Two of our discs that I'm not succeeding in finding anywhere in the apartment for Masha are the Beethoven Seventh Symphony (Gewandhausorchester & Masur) and one of the many (I mean, we only own one of the many) Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs. Which, by the bye, I am still not certain has quite the same arrangement of theirs of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" which so cheered us over the car radio a Christmas season or two ago.
A colleague and friend who from time to time rails against Rakhmaninov, has lately been especially insistent in railing against the Second Symphony in E Minor, Opus 27. And, truth to tell, I am grateful: this proved the occasion at last for me to listen to the entire symphony, score-in-hand. As a result, I think more highly of the piece yet.
On the car radio today, while beetling around the county wondering if we couldn't find an even better tree (without getting into Ridiculous Money to Spend on the Yule Tree) there was a very funny and clever arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" which roped in a number of other carols, and at the last ran away into an adaptation of a Toto hit (whose words are normally about feeling rains in Africa). Maybe this one will wear poorly after twenty iterations, or maybe it will have legs; first time was certainly richly amusing.
New passport arrived today, and it adds the schmancy after fancy.
The local classical station some time slipped deeper yet into the Dark Side by starting to play only one movement of a symphony (or concerto). Now, when they actually play a full concerto (or symphony) they sound eerily pleased with themselves by adding the over-excited phrase in its entirety! A couple of weeks ago, on the road to one of the Framingham State College Chorus concerts, they played Mozart's Flute Concerto № 2 — in its entirety! "Yeah," jadedly retorted fellow singer Nathan, "all fifteen minutes of it."
A bit more amusing still, yesterday, was: And now, Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, in its entirety! Maybe they know something Schubert didn't.
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Postscript:
At the University of Virginia cafeteria, there was a weekly tradition of answering some puzzle, and getting a free (dessert? I don't remember just what) for a correct answer.
And one time, the puzzle was, correct placement of the comma in God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
Odd things I do remember twenty years on . . . .
It's high time we had a discussion of that Rachmaninov Symphony over on the GMG, or somewhere at least; I too have been listening with renewed enthusiasm this month after chancing on the Ormandy '73 recording.
Hear, hear!
Cheers,
~Karl
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