)
Jacques Thibaud, R. Ortmans, Orchestra, [5 sides].
24.10.21&31 and 23.11.1.
mx Cc5267-2/5268-2/5269-3/5312-1/5313-2.
Gramophone.DB 789/91A (side nos. 4-07924/8) (1925.9). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.9.
LP: Rococo [private Japanese label].OZ 7513.
CD: Biddulph [England].LAB 024 (1990), "Jacques Thibaud: the 1924-27 HMV Recordings."
Filler (side no. 4-07929) is Jean-Antoine Desplanes (geb. Giovanni Antonio Piani or Piana or Piano) (1678-after 1757) (noted for the extremely thorough instructions in his scores regarding dynamics, fingering, bowing, ornamentation, and indications of tempo and character): Intrada (Adagio) for violin and continuo, arr. by Tividár Nachèz (1859-1930) for violin and piano. Jacques Thibaud, violin; Harold Craxton, piano, mx Cc 5314-2. Filler included on the LP and CD.
Concerto for Two Violins in d, Schmieder 1043, Chwiałkowski 3.3 (ca. 1718-23)
Jelly d'Arányi and Adila Fachiri, violins and sisters; Stanley Chapple, String Orchestra, [4 sides].
late 1925/early 1926.
mx 04244x/45/46/47x.
Vocalion.A 0252/3 (1926.2).
Suite (orchestral) 3 in d, Schmieder 1068, Chwiałkowski 1.3 (1729/30)
Josef Pasternack, Victor Concert Orchestra, [4 sides].
1917.8.2, 11.7, and 11.14.
No. 1, Overture on mx C 21083-4, 17.11.14. Nos. 2, Air, and 3, Gavotte I and II on mx C 20480-1/82-2, 17.8.2. Nos. 4, Bourrée, and 5, Jig on mx C 21062-2, 17.11.7.
Victor.35669 (Nos. 1, 4, and 5) and 35656 (Nos. 2 and 3).
Neither the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue (Harold Samuel) nor the second violin concerto (Jacques Thibaud) have ever received a recording their equal. It is amazing how often the very first recording of a work is never surpassed.
C03>>> BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
1770 December 16 Germany-1827 March 26
W010>> (12) German Dances, Grove 140, Kinsky 8, Chwiałkowski 4.14-25 (1795)
011>Frieder Weismann, Berlin State Opera Orchestra, [4 sides].
1925.5.27 and 6.10.
mx 8196/7 on 25.5.27 plus 8198-2 on 25.6.10 plus 8199 on 25.5.27.
Parlophon.P 1191/2 (1925.10).
Nos. 1-7 only: English Parlophone.E 10446(26.6).
The work was first published by [Carlo and Francesco] Artaria in 1795 for piano, but it is unclear whether this was a reduction of the orchestral score or vice-versa, in which case this recording does not belong in this discography. The orchestral version was published posthumously. Both versions appear to have done by Beethoven. The next recording of any of these dances was no. 12, conducted by Erich Kleiber. Nos. 11 and 12 were recorded by Fritz Lehmann and the entire set by Hermann Scherchen, all on electrical 78s. The piano version has been recorded by Rudolph Buchbinder in a six-disc stereo LP set of miscellaneous Beethoven piano pieces. The piano version is not in the 87-CD "complete" Beethoven Edition on Deutsche Gramophone.
Note: Mention should be made of two acoustic recordings of several of the so-called "Mödlinger Tänze," Kinsky 17, Chwiałkowski 4.41 (in italics, designating a lost, spurious, or dubious work). There being no piano version extant, they cannot qualify, even dubiously, as an orchestral arrangement of chamber (and solo instrumental) music for purposes of this discography. Barry Cooper says this about them: "Spurious. According to the extrememly unreliable Schindler, Beethoven wrote a set of waltzes for a local ban at an inn near Mödling during summer 1819. In 1905 Hugo Riemann found in Leipzig a set of parts for eleven dances and concluded that as they were well written they must be those referred to by Schindler. Since the set shows several differences from genuine Beethoven sets of dances (for example, in having a much less satisfactory key sequence), it can be dismissed on both internal and external grounds" (Cooper, p. 224f).
W011>> Quartet 1 in F, Op. 18, No. 1, Chwiałkowski 6.3 (1798-1800)
012>London String Quartet. Abridged recording, [4 sides].
1919.7.
mx 75451-2/2-4/3-2/4-2.
English Columbia.L 1350 (20.3-27.4) plus L 1351 (20.5-27.4). The specific recording year and month is due to Taylor. Had these been first takes, the matrix numbers would definitely suggest 1917. It is possible that Taylor is in error and that the second (issued) takes were recorded in 1917 and waited for release during this period, but English Columbia had generally gotten out of issuing abridged recordings after 1917, exceptions being a 1918 recording of Mozart's Quartet 15 and the 1923 Catterall remakes of the 1918 Sammons Beethoven Spring Sonata and the 1917 Kreutzer Sonata. (See Coleridge-Taylor for another recording possibly issued long after it was made.) Mentioned in The Gramophone 1923.4.
013>Catterall Quartet, [7 sides].
1921, 1922, and 1923.
mx Cc 1299-1 (1922), for movement 3, plus Cc 2909-1/10-4/11-4/12-4/13-3/14-2 (1923, for movements 1, 2, and 4, two sides each). Brian Bishop speculates that the scherzo was initially recorded as an isolated movement, as was still customary in 1922, and only later was the rest of the work added. Creighton I lists only Cc 2909, 2910, 2913, and 1299, with correct takes. Creighton II has no matrix data.
Gramophone.D 947/50A (belated issue, 1924, mentioned in The Gramophone 1925.1).
Filler: Tchaikovsky: Quartet 2 in F, Op. 22: Scherzo, mx Cc 679-1 (1921). Previously issued on Gramophone.D 597, with Schumann: Quartet 2 in F, Op. 41, No. 2: Andante, on the first side, listed in Voices of the Past, as "Quartet Op. 71/2 - Andante Mendelssohn." Thanks to Brian Bishop for this information and for a tape of the recording.
014>The Lyric String Quartet. Abridged recording: sixty bars cut from the end of movement 2, [6 sides].
probably late 1923.
Velvet Face.571/3 (1923). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.1.
"In the string quartet for two violins, viola, and 'cello we have the purest and highest revelation of chamber music and perhaps of all music" (Donald F. Tovey in Cobbett, I: 252).
W012>> Quartet 2 in G, Op. 18, No. 2, Chwiałkowski 6.4 (Compliments) (1798-1800)
015>London String Quartet. Abridged recording, [4 sides].
1916.5.
mx 6758-1-2/59-2 (L 1056) plus mx 6760-2/1-1 (L 1068).
English Columbia.L 1056(16.9-27.7) plus L 1068(16.10-23.11.19). Mentioned in The Gramophone 1923.4.
The London String Quartet recorded the first movement earlier. Here is the entry in Taylor for English Columbia.531, issued 1915.5 and deleted by 1915.8: "Quartet in D, op. 20-Andante and Minuet (Haydn); Quartet in g minor [sic], Op. 18-Allegro (Beethoven)."
016>Catterall Quartet, [6 sides].
Probably late 1924.
Gramophone.D 997/9 (1925). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.7.
W013>> Quartet 3 in D, Op. 18, No. 3, Chwiałkowski 6.5 (1798-1800)
017>London String Quartet. Abridged recording, [4 sides].
mx 01355/8.
Vocalion.D 02004(21.2) plus D 02008(21.3). Mentioned in The Gramophone 1923.4.
W014>> Quartet 5 in A, Op. 18, No. 5, Chwiałkowski 6.7 (1798-1800): Incomplete recording: 3, Variations and 2, Menuett only.
018>Klingler Quartet [Karl Klingler, Josef Rywkind, Fridolin Klingler, Arthur Williams], [3 sides].
1911.
mx xxB 5547/9, numbers supplied by Hansfried Sieben.
Odeon.76274/6 (double-faced discs cataloged by side numbers). Movement 3 also issued on Odeon.79166/7 (also a double-faced disc). (76274/5 appeared in an auction list of Gunter Meyer in Germany in 1998.)
Filler, mx xxB 5550 on Odeon.76277, is an abridged recording of Haydn: Quartet in D, Op. 64, No. 5 ("Lark"): 3, Menuett (Allegretto) and 4, Finale (Vivace). Matrix and catalog information about the filler is missing in Sieben's matrix sequence and comes instead from a reissue of most of the Klingler Quartet recordings on CD: Testament [England].SBT 2136 (1998), a two-disc set, "The Klingler Quartet, 1905-1936, the Joachim Tradition." This CD set omits the two movements from Quartet 5, alas, and claims that the Haydn has the second and third movements of the Lark Quartet instead of the third and fourth.
019>Klingler Quartet [Karl Klingler, Josef Rywkind, Fridolin Klingler, Arthur Williams], [3 sides].
1912.
mx xxb 5667/9, numbers supplied by Hansfried Sieben.
Odeon.79166/8 (double-faced discs cataloged by side numbers): O-6069 plus O-6211A.
Filler, mx xxB 5670 on Odeon.79169: O-6211B, is Beethoven: Quartet 13 in B, Op. 135: 4, Alla danza tedesca. Filler only reissued on CD: Testament [England].SBT 2136 (1998), a two-disc set, "The Klingler Quartet, 1905-1936, the Joachim Tradition." Odeon.79169/70 appeared in an auction list of Gunter Meyer in Germany in 1998.
Reissue of one of these two recordings: LP: Odeon [German EMI].F 669.424/6 A/M, a 3-disc set, "Die Karl Klingler-Stiftung präsentiert: Klingler-Quartett, 1906-1936," supposedly their complete recordings, though new recordings have a habit of turning up. It is surprising to find the same work recorded twice by the same artists in these very early years. Had not matrix numbers been supplied by Sieben, this discographer would have conflated the performances. To further confuse matters, note that Sieben lists the third movement (Variations) as issued on the same catalog number Odeon.79166/7 for both the 1911 and 1912 recordings! Sieben also gives Odeon.76282 for the dance movement from the Thirteenth Quartet as a filler. Donald Hodgman owns a copy of double-faced Odeon.76278/76282, which consists of the Menuet from Quartet 5 and All danza tedesca from Quartet 13. It may be of some help to list all the acoustic recordings of the Klingler Quartet:
1911:
mx xxB 5547 on 76274: 79166. Beethoven: Q. 5: 3, Var., part 1.
mx xxB 5548 on 76275: 79167. Beethoven: Q. 5: 3, Var., part 2.
mx xxB 5549 on 76267. Beethoven: Q. 5: 2, Menuett.
mx xxB 5550 on 76277. Haydn: Lark Q.: 3 and 4. Not in Sieben's matrix list.
mx xxB 5551 on 76278. Mozart: Q. 15 in d: 3, Menuett.
mx xxB 5552 on 76279. Schubert Q. 14 in d: 3, Scherzo.
1912:
mx xxB 5667 on 79166: O-6069. Beethoven: Q. 5: 3, Var., part 1.
mx xxB 5668 on 79167: O-6069. Beethoven: Q. 5: 3, Var., part 2.
mx xxB 5669 on 79168: O-6211. Beethoven: Q. 5: 2, Menuett.
mx xxB 5670 on 76282: 79169: O-6211. Beethoven: Q. 13: 4.
The CD reissue lists mx xxB 5669.
mx unlisted on 76283. Mozart: Q. 16 in Eb: 3, Menuett. Not in Sieben's matrix list. The CD reissue lists mx xxB 5670.
1922/23, according to the CD reissue:
mx unlisted on Vox.06094. Mendelssohn: Q. 1 in D: 2, Canzonetta.
mx unlisted on Vox.06094. Mozart: Q. 19 in C: 3, Menuett.
Unknown matrix, label, issue, and date:
mx unlisted. Issue unlisted. Schumann: Q. 3: 2, Variations (two-sides).
The CD reissue lacks the Beethoven: Quartet 5 movements and the Schubert. The Klingler Quartet's most magnificent recording is Beethoven: Quartet 12, an electric of 1934.
W015>> Quartet 6 in Bb, Op. 18, No. 6, Chwiałkowski 6.8 (1798-1800)
020>London String Quartet. Abridged recording, [4 sides].
mx 01798, 01799, 01800, 01802.
Vocalion.D 02141(24.1) plus D 02142(24.2). First disc reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.2; second disc reviewed in The Gramophone 1924.3.
Who Invented Jazz? "A correspondent sent us a cutting from an American paper with the above heading. This is the charming style of it:--'One hundred and twenty-five years ago, it occurred to a deaf, ugly, pock-marked grouch in Vienna to write the first piece of jazz as a scherzo for his sixth string quartet.... You need only substitute for the first violin a saxophone with an effective caterwaul; add a myriad-minded drummer equipped with one-half the items listed in the catalog of a mail-order house; daub the classical beauty of Beethoven with a vermilion splutch or two of cave-man stuff; stop abruptly in the middle of the third measure from the end--and you will have music worthy of the loftiest and latest traditions of Paul Whiteman'" --The Gramophone 1925.3, p. 391.
W016>> Quartet 7 in F, Op. 59, No. 1, Chwiałkowski 6.9 (Razumovsky No. 1) (1805-6)
021>The Spencer Dyke String Quartet, [10 sides].
1925.
National Gramophonic Society of London.T,V,W,X,Y (U skipped over and never issued. So were J and II.) (19/23). Noted in The Gramophone 1925.6 as having been recorded. An advertisement in The Gramophone 1926.10 noted that the recording was out of print.
W017>> Quartet 8 in e, Op. 59, No. 2, Chwiałkowski 6.10 (Razumovsky No. 2) (Hero) (1805-6)
022>Virtuoso String Quartet, [8 sides].
Probably late 1924.
mx Cc 4540-5/4614-6/4615-1/4616-1/4617-2/4690-2/4691-3/4692-3. Creighton I had 4690-3 and 4691-2.
Gramophone.D 953/6 (1924). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.2.
023>London String Quartet, [also 8 sides].
1924.10.3 and 1925.9.8.
mx AX 628-6/29-4/30-3/31-3 on 25.9.8 plus mx AX 632-1/33-1/34-2/35-1 on 24.10.3, i.e., AX 628-35, inclusive.
English Columbia.L 1724/7(26.4-27.6). Issued belatedly. Reviewed in The Gramophone 1926.4.
W018>> Quartet 10 in Eb, Op. 74, Chwiałkowski 6.12 (Harp) (1809)
024>The Spencer Dyke String Quartet, [6 sides].
National Gramophonic Society of London.A-C (1/3). Mentioned in The Gramophone 1924.10. An advertisement in The Gramophone 1926.10 noted that the recording was out of print.
"It was a problem to get this quartet on three records. The Scherzo was as usually played just too long for one side. At the rehearsal I asked Mr. Spencer Dyke if they couldn't knock 25 seconds off it in the playing. He agreed to try, and I timed them. The result is a triumphant success." -- Compton Mackenzie, in The Gramophone 1925.4.
025>Léner Quartet, [8 sides].
1924.11.20.
mx AX 737-1/738-2/739-2/740-2/741-1/742-2/743-1/744-2, i.e., AX 737-44, inclusive.
English Columbia.L 1657/60(25.9-28.2). Reviewed in The Gramophone 1925.9.
American Columbia.set M 26 = 67118/21-D.
1932 electric remake on English Columbia.LX 319/22; American Columbia.set M 202 = 68230/3-D [also 8 sides].
W019>> Quartet 14 in c#, Op. 131, Chwiałkowski 6.16 (1826)
When we hear what a César Franck with the vision of a Van Eyck can do in music, we look, but in vain, for a composer who might be set beside Dante. Not even to Beethoven can we grant that eminence of the human mind. When I hear the later quartets occasionally I used to think that Beethoven had passed beyond the reach of a mortal, but now that I have been able to play these quartets over and over again [on the gramophone], and listen to the ninth symphony over and over again, I have realized that he never for an instant transcended mortality as in the Paradiso Dante transcended it. The finale of the ninth symphony is a descent to earth from those flutterings in the first movement on the brink of life's secret. Not that I would have Beethoven shed one trace of his common humanity with ourselves. I glory in his sublime failure to voice the ineffable, and I love him as I could never love Dante; but there are moments when I long for him to be able to soar undismayed and never to groan, as he inevitably will somewhere in his greatest compositions, that life is after all naught but a wry joke. Prometheus bound was a greater poetic conception than Prometheus unbound, and it is significant that since Shelley we have had no cosmic great poet. Prometheus was unbound and poetry died. And now, though we know that it was nothing but a titanic delusion from which Shelley and Beethoven suffered, and though we have proved its falsity on many battle-fields, poetry does not come to life again, and even music gasps. This is one of the pleasures of the gramophone, this continual company of music which enables one to speculate upon it in various moods, which makes one independent of other people's programmes, and which turns half one's library into records of music.
--Compton Mackenzie in Cobbett, I:492.
026>Léner Quartet, [10 sides].
1924.2.11, 2.21, and 8.25.
mx AX 300-1/301-1 on 24.2.11 plus mx AX 302-4 on 24.8.25 plus mx AX 323-3/324-2/325-2/326-1/327-2/328-2/332-2 on 24.2.21.
English Columbia.L 1581/5(24.11-28.2). Mentioned in The Gramophone 1924.4.
American Columbia.set M 6 = 67021/5-D.
1932 electric remake on English Columbia.LX 294/8; American Columbia.set M 175 = 68059/63-D [also 10 sides].
027>London String Quartet, [8 sides].
probably 1924.
Vocalion.K 05138/41(25.1).
Electric remake (unabridged) on English Columbia.LX 463/7; American Columbia.set M 193 = 68194/8-D [10 sides]. Taylor lists an earlier LSQ recording on English Columbia.L 1038 (16.6-27.7), consisting of "Quartet in c minor, Op. 131-Allegro (Beethoven)" on mx 6437-5 and "Quartet in F-unspecified movement (Ravel)" on mx 6634-2. The identification of the works is the same as in Voices of the Past, which gives the matrix numbers but without take information.