Quiz: Mystery scores

[(poco) Sforzando]

Yes, I got that, but where do the eggs come in....?

Maybe this is what you mean...

And if one's head looks like an egg, may there not be two hard-cooked eggs for you to crack?   

Keep reviewing all clues.

[lukeottevanger]

Might Sforzando's 73 be Offenbach (Oeuf-enbach; or, Offen-bach, perhaps relating as per clue no 5 to my Wolf-Ferarri)? Something perhaps from La Vie Parisienne (a famous city with first and last letters PS). I don't think this is Gaite Parisienne. But it certainly has a can-can look to it, and an Offenbach-y look to the impactful orchestration....

If this is wrong - and it probably is - one can't deny that it nevertheless fits various of Sforzando's clues. Though with clues this cryptic, we could probably find all sorts of pieces to fit them. 

[(poco) Sforzando]

Might Sforzando's 73 be Offenbach (Oeuf-enbach; or, Offen-bach, perhaps relating as per clue no 5 to my Wolf-Ferarri)? Something perhaps from La Vie Parisienne (a famous city with first and last letters PS). I don't think this is Gaite Parisienne. But it certainly has a can-can look to it, and an Offenbach-y look to the impactful orchestration....

If this is wrong - and it probably is - one can't deny that it nevertheless fits various of Sforzando's clues. Though with clues this cryptic, we could probably find all sorts of pieces to fit them. 

So near, and yet so far . . . .

Keep at it.

[lukeottevanger]

With no images here and me working on memory (no one else trying to do the same?) you might need to give a little more than that  . Is it

a) Offenbach but not the specific piece I mentioned
b) nearly right in some other way but not Offenbach
c) not no 73 but another one

Because if a) for instance, the composer having been successfully identified, surely it's fair to let us know, and if b), the composer not being correct, ditto. And if c) well, come on, I'm using memory here! 

[(poco) Sforzando]

With no images here and me working on memory (no one else trying to do the same?) you might need to give a little more than that  . Is it

a) Offenbach but not the specific piece I mentioned
b) nearly right in some other way but not Offenbach
c) not no 73 but another one

Because if a) for instance, the composer having been successfully identified, surely it's fair to let us know, and if b), the composer not being correct, ditto. And if c) well, come on, I'm using memory here! 

Not Offenbach, not a can-can, not French. Do not translate egg clue; eggs not relevant here in any case. Paris clue not relevant here. Think laterally! It's a secret, but it was staring you in the face two posts ago! (So near, yet so far.)

[lukeottevanger]

Wolf-Ferrari? Il segreto di Susanna?

[lukeottevanger]

Yes it is.

[lukeottevanger]

These clues of yours are so very cryptic that they can lead anywhere - you see how my Offenbach one made perfect sense? Even more - those PS initials? Did you know that the man responsible for the choreography of the dancing in French Can-can which popularised the image of the dance was called Pierre Sandrini?

[(poco) Sforzando]

These clues of yours are so very cryptic that they can lead anywhere - you see how my Offenbach one made perfect sense? Even more - those PS initials? Did you know that the man responsible for the choreography of the dancing in French Can-can which popularised the image of the dance was called Pierre Sandrini?

Now, now. Temper, temper, temper, temper. Like any puzzle, some clues can lead to more than one place, but all clues have to fit. Let's go over all my clues again, and see which ones are still relevant. Those you can still use are in italics; the ones that have been played out are in normal type:

(to Guido:) There's one of mine that should be right up your street. Better yet if there were two of you.

==
That is a cryptic clue indeed, and probably won't help in the slightest. This one is really pretty obscure. I know very little about the composer, but he has taught recently in American universities (and may still). His name sounds Anglo, but could be German. The title of the piece, however (and of the suite from which it is taken), is in another familiar language.

==

My clues will start simply. I reiterate that there may be more than one work by any of my composers.

For one or two of my pieces, it may also help to think of breakfast foods and condiments. (There's your egg.) This clue may be more suggestive to Americans than to Europeans, but we'll see where this goes, lads.

A little bit more information has been provided for Sfz50; namely, I've given the first violin part too, which was truncated in the original upload. I have still left out the main melody, for reasons that will become clear when I confirm the answer, which should now be much easier. You can see now too that when clarinet and bassoon switch to 2/4, the strings (and hidden melody line!) continue in 6/8. Identifying what the winds are playing here should go a long way towards identifying the excerpt. Or perhaps not.

==

But I don't see you guys yet making use of the clues I've given! at least three of my unidentified excerpts are by composers already present in my two last sets, and one by a composer present in one of Luke's recent sets. And while I don't know what you Brits eat for breakfast each day (I hope it's not that ghastly English breakfast I was served in my London hotel each morning ten years ago), thinking of breakfast food should go a long day towards cracking one or two of my harder eggs, especially if you like your eggs scrambled as I do. (For what it's worth: supposedly Escoffier, in scrambling eggs in butter for Sarah Bernhardt, stirred them with a knife on which he had impaled a bit of garlic. Sarah loved the result, but Escoffier never revealed his secret.)

Finally Guido, in the course of identifying Barber's Tango, has inadvertently provided the name of another of my (very famous) composers.

55 will be tough, no doubt, but it is for two cellos. 54 - well, figuring out the instrumentation will tell you everything. It is a well-known piece by a famous composer. But doesn't something about the layout of that score look very unusual - almost as if something you'd normally expect is missing?

And of course there are clues all over the place in the above paragraphs, as well as a few false leads. Sinister, aren't I?

==

Surprised my 54 is giving so much trouble. I think I could have identified this one with one hand tied behind my back.

==
I wouldn't say "merely" random. Some of those clues fit to a T. Some of those clues fit to a T. Some of those clues fit to a T. Some of those clues fit to a T. ==

1) To what you said, that's a relief.
2) A couple of them by a very great composer have higher opus numbers than their dates of composition would imply.
3) Two are by British composers, whose last names begin with the same letter.
4) One of the more obscure composers has the same nationality as one of mine that had been recently guessed.
5) Rampant horses? Luke's not the only one who can play that secretive game.
6) Another standard of the ballet repertoire is probably less known among music lovers, but he's been in my list before.
7) Eggs, butter . . . this clue must be worth something, lads.
8  What composer does Guido inadvertently name when identifying the Hesitation Tango?
9) Can't hear you, speak louder! (What, you too?)
10) My first name begins with a K, but my composition has something in common with that Gottfried von Einem fiasco of two weeks ago.
11) PS: could that be someone's initials? Could that even be the outer letters of a well-known city?

==
The LvB is correct. It was written in 1817 and published posthumously; it's a tiny piece rarely heard and I don't even have a recording.

No Massenet, but you're in the right country for at least one of mine.
==

And if one's head looks like an egg, may there not be two hard-cooked eggs for you to crack?   

Keep reviewing all clues. More clues soon. Sigh.

[lukeottevanger]

Now, now. Temper, temper, temper, temper.

There you go with the 4x thing - don't think I haven't noticed 

'All clues have to fit' - but there are so many, and we don't know which clues fit to which score - they obviously don't all fit all the pieces. I made at least 3 of your clues fit with the Offenbach guess and it was still wrong (though I thought it was at the time, as you'll recall!!)

Here's where I am - tell me how far off this is

One is Beethoven, something with a higher opus number than its date of composition suggests (but trawling this list doesn't give any obvious answers, and I'd assume it would be that violin/cello piece - no 61 IIRC. Except as far as I can see it doesn't fit any of the duets I know or have looked at. The Beethoven bit would fit with what you say about Guido's mentioning his name, but I doubt that is actually what you meant by that clue. Perhaps there's a missing part, or some other explanation. Or eggsplanation... 

The two cello one (55, I think) - something to do with 'tough', and presumably some trickery going on with the name clue

The 5/4 Adagio misterioso - something to do with Philadelphia, perhaps. And first name starts with K.


Ah, I'm miles off on these!...

[lukeottevanger]

The Beethoven - Kakadu Variations, piano trio. Thought there was a missing instrument.... (also, the names of the instruments being given in the way they are led me to think that too)

[lukeottevanger]

(that's no 61, I think)

[lukeottevanger]

(actually, that one was embarrassingly easy when I came to look at it properly)

Still lots of mine remaining. No images  , but that shouldn't stop you. I'll describe them for you later, if it helps! And give clues, too.

[(poco) Sforzando]

OK, we got the Kakadu variations. I think six are left of mine. This time, three types of clue - each clue applies to only one piece:

COMPOSITIONS:
My name is both a symphony, and a famous modern ballet score.

I am from the same score as was previously identified. I am in fact the next piece in the score previously identified. I am large, I contain multitudes.

A collision on the streets of Paris? What stupidity!

I am the second of two compositions of this type by this composer, and from the second movement of this composition.

I am one of a set of eight compositions of this type.

I am the third of this type, and named for an American city. Not Philadelphia.

COMPOSERS:
My bald head looks like an egg, and I provided elementary training for musicians at a major American university.

My name sounds like an egg!

I can't hear you either!

I am Jewish, American, bisexual, with a German name - the quintessential New Yorker.

PS: I also taught at a major American university, but you'd think from the name of my piece I'd be driving around the streets of Paris.

Did not a porter tell me to blow?

NATIONALITIES:
1 American
1 English
1 German
1 French
1 Norwegian
1 I'm not sure, could be Anglo but sounds German.

[karlhenning]

. . . something to do with Philadelphia, perhaps.

One of the angel's letters in the Book of Revelation? 

[(poco) Sforzando]

One of the angel's letters in the Book of Revelation? 

Not following you exactly, but I don't think so. Think horses for my city.

[lukeottevanger]

It's Klaus Egge's Louisville Symphony (no 3). Is that to do with horses?

[lukeottevanger]

No 70, I mean. (I think!)

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I have the deepest respect for those guessers with photographic memories. I don't belong to that glittering band, however. I'm as blind as a bat, under the current circumstances...

So - no contributions from me.

One thought did cross my mind - never upload anything really essential to the GMG server in future. Use Photobucket or Flickr and link from there.

And why do we hear nothing? Or have I missed something?

[(poco) Sforzando]

It's Klaus Egge's Louisville Symphony (no 3). Is that to do with horses?

My first name begins with a K.
I am Norwegian.
My name sounds like an egg.
Louisville, KY, is noted for the Kentucky Derby, the first of America's Triple Crown of horse races.