Time traveler's first choice

[canninator]

I think I would go back a lot further than most. I'm not sure which but high on my list would be the papal chapel choir on St Stephen's Day some time in the 5th century for all the hours of the office (how was it pitched, what were the rhythms, how was it ornamented?), St Stephen's Day at Notre Dame when the Magnus Liber had been packed with some of that new fangled polyphony stuff, or an average day in 1548 in the court of the Regent of Spain when de Narvaez would have been at the hight of his powers on the vihuela.

[Florestan]

OTOMH: Vienna, 1784 --- Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart and Vanhall playing SQs.

[prémont]

I considered the option to hear Bach play his own works and improvise at the organ, but in the end I think it would be more instructive to hear Buxtehude at the great (no longer extant) organ at the Marienkirche in Lübeck.

[Ten thumbs]

Bach is certainly tempting, so I would like to go back and hear Fanny Hensel playing Bach for Gounod in Rome.

[hornteacher]

Vienna - April, 1787

The young Beethoven plays for Mozart.

[Chaszz]

Vienna - April, 1787

The young Beethoven plays for Mozart.

Good chance this never took place. The comment Mozart made about young B's prowess has been found to probably be a fraud.

[springrite]

Good chance this never took place. The comment Mozart made about young B's prowess has been found to probably be a fraud.

In that case we may substitute  November 27, 1979 in Lexington, Virginia, the birth of Hilary Hahn. 

[Scarpia]

In that case we may substitute  November 27, 1979 in Lexington, Virginia, the birth of Hilary Hahn. 

I'm not sure even horn teacher would want watch Hilary Hahn being born.

[hornteacher]

I'm not sure even horn teacher would want watch Hilary Hahn being born.

Good call. 

[hornteacher]

Good chance this never took place. The comment Mozart made about young B's prowess has been found to probably be a fraud.

Ah well, I'll go back in time and bring them together.

[Chaszz]

Ah well, I'll go back in time and bring them together.

Good idea!

[DavidRoss]

Great musical event:  Vienna, December 22, 1808--in one performance, Beethoven conducts the premieres of his 5th symphony, his 6th symphony, the Choral Fantasy, and his 4th piano concerto, featuring Beethoven as the soloist.

Second choice, a tie:  The premiere of Le Nozze de Figaro, and the first performance of Mahler's 8th. 

Fly on the wall:  The meeting between Sibelius and Mahler in Helsinki, 1907, during which they discussed their ideas about the symphony as a musical form.

Rescue Deus ex machina:  Ainola, just before Sibelius tosses the 8th Symphony into the fire.  Better yet, were access to proper medical care possible, Vienna, November 1791, in time to save Mozart from an early death at age 35.

[DavidW]

Any concert of any Bach premiere, just to see how it really was played back then.

[Lethevich]

The premiere of Beethoven's 9th symphony might be nice for the following reasons:

1. To note the phrasing and style in use at the time, and
2. The quality of the ensemble, and
3. The speed they played
4. The overall success of the event would be fun to be part of

I would then cover my nose with a handkerchief and go to ask Beethoven to write an alternate instrumental final movement.

[mc ukrneal]

The premiere of Beethoven's 9th symphony might be nice for the following reasons:

1. To note the phrasing and style in use at the time, and
2. The quality of the ensemble, and
3. The speed they played
4. The overall success of the event would be fun to be part of

I would then cover my nose with a handkerchief and go to ask Beethoven to write an alternate instrumental final movement.

In such a scenario, all I can say is - good thing he's deaf! 

[Chaszz]

Just a note that at many public 18th and 19th century concerts and operas, including the premiere of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth and etc., the audience did what it liked, talking through the music, arriving and leaving halfway through, commenting on the playing, laughing, eating, drinking, and other pandemonium. This was in contrast to the attentive silence at chamber music and other private concerts. It was not until...yes, HIM again...Wagner introduced dimming of the lights before and during a performance and forbade noise that concert and opera listeners settled into the attentive silence we expect today, excluding the inevitable coughing and hawking here and there. This is not to cast any aspersions on some of the fine choices made above, but only to round out their contexts.

[Teresa]

The premier of the Rite of Spring-- I'd want a lot of video cameras so we can see the audience freaking out as well.

My first choice as well.

For a second choice, perhaps see Antonio Salieri in the 1780's and try to convince him that he shouldn't torment himself so much because he doesn't believe he measures up to Mozart.  Perhaps since I am bringing a recorder, play him some more modern classical music such as Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird so he can perfect his own compositions and have a leg up on Mozart.  Of course that would change history, but it might be for the better.  I know I would be happier if Mozart was a very minor composer.  Oh well, I just need to invent a time machine.

I also want to go back and buy tons of Microsoft when it was a penny stock.

[George]

You can travel back in time for one evening only, go where you will, dressed in the clothes of your chosen time and place, and blend in with the audience at a chamber recital or larger concert or whatever. You secrete in your clothing a superior recording device to capture the music of the evening, and later you will return to the present with your prize. Will you record composed music or improvisation? Who and what will you retrieve for posterity?

I would probably choose to hear Godowsky play in his home, where he has been said to have played far better performances than what we have on his recordings. Ideally, I'd like to be there on a night when Josef Hofmann was present, to hear his thoughts afterwards. I'd sell the tapes cheap to Ward Marston and have him issue the recordings on his label.

[mamascarlatti]

Just a note that at many public 18th and 19th century concerts and operas, including the premiere of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth and etc., the audience did what it liked, talking through the music, arriving and leaving halfway through, commenting on the playing, laughing, eating, drinking, and other pandemonium. This was in contrast to the attentive silence at chamber music and other private concerts. It was not until...yes, HIM again...Wagner introduced dimming of the lights before and during a performance and forbade noise that concert and opera listeners settled into the attentive silence we expect today, excluding the inevitable coughing and hawking here and there. This is not to cast any aspersions on some of the fine choices made above, but only to round out their contexts.

Yes I was thinking that when I made my choice - but the 18th century always sounds such fun. so I don't think I'd mind (might need some kind of nose filter to mask the aroma of the great Unwashed though, would really assault our 21st century nostrils).

[Scarpia]

I would then cover my nose with a handkerchief and go to ask Beethoven to write an alternate instrumental final movement.

Excellent idea, but don't expect him to be cooperative.  On the other hand, you could probably get Beethoven to composer a set of 30 variations on "Smoke on the Water" if you offered a commission of 100 gold ducats.  I'll start the collecton with a donation of 50.

I was reading that the premier of Bruckner symphony No 3 (with the composer conducting) was a disaster.  That would be an interesting performance to attend.