Four Quartets. Read by the author. Recorded under the auspices of the British Council. (His Master’s Voice C.3599-3603)

T. S. ELIOT

Published by [Hayes]: Gramophone Co., 1947

About this Item

5 (of 6) 78rpm 12-inch records, in plain brown-paper sleeves as issued, lacking only C.3598 ("Burnt Norton"). "A recording of a poem read by its author is no more definitive an 'interpretation' than a recording of a symphony conducted by the composer. The poem, if it is of any depth and complexity, will have meanings in it concealed from the author; and should be capable of being read in many ways, and with a variety of emotional emphases. A good poem, indeed, is one which even the most accomplished reading cannot exhaust. What the recording of a poem by its author can and should preserve, is the way that poem sounded to the author when he had finished it. The disposition of lines on the page, and the punctuation (which includes the absence of punctuation marks, when they are omitted where the reader would expect them) can never give an exact notation of the author's metric. The chief value of the author's record, then, is as a guide to the rhythms" (author's note, supplied originally as a sleeve note, but not here present).

Seller Inventory # 36M100120

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Four Quartets. Read by the author. Recorded under the auspices of the British Council. (His Master?s Voice C.3599-3603)
• Publisher: [Hayes]: Gramophone Co.
• Publication Date: 1947
• Language: English
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good