Usage of the word "Beethoven" and other small facts.

[atserriotserri]

I'm reading a biography of Pau Casals and I decided to share some small facts with the forum:

1. Julius Röntgen (cousin of the X ray Röntgen) tells Casals: "today I've received the telegram I was waiting for": The text says "Beethoven" and the signature "Grieg".

Casals asks: "What does it mean?"

Röntgen answers: "Means that I invited the Griegs to introduce them to you, and they accepted, because when we say "Beethoven" it means "splendid", "perfect".

2. November 1910, Casals' debut at the Gross Musik Verein Saal in Wien, he decided to play a concert by Emmanuel Moor because they were friends, and he feels overwhelmed by the history of the hall, the audience... so when he attacks the first note on the 4th string, the arch flies, tries to catch it in the air and falls in row number 6... and he is stunned because nobody says a word, the orchestra stops, and the people passes the arch row to row until the gentleman in the first row hands it to Casals.
At the end of the concert the audience ovationed Casals
Mendischewski, friend of Brahms tells to another man, a critic: "In the first Eroica, at Palace Lobkowitz, Beethoven had to stop the orchestra to restart and nobody made any comment.

[Hofrat]

In Beethoven's time, performances of orchestras were often interupted for tuning, in many cases in the middle of a movement. Take into account that Eroica is 45 minutes long, two to three times the length of a contemporary symphony. The players most likely retuned 8-10 times, especially the strings who had to contend with gut strings.

[Peter]

I'm reading a biography of Pau Casals and I decided to share some small facts with the forum:

1. Julius Röntgen (cousin of the X ray Röntgen) tells Casals: "today I've received the telegram I was waiting for": The text says "Beethoven" and the signature "Grieg".

Casals asks: "What does it mean?"

Röntgen answers: "Means that I invited the Griegs to introduce them to you, and they accepted, because when we say "Beethoven" it means "splendid", "perfect".

2. November 1910, Casals' debut at the Gross Musik Verein Saal in Wien, he decided to play a concert by Emmanuel Moor because they were friends, and he feels overwhelmed by the history of the hall, the audience... so when he attacks the first note on the 4th string, the arch flies, tries to catch it in the air and falls in row number 6... and he is stunned because nobody says a word, the orchestra stops, and the people passes the arch row to row until the gentleman in the first row hands it to Casals.
At the end of the concert the audience ovationed Casals
Mendischewski, friend of Brahms tells to another man, a critic: "In the first Eroica, at Palace Lobkowitz, Beethoven had to stop the orchestra to restart and nobody made any comment.

I'm also reading about Casals - in his own words. I think he said the bow flew out of his hands and when he started again he gave the best performance of his life! I've never heard of Emmanuel Moor or his concerto in C sharp minor, anyone else?

[Peter]

Well I've found out a bit about Moor - Casals thought him a genius and that given time he would be recognised as a great composer, this of course is still yet to happen! He was the man who invented the 2 keyboard piano.

Emanuel Moór (1863-1931) was born in the Hungarian town of Kecskemét and studied piano and organ in Budapest, Prague and Vienna. He enjoyed a career as a pianist, conductor and sought after composer, with many famous instrumentalists such as Casals, Kreisler, and Ysaye, to name but a few, commissioning works from him. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music and was exceptionally fond of the cello.

Emanuel Moór has been much occupied with instrumental problems and has written a pamphlet on the reconstruction of the orchestra. Of his inventions, that which has come nearest to practical realisation is the Moór-Duplex piano, consisting of a double keyboard with a coupler between the two manuals (an octave apart). With the introduction of this piano, a new technique was made possible, facilitating the playing of octaves, tenths, and even chromatic glissandos. Some piano manufacturers (Steinway, Bechstein, Bösendorfer) put the Moór mechanism into their instruments. His 2nd wife, Winifred Christie (1882-1965), an English pianist, aided him in promoting the Moór keyboard, and gave many performances on it in Europe and the USA. She published (in collaboration with her husband) a manual of technical exercises for the instrument.

[Michael]

I'm also reading about Casals - in his own words. I think he said the bow flew out of his hands and when he started again he gave the best performance of his life! I've never heard of Emmanuel Moor or his concerto in C sharp minor, anyone else?

A minor disaster like that can have an amazing effect. There is the story of a famous actor (I forget whom) who appeared in "Hamlet" as Laertes. He stormed on, fell flat on his face, gathered himself up and gave a blistering performance. I can recall a number of incidents myself (in acting - not music) which can really focus the mind, not least of which is the night our stage nearly caught fire.