Alkan
Christian Zick
after "Alkan, who is Alkan?" and e.g. Ronald Smith's recordings,
everybody knows who this was. But I had to come from Germany to
New Zealand to discover an NZ CD with some of Alkan's "organ"
music. It is Nos. 1, 9, and 10 from Onze Grands Preludes op.66,
and Nos.1 - 5 and 9 - 13 from Treize Prieres op.64. It has been
recorded in 1988, released in 1989, played by John Wells on the
Willis organ, St.Matthews-in-the-City, Auckland, NZ, on the
Ribbonwood label, P.O.Box 56-361, Auckland 3. This is the first CD
from this label, so I wonder if it was available in your remote
countries.
Op.66 to my knowledge has never been recorded previously. Op.64
has been completely recorded by Kevin Bowyer on Nimbus records,
but I must say that I much prefer this one, which has more of a
French character, and some slower speeds, and is more "organ"icly
played. I always found the Bowyer recording a bit cool and dry.
I wrote "organ" in quotation marks, because I still think that
this music will only sound appropriately when played on a pedal
piano, which John Wells comments on in interesting detail. I
wonder if it would not be possible to identify a still complete
pedal piano and let the scores be tackled by a gifted pianist.
By the way, how do you like Olli Mustonen's recent recordings of
the 25 Preludes?
Christian Zick sow...@gphs.vuw.ac.nz
Steve Apter
>Hey friends,
>
>I wrote "organ" in quotation marks, because I still think that
>this music will only sound appropriately when played on a pedal
>piano, which John Wells comments on in interesting detail. I
>wonder if it would not be possible to identify a still complete
>pedal piano and let the scores be tackled by a gifted pianist.
Yes! There is a Symposium CD of Alkan works for diverse ensembles.
A few of the solo pieces are performed on a pedal piano. There is
also a CD from Hungaroton of Liszt performed by Jando on instruments
from the Liszt Museum. These include pedal piano, glass piano,
harmonium, and ! Bosendorfer Composer's Desk Instrument !
I will post the catalog numbers within the next few days.
Bradford Kellogg
Here's a question they might ask on Jeopardy:
And now for today's Daily Double!
Alkan, the composer of the most difficult piano music ever, met
his end as a result of this bizarre event...
Steve Apter
(i) Crushed to death by a collapsing bookcase while reaching for
a volume of the Talmud
(b) Slipped on cockatoo shit, plummeting 140 stories to his death
(3) Faked his death; is now living in Argentina and working as
Carlos Kleiber's gardener.
Deryk Barker
>In article <Bv0KE...@comp.vuw.ac.nz> sow...@gphs.vuw.ac.nz (Christian Zick) writes:
>>
>>I wrote "organ" in quotation marks, because I still think that
>>this music will only sound appropriately when played on a pedal
>>piano, which John Wells comments on in interesting detail. I
>>wonder if it would not be possible to identify a still complete
>>pedal piano and let the scores be tackled by a gifted pianist.
>
>Yes! There is a Symposium CD of Alkan works for diverse ensembles.
>A few of the solo pieces are performed on a pedal piano. There is
>also a CD from Hungaroton of Liszt performed by Jando on instruments
>from the Liszt Museum. These include pedal piano, glass piano,
>harmonium, and ! Bosendorfer Composer's Desk Instrument !
there is also a new ADDA cd including the Chamber Concerto Op10, the
'Salut cendre du pauvre' - sorry my French isn't up to that - and the
Funeral march for a Dead Parrot ('Est-tu dejenue Jacko?') inter alia.
ADDA 581285. I am expecting a copy of this to review shortly, and will
post some remarks here if there is any interest.
>>By the way, how do you like Olli Mustonen's recent recordings of
>>the 25 Preludes?
Loved it.
Deryk Barker, Computer Science Dept., Camosun College, Victoria B.C.
Diarmuid Pigott
: Alkan, the composer of the most difficult piano music ever, met
... What about Conlon Nancarrow? Surely impossible music, by definition,
is more difficult than difficult.
... And what about Sobraji? I thought his stuff was used to terrify
young pianists at night, to make them say their prayers...
Steve Heller
>Bradford Kellogg (br...@buck.viewlogic.com) wrote:
>: Alkan, the composer of the most difficult piano music ever, met
Possibly the most difficult piano music of the 19th century and amoung
the most difficult in general, but certainly not the supreme master of
the art of "making things tough"...
>... What about Conlon Nancarrow? Surely impossible music, by definition,
>is more difficult than difficult.
Yes, but most of his music is NOT written for pianists, but rather for
_pianos_ (that play themselves as no human could), so he doesn't
really count...
>... And what about Sobraji? I thought his stuff was used to terrify
>young pianists at night, to make them say their prayers...
Yep, that's how my mother instilled my faith in me! "Say your prayers,
young man, or I'll make you listen to that 45 minute quadruplex fugue
again!" "Oh, NO, Mommy! Please, not THAT!!! I'll PRAY, I'll PRAY!!!"
Of course, she also threatened to lock me in the closet with Xenakis'
"Evryali" if I didn't do my homework, but that's another story...
---
export meaning_of_life=$(eval 'grep -i truth mind_of_god | sort -u')
---
--
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
# "Who let all this riff-raff into the room?!?" - The Surrogate Band #
# Work: mu...@moravian.edu <#!AMIGA!#> Home: moravian.edu!vortex!lothar #
# [ All opinions are strictly MY OWN! Hands off! ] #
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Deryk Barker
>In article <1992Sep23.1...@viewlogic.com> br...@buck.viewlogic.com (Bradford Kellogg) writes:
>>
>>Here's a question they might ask on Jeopardy:
>>
>>And now for today's Daily Double!
>>
>>Alkan, the composer of the most difficult piano music ever, met
>>his end as a result of this bizarre event...
>
>(i) Crushed to death by a collapsing bookcase while reaching for
> a volume of the Talmud
>
>(b) Slipped on cockatoo shit, plummeting 140 stories to his death
I thought the keeper of the cockatoos - and monkeys - was his
illegitimate son, whose name currently escapes me.
>(3) Faked his death; is now living in Argentina and working as
> Carlos Kleiber's gardener.
This is the one I'd go for......
Bradford Kellogg
I was being a bit facetious, of course. Although difficult, it seems
at least Alkan intended his music to be playable as written. There is
certainly other music where this intent is questionable.
Erik Satie wrote at least one piece which contains a spread that is
clearly impossible for any one person to play as written. Satie also
wrote the famous "Vexations", which calls for the repetition of a
single page many hundreds of times, requiring somewhere near 24 hours
to perform in its entirety.
Not surprisingly, John Cage was intrigued by this outrageousness,
and he and some friends performed the whole thing in shifts, without
missing a beat. I had the pleasure of attending a similar performance
at my college, where a few piano students banded together and started
it at 8am on a Saturday, running until 11pm when the college insisted
on closing the building for the night, so they couldn't complete the
performance.
Victor Eijkhout
|>
|> Satie also
|> wrote the famous "Vexations", which calls for the repetition of a
|> single page many hundreds of times, requiring somewhere near 24 hours
|> to perform in its entirety.
|>
|> Not surprisingly, John Cage was intrigued by this outrageousness,
|> and he and some friends performed the whole thing in shifts, without
|> missing a beat. I had the pleasure of attending a similar performance
|> at my college, where a few piano students banded together and started
|> it at 8am on a Saturday, running until 11pm when the college insisted
|> on closing the building for the night, so they couldn't complete the
|> performance.
I've always been amazed at the idea of having a number of people
perform this. Isn't the idea the sublte transformation that the
piece undergoes as the performer grows into it?
At least Reinbert de Leeuw played the whole thing himself, taping
it, and then releasing the best 45 minutes of it on record :-)
Victor.
Diarmuid Pigott
: >>Alkan, the composer of the most difficult piano music ever, met
: >>his end as a result of this bizarre event...
Naah...
I'd go for the internationally recognized theory by all revisionist
historians (I believe Daid Irvine has a book on the subject comeing out
soon.) Alkan never actually lived - "he" was actually the publishing
name of an obscure Franco-Jewish-Masonic conspiracy, that resurfaced as
the OULIPOS in the sixties. It's actually a group for exploring the
possible interpretations of the Kabalah in piano terms. The best known
one from the group who was Chopin who actually was Marx's illegitamte
father.
Simple...
Robert Haskins
Bob
Deryk Barker
[....]
>Erik Satie wrote at least one piece which contains a spread that is
>clearly impossible for any one person to play as written. Satie also
>wrote the famous "Vexations", which calls for the repetition of a
>single page many hundreds of times, requiring somewhere near 24 hours
>to perform in its entirety.
840 times I think.
James Langdell
>|>
>|> Satie also
>|> wrote the famous "Vexations", which calls for the repetition of a
>|> single page many hundreds of times, requiring somewhere near 24 hours
>|> to perform in its entirety.
>|>
>|> Not surprisingly, John Cage was intrigued by this outrageousness,
>|> and he and some friends performed the whole thing in shifts, without
>|> missing a beat. I had the pleasure of attending a similar performance
>|> at my college, where a few piano students banded together and started
>|> it at 8am on a Saturday, running until 11pm when the college insisted
>|> on closing the building for the night, so they couldn't complete the
>|> performance.
Such a performance was consumated at UC Santa Cruz in my time (1974)
at the opening of an art exhibit on campus. My dorm room was the
"green room" where pianists could hang out or sleep (as needed) until it
was time for their shift.
Of course, the thing to do at the conclusion (a day or so later) is
stand, applaud wildly, and shout "Encore!".
--James Langdell jam...@eng.sun.com
Sun Microsystems Mountain View, Calif.
Steve Heller
>What is a bookcase falling on you?
>Bob
Good question, Bob!
Instructions: stand in front of a non-bolted (or otherwise secured)
bookcase (which contains a copy of the Talmud (a MUST)), and reach for
said Talmud, but accidentally de-stabalize the bookcase enough to
cause it to sway in your direction enough to knock you off balance,
thus crushing the life out of you (if your bookshelf:life ratio is
against you). That is, apparently, how Mr. Alkan passed on... (hope I
didn't give anything away!)...
Lothar the Un...
--
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
# export meaning_of_life=$(eval 'grep -i truth mind_of_god | sort -u') #
# Work: mu...@moravian.edu <#!AMIGA!#> Home: moravian.edu!vortex!lothar #
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Diarmuid Pigott
:
: At least Reinbert de Leeuw played the whole thing himself, taping
: it, and then releasing the best 45 minutes of it on record :-)
Amongst my Satie recordings I have thre de Leeuw discs. He plays the
music with great sensitivity, but absolutely no sense of tune. Quite
unique in my experience. Was he going for the "world's slowest
performance of the gymnopedies"? I'm minded of the bicycle race in
America where the prize is for the longest time to ride 100 yds. Also an
impressive feat.
Satie trivia. The worst ever use of Gymnopedies -
- Toilet paper ad on tv
- ditto sanitary napkins
- ditto room deodorising spray
- Musical bereavement card - open it up and it plays G#1
- On hold music play by 3 tone electonic beeps.
- Mariachi band
- music box with missing high f#, so adentular variant on tune.
- blues piano version heard late one night in cafe
- played by precocious (?) young chinese violinist in Hay Street
Mall earning pocket money.
Please e-mail replies to er...@porte.heroique.ciel
Doug Tygar
>the 25 Preludes?
While I have not yet heard this recording, I did note that it won the
Gramophone Award for Best Instrumental Recording.
Diarmuid Pigott
-Blood Sweat and Tears version (on same record as WSOP, I believe)
- Gary Numan and the tubeway army. (Owing to the baffling harmonic
complexity of the piece, they only play the first bist over and
over again. Now _that's_ a vexation)
Bradford Kellogg
In article <1a6d84...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>, diar...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Diarmuid Pigott) writes:
|> Satie's gymnopedies misused - how could I forget -
|> -Blood Sweat and Tears version (on same record as WSOP, I believe)
|>
nice rendition. Oh well.
However, a REALLY nauseating misuse is some MUZAK station in either N.Y.
or Boston, which has a transmogrification of a fragment of Debussy's "Girl
with the Flaxen Hair" played on an electronically processed harp. Yikes!
Steve Heller
>In article <1a6d84...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>, diar...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Diarmuid Pigott) writes:
>|> Satie's gymnopedies misused - how could I forget -
>|> -Blood Sweat and Tears version (on same record as WSOP, I believe)
>|>
>Misuse? You think so? I always thought the guitar and flute was a rather
>nice rendition. Oh well.
I agree, and also am glad BS&T did this as it helped me become
familiar with Satie in general, as I'm sure it did with a lot of
people, especially at the time the album came out (c.1970?).
>However, a REALLY nauseating misuse is some MUZAK station in either N.Y.
>or Boston, which has a transmogrification of a fragment of Debussy's "Girl
>with the Flaxen Hair" played on an electronically processed harp. Yikes!
Yes, I've heard this one, and also a deranged MUZAK version of
Albinoni's Adagio, Pachabel's Canon and numerous other beautiful
classics. Why is it that some people just HAVE to butcher and
trivialize fine art in the name of "popularism"?
Steve Apter
>In <1992Sep29.0...@viewlogic.com> br...@buck.viewlogic.com (Bradford Kellogg) writes:
>
>
>>In article <1a6d84...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au>, diar...@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Diarmuid Pigott) writes:
>>|> Satie's gymnopedies misused - how could I forget -
>>|> -Blood Sweat and Tears version (on same record as WSOP, I believe)
>>|>
>>Misuse? You think so? I always thought the guitar and flute was a rather
>>nice rendition. Oh well.
>I agree, and also am glad BS&T did this as it helped me become
>familiar with Satie in general, as I'm sure it did with a lot of
>people, especially at the time the album came out (c.1970?).
>
>>However, a REALLY nauseating misuse is some MUZAK station in either N.Y.
>>or Boston, which has a transmogrification of a fragment of Debussy's "Girl
>>with the Flaxen Hair" played on an electronically processed harp. Yikes!
>
>Yes, I've heard this one, and also a deranged MUZAK version of
>Albinoni's Adagio, Pachabel's Canon and numerous other beautiful
>classics. Why is it that some people just HAVE to butcher and
>trivialize fine art in the name of "popularism"?
(Invisible Hand Explanation Switch on)
To shock us back into original seriousness. Of course they don't
*know* this is why they're doing this.
(Gnomic Utterance Mode off)
Bob Kosovsky
>In <92269.1239...@UMAB.BITNET> RHAS...@UMAB.BITNET (Robert Haskins) writes:
>>What is a bookcase falling on you?
For those who may find this enigmatic, the story of Alkan's death is that
he was supposedly crushed by a falling bookself or bookcase while reaching
for a volume of the Talmud.
A recent article (maybe 2 years ago or so) from the Musical Times revealed
this story to be totally apocryphal, that contemporary newspapers correctly
reported that he died mysteriously (apparently a heart attack or something
similar) while walking to or from the kitchen).
If you're all dying to know, I suppose I could spend the time and find the
exact citation. It was seemingly a very well-researched article.
Bob Kosovsky
Graduate Center -- Ph.D. Program in Music(student)/ City University of New York
New York Public Library -- Music Division
bitnet: k...@cunyvms1.bitnet internet: k...@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu
Disclaimer: My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions.
Steve Apter
>In article <music.717477274@batman>, mu...@moravian.edu (Steve Heller) writes:
>>In <92269.1239...@UMAB.BITNET> RHAS...@UMAB.BITNET (Robert Haskins) writes:
>>>What is a bookcase falling on you?
>>Instructions: stand in front of a non-bolted (or otherwise secured)
>
>For those who may find this enigmatic, the story of Alkan's death is that
>he was supposedly crushed by a falling bookself or bookcase while reaching
>for a volume of the Talmud.
>
>A recent article (maybe 2 years ago or so) from the Musical Times revealed
>this story to be totally apocryphal, that contemporary newspapers correctly
Biblical, in any event.
>reported that he died mysteriously (apparently a heart attack or something
>similar) while walking to or from the kitchen).
Just your ordinary acausal bidirectional culinambulatory death.
>If you're all dying to know, I suppose I could spend the time and find the
>exact citation. It was seemingly a very well-researched article.
Forteans, take note!
Bradford Kellogg
In article <1992Oct8.0...@timessqr.gc.cuny.edu>, k...@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu (Bob Kosovsky) writes:
|>
|> For those who may find this enigmatic, the story of Alkan's death is that
|> he was supposedly crushed by a falling bookself or bookcase while reaching
|> for a volume of the Talmud.
|>
|> A recent article (maybe 2 years ago or so) from the Musical Times revealed
|> this story to be totally apocryphal, that contemporary newspapers correctly
|> reported that he died mysteriously (apparently a heart attack or something
The way I heard it was that he pulled the book off the shelf, turned
around and started walking away, only to have the bookcase assault him
from behind. A fanciful addendum to this was that as the bookcase fell,
a certain individual who had been hiding behind it triumphantly shook
his fist, namely, Franz Lizst.
Kiwi
Couldn't disagree more... although initially Alkan did not
like Liszt, they became fast friends and all the time while
Alkan lived his hermit's life, Liszt would apparently drop
in and visit him whenever he was in Paris. Somehow,
I doubt Liszt would have killed the man of whom he said
"He possesses the finest technique I have ever known".
Actually, Ronald Smith's two books about Alkan are fascinating,
although I have to admit, reading them is often like
reading the Newman books about Wagner... a little on
the sycophantic, "if-he-were-alive-I'd-marry-him" side.
Cheers!
Kyle.
,------------------------------.,---------------------------------. \._,
/ 7 ,7 o o / klda...@cayley.waterloo.edu / < /
/ /--<' / / , / / / klda...@descartes.waterloo.edu / '
/ -' `--'`--'`-'`-'`--'`- / klda...@orchid.waterloo.edu / /7
`------------------------------'`---------------------------------' // NZ!
"Don't call me God. Call me Pope so I have something to aspire to." '
Peter O'Toole
In article <Bvtzn...@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> klda...@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Kiwi) writes:
>>The way I heard it was that he pulled the book off the shelf, turned
>>around and started walking away, only to have the bookcase assault him
>>from behind. A fanciful addendum to this was that as the bookcase fell,
>>a certain individual who had been hiding behind it triumphantly shook
>>his fist, namely, Franz Lizst.
>
> Couldn't disagree more... although initially Alkan did not
> like Liszt, they became fast friends and all the time while
Why bother with this theory? I will remind you that Liszt died BEFORE Alkan,
the former in 1886 the latter in 1888.
The story about the bookshelf cannot be disproved. On the one hand I.Phillip
claimed to have pulled Alkan's body from under the shelf. Bertha's is the
one who cliamed that a "fall" or the like was more likely. Ironically both
carried the coffin!
In his book, Ronald Smith points out that there was no police record of an
accident. However he doesn't rule out the possibility.
Raymond Lewenthal was also supposed to write a book. Did it ever turn up?
Peter O'Toole,
Trinity College Dublin.
Frederic Chopin
|> >>from behind. A fanciful addendum to this was that as the bookcase fell,
|> >>a certain individual who had been hiding behind it triumphantly shook
|> >>his fist, namely, Franz Lizst.
|> >
|> Why bother with this theory? I will remind you that Liszt died BEFORE Alkan,
|> the former in 1886 the latter in 1888.
|>
Theory? I have evidence to prove this: A color glossy photograph clearly
showing Liszt pushing the bookcase over. In fact, I took the picture myself.
In order to catch the action in a dimly lit room, I had to use ASA 1000
film with an f1.2 lens on my Kodak Instamatic. Liszt saw me and started
hurling books at me, screaming "You fool! I did it for you!", so I had to
jump out the window...