Recent interchanges between medieval music and heavy metal open new perspectives on historically informed practice. A comparison of recordings of Walther von der Vogelweide’s Palästinalied by Thomas Binkley, Paul Hillier, and In Extremo illuminates how historic orientation and its inherent sense influence performance aesthetics.
This according to “Gothic und HIP: Sinn und Präsenz in populären und in historisch informierten Realisierungen des Palästinalieds” by Konstantin Voigt (Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis XXXII [2008] pp. 221–234). Above, a portrait of the great Minnesinger; below, In Extremo’s historically informed rendition of Walther’s celebrated work about the Crusades.
What could a late–19th-century Viennese symphonic genius and an early–21st-century African American pop star have in common? A blood line, according to recent research that has led to the conclusion that Beyoncé Knowles is Gustav Mahler’s eighth cousin, four times removed.
This according to Why Mahler?How one man and ten symphonies changed our world by Norman Lebrecht (New York: Pantheon, 2010; RILM Abstracts 2010-7889). Below, Beyoncé’s Green light—a title that suggests a line of descent from Mahler’s Urlicht.
On 15 February 1819 the leading Dutch newspaperNederlandse staatscourant reported that Beethoven had been seriously wounded when he was run over by a carriage. The notice, a translation of a French report issued the day before, used strong language that implied that the internationally revered composer must have been hospitalized with broken bones or a concussion, and could be in mortal danger.
The report was an example of an international game of telephone—successive notices in various countries had piled on exaggerations to sensationalize the story. The earliest report, from the Frankfurter journal on 29 January 1819, was a much blander account:
(The composer van Beethoven, because of his weak hearing, suffered the misfortune of being knocked down and injured.)
It is possible that even this was an exaggerated version of a neighbor’s anecdote from around that time, in which the composer slipped and fell in the mud, and furiously refused to let the laughing bystanders help him to his feet.
This according to “Beethoven run over: A curious traffic accident in early 1819” by Jos van der Zanden (The Beethoven journal XXVI/1 [summer 2011] pp. 26–27).
Above, Beethoven as he often appeared on the streets of Vienna around 1819, depicted by the sculptor Johann Daniel Böhm (1794–1865), a friend of his at the time; below, Evgeny Kissin performs the Rondo a capriccio, op. 129 (“Rage over a lost penny”) as an encore.
Darwin’s On the origin of species and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, both completed in 1859, share an articulation of the shift from one worldview to another: from change as a repetitive circular movement to development as a cyclic process. Darwin’s treatise is more than a scientific theory—it is an aesthetic account of the wonders and beauty of nature. Wagner’s opera is more than a subjective work of art—it clearly reflects dimensions of evolution akin to scientific explanations of the phenomenon.
Today, on Arnold Schoenberg’s birthday, let’s eavesdrop on his 60th birthday party in Los Angeles, as recalled by his student Dika Newlin:
“About an hour after we arrived, the eating and drinking began. There was coffee with whipped cream (lots), six or seven kinds of sandwiches made with cheese, liverwurst, and such good things: whole platefuls of rich little pastries, coffee cake, chocolate raisin cake, peach cake and orange cake.
“This, keep in mind, was just a little light afternoon tea. The real feast of the day, the birthday dinner, hadn’t arrived yet, nor had the birthday drinks, of which more anon. After eating all these good things, we drifted back into the yard.
“At this point, the strictly musical portion of the evening was interrupted by the advent of some more pastries, a bottle of Black and White whiskey (one of several bottles which had been most appropriately brought to the old man in honor of the great day) and some glasses. I tried a little—a very little—of the whiskey, in spite of Uncle Arnold’s merciless twitting. Then…supper was called!
“I waded through a platter of sweetened sauerkraut, frankfurters, baked potatoes, salami, shrimp salad, rye bread, anchovies, all washed down with plenty of red wine. Then the circlet of birthday candles was brought in and the old man miraculously blew them all out with a single puff. After Nuria had played Happy birthday on her violin, and Ronnie had sung slightly off key, one more round of wine was served…and a large Apfelstrudel made its triumphant appearance.”
This according to Newlin’s Schoenberg remembered: Diaries and recollections, 1938–76 (New York: Pendragon, 1980). Many thanks to Tina Frühauf for bringing this to our attention!
Lady Gaga went from nowhere to everywhere in just 18 months due to many factors—not least, to her unprecedented and canny use of social networking.
Gaga used Internet tools to craft her personal mythology, and continues to use them to keep in constant contact with her fans. She has millions of Twitter followers, and is the first musician ever to garner one billion hits on YouTube, where she uploads her videos for free.
This according to Poker face: The rise and rise of Lady Gaga by Maureen Callahan (New York: Hyperion, 2010). Below, the 2008 video that inspired the book’s title.
Survivors’ accounts tell us that among the deportees to Nazi concentration camps were prominent, less known, and unknown musicians and composers. These accounts also attest to the existence of compositions that were written in the camps, either spontaneously or on the orders of the camp’s commanders.
Musica Concentrationaria was established to research, study, and catalogue this vast repertoire, to demonstrate the role the music had on the life of the deported: a temporary escape from the horrors that surrounded them. Some 2,500 works have already been found, and reports of further works continue to arrive.
Above, from a Nazi propaganda film, Pavel Hass and the conductor Karel Ančerl at the premiere of Haas’s Studie pro smyčcový orchestr at Theresienstadt, a year before the composer died in a gas chamber at Auschwitz. Below, the trailer for the documentary.
According to its author, Markus von Hänsel-Hohenhausen, Vom Sichtbaren zur Wirklichkeit: Das wahre Antlitz Johann Sebastian Bachs (Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurter Verlagsgruppe, 2009) raises fundamental questions relating to image theory, considering the power of the image, the possibility of accessing reality through subjectivity (that is, the objectivity that arises from a dual subjectivity), the rendering of real “presence” by means of technically accurate representation, and the physicality (and noticeable absence of spirit) that results from the application of technical methods alone, e.g., in the case of Andy Warhol’s work.
Beginning with reflections on the royal portrait, Christian ritual, and Jesus Christ’s crown of thorns, the book then delivers a clear statement about the significance of portraits of Bach, at the same time offering therein an answer to the question: Does a person really have a true countenance?
Above, the reconstruction with the 1746 portrait by Elias Gottlob Haußmann, the only portrait Bach is known to have sat for.
In 1566 Tylman Susato’s son-in-law, the jurist Arnold Rosenberger, was entrusted with delivering some potentially sensitive correspondence to Erik XIV of Sweden. Since it turned out that at the time Rosenberg was involved with other pressing matters, Susato agreed to fulfill the mission. However, as his ship neared Sweden it was blown into Danish waters; faced with the danger of capture by Danish vessels, Susato destroyed the most sensitive of the documents he was carrying.
Upon his safe arrival, the Swedish king was furious to find these important documents missing, and Susato was formally arraigned in Sweden’s high court. He was in real danger of a sentence of death or hard labor from a court manipulated by a prosecutor who had the king’s full confidence; but he was ultimately released due to his connections with influential men who spoke in his favor. Nothing is known of Susato’s subsequent life, but it appears likely that he settled in Sweden.
This according to “Tielman Susato in trouble in Sweden: Some surprising later stages in the life of the trombonist-composer-publisher” by Ardis Grosjean, an essay included in Brass music at the cross roads of Europe: The Low Countries and contexts of brass musicians from the Renaissance into the nineteenth century (Utrecht: Stichting Muziekhistorische Uitvoeringspraktijk, 2005) pp. 11–16.
Below, excerpts from Susato’s Dansereye performed by the Renaissance Consort.
The main entrance to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’s exhibition Lou Reed: Caught between the twisted stars opens up on Lincoln Plaza, directly adjacent to the The Metropolitan Opera house. On a sunny day, the Met’s … Continue reading →
Seven strings/Сім струн (dedicated to Uncle Michael)* For thee, O Ukraine, O our mother unfortunate, bound, The first string I touch is for thee. The string will vibrate with a quiet yet deep solemn sound, The song from my heart … Continue reading →
Introduction: Dr. Philip Ewell, Associate Professor of Music at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, posted a series of daily tweets during Black History Month (February 2021) providing information on some under-researched Black … Continue reading →
For it [the Walkman] permits the possibility…of imposing your soundscape on the surrounding aural environment and thereby domesticating the external world: for a moment, it can all be brought under the STOP/START, FAST FOWARD, PAUSE and REWIND buttons. –Iain Chambers, “The … Continue reading →
