Feb 6, Courtauld-Sargent, Feuermann

This was a good concert of strangely contrasting items. Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante (op.84) is, in effect, a concerto grosso with a concertino consisting of solo violin, cello, oboe & bassoon. The opening allegro was distinctly Mozartean & the whole work was attractive. I am not very familiar with Dvořák’s cello concerto (op.104) it is v. melodious and without being a show piece for the ‘cello is well laid out so as to make the soloist reasonably prominent. Feuermann (have I heard him before?) seemed to play it excellently) [sic]. After the interval we began with a new suite by Françaix – Le Jugement du fou – , a noisy work rather reminiscent of his music for “Le Roi Nu”. It is based on a story from Rabelais and was completed as recently as last September. There is an elaborate synopsis of the story & the work obviously cries out for visual treatment which could probably make it seem more interesting tho’ even so some of the piquancies of the orchestration were amusing enough. And then to restore us to peace and beauty came the Pastoral Symphony of Vaughan Williams. I was confirmed in my opinion based on only one or two previous hearings that it is one of the most beautiful works which have appeared since the war. Perhaps the absence of any excitement & the fact that its meditative vein might appear to some people monotonous (especially since most of it is played slowly & quietly) precludes it from any large popularity. But I cannot understand why it is played so rarely. And it remains one of the most grievous wants in the recording of modern music