DOCSLIB.ORG

BRECHT and SONGS1 Jeffrey Gilliam2

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
BRECHT and SONGS1 Jeffrey Gilliam2 BRECHT AND SONGS1 Jeffrey Gilliam2 Abstract Introduction It may come as a surprise that Brecht has One of the most rewarding aspects of this highly developed and original ideas about research has been the discovery of the how music should serve the text in his musical side of Bertolt Brecht's artistic songs. Even more surprising is the personality. Who would have thought, for willingness of those professional example, that the melody from the refrain of composers with whom he collaborated Kurt Weill's "Die Seeraeuber -Jenny" from notably Kurt Weill, Paul Dessau, and' Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Hanns Eisler, to accept Brecht as a Opera) was originally composed by Brecht musical mentor. himself? The present document seeks to show specific ways in which these composers applied Brecht's ideas on song organisation, rhythm, and melodic shape. The study also shows how Dessau and Eisler adopted Brecht's musical aesthetics as the cornerstone of their careers as composers. Weill, however, turned to America for musical inspiration during the Hitler era, and his later songs on Brecht texts no longer follow Brecht's principle. 1 For the purposes of this investigation, "Songs" will refer to those musical settings of Brecht's texts in a popular, cabaret, or commercially successful idiom. The "Kunstlied" settings of Brecht by Eisler in twelve-tone technique, for example, are beyond the scope of this topic. 2 Assoc.. Professor at the University of Michigan and a visiting Professor of Music at faculty of Music, Silpakom ·university, Bangkok, Thailand Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access Brecht a~d Song_s '-"' 0 l I U nJ ~n Die Seerauber-J enny Uno du Benolt Brecht· Satz: Kurt Schwaen ~~ X: :p. '<' ' I~ X.hif( rnit ac.ht S<-· t<ln--· - und mit fu11£- --z.i~ K~- X.hj(( mic >cht Sc- t;tln __ und mit fvnf· . :t.it; Ka· I I I I ~b-----ri ..,..--, "'''~ I ( ( f I ( ( =r=Fft ~ .. ffff f ff f . ' ~ ·" ., ;.t I · I .. , r.-.. 2 . A~. It '-"'I. -1: 1'1-4-- \ (' ~ I~ n o· n~ .,..j/d . I lie· &~1l ~ ,K>.i. no- ncn __ "'ird be· s<"hic· !len die 5t~dt. A..J ~ I -s~~- .d J k }! v ~ rrrr fff f 1r-1iii lfff11 .,. .._ _>. f-4-\-H...,.Jl · t .... ... ~ ;:ll I I I 53 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal ofHumanities 3.1, 2000 Die Seerauber-J enn.y Und · c-tn Und . d:u K.un: Wci'll Und du Ur ~ it pi--~;;;g;g;:.4~l@=;Jr:®f-==tg:-=w· p Schiff n'llt acht Sc· lcln und mit fUI\{• Xf& X.. .\• no- nc-n ...,.i,.d lie-.. r;c.n un 1<.1i. Schiff "'it ~cht S.C· c,dn und mit fGnf .. z.ib. K &• no- ncn -it'd be- tc-h;.c. G.cn cli<C Sud c. Sch;ff rnir &<1u 5<:- s;cln und rnu. fUnf- :z.i-& K3. · no- ncn ..,ircf b.,.. O>.r;· s;cn den ~h.n. The German Lied was in danger of decline Although musically formally untrained, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Brecht's ideas on the structural but Brecht breathed new life into it. He organization of a new kind of song had a chose song forms that had been regarded profound effect on those "professional" as trivial or inappropriate for the Kunstlied composers with whom he worked (art-song) of the concert stage: folk throughout his career: Kurt Weill, Paul ballads, and especially the Moritat. Brecht Dessau, and Hanns Eisler. Brecht broke saw this "New Song" as a vehicle of new ground in song writing in terms of cornm'unication, and as a means of structural organization, rhythmical edification as welL Brecht's New Song had declamation of a text, and even melodic to be easily understood by the audience, contour. and it had to be vocally easy enough for anyone to sing as well. In art song it is always intriguing to compare two musical settings of the same Brecht's musical inspirations came from poetical text. Both Franz Schubert and the marketplace, from the cabaret, and Hugo Wolf set Goethe's "Ganymede" to from post World War I American music. music, and both settings are regarded as He himself took care of all of the music in great masterpieces of the German Lied. It his earliest plays, but then later dictated , is no less interesting when two or more his musical inspirations to musicians more twentieth century composers choose to s~t skilled than himself, especially to Franz S. the same Brecht text to music, and it is Brunier. Eyentually came the collaborations especially interesting when one of the with Kurt Weill, Paul Dessau, and Hanns comp.osers is Brecht himself. Eisler, lasting three, fourteen, and twenty-six years, respectively. 54 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access Brecht and Songs In 1952 Brecht had this to say regarding his earliest musical attempts: "Zuerst habe ich Lieder geschrieben, die ich auf der Gitarre meinen Bekannten vorsang, urn ihnen und mir Spass zu machen ." ("At first I wrote down songs which I sang while playing the guitar for my friends in order to provide them and myself a little fun.") The song "Kleines Lied" ("Little Song"), also entitled "Liedlein von der Unschaedlichkeit des Alkohols" ("Little Song about the Harmlessness of Alchohol") was written by Brecht at the age of twenty in 1918.3 3 Brecht Liederbuch, Suhrkamp Verlag, 1984 p. 5 55 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal ofHumanities 3.1, 2000 Kl.eines Lied Bertolt Brech( · Sa(z: Kun Schwaen II ~ f-l=l r r ~ r en ::. n mH 1. 8 ~·:t csn· m>l CIO ),l.l.Jln~ dcr fing dH Trin· I: "''lr c1n- moJ c•n Kind.--- dlS stub vic I z:u cc· sch-o..;nd m•t II U w. - ~ .. ... ~.J- '-'- r-~ r· · · rj~:;f r· r· "P- H'" ·r·-:.;,;c..,. I I -- l II u - ~ r '! r .ocht· · z.chn J::.h- rcn, unA d>r· ~ glllg cr z.u· &Nnd. Er CJ · ncrn Jw· rc, unA d::.r- Ul cin& cs z.u· grund. Nic II " ~ ~ -~ ( . r . ..,.y • r · r r r . r·. ...J.• ....... ::...- · I - 1: Es war einmal ein Mann, 2. Es war einmal ein Kind, 1. Once upon a time there was a man, 2. Once upon a time there was a child der fing das Trinken an das starb viel zu geschwind who began to drink that died much too quickly mit achtzehn Jahren, mit einem Jahre, at age eighteen, at the age of one, und daran ging er z,ugrund. und daran ging es zugrund. And this led to his ruin. And this led to the child's ruin. Er starb mit achtzig Jahr, Nie trank es: das ist klar, He died at eighty, The child never drank: this is clear woran ist sonnenklar.· und starb mit einem J.ahr. Of what is clear as day. And the child died at age one. 56 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access Brecht and Songs 3. Daraus erkennt ihr wohl, German composer Paul Dessau first heard 3. From this you all realize very well of the poem "Kleines Lied" in 1964, eight wie harmlos Alkohol. years after Brecht's death, and apparently How harmless alcohol is. he was astonished not to have lmown it. He composed his version in a single dal, The listener is struck by the monotonous, and it has been described as a "moritat-like barrel-organ style accompaniment; by the chanson with ironical bel canto insertions."5 primitive, banal melody; and by the lack of any attempt at variety or sophistication in the harmony. The endless repetitions of the same text - rhythm and the total absence of any contrasting section allow the listener to focus his attention on the words and therefore on the topic of alcoholism. 4 Liederbuch #105, p. 318. 5 Liederbuch, p. 492. 57 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal ofHumanities 3.1, 2000 Kleines Lied Fur Lin Jaldati . Paul Dessau (\ ... r v " .. .. -.r I. E1 ..... 2.f cin~ m•l con lvhnn. dcr fing d:ts Trin· k~c:n ...-u ctn· m:U CIO Kind, cLu JUib ,·jcl l.IJ gc· (l ... ~ ,--f ~ ~ d J J J d_ ..,;- -.I .., ~ ~ ~ ~ · =.. ,.., .., ..... , ~ 2.0 mn acht- • zchn - und Jw· rcn. dar· an ging cr ZU· schwind mit .,,. -n~. m J·h- rc, und d:u-- an &ing Cl zu- _ft • ~ I ~. -. I ~ ~ I ~~ ' ~ u· ( ~ ~ ~ .- I ,---J ~ l __.J ~ ..,; ..r ~ ~ ::::4 ~ ~ Dessau's use of rhythm is especially (English: to go down to death or ingenious in his songs, even in this very destruction) receives the same treatment a simple song. Although the two-four time few bars later. This slight, calculated time signature is nonnally clear and delay causes the listener to pay special straightforward, Dessau's rhytlunical setting attention to these words and syllables. of the text is anything but straightforward. He Their seemingly false metrical placement purposely puts the word . "Trinken" suggests that the song itself may be ("drinking"), the most significant word in a slightly drunk as well. Each verse of song about alcoholism, on the offbeats. "Kleines Lied" concludes with an abrupt The second syllable of the word "zu-grund" and unexpected stop of the piano 58 Downloaded from Brill.com10/04/2021 06:28:17PM via free access Brecht and Songs accompaniment.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Marco Polo – the Label of Discovery
    Marco Polo – The Label of Discovery Doubt was expressed by his contemporaries as to the truth of Marco Polo’s account of his years at the court of the Mongol Emperor of China. For some he was known as a man of a million lies, and one recent scholar has plausibly suggested that the account of his travels was a fiction inspired by a family dispute. There is, though, no doubt about the musical treasures daily uncovered by the Marco Polo record label. To paraphrase Marco Polo himself: All people who wish to know the varied music of men and the peculiarities of the various regions of the world, buy these recordings and listen with open ears. The original concept of the Marco Polo label was to bring to listeners unknown compositions by well-known composers. There was, at the same time, an ambition to bring the East to the West. Since then there have been many changes in public taste and in the availability of recorded music. Composers once little known are now easily available in recordings. Marco Polo, in consequence, has set out on further adventures of discovery and exploration. One early field of exploration lay in the work of later Romantic composers, whose turn has now come again. In addition to pioneering recordings of the operas of Franz Schreker, Der ferne Klang (The Distant Sound), Die Gezeichneten (The Marked Ones) and Die Flammen (The Flames), were three operas by Wagner’s son, Siegfried. Der Bärenhäuter (The Man in the Bear’s Skin), Banadietrich and Schwarzschwanenreich (The Kingdom of the Black Swan) explore a mysterious medieval world of German legend in a musical language more akin to that of his teacher Humperdinck than to that of his father.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Music As an Integral Part
    A Study of Music as an Integral Part of the Spoken Drama in the American Professional Theatre: 1930-1955 By MAY ELIZABETH BURTON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA August, 1956 PREFACE This is a study of why and how music is integrated with spoken drama in the contemporary American professional theatre. Very little has been written on the subject, so that knowledge of actual practices is limited to those people who are closely associated with commercial theatre-- composers, producers, playwrights, and musicians. There- fore, a summation and analysis of these practices will contribute to the existing body of knowledge about the contemporary American theatre. It is important that a study of the 1930-1955 period be made while it is still contemporary, since analysis at a later date would be hampered by a scarcity of detailed production records and the tendency not to copyright and publish theatre scores. Consequently, any accurate data about the status of music in our theatre must be gathered and re- corded while the people responsible for music integration are available for reference and correspondence. Historically, the period from 1930 to 1^55 is important because it has been marked by numerous fluc- tuations both in society and in the theatre. There are evidences of the theatre's ability to serve as a barometer of social and economic conditions. A comprehension of the ii degree and manner in which music has been a part of the theatre not only will provide a better understanding of the relationship between our specific theatre idiom and society, but suggests the degree to which it differs from that fostered by previous theatre cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Summer, 1983, Tanglewood
    . ^ 5^^ mar9 E^ ^"l^Hifi imSSii^*^^ ' •H-.-..-. 1 '1 i 1^ «^^«i»^^^m^ ^ "^^^^^. Llii:^^^ %^?W. ^ltm-''^4 j;4W»HH|K,tf.''if :**.. .^l^^- ^-?«^g?^5?,^^^^ _ '^ ** '.' *^*'^V^ - 1 jV^^ii 5 '|>5|. * .««8W!g^4sMi^^ -\.J1L Majestic pine lined drives, rambling elegant mfenor h^^, meandering lawns and gardens, velvet green mountain *4%ta! canoeing ponds and Laurel Lake. Two -hundred acres of the and present tastefully mingled. Afulfillment of every vacation delight . executive conference fancy . and elegant home dream. A choice for a day ... a month . a year. Savor the cuisine, entertainment in the lounges, horseback, sleigh, and carriage rides, health spa, tennis, swimming, fishing, skiing, golf The great estate tradition is at your fingertips, and we await you graciously with information on how to be part of the Foxhollow experience. Foxhollow . an tver growing select family. Offerings in: Vacation Homes, Time- Shared Villas, Conference Center. Route 7, Lenox, Massachusetts 01240 413-637-2000 Seiji Ozawa, Music Director Sir Colin Davis, Principal Guest Conductor Joseph Silverstein, Assistant Conductor One Hundred and Second Season, 1982-83 Trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc. Abram T. Collier, Chairman Nelson J. Darling, Jr., President Leo L. Beranek, Vice-President George H. Kidder, Vice-President Mrs. Harris Fahnestock, Vice-President Sidney Stoneman, Vice-President Roderick M. MacDougall, Treasurer John Ex Rodgers, Assistant Treasurer Vernon R. Alden Mrs. John H. Fitzpatrick William J. Poorvu J. P. Barger Mrs. John L. Grandin Irving W. Rabb Mrs. John M. Bradley David G. Mugar Mrs. George R. Rowland Mrs. Norman L. Cahners Albert L. Nickerson Mrs. George Lee Sargent George H.A.
    [Show full text]
  • HANNS EISLER EDITION Liner Notes
    HANNS EISLER EDITION Liner notes Orchestral music (CD1 & 2) passacaglia consists of the first six notes of a “series”), the second Hanns Eisler's political awareness intensified in the Twenties, the and third movements are characterized by a succinct, refined time of the Weimar Republic in Germany. The determining factors simplicity. Particularly in the third movement, Hanns Eisler strove causing this were his bitter experiences during the First World War, to create a new kind of “light music” for proletarian ears, taking up the new perspectives with which the October Revolution had a number of songs which were very popular in the labour imbued him –and many other important twentieth century artists‐ movement around 1930: Bells of Novgorod, Ivan, Dubinushka, In and finally, his growing indignation over the way in which the Vegetable Patch, Song of the Taiga. After introducing motifs musicians were failing to react to the ever‐worsening class conflicts suggesting the workers' hymn Immortal Victims, Hanns Eisler ends and the march of fascism. His radical censure of modern music led the movement with an orchestral version of Warszawjanka and a in 1926 to a rift with Arnold Schoenberg, who disapproved of the quotation of the refrain from the Internationale (“Nations hark to political leanings of his highly talented but refractory pupil (1919 to the signals”). The fourth movement bears the title Hörfleissübung 1922/23), maintaining that his altered philosophy was “not (Study in aural diligence). The twelve‐note theme now appears perceptible in his works”. distinctly in more sophisticated orchestral garb. All in all, the pervasion of the most sophisticated with the simplest is decisive This was true, Hanns Eisler having up to that point exclusively for the formation of structures and patterning.
    [Show full text]
  • Musiker in Brandenburg
    Musiker aus Brandenburg Kurzbiografien der in der Sonder- sammlung „Musik aus Brandenburg“ der Musikbibliothek der Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam vertretenen Musiker 1 Musiker in Brandenburg... ... gab und gibt es sicher einige. Aber bekannte und berühmte doch eher nicht!... So lautet wohl die landläufige Meinung zum Thema Brandenburger Musiker. Trifft man auf ein interessierteres Publikum, so fallen Namen wie Quantz, der „Alte Fritz“ oder C. P. E. Bach, aber kaum ein Name aus der Gegenwart oder der jüngeren Geschichte. Beschäftigt man sich ein wenig mit dieser Materie und das ist heute dank Internet kein Problem, so stößt man recht schnell auf den einen oder anderen bekannten Namen und stellt fest, dass sie / er in Brandenburg geboren, gelebt oder gearbeitet hat oder es noch immer tut. So war die Schaffung der Sondersammlung „Musik aus Brandenburg“ willkommener Anlass, sich mit den Biografien der in dieser Sammlung vertretenen Musiker zu beschäftigen, um sie letztlich auch unseren Lesern zur Verfügung stellen zu können. Dabei stellten sich vor allem zwei Fragen: was macht den Brandenburger Musiker zum Brandenburger Musiker und wer ist ein Musiker? Während sich die zweite Frage recht schnell dahingehend beantworten ließ, dass zu diesem Personenkreis all jene gehören, die sich aktiv mit Musik beschäftigen, egal ob sie als Komponist, Interpret, Musikwissenschaftler oder Musikbuchautor tätig sind, war die Eingrenzung des „Brandenburger Musikers“ weitaus schwieriger. Letztendlich zählen jene Musiker zu diesem Kreis, die in Brandenburg geboren sind oder mehrere Jahre hier gelebt oder gearbeitet haben. In Ausnahmefällen aber auch diejenigen, bei denen z.B. die Uraufführung ihres Werkes innerhalb des Landes Brandenburg stattfand. Innerhalb der jeweiligen Vita wird die Beziehung zu Brandenburg durch das Herausheben des jeweiligen Ortes ersichtlich.
    [Show full text]
  • AMS Newsletter August 2011
    AMS NEWSLETTER THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY CONSTITUENT MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIES VOLUME XLI, NUMBER 2 August 2011 ISSN 0402-012X “The Suburb across the Bay” AMS San Francisco 2011 10–13 November www.ams-net.org/sanfrancisco “From its very beginnings Oakland has suf- fered by comparison with its more illustri- ous suburb across the bay,” quipped the Local Co-Chairs in this Newsletter when the photo Bureau Visitors & Convention Francisco San Society last came to the Bay Area twenty- one years ago . They also went on to point out that the previous season, the Athletics had won in four straight games over the San Francisco Giants… But don’t worry—that isn’t true anymore; the Giants beat every- body last year (though this Italian still has no idea how that game works) . You will have a swell time in the “suburb across the bay,” the thirteenth most populous city in the U S. and home to the current World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants . settled by Ohlone Native Americans prob- of alternative and local events . There are The San ranciscoF Bay, protected by the ably around eight thousand years ago, the museums for all tastes, and restaurants for two land “fingers” called the Golden Gate protected bay being a perfect setting for a all pockets . It may well be the most open (hence the name of the red bridge), was port for trade as well as warfare activities . city in the country, accepting everyone and The surrounding natural resources provided everything as an integral part of its mission .
    [Show full text]
  • Marta Feuchtwanger Papers 0206
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt10003750 No online items Finding Aid for Marta Feuchtwanger papers 0206 Finding aid prepared by Michaela Ullmann USC Libraries Special Collections Doheny Memorial Library 206 3550 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, California 90089-0189 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.usc.edu/locations/special-collections Finding Aid for Marta 02061223 1 Feuchtwanger papers 0206 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Special Collections Title: Marta Feuchtwanger papers creator: Franklin, Carl M. (Carl Mason) creator: Waldo, Hilde creator: Feuchtwanger, Marta Identifier/Call Number: 0206 Identifier/Call Number: 1223 Physical Description: 98.57 Linear Feet173 boxes Date (inclusive): 1940-1987 Abstract: This archive contains the correspondence of Marta Feuchtwanger, wife of German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger, who survived her husband by almost thirty years. Marta Feuchtwanger remained an important figure in the exile community and devoted the remainder of her life to promoting the work of her husband. The collection contains Marta Feuchtwanger's personal correspondence, texts and manuscripts by her and others, royalty statements received for the works of her husband, correspondence with publishers, and newspaper clippings mentioning Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger and other exiles. The collection also includes correspondence regarding the establishment and administration of the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library and Villa Aurora. Storage Unit: 91g Storage Unit: 91h Scope and Content This archive contains the correspondence of Marta Feuchtwanger, wife of German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger, who survived her husband by almost thirty years. Marta Feuchtwanger remained an important figure in the exile community and devoted the remainder of her life after his death to promoting the work of her husband.
    [Show full text]
  • Hans Werner Henze's Early Political Thought
    Hans Werner Henze’s Early Political Thought: Three Case Studies Daniel Cooperman Department of Music Research Schulich School of Music McGill University, Montreal November 2011 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters in Musicology. © Daniel Cooperman 2011 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-84164-8 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-84164-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation.
    [Show full text]
  • 570183Bk Son of Kong 15/7/07 8:23 PM Page 8
    570188bk Frankenstein:570183bk Son of Kong 15/7/07 8:23 PM Page 8 John Morgan Widely regarded in film-music circles as a master colourist with a keen insight into orchestration and the power of music, Los Angeles-based composer John Morgan began his career working alongside such composers as Alex North and Fred Steiner before embarking on his own. Among other projects, he co-composed the richly dramatic score for the cult-documentary film Trinity and Beyond, and has won acclaim for efforts to rescue, restore and re-record lost film scores from the past. William Stromberg A veteran film composer, conductor and film archivist, William Stromberg, working with famed film music reconstructionist and composer John Morgan, has conducted numerous albums of film music for RCA, Naxos, Marco Polo and, most recently, Tribute Film Classics. Upcoming albums include the complete scores to Bernard Herrmann’s Mysterious Island, Max Steiner’s She and Herrmann’s The Kentuckian. Moscow Symphony Orchestra Founded in 1989 as the first independent orchestra in modern Russia, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra maintains a busy schedule both in the concert hall and recording studio. For more than a decade, it has become noted for its pivotal role in a long-running series of recordings devoted to classic film scores conducted by Hollywood composer William Stromberg. Their most recent collaboration was the complete film score for Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s The Sea Hawk (Naxos 8.570110-11). House of Frankenstein guests John Morgan, William Stromberg and Bill Whitaker Photo: Rick Baker 8.570188 8 570188bk Frankenstein:570183bk Son of Kong 15/7/07 8:23 PM Page 2 Hans J.
    [Show full text]
  • MEMORABLE SELECTIONS from CURRENT REVIEWS CULLED from OUR CLIPPING SERVICES German-To-English Translations by Lys Symonette and William Madison
    MEMORABLE SELECTIONS FROM CURRENT REVIEWS CULLED FROM OUR CLIPPING SERVICES German-to-English Translations by Lys Symonette and William Madison LONDON SINFONIETTA: "BEANFEST:' 16 APRIL 1985 Although the performance of Di,e sieben Todsunden was rather conventional (the Anna l was weak; the male quartet was excel­ . So how is [ the Mahagonny Songspie/ ] to be put across to a lent), the audience rewarded it with its heartiest applause; the first 1985 British audience? David Alden, who produced, and David half comprised the bitter satire of the Requiem and the evil bur­ Fielding, who designed, had no doubts at all. Lots of crude sexual lesque of "Pantomime I.'' jokes (an inflatable lifesize rubber doll, for instance), lots of din, a pair of giant anti-Thatcher posters with movable pound and dollar Elisabeth Bauschmid signs to replace the lady's eyes, [ conductor] Simon Rattle with a Suddeutsche Zeitung toy rocket pointlessly strapped to his back, lots of repetition, and let Munich the music shift for itself. 12 June 1985 The repetition was the most startling element, and in a way the most interesting. A dispirited woman, with a child on a table beside "NEW YORK PRAISES GISELA MAY" her, began the proceedings by intoning "I like it. .. I like it. .. I like it With stormy applause and cries of bravo the audience of the Per­ ..." one or two hundred times. Though I didn't count, I don't think 1 forming Arts Center of the State University of New York at Pur­ exaggerate; if I were simply to transcribe her part on this page, my chase honored the actress and singer Gisela May.
    [Show full text]
  • RECORDING of SPECIAL MERIT for Oboe and Orchestra. Peter
    line between sentimentality and expressivity onotherlabels,mostnotablyon Angel, work, with its choralecantos firmus,is one a little falteringly; the dynamics are perhaps where Sir John Barbirolli does them along of Handel's grandest creations, a profound, somewhat exaggerated, as,indeed, are the with Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tallis and deeply moving tribute consisting of an over- contrasts in tempo. Furthermore, the conduc- GreensleeresFantasias. The 195 Munch - ture, six choruses, and two quartets for solo tor seems rather more interestedin(ifI Boston Symphony reading of the Introduc- voices. Strangely enough, so far asIhave may coin the phrase) musical onomatopoeia tion and Allegro still remains a tautly dra- been able to determine, thisisitsfirstre- -creating adeliberate seascape by exag- matic one, not to be dismissed out -of -hand. cording, and as such it can be recommended gerating figurational details-than rendering The Sospiri and Elegy, together with three toallHandelians. Regardingtheperfor- the work in terms of its musical form and dance bits from an unfinished opera, are mance, Ihave serious reservations: the Old content. minor, if charming, Elgariana. Testament texts are sung in German, and Still,it'sbig, impressively dramatic, and Thus, a decision as to whether or not to none too clearly either (Handel himself se- altogether full of beans in this reading. De- acquire this particular disc boils down to (a) lected the English words); the chorus and bussy'sDancesare performed with delicacy the repertoire package, and (b) one's per- unnamed soloists are adequate but far from and sensitivity, and the Roussel stands up formance preference for the Introduction and distinguished;the conducting has stylistic well under the same general treatment that Allegro.
    [Show full text]
  • CMS Fifty-Ninth National Conference October 27–29, 2016 Santa Fe, New Mexico
    CMS Fifty-Ninth National Conference October 27–29, 2016 Santa Fe, New Mexico PRESENTER & COMPOSER BIOS updated September 12, 2016 Alberti, Alexander Alex Alberti is the current director of instrumental music at Longleaf School of the Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also works with the Middle Creek High School marching band, instructing front ensemble and percussion. Alberti formerly taught at Southern Lee High School in Sanford, where he directed band, orchestra, and chorus, as well as an extracurricular a cappella program. Alberti is an active researcher in the field of music theory pedagogy and music education, presenting his findings at NAfME, CMS National, and NCUR. Alberti currently holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Appalachian State University with a minor in Psychology. At Appalachian State, he participated in the wind ensemble, concert band, men’s glee club, symphonic band, and orchestra, while serving as a music theory tutor for the entire sequence of theory and aural skills courses. In his spare time, Alberti composes both choral and instrumental works, judges for the International Competition for Collegiate A Cappella, and participates in the Durham Chorale. Alhadeff, Peter Peter Alhadeff is a Professor and a founding faculty member of the Music Business/Management Department at Berklee. He is a distinguished Oxford economist and historian who has a made his own unique and successful career in the US music business. Alhadeff has published and been engaged by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Berkman Center, the Latin Grammy, the Interamerican Bank at the Di Tella Institute in Buenos Aires, and the Business and Economics Society International, for which he delivered the keynote address on the state of the music trade in Athens, Greece.
    [Show full text]