THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, January 23,1969
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, January 23,1969
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EVALUATION OF FACULTY?
RC faculty to debate
Ipass-fail gradings
NOW
SHOWING
NATIONAL SENERAL CO.RPORA,7
FOX EASTERN THEATRE s(S
FO AVILL-GE
375 No. MAPLE RD. '769.1300
NATIONAL EPNERAL COF~PORAr~.
MON.-FRI.
-7:00-9:15
SAT. -SUN.
2:15-4:30-
'6:15-9:00
By R. A. PERRY
He shuffles onto the stage
like a shy, tired rabbit, this
Grand Master who has perform-
ed with and known all of the
major musicians and composers
of our century. Artur Rubin-
stein's presence on the stage
was awesome, for, like Eliot, or
Picasso, or Flagstad, or Caruso
he represents not only the best
of his kind, but also history. As
a musician, Rubinstein is not,
only an expert pianist but an
artist as well.
What does it mean to say
that a man is not only an excel-
lent musician but an artist? It
means, I suppose, that the per-
former must not only possess a
perfected technique, a develop-
ed musical intelligence, and an
integrated conception of the
musical work at hand; many,
many fine soloists possess such
hard-earned qualities. The mu-
sician who is an artist "as well"
must somehow have perfected a
spontaneous decision - making
process in which the succession
and development of notes and
dynamics make one forget the
very decisions involved.
Aldous Huxley liked. to say
that Beauty in a work of art'
lives trapped within the ele-
ments of construction and
somehow independent of them.
Certainly the transfixing and
transporting insights of a work
of "art depend on the elements
of constructions, but these su-
preme qualities can only be
evoked when the succession or
juxtaposition of elements in no
way appears arbitrary, but
seems formed only and perfectly
out of the integral needs and
balances of the art work itself.
ed or prominent. Although I
have always revered Schnabel's
performance of the Impromptus
for their plastic'turns of ingen-
ious subtley, Rubinstein's rendi-
tion accomplished the same un-
interrupted reverie with even
greater simplicity.
Beethoven's "Appasionata"
Sonata was offered as the main
feature of the evening and one
wondered whether, at 83 years,
Rubinstein could pull it off. He
did so magnificently, with in-
credible control and power, and
what fluffs occurred were flaws
as if a freckle blossomed on the
calf of Michelangelo's "David."
Of this sonata, which comes
between Beethoven's "Eroica"
and his G major Piano Concer-
to, the composer - intellectual
Ferruccio Busoni wrote that
"the melodic element . . gets
lost in a kind of table-land of
modulatory and figurative elo-
quence." Busoni says thatin the
first movement, "the persistent-
rush and intensity of temper-
ment take the place of what
should be content."
In opting for the longer melo-
dic line (of Wagner), Busoni
perhaps overlooks the exquisve-
ness of the brief melodic turn-
ings that emerge so painfully
amongst the larger dynamic and
structural developments. These
Rubinstein brought out beauti-
fully without sacrificing any of
the drama or especially clarity
of the larger issues. Most won-
derful was the air of resignation
in the bathetic ending of the
first movement and also the
upper register climax of the
slw, repetitive second move-
ment. The finale ended in an
electrifying show of virtuosity
-but for the sake of the piece
and not the pianist!
The second half of the pro-
gram opened with some dreary
Villa-Lobos- work ("The Baby's
Family") but happily moved
next to the music which Rubin-
stein has been playing for 75
years: Chopin.
The G-minor Ballade was
taken much slower than Rubin-
stein's 1960 recording and some
of the flow and sparkle of that
earlier performance escaped last
night's more introspective and
slightly stiff version. The F-
sharp major Nocturne received
a more model-ate approach too,
with each note, of course, in
place and fully felt.
Withdthree standing ovations,
the audience sadistically asked
for more.
By BARD MONTGOMERY
The Residential College faculty
will meet this afternoon to con-
sider modification of the RC sys-
tem of pass-fail grading.
Suggestions to change the sys-
tem are a response to the insis-
tence of scholarship agencies and
graduate schools that candidates
submit grade point averages.
Residential College students are
graded only in literary college
courses. They receive written
evaluations, along with a mark of
SGC survey
finds values
(Continued from Page 1)
the average student, "who gets
some bargains, some average deals,
and occasionally pays the worst
possible price for a product."
McKay says consumer ignor-
ance exists because students buy
incidentals in.small quantities and
not in one big shopping excursion.
"Housewives buy a large amount
of items all at once," he explains,
'and after two or three times
they begin to realize how much
excess money is coming out of
their pockets.
"A student on the other hand,
buys a few incidentals at a time
and probably doesn't realize that
the extra dime he is paying might
be due to deliberate price swell-
ing."
McKay supervised the pr4ce sur-
veys which discovered that aver-
age prices in Ann Arbor for toilet-
ries were six per cent higher than
prices in Birmingham, Michigan
stores. Birmingham is a large
suburb of Detroit.
SCU feels the difference be-
tween' individual stores may be
explained by such variables as
differing rent, overhead, and
transportation of stock.
However, this does not neces-
sarily justify the price mark-ups.
"If the merchant is justified in
passing on his operating costs to
the student consumer, the student
is equally justified in seeking the
most efficient, most reasonably
operated stores, and shopping ac-
cordingly."
SGC will accept the report to-
night at its weekly meeting.
"pass" or "fail" in most RCj
courses.
Prof. Sheridan Blau, chairman
of the RC's Pass-Fail Study Com-
mittee, concedes that "it is unfair
to match students competing for
the same award against different
criteria."
Blau will suggest that RC fac-*
ulty members adopt grading sys-
tems that will most appropriately
measure achievement in each
specific course.
RC Dean James Robertson says
the current pass-fail system "is
based on the belief that in small
classes it makes much more edu-
cational sense to write out an
evaluation so that each student
has a clear notion of his pro-
fessor's estimate of his progress."
"The absence of letter grades
allows students to set their own
pace without the constraints of a
two-dimensional system," he ex-
plains.
Ivan Parker, associate director
of financial aids, says his office
examines transcripts submitted by
RC applicants, but does not con-
sider instructors' evaluations.
"In borderline cases," he says,
"we ask the RC staff if the stu-
dent has better than a 'B' aver-
age, or whatever the minimum
standard is, and they say 'yes' or
'no'
The faculty will also be asked
to consider a proposal for the es-
tablishment of a "Student-Faculty
Advisory Committee on Teach-
ing."
The proposal, formulated by a
study group, calls for the commit-
tee to "recognize teaching excel-
lence, and take note of faculty
members who are unsuccessful in
RC teaching and make appro-
priate suggestions to the dean."
Prof. Alan Guskin, a member of
the study group, explains, "The
purpose of the advisory committee
is not to get rid of anybody on the
faculty. On the whole the RC
faculty is excellent, and an ad-
visory committee is unlikely to be
necessary. But the day may come
when an advisory committee will
be useful, and it hurts less to
establish it now. This kind of
thing can be most easily done in
the RC. Hopefully, it may diffuse
throughout the University."
F' )JOHnnWAYNE
TONIGHT
T-LABS
Discussion-pros and cons
of
sensitivity training 142 Hill St~
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
The incredible mind and music of
BOB FRANKE and his
eclectic non-band
I"' ULYSSES'A SUPERB FILM!":I
-Life Magazine
4
0
of
Stanley Quartet:
As usuol
By JIM PETERS Likewise, for a musician to be
I doubt if Artur Rubinstein knew that he had the Stanley an artist, nothing in the form-
Quartet for competition last night, but it really doesn't matter. tion or recreation of his con-
There was a goodly sized crowd at Rackham Aud. despite the ception of the music can appear
allure of a star performing at Hillsuperfluous or p e r f u n c t o r y.
Which is not to say, of course,
The musicians played very well, and their music was fascinat- that there exists only one con-
irg. I don't know who plans the Quartet's programs, but they are ception of a piece of music, only
fine examples of balanced selection, mixing historical periods with that the execution of the ele-
insight and brightening the standard repetoire with the sparkle of ments of that conception must
twentieth century works. be "perfect."
They began with Mozart. All the familiar Mozartean tools are Artur Rubinstein's pianism is
found in his "Quartet in G Major, K. 387," the sprightly trills, the perfect not because his concep-
ng melodic lines; and it's all balanced, all shaped and formed tion is necessarily right but be-
, n ;ncause note follows note with
by Mozart's pervading wit. complete inevitability, because
First violinist Ross led the group into the opening allegro not one gesture has any tinge
movement in perfect style. The movement begins with a lively of the perfunctory. No effect
melody which is seen muted; and there is no dramatic ending, just serves any other master than
the soft rustling of strings which dies away. the integrated insight which
The thrilled cadences of the second movement passed to the leads the pianist through the
lyric andante cantabile. The melody in the upper strings rides piece.
aver celloruns, moving through very romantic turbulence. And young piano player -- Frager
the finale springs to life like the ticking of tiny watches, motion Ashkenazy, Gould, Barenboim,
which too dies away at the end after a quite dramatic false Cliburn, Watts, .Serkin, Brown-
cadence. ing, Ogden, Petrov, and Graff-
And the changing mood continued with Anton Webern's "Five man, to name a few-in which
Movements for String Quartet, opus 5." These five sections were a each performer outdoes the
good enough reason for me to miss that piano recital. Webern gets next in virtuosity and fervor, to
some fine sounds out of these four men: shrieking harmonics, hear the quality of Rubinstein's
pizzicato crashes. Shudderings in the cello move up through the playing becomes almost ana-
strings; there are solos and duets in the second section, and some ronisticbu ertainl voice of
strange guitar-like sounds come from the cello in the third part. Rubinstein's keyboard to those
The five pieces are a battle-ground for conflicting sounds and of the younger pianists one may
noises. And in the midst of all this come bitter melodic sections, think of the poetry of Robert
writhing in high-pitched strings. And the "Five Movements" end Frost, deep and religious, to the
with tihe style of the Mozart Quartet; fast nfurmurings quiet down declamatory style of Andrei
to a lifeless climax. Voznesensky.
The Stanley Quartet feels this music as much as Mozart or n sclari offablepressiorn was
Haydn; and all their sensitivity, their timing, their timbre knowl- immediately seen in the two
edge makes them masters of Webern and Bartok too. Schubert Impromptus from Op.
'Beethoven's furious "Quartet in F ,minor, opus 95," the last 90 which opened last night's
piece, is as enigmatic as Beethoven ever gets. The first movement Hill Aud. recital. Nothing was
flashes right to the end, and ,a short repeated cello line in the pushed, not one note overstress-
second movement constantly signalled a lessening of the fury, a
return to simple quiet melodies.
The Stanley Quartet next performs on Wednesday, Feb. 26, C
at Rackham. Although they probably won't have such famous com-
petition then, I'd match them anytime against big stars. They are in-Cl i fie
controlled, expert performers, -which I've said many times; and
What's more, their concerts are free.
<- -
Sell' j 1 N fll
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THURSDAY and FRIDAY
TOUCH -OF EVIL
Directed by Orson Welles, 1958
MARLENE DIETRICH
ORSON WELLES
CHARLTON HESTON
in Daily "Welles at his most grotesque"
C ,)7:0O&9:05 ARCHITECTURE
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