Names You Love! or What's in a Name?

[springrite]

That's what Havergal Brian did, change his name. He was born William Brian. If he'd kept that name he would have resided in obscurity to his dying day. But with a name like Havergal, well, his reputation was made

Sarge

Right. And Sergeant Rock was originally Sergeant Ricky.

[North Star]

Good evening, Karlo!

Names can have many imoplications, indeed... Apparently, Klemperer in Latvian will bring to mind the idea of someone plonking away at a piano   

On the other hand, other names can be sooo suitable... I've always thought that Volkmar Andreae is a perfect name for a conductor associated with Bruckner 

Evening, Rafael!

Thank goodness Sibelius adopted the artist name Jean, instead of sticking to Janne...

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Evening, Rafael!

Thank goodness Sibelius adopted the artist name Jean, instead of sticking to Janne...

Speaking of Jean, another one, I've always enjoyed the name (and work of ) Jean Langlais whose name seems an amusing self-contradiction!

[DaveF]

That's what Havergal Brian did, change his name. He was born William Brian.

Luckily, Count Nikolaus de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt didn't feel it necessary to add extra elaborations to his name...

And spare a thought for poor Fartein Valen.  I love his violin concerto, but am resigned never to hearing it in a British concert hall.

[Brian]

Luckily, Count Nikolaus de la Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt didn't feel it necessary to add extra elaborations to his name...

And spare a thought for poor Fartein Valen.  I love his violin concerto, but am resigned never to hearing it in a British concert hall.

Near the end of Beethoven's Ninth, ever since hearing that dude's name I have misheard "lieber Vater wohnen" as "lieber Fartein Valen".

[Jo498]

The first association with Klemperer in German is probably "Klempner" (plumber), someone tonking at the piano could be called a "Klimperer", but this is not common.

Before his son became a politician (who disgraced himself after a rather short time because he had received a doctoral degree with a plagiarizes (and probably ghost written) dissertation) I found Enoch zu Guttenberg a rather impressive name and quite fitting for a conductor of serious sacred choral music. But now the name is tainted.... I guess they were just great...grandchildren of robber barons anyway.

[Marc]

(Sigh.)

Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingel-dangel-dongel-dungel-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumbelmeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbeleisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwurstl-gerspurten-mitz-weimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-schönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopf (aus Ulm).

http://www.youtube.com/v/Dzn0tIy3dzM

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

(Sigh.)

Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingel-dangel-dongel-dungel-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumbelmeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbeleisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwurstl-gerspurten-mitz-weimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-schönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopf (aus Ulm).

http://www.youtube.com/v/Dzn0tIy3dzM

Gutenabend, indeed!

[Brian]

The Danes are great for music names:

Nils Erik Sparf
Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Morten Schuldt-Jensen
Michael Schonwandt
Herman D. Koppel
Rued Langgaard
Harald Agersnap
Bo Holten
Niels Viggo Bentzon
and of course
Victor Borge

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

The Danes are great for music names:

Nils Erik Sparf
Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Morten Schuldt-Jensen
Michael Schonwandt
Herman D. Koppel
Rued Langgaard
Harald Agersnap
Bo Holten
Niels Viggo Bentzon
and of course
Victor Borge

Right you are ! (Victor Borge was of course not his real name, it was :  Børge Rosenbaum ; which serves to show how important names are in the Biz!)

[amw]

The Danes are great for music names:

Nils Erik Sparf
Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Morten Schuldt-Jensen
Michael Schonwandt
Herman D. Koppel
Rued Langgaard
Harald Agersnap
Bo Holten
Niels Viggo Bentzon
and of course
Victor Borge

Knudåge Riisager!

[Brian]

Knudåge Riisager!

How could I forget! The King of the Petrol Station Ballet!

[kishnevi]

Not a composer, but notable is the name of an older widow I know,  Mrs.  Beverley Hills.

[springrite]

Bill Brian's Gothic Symphony doesn't quite have the same ring to it. 

Or Joe Green's Aida.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Or Joe Green's Aida.

This thread is deteriorating - may have to be linked with the apology thread.

[amw]

I don't know why we don't translate composer's names actually. It's definitely something that used to be done—Louis van Beethoven, François Schubert, George Friderick Handel. No reason to stop there.

We could also translate the names of famous performers and conductors, into more suitable English equivalents. I mean, with subtlety, so we don't end up with people named Gene Christmassy or Friend-Friend Horse. That's just amateurish.

[pjme]

Henri Sauguet changed his name from Poupard to Sauguet . (Un) poupard =   childlike or even "a chubby child", a child with fat, rosy cheeks...

Germaine Tailleferre changed her name from Marcelle Taillefesse to Germaine Taileferre.
Taillefesse is a very old and very rare name in France. in modern french one can read it as  "buttock sculptor" ( tailler = to sculpt , la fesse= the buttock).

The etymological reality:

Origine : Taillefesse est un nom ancien issu du nom de lieu Tarlefesse, hameau de la commune de Noyon, Picardie.
Fesse, forme alteree de faisse, du latin fascia, un hart, lien fait d'une branche .

Taillefesse is an old name of the hamlet "Tarlefesse" near Noyon / Picardy. Un hart = a knot made with a supple branch.

Belgian names can be quite unusual aswell or at least difficult to pronounce for non native speakers...



Composer Marcel Poot  and

Jef Van Hoof





Pianist Stephanie Proot




Alto Ria Bollen ( a "bol" is a "ball", plural = bollen, thus, balls).

In the Belgian province of Limburg the name "Billen" is quite common . Billen = buttocks.



Other Belgo-Flemish names that might create ...some unease :

De Cock, Cockx etc., De Vleeschhouwer (butcher), Goormachtig, Goormans ( goor= revolting, disgusting), conductor Léonce Gras last name can be translated in French as "fat", in Dutch as "grass";

Both the names "Hellemont" ( hell mouth) and Hemelsoet  ( heaven sweet) exist.

The Kuijken dynasty provides us with another great tongue breaker , the name can be read as "kuiken" , a (young) chicken.

Composer André Laporte's name translates , of course, as André The door

Our famous beer "Duvel" (duvel is dialect for "duivel" =devil) is brewed by the Moortgat company  ( moord= murder (gat: vulgar for) ass)



Conductor Philip Rathé's name can be translated as Philip Failure ( raté = failure in French)

Jean-Baptiste Singelée (1812-1875), one of the first composers to write for the saxophone has a name that very often is misspelt.

In Belgium one's last name can be Slangen (snakes), Slootmaeckers ( lock maker), Specht ( woodpecker), Stout ( naughty) or Teerlinck (dice)...;

and an incredible amount of names starting with Van....( Damme, Vyvere, de Walle , de Wattyne, de Wiele, de Weghe, Dooren, Durme, Duyse, Eeckhout, Elslande, Eycken, Frachen, Eyndhoven, Geyseghem, Goethem, Gorp, Haute, Haver, Herck, Holderbeke, Heule, Hoof, Durme, Innis, Ingelgem, Liefferinge, Looy, Maldeghem, Melckebeke, Mol, Oost, Parys,  Paesschen, Poeck, Reyn, Rossum, Rysselberghe, Steenbeeck, Stappen, West, Wassenhoven, .....)

I end with composers Serge Verstockt ( verstokt = obdurate) and André Waignein ( that is just  a very hard one to pronounce correctly!)!

[Abuelo Igor]

No matter his achievements, I've had a hard time taking conductor Hartmut Haenchen seriously:

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I don't know why we don't translate composer's names actually. It's definitely something that used to be done—Louis van Beethoven, François Schubert, George Friderick Handel. No reason to stop there.

We could also translate the names of famous performers and conductors, into more suitable English equivalents. I mean, with subtlety, so we don't end up with people named Gene Christmassy or Friend-Friend Horse. That's just amateurish.

Interesting thought.  Yes, 'twas often done but I think it's prob. not a good idea, certainly not w/o the artist's consent.  to me, it's possibly indicative of a lack of openness to cultural difference.  Worse, it may be more than a little suggestive of a kind of cultural predation (if you have a genius or talented composer, conductor, performer, we'll 'nationalize' him or her by making his name acceptable to US - and in the process - at least symbolically - diminish YOUR cultural treasure.  Think of it, say, like an international stamp collector would - you wouldn't want to alter your stamps' educational/historical/cultural value by having them all anglified...? 

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

No matter his achievements, I've had a hard time taking conductor Hartmut Haenchen seriously:

I'm so glad I'm a vegetarian.  The thought of Munch - ing  a conductor fills me with dread.