Wednesday, September 4, 2013

O brave new world


That has such people in it!

17 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Whenever I hear the harp played like that I think of Harpo Marx playing in the movies. That can be an unwelcome distraction, to say the least, although I've got nothing against Harpo Marx.

I've been reading some stuff from the 1930s and 1940s and it turns out that Harpo Marx was a refined socialite. I wouldn't have guessed that.

One thing I would have guessed, however, is that the character Raj on The Big Bang Theory would apply much of Harpo Marx's comedic technique whenever he's struck mute because he's in the presence of a woman. That sounds about right but I haven't noticed it yet.

I'll keep watching and I'll report back if I spot anything noteworthy, assuming I don't forget all about it, which at this point seems highly likely.

The Dude said...

Thanks for reminding me how much I detest so-called impressionist music. What's next, Pavane for a Dead Princess?

Man, did that shit get played to death when Diana thought it was smart to not wear a seat belt when a drunk was driving the car. What an idiot...

Here's a New World worth listening to. Now, with English Horn solo!

deborah said...

One more crack like that and I'll play Bolero.

rhhardin said...

It's a little harp-y but the rhythms aren't impressionistic.

The Dude said...

I like Bolero - the way that Ravel moved the melody from instrument to instrument always kept my attention - wait - is that a saxophone? Cool...

Dvorak was great. Ravel is very entertaining, with the exception of a couple of sappy pieces with no verve.

deborah said...

Yes, the harp is a poem-toney.

rh, what, of Ravel's is impressionistic?

Sixty, I'm not a big fan of Bolero. It's kind of weird. Reminds me of a big parade with elephants and Indian garb.

ricpic said...

Hey Sixty, I almost lost faith in you but I see you semi-reversed yourself on Ravel. The problem with Pavane is that it's overplayed. Heard rarely it's a moving piece.

And I'd put Dvorak and Ravel on a par. Who was that Czech guy, The Moldau? same level. Purely subjective of course but that none of them is Brahms seems pretty obvious. Oh yeah, Smetena, just remembered his name.

ricpic said...

Who could be against orgasm Bolero!

The Dude said...

Deborah, from Wiki - Bolero is a genre of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.

So it is more Lem than Titus' husband in its origin.

Chopin, Debussy, Saint-Saëns and others wrote boleros.

Bizet wrote a bolero in Carmen, and while it is good, it's not as impressive as the gypsy dance he wrote for that opera.

This piece rocks.

The Dude said...

Yeah, Dvorak and Smetana are not Brahms, those two had actual talent!

The Three Bs - more like two and a half Bs. Brahms was not fit to carry Beethoven's, well, never mind.

I will spot you this one. But the rest, not so much.

I once spent an afternoon at an organ recital at the Duke Chapel where every organ work by Brahms was played on the Flentrop organ. Coma-inducing to say the least. What a mess.

deborah said...

Not as much as this one.

(Thanks for the lesson on boleros.)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

In the movie 10, Bo Derek explained to Dudley Moore, with painful earnestness, that Ravel's Boléro is best for fucking.

And I'm reminded of a Mercedes-Benz TV commercial where one silver-templed guy expresses to the other how satisfying it is to go motoring while playing "some Mozart or Beethoven."

All the above are examples of cringe-inducingly awful attempts at snobbery.

If you're gonna do it, do it right, like when Rebecca had to pretend that she didn't actually despise Mahler because she wanted to get in good with Mr. Gaines.

Now that's funny!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I once heard Ravel's Boléro performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

It became impossible, after a while, not to feel bad for the guy playing the snare drum.

ricpic said...

Hey Sixty, I grew up on Ormandy and the Philadelphia turning Brahms' Symphs 1 and 4 into pure schmaltz and now you're telling me he (Brahms not Ormandy) was lacking?! You realize you're killing a young boy's - well, a young boy's in an old man's - most cherished illusions, donchya? What a meanie.

The Dude said...

Ormandy was Mantovani without the success.

deborah said...

Mitchell, you remind me of a Frasier episode where Niles says something about he and Marice liking Mahler, and Frasier snaps back something like, 'don't be pretentious, Niles, nobody likes Mahler!'

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