Sch�nberg was once asked by a critic why he wrote "ugly" music. His reply: "I don't write ugly music, I get ugly performances." In the early 1950's, Schonberg's woodwind quintet was considered unplayable, until the Gunther Schuller recording. It was a triumph, though rough and full of mistakes; now the quintet is standard repertoire.
Approach everything as if it were great music. Someday you might get surprised. Bob Osmun www.osmun.com PS to Hans-Hans, I figured out how to get Outlook to produce an umlaut just for you! All the best, Bob -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Hans Pizka Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 11:43 AM To: 'The Horn List' Subject: RE: [Hornlist] something to think HR Alban Berg is quite different to Schoenberg, dear Bob. Alban Berg is a real late Romantic composer and his Lulu is one of my favourite operas, having played it more than 50-times. And he is absolutely out of question. Schoenbergs Gurrelieder or his Moses & Aaron, well, they have romantic parts, but I don�t get warm with these pieces. Getting warm, means also remembering phrases after many years. This is not the case with Schoenberg, at least for me. From Moses & Aaron I just remember "take off your shoes ......" and the dance around the golden calf, but nothing from the Gurrelieder. I don�t get very warm with several of the Mahler symphonies either, as they are too banal for my taste, but great fun to play them, special no.1,2, 5 & 8. Schoenberg is quite too much work for a very limited success. We do his instrumentation of the Brahms Quartet (some kind of no.5 Brahms symphony ???) for ballet. A lot of playing, but common stuff. And, I cannot find any fun playing Schoenberg, sorry. But approaching Schoenberg & his consorts in a manner like approaching Beethovens symphonies, makes it easier to play their music, much easier. If you have a schedule full of boring music, well, then there is just one choice, approach it if it were great music. That�s our survival technique. Right , Bob ? ============================================================ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Ward Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 3:08 PM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] something to think HR Hi all, Was moved to write by Hans comment below - over the years, my thinking on Schoenberg and his buddies has changed - when I was a student and then as a young professional, I used to think of that style of 12-tone music as very intellectual and cold - but now, I have realized that the key to having it sound right is to approach it and interpret it as a Romantic style, since that is the genesis of this genre of music. There are many more modern composers that I do think are excessively academic and largely devoid of emotional content, but Schoenberg and Berg are not among them, in my opinion. All the best to you, worldwide, Bob On Saturday, October 18, 2003, at 12:30 AM, Hans Pizka wrote: > For Schoenberg: you just need to play the written notes as exact as > possible. Do you really enjoy Schoenberg ? **** Bob Ward Acting Principal Horn San Francisco Symphony http://home.earthlink.net/~rnward _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/rosmun%40osmun.com _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
