He sounded like he was doing Martin Short's parody of a nervous tobacco executive testifying in front of a Senate Committee investigated the link between smoking and cancer: "Defensive? I'm not being defensive! YOU'RE the one being defensive!
Conductor, Violinist, Teacher; Longtime Producer of Digital Engagement Materials for @BostonSymphony. Juilliard/Yale grad. E-mail: anthony@opusvivo.com Newsletter: http://therefuge.substack.com (new editions on Wednesdays and Sundays)
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He sounded like he was doing Martin Short's parody of a nervous tobacco executive testifying in front of a Senate Committee investigated the link between smoking and cancer: "Defensive? I'm not being defensive! YOU'RE the one being defensive!
I once asked the conductor Erich Leinsdorf what he thought of orchestras that had been created to perform according to Historically-Informed practices. He did not disappoint: "I refer to such ensembles as 'The Royal Academy of Ancient and Out-of-Tune Instruments.'"
Aram Khachaturian, seen here feeding a music critic shortly before the Moscow premiere of his 2nd Symphony.
When Stravinsky described himself as an "Inventor of Music" I don't think he was being cute. Inspiration plays a surprisingly small role in artistic creation/re-creation. It's mostly about obsessively shaping, revising, tweaking and improving ideas. And then doing it some more.
The "Landini Cadence" is a phrase-ending formula used by Francesco Landini that was widely-adopted. The standard Medieval cadence had the 6th (an unstable interval) expanding into an octave; Landini resolved downwards first to create a consonant 5th, then hopped up to the octave:
On this date in 1397, the composer and organist Francesco Landini died in Florence. Blinded by smallpox in early childhood, he nonetheless rose to become the greatest Italian composer of the 14th century. His almost-entirely secular music is characterized by its melodic beauty.
"I'm not particularly lucid after a concert. I'm not very lucid before, either." - Leonard Slatkin
Giacomo Puccini, seen here tuning in to an early radio lecture called "Shameless Infidelity: 101 Tips on How to Justify the Unjustifiable."
Hummel's brand of Classical Romanticism had the misfortune of falling "between two chairs." He embraced the harmonic adventurousness of the Romantics, but eschewed their wildness. And his music lacked the substance of conservative Romantics like Mendelssohn and Schumann.
Fame truly is a fickle beast. When the pianist and composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel died in 1837, his music was seen as occupying the same lofty realms as Beethoven's, Mozart's and Haydn's. Within 25 years, it was considered irrelevant (although its influence on Chopin is clear).
81 years ago, the American conductor, author and composer Leonard Slatkin was born in Los Angeles. The holder of Conductor Laureate positions in Detroit, St. Louis and Lyon, France, he long ago established himself as one of the finest conductors America has produced.
Discourse in America is close to a state of epistemic collapse. Until that is effectively addressed, we'll just be re-arranging deck chairs. The re-election of an insurrectionist to the Presidency would've been impossible if facts and evidence were privileged.
At this point, tv producers are shooting her with a camera lens that's been coated in Crisco.
This guy he conspired with - and was indicted with - was convicted in 2024, then pardoned by the dear leader. Wouldn't be surprised if he receives the same "treatment."
“Mommy was a big animal. I used to call her Tiger-Mommy. Now and then she was magnificent. And, now and then, she was absolutely abominable.” - Anna Mahler, daughter of Gustav and Alma
Ideas of beauty really do change. When I taught up at Dartmouth, I'd show a film about Mahler for the orchestra whenever we were preparing one of his works. When an image of Alma first appeared, and the narrator cited "her irresistible beauty", the students invariably laughed.
Did Gustav Mahler "forbid" Alma's composing? Technically, no; he simply demanded it - on the eve of their engagement - as a condition for marriage. Considering early 20th c. mores and her age (21; he was 40), her practical ability to say "screw yourself" was extremely limited.
Alma Mahler wrote ca. 50 songs, of which 17 are extent. Gustav, who considered his brutal "honesty" a virtue (he tended to see his opinions as facts), once told her: "If you weren't lovely, none of these men would be interested in your music." But her music reveals a real talent.
On this date in 1879, the composer, author and editor Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler Mahler-Gropius-Werfel was born. A name that absolutely screams "Identity Crisis!!!"
I remember the arguments in the Supreme Court over Trump's absurd claim of "absolute" Presidential Immunity and the conservative block constantly raising the specter of a former President being "persecuted" by his successor's Dept. of Justice. Just like Fox News hosts. Disingenuous jackasses.
"At first, I had to force my mind's ear to become accustomed to this combination of instruments, but I'm now working with interest and enthusiasm. The thought that the trio will provide you with some pleasure makes my task all the more fascinating." - Tchaikovsky, to a friend
A violist sits alone in a police station, waiting. A detective finally arrives: "I've got bad news. While you were gone, the conductor came to your house and burned it down. Everything's gone.” The violist, face brightening, asks: “The maestro came to MY house?!”
Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio was a response to the sudden death of his mentor Nikolai Rubinstein, the great pianist and founder of the Moscow Conservatory. Originally thinking about a symphonic tribute, Tchaikovsky found himself drawn to the Piano Trio, a genre he'd always disliked.
I think Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio is profoundly underrated. It's a piece that requires a far more thoughtful interpretive approach than it's usually given; a perusal of performances on YouTube reveals a bunch of lazy "Emoto-fests" that strangle work's essential sincerity.
The American journalist, essayist, satirist and cultural critic H.L. Mencken was also a devoted amateur musician who wrote music for most of his life. He once said that "Whenever I think of anything properly describable as a beautiful idea, it's always on the the form of music."
Vance's statement is so utterly stupid that I'll show him the respect of thinking he's being completely disingenuous, since such idiocy appeals to the MAGA base. Members of the Fed Board are selected by Presidents then subject to the approval of Senators, all democratically elected.
"Don't show me the law, show me the judge." - Roy Cohn, long-time lawyer and mentor to Donald Trump. They'll keep beating this dead horse until they find a judge who buys their arguments.
You don't understand; he's lying for Christ.
There's a lotta money in feeding epistemic collapse.
There's lots of money in feeding America's descent into complete epistemic collapse.
"Georges Longy probably influenced the musical life of Boston more than any other one man." - Olin Downes, music critic, The New York Times
Bela Bartok, seen here after being told some random guy on Twitter thinks his String Quartets are better than Shostakovich's.
Five years ago, the city of Cremona, Italy sponsored the creation of the "Stradivari Database", in which the sound of 4 Stradivaris were recorded under special conditions. Facing the prospect of these instruments "wearing out", it's thought that electronic proxies will emerge.
Fritz Kreisler was once performing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony. The work's 2nd movement begins with a long oboe solo that's one of the most beloved in the repertoire. Kreisler, entranced by Georges Longy's playing, actually missed his first entrance!
On this date in 1868, the French oboist, conductor, educator and composer Georges Longy was born. As the Boston Symphony's Principal Oboist from 1898 to 1925, his playing was one of the ensemble's defining features. He founded the Longy School of Music in 1915.
"This language, composed after the noblest design, is like an edifice erected by spirit hands that drives me, exalts me to write music. The secret of the harmonies is engrafted within it." - Beethoven, on Goethe's poetry.
Time-traveling gatekeeper:
The idea that arts education is a "frill" is profoundly short-sighted, even if one believes that education is mostly for gaining marketable skills. Arts education can enhance the problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are increasingly essential in an information-based economy.
Composers such as Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Wolf set Goethe's texts to music by the dozens, creating some of the greatest songs ever written. Yet the poet preferred more pedestrian, even mediocre settings, despite his profound interest in music.
On this date in 1749, the German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born. A singular figure in German literature, his works inspired music by Central European composers well into the 20th century.
Take it from an American; if a critical mass of voters can no longer tell fact from fiction (or worse, have no interest in doing so), no constitutional design will save you. Malevolent actors will always find ways of subverting it. Our current media ecosystem is an anti-democracy bullhorn.
"He is the master of the notes. They must do as he wills; as for the other composers, they have to do as the notes will." - Martin Luther, on Josquin des Prez.
Between 1700 and ca. 1950, Josquin became a relatively obscure figure. It was the rise of sophisticated recording technologies and ensembles that specialize in the performance of "early" music that restored him to his proper place in the pantheon of great composers.
Josquin's influence throughout Europe was boosted by developments in movable-type printing that facilitated the printing of music. The first composer to have his works widely-published, his music was so popular that publishers would intentionally misattribute pieces to him.
Josquin's great accomplishment was his skillful synthesis of the major national styles of his day. He blended the complex polyphony of the great Flemish (Southern Dutch) composers with the simpler homophonic textures of Italian music in a way that sounds thoroughly natural.
On this date in 1521, the French composer Josquin des Prez died at his home near the French-Belgian border. His influence as a composer was as pervasive as any in the history of Western Art Music. Although he enjoyed a 50-year career, it's unknown how old he was when he died.
As an artist he deserves a position in our culture of the rank we accord to Shakespeare, Turner, Wren or Dickens." - The Telegraph, London, August 27, 1958
Some people end up looking essentially as they did in pictures from their early childhood, while others don't. I'd place Ralph Vaughan Williams in the first group.
Vaughan Williams' 2nd wife was Ursula Wood, a poet almost 40 years his junior he'd married in 1953. Outliving him by 29 years, she'd see four of her novels, an autobiography and volumes of her poetry published and serve as a tireless advocate of RVW's music.
Vaughan Williams was one of those rare composers who remained both active and creatively fertile in old age. He completed his Ninth Symphony when he was 84 and supervised its premiere in London by the Royal Philharmonic on April 2, 1958, less than 5 months before his death.
67 years ago today, the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams died in London at 85. Strongly influenced by Tudor music, English Folk-Song and French Impressionism, his output completed the process of freeing English music from the Germanic influences that had long dominated it.
He provides them with a non-stop stream of outrage-provoking content that drives engagement and generates revenue. He's their cash cow.
Exactly. Likewise with the large cities he's targeting. While a lot of attention has been drawn to their location in Blue States, it's more important to note that these places all have large African-American populations.
It's always ok if you're a Republican.
Whatever happened to the idea that we don't negotiate with terrorists?
Damn, he's impressive.
"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein first conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in 1966. In a letter to his parents, he wrote: “I'm enjoying Vienna – as much as a Jew can. You never know if the public that's screaming bravo for you might contain someone who 25 years ago might have shot you dead."
n January of 1958, Leonard Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic presented the first of its televised "Young People's Concerts" on CBS. When the series ended 14 years later after 53 broadcasts, it had become an iconic example of America's potential in music education.
Leonard Bernstein with his parents Sam and Jennie after a concert in 1958. Sam, who owned a hair and beauty supply company, was at first strongly opposed to the idea of his son studying music. But he eventually bowed to the inevitable. loom.ly/BqYbOeE
On this date in 1918, the American conductor, composer, pianist and teacher Leonard (born Louis) Bernstein was born in Lawrence, MA. He remains one of the most consequential figures in the history of American music, and the most influential conductor the country has produced.
"Peace to the hovels! War on the palaces". - Georg Büchner (1813-1837), author of "Woyzeck"
Alban Berg with his dog Schnitzel, who's clearly flummoxed by the composer's question regarding whether the orchestral interlude after the 4th Scene in Act 3 of "Wozzeck" has too many tonal associations.
Although I love "Wozzeck", it can be argued that Berg's use of old forms in the work - Sonata, Rondo, Fugue , etc. - typifies the "Sham Conservatism" of Schoenberg and his acolytes. Without their original basis in tonality, the coherence of those forms is questionable.
Much of the early popularity of "Wozzeck" could have been circumstantial. Premiered in Berlin in December of 1925, this setting of a story about a soldier driven mad by his military service and grinding poverty must have been particularly resonant in post-WW1 Germany.
Alban Berg's opera "Wozzeck" is likely the most popular work written by a composer who embraced the aesthetic theories of Arnold Schoenberg. It was produced so often before the Nazis banned it in 1933 that Berg was able to live on the royalties.
In this Week's Edition of "The Refuge": Brahms' Business Acuman The Fallacy of "Art for Art's Sake" Charles Schulz and Beethoven A Man Who Knows His Place therefuge.substack.com Please Share and Subscribe!
And given the premise of American democracy that our civic affairs will guided by the dictates of reason, the fact that a compulsive fabulist has been elected President twice is a pretty good indication that America is "done."
"I shall hear in heaven." - Beethoven, reportedly on his deathbed.
By 1818, Beethoven began to use "Conversation Books", blank booklets into which friends and acquaintances would jot their sides of conversations, while he answered aloud. As the poet P.D.A. Atterbom noted a year later, the composer was now "as deaf as a block."
Between 1801 and 1818, Beethoven's deafness increased more slowly, with his right ear being most affected.He began using Ear Trumpets In 1813, and made his final public appearance as a pianist a year later. Conversation was still possible if you spoke directly into his left ear.
By 1801, Beethoven's symptoms had lost ca. 60% of his hearing. His tinnitus was less pronounced, but he now struggled to hear soft sounds and high pitches. The speech of others blended into a muddle. Concluding that his malady was incurable, he focused more fully on composition.
Beethoven hearing difficulties began in 1796, when he was 26 and establishing himself as a pianist and composer in Vienna. He complained of "buzzing and ringing" in his ears, the symptoms of tinnitus. At first, his left ear was more affected than his right.
With MAGA, every accusation is a confession.
Trump maintains power by providing the media with a stream of outrageous storylines they can regurgitate for views and clicks. The irrational stimulation this provokes drowns out critical thought. He's running America as if it's a reality tv show, and half the country likes it. Awful.
Art is the most beautiful deception of all. And although people try to incorporate the everyday events of life in it, we must hope that it will remain a deception lest it become a utilitarian thing, sad as a factory." - Claude Debussy
In most respects, Claude Debussy was a nasty piece of work, a vain, utterly self-centered person whose constant womanizing reflected an extreme sense of entitlement. And yet his narcissism abated when he was with his beloved daughter Claude-Emma, affectionately named "Chouchou."
Claude Debussy and Edgar Allan Poe? Yep. The composer's fascination with occult subjects all-but-inevitably led him to the creepy Baltimorean. He was so taken by Poe's work that he attempted operatic settings of "The Devil in the Belfry" and "The Fall of the House of Usher."
Debussy's contrarianism was vital to his self image. And while his premature death in 1918 was tragic, it saved him from becoming an establishment figure. By the time artists like Cocteau began decrying his "Nuages, Waves, Aquariums, Ondines and Nocturnal Perfumes", he was gone.
On this date in 1862, the French composer Achille Claude Debussy was born just outside of Paris. After a brief flirtation with the music of Wagner, he developed a profoundly-influential aesthetic that would ultimately erode the assumed authority of Germanic music.
As a result of getting lower interest payments based on absurdly false valuations of his assets, Trump avoided paying ca. $168 million. Food for thought the next time some apologist says "but he paid back the loans in full."
"After an enema is performed on Dobson's remains, they will be placed in a matchbox for burial near his home in Colorado Springs, according to the Associated Press."
J.D. Vance is the cynical asshole all other cynical assholes look t o for hope and inspiration.
This video about Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental b minor Mass explores the genesis of the piece, which had more to do with the prospect of escaping an onerous job than a desire to create something for the ages. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbTH...
It's a logical consequence of a quasi-religious belief in capitalism as the ultimate arbiter of value. If you're really rich, you're smart by definition.
"There's nothing I dislike more than composing for a public celebration. What can one write on such occasions besides banalities and noisy passages? And yet I keep accepting these commissions." - Tchaikovsky, on agreeing to write what became the 1812 Overture.
This is, by any reasonable measure, the most effective rendition of the 1812 Overture I know. Whatever it may lack in grandeur is more than made up for by its sheer virtuosity. loom.ly/HHU9Kz0
Although Tchaikovsky whined about how he'd composed the 1812 Overture without any sense of warmth or enjoyment, he didn't object to the ample publishing royalties the piece fetched. It was also tolerable enough that he chose to conduct it when he made his 1891 debut in America.
The current Cathedral of Christ in Moscow is the second on that site. The original Tchaikovsky commemorated in his 1812 Overture was torn down by Stalin in 1931 to make way for a "Palace of the Soviets" that was never built. The current church went up after the fall of the USSR.
On this date in 1882, Tchaikovsky's Solemn Overture "The Year 1812" was premiered in Moscow. It was commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which Tsar Alexander I had ordered built to commemorate the retreat of Napoleon's army.
The Dems are clueless. Trump and his lackeys have been working for months on cherry-picking information to protect Trump while spinning the entire Epstein saga as being entirely about the criminality of Democrats. Yet Rep. Garcia treats Comer as if he's a good faith actor. Sheer incompetence.
"I had no luck with the opera in Vienna; I will try Dresden, or Berlin. I should be quite well if this whole wretched opera business was not so mortifying." - Schubert, in a letter to his friend Joseph von Spaun, Dec. 7, 1822
It's often asked why Schubert, so adept at choosing poetry for his songs, was so inept at choosing effective libretti for his stage works. But that question simply begs another: since many popular operas have ridiculous libretti, what made Schubert's selections beyond the pale?
When looking at the Complete Edition of Schubert's works, the abundance of volumes devoted to stage works - particularly his operas - is striking. He completed 11, and made another 7 attempts. Not a single one was staged during his lifetime. Again, great music, awful libretti.
Schubert's "Die Zauberharfe" is only notable due to the claim that his popular "Rosamunde" overture was its curtain-raiser. The overture actually originated with his opera "Alfonso and Estella"; it was then used, at least once, with the play "Rosamunde."
On this date in 1820, the 23 year-old Franz Schubert's Melodrama "Die Zauberharfe" ("The Magic Harp") was premiered in Vienna. While the music received critical praise, the overall work was considered a flop, primarily because of its "nonsensical and boring" libretto.
Unfortunately, the old saying that "The Constitution says what the Supreme Court decides it says" still applies. And in light of this Court's decision on Presidential immunity, it's fair to assume that all sorts of other absurdities are possible.
In terms of the "land swaps" he was talking about the other day, what part of Russia is he thinking Putin would cede to Ukraine? Yeah, I thought so.
European leaders need to realize that America is essentially over, a casualty of a media ecosystem that continually subverts the rationalist premise for its founding. At this point, we're akin to the chicken with its head cut off. The mantle of leadership has been left for the taking.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" - Samuel Johnson