Ly ricKord LONG PLAYING RECORDS

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

ERNO BALOG

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J. S. BACH : 15 two part inventions • 15 three part inventions •

four cl nets • 18 little preludes •

Some of the mightiest works the Eighteenth Century produced were written by Johann Sebastian Bach. But the magnificence of his art is equally disclosed in the tiny miniature pieces he composed. His joy in Trying out new devices, in exploring new harmonic and polyphonic possibilities with his in¬ exhaustible creative imagination, his supreme tech¬ nical mastery are revealed as clearly in a short piece for the clavier as in a large oratorio for chorus and orchestra.

In Bach we find a strange phenomenon so rare in the creative genius: he enjoyed teaching. The planning of a systematic course of instruction satis¬ fied his keen and logical mind, and contact with eager young musicians stimulated him to write some of his most significant compositions.

In 1720 Bach started a little clavier book for his oldest son, Wilhelm Friedmann, then nine and a half years old. This book was to serve as basis for the instruction of all his children and other pupils as well. It is a progressive manual, beginning with an explanation of clefs and leading the student from the simplest to the more advanced pieces. To its most valuable content belong a number of short compositions known today as Inventions, of which the composer apparently thought very highly since they exist also in two other autographs. One of them bears the following interesting inscription:

"Honest guide, by which lovers of the clavier, and particularly those desirous of learning, are shown a plain way not only to play neatly in two parts, but also, as they progress, to treat three parts correctly and well . . . most of all to learn a singing style of playing . . . Executed by Joh. Seb. Bach, Capellmeister of the Prince of Anhalt-Coethen, Anno Christi 1723."

It is easy to trace the models which Bach followed in writing these compositions.

Two Part Inventions lu ll3

The Two Part Inventions are fashioned after pre¬ ludes by Johann Kuhnau (Bach's predecessor in Leipzig), while the title was suggested by the famous Francesco Bonporti's Invenzioni for violin, which interested the master so much that he copied some of them.

What Bach creates out of these elements is, nevertheless, entirely new. No other composer has ever considered imbuing clavier compositions of such small dimensions with content of similar significance.

These are studies in independent part writing using all the devices of the fugue and canon, as well as double counterpoint, but without strict ad¬ herence to any of them. Bach offers fantasias in the realm of polyphony, freely blending all known techniques and creating forms which are held to¬ gether by the logic and iron consistency of his musical thought. As always in his work, technical perfection is combined with the strongest emotional intensity.

The abundance of delightful features makes their enumeration impossible, but particular attention should be called to the perfect formal balance of No. I in C major, the tenderness of the playful No. 6 in E major,, and the brisk energy of the famous No. 8 in F major.

Three Part Inventions (“Sinfonias”) lu

The Three Part Inventions are based on the at¬ tempt of Johann Kuhnau (who, in addition to being Bach's predecessor in Leipzig, was a well-known composer in his own rights) to transplant the Italian trio to the clavier.

The great beauty of each of the fifteen Inventions is achieved through a combination of devices and ideas which is never duplicated in the other four¬ teen. Outstanding is the magnificent Invention No. 9 in F minor, whose intricate polyphonic interpre¬ tation of three subjects is employed in an atmos¬ phere of sinister pathos, the dramatic power of which Bach himself has hardly ever surpassed.

Four Duets ll3

Bach's Clavieruebung (Clavier Exercise) belongs to the very few compositions of the master printed in his life time. The composer himself acted as publisher and partly, at least, as engraver. The third part of the Clavieruebung, published in 1739, contains some of the greatest organ music ever written. Near the end of this collection we find four duets which have always puzzled research students, since they have no pedal parts for the organ and are different from the rest of the com¬ positions in this volume. Schweitzer, the biographer of Bach, assumed that they had been inserted into the collection by mistake only, while Frotzscher, the great expert of old organ music, conjectured that they were meant for the manual of the king of instruments.

This argument need not concern the music lover too much. The Duets are music of high quality which comes to full effect both on wind and string instruments equipped with keyboard. They are similar in character to Bach's earlier Two Part Inventions, though of a far more elaborate con¬ struction.

Eighteen Little Preludes lli ll3

In the clavier booklet which Bach prepared for his oldest son there are also seven compositions which were later inserted into a collection of Twelve Little Preludes. A second series of Six Preludes a Tusage des Commencants was subse¬ quently edited by Bach's first biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel. These eighteen compositions were not meant as introductions to fugues but as inde¬ pendent musical vignettes. Planned originally as simple exercises, they grew into gems of haunting beauty. Compositions such as the dreamy Prelude in C minor imitating lute music, the vigorous piece in F major (from the Twelve Preludes) and, above all, the exuberant Prelude in E major (from the Six Preludes) seem like microcosms condensing Bach's magnificent art within the smallest possible shape.

KARL GEIRINGER

Erno Balogh

Erno Balogh is a Hungarian by birth. As a fledg¬ ling pianist of three and a half he captured con¬ cert listeners in Budapest. Later he studied with Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly at the Budapest Royal Academy, gave all-Chopin recitals at thirteen, all-Liszt recitals at fourteen, and won the coveted Franz Liszt prize at fifteen.

After touring Europe as virtuoso pianist and composer for several years he came to this country. The National Association for American Composers and Conductors has since cited him as "outstand¬ ing among foreign-born musical performers with a record of constant and practical interest in American compositions for the piano".

Fritz Kreisler first introduced Balogh as a com¬ poser. As pianist, his public has widened steadily among concert goers and record buyers.

In addition to giving numerous recitals through¬ out the country, Erno Balogh teaches classes in several of the leading conservatories. His chief association at the present is with the Peabody Con¬ servatory in Baltimore.

Frans Liszt

ANNEES DE PELERINAGE, ITALIE (complete) Erno Balogh, piano LL14 12" record

L/richord Discs, Inc., 464 W. 51st Street, New York 19, N. Y

Frederic Chopin

FOUR IMPROMPTUS, BOLERO, BERCEUSE TARANTELLE. BARCAROLLE Erno Balogh, piano LJL20 12" record

Claude Debussy SIX EPIGRAPHES ANTIQUES PETITE SUITE Caroline Norwood & Eleanor Hancock, piano duo LL21 10" record

Ditters von DiHersdorf SYMPHONY IN A MINOR Louis Ferdinand of Hohenxollern RONDO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA Frankenland State Symphony Orchestra Otto Graet, piano • Erich Kloss, conductor LL26 12" record