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Show Tomifa iitul others Planets, released at the same time as Gleesons last year, was a thorough reworking of that piece for the new instrument even, in places, a recomposing; and I loved it. His new work, Kosmos, (RCA) is even more delightful. IT OPENS with yet another version of John Williams Star Wars theme, which we have had already had in versions for full orchestra, electronic orchestra, rock band, what have you. Tomitas is good, too, but after all its basically a pop tune, and weve never had trouble with synthesized pop tunes. The rest of the album, however, is devoted to familiar classical works, and it is here that Tomita shines. Space Fantasy is an imaginative and powerful work that employs, but does not parrot, familiar themes: the opening of Strauss Zarathustra, and The Ride of the Valkyries and the overture to Tannhauser, both by Wagner. Honeggers Pacific 231, which follows on side one, is better, for me, than the orchestral original, which seems mere gimmick. There seems more point, somehow, to creating the sound of a steam engine on the synthesizer, than in using an entire symphony orchestra for the The purpose. The fourth work on this side, Ives Unanswered Question, retains in this' realization all the mysticism it possesses in its version. SIDE TWO opens with yet another recording of the adagio from Rodrigos Concierto de Aranjuez, which Tomita approaches with taste and delicacy he employs a sound like a man whistling for the main and moves on to theme, originally written for guitar an absolutely melting rendition of Solveigs Song, from Griegs Peer Gynt music. Here Tomita pulls out all the stops, as it were: organ tones, rich strings, even what may be the click of the spinning wheel as Solveig waits patiently in her mountain cabin for her lover to return. A light interlude follows, based on the familiar Hora a popular violin encore. The Staccato of Dinicu-Heifet- Synthesized classics ly David L. Btvk Assistant Sunday Editor THERE IS nothing inherently right about acoustic sounds, or inherently wrong about electronic sounds. Its just that we have been listening to the one for thousands of years, and to the other for only a few decades a few years, in the case of synthesizers. The synthesizer is some say an infinite capable of producing a wide variety of sounds, some duplicating more traditional instruments (strings and percussion are particularly successful), and others unique to the synthesizer. This is not a problem when listening to music written for the instrument. You may like it or not, but you are not troubled by mental comparisons with the same work played acoustically. Many synthesizer albums, however, beginning with the work of Walter Carlos, have been electronic realizations of familiar pieces, and therein lies a problem. If the musician brings something new to the music sensitivity, a high level of musicianship, perhaps even an imaginative rewriting of the familiar score the results deserve to be judged and enjoyed on their own terms; Glenn Gould, in a typical excess of enthusiasm, called Carlos performance of one of the Brandenburgs the best he had ever heard. I use the BUT WHEN the instrument is used merely word advisedly, knowing the labor involved and the high to reproduce, as closely as level of skill required possible, the orchestral sounds we already know, a problem arises. On the albums I have heard of this sort, the results have not been as satisfying as the existing orchestral performances. That was the problem, for me, with Patrick Gleesons realization of Holsts The Planets, last year. The same difficulties obtain in listening to a Nutracker Sute and recording of Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture produced recently by Larry Alexander and Jack Kraft, on London. The Nutcracker, for example, is charming, but the synthesizer tones created by Kraft and Alexander are disconcerting and even laughable compared with the sounds of strings and celeste that we know so well. As for the 1812, while it has power, nothing will replace, for many of us, the wild vigor of that finale when played with bells, cannon and trumpet-and-orchest- z, N orchestra. full however, is Tomita, in a different crossword puzzle class. V His (Answer on page 1 for tiiie record Mr. Beck Isao Tomitas new album, Kosmos, "has imagination and taste. last work on the album is the longest; called The Sea Named Solaris, it is a tone poem by Tomita based on themes from Bach: the Three-Par- t Invention No. 2 in C minor, and the chorale, I Call to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ. Tomita writes that he had in mind a Russian science fiction movie, Solaris, about a planet of plasma that is a single living entity. Solaris extracts memories from the men who land upon it, and reincarnates loved ones from their past. It is a lovely, moving work by a not just an electrician with chops musician of the highest caliber. SPEAKING OF musicians of the highest caliber, Sonny Rollins, one of the great tenor saxophonists in jazz history, continues to surprise his many fans with the happy enthusiasm of his latest work, and to disappoint some of them by what they conceive to be its lack of depth (for which read, perhaps, length). Nuts. The man is proving himself to be as great an entertainer, in a musical sense, as he was an experimenter in his early days. To the technique and solo imagination that he brought to his half-hoexploration in the late 50s, he has added joy. The music is more approachable now, and its still fine music. The new album on Fantasy is called Easy Living, the title tune being familiar, in a gentler incarnation, to Hall collaborations. fans of the Paul Desmond-Jim 1) SLEUTHING UROSS i " 5 ialook 32 13 Horizon" i and N'amat h Recao War ts to learn 17 Guthrie 18 Grimm tale heavy 9 19 Sample 20 Shov 21 Biz grp. Detective, maybe 24 Keep a ship 25 stationary Offspring Alibi and DDE 27 Door sign 28 Venus or Pluto 29 Occupies 31 Sharif or Bradley DOWN 3 ' h 34 35 38 41 43 44 45 47 48 2 wds 26 2 33 49 50 54 55 57 58 59 12 13 Oversight Synthetic fabric Street language Thee, to Pierre Arcaro or Cordero echer's looks "'oho matinee I idols dot the stomach Woe !"2wds Marquee name 14 - Reporters query Primitive computers Companionless Neckwear Sleuths Pea-soup- Stringed instrument Extinct birds Lowlife Caen's neighbor 2 wds Neighbor of Leb. 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