The Music Box Music Club Concert

Some of the finest music-making around goes on at the frequent concerts--mostly free--sponsored by the Harvard and Radcliffe Music Clubs. Last night's presentation of contemporary chamber music at Paine Hall was an exception. Rich composers and artists were for the most part members of the Harvard Music Department, and two of the four compositions played were receiving their premiers.

The highlight of the evening for me was Allen Sapp's second Violin Sonata. The dry-tang texture of the first movement, caused by the conflict of harmonies between violin and piano, combines with the many melodies to give a very striking effect. Perhaps the finest moment in the piece comes in the carefully built-up climax of the second movement. Except for a few scattered parts, the writing throughout the Sonata is tight; the piece never seems too long for its contents. My only objection is to some of the bowing effects in the first movement, which don't really seem to belong. The performance by Norma Bertolami Sapp and Joseph Leibovici was extremely competent, although occasionally it seemed as though Mr. Leibovici were merely rattling off the violin part.

David Diamond's Quintet in B minor for flute, string trio, and piano was the next number on the program. It is a very energetic piece which suffers in performance because of the thickness of the writing. This fault was emphasized last night, as the piano was out of balance with the other instruments, and frequently obliterated the flute. The individual instrumentalists played quite capably, however, and considering the fact that the piece was rehearsed only twice, it came off very well indeed.

The most spontaneous composition of the evening was Gordon Binkerd's rollicking Prelude and Allegro for flute and piano, and it provided a lot of highly enjoyable listening. The spectacular and extremely difficult flute part was handled magnificently by Howard Brown, whose capabilities were also exhibited in the Diamond Quintet. Karl Kohn's performance of the piano part was equally fine.

Paul Des Marais' Fantasy for two pianos ended the program. The piece shows many original ideas, some of them quite effective. Part of this effect, however, was lost by repetition in the opening Maestoso section of the Fantasy, which seemed somewhat too long. The handling of the two-piano combination is quite successful, and the performance by Luise Vosgerchian and Des Marais was, to say the least, authoritative.

A large and vocal audience received the concert enthusiastically.