Is there any funny music ?
C.E.Carter
music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
it funny.
So any suggestions folks ?
KKkatie
_______________________________________________________________________
These opinions are mine and not those of my employer
Just a minute I'm self-employed -
who the hell do these opinions belong to ?
_______________________________________________________________________
Chrisb2001
("C.E.Carter") writes:
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
>to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
>if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
>I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
>it funny.
>So any suggestions folks ?
Some of Satie's piano music ("Le Piccadilly - Marche 1904"), or his
"Parade".
Ravel's "L'enfant et les Sortileges" may not qualify, since it is an opera
and has words, but I think most of the laughs come from the music.
Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra has a funny spot when he lampoons
Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony.
I'm surprised I can't come up with more (unless you count PDQ Bach or
Spike Jones). Maybe classical composers are too serious.
Chris.
Kathleen Nordgren
one piece that comes to mind and to a lesser degree the "William Tell
Overture". - Regards
Ralph Hartsock 2860
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
>to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
>if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
>I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
>it funny.
Another Mozart piece: A Musical Joke, K. 522: A divertimento ... for strings
and two horns, that caricatures the work of undistinguished composers and
performers by the deliberate use of incorrect dissonances, parallel fifths
etc. (Don Randel. _New Hardvard Dictionary of Music_. London; Cambridge,
Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard U Press, 1986) p. 523.
=============================================================
Ralph Hartsock || U of North Texas Music Library || rha...@library.unt.edu
David Mark Das
Russian Sailors' Dance. That's a charmer.
David
Reuben Settergren
are very funny musical moments quite apart from the words. I can
think of right now, the fanfare that opens the first scene in the
throneroom is not sparkling trumpets, but flatulent trombones (or are
they unfisted horns?) in a low register. Another moment of timbral
humour is when the listener realizes that the "terrible cuisiniere",
(who could "break heads with her ladle") is sung by a bass.
But then again, Prokofiev's hallmark is, if not humour, wittiness.
Every cadence is a punchline!
And someq quickies; I laughed aloud the first time I heard the ending of
Nielsen's 6th; anticlimactically cute, he's kind of thumbing his nose
at death. And the middle movement (Blues: Moderato) of Ravel's violin
sonata always makes me at least smile.
--
Reuben
PhD Student and Assistant Computer Bozo, Rutgers Center for Operations Research
email: reu...@rutcor.rutgers.edu *** Profound .sig on request ***
Tom Wood
> Haydn is an obvious composer to go to - apart from the Surprise, there's
> the `Joke' quartet, which has several false endings. There's also
> the finale to Op 76, no. 5, which starts with the standard final
> cadence. There are a number early Beethoven pieces which, if not exactly
> funny ha-ha, always make me smile - the G major piano trio, Op 1 no 2,
> and the clarinet trio, Op 11, particularly the interplay between clarinet
> and cello in the variations in the finale. The finale of the 1st
> symphony, of course, starts with a Haydnesque twist.
> A couple from this century - Darius Milhaud's music almost always has a
> sparkling, witty (sometimes almost manic) feel to it. And, for a real
> crowd pleaser, there's Dohnanyi's Variations on a Nursery Theme (Twinkle,
> twinkle little bat) - recently heard an excellent version by Zoltan Kocsis
> and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, with an exceptionally lively bassoon
> and flute hamming the last bars like crazy.
> Neill Reid - i...@dowland.caltech.edu
Yup, Haydn is a real joker. His lowest joke comes near the end of the
slow movement of Symphony #93. The main theme of the movement is this
sweet little tune, that finally gets reduced to delicate chords
tossed between the flutes and violins. Then -- the bassoons let
out a great farty blast.
--
....Thomas Wood..............................
........Springfield, Illinois USA............
............wood@eagle.sangamon.edu..........
Rick Scherer
: Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
: music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
: The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
: to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
: if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
: I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
: it funny.
: So any suggestions folks ?
Several pieces make me laugh:
Polka and Fugue from Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeiffer by Weinberger (even the
title is funny)
Polka from Age of Gold, by Shostakovich
Le beuf sur le tois, by Milhaud
Till Eulenspeigels Merry Pranks, by Strauss
Hary Janos, by Kodaly
Variations on a Nursery Tune, by Dohnanyi
Second movement (scherzo) of Symphony No. 5, by Shostakovich
Souvenirs, by Barber
Overture to Candide, by Bernstein
---
I'll add more as I think of them
Rick Scherer
Brian Egras
> Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
> music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>
> The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
> to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
> if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
> I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
> it funny.
>
> So any suggestions folks ?
The only piece that I literally laughed aloud at was a Goyesa by Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco. I believe the piece was entitled something like "Who is
the teacher?" It is based on an etching (of the same name, I believe) by Goya
which depicts a teacher donkey tutoring a student donkey.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco's piece starts with a 12-tone row which is meant as
an exercise for the student, but the student soon drifts into a more melodic and
romantic sounding piece. Once the student has drifted too far, the teacher
scolds him with a loud "Hee-Haw". As you can probably guess, that was the
overtly humorous part.
I am not sure if the Goyescas were originally written for guitar or not
(I suspect that they were), but I heard some of them performed by an excellent
guitarist named Lily Afshar. I am told that she has recorded these pieces on
cd and that they are very well done. I intend to buy the cd once I find it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later,
Natalie Starkey
>In article <780876...@carterce.demon.co.uk>, Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk
>("C.E.Carter") writes:
>>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
Carnival of the Animals, Saint Saens. has me rolling in the aisles every
time, with clever music to boot.
natalia
L Scanlon
the Animals". A great version is the one by the Labeque sisters, with
Perlman doing the narration.
A lot of the PDQ Bach stuff is also funny. Be sure to check out his "1712
Overture," for example.
Leo
Jon Bell
I. Neill Reid <i...@eccles.caltech.edu> wrote:
> Haydn is an obvious composer to go to - apart from the Surprise, [...]
...there's also Symphony no. 60, "Il distratto". At the beginning of the
finale, "the music barely gets under way before everything stops dead in
order that the violinists may tune their instruments, their G-strings
having been found to be F-strings!" [from H.C. Robbins Landon's notes for
Dorati's Haydn symphony cycle]
Moving forward a bit, I always get a chuckle out of Paul Creston's "A
Rumor", which starts out with twittering woodwinds and finishes with the
entire orchestra in an uproar. It's on Argo 417 818-2ZH, a marvelous
collection of American music performed by (surprise!) Neville Marriner
and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
--
Jon Bell <jtb...@presby.edu> Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA
Fred Goldrich
C.E.Carter <Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
Some time around 1970, I attended an Ashkenasy recital in
which he played the Schumann Bb Humoreske (Op. 20). I had always
been skeptical about music being 'funny' without extramusical asso-
ciations -- lyrics, imitative effects, and so on. But this piece
made me laugh aloud, and I was delighted. So I ran right out and
bought the music and tried to play it and, at least the way I played
it, there was nothing funny about it.
-- Fred Goldrich
--
Fred Goldrich
gold...@panix.com
Lothar A.T. Bauerdick (DESY)
F.Schubert: Is there any funny music? I do not know of any.
Cheers, LatB
avi pfeffer
For sheer hilarity, "L'Italiana in Algieri" always gets me. Rossini is just
slapstick, however, compared to Haydn. I'll cast my vote for the finale of
Op 76 # 1. The movement is on the face of it a perfectly regular finale, with
fine contrapuntal action and Haydnesque development. However, the most
striking feature of the melody is a 'glitch' which shows up in different ways
throughout the movement: accents move around, notes and phrases shift to the
wrong places and the harmonic rhythm changes constantly. It has me in stitches
every time.
Avi
---------------------------------------------------------------------
a...@postgres.berkeley.edu
all, everywhere and ever, ever shines the blue horizon, ever, ever...
Francois Velde
>>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
Erik Satie has written quite a bit of music, whose titles by themselves
are enough to make me chuckle. Check out his "Dessicated Embryos" with
strains of the Chopin Funeral march, for example; or the bureaucratic
sonatina; or... Some of it is parody, some of it is just humor.
--
Francois Velde
Johns Hopkins University
ve...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
James C Liu
>In article <780876...@carterce.demon.co.uk>, Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk
>("C.E.Carter") writes:
>>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>>So any suggestions folks ?
>Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra has a funny spot when he lampoons
>Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony.
I don't recall the specifics; was the quotation from the 7th Symphony
deliberate? I thought it was a coincidence.
>I'm surprised I can't come up with more (unless you count PDQ Bach or
>Spike Jones). Maybe classical composers are too serious.
Not at all. The music of Franz Joseph Haydn is filled with all kinds of
silliness, what with unexpected rhythmic and harmonic turns, and *lots* of
false endings. Try the 90th Symphony for a lesson in how to keep the
audience guessing. Many of the London symphonies have amusing moments, the
most famous of which is the theme from the "Surprise" symphony. But the
gem of the lot is the 60th Symphony, which was drawn from incidental music
to a play called "Il distratto." Harnoncourt's recording on Teldec captures
a lot of the high-spirited insouciance of the piece; if you didn't know better,
you'd think it was a PDQ Bach composition! Especially that finale ...
Mozart's music has many comic moments, too. The operas provide many
examples. Then there's his Musical Joke, K522, for string sextet with two
horns. It's a classic comic composition, in that it works on all kinds of
levels, from lampooning poor instrumentalists to spoofs on mediocre composers.
He also uses some of the advanced harmony experiments which were employed
in the 24th Piano Concerto and the "Dissonant" Quartet.
Another high point in the "serious" comic literature is Erno von Dohnanyi's
Variations on a Nursery Theme, for Piano and Orchestra. (There's a wonderful
recording on EMI with the composer himself tinkling the ivories and Adrian
Boult conducting.) It begins with a suitably stormy, dramatic, overwrought
Romantic introduction, which builds up to the theme ... Twinkle, twinkle
(aka Mozart's Ah vous dirai-je, maman). The subsequent variations take cheap
shots at Brahms, Schumann, and a host of other greats. Wonderful stuff.
Richard Strauss's "Burleske" for piano and orchestra isn't quite as funny.
Many composers also indulged in comic songs and other ditties to keep
them amused while they addressed the Big Questions of composition. There
used to be Seraphim/EMI LPs of comic canons, songs, and short pieces by
Beethoven and Mozart; one is especially amazed to discover that LvB wrote
a canon whose words are, "An ass to end all asses" while he was writing
his last string quartets.
Another distinguished tradition in classical composition is that of the
"toy symphony," in which all manner of bizarre noisemakers accompany
orchestra, chamber ensemble, whatever. Leopold Mozart's essay in this form
is the most famous; Raymond Lewenthal recorded an LP of other masterworks
in this form. The last time I saw this, it was on an Angel/EMI LP.
Finally, there are the flat-out comic compositions, the finest of which
are those of PDQ Bach. The two big festivals with lots of silly stuff
include the Hoffnung Festival, an English production which features all
manner of musical all-stars in musical shenanigans; some of the best of
their work is on EMI CDs. The other is Gidon Kremer's Lockenhaus Festival,
a chamber festival with wonderful silly stuff. I just got a Philips CD of
Lockenhaus comic high points (I think the disc is called "Encore!") which
has all kinds of good stuff. There's a "Double Concerto" attributed to a
Professor Bor which lampoons Bach's d minor, for starters.
I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that should get you off to a
good start. =8^)
--
/James C.S. Liu, MD "A man's got to do what a man's got to do,
jl...@world.std.com even if it's really stupid."
Department of Medicine -- Royko
New England Med Ctr, Boston MA
James C Liu
>Certainly you would have to include the Ogden Nash verses for "Carnival of
>the Animals". A great version is the one by the Labeque sisters, with
>Perlman doing the narration.
If I'm not mistaken, there actually is no original narration for the
Carnival; the most common verses used were composed by Noel Coward (and
recorded to stunning effect by same on an Odyssey LP).
I also forgot Francis Poulenc, who wrote all manner of irreverent,
lighthearted fluff, mingled in between somber a capella sacred music.
James C Liu
> Some time around 1970, I attended an Ashkenasy recital in
>which he played the Schumann Bb Humoreske (Op. 20). I had always
>been skeptical about music being 'funny' without extramusical asso-
>ciations -- lyrics, imitative effects, and so on. But this piece
>made me laugh aloud, and I was delighted. So I ran right out and
>bought the music and tried to play it and, at least the way I played
>it, there was nothing funny about it.
Some of this does come from a performer with the right idea about how
to play the music. Recordings of Beethoven sonatas by Artur Schnabel and
Richard Goode come to mind as examples. Music-making is far too stiff and
humorless, IMSO, these days.
James C Liu
>Yup, Haydn is a real joker. His lowest joke comes near the end of the
>slow movement of Symphony #93. The main theme of the movement is this
>sweet little tune, that finally gets reduced to delicate chords
>tossed between the flutes and violins. Then -- the bassoons let
>out a great farty blast.
That's a fine moment, but "Il distratto" is roll-in-the-aisles funny
compared to that.
I've gotta stop adding afterthoughts, but I also remember hearing a piano
trio by David Baker as premiered by the Beaux Arts Trio. The second movement
lapses in and out of calypso melodies which brought a group chuckle out of
the audience. It's on a Philips CD.
I also forgot Dmitri Shostakovich. It's curious that the composer of
some of the most morose, depressing music of all time should also have written
some of the silliest. As a young man, he played piano to accompany silent
films. He almost lost his job more than once because he kept laughing during
the comedies and forgot to play the piano! There is an Olympia CD of some
of his finer silly stuff, including light-hearted marches and the like.
His gems include an orchestration of "Tea for Two," reportedly done in an
hour on a train to Leningrad after hearing the tune once. Neeme Jaervi's
recording on Chandos is a keeper.
I. Neill Reid
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>
>The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
>to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
>if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
>I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
>it funny.
>
>So any suggestions folks ?
Haydn is an obvious composer to go to - apart from the Surprise, there's
the `Joke' quartet, which has several false endings. There's also
the finale to Op 76, no. 5, which starts with the standard final
cadence. There are a number early Beethoven pieces which, if not exactly
funny ha-ha, always make me smile - the G major piano trio, Op 1 no 2,
and the clarinet trio, Op 11, particularly the interplay between clarinet
and cello in the variations in the finale. The finale of the 1st
symphony, of course, starts with a Haydnesque twist.
A couple from this century - Darius Milhaud's music almost always has a
sparkling, witty (sometimes almost manic) feel to it. And, for a real
crowd pleaser, there's Dohnanyi's Variations on a Nursery Theme (Twinkle,
twinkle little bat) - recently heard an excellent version by Zoltan Kocsis
and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, with an exceptionally lively bassoon
and flute hamming the last bars like crazy.
Neill Reid - i...@dowland.caltech.edu
>
Juliet A. Youngren
I always get a chuckle out of the Troika from _Lt. Kije_, and I
suspect Prokofiev must have been laughing up his sleeve when he
wrote it. I mean, it just sounds *too* much like a frisky sleigh
ride to be for real.
Interesting that a previous poster mentioned the _Gazza Ladra_
and _William Tell_ overtures, since neither of those operas is
particularly funny. WT is on a serious theme, and GL is quite
melodramatic. But of course, knowing Rossini, he probably wrote
the overtures for completely different works that *were* funny.
J.A.Y.
DASCENZO
> Several pieces that make me laugh:
> Till Eulenspeigels [sic] that make me laugh:
Are you aware of what his lustige spiele were really all about?
Best regards,
Ted Floyd <AE...@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Ted Floyd
> Several pieces that make me laugh:
> Till Eulenspeigels [sic] merry pranks, by Strauss
Are you aware of what all of his merry pranks were all about? I don't
think they're funny in the least. I think you're sick.
Ted Floyd <AE...@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Rhea Jacobs
both of which are very funny (the second one intermittently, the first
constantly.)
--
###################################################################
## Rhea Jacobs - The Dogtown Doggerel Factory - St. Louis ##
## rlja...@crl.com or au...@yfn.ysu.edu ##
###################################################################
I am cool
"A....men" ( Bardolfo & Pistola ), "L'onore" ( Falstaff ), "Pizzica,
pizzica" ( nymphs chorus ), etc etc.
Some from Don Giovanni ( that excerpt from Le Nozze di Figaro always
sends me laughing ).
Some from The Magic Flute ( the Monostatos aria, some Papageno's music ).
The cool and funny guy,
Bob at UT
(Kathleen Nordgren) writes:
>In article <780876...@carterce.demon.co.uk>, Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk
>("C.E.Carter") writes:
>>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
One piece that always makes me laugh (at least in parts) is Charles Ives
Variations on America.
David Brooks
also:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, 'specially when the broken brooms come back to
life.
Some Malcolm Arnold pieces, e.g. Tam O'Shanter.
Walton's Façade; even the orchestral suites are funny.
And the best of all -- Mozart's Musical Joke.
--
David Brooks dbr...@ics.com
Integrated Computer Solutions http://www.ics.com/~dbrooks
Reuben Settergren
believe, Moz-Art, in which the composer good naturedly mocks WAM by
toying with one of his unfinished sketches, which has one of the
violins retuning while the other one just keeps on playing, or couple
of spots where a violinist can't make a page turn, so he whistles to
fill in the gap. Very funny in concert, probably less so on CD.
By the way, one of the performers told me the following cute story
about the piece; Gidon Kremer couldn't play the violin part he was
assigned in the premiere, because he couldn't whistle well enough. (I
think he took the other part.)
andy lester
I'm surprised I can't come up with more (unless you count PDQ Bach or
Spike Jones). Maybe classical composers are too serious.
Chris.
I think PDQ Bach is about the best musical parodies there are. Prof. Peter
Schickele (sp) is one of the most clever modern composers IMO (though nost of
his stuff he didn't actually *compose*). My favorite works are "The 1712
Overture (and other musical assaults" and "Eine Kliene Nichtmusik".
Definately worth looking into....:-)
andy....@vircomm.com
Andy_P....@nrunner.mil.wi.us
"The price of peace is at an all-time low"
-Quark, DS9
Deryk Barker
: Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
: music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
: The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
: to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
: if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
: I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
: it funny.
: So any suggestions folks ?
The slow movement of Haydn's Symphony No.93, has a wonderful low C for
the bassoons just before the close. This literally made me chuckle at
a performance only last week. Robbins Landon calls it one of the few
genuinely Rabelaisian moments in Haydn.
Then there's the 'bassoon joke' (Tovey) in the last movement of
Beethoven's Fourth.
Any performance by Gary Karr will have you laughing at some point.
And then there's a great deal of the output of Charles Ives - try the
closing movement of the 2nd symphony for starters.
Actually, I don't think it's that composers have no sense of humour,
but that audiences today are afraid to laugh.
--
Deryk.
=================================================================
|Deryk Barker, Computer Science Dept. | Without music, life |
|Camosun College, Victoria, BC, Canada | would be a mistake |
|email: dba...@camosun.bc.ca | |
|phone: +1 604 370 4452 | (Friedrich Nietzsche).|
=================================================================
Philip F. Wight
smile.
-------------------------
C.E.Carter (Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
: music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
: The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
: to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
: if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
: I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
: it funny.
: So any suggestions folks ?
: KKkatie
: _______________________________________________________________________
: These opinions are mine and not those of my employer
: Just a minute I'm self-employed -
: who the hell do these opinions belong to ?
: _______________________________________________________________________
--
Philip F. Wight <pwi...@rahul.net>
Ng Fu Chuan
: C.E.Carter (Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: : Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
: : music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
: : The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
: : to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
: : if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
: : I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
: : it funny.
: : So any suggestions folks ?
: The slow movement of Haydn's Symphony No.93, has a wonderful low C for
: the bassoons just before the close. This literally made me chuckle at
: a performance only last week. Robbins Landon calls it one of the few
: genuinely Rabelaisian moments in Haydn.
: Then there's the 'bassoon joke' (Tovey) in the last movement of
: Beethoven's Fourth.
: Any performance by Gary Karr will have you laughing at some point.
I'll second that!! Thre's also a part of Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite
where the trombone sounds like its farting non-stop!
: And then there's a great deal of the output of Charles Ives - try the
: closing movement of the 2nd symphony for starters.
: Actually, I don't think it's that composers have no sense of humour,
: but that audiences today are afraid to laugh.
: --
: Deryk.
: =================================================================
: |Deryk Barker, Computer Science Dept. | Without music, life |
: |Camosun College, Victoria, BC, Canada | would be a mistake |
: |email: dba...@camosun.bc.ca | |
: |phone: +1 604 370 4452 | (Friedrich Nietzsche).|
: =================================================================
--
+++
marcus
Marcus Ng Fu Chuan
art4...@leonis.nus.sg
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
National University of Singapore
Markus Lang
» One piece that always makes me laugh (at least in parts) is Charles Ives
» Variations on America.
Oh, Ives! :-)
The finale of his 2nd symphony is just great!
Markus Lang
» (aka Mozart's Ah vous dirai-je, maman). The subsequent variations take cheap
» shots at Brahms, Schumann, and a host of other greats.
The Finn Oskar Merikanto has written a work that is
quit like that: "Gubben Noak" variations for solo piano.
The simple melody is by Carl Michaël Bellman, but he treats
it quite ambitiously.
» Another distinguished tradition in classical composition is that of the
» "toy symphony," in which all manner of bizarre noisemakers accompany
» orchestra, chamber ensemble, whatever. Leopold Mozart's essay in this form
» is the most famous; Raymond Lewenthal recorded an LP of other masterworks
» in this form.
I thought that the original symphony by Leopold Mozart
did not include toy instruments; they were added later
by someone else?
----------------------
ml...@katk.helsinki.fi
Markus Lang
» Gollywog's Cakewalk (may be from Carnival of Animals) always made me
» smile.
It's from CLaude Debussy's "Children's Corner".
BTW, I'm just writing an article entitled "Curiosa musicalia".
Thank you very much for curious hints! :-)
Rebecca Slitt (MC 1997)
Symphony? One by one the orchestra members actually get up and leave --
I believe it was originally a subtle :) hint by Haydn to his patron to
pay the musicians more....
Becky
--
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmLONG LIVE MAGEVET AND THE MIDDLE AGESmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
"I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind..."
Indigo Girls
*****************************************************************************
Chris Brewster
A lot of Prokofiev has humor bubbling below the surface. He has very
funny modulations... I'm serious. Haydn has lots of humor. In his 80th
he uses a theme that's almost completely off the beat, and he makes you
wait until the very end to play it with the meter really clarified.
Even when you know what he's doing, it's a challenge to hear the meter
correctly.
--
Chris Brewster Cray Research, Inc.
Chris Brewster
>Certainly you would have to include the Ogden Nash verses for "Carnival of
>the Animals". A great version is the one by the Labeque sisters, with
>Perlman doing the narration.
If I'm not mistaken, there actually is no original narration for the
Carnival; the most common verses used were composed by Noel Coward (and
recorded to stunning effect by same on an Odyssey LP).
I think the first guy was right-- Nash's words are the ones that are
used in all the recordings I've heard. But I'd like to cast a
dissenting vote about these words. They were written in the 40s with a
lot of 40s references. This piece is supposed to be for kids. Why
would kids now know who the Andrews Sisters are? Even I know about them
only because I took an interest in the pop music of my parents's era. I
think it wouldn't insult Nash at all to update his words so that today's
kids can get the humor. But I'd rather keep the gist of what he wrote,
because I fear a contemporary humorist wouldn't do so well. A revised
standard version, so to speak.
I. Neill Reid
>As long as we're on the subject of Haydn, how about the Farewell
>Symphony? One by one the orchestra members actually get up and leave --
>I believe it was originally a subtle :) hint by Haydn to his patron to
>pay the musicians more....
Not quite - as with all other members of the Esterhazy entourage, Haydn
and his orchestra were based in deepest Hungary (at Esterhaza) for part
of the year - during the summer (hunting, fishing, shooting season). They
all repaired back to Vienna (and civilisation) once the weather started
closing in, in late autumn/early winter. One year, Prince Nikolaus was
tarrying at Esterhaza rather longer than the musicians (who I believe were
not allowed to bring their wives & families with them) thought was
necessary. So Haydn arranged a means of bringing their point of view
(diplomatically) to the notice of the prince.
I've seen the work performed in `authentic' fashion, with each
member of the orchestra extinguishing the reading lamp and drifting
off stage at the appropriate moment in the finale.
Neill Reid - i...@dowland.caltech.edu
>
>Becky
>
>--
A NAgy iStVAn
>From: fe...@snake23.cs.wisc.edu (I am cool)
>Subject: Re: Is there any funny music ?
>Date: 1 Oct 1994 23:46:38 GMT
Yes, Papageno was HYSTERICAL!!!
It was performed during a senoir recital here at Cedarville, and even if I
hadn't have had the translation, I would have lost it.
*************************************
* This has been a public disservice *
* announcement from A NAgy iStVAn. *
*************************************
* s107...@cedarville.edu *
*************************************
Mark Slagle
> F.Schubert: Is there any funny music? I do not know of any.
"There is no jolly music, dear lady. All music is sad."
-- F. Schubert, upon being asked at a party to "play
some jolly music."
=Mark
--
----
"Ausgesetzt auf den Bergen des Herzens..."
----
Mark E. Slagle PO Box 61059
sla...@lmsc.lockheed.com Sunnyvale, CA 94088
408-756-0895 USA
ken...@kennedy.bridgewater.ne.hcc.com
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
>
>The only piece of music I know that makes me giggle is the overture
>to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
>if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
>I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
>it funny.
There are some great, purely musical moments of comedy in Gilbert and
Sullivan -- the splendidly imbecilic march theme for unison brass that
opens the overture to "The Grand Duke", for example:
Sol / DO...... Do / SOL...... Sol / DO...... Do \ SOL......
Sol \ DO...... Do / SOL...... Sol \ DO Do \ SOL;
Sol / DO...... Do / SOL...... Sol / DO...... Do \ SOL......
Sol \ DO...... Do / SOL...... Sol \ DO \ Sol / DO.
..or the beautiful little cameo of Beethoven attempting a fugue that
accompanies each of the Lord Chancellor's entrances in Iolanthe, not to
mention the famous parody of the entrance of the guests from
Tannhaeuser in the same work, or the clumsy, stomping entrance music
(echoing the opening of Die Walkuere) before "We are Warriors Three" in
Princess Ida....
John W. Kennedy - Hoechst Celanese - Team OS/2 - (The OS/2 Hobbit) - TIPA
IBMMAIL: USAHC29S IBMLink: NAAO3IY "Compact is becoming contract;
CompuServe: 75136,1413 Prodigy: MTMV04A Man only earns and pays."
Internet: ken...@kennedy.bridgewater.ne.hcc.com -- Charles Williams
X.400: US Telemail Hoechst
Bruce...@brecant.worldbank.org
In article <Cwyou...@world.std.com>, <jl...@world.std.com> writes:
> I also forgot Francis Poulenc, who wrote all manner of irreverent,
> lighthearted fluff, mingled in between somber a capella sacred music.
How could I have forgotten Poulenc, particularly the wonderful trio for piano,
oboe, and bassoon!
Bruce
Berry de Bruyn
> Is there any funny music ?
Oh yes, dunno if they were mentioned yet:
Carnaval des animaux - Camille Saint-Saens,
Maurizio Kagel wrote some pieces that cannot/shouldn't be taken real
seriously.. here's a composer that has the ability to put music in a relative
perspective
Of course, there are the PDQ Bach records, and the records of Hoffnung
festival. The piano concerto from one of the Hoffnung festivals is top, as are
PDQ Bach's Oedipus Tex, Ouverture 1712 and the report of Beethoven's 5th
symphony ("whoops, violins didn't cut off there, Bob, little trouble with the
violins").
Stephen P. Guthrie
Ibert's Divertissiment (complete with police whistle)
Patrick J Barrie
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
Only two works have ever made me laugh during a performance:
1. Alkan's funeral march on the death of a parrot. This is presuambly not
allowed in this thread as it does have words (though it's funny without).
Most of Alkan's work has a large amount of humour.
2. A work by Peter Maxwell Davies whose title contains the words "wedding"
"sunrise" and "Orkneys" but I can't remember what comes in between. It
basically portrays the musical festivities at a wedding reception which
gradually becomes more and more drunken, until finally a bagpipe solo
signals sunrise.
Peter Herweijer
>Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
>music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
Well, a piece that obviously and desperately wants to be funny is, of
course, Mozart's "Musical Joke". It can be heard on the radio now and
then but, I must admit, I find it mostly irritating. The master of
wit in music is, IMHO, Haydn. In his symphonies but especially in his
quartets (which are, at least here, rarely heard on the radio) he plays
a delicious game with the expectations of his listeners. Most of it
is _not_ as obvious as in the "Surprise" symphony: formal surprises,
phrases that only _seem_ symmetrical, all in music that bursts with
life. It may not make you giggle, but it certainly makes me smile.
- Peter Herweijer
pie...@sci.kun.nl
Ken Iisaka
|> Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
|> music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
|>
|> to the Marriage of Figaro and I'm not sure that even that would work
|> if it wasn't for the anticipation of what is to follow. Even tho'
|> I giggled the first time I heard it surely only anticipation would keep
|> it funny.
George Antheil "Jazz Symphony" is absolutely hilarious.
Shostakovich Concerto for strings, piano and trumpet ranks way up there,
too.
--
| ### ### | ### ### ### | ### ### | ### ### ### |
| ### ### | ### ### ### | ### ### | ### ### ### |
| ### ### | ### ### ### | ### ### | ### ### ### |
| ### ### | ### ### ### | ### ### | ### ### ### |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ken Iisaka | (kii...@morgan.com) | Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc |
| 1 Pierrepont Plz, Brooklyn, NY 11201 | All disclaimers apply. |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|___
Mark-Jan Nederhof
(there's a good recording by Glenn Gould and (from the top of my head)
Abe Turchinsky (sp?) ). This music is funny partly because of the unusually
low tones, but at the same time it is good music in all respects.
I think much music by Shostakovich is hilarious although often in other
passages or even at the same time it may be deeply sad (these emotions
seem to be close together in his music). For example, the finale of the
10th symphony always makes me smile, partly because of the (extra-musical)
significance of the DSCH motif which is placed in a victorious mood in
the last few bars, whereas the feeling of being oppressed is so obvious
in other parts of the symphony. Similar things can be said of many of
the string quartets. I think the preludes and fuges for piano are often
funny, I guess because of unexpected harmonical turns (I know close to
nothing about the theory of harmony). And let's not forget the 1st
symphony, which takes the established symphonic tradition with a big
grain of salt.
I could only just keep myself from laughing aloud when I first heard
a live performance of Prokovjev's 7th symphony. Also some of his piano
music is funny to me.
I cannot agree with a previous posting stating that classical music is
too serious (for a while the Flemish broadcasting service even used the
name "serious music" for what usually is called "classical music").
Apart from the above 20th century composers many composers can be named
which had an unmistakable sense of humour, e.g. Mozart and Haydn (see
previous postings), and Mahler, in particular where his music places the
"pretentious" next to the "vulgar".
Mark-Jan
David Emery
Stravinski's "Soldier's Story Suite", quotations of Americana in pieces by Ives,
and too many Haydn minuets to name. Some things make me laugh even if they're
not supposed to, like bellowing horns in a Mahler symphony or character pieces
in ballet scenes. Humor in music seems to be abundant if you look for it.
fehs...@ljsrv2.enet.dec.com
regarding amusing music, dbr...@ics.com (David Brooks) mentions:
>Some Malcolm Arnold pieces, e.g. Tam O'Shanter.
The last movement of Arnold's Concerto for Piano Three Hands is a bit off the
wall...
len.
Markus Lang
the following humorous techniques:
The piece can have a funny name (pun), like
"Velocimente" or "Soitimella improvisaatio".
He can tune the kantele so that an arpeggio
sounds like a tiny melody: the listener is being
cheated (in "Kakkoskiperä").
He uses original instruments, or common instruments
are played uncommonly.
He uses mimics while he performs his works
(especially "Soitimella improvisaatio").
The Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (b. 1930) has
written some satirical compositions, especially
"Môtisklused Leniniga" (Reflexions with Lenin)
where he uses really texts from V. I. Lenin's
writings and composes them - it was in Soviet
Union! He uses well-known musical quotations to make
fun (irony & satire) of Lenin's political texts
and his idealism that didn't work.
---------------------
ml...@katk.helsnki.fi
James Langdell
Chabrier based on themes from Wagner's "Tristan"! Very
disconcerting when you start to recognize the source material.
--James Langdell jam...@eng.sun.com
Sun Microsystems Menlo Park, Calif.
Warren Bond Porter
: <Chrisb2001,chris...@aol.com> writes:
: I'm surprised I can't come up with more (unless you count PDQ Bach or
: Spike Jones). Maybe classical composers are too serious.
: Chris.
: I think PDQ Bach is about the best musical parodies there are. Prof. Peter
: Schickele (sp) is one of the most clever modern composers IMO (though nost of
: his stuff he didn't actually *compose*). My favorite works are "The 1712
: Overture (and other musical assaults" and "Eine Kliene Nichtmusik".
Agreed! I attended a Schickele concert in 1979 and was practically
rolling in the asile. He spoofed EVERYTHING at a concert down to the
program and tuning of the orchestra: after the oboe played an A, the
orchestra played a pickup and an A major chord Ta-Daaaa.
: Definately worth looking into....:-)
Also, Till Eulenspeigel's Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss.
--
Warren Porter wbpo...@whale.st.usm.edu
Chris Minwah Fang-Yen
John Cage's Solos for Voice.. particularly the amplified breathing.
Van Der Merwe, PJ
>regarding amusing music, dbr...@ics.com (David Brooks) mentions:
I can't help but smile when I listen to Ibert's "Divertissement".
I suppose this thread is only concerned with humour in "classical" music.
Otherwise I could go on and on about Monty Python's Songs ...
# Jaco van der Merwe <musp...@puknet.puk.ac.za> South Africa
# My girlfriend asked me how long I was going to be gone on
# this tour. I said, "The whole time". - Steven Wright -
Matthew K. White
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Matthew K. White - - - - - - - - wh...@euler.jsc.nasa.gov
------------------------------------------------------------------
And now, some Cartoon Wisdom:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Babs - "Stop acting silly, | Wakko-
GoGo." |
| "You've got a nasty drooling
GoGo - "I'm not acting" | problem"
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think that says it all...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
D S Levene
Alkan's "Requiem for a Dead Parrot" (recorded by Lewenthal, I think?).
The Pyramus and Thisbe scene in Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream -
leaving the text out of account, the orchestral accompaniment is a wonderful
parody of Verdian opera.
David Levene
Department of Classics
University of Durham
Scott Klein
See also the work of the young Russian Yuri Khanin, especially the "Three
Smallest Orgasms" (available on Olympia). This is the funniest "serious"
music I've perhaps ever heard...
Arnold M Cohen
J. Barkway
mar...@cs.kun.nl (Mark-Jan Nederhof) writes:
> I think much music by Shostakovich is hilarious although often in other
> passages or even at the same time it may be deeply sad (these emotions
> seem to be close together in his music). For example, the finale of the
> 10th symphony always makes me smile, partly because of the (extra-musical)
> significance of the DSCH motif which is placed in a victorious mood in
> the last few bars, whereas the feeling of being oppressed is so obvious
> in other parts of the symphony. Similar things can be said of many of
> the string quartets. I think the preludes and fuges for piano are often
> funny, I guess because of unexpected harmonical turns (I know close to
> nothing about the theory of harmony). And let's not forget the 1st
> symphony, which takes the established symphonic tradition with a big
> grain of salt.
It has been said of the 9th symphony that Shostakovich deliberately wrote it
in a light vein to poke fun at the portentous associations of 9th symphonies.
And the first movement of the 15th is supposed to describe a toyshop where a
toy soldier is constantly marching to the tune from the William Tell overture.
One of my favourite examples is proof that modern music needn't be boring.
Towards the end of 'Persephassa' by Xenakis, the percussionists break out in
simulated enthusiastic applause followed by a short 'encore'. It always makes
me smile.
Walton's 1st symphony is also full of sly jokes - the dissonances in the
Scherzo and the way the Scherzo appears to end, only to resume for a final
burst after a few bars silence. In the finale I like the moment when the
orchestra builds up to an expectant climax which is then followed not by a big
climactic tune but by a cheeky little woodwind motif that seems to me almost
like a musical smiley.
-----------
Julian Barkway,
Bark...@RFERL.org,
Munich, Germany.
Markus Lang
» I cannot agree with a previous posting stating that classical music is
» too serious (for a while the Flemish broadcasting service even used the
» name "serious music" for what usually is called "classical music").
Really!? So it was in Finland, too! We had "serious music"
(vakava musiikki) and "light music" (kevyt musiikki).
So, von Suppé's "Light Cavallery" was played under
title "serious"... :-)
Jacob Vaccaro
Well, the donkey part in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Nights Dream Overture
sometimes gets me. And I like "Eine Kleine Nichtmusik" too, especially the
part the opening melody is followed by that Dixieland-ish thing...
Eugene Shapiro
an Exhibition.
--
Eugene Shapiro
e-mail: esha...@ocf.berkeley.edu
"You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style." - V. Nabokov
William J Buffam
>From: dbr...@ics.com (David Brooks)
>Subject: Re: Is there any funny music ?
>Date: 1 Oct 1994 15:45:02 GMT
>Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk writes:
>>
>>So any suggestions folks ?
I know I'm joining this thread late, but here are my suggestions:
Bartok's String Quartet No 5, which has a takeoff of a barrel organ near the
end
The farty bass trombone glissando in Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra (followed
by a silly phrase or two from the violins)
Ives' 2nd Symphony, with the 'bones wading in with Columbia Gem of the Ocean.
Also, Bydlo from Mussorgsky's Pictures is pretty hilarious.
Bill Buffam
G.Thomson&M.Dulak
writes:
>[Haydn's] late SQ's are great for this... Actually practically any SQ after op. 30!
>(Last time I was working in a music library I taped them all - the Vox
>sets).
There is no Haydn Op. 30. Do you mean Op. 20, or Op. 33?
(If you meant Op. 33, then I can't understand your writing off
Op. 20. That's a gorgeous set, and as witty as any, too; try the
"alla Zingarese" minuet from No. 4!)
Michelle
================================================
George Thomson & Michelle Dulak, mal...@c2.org
"If you leave everything until the last minute,
then everything only takes a minute to do!"
Jeff_Harrington
: Ka...@carterce.demon.co.uk ("C.E.Carter") writes:
: >Obviously I mean funny ha ha and I'd like to restrict this thread to
: >music which is funny without words ie no comic opera (operetta).
: The master of
: wit in music is, IMHO, Haydn. In his symphonies but especially in his
: quartets (which are, at least here, rarely heard on the radio) he plays
: a delicious game with the expectations of his listeners. Most of it
: is _not_ as obvious as in the "Surprise" symphony: formal surprises,
: phrases that only _seem_ symmetrical, all in music that bursts with
: life. It may not make you giggle, but it certainly makes me smile.
Peter is right on with this! We had a discussion recently (in
rec.music.compose) about whether music could "lie" and I brought up all
of Haydn's tricks with expectations. False recaps, melodies that turn
into accompaniments, things which mysteriously transform themselves from
sad to humorous... Haydn is the consummate comedian!
His late SQ's are great for this... Actually practically any SQ after op. 30!
(Last time I was working in a music library I taped them all - the Vox
sets).
Jeff Harrington
idea...@dorsai.dorsai.org
--
(*) IdEAL ORDER Psychic TV - All Days But Thursdays(ABC) on CBS Since 1984 (*)
(*) Jeff Harrington Scores at ftp.gmd.de /music/scores/harrington (*)
(*) Elsie Russell GIF's at sunsite.unc.edu /pub/multimedia/pictures/OTIS (*)
(*) Flood the World with Light! Meditate Today! NO MORE WARS!!! (*)
Dean Economou
>From: Bark...@RFERL.org (J. Barkway)
>Subject: Re: Is there any funny music ?
Mozart's "Musical Joke" is a hoot. Starts off fairly seriously and then
proceeds to fall apart slowly but surely, Can't recall what the K number is.
Grant C Covell
this a rather skewed list.
Scherzo mvmnt of the Hammerklavier;
Berio's Visage;
Last movement of Nielsen's 6th makes me laugh out loud 'cause it's
twisted funny;
Carter's Symphony for 3 Orchestras, when all the orchestras play in
unison towards the end (and you can hear people shout out the rehearsal
letters on the record);
The Game of Pairs movement from Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra;
grant
g...@world.std.com
David Brooks
>As long as we're on the subject of Haydn, how about the Farewell
>Symphony? One by one the orchestra members actually get up and leave --
>I believe it was originally a subtle :) hint by Haydn to his patron to
>pay the musicians more....
I think it was a subtle hint to give them a vacation, and it worked. I've
been programming this finale with my high school orchestra for the spring
concert, rearranging it a little so that only the departing seniors are
left on stage. I'm dreading the year when only the tubist and timpanist
graduate.
--
David Brooks dbr...@ics.com
Integrated Computer Solutions http://www.ics.com/~dbrooks
Markus Lang
Erkki Salmenhaara's "La fille en mini-jupe". It
contains humorous references to Debussy's
"La fille aux cheveux de lin." :-)
He has, too, composed a piece entitled
as "Prelude, pop-song and fugue."
Dick Wisan
> gold...@panix.com (Fred Goldrich) writes:
>
>> Some time around 1970, I attended an Ashkenasy recital in
>>which he played the Schumann Bb Humoreske (Op. 20). I had always
>>been skeptical about music being 'funny' without extramusical asso-
>>ciations -- lyrics, imitative effects, and so on. But this piece
>>made me laugh aloud, and I was delighted. So I ran right out and
>>bought the music and tried to play it and, at least the way I played
>>it, there was nothing funny about it.
>
> Some of this does come from a performer with the right idea about how
> to play the music. Recordings of Beethoven sonatas by Artur Schnabel and
> Richard Goode come to mind as examples. Music-making is far too stiff and
> humorless, IMSO, these days.
I have an LP of Max Goberman and the Vienna New Symphony playing Pro-
kofiev's Lieutenant Kije suite. It's a funny piece, meant to be funny,
but I never actually laughed out loud at it until I heard Goberman. It's
a matter of timing, I think. Little pauses and holds make the grand
swells absurdly pompous. The other side of the disk has the Classical
symphony in a performance that's also funny. Instead of rushing through
at breakneck speed, which seems to be the traditional way of clowning it
up, Goberman takes it slowly, giving it the kind of easy cantering rhythm
you'd give it if it really were an 18th Century piece. The effect, I
find is both charming in a classical way and funnier than the standard
clowning.
I wish they'd reissue it on CD.
--
R. N. (Dick) Wisan - Email: internet WIS...@hartwick.edu
- Snail: 37 Clinton Street, Oneonta NY 13820, U.S.A.
- Just your opinion, please, ma'am: No fax.
ScotMorr
writes:
Also some of the music of Jan Dismas Zelenka, who tends, whether
intnetionally or not, to screw the harmonic circle tighter and tighter
until he has nowhere else to go, and one tends to start laughing as one
sees him get further and further into his own corners. Try the budget set
on Archiv.
Scott Morrison
Jeff_Harrington
: In article <Cx7u...@dorsai.org>, idea...@dorsai.org (Jeff Harrington)
: writes:
: >[Haydn's] late SQ's are great for this... Actually practically any SQ after op. 30!
: >(Last time I was working in a music library I taped them all - the Vox
: >sets).
: There is no Haydn Op. 30. Do you mean Op. 20, or Op. 33?
: (If you meant Op. 33, then I can't understand your writing off
: Op. 20. That's a gorgeous set, and as witty as any, too; try the
: "alla Zingarese" minuet from No. 4!)
Whoops, premature senility caught in its early development...
Op. 20 indeed!
Thomas Kang
of PDQ Bach pieces (e.g., 1712 Overture, Concerto for Horn and Hardart,
and the Unbegun Symphony), Victor Borge's antics, and also works by
more serious composers, such as Prokofiev's Classical Symphony (the minuet
is absolutely fantastic).
mike.c...@chrysalis.org
Haydn is known for his sense of humor. Kind of an acquired taste.
Seems like all the 20th century composers are too busy being grim t
Jim Clow
>
>: Haydn is known for his sense of humor. Kind of an acquired taste.
>: Seems like all the 20th century composers are too busy being grim t
>
grim? Lloyd grim? Messiaen grim (well, sometimes)? I can't think of a
single 20th C. composer who should be labeled unequivocably `grim'. A
few more: Rachmaninov, Bartok, Stravinsky, Webern, Adams... The 20th
C. is nearly over--you've included a lot of composers I suspect you did
not intend to include.
Jim Clow
Jeff Harrington
: Haydn is known for his sense of humor. Kind of an acquired taste.
: Seems like all the 20th century composers are too busy being grim t
Yes... another person ragging on our favorite century's artists
inchoately!
:)
Give us a break. Unless you've heard every piece of music written this
century performed well... take these lame generalizations and - well -
put them somewhere *really* interesting!
Bradford Kellogg
Mozart's Musical Joke - this is almost in the realm of PDQ Bach in
its use of blatantly silly elements.
Some pieces by Ligeti, Cage, and Partch, et al, also qualify with
flying colors.
--
Bradford Kellogg __ _ "There is nothing,
br...@viewlogic.com \_) ( ) absolutely nothing,
_________ \ / \ ________ quite so worth doing
\ \_____\__/___)/ / as simply messing
\ \_ / about in boats."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(_\~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Harrington
: Mozart's Musical Joke - this is almost in the realm of PDQ Bach in
: its use of blatantly silly elements.
: Some pieces by Ligeti, Cage, and Partch, et al, also qualify with
: flying colors.
Hey that reminds me. (Not to go on and on and on about Kurtag...) I did
actually crack up at a concert recently. The Continuum Kurtag concert.
They were playing a piece from Jatekok, his monster 4 hand piano
suite(s).
There was a piece where each of the performers (2) took turns playing 1
or two notes. It was a competition of notes! Like a "She who plays the
best note wins!" contest. The whole piece used only 5 pitches!
Both my spouse and I were giggling. Talk about brevity and wit!
: --
: Bradford Kellogg __ _ "There is nothing,
: br...@viewlogic.com \_) ( ) absolutely nothing,
: _________ \ / \ ________ quite so worth doing
: \ \_____\__/___)/ / as simply messing
: \ \_ / about in boats."
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(_\~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has to be the coolest sig I've seen in a while! Makes me want to
mess around in a boat! :)
John M Dow
mockery!
John Dow
David J. Loftus
funny -- kind of a tribute to the composer who did music for
animated cartoons in the 30s and 40s (his name escapes me). Sudden
changes in tempi and mood, lots of foolish sounds. Very entertaining.
Does anybody know whether this or similar pieces have been committed
to a recording anywhere?
David Loftus
John E. Harrington
thread:
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I'd like to share an incident from Martin Bookspan and Ross
Yockey's book, _Andre_Previn,_A_Biography_ (1981). It seems
Previn wanted to be objective in his opinion of rock music,
and underwent a private seminar from a rock authority:
"Andre maintains he did his level best to purge his mind of
all negative predisposition. He posed questions, asked to hear
things several times over, observed nuances in the music, and
even struggled to understand the lyrics. Then, after several
hours of the first evening, he fell apart, rolling with laughter
on the living-room carpet. 'I can't help it,' he groaned,
'because you've helped convince me I've been right all along.
This really _is_ the biggest load of crap I've ever heard.'"
Count me in, Andre!
-James D. Maffett (Lakeland, FL)
Letter to the Ed. in _CD_Review_ 6/90
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The proverbial ROTFL!
regards,
John
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