A very civilised invitation. Alas I live too far away and I work on Saturdays in any case.
However, there is always a seemingly a good reason not to do something. Even as I sit here there is a concert by the local orchestra – less than half an hours walk away. But I told myself I was too tired – and I have to get up to be at work at 0530 (and on and on).
John, that sounds delicious. I have a very old LP of Debussy playing the Children’s Corner, Ravel playing the Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, and Fauré playing one of the “Barcarolles”–I forget which one, except that I used to play it too. :>)) Gift from my folks when I was a teenager, and among my Top Five or so favorite recordings ever since.
I’ve never heard an Alkan piece.
You wouldn’t care to move the venue over to my neck of the woods? I would LOVE to attend! –Will somebody upload a recording (preferably a video 🙂 ) so that we Colonials can enjoy your music also?
– – –
By the way, “Professor”: What is your academic field?
Dear Julie,
I am an interdisciplinary historian. I work on aspects of the history of music, theology and education with a particular interest in the period 1850-1950.
I do hope someone will record the recital and I will take my own equipment along to try to do so. Thank you for your good wishes.
John
John, that would be a most interesting combination of fields. Have you developed an overall thesis regarding the results of the interplay among them? Or is your interest more in the connections themselves?
Yes, in as much as cultural conclusions are concerned. It is difficult to generalize too much, but this period is that where the ideas and impulses of the French Revolution work themselves out, and therefore where the political and cultural war between the Romantic (counter-Enlightenment) and the Modernist (Enlightenment) is seen at its most politically charged.
You’re a brave man, John. Alkan is a very interesting composer. Orthodox Jew – quite uncompromising in his approach. I believe he wrote a sonata in E sharp, containing the occasional triple-sharp. I wouldn’t know what a triple-sharp looked like if I tripped over one in the street. Surely any sensible performer would just re-write it in F major? And I believe he wrote a piece in eleven parts for ten fingers.
I once had the privilege of attending a concert given at Christ’s Hospital School by the late Ronald Smith, who was of course a champion of Alkan’s music. I had always had a mental image of some musical colossus who would tackle this fiendishly difficult music – I imagined a large ruddy-faced man with sweat pouring from his brow as he stretched over the keyboard trying to conquer the monumental works in which he specialised. I was most surprised to meet a diminutive little man with the air of a retired vicar.
Hugo – brave or foolhardy; time will tell! The Alkan Sonata for solo piano is actually in a number of keys and reaches E sharp towards the conclusion of the second movement. Alkan is enharmonically rigorous – indeed he is disciplined and severe by temperament – so his use of such obscure keys is deliberate and correct, even if others might see it as a tad pedantic. As for eleven parts for ten fingers, that same movement would, I believe, qualify. The late Ronald Smith was a fantastic pianist and it was thanks to his recordings that I first came to know Alkan’s output. Alkan was not only a superlative musician but also a scholar of both Jewish and Christian theology. He translated both the Old and New Testaments from the original languages into French, though his translation has not survived.
I admire his musical rigour, being a bit of a nerd myself for music theory and interested in arcane things like the Comma of Pythagoras and Comma of Didymus & stuff like that. Spent my life trying to master the piano but never managed it! Best wishes for your recital -hope it all goes well.
A very civilised invitation. Alas I live too far away and I work on Saturdays in any case.
However, there is always a seemingly a good reason not to do something. Even as I sit here there is a concert by the local orchestra – less than half an hours walk away. But I told myself I was too tired – and I have to get up to be at work at 0530 (and on and on).
There is always an excuse not to make an effort.
John, that sounds delicious. I have a very old LP of Debussy playing the Children’s Corner, Ravel playing the Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, and Fauré playing one of the “Barcarolles”–I forget which one, except that I used to play it too. :>)) Gift from my folks when I was a teenager, and among my Top Five or so favorite recordings ever since.
I’ve never heard an Alkan piece.
You wouldn’t care to move the venue over to my neck of the woods? I would LOVE to attend! –Will somebody upload a recording (preferably a video 🙂 ) so that we Colonials can enjoy your music also?
– – –
By the way, “Professor”: What is your academic field?
Best wishes for the recital,
Julie
Dear Julie,
I am an interdisciplinary historian. I work on aspects of the history of music, theology and education with a particular interest in the period 1850-1950.
I do hope someone will record the recital and I will take my own equipment along to try to do so. Thank you for your good wishes.
John
I will be there, but my recording equipment is more adequate for speech than for music. Ditto my recording skills.
John, that would be a most interesting combination of fields. Have you developed an overall thesis regarding the results of the interplay among them? Or is your interest more in the connections themselves?
Yes, in as much as cultural conclusions are concerned. It is difficult to generalize too much, but this period is that where the ideas and impulses of the French Revolution work themselves out, and therefore where the political and cultural war between the Romantic (counter-Enlightenment) and the Modernist (Enlightenment) is seen at its most politically charged.
You’re a brave man, John. Alkan is a very interesting composer. Orthodox Jew – quite uncompromising in his approach. I believe he wrote a sonata in E sharp, containing the occasional triple-sharp. I wouldn’t know what a triple-sharp looked like if I tripped over one in the street. Surely any sensible performer would just re-write it in F major? And I believe he wrote a piece in eleven parts for ten fingers.
I once had the privilege of attending a concert given at Christ’s Hospital School by the late Ronald Smith, who was of course a champion of Alkan’s music. I had always had a mental image of some musical colossus who would tackle this fiendishly difficult music – I imagined a large ruddy-faced man with sweat pouring from his brow as he stretched over the keyboard trying to conquer the monumental works in which he specialised. I was most surprised to meet a diminutive little man with the air of a retired vicar.
Hugo – brave or foolhardy; time will tell! The Alkan Sonata for solo piano is actually in a number of keys and reaches E sharp towards the conclusion of the second movement. Alkan is enharmonically rigorous – indeed he is disciplined and severe by temperament – so his use of such obscure keys is deliberate and correct, even if others might see it as a tad pedantic. As for eleven parts for ten fingers, that same movement would, I believe, qualify. The late Ronald Smith was a fantastic pianist and it was thanks to his recordings that I first came to know Alkan’s output. Alkan was not only a superlative musician but also a scholar of both Jewish and Christian theology. He translated both the Old and New Testaments from the original languages into French, though his translation has not survived.
I admire his musical rigour, being a bit of a nerd myself for music theory and interested in arcane things like the Comma of Pythagoras and Comma of Didymus & stuff like that. Spent my life trying to master the piano but never managed it! Best wishes for your recital -hope it all goes well.