What are you reading now?

[Michael]

Did you know, Michael (and Peter too, come to think of it) that the German 6th cannot proceed to V without producing consecutive 5ths? .

I have suspected as much for many years, but could never gather up enough courage to come right out and say it.

[Peter]

I have suspected as much for many years, but could never gather up enough courage to come right out and say it.

Well it's certainly a good one at a party Michael! Thankfully the Neapolitan 6th comes to the rescue!

[Bonn1827]

Does the Neopolitan Sixth sing as well as Paravotti did?

[Michael]

Well it's certainly a good one at a party Michael! Thankfully the Neapolitan 6th comes to the rescue!

Personally, I prefer vanilla or banana.

[Megan]

At present, I am reading Sir Walter Scott's , Epic poem, Lady of the Lake.
His songs and poetry have had a big cultural impact on European Art and Literature. Walter Scott revived an interest in chivalry which was taken up by classical composers.

[Michael]

At present, I am reading Sir Walter Scott's , Epic poem, Lady of the Lake.
His songs and poetry have had a big cultural impact on European Art and Literature. Walter Scott revived an interest in chivalry which was taken up by classical composers.

Which reminds me on an old joke which really should be in the humour thread:

Two students in a library, frantically cramming for an English Literature exam.
First student: "Great Scott! My mind's gone blank. I can't remember who wrote 'Ivanhoe'!"
Second Student: "I've the same problem. Who the dickens wrote 'David Copperfield?' "

(There are probably more but I have mercifully forgotten them)

[Michael]

In between ghost stories, I am reading another weird novel by a writer called Dan Simmons. It is simply called "Drood" and the main characters are no less than Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. It's a lengthy mystery thriller which presupposes that the eponymous protagonist of Dickens' unfinished last novel was an actual real-life person. The writer (who is extremely good and a favourite of mine) really knows his Dickens and the whole thing is intriguing.
It has shades of "Jack the Ripper" but that would take it out of Dickens' time frame but anything can happen in fiction.
Thankfully, the author does not attempt a nineteenth-century literary style but remains neutral and leaves the flavour of the period to the dialogue. I have no idea where this novel is going and I may pitch it out the window before I'm halfway through but it does look promising.

[Bonn1827]

Am reading Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo".

[Quijote]

Jander makes the interesting suggestion that Kanne was the "learnèd theologist" who helped Beethoven on the Missa solemnis.

[Michael]

Peter, you are confusing Michael with your posting. A Neapolitan 6th (N6) is not the same thing at all as an Italian, French or German (augmented) 6th. Another term for the N6 is a 'flattened supertonic 6th' which B so admirably uses in the Eroica 1st movement. The IT/FR/D augmented sixths sound in effect as rogue / displaced (and often inverted as opposed to root position) dominant sevenths (to the refined ear), but are written as augmented sixths. I hope this clarifies any confusion on Michael's part.

Huh, what? Sorry, I dozed off ..............

[Quijote]

There are punishments for students falling asleep in my class. You have been warned.

[Peter]

There are punishments for students falling asleep in my class. You have been warned.

The lessons are so far apart it's hard to keep track!

[Peter]

Continuing my exploration of Ancient Greece with J.C.Stobart. Also reading excellent translation of the Tao Te Ching by Stephen Addiss.

[Chaszz]

I am just beginning to read an old book I picked up in a used book sale, a selection of Kipling's short stories by W. Somerset Maugham. IMO Kipling in some of his stories is one of the greatest prose stylists in English, especially in two stories from The Jungle Book, 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi' and 'The Comedians.' Niether of these stories is included by Maugham, so it will be interesting to see what he does like enough to include. Maugham is also a favorite writer of mine. Scorned in his lifetime by the high literati as a mere popular writer, IMO his short stories are full of life, mystery and unflagging fascination.

[Sorrano]

I am just beginning to read an old book I picked up in a used book sale, a selection of Kipling's short stories by W. Somerset Maugham. IMO Kipling in some of his stories is one of the greatest prose stylists in English, especially in two stories from The Jungle Book, 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi' and 'The Comedians.' Niether of these stories is included by Maugham, so it will be interesting to see what he does like enough to include. Maugham is also a favorite writer of mine. Scorned in his lifetime by the high literati as a mere popular writer, IMO his short stories are full of life, mystery and unflagging fascination.

Sounds interesting! While I haven't really read anything by Kipling, I am certainly very much aware of his writings; I'll have to give his works a read.