How to pronounce Gerontius?
patri...@my-deja.com
pronouncing 'Gerontius' (as in Elgar's 'Dream of..'), with attention
focussed on whether the initial 'G' was to be pronounced hard or soft.
This found its way into the latest edition of the Elgar Society News, in
which the editor writes as follows:
(Quote)
I have listened to all recordings of talks, interviews etc by eminent
Elgarians to see what the consensus was. The clear winner was the hard
'g' favoured by Vaughan Williams, Astra Desmond, Steuart Wilson, Julius
Harrison, Adrian Boult, Alec Robertson and David Franklin - a rather
formidable array! The only one to use the soft 'g' was Barry Jackson
(the librettist for Elgar's unfinished opera 'The Spanish Lady'), who
perhaps significantly was not a musician...
There is also the 'Birmingham Gazette' of 1 October 1900, which, when
reviewing the final rehearsal prior to the premiere speaks of "Gerontius
- strictly with a hard 'g', if you please!"
(Unquote)
This last comment must surely have reflected Elgar's own pronunciation,
which would seem to settle the matter once and for all.
Patrick
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Before you buy.
Massimo Nespolo
it hard seems an English "corruption" of the original Latin. Just a side
remark..... :-)
Massimo
<patri...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:8pif7b$df$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Michael Haslam
> Assuming "Gerontius" was originally Latin, the "G" should be soft. To make
> it hard seems an English "corruption" of the original Latin. Just a side
> remark..... :-)
> Massimo
Dear Massimo
Did you ever hear anyone speaking "original Latin"?
We were taught "modern Latin" pronunciation at school in the UK in the 1970s ie
hard g and c always, v as a w. I understood this to be based on scholarship
concerning classical Roman pronunciation. On the other hand "traditional"
English pronunciation of Latin is "as English". Either way Gerontius would have
a hard G, as it would in German Latin.
MJHaslam
Peter T. Daniels
As in German, geranium, gerontologist, Geronimo, ... ?
If the work is set in Classical Rome, the <g> is "hard" as in garble,
gurgle, gobble.
--
Peter T. Daniels gram...@worldnet.att.net
Lani Spahr
Andrew Davis uses a soft G.
--
Cheers,
Lani Spahr (Elgar Society member)
Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/lspahr
Ian Warren
Snip>
>This last comment must surely have reflected Elgar's >own pronunciation,
>which would seem to settle the matter once and for all.
Or even Henry Newman's, since he actually wrote the 'Dream of Gerontius'?
Massimo Nespolo
"Michael Haslam" <mike...@dircon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:39BDE9A1...@dircon.co.uk...
In "neolatin" languages it is soft. At least, in Italian "g" is soft, to
make it hard you need to add an "h", namely "gh". The Latin pronounciation
we are taught at school is exactly this one. In English some other
"corrupted" pronounciation exists, like the Greek "psai", "fai", "pai"...
instead of "psi", fi", "pi".
In case of doubt, I believe that modern languages that are closer (most
directly descending from) the older ones should serve as "template". This is
said - of course - in total respect of language differences.
Massimo
david.anth...@gmail.com
Everyone's talking about Latin pronunciation - but it's not a Latin word - it's a Latin name, and one derived from the Greek 'geron' (obviously hard G) which means old man?!
