Help! Favourite Composer of Inspector Morse
Jean Young
I'd appreciate some help as I've been trying to find out who is Morse's
favourite composer. Although I do watch all the Morse's I must admit
that although obviously I'm aware of his love of classical music I must
have been to engrossed in the plots as I haven't noticed who is his
favourite. So I'd appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks
cyn...@mailexcite.com
Hello Jean!
Morse's favourite composer without a doubt is Richard WAGNER!
Followed second, I think, by Faure...
:>)
Happy New Year!
Cy
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
MzGwenny
when he meets Adele.
Gwen
Kjell Ove Hattrem
>Hi
Hey!
>I'd appreciate some help as I've been trying to find out who is Morse's
>favourite composer. Although I do watch all the Morse's I must admit
>that although obviously I'm aware of his love of classical music I must
>have been to engrossed in the plots as I haven't noticed who is his
>favourite. So I'd appreciate any help you can give me.
Well, Jean, to put it brief: It used to be Wagner in the novels. Then it
was Mozart in the TV series. Finally, it became the latter in both.
Life imitates art, or whatever.
>Thanks
No problem.
Kjell Ove Hattrem
-- who hath returned after some months of
no-alt.fan.inspector-morse-carrying newsservers.
NP: Leonard Cohen -- "The Stranger Song"
Max Shreck
>Well, Jean, to put it brief: It used to be Wagner in the novels. Then it
>was Mozart in the TV series. Finally, it became the latter in both.
>
>Life imitates art, or whatever.
Naw. Art imitates life; Wagner's Colin Dexter's fave. I read once that the
music used in the shows is heavily influenced by John Thaw's taste in music.
Maybe he's the Wolfie fan?
Cy once wrote here that the reason there's Wery little Wagner in the shows is
purely financial. It's cheap enough to get a string quartet together for a TV
soundtrack, but it's quite expensive to mount a Wagnerian opera. I *think* that
we occasionally see a soloist practicing some Wagner, or other non-symphonic
incidences of his music. Anyone recall for sure?
-- HRHH Max
(NP: unearthly cacophonies from my ancient steam radiator. You Swedes will
laugh, but in New York 3 degrees Fahrenheit [current temperature] is considered
ridiculously cold.)
ora...@hem.passagen.se
maxs...@aol.com (Max Shreck) wrote:
> (NP: unearthly cacophonies from my ancient steam radiator. You Swedes
> will laugh, but in New York 3 degrees Fahrenheit [current temperature]
> is considered ridiculously cold.)
Orange does a little recalculating, trying to put those pesky no-good
Fahrenheit degrees into something sensible, easy to understand, and
logical, and comes up with something like: -16 degrees Centigrades (or
Celsius as we proud Swedes like to call 'em)!!!!!!!!
Believe me or not, but that would be considered ridiculously cold here
as well (at least in southern Sweden, where I live). This winter
(admittedly a warm one) has seen such low temperatures as -5 degrees
Centigrades (no, you'll have to do your own re-calculations).
Christian Henriksson (basking in the sun's rays - when the sun is up,
that is)
cyn...@mailexcite.com
>
> >Well, Jean, to put it brief: It used to be Wagner in the novels. Then
it
> >was Mozart in the TV series. Finally, it became the latter in both.
> >
> >Life imitates art, or whatever.
>
> Naw. Art imitates life; Wagner's Colin Dexter's fave.
HelloKjell,
Max is correct. The fave composer, at least in the books which is where
Morse came from, is WAGNER. Don't recall that Mozart became the fave in
the tv episodes though...I mean, they use Mozart a few times. Colin
Dexter once said he wasn't a Mozart man with a few exceptions, like the
Clarinet Concerto and the Quintet, and both Dexter and Morse LOVE
Mozart's Requiem (see TWTTW's).
I still say Wagner, but will seek a comment from the horse's mouth.
Cy once wrote here that the reason there's Wery little Wagner in the
shows is purely financial. It's cheap enough to get a string quartet
together for a TV soundtrack, but it's quite expensive to mount a
Wagnerian opera. I *think* that we occasionally see a soloist practicing
some Wagner, or other non-symphonic incidences of his music. Anyone
recall for sure?
Well, when they made Twilight Of The Gods, there was a lot of hype that
this was the first time Morse and his beloved Wagner came together in
the telly programme, but you know? A few months ago I was watching an
episode, lemme see if I can recall it....um, The World Of Nicholas
Quinn. yes. That's it, and the schoolmaster had the troubled son.
Morse is having tea or dinner with the couple and he hears Wagner
playing loudly...(was it Siegfried, perhaps? This is Morse's LEAST fave
of the Wagnerian operas) and Morse recognises the piece and that's when
he gets introduced to the master's son who is air conducting an
imaginary orchestra to a recording (Solti?) of the work.
There! So TOTG's was NOT the first time in the telly episodes that
Morse meets Herr Wagner.
CY
> -- HRHH Max
(We're at 17 degrees Fahrenheit) in K.C.)
CY
> (NP: unearthly cacophonies from my ancient steam radiator. You Swedes
will laugh, but in New York 3 degrees Fahrenheit [current temperature]
is considered ridiculously cold.)
>
Kjell Ove Hattrem
>Max is correct. The fave composer, at least in the books which is where
>Morse came from, is WAGNER. Don't recall that Mozart became the fave in
>the tv episodes though...I mean, they use Mozart a few times. Colin
>Dexter once said he wasn't a Mozart man with a few exceptions, like the
>Clarinet Concerto and the Quintet, and both Dexter and Morse LOVE
>Mozart's Requiem (see TWTTW's).
This is interesting. Ever since my first acquaintance with Morse through
the TV series, I have been of the impression that Mozart was his
favourite composer. Programme guides and prefaces to translations of the
books have only contributed to this, although I can't say for sure that
any of them spelled it out clearly in so many words.
I have also read that the reason Mozart was substituted for Wagner is
that the latter would be rather "heavy" for a TV detective.
Have I been living in a fantasy world?
>I still say Wagner, but will seek a comment from the horse's mouth.
I will stand corrected if the horse says so.
Kjell Ove Hattrem
cyn...@mailexcite.com
Mozart man with a few exceptions, like the Clarinet Concerto and the
Quintet, and both Dexter and Morse LOVE Mozart's Requiem (see TWTTW's).
>
> This is interesting. Ever since my first acquaintance with Morse
through> the TV series, I have been of the impression that Mozart was
his favourite composer. Programme guides and prefaces to translations of
the books have only contributed to this, although I can't say for sure
that any of them spelled it out clearly in so many words.
> > I have also read that the reason Mozart was substituted for Wagner
is that the latter would be rather "heavy" for a TV detective.
> > Have I been living in a fantasy world?
LOL. No. :>)) I think your point of view is interesting. I guess a
lot of the telly music though comes from the minds of many, but the
Morse in the novels is wonderfully consistant because it is the input of
one person, his creator and it is always said that Morse resembles his
creator in few ways EXCEPT for his love of crosswords, A.E. Housman,
beer and WAGNER. Oh yes. And "falling in love with beautiful women,
both fair and dark."
>
As I said earlier, Colin Dexter told me (and in numerous interviews as
well) that they didn't use Wagner so much at all because of the cost of
the musicians needed to produce that Wagnerian sound, the rights to the
sheet music for the program and a whole host of financial reasons.
Thus, when the diva in TOTG's sings from Gotterdammerung, they avoided
the big costs by making that scene a master class with just piano and
voice. :>)
This was supposed to be a 'final' Morse production and they wanted to
show Morse's deep love of Wagnerian music in it at last. Pretty clever,
I thought.
> >I still say Wagner, but will seek a comment from the horse's mouth.
> > I will stand corrected if the horse says so.
>
GOSH! I forgot to ask the 'horse' but will do Monday, I promise!
CY
> Kjell Ove Hattrem
Max Shreck
>> (NP: unearthly cacophonies from my ancient steam radiator. You Swedes
>> will laugh, but in New York 3 degrees Fahrenheit [current temperature]
>> is considered ridiculously cold.)
Arnj wrote:
>Orange does a little recalculating, trying to put those pesky no-good
>Fahrenheit degrees into something sensible, easy to understand, and
>logical, and comes up with something like: -16 degrees Centigrades (or
>Celsius as we proud Swedes like to call 'em)!!!!!!!!
If Thaw is going to be the topic of choice here, then we'll have to agree on
what constitutes "freezing."
It's so very simple, my Swedish friend. [speaking slowly, as if to a child]
Water freezes at 32 degrees. Water boils at 212 degrees. Tsk! I don't know
*why* Europeans have such trouble with it.
If you're good and get an A in your Fahrenheit lessons, I'll teach you how many
pints in a quart!
>Believe me or not, but that would be considered ridiculously cold here
>as well (at least in southern Sweden, where I live). This winter
>(admittedly a warm one) has seen such low temperatures as -5 degrees
>Centigrades (no, you'll have to do your own re-calculations).
I recently set up a Netscape home page. It gives you the option of selecting
which cities' weather reports you want to see. I put in Yellowknife, Northwest
Territories, Canada, and Thule, Greenland. It makes me feel better to be
reminded each morning that there *are* colder places than here. I put in
Reykjavik, too, but I took it out when I realized it was almost always warmer
than NYC. It was demoralizing.
But at least we get a solid 10 hours of daylight at this time of year.
-- HRHH Max, counting her blessings
[NP: Letters to Cleo, "Aurora Gory Alice" CD]
cyn...@mailexcite.com
khat...@PlanetAll.com (Kjell Ove Hattrem) wrote:
> * cyn...@mailexcite.com
> >Max is correct. The fave composer, at least in the books which is
where
> >Morse came from, is WAGNER. Don't recall that Mozart became the fave
in
> >Dexter once said he wasn't a Mozart man with a few exceptions, like
the
> >Clarinet Concerto and the Quintet, and both Dexter and Morse LOVE
> >Mozart's Requiem (see TWTTW's).
>
mouth.
>
> I will stand corrected if the horse says so.
>
Hello Kjell,
I have spoken directly with Colin Dexter today and I told him point
blank that a Morse person wanted to know from him directly, who is
Morse's favourte compser.
He said "Richard Wagner, without a doubt!" He also added that if you
wanted to know WHICH of Wagner's works is Morse's favourite, he said it
would be act one from Die Walkure, absolutely.
There it is then, direct from the horse himself. A day or two late, I
admit, but better late than never! :>))
CY (who was happy to help out a fellow 'inquiring mind'!)
ora...@hem.passagen.se
maxs...@aol.com (Max Shreck) wrote:
> Me:
> >> (NP: unearthly cacophonies from my ancient steam radiator. You
> >> Swedes will laugh, but in New York 3 degrees Fahrenheit [current
> >> temperature] is considered ridiculously cold.)
>
> Arnj wrote:
>
> >Orange does a little recalculating, trying to put those pesky no-good
> >Fahrenheit degrees into something sensible, easy to understand, and
> >logical, and comes up with something like: -16 degrees Centigrades
> >(or Celsius as we proud Swedes like to call 'em)!!!!!!!!
>
> If Thaw is going to be the topic of choice here, then we'll have to
> agree on what constitutes "freezing."
When water turns to ice? Maybe too simple...
> It's so very simple, my Swedish friend. [speaking slowly, as if to a
> child] Water freezes at 32 degrees. Water boils at 212 degrees. Tsk! I
> don't know *why* Europeans have such trouble with it.
Oh, I know your silly system. It's easy. Just multiply with 1.8 and add
32 and you've got the Fahrenheit degrees.
However, being clever Europeans, we use 0 and 100, which seems pretty
logical. And scientists seem to agree since they base their Kelvin scale
on ours. Yay! We win! You lose! Ya boo, socks to you.
> If you're good and get an A in your Fahrenheit lessons, I'll teach you
> how many pints in a quart!
How many pints in a quarter of an hour, you mean. (The correct answer is
ten, but only on a good day.)
> >Believe me or not, but that would be considered ridiculously cold
> >here as well (at least in southern Sweden, where I live). This winter
> >(admittedly a warm one) has seen such low temperatures as -5 degrees
> >Centigrades (no, you'll have to do your own re-calculations).
>
> I recently set up a Netscape home page. It gives you the option of
> selecting which cities' weather reports you want to see. I put in
> Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, and Thule, Greenland. It
> makes me feel better to be reminded each morning that there *are*
> colder places than here. I put in Reykjavik, too, but I took it out
> when I realized it was almost always warmer than NYC. It was
> demoralizing.
Because I'm a nice guy, I have to tell you that the day after I posted
my last message, temperatures dropped to minus 15. Happy now?
Christian Henriksson (happy, because the temperature is back above 0)
Kjell Ove Hattrem
>I have spoken directly with Colin Dexter today and I told him point
>blank that a Morse person wanted to know from him directly, who is
>Morse's favourte compser.
Way to go, Cy!
>He said "Richard Wagner, without a doubt!" He also added that if you
>wanted to know WHICH of Wagner's works is Morse's favourite, he said it
>would be act one from Die Walkure, absolutely.
Thank you for this "authorized" reply to our little debate!
Would act one from "Die Walkure" be the famous "ba-bam-bapa-baaaaa-baaa"
etc?
>There it is then, direct from the horse himself. A day or two late, I
>admit, but better late than never! :>))
>CY (who was happy to help out a fellow 'inquiring mind'!)
Aren't we lucky in this newsgroup to have among us a person who is
acquainted with the prize horse himself!
This 'inquiring mind', though, is not sure whether Cy pointed out to Mr.
Dexter that the discussion was specifically about whether the great
detective's preferences in music changed in the TV series. I read in a
commentary to a translation that a TV producer changed Wagner to Mozart*
because this would suit the small screen in a better way.
But, as always, don't bet your life savings on it.
NR ('now reading' -- this is a literary group, am I right?): Collier &
Horowitz: "The Kennedys"
* 'Moe Zart? Who is Moe Zart? I kill so many people, I can't remember
all of them.' Romantic irony in a Hollywood movie. Guess which!
Kjell Ove Hattrem
cyn...@mailexcite.com
> This 'inquiring mind', though, is not sure whether Cy pointed out to
Mr. Dexter that the discussion was specifically about whether the great
> detective's preferences in music changed in the TV series. I read in a
> commentary to a translation that a TV producer changed Wagner to
Mozart*> because this would suit the small screen in a better way.
>
> But, as always, don't bet your life savings on it.
>
Ok. Point taken, Kjell. I'll get it right and try asking him again, I
promise. I have written the above down so I can read it to Mr. Dexter
accurately and see what he says. Should be interesting. I'll post as
soon as I know.
He always enjoys being asked these things. He really has great fun with
it all. :>))
I just enjoyed Hitchcock's'Strangers On A Train", 1951. I have always
heard of this film, but had never seen it. When I saw that Raymond
Chandler did the screenplay on it, then I knew I had to see it.
I liked it a lot, but I think I liked the snappy dialogue that screams
Chandler to you in the great film, 'Double Indemnity', another film he
co-wrote the screenplay on, along with Billy Wilder a little better.
The story though is pretty darn good.
Still, my fave classic is still 'The Third Man'. Awesome stuff, that!
> NR ('now reading' -- this is a literary group, am I right?
As literary as it gets! :>)
): Collier & Horowitz: "The Kennedys"
>
> * 'Moe Zart? Who is Moe Zart? I kill so many people, I can't remember
> all of them.' Romantic irony in a Hollywood movie. Guess which!
>
C'mon, do tell!!!!! :>))
CY
> Kjell Ove Hattrem
cyn...@mailexcite.com
>
> This 'inquiring mind', though, is not sure whether Cy pointed out to
Mr. Dexter that the discussion was specifically about whether the great
> detective's preferences in music changed in the TV series. I read in a
> commentary to a translation that a TV producer changed Wagner to
Mozart*> because this would suit the small screen in a better way.
>
Kjell,
Today I have asked Mr. Dexter the above literally and this is what he
said,
That Wagner is Morse's favourite composer in the novels and as a
character.
But when it comes to the telly, he said it really depends on who's
writing it, and who's giving their imput, therefore tv Morse's musical
taste can vary. He said that Julian Mitchell's favourite would be
Verdi, whereas Barrington Pheloung's taste leans more towards Mozart and
older church music, so really, it just depends.
But Dexter said that his tastes (thus Morse's, especially in the
novels!!) are more on the "melancholy, moody, sad, soul searching
composers of the late nineteenth century like Wagner, Bruckner, MAhler
and even Richard Strauss, although Strauss isn't literally in the
category of the late nineteenth century. He's more a twentieth century
composer since he died when I got out of school in 1948."
But there it is.
Again, Mr. Dexter was happy to answer and I was happy to ask him for
you.
CHEERS!
CY
Kjell Ove Hattrem
>>This 'inquiring mind', though, is not sure whether Cy pointed out to Mr.
>>Dexter that the discussion was specifically about whether the great
>>detective's preferences in music changed in the TV series. I read in a
>>commentary to a translation that a TV producer changed Wagner to Mozart*
>>because this would suit the small screen in a better way.
... and Cy replied:
>I have written the above down so I can read it to Mr. Dexter
>accurately and see what he says. Should be interesting. I'll post as
>soon as I know.
>He always enjoys being asked these things. He really has great fun with
>it all. :>))
That is relieving to hear, Cy. For a moment there I was worried that we
might be bothering the man (and yourself) with these questions. Please
communicate our thanks to him for taking the time to humour the readers
of this newsgroup.
>But when it comes to the telly, he said it really depends on who's
>writing it, and who's giving their imput, therefore tv Morse's musical
>taste can vary. He said that Julian Mitchell's favourite would be
>Verdi, whereas Barrington Pheloung's taste leans more towards Mozart and
>older church music, so really, it just depends.
Okay, there it is. I think this is as far as we will get in this case.
You did a good piece of detective work, Cy!
By the way, would that be Julian Mitchell, writer of Hopkins' 'August'
and Gilbert's 'Wilde'?
<http://uk.imdb.com/Name?Mitchell,+Julian+(I)>
>But Dexter said that his tastes (thus Morse's, especially in the
>novels!!) are more on the "melancholy, moody, sad, soul searching
>composers of the late nineteenth century like Wagner, Bruckner, MAhler
>and even Richard Strauss, although Strauss isn't literally in the
>category of the late nineteenth century. He's more a twentieth century
>composer since he died when I got out of school in 1948."
I find this interesting. I wonder if Morse would go and see Kubrick's
"2001: A Space Odyssey" and approve of the way in which "Also Sprach
Zarathustra" is used in that movie. But then, he might find it immensely
boring and leave after the opening credits.
>But there it is.
>Again, Mr. Dexter was happy to answer and I was happy to ask him for
>you.
I feel privileged ... :)
You mentioned earlier that you recently saw and enjoyed Hitchcock's
'Strangers on a Train'. Last year or so I saw Lumet's adaption of
Christie's 'Murder on the Orient Express' in glorious cinemascope (on
TV, alas). I count it among my 'guilty pleasures'.
>>* 'Moe Zart? Who is Moe Zart? I kill so many people, I can't remember
>>all of them.' Romantic irony in a Hollywood movie. Guess which!
>C'mon, do tell!!!!! :>))
I will give people like the Swedish chef (Christian Henriksson) a few
more days to come up with an answer ... ;-)
Kjell Ove Hattrem
Max Shreck
>> It's so very simple, my Swedish friend. [speaking slowly, as if to a
>> child] Water freezes at 32 degrees. Water boils at 212 degrees. Tsk!
>> I don't know *why* Europeans have such trouble with it.
Orange:
>Oh, I know your silly system. It's easy. Just multiply with 1.8 and add
>32 and you've got the Fahrenheit degrees.
>
>However, being clever Europeans, we use 0 and 100, which seems pretty
>logical. And scientists seem to agree since they base their Kelvin scale
>on ours. Yay! We win! You lose! Ya boo, socks to you.
"Ya boo, socks to you"... That's the second time you've used that expression.
It's growing on me, I think. But you're the only person I've ever seen use it.
It's certainly not an Americanism; or if it is, it's got to be at least a
half-century out of date.
It has such a nice archaic-sounding ring to it! I can imagine it coming out of
Monty Burns' mouth. Snyggis, where'd you get it from?
Anyway, it's not really *our* silly system. It's called the "English system"
for a reason. Infernal redcoats...
>Christian Henriksson (happy, because the temperature is back above 0)
Hell, I'd be happy too if the temperature would go above [pick one]
[ ] freezing.
[ ] 32 F.
[ ] 0 C.
Actually, it has gone above freezing once, just so the top layer of snow could
melt and turn into ice. Now we're having freezing rain; we're going to end up
with one of those picturesque situations where every single outdoors surface is
coated with a lovely crystal layer of ice -- and every sidewalk is coated with
people slipping and falling on their ass, experiencing the shockwave that
travels from the coccyx, up the spinal cord, and into the brain. It's a little
like a mild concussion.
Last time this happened, there was no more salt to be had, and the streets were
literally impassable. What fun! Desperate people were pouring shakers of
iodized table salt onto the sidewalks in front of their brownstones. My
neighbor was on her hands and knees, banging the ground outside her door with a
pipe wrench, but the ice wouldn't even crack. And another neighbor was banging
his iced-over windshield with a meat tenderizing mallet, under the tragic
misapprehension that he was going to be able to break his car free.
Hey, don't you guys have an ice hotel or something up there in Sweden? Ha! You
think you're so great. Well, we have an ice *city*! Try topping *that*!
-- HRHH Max
(NP: Cotton Mather, "Kon-Tiki" CD. Orange, you should check it out. *Serious*
Paul McC influence! They even have a guy in the band who looks a little like
Sir Paul. Hey, every band needs a "cute one," right? (Though I always thought
John was the cute one, myself...))
cyn...@mailexcite.com
> Paul McC influence! They even have a guy in the band who looks a
little like
> Sir Paul. Hey, every band needs a "cute one," right? (Though I always
thought
> John was the cute one, myself...))
The cute one to me was/is George! :>)
Morris Taggart
<maxs...@aol.com> wrote:
> >
> >However, being clever Europeans, we use 0 and 100, which seems pretty
> >logical. And scientists seem to agree since they base their Kelvin scale
> >on ours. Yay! We win! You lose! Ya boo, socks to you.
>
>
> "Ya boo, socks to you"... That's the second time you've used that expression.
> It's growing on me, I think. But you're the only person I've ever seen use it.
> It's certainly not an Americanism; or if it is, it's got to be at least a
> half-century out of date.
>
> It has such a nice archaic-sounding ring to it! I can imagine it coming out of
> Monty Burns' mouth. Snyggis, where'd you get it from?
The "socks to you" bit has the feel of a recent addition. I remember
the "Ya boo" thing from my matinee-going days in Belfast a million
years ago. We yelled "Ya!" when the fella (hero) was on the screen. We
yelled "Boo!" when the bad'n (villain) was on the screen. When they
both appeared in the shot, what else but: "Ya! Boo?"