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Horizons, v. 6, issue 2, whole no. 21, December 1944

Page 10

pilgrims.

The fifth, entitled by someone or other "The Knight's Vigil", contains some of the greatest and most impressive of all Strauss' music. Unable to sleep, Don Quixote keeps watch by his armor, and Dulcinea, his Ideal Woman, appears in a vision. No description of the passion and power of the music is necessary; the composed equaled it in only one place in his tone-poems, the love music to "A Hero's Life" which redeems that otherwise spotty product. The sixth variation, on the other hand, comes close to being jazzy, when a country maiden who is probably no better than she ought to be comes along and Sancho almost convinces Don that she is Dulcinea.

The most famous individual feature of "Don Quixote" is used in the next variation -- a wind machine. The Don and Sancho sit blindfolded on a wooden horse, and believe they are soaring through the air, the sound of their passage being assisted by the wind machine. Strauss keep a deep noise coming out of the bass fiddles all through the section, to indicate that they didn't really leave the ground; as usual with the best and subtlest things in his orchestration, the noise made by the rest of the orchestra pretty well drowns out the rumble.

In the next two variations, the adventures almost drown in the course of a boat ride, and actually succeed in coming out of one of their engagements victoriously when the knight routs two monks. In the tenth and last comes the fight with the Knight of the White Moon; the Don is soundly defeated, and his mind begins once again to grasp the reality of things. For no discernible reason, a little phrase for English horn that had been prominent in the fight with the sheep reappears; this fragment happens to be suspiciously similar to a part of the shepherd's piping at the beginning of the last act of "Tristan".

The finale of the work is reasonably long, but simple. The theme of Don Quixote has been almost unrecognizably different, through alternation of its ascent scheme and augmentation, and the odd clarinet harmonies mentioned above become orthodox and natural, indicating that Don Quixote is in mental health once more. Not so physically, however, for his exertions have proved too much, and on his deathbed he speaks through the voice of the cello in noble music such as has not been written otherwise for that instrument since Brahms' and Dvorak's concertos. "To conclude, the last day of Don Quixote came, after he had received all the sacraments; and had by many and godly reasons made demonstration to abhor all the books of errant chivalry. The notary was present at his death and reporteth how he had never read or found in any book of chivalry that any errant knight died in his bed so mildly, so quietly, and so Christianly as did Don Quixote. Amidst the wailful plaints and blubbering tears of the bystanders, he yielded up the ghost, that is to say, he died."

Unlike most of the compositions I have mentioned in these article, this one is readily available through recordings. Being no connoisseur or owner of records, I cannot cite chapter and verse, but judging by the record concerts on the radio, would heartily recommend the version released two or three years ago with the late Feuermann as solo cellist, and I am reasonably certain the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Stokowski. Technically, the performance is nearly flawless, and the sound goes over the air with greater clarity and realism than most "live" symphony orchestras.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 
The death while serving his country of Walter Sullivan, reported first in Fantasy News, probably means nothing to all but a half-dozen FAPA members. To me, it brings back many, many memories. I met Walt in 1939, and corresponded with him regularly from 1938 through 1942, and was probably the last active fans to be in touch with him. Actually, he gave an inescapable impression of being "a man of the crowd", was in the background in fandom, yet active and had to my knowledge no enemies. He wrote a couple of the most popular articles that ever appeared in Spaceways. Almost no one in fandom knew his real plans and interest -- archaeology -- and his intention of making certain stf stories come true.

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pilgrims. The fifth, entitled by someone or other "The Knight's Vigil", contains some of the greatest and most impressive of all Strauss' music. Unable to sleep, Don Quixote keeps watch by his armor, and Dulcinea, his Ideal Woman, appears in a vision. No description of the passion and power of the music is necessary; the composed equaled it in only one place in his tone-poems, the love music to "A Hero's Life" which redeems that otherwise spotty product. The sixth variation, on the other hand, comes close to being jazzy, when a country maiden who is probably no better than she ought to be comes along and Sancho almost convinces Don that she is Dulcinea. The most famous individual feature of "Don Quixote" is used in the next variation -- a wind machine. The Don and Sancho sit blindfolded on a wooden horse, and believe they are soaring through the air, the sound of their passage being assisted by the wind machine. Strauss keep a deep noise coming out of the bass fiddles all through the section, to indicate that they didn't really leave the ground; as usual with the best and subtlest things in his orchestration, the noise made by the rest of the orchestra pretty well drowns out the rumble. In the next two variations, the adventures almost drown in the course of a boat ride, and actually succeed in coming out of one of their engagements victoriously when the knight routs two monks. In the tenth and last comes the fight with the Knight of the White Moon; the Don is soundly defeated, and his mind begins once again to grasp the reality of things. For no discernible reason, a little phrase for English horn that had been prominent in the fight with the sheep reappears; this fragment happens to be suspiciously similar to a part of the shepherd's piping at the beginning of the last act of "Tristan". The finale of the work is reasonably long, but simple. The theme of Don Quixote has been almost unrecognizably different, through alternation of its ascent scheme and augmentation, and the odd clarinet harmonies mentioned above become orthodox and natural, indicating that Don Quixote is in mental health once more. Not so physically, however, for his exertions have proved too much, and on his deathbed he speaks through the voice of the cello in noble music such as has not been written otherwise for that instrument since Brahms' and Dvorak's concertos. "To conclude, the last day of Don Quixote came, after he had received all the sacraments; and had by many and godly reasons made demonstration to abhor all the books of errant chivalry. The notary was present at his death and reporteth how he had never read or found in any book of chivalry that any errant knight died in his bed so mildly, so quietly, and so Christianly as did Don Quixote. Amidst the wailful plaints and blubbering tears of the bystanders, he yielded up the ghost, that is to say, he died." Unlike most of the compositions I have mentioned in these article, this one is readily available through recordings. Being no connoisseur or owner of records, I cannot cite chapter and verse, but judging by the record concerts on the radio, would heartily recommend the version released two or three years ago with the late Feuermann as solo cellist, and I am reasonably certain the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Stokowski. Technically, the performance is nearly flawless, and the sound goes over the air with greater clarity and realism than most "live" symphony orchestras. ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' The death while serving his country of Walter Sullivan, reported first in Fantasy News, probably means nothing to all but a half-dozen FAPA members. To me, it brings back many, many memories. I met Walt in 1939, and corresponded with him regularly from 1938 through 1942, and was probably the last active fans to be in touch with him. Actually, he gave an inescapable impression of being "a man of the crowd", was in the background in fandom, yet active and had to my knowledge no enemies. He wrote a couple of the most popular articles that ever appeared in Spaceways. Almost no one in fandom knew his real plans and interest -- archaeology -- and his intention of making certain stf stories come true.