nyman

sorabji.com: What are you listening to?: nyman
THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016).
By Sorabji on Monday, January 12, 1998 - 09:52 pm:
    the piano concerto.

    what a bunch of crap.

    when i worked at tower records rich snooty sorts would tromp in and proudly ask for "NYMAN!" expecting no one in the place to have ever heard of the guy.

    same thing happened a lot with Schnittke. and Schumann (snobs are such a riot).

    have not listened to this in a while. its insipidness grows over time.
By Dave on Monday, January 12, 1998 - 10:12 pm:
    Sorabji,
    Would you recommend a few selections to me? I like simple stuff. By that I mean four or less players. I enjoy (don't fall asleep) The Well-Tempered Clavier, Chopin's Nocturnes, Sor's guitar stuff, baroque Italian stuff (The Devil's Trill. . .). Any suggestions?
By Sorabji on Monday, January 12, 1998 - 10:47 pm:
    You know, if it wasn't for my interest in Sorabji I'd have never heard of Sor, whose records I always saw in the card catalogues while looking for Sorabji.

    If you want simple stuff with balls I think you might try Saint-Säens' better pieces. The Introduction and Rondo a Capriccioso is, to me, a tight and insanely fascinating score. Such vacuousness and still such passion trapped in one place.

    And the 2nd Piano Concerto strikes me the same way. I have a great Rubinstein recording of that piece around here somewhere.

    Guess neither of these is 4 or less players.

    Hmmm.

    The Brahms Handel Variations (Op. 24) have given me endless hours of listening. Offhand, though I can not recommend any particular recording. I own Jorge Bolet and Egon Petri's recordings of this score but neither one is really satisfactory.

    Oh, and you know what pieces have always fascinated me are the 6 Paganini/Liszt Études for piano, much in the same way that Saint-Säens interests me. Such exalted coldness.

    Back to more than 4 players, I think Ravel's G Major Piano Concerto might suit you, as might any of Alicia De La Rocha's Spanish piano music records. For some reason right now the composers' names escape me.

    One final recommendation, Schubert's Trout Quintet. That thing by itself will give you a lifetime of stuff to listen to.
By Jicotea on Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 05:56 pm:
    I'm waiting for a good new recording of Brahms' Handel Variations myself; nothing out there is quite satisfactory except for Solomon's, which was originally on 78s.

    Now, when did Schumann join the snob repertoire? What's the matter, Mark, has something of his busted your chops lately?
    There are ways (as I'm sure you know) in which Schumann's major works are more difficult than l the mostly vacuous flashy pieces of Alkan, Tausig, Liszt, Kalkbrenner, and other keyboard-fressers TNTM. Rustle of Spring.

    Gack.

    No defense or even excuse for diatonic drivel of Nyman. Schnittke was interesting until he started to recycle himself. He's a very unwell man, likely going to be dead (personally, not in terms of fashion) too soon for comfort.

    Neither one merits being lumped with Schumann. If you're going to play guru, watch out, the peanut gallerys' eyes are on you, and ears likewise.
By Sorabji on Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 08:12 pm:
    i wasn't saying any of those composers were of the snob repertoire (Schnittke and Nyman hardly seem obscure or even élite to me), or even in some similar general category, simply that certain customers who presented themselves as highly knowledgeable but only came off as snobs used these composers as examples to demonstrate their knowledge of music they felt to be obscure. And Schumann was the most extreme example of how funny such people can be. One week in particular 2 people came in independently and asked "Have you heard of Schumann? S-C-H-U-M-A-N-N?" And one person added "He's not very well known," then got all huffy when I replied that he was quite well known and widely recorded. I always thought it strange that 2 separate people actually spelled out the name of the same composer. This scene repeated itself pretty frequently (not the spelling of the name), with the most indignant reaction coming when a group of people claiming to be from Russia cynically asked for "anything" by Schnittke, adding that he was "terribly obscure" in this country and that "you have probably not heard of him" and that he was probably not represented very well on CD. When I took them to a fairly large collection of Schnittke 10-12 CD titles they simply left the building; it seemed they were sure this composer would be so obscure in America that no store would even have a place for him. So much for their élite knowledge.

    i guess it works both ways, though. People being protective or defensive of their "knowledge." One scene which forever sticks in my mind is when the CD we were playing in the store was Hymn to the Sun God, by Philip Glass. 3 elderly women approached me with a supplicant look about them, and one of them said "Who wrote this? It is absolutely beautiful," and the other women seemed to agree. I told them it was from an opera by Philip Glass and the instant they heard that name their collective demeanor completely changed. They became positively angry and their facial expressions looked as if a vile stench had wafted through. Needless to say they didn't find it beautiful any more.

    i'm going to the square to get really drunk tonight. don't miss me too much. and by the way, i'm not a guru. i'm just hanging out.
By Amanda on Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 08:35 pm:
    well, by all means, don't forget to post in
    'drunken ramblings' when you get back...

    unless you have too much fun and never come home..
By Nelly on Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 09:59 pm:
    How could Schumann be obscure? Didn't he write "The Happy Farmer," and didn't every beginning piano student have to play that at some point? And doesn't a snatch of that come in the opening music to the film The Wizard of Oz?
By Jicotea on Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 11:41 pm:
    Now see what happens? You ask somebody to explain themselves and damned if they don't. And the effort is so harrowing they have to go out and get shitfaced afterwards. My next post will be hangover remedies.

    Nelly: Jeez, no, it wasn't Schumann's obscurity in question, it was some snob value I thought Mark was imputing to his music. Right on with "The Jolly Farmer." Can't say about Oz, becuz I wuz a tiny chile when I saw it and didn't know from Schumann.
By Nelly on Wednesday, January 14, 1998 - 12:39 am:
    Gee, I was kinda hoping you knew that soundtrack and could identify some of the other classical "borrowings" made... "Night on Bare Mountain" is in there too, but there are others I don't know. I think the Toto-running-away-from-the-witch's-stronghold music is borrowed from somewhere...

    Gee, I used to know that film so well. I think it was the Harold Arlen score that I was most crazy about. I watched it on TV every year, and got so I would play it back in my mind before I went to sleep.

    Speaking of childhood and for those who don't think they remember the Happy Farmer, there's a delightful Realaudio version on this page that will send you back...

    Past my bedtime. "Poppies...poppies will make them sleep...now they'll sleep..."
By Dave on Wednesday, January 14, 1998 - 01:35 am:
    Sorabji,
    Thanks, I've printed your post. I hope I can find some of this at the local library. Thanks again. Are you strictly classical? Do you follow any other genres?
By Nelly slightly more enlightened or confused one on Saturday, February 21, 1998 - 09:07 pm:
    what a difference an n makes

    I was visiting some old links, discovered that interesting little paper in Mobile, Alabama, The Harbinger, has a "Modern Composer" column, and the latest one reviews a recording that includes a piece by the American composer William Schuman (one n). I now have a faint recollection of encountering his name before and noticing the distinction between him and Robert Schumann (2 n's, husband of Clara Schumann and composer of The Happy Farmern...) but I had forgotten it before. I have a strong suspicion it is the one-n Schuman that snobbish customers thought they were asking sorabji for...

    Anyway, this educational trail led further and ultimately led to my ordering a CD of something else that includes him... I've got to stop doing that or eventually stop eating...
By Sorabji on Saturday, February 21, 1998 - 11:52 pm:
    well, i know my Schuman/ns

    i had a long, blistering phone conversation with william shuman once.

    bill schuman wrote all those gassy symphonies. he was a good man. hard to find. and vice-versa, or so i'm told.

    those people at tower actually asked for "R-O-B-E-R-T- S-C-H-U-M-A-N-N."

    i just left off the R-O-B-E-R-T for savings.
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