Music: New Records, Aug. 23, 1954

Two Frenchmen (so the story goes) were listening to a Beethoven quartet. "Ah, magnifique," sighed one, "what a beautiful theme." "Yes indeed," agreed the other. "Let's get out of here before he starts developing it."

That seems to be the philosophy behind RCA Victor's new Listener's Digest (10 EPs), which presents the themes of great compositions, throws away most of the rest. Why has Victor, which has made some of the most devoutly accurate recordings on the market, gone in for vandalizing great music? By serving up serious music in easily digestible chunks,...

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