Quiz.

Started by Irons, January 19, 2019, 11:54:09 AM

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Ken B

Quote from: Christo on March 15, 2019, 11:51:27 AM
OK. One of the legendary stories in Shostakovich' Testimony, if Solomon Volkov can be trusted,  8) is about a pianist. One day Stalin heard a live concert on the radio with one of his favourite pieces and ordered for the record of it by this specific artist - which he thought he had heard - to be brought to his dacha near Moscow. No one dared tell him that there was no such disc and the pianist and a bunch of orchestra players were hurriedly convened in a recording studio. The third consecutive conductor (the first two overwhelmed by the stress) managed to complete a recording well into the night. A single disc was produced and brought to Stalin's dacha early in the morning. The story goes that it lay on Stalin's turntable when he suffered his stroke in 1953.

Name the piece and the artist - and what she wrote Stalin to thank him for the gift he had bestowed on her.  ;D
Mozart, a piano concerto I think. Not sure the story is true.

Christo

Quote from: Ken B on March 15, 2019, 12:00:59 PM
Mozart, a piano concerto I think. Not sure the story is true.
Quote from: Christo on March 15, 2019, 11:51:27 AM
if Solomon Volkov can be trusted,  8)

Close, very close. Not the exact piece, artist and letter to Stalin (according to Volkov's story) yet.  ;)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Ken B

Quote from: Christo on March 15, 2019, 12:07:53 PM
Close, very close. Not the exact piece, artist and letter to Stalin (according to Volkov's story) yet.  ;)
Maria Yudina, 23

Christo

Quote from: Ken B on March 15, 2019, 12:09:42 PM
Maria Yudina, 23

>> Soon afterwards, the story goes, Yudina was surprised to receive a letter containing 20,000 rubles, sent at the order of Stalin. She wrote him: "I thank you for your aid. I will pray for you day and night and ask the Lord to forgive your great sins before the people and the country. The Lord is merciful and He'll forgive you. I gave the money to my church."
Stalin reportedly read the letter as his secretary – who had already prepared her arrest warrant – awaited his reaction. But he put the letter aside and said nothing. Nine years later, as Stalin lay on his deathbed, Yudina's recording of the Mozart concerto was playing on a record player nearby. << https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/maria-yudina-stalin

Your turn.  ;D
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Ken B

I was named after a poet, and my son was named for a poem. My daughter was also a composer. What was her name?

JBS

#945
(Gwendolen) Avril Coleridge-Taylor, daughter of Samuel and sister of Hiawatha.

Papa of course being Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Christo

Quote from: Ken B on March 15, 2019, 01:06:16 PM
I was named after a poet, and my son was named for a poem. My daughter was also a composer. What was her name?
Avril Coleridge-Taylor
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

JBS

We seem to have tied. But I will defer to Christo. His riddles are much better than mine.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Ken B

Both correct of course. In view of Jeffrey's gesture, you are up Christo.

PS I heard some of papa Samuel's chamber music recently and liked it a lot.

Christo

Quote from: Ken B on March 15, 2019, 01:55:40 PM
Both correct of course. In view of Jeffrey's gesture, you are up Christo.

PS I heard some of papa Samuel's chamber music recently and liked it a lot.
I am honoured, but I prefer a new mystery from Jeffrey. Honestly, I learn a lot from him (and I myself have already offered too many riddles). After you, Sir! ;D

... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Ken B

Quote from: Christo on March 15, 2019, 02:19:27 PM
I am honoured, but I prefer a new mystery from Jeffrey. Honestly, I learn a lot from him (and I myself have already offered too many riddles). After you, Sir! ;D

What a brilliant meta clue!
The answer is: Remo Giazotto, who hid his light under the bushel of Albinoni.

JBS

Quote from: Christo on March 15, 2019, 02:19:27 PM
I am honoured, but I prefer a new mystery from Jeffrey. Honestly, I learn a lot from him (and I myself have already offered too many riddles). After you, Sir! ;D

Panic!

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

JBS

Quote from: JBS on March 15, 2019, 04:51:41 PM
Panic!

Actually that's a good topic.

Two composers are involved. Both performed on the same instrument.Both are said to have suffered stage fright, and usually performed only to small audiences in semi-informal settings because of that. The first composer is very famous. The second composer is not famous, and his reputation as a composer derives from a set of works based on a set of works by the first composer.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Christo

Quote from: JBS on March 15, 2019, 04:59:35 PM
Actually that's a good topic.

Two composers are involved. Both performed on the same instrument.Both are said to have suffered stage fright, and usually performed only to small audiences in semi-informal settings because of that. The first composer is very famous. The second composer is not famous, and his reputation as a composer derives from a set of works based on a set of works by the first composer.
Is this about the Diabelli Variations, perhaps?
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Jo498

Chopin and Godowsky?
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

JBS

Quote from: Christo on March 16, 2019, 12:30:15 AM
Is this about the Diabelli Variations, perhaps?

No. That would reverse the relation. The less famous composer based his work on that of the very famous composer.
In fact
Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2019, 12:42:27 AM
Chopin and Godowsky?

Is exactly the answer.

So it's Jo's turn to pose a question.

Hollywood Beach Broadwalk

Ken B

Quote from: JBS on March 16, 2019, 09:57:37 AM
No. That would reverse the relation. The less famous composer based his work on that of the very famous composer.
In fact
Is exactly the answer.

So it's Jo's turn to pose a question.
Heh. I figured it was Chopin and, so I googled for the and. Never found Godowsky, whom I have heard of, but just barely.

Jo498

Connect G. F. Handel and Sean Connery with a plausible musico-historical chain that includes a well-known 20th century composer. There are around 4 intermediate links in that chain although some are not explicitly musical. (I have a specific solution in mind but there might be plausible alternatives.)
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Christo

Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2019, 10:22:21 AM
Connect G. F. Handel and Sean Connery with a plausible musico-historical chain that includes a well-known 20th century composer. There are around 4 intermediate links in that chain although some are not explicitly musical. (I have a specific solution in mind but there might be plausible alternatives.)

John Addison composed the music for A Bridge To Far, in which Sean Connery playes the rol of Major General Urquhart (commander at the bridge; I'm living in that neighbourhood). Addison studied oboe with Leon Goossens, the great oboist. Handel was also an oboist in his early years and always writes for the oboe with great ingenuity. Four steps.  :P
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Ken B

Quote from: Jo498 on March 16, 2019, 10:22:21 AM
Connect G. F. Handel and Sean Connery with a plausible musico-historical chain that includes a well-known 20th century composer. There are around 4 intermediate links in that chain although some are not explicitly musical. (I have a specific solution in mind but there might be plausible alternatives.)
Fireworks - Firebird - From Russia with Love