Favourite composer names.

[vandermolen]

There used to be a UK haulage company called Tibbett and Britten - used to make me laugh every time one of their trucks shunted me off my bike into the ditch.

I was once frightened off my bike into a ditch by a low flying military jet in Zeeland/Netherlands in 1973.

[Christo]

I was once frightened off my bike into a ditch by a low flying military jet in Zeeland/Netherlands in 1973.

Probably/possibly - in those years, that I remember well - a low flying jet must have been a Northrop-5:

[71 dB]

A thread about favorite composer names gets to military jets within 4 pages. 

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

My favorite military aircraft name is "F6F Hellcat"

[Ken B]

My favorite military aircraft name is "F6F Hellcat"

Which is quite a coincidence since F6F Hellcat, or just F6 as he is known to his friends, is my favorite composer name.

[DaveF]

A friend of mine used to work for Universal Edition and collect exotic names from their catalogue (no, that wasn't his job).  His two all-time favourites were Oliphant Chuckerbutty (in full, Soorjo Alexander William Langobard Oliphant Chuckerbutty) and Norbert Sprongl.  I see that works by both are up on YouTube, including Sprongl's Symphony no.3, Op.133 (going head-to-head with the Große Fuge there, Norbert).  Could be worth a listen - could be worth a thread...

[calyptorhynchus]

Potentially off topic if his name was boring, but what was the name of that French composer from c. 1900-1920 who was friends with everybody else and then died super young (but I think not in the war) and left like 1 or 2 CDs' worth of music?

Is this Lekeu?

"Germaine Tailleferre's both parents had the name Taillefesse  (buttock pruner) . Around 1913 Germaine decided that she would become a "Taileferre", a "hewer of iron" - the surname of a Norman minstrel." The story I heard was that her father refused to support her at music school, so she changed her name to spite him.

[DaveF]

Whenever an anthem or hymn by J.B. Dykes comes round (in an Anglican church, that's quite often), our director of music likes to remind us that his given names were John Bacchus.

And I would like to propose a vote of thanks for originating a most entertaining thread to Geoffrey (or Geoffrey Ludwig Josquin Wolfgang Amadeus Orlando Lili Clara Dmitri, as he appears on his birth certificate).

[Christo]

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri

[pjme]

"Germaine Tailleferre's both parents had the name Taillefesse  (buttock pruner) . Around 1913 Germaine decided that she would become a "Taileferre", a "hewer of iron" - the surname of a Norman minstrel." The story I heard was that her father refused to support her at music school, so she changed her name to spite him.
[/quote]

Correct. But she did not like Taillefesse....In Georges Hacquard biography "La dame des six"  one can read

"...nom ridicule, disait Germaine, mais ridicule deux fois, car sa mère berrichonne, et son père, normand, 's appelaient l'un et l'autre Taillefesse". (page 12)
and : "Tant pis pour son père: elle a pris définitivement le pseudonyme de Tailleferre".(page 20).

Another favorite: Mario Nascimbene

[ritter]

Is this Lekeu?

Lekeu died in 1894. My guess as to Brian's mystery composer is André Caplet.

[Brian]

Just found it. It was Pierre-Octave Ferroud.

By the way has anyone mentioned Leon Dudley / Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji?

[Karl Henning]

Jehan Alain?

Which is a cool name.

[North Star]

I always thought these chaps had great names...

Carlo Gesualdo
Toivo Kuula

[mourningdoves]

Claude-Bénigne Balbastre.

[Florestan]

When it comes to euphonic, melodious and sonorous names, Italians have no competition whatsoever.

For instance:

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Girolamo Frescobaldi
Claudio Monteverdi
Arcangelo Corelli
Benedetto Marcello
Tomaso Albinoni
Antonio Vivaldi
Alessandro & Domenico Scarlatti
Domenico Cimarosa
Baldassare Galuppi
Luigi Boccherini
Gioacchino Rossini
Vincenzo Bellini

etc etc etc

Not composers but equally euphonic: Arturo Toscanini, Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli, Carlo Maria Giulini, Maurizio Pollini, Salvatore Accardo etc etc etc

No, really, any other names sound barbaric by comparison, including but not limited to, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. 

[Alek Hidell]

The new erato has already mentioned him, but Adolphus Hailstork wins the prize for me. It sounds like the name of some dotty old professor from the Harry Potter series.

[vandermolen]

The new erato has already mentioned him, but Adolphus Hailstork wins the prize for me. It sounds like the name of some dotty old professor from the Harry Potter series.

I agree - it's a great name.

[vandermolen]

Marcel Poot

[calyptorhynchus]

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Mario New German Castle