Composer and Conductor Quotes

[Dundonnell]

Beecham and Vaughan Williams-

http://frombeyondthestave.blogspot.com/2008/03/beecham-and-pastoral.html

[karlhenning]

Beecham and Vaughan Williams-

http://frombeyondthestave.blogspot.com/2008/03/beecham-and-pastoral.html

There are ways in which I wish I hadn't read that, Colin . . . inevitably, I must think ever yet poorer of Beecham.

[Dundonnell]

There are ways in which I wish I hadn't read that, Colin . . . inevitably, I must think ever yet poorer of Beecham.

Yes, he was a terrible old rascal-of that there can be no doubt And we can and indeed should condemn him for the remarkably silly things he did and he said but we also should never forget the wonderful work he did for composers like Sibelius and Delius in Britain, his extraordinary ability to get an orchestra to play out of its skin in music he loved(Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz etc) and his sterling achievements in promoting serious opera to the British music public.

[drogulus]

     

There are ways in which I wish I hadn't read that, Colin . . . inevitably, I must think ever yet poorer of Beecham.

     He produced great recordings, and some memorable quips. I don't suppose I should hold it against him that he didn't much like the piece. If the Pastoral comment really represents his take on the music, it doesn't say much for Beecham. I think it was just a joke about a composer he didn't care for. It's hard to believe he could play that work and misunderstand it so badly.

[Dundonnell]

Beecham reportedly didn't much like Elgar either yet he was ultimately professional enough to produce readings of some Elgar which are certainly not without merit-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2001/June01/BeechamElgar.htm

[scarpia]

Don't know where this story comes from, or how accurate it is.  Supposedly Toscanini performed "Bolero" with the composer in attendance.  After the performance Ravel was backstage overheard someone remark to Toscanini that the tempo was fast, to which Toscanini replied "yes, any slower and the piece is absolutely unbearable.  Hearing this, Ravel fumed, "that idiot, it's supposed to be unbearable."

[M forever]

There are ways in which I wish I hadn't read that, Colin . . . inevitably, I must think ever yet poorer of Beecham.

He probably couldn't handle the fact that VW was so highly regarded in his environment and, unlike a lot of dead or far away composers, around, so Beecham couldn't have the stage entirely to himself.

[Dundonnell]

He probably couldn't handle the fact that VW was so highly regarded in his environment and, unlike a lot of dead or far away composers, around, so Beecham couldn't have the stage entirely to himself.

That is true. Beecham could not handle people who were in some respects "bigger personalities" than himself. He was happy to promote the music of living composers like Delius(living abroad in France in seclusion), Sibelius(similarly in Finland) or younger British composers like Alwyn or Arnell but not 'big' figures like VW or Elgar.

I find it sad to discover that he removed Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony from an LPO programme in Germany at the request of the Nazi regime and that he, apparently, admired and consorted with both Hitler and Ribbentrop in the 30s.

Anyway....back to quotes... and one from VW himself-

"No, it's a Bb. It looks wrong and it sounds wrong. But it's right."

[karlhenning]

Anyway....back to quotes... and one from VW himself-

"No, it's a Bb. It looks wrong and it sounds wrong. But it's right."

Love it!

Reminds me of a (roughly, vewwy woughly) similar story . . . hang on . . . .

[Symphonien]

"If it is art, it is not for everyone, and if it is for everyone, it is not art." - Arnold Schoenberg

[Mark G. Simon]

In 1954 RVW visited the US, and it was arranged that he have a brief residency at Cornell University to make the trip worth his while. One of his duties was to listen to student compositions and offer his comments. One student brought in a piece of post-Webern serialism for his inspection. RVW gave him his most grandfatherly stare and said "Now son, if a melody should ever occur to you, don't be afraid to write it down".

[mahler10th]

More Ormandy:

All of you are ready to start so I must be ready.

I wrote it the right way so it was copied the wrong way right - I mean the right way wrong.

Bass Clarinetist: What note do I have?
EO: The score is written out the way you hear it the way you play it - and I have to transpose back to normal.

I guess you thought I was conducting, but I wasn't.

The notes are right, but if I listened they would be wrong.

EO: (To the Woodwinds): There are no woodwinds at Number 6.
Woodwinds: We're at number 15.
EO: I know. That is why.

(To the horns) The trouble is not with you; it is with me. I have to catch him and then it is too late.

[Ugh!]

"I don't really basically accept equal temperament as Bach produced it. When I work with overtones, I'm not talking about equal temperament, because the overtone series has nothing to do with equal temperament. It's all pure tone. I really think it was a big mistake to go in for equal temperament. Every fourth and fifth should be perfect, in perfect tune, and the only way you can use perfect fourths and fifths on a keyboard would be to limit yourself to just a few keys: maybe one or two flats, one or two sharps - that would be it. That's the way it should be. But you make compromises to be able to play music in all 24 keys; then you have to compromise a little. I heard one famous clarinetist say he hates to play with a piano: "I always have to adjust my intonation to fit this out-of-tune piano." Bach called it the Well-Tempered Clavichord, I call it Ill-Tempered. "

Moondog

[karlhenning]

I don't really basically accept equal temperament as Bach produced it.

That was a Bach production? Who knew? 

[Norbeone]

I'm sure a lot of people would say the exact same thing about Gould, just replace the word "composer" with "pianist".

What, and have a world do without the '81 recording of the Goldberg Variations? I think not   

[karlhenning]

Anyway....back to quotes... and one from VW himself-

"No, it's a Bb. It looks wrong and it sounds wrong. But it's right."

This is not the story I had in mind (for which I'll continue to look), but it's close in spirit:

I do remember . . . we were rehearsing the Eighth Symphony for a forthcoming performance in the concert season.  Dmitri Dmitriyevich had come up to Leningrad as usual for the rehearsal.  In the break Mravinsky turned round to us and said, 'Do you know, I have this impression that here in this place Dmitri Dmitriyevich has omitted something;  there's a discrepancy between the harmonies of these chords as they appear here and where they occur elsewhere.  I've always wanted to ask Dmitri Dmitriyevich about this point, but somehow I have never got round to it.'

Just at this moment, Dmitri Dmitriyevich himself came up to Mravinsky, who put the question to him without further ado.  Dmitri Dmitriyevich glanced at the score: 'Oh dear, what a terrible omission, what an error I have committed.  But you know what, let's leave it as it is, just let things stay as they are.'  We then understood that this 'error' was deliberate.

[Brian]

This is not the story I had in mind (for which I'll continue to look), but it's close in spirit:

There's also the story, which I am trying to look for, of the young conductor making his debut with, I think, the Boston Symphony, who programmed a contemporary work and decided to impress the orchestra with his superb musical ear...?

[Ugh!]

That was a Bach production? Who knew? 

But you see, to Moondog, musical intervals contained a secret language, a message to be decoded, which he claimed to have done succesfully, discovering that the universe expands and contracts in such a way as to

prove that contraction must come before expansion. It also proves that a cause can become an effect and an effect can become a cause. It proves the two-directionality of time. It proves that the past is the future and the future is the past. All this flys in the face of what Hubble did.

According to Moondog, that is   

[karlhenning]

Anyway....back to quotes... and one from VW himself-

"No, it's a Bb. It looks wrong and it sounds wrong. But it's right."

Here is the one I was thinking of:

Shostakovich hardly ever changed anything in his works.  He was very meticulous in his fair copy.  Once we prepared the Third Quartet to play for him.  The first movement opens with a cello playing a bottom F, written arco.  For some reason we decided that it sounded better pizzicato, while the second violin and viola continue to play arco.  In our youthful folly, we decided to play it like that for Dmitri Dmitriyevich without any prior warning.  This again took place at his home.  No sooner had we started, when he stopped us and said, 'Excuse me, but you are meant to play arco there.'

I said, 'Dmitri Dmitriyevich, you see, we've given it some thought, and maybe you would like to reconsider.  It seems to us that pizzicato sounds better there.'

'Yes, yes,' he hastily interrupted, 'pizzicato is much better, but please play arco all the same.'

[M forever]

There's also the story, which I am trying to look for, of the young conductor making his debut with, I think, the Boston Symphony, who programmed a contemporary work and decided to impress the orchestra with his superb musical ear...?

That's a fascinating story, Brian. Even without an actual story.