Quiz: Mystery scores

[karlhenning]

(And the motto of her blog is a quotation from Nabokov too - unsigned, of course )

Forgive me for a prying suggestion . . . but I think you mean unattributed rather than unsigned in this case 

[lukeottevanger]

Oh, I can assure you 100% they were cousins, not brothers. VN had two brothers, Sergey and Kirill. Sergey (born less than a year after Vladimir) was actually a pretty good musician and loved music very much (he went to all the Diaghilev premieres in Paris), and according to at least some reports, he was generally as brilliant as the writer (and a bit more genial). VN's uncle "Ruka" had some musical talents too. Ruka died when Vladimir was still a boy (bequeathing on his nephew an enormous estate which was soon to be taken over by the Bolsheviks). Sergey perished in Neuengamme.

While in America, Nicolas and Vladimir were often confused - even by the FBI or CIA or some other organization of that sort.

Oh, dear. Did I just enter into lecturing mode?

But tell me one thing, I'm extremely interested: how is that Piano Sonata, generally? Do you have any other Nabokov scores?

I only have the score to the Sonata; the page I chose is the 'liveliest' part of the sonata, if that helps. I'll upload the score for you in a minute...wait for PM 

[lukeottevanger]

Actually, why PM - here's the sonata for anyone interested

[Maciek]

Forgive me for a prying suggestion . . . but I think you mean unattributed rather than unsigned in this case 

Of course. I'll edit right away.

[Maciek]

Actually, why PM - here's the sonata for anyone interested

Thanks so much! I have a CHANDOS disc with two of his pieces. Can't really make up my mind about him. General opinion seems to be extremely low...

[Guido]

Thanks for the recommendations Maciek. I actually love short stories so that is one I will definitely follow up on. Barthelme's 60 Stories a good place to start? And for Borges is this a good bet? :
http://www.amazon.com/Borges-Collected-Fictions-Jorge-Luis/dp/0140286802/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222128649&sr=1-1

cheers!

[Maciek]

Oh, that Borges volume is a good one - it has both Fictions and Garden of Forking Paths - probably his best collections! As for Barthelme, it probably makes no difference, but I would start with 40 stories. Leafed through it today, and it's absolutely brilliant! (Will have to reread all of it now... )

[Maciek]

Music, Goethe said, is the frozen tapioca in the ice chest of History.

[Guido]

Music, Goethe said, is the frozen tapioca in the ice chest of History.

Flavourless, odourless, colourless, gluten free, protein free plant extract?

[lukeottevanger]

Flavourless, odourless, colourless, gluten free, protein free plant extract?

I didn't like the Whiteacre you supplied me with at all, Guido, as you know, but that's the slightest touch harsh, don't you think?

[Maciek]

"Eckermann," said Goethe, "shut up."

[Guido]

Lol Maciek! Seriously though, what did Goethe mean there?

[Maciek]

The guards at the Tolstoy Museum carry buckets in which there are stacks of clean white pocket handkerchiefs. More than any other museum, the Tolstoy Museum induces weeping. Even the bare title of a Tolstoy work, with its burden of love, can induce weeping - for example, the article titled "Who Should Teach Whom to Write, We the Peasant Children or the Peasant Children Us?"

[karlhenning]

Oh, dear.

[Maciek]

At the Tolstoy Museum, sadness grasped the 741 Sunday visitors. The Museum was offering a series of lectures on the text "Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves?" The visitors were made sad by these eloquent speakers, who were probably right.

[Maciek]

We should start a quotation quiz in the diner!

[karlhenning]

. . . a series of lectures on the text "Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves?"

Why, that's a fine way to speak of Pelléas et Mélisande! 

[Guido]

Great stuff Maciek - I really want to read them now! A quotes quiz might be too easy due to google...

[Maciek]

When Captain Blood, at sea, discovers that he is pursued by the Dutch Admiral Van Tromp, he considers throwing the women overboard. So that they will drift, like so many giant lotuses in their green, lavender, purple, and blue gowns, across Van Tromp's path, and he will have to stop and pick them up. Blood will have the women fitted with life jackets under their dresses. They will hardly be in much danger at all. But what about the jaws of sea turtles? No, the women cannot be thrown overboard. Vile, vile! What could he have been thinking of? Of the patterns they would have made floating on the surface of the water, in the moonlight, a cerise gown, a silver gown...

[Maciek]

(Luckily, I have no Borges in English translation - this could go on for too long. What am I saying? It has been going for too long!)