SYMPHONIC, ETC.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major (Saxonian State Orchestra, conducted by Karl Bohm; Victor; 18 sides in two volumes; $10). Devout, naive--he gratefully tipped Conductor Hans Richter one thaler (71-c-) after the first performance of his fourth symphony--Composer Anton Bruckner wrote some of the most prolix symphonies in history. Dresden's orchestra, one of Europe's finest, gives Bruckner's long melodies a fine recording, the only one now available in the U.S.

A Festival of Brazilian Music (Victor; 10 sides; $5.50). First big phonographic collection of works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazil's No. i composer and one of the lustiest living. Beautifully recorded by Soprano Elsie Houston, the Schola Cantorum, conducted by Hugh Ross, a scratch orchestra under Burle Marx. Villa-Lobosities: a Bachiana Brasileira for eight cellos attempting to fuse the spirits of Bach and Brazil; a Nonetto for chorus and small orchestra, purporting to describe Brazil's geography.

Tchaikovsky: Francesco da Rimin (London Philharmonic Orchestra, con ducted by Sir Thomas Beecham; Colum bia; 6 sides; $3.50). The storms of Hell swirling about Dante's damned lovers Paolo and Francesca, were never driver more furiously.

Prokofiev: String Quartet (Stuyvesant Quartet; Columbia; 6 sides; $3.50) The Soviet composer's only quartet, issuec to celebrate his soth birthday. Nourishing but mostly dry; Prokofiev adds little cream and sugar to the Wheaties.

Bach: Toccata and Fugue in C (Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony; Columbia; 4 sides; $2.50). Fine first recording in orchestral form of one of Bach's great organ works.

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Love Music (All-American Youth Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski; Columbia; 6 sides; $3.50). Dr. Stokowski, a great one for tinkering, first fixed up these surging passages for Victor, with the Philadelphia Orchestra. With his youths (Class of 1940) he produces a satisfactory, briefer job.

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Members of the BBC Symphony, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult; Victor; 4 sides; $2.50). A contemporary Englishman weaves dark traceries on a churchly strain, by a 16th-century court composer. Spaciously recorded by BBC's strings.

Brahms: Serenade No. 2 in A Major (Alumni Orchestra of the National Orchestral Association, conducted by Richard Korn; Victor; 7 sides; $4). Genial, wood-windy Brahms, notable for having no fiddles. A top-notch first recording.

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