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Béla vista
I read, with great interest, Jessica Duchen’s The Gentle Giant feature about Bartók. I fully agree with her that the time has come to celebrate Bartók’s achievements as a scientist, pianist and composer. However, the photo captioned ‘the composer with his son
Béla in the US in 1942’ was in fact taken in their garden in Rákoskeresztúr – a suburb of Budapest – in 1916, when Béla junior was about six years old. Béla Szebenyi, Grimsby
Haendel with care
I was saddened to read of the death of violinist Ida Haendel (September). I was fortunate to have heard some of her performances, but there is one I have never forgotten – perhaps for the wrong reasons. I was looking forward to a performance of the Brahms Double Concerto with Haendel and a somewhat renowned cello soloist. They were with our National Arts Centre Orchestra – I don’t recall who was conducting – and I have never heard a performance like it. Violinist and orchestra were wonderful; however, it soon became apparent that the cellist had been hitting the G&T (or something) quite heavily pre-show. Her intonation was off, tempos inconsistent and some entrances a tad early or late. I really don’t know how Haendel could continue, but she did and was able to pull the cellist along to finish with some semblance of order. Guess who got the most appreciative applause? David Barron,
Ontario, Canada
Cagey Beethoven
As someone who had the good fortune of being a long-time friend of John Cage, I was bemused to see in August’s
Full Score section your articles about his 4'33" and Iain Farrington’s ‘mash-up’ of Beethoven’s symphonies. I once asked Cage whether he would consider conducting Beethoven’s symphonies. His response: only if they were performed simultaneously. An engineer then superimposed recordings of all the Beethoven symphonies; I found the effect astonishing… but was denied permission by the orchestra involved to release that result on CD.
Jack Behrens, Pennsylvania, US
Storm troopers
As we head into the tempestuous season of autumn, I’d like to add one final thought on the subject of musical storms that you addressed back in the July issue. A composer often overlooked in classical music (and perhaps deservedly so) is Ferde Grofé, but he did produce one masterpiece, the Grand Canyon Suite. In 1987, Telarc dubbed into Grofé’s famous composition some of
the work engineers had done in the Southwestern deserts. From a stockpile of the sounds of thunder and lightning and other sounds made over the years, they were able to get the exact lengths of time and digital depths of sounds to fit the score. The suite is performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel, and I believe it is the best recording of storms in classical compositions that was ever made!
Steve Smith, Indiana, US
Today’s greats?
When I was growing up everyone knew of three composers – Bach, Beethoven and Brahms – and a lot of us knew of stuff by each of them (though Brahms was a bit of a challenge). A few very big names got added as the years went by, but then the shutters came down. Is there still a canon of great composers? If so, does it include any names whatsoever added since, say, 1976? Are there any bits of ‘classical’ music that everyone knows about, perhaps that they whistle in the dark? I’d love to have a list as a present for my 80th birthday this October. Peter Smith, Burnham Market The editor replies:
Happy birthday, Peter! We’re hoping your fellow readers might help you celebrate by providing the list you suggest. Over to you, readers…
Buddhist journeys
I very much enjoyed the
August Déja Vu article which offered a few references linking Buddhism and music. It did not include, though, any Japanese composers that were inspired by Buddhist teachings in some of their compositions. I feel your readers would very much enjoy discovering such beautiful and important works as Koichi Kishi’s Symphony Buddha, Michio Miyagi’s Sea in the Spring, Takemitsu’s A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden and many besides.
Hal A Lingerman,
California, US
An unlikely pair
It was fascinating to find your interview with theremin player Carolina Eyck in the same issue (August) as the article on concertos for unusual instruments. Perhaps one of the most unusual combinations can be heard in my own Variants on Stille Nacht for theremin and carillon
(you can find it on Youtube). Composed for a Christmas CD of music performed on the 49-bell carillon in Beaumont Tower at Michigan State University, it makes use of the original guitar accompaniment of ‘Silent Night’, as guitar music transcribes rather well to the carillon. Recording the instruments simultaneously was out of the question, as without excessive amplification the theremin would be overwhelmed; thus, the carillon was recorded first, then the theremin part was coordinated with it.
The two instruments work well together, with the harsh percussiveness of the carillon complementing the slinkiness of the theremin.
William C Mcharris, Michigan, US