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Jul 18Liked by Tone Prose

Will - thanks for the Chopin. One of my favorites of his, and yet I don't think I ever recall knowing it was called Tristesse. One of the 1st LP's I bought in high school was all Chopin Waltzes, Etudes, Mazurkas, etc. by Jose Inturbi (didn't know anything about him at that time), but it was ALL Chopin and on a closeout sale! And this piece was on it ❤️.

Listener Jeremy - So, do they make fabulous synthetic reeds for French Horns? Asking for a friend . . . 😉

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I'm not sure about synthetic reeds for horns, but I (Will) was thinking while editing this week's edition that we could do a similar write-up about triple horns — another huge innovation in the world of instrument design that's arrived on the scene in recent decades.

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From the language, the musical style, and (most importantly) the clue, I (Will) will wager two guesses: Jean Jacques Rousseau. Along the same line of philosopher-composers, I might also throw ETA Hoffmann into the mix, but his whole thing was being German, so...

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NTT: I'll also guess Rousseau, and because it sounds vaguely familiar, I'll further wager that it's "Le devin du village," which I once saw an early music department put on a production of.

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Jul 19·edited Jul 19

NTT: It’s in French and it sounds like early or mid Baroque. A number of monarchs are credited with having written stuff -- isn't Henry VIII credited with writing Pasttime with Good Company? So my first guess is Louis XIV, the Sun King. I have a vague recollection of his being credited with writing music and the time frame is about right. For my second guess, I will throw in with Will for Rousseau. Maybe Rousseau is a little bit later than the middle of the Baroque period, but it’s certainly plausible. And for my third guess, I’ll go with Louis XV, though I don’t know the first thing about him!

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