Mystery Personages

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael:<BR><B>In all fairness, Shos, I have never heard of this composer before, and I did not get the February clue. I got the name after a bit of poking around.<BR>John seems to have arrived at his conclusion the proper way, through knowledge of the composer and his background.<P>Michael</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Michael:<P>Naaaah. I found this out on the internet with a little due diligence. Actually, I didn't know the composer, so this was fun and educational too! Toss us one a piece of trivia that's specific to your country!<P>John<P><BR>

[shostakovich]

Hi Michael and John. Thanks for your honesty. Confession IS good for the soul. (shades of the music as religion topic) If you'd like to repent, there's a series conducted by Neemi Jarvi with the Detroit Symphony that might prove enlightening. Still's Afro-American Symphony (1930) is the first symphony by a black American. I taped some of a series, like the Jarvi series, back in the days long before CD. It, too, was by the Detroit S.O., led by Paul Freeman (I assume a black conductor). It was a great intro for me, and this newer one should be a good bet. The Afro-American Symphony is on a disc with Ellington's The River. Still's 2nd Sym is on a disc with Ellington's Harlem AND Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony. I'm curious about, but not familiar with, the Ellington works. However, I can say the Still symphonies AND the Dawson (which first came to LP under Stokowski) are heart-felt works that are easy to take. I'm listening to Still's Sym #3 (taped from the Freeman series) as I write, and I can recommend that, too. Good listening, guys. <BR>Shos

[shostakovich]

This time I have a composer you all know of (I'm betting). You may not know of his fascinating childhood. His piano debut came at 4 years old. He was "composing fluently" at 7. His parents exploited him in recitals where he was obliged to perform in a musketeer's uniform. He ran away from home several times, but the local police always returned him. At age 9 he did escape, surviving on performances. At one point he was robbed of his earnings, but was able to earn more and return home on his own. <P>At age 12 he broke for good. He stowed away on a ship and crossed the Atlantic. Supporting himself (and I would guess, being helped by strangers), he worked his way to Buenos Aires. There he survived by begging, sleeping in churches, and performing. He made enough to work his way to N.Y. He carried bags at the harbor and played in saloons. From there he worked his way to San Francisco, and then back to Europe.<P>At age 14 he took piano lessons in Leipzig. He then received a subsidy from his native land and entered the Brussels Conservatory at age 15. Wanderlust got the best of him. He once again came to the U.S. and returned to Brussels, where he settled down to business. He won first prize in piano there. He traveled to Budapest, where he was taken on as a pupil by "the master" at age 18. He then gained a respectable reputation and was compared favorably with some of the piano giants of the time. G.B. Shaw gave one of his performances a good review.<P>Yet, all this is not how we know him. He is credited with many piano compositions, ONE of which stands out. It was written in 4 sets during the last 3 years of his life. For those of you readers who favor piano music, you may know the collection in this form. It was a conductor who orchestrated 5 of these works under the title (you tell me), and this is the form I'm betting all or most of you know and enjoy. WHO IZZY, and WHAT IZZIT?<BR>Shos

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>... WHO IZZY, and WHAT IZZIT?.... [/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Shos:<P>OK, I'll take a stab at it (but I must confess that it took some research on my part, since I am not a music scholar):<P>Who is he? Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz <BR>What is it? Iberia<P>John<P>

[shostakovich]

You got it, John. That'll teach Michael to leave the bulletin board for a few hours. What clues did it for you and where did you research?<BR>Shos

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>... What clues did it for you and where did you research?</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Shos:<P> Well, I generally jump to one of the internet search engines with such questions. Yahoo! in most cases can get me where I need to go. As for the particular hints, searching for "composer budapest Brussels Conservatory" was the trick. The particular site that I found most informative was:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/resources/albeniz2.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/resources/albeniz2.html</A> <P>I did have to read the site thoroughly to confirm your hints matched the profile. Nice job.<P>Again, a fun exercise and a learning experience too! Sure beats searching for some of the other trivia that has been posted as of late.<P>John<P>

[shostakovich]

OK, guys and gals, I'm going to end (for now) the series of mystery people with a doozy. He was the greatest choreographer of all time. THAT is sufficient to identify him. Then answer these questions.<BR>1) With what great impresario was he first associated?<BR>2) What patron of the arts enabled him to come to America?<BR>3) For what city was he initially destined?<BR>4) What city did he ultimately end up in?<BR>5) With what composer is he mainly associated in his ballets?<BR>6) What dancer took over for him as director of what company when he retired?<P>And I think you will be hard pressed to find the answer to this next question on the net.<BR>7) What artistic personality trait, regarding inspiration, did he share with Picasso? <P>Feel free to question any friends, teachers, professional musicians, dancers, etc to come up with these answers. My hat's off to the people who come up with answers 2, 3, and 7 particularly. Happy hunting.<BR>Shos

[shostakovich]

Oh, yes, a final wrap-up on Albeniz. Iberia was composed for piano in 4 sets of 3 works each. These are said to be real challenges for pianists. The more popular Iberia is a set of 5 of the 12 beautifully orchestrated by conductor E.F. Arbos. Much later, the composer-conductor Carlos Surinach orchestrated the remaining 7. They are much harder to find, but well worth a listen. <BR>Buenos noches (that's about 10% of my Spanish vocabulary). Shos

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>OK, guys and gals, I'm going to end (for now) the series of mystery people with a doozy.... </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Shos:<P>I'll take up this challenge - sounds fun. However, I tend to feel that, given my limited formal background in music, I may not get it this time. Oh well, I'll give it the good ol' college try.<P>By the way, you seem to have an impressive knowledge of music. Did you acquire this as a side interest or does it have something to do with your occupation before you retired?<P>John<P>

[Michael]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>You got it, John. That'll teach Michael to leave the bulletin board for a few hours. What clues did it for you and where did you research?<BR>Shos</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I didn't leave the bulletin board, Shos. I saw the question but I was completely stumped. Well done, John.<P>Michael<P>

[John]

Hey Michael:<P>Nice to hear (read) from you again. Can you recommend any native music that may be viewed as "classical" in nature? My wife, who happens to be part Irish, just LOVES Celtic music.<P>John<BR>

[shostakovich]

Michael, you're being modest. This last doozy might take several people to get it all. Work together.<P>John, my career was in math. It payed the bills, and was enjoyable in its own right. My interest in music as a listener came during my teens. (One for the head, one for the heart.) It hit me like a ton of bricks. I've been listening, collecting, reading about music since late teens. During my math prof days I taught our school's one music "appreciation" course. I modeled it after the course I once took, and laid on heavy doses of history. The bulletin board is a great outlet for the scads of trivia I picked up over the years. I bless the readers of the boards for showing interest. You don't always get that in a classroom.<BR>Shos

[Michael]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John:<BR><B>Hey Michael:<P>Nice to hear (read) from you again. Can you recommend any native music that may be viewed as "classical" in nature? My wife, who happens to be part Irish, just LOVES Celtic music.<P>John</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>John, I am not much into Celtic music with one big exception and that is the work of Sean Davey who has written some beautiful stuff over the years. I don't know if the discs are easily available - they probably are off the internet - but two discs I would recommend are "The Brendan Voyage" - a suite which sets uileann pipes against a full orchestra and "Granuaile" - the story of an Irish female pirate called Grace O'Malley (an actual historical person). This is told in the form of a collection of songs sung by the fantastic Rita Connolly and they again feature the uileann pipes.<BR>If your wife hasn't heard those, she will love them. They put all other Celtic music in the shade.<BR>Shos might be interested too as he did ask me about some Irish composers. <BR>If you turn to the topic "Cannibal Music" on this site, you will see that we have discovered Patrick Cassidy who has written an operatic aria for the movie "Hannibal". He has since become quite famous and I believe his earlier music was in the Celtic vein. I haven't heard any myself but I think he would be worth investigating.<BR>Good luck.<P>Michael<P>Michael <P>

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael:<BR><B> ...the work of Sean Davey...Patrick Cassidy....</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Michael:<P>Thanks! I'll have her check them out.<P>John<P>

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>... John, my career was in math.... </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Shos:<P>So that's why you want us to show our work! Well, that leads into my next question. As a teacher in math, did you find music mathematically stimulating? One can argue that true appreciation of music requires some mathematical acumen. Of course, I speak from what I've read, not what I've experienced (dah).<P>John<P>

[shostakovich]

Hi John. It probably is why "showing your work" is important to me. As for Math helping one appreciate music, I don't know. I've been told often by others of a strong correlation between the joys of math and music in a person. While that may be true, you can't prove it by me. Math stimulates mind and music the emotions as far as I'm concerned. Maybe they go together as balance. I don't know.<P>The most mathematical of composers is Bach, based on his ability with fugues, the most mathematical of forms. He's certainly not my favorite for listening, but he gets my vote as greatest composer, if there is such a thing. Last week the composer Iannis Xenakis died. He was involved in electronic "music" (if you can call it that -- I don't) before computers or synthesizers. He WAS a mathematician by profession.<P>I'm curious to know what connection other readers think there is between math and music other than counting note values in a measure.<BR>Shos<P>And don't forget there's still an outstanding quiz to be taken here.

[Michael]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John:<BR><B> Michael:<P>Thanks! I'll have her check them out.<P>John<P></B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I see I have misspelt one of the composer's names: it should be Shaun Davey (thought it's pronounced the same).<P>Michael<P>

[Judith]

True genius exists only in math and music!!

[John]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>... And don't forget there's still an outstanding quiz to be taken here. </B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Shos:<P>Oh yeah, I plan to work on this come the weekend! Can't put down a challenge! Thanks for sharing.<P>John<P>

[Peter]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shostakovich:<BR><B>OK, guys and gals, I'm going to end (for now) the series of mystery people with a doozy. He was the greatest choreographer of all time. THAT is sufficient to identify him. Then answer these questions.<BR>1) With what great impresario was he first associated?<BR>2) What patron of the arts enabled him to come to America?<BR>3) For what city was he initially destined?<BR>4) What city did he ultimately end up in?<BR>5) With what composer is he mainly associated in his ballets?<BR>6) What dancer took over for him as director of what company when he retired?<BR>And I think you will be hard pressed to find the answer to this next question on the net.<BR>7) What artistic personality trait, regarding inspiration, did he share with Picasso? <BR>Feel free to question any friends, teachers, professional musicians, dancers, etc to come up with these answers. My hat's off to the people who come up with answers 2, 3, and 7 particularly. Happy hunting.<BR>Shos</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Hello Shos,<P>Well, I think I`ve beaten John to the finish line on this one (sorry John!). Ballet is certainly not my scene, but I know a little of GEORGE BALANCHINE through his association with Rodgers & Hart - Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is a wonderfully dramatic, short piece. For the rest of the required info, I did have to do some research. And so my answers are:<P>1). Diaghilev;<BR>2). Lincoln Kirstein;<BR>3). Hartford, Connecticut;<BR>4). New York (via Hollywood, 1938-42);<BR>5). Stravinsky;<BR>6a). Peter Martins or Jerome Robbins?;<BR> b). The New York City Ballet.<P>The shared personality trait with Picasso, I can only think, is that both men were obsessed with the female form (not uniquely ); Balanchine always insisted that ballet was strictly a female-expressive art (males were mere tokens), while Picasso always transferred his thoughts on the matter to canvas.<P>Am I close, Shos?<P>Peter