The Grosse Fugue, of course. Julliard Quartet. I had the good fortune to see them perform the piece live at Cal Tech. I have never seen musicians work so hard.
-
-
Alright, now here's the true story:Originally posted by King Stephen:
The Gurnster is alive and doing well after falling into a large gopher hole and being saved by a passing armadillo he is doing very well. He spent some time recuperating at the home for used golf balls and men whose scores never get below the day time temperature in Texas in July. I am sure we will all see him back soon. I would help on Sundays but that's my day to mow the lawn and wash the cars, as Kings always do.
This is Geraldo Rivera, reporting LIVE from the Home for Used Golf Balls, just North of Houston, Texas. I have with me today Mr. Gurn Blanston, noted storyteller, world-famous golfer, and Beethoven fan extraordinaire.
“Tell me Gurn, wild rumors have been flying around the Internet, saying that you fell into a large gopher hole and were trapped there for a long time. Any truth to that?”
“Well, first, Mr. Rivera, let me just quickly mention how much I enjoy your hard-hitting reportage, and also that you have a lovely haircut today.”
“Well, shucks, Mr. Blanston, that’s high praise indeed coming from a man like you. So what about the gopher hole story?”
“Well Geraldo, see, it was like this. I was walking down the 16th fairway at Woodland Hills, world famous golf resort and goat ranch, and I was listening to the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique led by John Eliot Gardiner on my Discman, they were playing the Symphony in d minor - #9 – Op 125 – by Ludwig van Beethoven, since it was Sunday. So I’m just strolling along, grooving to the recitative in the basses, waiting for the baritone to start “Oh Freunde, nicht diese töne…” when all of a sudden I just felt myself falling through space!”
“Whoa, that must have been scary!”
“Well, Geraldo, I’m sure it would have been for your average person, but I am a manly man, and so I kept my wits about me. So anyway, I land at the bottom of this big cavern and start strolling along to see if I can find a way out. The first thing I notice is that there are golf balls laying around everywhere. Hmmm, I wonder, what is this all about, and who can be collecting all these balls, and why?”
“And then what…?”
“Wait for it, G… Anyway, I’m zipping right along now, because it’s the Turkish March which always makes walking a pleasure, and I come around a corner and there is… gulp… a giant gopher!”
“Giant goph…. urgh”
“Hey, someone throw a bucket of water on Geraldo, please! Anyway, the gopher turns to me and says “Hey, what are you doing in my secret golf ball warehouse?”. So I say “who are you, and why are you talking over the best part of the 9th?”
“Phew, thanks for the water. So did he tell you who he was?”
“He said “My name is King Stephan, I am the King of all the Golfers”.
And I said “you mean ‘gophers’ there, don’t’cha King?”
“That’s what I said you twit”
“Oh, OK, I guess your accent threw me. What is that, Massachusetts?”
“No, it’s NOT bloody Massachusetts, it’s Aberdeen, ye great git”
“OK, so what’s up, are you going to eat me or something?
“No, you ass, gophers are vegetarians. I’m going to keep all your golf balls though, and I’ll just take that Discman too”
“Well, you just hold on a minute. I’ll give you the golf balls, but you aren’t having my Beethoven, and that’s the bottom line”
“Well, we’ll just see about that. I LOVE Gardiner. Those authentic instruments just make me want to shake it!”
And with that, he ended up chasing me for 2 miles down the network of tunnels until we burst out into the open. There were a bus and a taxi stopped there, so I quickly hopped onto the bus and he immediately quit chasing me.
“Why the bus and not the taxi?”
“It should be obvious, Geraldo”.
"Maybe it is, but I can't see it"
“Well, he was a Scot. If he chased the bus he would only be saving 50 cents, but if I had taken the taxi and he chased IT, he would have saved $10! So he didn't bother.”
“Oy, brilliant Gurn… and this is Geraldo Rivera, signing off” (“How did I get into this? Someone call my agent!...”)
------------------
Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Comment
-
Beethoven, Waldstein Sonata, 0p.53
Melvyn Tan, piano
Beethoven, Symphony no.8
BBC Orchestra of Wales
Sorry to hear of your mishap, Gurn ! You see, when listening to the master, he always demands our full attention !
------------------
~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~Comment
-
Now Listening to :
Tippett, 'A Child of Our Time,
BBC Orchestra of Wales /
Cond. Richard Hickox - otherwise known to his friends as 'Wild Bill'.
I am not normally a fan of Tippett,
but this work is particularly well written.
------------------
~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~Comment
-
Let's all sing a song of Joy for Gurn's recovery, but what I don't understand is, what happened to your golfing partner when you fell down the hole ?
Some partner !
Beethoven liked to play a round of golf, but only the 9 , as he never got beyond the 9th !
------------------
~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~
[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 05-08-2005).]~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~Comment
-
Listening now to Schumann and Brahms Piano Quintets .
I heard a piece of Max Bruch on the Radio the other day for clarinet,cello and piano.
I'd like to find a recording of this ,I think there are 8 in the set.Any one out there a Bruch fan?"Finis coronat opus "Comment
-
Ludwig v.Beethoven ~ Music for the Mass, Opus 86.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Georg Frideric Handel ~ Organ Concertos, Opus 4 ::: Fantastic music - Power and profound passages in every part of the score! / G.
Comment
-
Well, another Sunday, another 9th. This time, the Academy of Ancient Music / Hogwood. They use an odd combination of tempi in this work, relatively brisk in a lot of the parts that are normally taken more slowly, but then in the final moevment, from the Marcia alla Turca on, they take it a hair more slowly than I have become accustomed to. The net result is a total time that is not far different from other HIP versions, but a much different way of getting there!
And the best of both worlds today too, just as I finished my round of golf, the skies opened up and we got some long overdue rain. None for a month!
Spacerl,
That is the COncerto in e minor for Clarinet, Viola & Orchestra. Marvelous little piece, composed, I think, in 1911 which makes it fairly late for Bruch and really late for Romantic concerti. Very nice work.
Hey, Amalie, thanks for the good wishes. As far as I know, my faithless partner is still in the tunnel, where he belongs (if he gets out, I owe him a few quid!)
------------------
Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Regards,
Gurn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Comment
-
I'm listening to a CD titled "Small Czech Musical Gems" With Hubert Simacek and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.They play Pieces of Novak,Blodek,Suk,Janacek,Smetana,Foerster and Dvorak."Finis coronat opus "Comment
-
That sounds like a good CD Muriel, are you enjoying it? Some fine composers there.
Heard Beethoven's Third Symphony this morning. Good way to get the day going!
------------------
'Truth and beauty joined''Truth and beauty joined'Comment
-
I did enjoy it ,but I'm not a great fan of orchestral music.I would prefer to hear the violin and piano music of these composers.'Lately I've been hooked on Brahms Hungarian Dances.But I'm always experimenting
with new music and unfamiliar composers.I'll listen to any thing once.
space"Finis coronat opus "Comment
-
Today I've got a programme of variations:
6 variations in F major, op 34
32 variations on an original theme in C minor WoO 80
15 variations with fugue in E-flat major op 35 "eroica".
These are played by Gould, who I admire, but it wouldn't be honest not to admit that he plays Beethoven in a "very personal way", although in the liner notes of the cd I haven't found the "usual" references to controversy arisen from his Beethoven recordings.
Could some charitative soul reccomend any recording or interpreter of that delightful pieces?Comment
-
This mornings listening selection
Brahms: Piano sonata, 0p.5
Cristina Otiz
Pieter Hellendaal, Concerto Grosso, Eb, 0p. 3
Beethoven: Variations, C minor, Wo0.80
Mitsuko Uchida.
Campra : Motet - Florete Prata
sung by Paul Agnew / Les Arts Florrisants .
Brahms: Sonata in F, 0p.99
------------------
~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~Comment
-
This morning I caught the finales of Dvorak's 4th and Haydn's 104th. I can't get the Haydn out of my head now, but that's a good thing.Comment
-
Wolferl A. Mozart
Apollo & Hyacinthus KV.38Comment
Comment