Comments on: Highly specialized instrument

By: rea

rea — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:59:57 +0000

the British authorities seemed to regard Stockhausen as an act of aural terrorism.

I suspect Stockhausen would be flattered at the notion, considering he expressed admiration for 9/11 as a piece of performance art.

By: Brodysattva

Brodysattva — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:04:52 +0000

There's also one or two "Gurrelieder whistles," made out of (I think) oboe-reed cane for the performance of the unplayable piccolo high-B-naturals near the end of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder. (The note is unplayable as written: soft and sustained -- since it is the most difficult note to produce on the piccolo and can really only be played very loudly and for a short time.) Schoenberg has it played by the first and third piccolo players in the orchestra, but it looks to me as though it could be played with just one whistle. From what I've heard, this whistle (or pair of whistles?) often travels around to wherever Gurrelieder is being played. Of course, that isn't nearly as often as Mahler's Sixth is played.

By: Preachy Preach

Preachy Preach — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:52:45 +0000

I suppose that you could use one of the tuned anvils required for Das Rheingold in a squeeze.

By: Freshly Squeezed Cynic

Freshly Squeezed Cynic — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:35:21 +0000

Don’t be absurd.

By: mollymooly

mollymooly — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:16:33 +0000

Could you use a Mahler 4 hammer and two Mahler 1 hammers?

By: Ruchira

Ruchira — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:49:01 +0000

Here’s an interesting article on the hammers and boxes used by the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Each came up with their own, so it doesn’t appear there’s an Official US Mahler 6 Hammer.

By: Jon H

Jon H — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:36:22 +0000

“The Mighty Google suggests that the secret lies not so much in the hammer, as in the wooden box the percussionist hits with it.”

Note that the box in the photo is a wooden shipping crate for some kind of big Silicon Graphics hardware. It has a hole cut in one side, through which a microphone is inserted on a boom. (This is not the English Mahler 6 box).

By: mds

mds — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:24:06 +0000

I suspect that Grabthar’s Hammer would do in a pinch. Plus, it comes with vengeance!

There is only one in the world (modulates electronic tones) and can only be hired from the Stockhausen estate.

Fortunately, it’s Stockhausen, so no one cares.

And it seems that chris y is not aware of all ~~internet~~ traditions. But Mahler had a fever, and the only prescription was “more cowbell.”

By: chris y

chris y — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:05:16 +0000

I think, in an emergency, ‘more cowbell’ is considered an appropriate and acceptable recipe for a hammer-free Mahler 6.

Aaaargh! You might as well argue that “more ketchup” is an acceptable recipe for a passata-free ragù.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:50:16 +0000

Is it just me, or is referring to that particular sixth symphony as “Mahler 6” just not quite right?

If it’s just me, OK, nothing to see here, move along.

By: belle le triste

belle le triste — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:30:44 +0000

ondes martenot playage is something a family business, i think

(ditto stockhausen performance: KS married a lot in order to sire an orchestra’s-worth of kids who were raised to play his works the way he liked)

By: engels

engels — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:07:31 +0000

Mahler 6 is not love. Mahler 6 is the hammer which we use to crush the enemy.

By: ajay

ajay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:39:24 +0000

“When the only instrument you have is a hammer, every symphony looks like Mahler 6”.

Or, alternatively, some sort of joke about Mahler’s Silver Hammer that I don’t have the energy to make.

By: Preachy Preach

Preachy Preach — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:30:07 +0000

I’ve often wondered how people get into playing obscure instruments like this – the world’s few onde martenot players must have been fully booked out (for once) for this year’s Messiaen centenary…

By: John Holbo

John Holbo — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:24:16 +0000

I think, in an emergency, ‘more cowbell’ is considered an appropriate and acceptable recipe for a hammer-free Mahler 6.