Whoops, looks like I clicked on the wrong date for the autosend this week! Apologies to all of you who saw this email in your inbox and thought it was Thursday. You know the saying: “a day early and a dollar tall.”
Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023Liked by Tone Prose
NTT: Thanks for faking us all out last week, Joey :)
Will, whatever this week's NTT is, it's plenty obscure to me. But even though I don't recognize it, my immediate thought was of Stravinsky's Firebird. The brass timbre, the noodling woodwinds, the strings' pizz, the harmony, the modality, and especially that 2-note chord change motif that opens the 1st 5-6 seconds in particular, reminded me of Firebird. I've been fortunate to play the Suite several times, however, and know that this clip isn't in it. Well, at least not in the 1919 version, which is, I think, the only one my various orchestras have performed. But I know there are multiple versions with different years attached.
I've seen the ballet at least a couple of times at Pacific Northwest Ballet. And I recall that the music for it was actually QUITE different from what I've played. So I wonder if this clip - which sounds very dance-like, might actually still be something from Firebird. And, there is a Magic Egg that figures prominently in the ballet plot, so it seems like I really should put that Egg in my basket.
Or - listening again to those 2 chords - this clip might even have "sprung" from his Rite of Spring. If there is more than one version of that. Reminds me of the moment right before the Dinosaurs issue the Impending Doom Alert! (First impressions are lasting impressions . . . )
I'll throw in a nod to Mussorgsky, too, thinking back to his Pictures at an Exhibition.
Last guess - in a completely different direction - would be Grieg! I know . . . go figure. But that snarly timbre of stopped and/or muted brass reminds me of moments in The Hall of the Mountain King as it starts gearing up. So maybe Trolls are dancing a jig in something from his Peer Gynt. And having seen some trolls in Norway a few months ago, I can picture that . . .
I’ll try to tackle this week’s later. I don’t immediately recognize it, but there’s something nagging me about it that I want to think about (but likely won’t come up with anything). I expect I’ll be embarrassed by the reveal.
I looked through WPA report and checked out the data for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The fact that the three most recent seasons that have data all featured precisely 5 pieces by women, no more no less, smacks of making a quota. I also very much agree with Will’s point that “number of works” is not sufficient. Definitely see that a lot where the token overture opens a concert that is otherwise featuring the usual workhorses.
Loved that Brusa tone poem. What a delightful ending.
Whoops, looks like I clicked on the wrong date for the autosend this week! Apologies to all of you who saw this email in your inbox and thought it was Thursday. You know the saying: “a day early and a dollar tall.”
And given my mistake, I do want to mention that Listener Eric got in his NTT guesses of Prokofiev and Leo Ornstein (!) well before the cutoff.
Lots of things are contributing to some disorientation for me today. An early CGF is merely one of a cohort.
NTT: Thanks for faking us all out last week, Joey :)
Will, whatever this week's NTT is, it's plenty obscure to me. But even though I don't recognize it, my immediate thought was of Stravinsky's Firebird. The brass timbre, the noodling woodwinds, the strings' pizz, the harmony, the modality, and especially that 2-note chord change motif that opens the 1st 5-6 seconds in particular, reminded me of Firebird. I've been fortunate to play the Suite several times, however, and know that this clip isn't in it. Well, at least not in the 1919 version, which is, I think, the only one my various orchestras have performed. But I know there are multiple versions with different years attached.
I've seen the ballet at least a couple of times at Pacific Northwest Ballet. And I recall that the music for it was actually QUITE different from what I've played. So I wonder if this clip - which sounds very dance-like, might actually still be something from Firebird. And, there is a Magic Egg that figures prominently in the ballet plot, so it seems like I really should put that Egg in my basket.
Or - listening again to those 2 chords - this clip might even have "sprung" from his Rite of Spring. If there is more than one version of that. Reminds me of the moment right before the Dinosaurs issue the Impending Doom Alert! (First impressions are lasting impressions . . . )
I'll throw in a nod to Mussorgsky, too, thinking back to his Pictures at an Exhibition.
Last guess - in a completely different direction - would be Grieg! I know . . . go figure. But that snarly timbre of stopped and/or muted brass reminds me of moments in The Hall of the Mountain King as it starts gearing up. So maybe Trolls are dancing a jig in something from his Peer Gynt. And having seen some trolls in Norway a few months ago, I can picture that . . .
Huge kudos to Joey for that brilliant NTT.
I’ll try to tackle this week’s later. I don’t immediately recognize it, but there’s something nagging me about it that I want to think about (but likely won’t come up with anything). I expect I’ll be embarrassed by the reveal.
I looked through WPA report and checked out the data for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The fact that the three most recent seasons that have data all featured precisely 5 pieces by women, no more no less, smacks of making a quota. I also very much agree with Will’s point that “number of works” is not sufficient. Definitely see that a lot where the token overture opens a concert that is otherwise featuring the usual workhorses.
Loved that Brusa tone poem. What a delightful ending.