What are you reading now?

[Quijote]

Here's what I have just read (a new concerto in B-flat for football fans) :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010...uzela-concerto

Dig the quote from Chaucer in this article : "As Chaucer rightly said, 'Vile brass emanating from the Devil's arse.'"

[Quijote]

Excellent anecdote P2S. We never doubted you when the discussion was about temperament, but what's YOURS??!! Even?

Do you recommend the Thayer? I've glanced through it and it seemed leaden. What say you, sir?

Yes, not exactly bedtime reading, but a key reference book that one can dip into from time to time.

[Peter]

Excellent anecdote P2S. We never doubted you when the discussion was about temperament, but what's YOURS??!! Even?

Do you recommend the Thayer? I've glanced through it and it seemed leaden. What say you, sir?

Thayer's life is the essential Beethoven reference book for any Beethoven lover, not necessarily a cover to cover read.

[Preston]

Do you recommend the Thayer? I've glanced through it and it seemed leaden. What say you, sir?

I will tell you what I say, if you care? Thayer's book is the definitive biography on Beethoven. If you want to know about the great genius of Beethoven read Thayer's monstrous book. It is not really a book where the author writes what he believes about Beethoven (which I do not mind, BTW), it is more of a collection of accounts, letters, documents, facts, etc. And of course, it is around 1,700 pages on one of the greatest geniuses to ever live. If you want to know Beethoven's life in and out, carefully read Thayer's book edited by Elliot Forbes.

[Bonn1827]

Excellent anecdote P2S. We never doubted you when the discussion was about temperament, but what's YOURS??!! Even?

Do you recommend the Thayer? I've glanced through it and it seemed leaden. What say you, sir?

[Quijote]

I've been reading a little bit of Thayer's Life of Beethoven (p.526) :
"Starke brought along his horn and offered to play Beethoven's horn sonata in F (Op. 17) with him, which Beethoven accepted with pleasure. When it was discovered that the piano was a half-step too low, Starke offered to play the horn down a half-step; but Beethoven said that the effect would be spoiled and that he would rather play it up a half-step (F-sharp major)."

I post that in support of a previous debate we had about keys, their characteristics and so on.

[Quijote]

Philip, my attempt at Crime Fiction goes something like this..

Really rather good. I'll buy the film rights this instant. Pleasure doing business with you.

[Bonn1827]

Philip, my attempt at Crime Fiction goes something like this..

He staggered into the joint. She was sitting at the other end of the bar, barely detectable through the thick haze of her exhausted Gitannes. What a dame! Blond hair flopped deliciously over her forehead, falling down her face and caressing her cheek. Continual wars with men had battered her body and tattered her looks (...apologies to Ted Hughes). Clarke knew her type - out for all she could get. Great conversationalist - intellectual even - but now it was strictly for laughs! No tying her down. The flickering embers of recognition, as he walked towards her, damaged his ego. All nerve-endings camouflaged by intellect, he had no time for emotion with this dame - or any other really - too much trouble!! He just had to flick the switch. Life on auto-pilot was safe, cozy; but it could sometimes be anodyne. This is what happened when you were afraid to take risks. It wasn't going to happen this time.

He slapped her on the rump as she stood up insouciantly to walk away. "What have you got back there; radar?" (..apologies to Ruth Gordon/Garson Kanin/George Cukor).
"You're out of your league, Clarke! You need to listen more to Beet-Hooven", she crooned in a false upper class lilt, "read Donne, Shakespeare and all those wise guys. Kulture's what you really need!"
"Then, whaddya say we split a schnitzel and practice the umlaut?" (apology to
Billy Wilder and James Cagney).

[Quijote]

I think it's just great, Phil 2 Spain, that you even think about such things as syntax. I studied 1st year Linguistics and I think that's the last time anybody used that word meaningfully. I really dig your grammatical "literacy", old/young man.

Bonn, I thought I told you via Private Message that I'd pay you to say something along the lines of "Philip, you are a God, where have you been all my life .." etc, etc. Instead, you've gone all "grammatical" on me. I've cancelled that cheque, so don't even bother to present it to your bank ...
That said, my dinner invitation in Strasbourg should your vessel survive the mines I will have laid (lain?) remains valid and applicable.

[Bonn1827]

Anybody ever read stuff by James Ellroy (Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, and so on...)? I used to be a bit sniffy about crime writing, but this guy put me right, no doubt about it. I first read him in Granta (a new writing periodical in the UK) where he was trumpeted as a sort of "jazz" writer, and it was certainly the case that his approach to syntax echoed that. I thought it was fascinating.

I think it's just great, Phil 2 Spain, that you even think about such things as syntax. I studied 1st year Linguistics and I think that's the last time anybody used that word meaningfully. I really dig your grammatical "literacy", old/young man.

[Quijote]

Following on from Bonn's comments about James Ellroy and his opinion of Brahms (among others), here's a link worth checking out :

http://www.ocregister.com/entertainm...9;sarover.html

[Maurice Colgan]

J P Donleavy's "Wrong Information Is Being Given Out At Princeton", has me back with hilarious escapades of "The Ginger Man".

[Quijote]

Miracle of miracles, this thread has reappeared. Here's a link to what I've read tonight (see after). Actually, it makes me weep (no onions this time). I knew I didn't care much for John Adam's music. This article confirms my low opinion of his "ideology", for want of a better term. If the USA needs a so-called "Composer Laureat", Steve Reich is the man.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010...w-peter-conrad

[Preston]

here it is Philip

[Sorrano]

It is true that 'Lovelock' has a certain 'cachet' compared to luminaries such as Walter Piston, Arnold Schoenberg, Kitson and Butterworth (whose treatises I have also ploughed through, for greater or lesser enlightenment). Lovelock I always found the most approachable. Besides, he was half Aussie. Well, he was exiled for a few years in Bonn1827's land. By the way, if Lovelock is sexy, what does that make of Warlock?

Warlock must be one locky fella.