GOOSSENS. Symphony No. 1, Op. 58. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Measham. Unicorn-Kanchana KP8000 (£5-50).

This record astonished and impressed me no end, not least because I had hitherto known nothing of the music of Sir Eugene Goossens. It has been almost completely neglected in his native country and there is now not a single record of it in the catalogue (not even the charming, if slight, By the Tarn which occasionally used to be played). The sleeve-note comments "with the current resurgence of interest in the music of the earlier half of this century, it is surprising that his music has not been re-appraised". It is indeed, as I think you will agree if you listen to this powerful, cogently-argued, symphony. To my mind it is stronger than those of Bax (who was born ten years earlier). Bax lovers will rise in protest at that statement (and I do confess to being less than an enthusiastic admirer) but if they will listen to this record I think they will see what I mean. Anyway, the outlook of the two composers is so different that comparisons and rivalry are to little point and I mention it merely because six of Bax's seven symphonies are already available in modern recordings.

A score of the Goossens is not easy to come by but the sleeve prints the whole of the composer's note for the first performance in Cincinnati in 1940, and this not only has music examples of the main themes but also his description of the course of the music which is as lucid as his musical thinking. I at no time had any difficulty in knowing where I was, even at a first hearing. I was most deeply impressed by the work and I am only not sure whether in a symphony lasting barely 37 minutes Goossens doesn't try to say too much in the finale. It is by a good deal the longest movement, over three minutes more than the first, and is closely packed with thematic references to what has gone before during the whole symphony— two 'motto' themes, one or both of which appear in various guises in each movement, as well as each movement's individual themes. Moods are strikingly varied and the music ranges from desolate clarinet solo to triumphant climaxes. All the same, one questions its length and whether Goossens has not tried to put too much into it— though now, with a recording to hand, that question can be resolved by more frequent hearing.

It is apt that this first modern recording should come from Australia, since Sir Eugene Goossens's last appointment was as director of the Conservatory of New South Wales and conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, following his post in Cincinnati (to whose orchestra this symphony is dedicated). Sleeves so often contain fulsome blurbs about the artists concerned, most of whom we know about already, that I feel guilty, especially when the essay on the music itself is so helpful, at remarking that for international circulation a word or two about the conductor would not have come amiss. David Measham followed Neville Marriner as principal second violin of the London Symphony Orchestra and one day stepped in at the Royal Festival Hall at the very last minute for an indisposed Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. His daring assumption of so famous a conductor's role was very well received and since then he has been pursuing his career as a conductor. He is at present in charge of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth (with which he has made the Vaughan Williams! John Ireland record reviewed on page 723 and is a frequent guest conductor with the other principal Australian orchestras. His rapport with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is evident from this record on which he gives an entirely commanding and convincing performance, while the Adelaide Town Hall offers a bright and sympathetic acoustic with plenty of 'space' around the sound.

I do commend this record to you very strongly indeed. T.H.

[A recording of this symphony originating from a public concert given in the Sydney Town Hall on October 23rd, 1947, with the composer conducting the ABC Sydney Symphony Orchestra, was at one time available on the Australian Festival label mono FC30866.1