Obscure Non-Prog Music Facts

My favorite Sir Thomas Beecham quote-"A musicologist is someone who can read music, but can't hear it."

Sir Thomas, in his long conducting career, only conducted Mahler once, the Fourth Symphony in 1908.

Leonard Bernstein once remarked while rehearsing the scherzo movement of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, "Wow, the Rite of Spring in 1893!"

German composer Paul Hindemith was also a conductor, an important one of Bruckner, and was quoted as saying that he liked to conduct Bruckner more than any other composer apart from his own music. One year, he recieved the Bruckner Medal of Honour for his efforts.

Edited by presdoug - October 08 2013 at 18:06

I remember Belinda Carlisle used to be affectionately called `The Hoover' because of the amount of coke she used to snort. There's actually a ton of mind-blowing stories about her and the Go-Go's that are a world away from their cutesy girl-next-door public image, really debauchered stuff! The tale about a line of coke, a naked roadie and a vibrator is pretty awesome....well, except for that roadie! Really wicked girls!

(who also put out one of the greatest pop albums ever with `Beauty and the Beat')

Joan Armatrading's album “Me Myself I” was recorded in New York in March 1980, using mostly local musicians. Among them were Will Lee, Anton Fig, Hiram Bullock and Paul Shaffer, all of whom were future members of the house band on Late Night With David Letterman. Anton was the last to come to the show, circa 1986.

..or it could be (ref: Malcolm McLaren, Johnny Lydon et al): "we know a good bandwagon when we see one"

The Nazis were parasites to a certain extent, and tried oh so hard to "typify" what it was to be German, and it must have turned real German's stomachs sick to have to live amidst their ploys and power games. It is really something to hear the music recordings, and even see the concerts in the DVD "Great Conductors Of The Third Reich" (don't really like that title). What a godsend some of those music nights must have been to Germans who were psychologically and physically at the end of their tether.
Just goes to show you the great healing power of music.
The Nazis could not fully take that away!

You know you have made some good points. Furtwangler is very special to me for his inspired devotion to Bruckner's music, a composer he felt was misunderstood. And his Beethoven and Wagner recordings are also second to none.
   I consider those recordings during the Nazi era by him to be "a light in the darkness". Something spiritual and noble amid the madness of Nazism.

There is also a book which i haven't read called "The Twisted Muse", which deals with music and musicians in Nazi Germany.

You know, i think the truth does lie somewhere in the middle. In my final judgement, i am sympathetic to Furtwangler.
      During the Hindemith affair in the thirties, when he had the unfortunate experience of conducting that composer when Goering was in the audience, he indeed resigned his post as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in protest, after the regime had directed him not to conduct Hindemith. His letter in protest was publicly published.
           On the not so good side, i have video footage of him conducting in Germany with giant Nazi swastikas hung behind the orchestra.
             He left for Switzerland because he was going to be arrested by Himmler, because of his helping of jews to safety. There is that famous quote from Himmler himself-"There isn't a jewish hand that hasn't been shaked by Furtwangler". He had to flee! The Nazis also threatened his mother, which must have been difficult.
            Furtwangler had a jewish secretary, Berta Geissmar, whom he highly valued.
       yeah, i guess i have mixed feelings about Furtwangler, but i come out in support of him in the final analysis.

Edited by presdoug - July 30 2013 at 14:14

Thanks, you have made some very important points. Furtwangler was an incredibly courageous man, who lived in difficult times. More people should read about his amazing career, and the immense hurdles he faced. His wife Elisabeth just died fairly recently at the age of 102, i believe.

Edited by presdoug - July 24 2013 at 19:42

That is interesting about Webern. My favorite composer Anton Bruckner was "tarred with the Nazi brush", unfortunately. Hitler loved his symphonies, especially the 7th. But Bruckner, a devout Catholic, though devoted to Wagner's music, was not anti-semitic, and his music was never banned in Israel, and rightly so. It was Wagner's orchestral sound that Bruckner was so keenly interested in, really.
           Another book which i have not read that sounds interesting is called "The Devil's Music Master", a biography of Furtwangler and what he went through. The conductor wanted to defeat the Nazis, "from within". Somewhat naive, but a noble quest.
        Yeah, Wagner's anti-semitic rants are thoroughly repulsive.