Violin muting: a solemn cabalistic rite?

I've just been listening to a recording of Gavin Bryars' Violin Concerto, which is subtitled "The Bulls of Bashan" (read my review here). In the liner, the composer explains how he came by the title. Much of the work involves the string section of the orchestra moving between muted and unmuted playing. But, Gavin Bryars points out, this is only possible thanks to modern mute technology. Things were very different in 1914 when Cecil Forsythe wrote his famous orchestration treatise. In those days, your violin mute lived in your waistcoat pocket and caused no little disruption when it made an appearance:

"Unhappily the mutes remain something of a problem on the mechanical side of concert-room organisation. When they are required the noise and fuss is most distressing, and, as these moments always occur when a pp is approaching, the musical attention of the audience is completely distracted. About fifty or sixty players all rattle their bows down on their desks in order to be free to search their waistcoat pockets. When the mutes have been dragged out they are fitted to the bridges with a studied and elaborate caution which may be necessary to preserve the bridges from injury, but which gives an impression that the players are taking part in a solemn cabalistic rite. And all this occurs in 1914 when inventors are as thick as bulls in Bashan."

How to improve the Albert Hall acoustic

Something needs to be done about the sound in the Albert Hall, but what? A recent suggestion by Mathew Tucker is to give up on the place and move the Proms to the Southbank Centre. Given the stifling weight of tradition associated with the festival, I suspect it is going to take more than acoustic concerns for that to happen. So perhaps a more practical goal could be to radically improve the sound at the RAH, and here is my suggestion: a much lower ceiling. 

Various things have been tried up there in the past – lining the dome, suspending a velarium, the mushrooms. Each has had a perceptible but limited effect. To be effective, an acoustic ceiling would need to be much lower, below the gallery (what is the gallery for?), and even below the upper circle, no loss considering that the sound up there is worse than useless anyway. All the boxes would still be in use, so corporate hospitality and aristocratic patronage would not be affected. It could even be an adjustable height ceiling like at Symphony Hall in Birmingham. Then it could be raised if the BBC insisted on filling the upper circle with flag-waiving goons for the last night.

It is not a perfect solution, the hall would still be too wide as much as anything else, but it's an idea. And even if it doesn't happen, something has to be done about the RAH acoustic. And to be effective it is going to have to be something invasive that drastically reduces its capacity.

A sketch of the velarium installed at the Albert Hall in 1941, the first year the Proms were held at the venue.

Composer deaths quiz

Match the composer to the unfortunate circumstances of their demise (alleged or real). Many thanks to 'Nicedoc' at Yahoo Answers for this one.

1. Robert Schumann
2. Jean-Baptiste Lully
3. Charles-Valentin Alkan
4. Alban Berg
5. Peter Tchaikovsky
6. Henry Purcell
7. Maurice Ravel
8. Ernest Chausson


a. Died when a bookcase fell on him
b. Died by riding his bicycle into a wall
c. Died when he smashed his foot with a pole while keeping rhythm and it got infected.
d. Died from cholera after drinking unboiled water.
e. Died after getting sick in the cold after being locked out by his wife
f. Died from mercury poisioning as a complication of syphilis treatment
g. Died from complications from an insect bite
h. Died from complications after being whacked in the head while in a taxi

What’s wrong with Reger

Henry Wood was an adventurous conductor, and regularly risked the disapproval of the public by presenting them with works by composers they might not like: Wagner, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and – horror of horrors – Max Reger!

The Proms this year are staging an interesting event, a recreation of the 1910 Last Night. A good number of Wood’s ‘novelties’ are on the programme, Ambroise Thomas, German, Forster, in fact, there is only one deviation from the original schedule. And guess who’s been given the boot – Reger of course. The (very fine) Violin and Piano Suite Op.103a is making way for the premiere of a cello concerto reconstructed by David Matthews from fragments by Vaughan Williams.

The Matthews/VW concerto will, no doubt, be fascinating, but what is it about Reger that UK audiences find so unpalatable? He is not at the peak of fashionability in Germany either, but at least they maintain a healthy respect for his industry, his forward-looking harmonies and his Bachian contrapuntal ingenuity.

Reger died in 1916, so perhaps his name became associated with the anti-German feeling of the First World War. What else could it be? He was a Brahms disciple, and it took many in the UK a long time to come to terms with Brahms (GBS never did).

Or perhaps the problem lies with his organ music. A large slice of Britain’s professional musician demographic came through the cathedral choir route, and so were probably exposed to more organ music than is healthy for anybody. Reger is popular with organists, at least more so than with other musicians, but many of his organ works or a bit on the ingestible side. I’m a big fan of Reger, but even I would concede that a little of his organ music goes a long way, which is unfortunate, as much of it is very long indeed.

But Henry Wood was quite right to concentrate on the chamber music. There is some magnificent music here, the solo works for violin and cello are excellent, many of them, I’d also highly recommend the Piano Quartet op.133 and the two Piano Trios opp. 2 and 102.

So here’s to the rehabilitation of Max Reger, a fitting homage indeed to the forward thinking and always constructively controversial Sir Henry Wood!

Was Beethoven Black?

Well, here's the 'evidence':
http://www.mdcbowen.org/p2/sf/faq068.htm
and here is some curiously heated debate on the subject:
http://chris.quietlife.net/2003/03/13/was-beethoven-black/
You decide.

Heinrich Schutz by Rembrandt van Rijn

Did you know that Rembrandt painted Schutz? It was news to me. The portrait, from 1633, is now in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Actually, it is a bit of a tease this one. Schutz scholars say the identity of the sitter is far from certain, which is quite frustrating, because it really, really looks like him!

Classical CD Roundup

I’ve been spending a lot of time over the last couple of weeks reviewing recently released CDs. Most of the discs that reach me are worth a listen, a few are exceptional, and there are always a few duds.

So, without further ado, here is my brief rundown, in roughly ascending order of recommendation, of what’s hot and what’s not on the current classical CD market (click the cover illustrations for full reviews):

A curious pairing, the very senior Robert Mann with the very junior Stephen Hough. Recorded in the mid-80s, and I have to say, probably better left gathering dust in the archives. Violin tuning is poor, balance is poor, and sound quality is dreadful. Avoid.

Middle of the road Tchaikovsky. Little energy or passion. Indistinct sound – despite the SACD.

Everyone else seems to love this CD of little known Palestrina. Personally I’d like to hear much more precision in the choral singing.

Good sound, good orchestra. All a bit too civilised though.

A brave effort by the Choir of Kings College, London to broaden the renaissance repertoire. It’s well sung, but it can get a bit monotonous.

A surprisingly proficient offering from down under. Sebastian Lang-Lessing is determined to get high octane performances out of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. They don’t always manage to keep up, but when they do the performances are very fine.

All good recordings, many of which you have probably heard before. A seemingly random mix of performances new and old from the EMI archives.

Yeon-Hee Kwak is an oboist to watch out for. Mind, another two discs like this and she will have completely exhausted the repertoire. Innovative six channel surround mix is included, although what use that is for unaccompanied oboe music is beyond me.

A French conductor let loose on Bruckner with a German orchestra, whatever next? Cambreling retains tight control throughout, which is great in the climaxes, but he looses some magic in the quieter sections.

An anniversary release from the Tallis Scholars, who again demonstrate their mastery of the renaissance repertoire.

Not recent releases, these, but still worth looking out for. Somewhere between Brahms and Schoenberg, with the skill of the former and neurosis of the latter.

DG usually only promote geriatric figures when it comes to the piano. Alice Sara Ott delivers a performance of Liszt that fully justifies thier change of heart: passionate, intense, yet always precise and focussed. Excellent.

This is how I like to hear Palestrina. A small, professional choir, singing with utmost accuracy and recorded in vibrant SACD. Sung in a lower pitch than usual (for reasons that the liner explains in detail) but without any loss of brilliance.

If you know the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt Bach cantata cycle, you’ll know what to expect. The difference here is the use of a mixed choir (rather than boy’s voices), world-class soloists, the Musikverein acoustic, and recording technology that is 25 years younger. He’s still going strong at 80.

Very Russian Bach – firm touch and an architectural approach to the form of every movement. Like Glenn Gould, but without the angst.

Rattle, Vienna Philharmonic, Beethoven 9 – expectations run high, and are not disappointed. Bit slow in the Adagio, perhaps, but otherwise an exemplary performance.

So there you have it. And if you still have some cash burning a hole in your pocket after those purchases, you could do far worse than the new Lohengrin from Semyon Bychkov. There’s not a weak link in the cast, the conducting is electric, and the SACD sound is demonstration quality. Buy it.