>From www.globeandmail.com - the facts and arguments page. Composers and bicycles
The invention of the bicycle sparked a social revolution in the 19th century, writes Graeme Fife in BBC Music magazine. Composers celebrated the joys of the velocipede in song (and musical wags made reference to Wagner's Ring cycle). Some notes about classical composers and bikes: "I seem to be absolutely born for the cycle," wrote Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), "and I've already reached the stage where all the horses avoid me, but I'm still not good at ringing my bell." He claimed that only cycling offered any relief from the chronic pain of his hemorrhoids. The plot of the opera Fedora, by Umberto Giordano (1867-1948) included an abduction by bicycle. Ernest Chausson (1855-99), the death-obsessed French composer, died when he was pitched from his bike and he struck a stone wall head first. When Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), a keen biker, was knighted in 1904, he cycled 50 miles to break the good news to his elderly father. Kevin Nelson ------------------------------------------------- For list help, please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (613) 230-1064 Website: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------- ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
