Adams House Music Society

In the last few years, the Adams House Music society has come to fill a unique role in the Harvard community. It is an organization dedicated more to pleasant listening then to House prestige or amateur esthetics. And Monday's "Annual December Program" typified the kind of relaxed competence that has marked almost all its concerts.

As first of the featured works, a small string orchestra under Norman Shapiro's direction performed Purcell's Fantasia on One Note. The novelty of this work lies in the "one note"-C-sustained throughout. All the harmony and counterpoint revolve about this tonal pivot, and it is a tribute to Purcell's genius that the technical tour-de-force never overshadows melodic beauty and expressiveness. Mr. Shapiro's treatment, however, seemed a bit heavy-handed and the players assigned the persistent C could not quite agree on its pitch.

Bach's Concerto for Two violins requires some sense of equality-though not identity-of the two solo parts. Annette Colish and Diana Stevenson both performed with accurate phrasing and intonation, but Miss Colish's sound completely overpowered her partner's smaller tone. Mr. Shapiro let the orchestra become simply a support for the soloists. This may not be authentic concerto grosso style, but it is greatly preferable to the brazen display of Interpretation" offered by some other conductors.

In a program of Baroque music, Fugal pieces for Three violins, buy John Austin '56, did not sound as well as they might have in the context of other contemporary works. The composer's most obvious asset is his sense of musical balance and proportion. Scoring for three equal instruments imposes severe demands on such ability, and if Mr. Akustin does not always succeed artistically the pieces are at least short enough to avoid monotony. As in the Modal Canons, his fascination with problems in counterpoint tends to exclude (or avoid) those of expression. But with such technical competence, perhaps he will produce a more personal work in the near future.