Comments on: Mozart bleg

By: fyreflye

fyreflye — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 03:17:34 +0000

Listen to Gould’s second traversal of the Mozart piano sonatas and you’ll know he hated them.

By: Jimmy Doyle

Jimmy Doyle — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:41:34 +0000

I think Gould disliked all Mozart, and indeed classical music in general, as lacking rhythmic and harmonic variety, or something. He once said he didn’t like anything between Bach and Tristan.

By: paul

paul — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:27:03 +0000

Did you think to repeat 2 of the most famous comments about Mozart? To wit:

Tom Lehrer – “When Mozart was my age, he had been dead for 2 years.”

Glenn Gould – “Mozart died too late.” (This seems to be commonly explained as an expression of Gould’s disdain for Mozart, though I read once that he meant it as his disdain for Mozart’s late oeuvre rather than all of it.)

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:34:20 +0000

Many thanks for all the suggestions. Just to report back, here’s what I ended up with …

I played

The overture to Figaro
The opening room-measuring scene
Der Hölle Rache
The opening of the Dissonance Quartet
and the Lachrymosa from the Requiem.

I would have played a bit of the Andante from K467 but the class didn’t work out like that, and I couldn’t get hold of a recording of K515 or 516 in time (not in Borders yesterday).

Also had to endure “Amadeus” by Falco from another class member … Austrian pseudo-rap!

By: dearieme

dearieme — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:36:33 +0000

“The Rondo a la Turca from the Piano Sonata Nr. 11?” Aha, then you could get them to compare it with Dave Brubeck’s version “Blue Rondo a la Turk”.

By: David S.

David S. — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 20:05:04 +0000

Try to make room for the Divertimento in D major (K.136, if I remember right). I know nothing about it, it’s just one of my personal favorites – a small perfection.

By: fred

fred — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:10:43 +0000

How about the “Lachrymosa” from the requiem? Extremely moving, especially as used near the end of the movie “Amadeus”.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:32:20 +0000

“The one that starts “da-da-da-dummmm” – isn’t it Beethoven’s fifth symphony?”

Joke told to me by a ten-year-old:

Q: What was Beethoven’s favorite fruit?
A: Banana-naaaa

By: Jimmy Doyle

Jimmy Doyle — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 14:58:29 +0000

For piano concertos it’s hard to choose between Kk 466, 467, 488 and 491. Other suggestions: the opening Kyrie or the Qui tollis or Et incarnatus est from the Mass in C minor; Porgi amor from Figaro; opening of “dissonance” quartet K 465 (highly unusual); Sinfonia Concertante K 364; overtures to any of Idomeneo, Don Giovanni or the Magic Flute as well as/instead of Figaro. In the interest of combatting the ‘sweetness and light’ conception, the slow movements of Kk 488 and 364, and “Ach! ich fuhl’s” from the Magic Flute are especially tragic.

By: jacob

jacob — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 14:17:06 +0000

Seems to me that Kieran’s post should have its vowells removed, since he is clearly trolling.

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:38:56 +0000

The N-part counterpoint of that finale might not be as accesible to the untutored ear as the serenades and divertimenti. I know I didn’t appreciate it nearly as much when I first heard it as I do now, and the same goes for finale to 39.

There is probably no prettier song than Voi che sapete from Le nozze di Figaro, but opera sounds strange to modern ears.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:25:18 +0000

Can’t go past the finale of the Jupiter symph, surely?

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:19:50 +0000

The Rondo a la Turca from the Piano Sonata Nr. 11?

There are so many ravishing moments it’s impossible to pick just one. At a family dinner on Sunday night we listened to the Divertimento in F Major, K 138. Fun stuff. Also the last movement of the string quartet Nr. 16 in E flat major, K 428. It rocks, as do the last movements of Symphonies 29, 38 and 39.

If you suspect your students may not be familiar with it, though, it would be pedagogical malpractice not to introduce them to Eine kleine Nachtmusik. If you’re uncertain, you could be confident of entertaining them with the version sung by Frederica von Stade on Songs of the Cat, words presumably by Garrison Keillor:

Love your shoes,
and love your coat and hat,
But, you know, you really need a cat.
Cats lend a stylish ambience
of graceful nonchalance
That trés jeunesse romance a person wants.

By: abb1

abb1 — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:28:30 +0000

Oh, and a suggestion: the Turkish March (whatever the official alpha-numeric name of it is).

By: abb1

abb1 — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:17:27 +0000

The one that starts “da-da-da-dummmm” – isn’t it Beethoven’s fifth symphony?