Category: Composers anecdotes
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A duet under the bed
It was in the eventful year, then, of 1813—the year of “Il Figlio per Azzardo”, with its obbligato accompaniment for lamp-shades of “Tancredi” and of “L’Italiana in Algeri”—that Rossini was writing one morning in bed, when the duet on which he was engaged fell from his hands. “Nothing easier”, an ordinary composer would say, “than…
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A party piece
Irish pianist and composer George Alexander Osburn (1806-93) was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and a director of the Philharmonic Society. One of his most popular compositions was La Pluie de Perles (The Shower of Pearls). At a fashionable party, at which he arrived very late, he was invited to play, and…
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Satie’s day
Satie wrote that “An artist must organise his life.” In 1913, he set said out a schedule in which he stated he would be inspired between 10:23 and 11:47am, and 3:12 to 4:10pm. The timetable allowed for daily house riding, and various other activities such as fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, swimming, etc. The day…
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Borodin transposing
Excerpts from Borodin’s Prince Igor were to be performed by the Free College of Music. Rimsky Korsakov recalled: At this epoch, Prince Igor advanced slowly, but advanced nevertheless. How many prayers I addressed to dear Borodine that he might finally decide to orchestrate a few numbers for the concert! His numerous occupations at the Medical…
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Bernstein as a counterpoint student at Harvard
The composer Harold Shapero, who lived a few doors away from Bernstein in Newton and was a year behind him at Harvard, also noted Bernstein’s cavalier approach to counterpoint studies. “Lenny didn’t come to class at all. I was a dutiful little student. I did my Palestrina stuff and I got an ‘A.’ . .…
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Satie on La Mer
At the 1905 premiere of La Mer, one of whose movements is called “From Dawn to Midday on the Sea”, Debussy received the usual post-performance congratulations. Satie’s deflating comment was, “Ah, my dear friend, there’s one particular moment between half past ten and a quarter to eleven that I found especially stunning.” Levison, B. (2015).…
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Brahm’s introduction in Vienna
in 1862, Brahms called to see Julius Epstein, a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. “Joachim tells me – ha! – that you have written some really interesting music. Sent me your piano sonata in F minor to look over. Bring any new compositions with you?” he added, noticing Johanne’s portfolio. “I have two piano quartets…
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Stravinsky and Charlie Parker
There is a story that Igor Stravinsky went to the New York jazz club Birdland one evening in 1951. Whispers went round that the great composer was in the house. When Charlie Parker came on with his quintet, he didn’t acknowledge Stravinsky in person, but seamlessly quoted The Firebird in his first number, the furiously…
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A dog with musical taste
“Anton Bruckner had a chubby, fat pug dog named Mops,” Fritz Kreisler, a former pupil of Bruckner’s once recalled. “He would leave us with Mops munching our sandwiches while he himself hastened off to luncheon. We decided we’d play a joke on our teacher which would flatter him. So while the Meister was away, we’d…
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A Cantata for Dogs
Between 1911 and 1914, Nicolas Medtner stayed at Khlebnikovo, a house on the Osipov estate in the village of Trakhaneyevo. There were visits by the family, brothers Karl and Alexander and sister Sofiya, with their children. Karl’s daughter Vera brought her dachshund with her and would join her uncle Kolya [Nicolas] and Flix [Nicolas’ fox…
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Brahms’ reaction to Wagner’s Music
Brahms attended a Wagner concert in Vienna: All through the concert Johannes sat in stony silence. At the close, when everyone was applauding vigorously, he still made no move or comment. Finally his companion – beside himself with enthusiasm – cried: “What music! Wasn’t it marvellous?” The composer raised his eyebrows a little. Then he…
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A subtle way of changing the tempo
Brahms was rehearsing his F minor piano quintet. But when they reached the Andante, the strings played too fast to suit Brahms. This had happened once before in an early rehearsal of the same work, and the composer had discovered a tactful way of handling the situation. Instead of criticizing, he called: "Just a moment,…
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Dreaming of Figaro
By 1790, Haydn has become dissatisfied with life at Eszterhaza. On 9th February he wrote: Well! I sit in my wilderness; forsaken, like some poor orphan, almost without human society; melancholy, dwelling on the memory of past glorious days. Yes; past, alas! And who can tell when these happy hours may return? Those charming meetings?…
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It must be resolved
Bach, a master of harmony and counterpoint, would not settle for imperfect sounds, no matter where he was. Johann Reichardt recalled: Johann Sebastian Bach once came into a large company while a musical amateur was sitting and improvising at a harpsichord. The moment the latter became aware of the presence of the great master, he…
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A little help with a fugue
Rachmaninoff had a little help with a fugue exam at the Moscow Conservatory in 1891: By mistake the examinations of Rachmaninoff in both piano and fugue were scheduled for the same day and hour, so his fugue examination was transferred to the following day, when he was to be examined alone, the rest of the…
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Examination findings
Some curious answers for the Society of Arts published in the Musical Times (English Journal), July 1888: The Examiner’s report on the papers worked by the candidates in the recent Theoretical Examinations of the Society of Arts shows some very curious facts. … Mistakes in spelling have not been accredited with loss to to the…
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What Cage couldn’t stand
“John Cage once said he couldn’t abide the Dominant Seventh, and the saxophone.” Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary 1986-1999. Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.65.
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To fool, or be fooled, by a name
One of Tchaikovsky’s favorite anecdotes resulted from his nearly losing the sketches for the Little Russian on the way back to Moscow. To persuade a recalcitrant postmaster to hitch the horses to the coach in which he and his brother Modest had been travelling, Tchaikovsky presented himself as “Prince Volkonsky, gentleman of the Emperor’s bedchamber.”…
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Borge on Borodin
"My favorite Russian composer is Borodin, mainly because he had the shortest name. Except for Cui, who was just showing off. […] Cui wrote an opera called A Feast in Time of Plague. Shows you what kind of guy HE was." (Victor Borge, My Favorite Intermissions, New York, 1971, p133)
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Just a few variations
Tchaikovsky was an enthusiastic student at the St. Petersberg Conservatoire. Anton Rubinstein asked Tchaikvosky to write a series of contrapuntal variations on a given theme. "I expected that he would present me with about a dozen. But Tchaikovsky turned up the next class day with more than two hundred!" Cited in: Hanson, Lawrence and Elisabeth…
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Brahm’s first meeting with Schumann
He [Brahms] sat down and began the sonata which had so impressed Joachim [a violinist]. As he played, a swift change transformed [Robert] Schumann’s impassive features. The Master listened with growing interest, then suddenly sprang to his feet. “Please”, he cried. “Will you wait just a moment? Clara -” He hurried to the door and…
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Liszt meets Beethoven
I was about eleven years old when my respected teacher Czerny took me to see Beethoven. Already a long time before, he had told Beethoven about me and asked him to give me a hearing some day. However, Beethoven had such an aversion to infant prodigies that he persistently refused to see me. At last…
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Beethoven’s shutters
Beethoven moved often, and his landlords were not always keen to have him back. While he was working on the Ninth Symphony in 1923, Beethoven couldn’t stand his present lodgings in Hetzendorf, as the landlord, Baron Pronay, constantly bowed to him when they met.He sought lodgings where he had previously stayed in Baden. The landlord…
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A carriage of flowers for Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky’s favourite flower was lilies of the valley. The local musical society at Tiflis was extremely enthusiastic to have the presence of Tchaikovsky at a gala concert of his works at the Opera House: Ippolitov-Ivanov had thought of everything, even finding out by devious means what his favourite flower was. This flower did not grow…
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Cure for the common chord
He [John Holmes] entered my room around midnight and said, “‘Eureka!’ shouted Arnold Schoenberg. ‘I’ve found the cure for the common chord.’” Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary 1986-1999. Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.104.
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Sibelius’ punch recipe
“Punch recipe (for Satu’s christening party) 1 l water + sugar + jam + brandy or spirit. Add 2 bottles of wine when everything is completely cold. Add a few drops of Bergamot oil in a lump of sugar, which must be melted in the water. (N.B. All mineral waters make the punch black.” Jean…
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Rossini’s salad recipe
“Take the oil from Provence, English mustard, vinegar from France, a little ‘lemon, pepper, salt, beat and mix together; then add a few truffles, cut into thin slices. Truffles gives this dressing a sort of halo, made especially to fascinate a glutton. The Cardinal Secretary of State, who I met in recent days, gave me…
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Rossini and food
“After doing nothing, I know no more delightful occupation of eating, eat properly, I mean. The appetite is for the stomach what love is for the heart. The stomach is the choirmaster who governs and operates a large orchestra of the passions. An empty stomach is the bassoon or flute in which discontent grumbles or…
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Improvising a fugue
On 1 May 1747, Bach met Friedrich II, King of Prussia, in the Potsdam city palace (where chamber music was usually played from 7-9pm daily). Johann Forkel recalled: in 1802 The king used to have every evening a private concert, in which he himself generally performed some concertos on the flute. One evening, just as…
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Growing up in a bell tower
Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů was born and spent most of his childhood in a church tower in Polička, on the borders of Bohemia and Moravia. Martinů recalled that the panoramic view encapsulated “the vast and boundless space I am always searching for in my music.” Source: Calum MacDonald, “Bohuslav Martinů”, BBC Music, August 2009, p.44.
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Gershwin and Ravel
Ravel, touring America in 1928, was approached by George Gershwin for composition lessons. Ravel refused, stating “you would only lose your own spontaneity and end up by writing bad Ravel!” Cited in: James, Burnett (1983) Ravel: His Life and Times. New York: Midas Books, p.120
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Mozart the philosopher
On February 19 1786 Mozart attended a masked ball disguised as an Indian philosopher. He distributed pamplets with riddles. One of the riddles was: If you are poor but clever, arm yourself with patience, and work hard. If you do not become rich, you will at least remain clever. – If you are an ass…
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Handel on Purcell
An account by R. L. Stevens (1775): When Handel was blind, and attending a performance of the Oratorio Jephtha, Mr [William] Savage, my master, who sat next to him said, “This movement, sir, reminds of me of some of old Purcell’s music.” “G got te teffel”, said Handel, “if Purcell had lived, he would have…
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Handel’s speedy method
Morrell gave Handel the words of Cleopatra’s air “Convey me to some peaceful shore” in Alexander Balus, he cried out “Damn your Iambics!”. Morell offered to change them to trochees and went into the next room to do so, only to find about three minutes later that Handel had set them as they stood.” Dean,…
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Schubert’s progress
Schubert’s report card in in the Music of the Court Chapel Choir-Boys in the I. & R. Seminary, 1st term, 1809: Name Morals Studies Singing Pianoforte Violin Remarks Schubert Franz v. good good v. good good v. good A musical talent Report card for the Scholars of the First Grammar Class at the University Preparatory…
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Oysters and champaign before a concert
“Sibelius and his wife Aino were in Gothenburg for a concert, the composer disappeared shortly before he was due to conduct. Aino found him, immaculately dressed in his white tie and tails, drinking champagne and eating oysters at a nearby cafe. Returning with him to the venue, she thought her husband was fine until he…
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Prokofiev is evicted
Sergey Prokofiev was once evicted from his apartment for playing the same chord 218 times. A tally was kept by the downstairs tenant. Source: Lawrence, Christopher (2001) Swooning. Sydney: Random House, p.69.
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Prokofiev is evicted
Sergey Prokofiev was once evicted from his apartment for playing the same chord 218 times. A tally was kept by the downstairs tenant. Source: Lawrence, Christopher (2001) Swooning. Sydney: Random House, p.69.
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Prokofiev is evicted
Sergey Prokofiev was once evicted from his apartment for playing the same chord 218 times. A tally was kept by the downstairs tenant. Source: Lawrence, Christopher (2001) Swooning. Sydney: Random House, p.69.
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Bruckner the count
Anton Bruckner developed a condition call numeromania that compelled him to count everything – cathedral gables, stars, leaves on the trees; even the number of bars in his lengthy symphonies. Source: Lawrence, Christopher (2001) Swooning. Sydney: Random House, p.70.
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Bach’s wedding
Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdelena, 3rd December 1721. They married at home, by command of the Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels. It was Bach’s second marriage. Bach purchased a 264 quarts (about 250 litres) of wine, worth 84 thalers and 16 groschen (about one fifth of his annual salary). Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows…
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Schumann as a student
Schumann studied with Dorn, the conductor at the civic theatre. Dorn recalled: Having completed exercises in figured-bass realization, chorale harmonization, and canon, teacher and student moved on to double counterpoint. Intrigued by the mysteries of this discipline, and reluctant to tear himself away from his desk, Schumann once requested that his lesson take place in…
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Schumann chasing a girl
Schumann once attended a masquerade during the carnival of 1830, in company with his friend Rosen, for the purpose of paying some attention to a pretty but otherwise insignificant girl.He knew that she would be present at the ball, and, as a pretext for approaching her, put a poem in his pocket.Fortune favored him: he…
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Richter on Bach
“It does no harm to listen to Bach from time to time, even if only from a hygienic standpoint.” – Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Monsaingeon, Bruno (2001). Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations. Princeton University Press, p.196. Cited at: Wikipedia
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Brahms’ birthday
After Robert Schumann was admitted to a mental assuming in 1854, Johannes Brahms stayed with Robert’s wife, Clara Schumann to support herself and her eight children. Although Robert’s sad condition was always present in the minds of those who loved him, there was occasional happy times at the Schumann’s home in Düsseldorf. On the…
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Sondheim’s pass times
Sondheim is a lover of games, and collects antique ones (many were destroyed in a fire that swept through the lower floors of the house in 1995). He has a passion for murder mysteries, puzzles (he once spent 18 months devising cryptic crosswords for New York magazine), word play and anagrams. His own name, he…
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Tchaikovsky at Cambridge
In 1893, Tchaikovsky was awarded an honorary doctorate at Cambridge University. Charles Villiers Stanford was involved organising the occasion. He recalled: “In the spring of 1892 we set on foot the organization of the movement to celebrate the Jubilee of the University Musical Society in 1893. The first step taken was the invitation of Verdi…
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Beethoven and the spider
Xaver Schydner von Wartensee, in the early days of meeting Beethoven, was curious about a tale he had heard about Beethoven and a spider. Before Schnyder had become acquainted with the immortal Master, he had read the well-known anecdote according to which, when Beethoven was practising the violin in his garret, a spider lowered itself…
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Beethoven’s handwriting
Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee (1786-1868) was a composer who wanted lessons with Beethoven. Beethoven would only look at his compositions. Schnyder often dined in the Mehlgrube, because he knew that Beethoven often went there at the same time in the evening. One lovely spring night Schnyder, on entering the restaurant, saw his friend Beethoven…
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A Beethoven fan
In an interview with Beethoven scholar K. E. L. Nohl, Schubert’s friend, Moritz von Schwind revealed that Schubert sold his books so that he could get tickets to the third version of Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio. Ferdinand Luib In an interview with Ferdinand Luib, Anselm Hüttenbrenner stated that Schubert’s favourite works were Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Mass…
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A play for dogs
“Satie said, ‘I want to make a play for dogs, and I [already] have the staging planned. The curtain rises to reveal a bone.’ Poor dogs! After all, it’s their first play. Later one will present more difficult shows to them, but one will always return to the bone.” – Jean Cocteau, playwright Cited in:…
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Haydn’s audition
Karl Georg Reutter II was appointed choirmaster at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna in 1738. The following year he went on tour to recruit choristers. In the town of Hainburg, Joseph Haydn (at stage seven years of age) auditioned. The contemporary biography Guiseppe Carpani recalled: Reutter gave him a tune to sing at sight. The…
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How to win over an orchestra
Haydn was in London in 1791 when he performed in a concert led by Johann Salomon (a violinist/composer). Salomon played the first violin and led the orchestra, and Haydn sat at the harpsichord, keeping the band together by an occasional chord or two, as the practice then was. Great composers have not always been…
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Water music
A common theme in the music of French composers at pre world war I was water. Debussy wrote En bateau (On the Boat), Sirenes (Sirens), Reflets dans l’eau (Reflections in the Water), Voiles (Sails), and La Cathedrale engloutie (The Engulfed Cathedral). Ravel wrote Jeux d’Eau (The Water Fountain), and Ondine. So striking a peculiarity of…
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Music with no boundaries
Music can imply the infinite if enough things depart from the norm far enough. Strange “abnormal” events can lead to the feeling that anything can happen, and you have a music with no boundaries. – Morton Feldman, American composer Cited in Tom Johnson, Remembrance, September 1987. Accessed 13 May 2013.
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Elgar’s football team
Elgar loved his football, particularly the Wolverhampton team. His friend Dorebella recalled the first match he attended at Wolverhampton: It all delighted him. The dense crowd flowing down the road like a river; the roar of welcome as the rival teams came on to the ground; the shouts of men calling to their player friends…
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Elgar’s distractions
In a radio interview in 1937, Edward Elgar’s violinist friend William H. Reed described Elgar’s “distractions” while composing the violin concerto: I can never play the last movement without seeing the River Wye flowing past the meadow at Hereford where Sir Edward and I used to practise throwing a boomerang in our “off-time” between working…
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Frank Churchill in production meetings
After joining the Disney studios in 1930, Frank Churchill composed music for animated shorts and feature films. His output includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and The Three Little Pigs (featuing “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf). Animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled in Disney Animation: Walt [Disney] used to claim…
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Beethoven distracted
A student of Beethoven’s, Ferdinand Ries, went on a walk with his teacher in the country: Beethoven muttered and howled the whole time, without emitting any definite notes. When I asked him what he was doing he answered, “A theme for the last allegro of the sonata [the Appassionata] has occurred to me.” When we…
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A note about Chopin
The following appeared in the Musical Times in 1913: An amusing story, for the truth of which we can vouch, comes to us from Toronto. An organist had drawn up the order of a Sunday service, and it was in type ready for printing, when the death of an important personage made a change necessary.…
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Mozart’s daily schedule
“…at 6 o’clock in the morning I’m already done with my hair; at 7 I’m fully dressed; – then I compose until 9 o’clock; from 9 to 1 o’clock I give lessons. – Then I Eat, unless I’m invited by someone who doesn’t eat lunch until 2 or 3 o’clock as, for instance, today and…
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Origins of the name Beethoven
The Beethoven family tree can be traced back to the mid 13th century. The name appears in chronicles of Flemish cities, in parts of northern France, in Mechlin and Antwerp. Two possible theories of the origins of the name are: – van (the) Hof (Beet-Garden) – grower of Beets – after the Belgium town of Betouwe (“be”…
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A new overture – fast
Beethoven’s revised version of Fidelio was due to be premiered on the 23rd May 1814. Beethoven had planned to write a new overture for the performance. He was still yet to complete it before the final rehearsal on the 22nd May. The night before, he was dining out with his physician (Dr. Bertolini). After dinner, he took a menu,…
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One way to get a doctorate
Robert Schumann aspired to be awarded a doctorate degree. On January 31 1840, Robert Schumann asked a friend to appeal to the University of Jena to give him an honorary degree, or set him a degree to pass, on the grounds of: “My sphere of action as an editor on a high-class paper, which has…