# Question him...



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

him, or her...

If you could call up your composer (in a seance or on the telephone *or by private message* ) and ask him or her *one* question, not necessarily about music, what would it be?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I might ask Monsieur Lully if he really thought it was fair to have a monopoly on music and musical theatre so that the works of other musicians were published under his name.


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Hi, how are you?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Serge said:


> Hi, how are you?


To which Mary Howe would reply, 'Am I what?' and Hubert Howe, 'Are you talking to me, sir?'


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

There is no one question that would adequately sum up or substantially cover the amount of knowledge I would want to glean from them. I know that if I got a question answered, a follow up question would be absolutely necessary.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Okay, you're allowed one question and one follow-up question. Specify your composer, though!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Recently I discovered on a YouTube link of Rachel Podger the explanation: *Bach Partita No. 2 played by Rachel Podger, modified from the "baroque" pitch (A = 415.3Hz) to the "standard" pitch (A = 440Hz). [Since it is possible that, in fact, J.S. Bach never used a "baroque" pitch] -*

So my question would be, 'Herr Bach, which pitch did you use for your compositions?'


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I belong to a 'folk music' forum where there has been a debate on whether Turlough O'Carolan was a bard or whether he was a baroque composer - he falls between two stools musically. So I would ask him to answer this question & say how he saw himself: bard, baroque, or both?


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

I would ask both Bach and Bruckner of what they thought about atheism.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I would ask Bach whether he approved of his music being played on a piano.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Herr Schubert why didn't you finish your work?
Quickly followed by a request to do so


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

I would ask Rachmaninov to give up being a celebrity pianist/conductor and take up composing full time. What was it? Only six compositions from 1917 till his death. Slack!!

I'd then ask Mahler to delay his death until he'd finished his 10th symphony. 

I can't alter the past? Ok then Mr Elgar what's your great Enigma and how dare you die without telling someone?!


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

So, Jean, did you by chance leave a back-up copy of your 8th symphony under a floorboard somewhere, just in case?


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

And my follow-up question to Beethoven would be, of course: Mr. Beethoven, can you hear me? (I know, I know...)


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## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

I'd ask Tchaikovsky about his death...accident? suicide? did the trial where he was told to kill himself to avoid scandal really happen?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Serge said:


> And my follow-up question to Beethoven would be, of course: Mr. Beethoven, can you hear me? (I know, I know...)


I trust you're a fast mover?


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Serge said:


> I would ask both Bach and Bruckner of what they thought about atheism.


Probably not much! :devil:


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

For the most part I feel like everything I need to know about a composer I can get from their music. I do have a curiosity about the kind of people some of my favorite composers were, but its the kind of thing that would involve an in depth interview, and/or observation of them over time. I think just one question would likely just trigger many more questions, and wouldn't lead to much of an understanding of the things I'm really intrigued about. I'd be curious about their creative processes and what inspires them, what makes them "tick". I'd be interested in the kind of person Bach was - how he could stay so devoted to his faith in the face of such personal tragedy in his life etc. It would be hard to really get meaningful answers to these things even in a multi question interview. Its the kind of thing where you would have to have access to their daily lives and be an observer.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Hi, Ingelou. I just wanted to thank you for coming up with a great post which encourages us to interact and communicate with one another--sans, hopefully, that is-any nastiness. It also forces us--me included--to have to think a bit before replying, which I am now in the process of doing. :cheers:


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

revdrdave said:


> I'd ask Tchaikovsky about his death...accident? suicide? did the trial where he was told to kill himself to avoid scandal really happen?


No need to waste your question to Tchaikovsky on that nonsense. Just get Poznansky's biography where all of that stuff is refuted. Hell, he wasn't even really trying to kill himself the first time.


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## Freischutz (Mar 6, 2014)

Brahms, what did you and Clara do with your love child?


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## Jonathan Wrachford (Feb 8, 2014)

I'd Ask Bach: can you come over? hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'd ask Bruckner, Wagner and Mahler:

"Hey guys, what were you thinking ? I haven't got all day to sit there and listen to all this bloated stuff! 
I found this Persichetti guy. A whole piano sonata in just 9 minutes!






You cats dig what I'm saying? Huh?"
I have to go now. I have chores to do. :tiphat:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I'd be sure to ask Beethoven first-off, "Hi Ludwig. Can you hear me OK?" Oops. Just used up my question. Aw shoot! :scold:


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

I'd like to ask Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius if they were at all influenced by each other's works--and, if so--were they--consciously or not--going after the same audience? I know, I cheated with two questions. Sorry.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

I would have asked Schumann If there are more angel transcriptions somewhere hidden.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Richannes Wrahms said:


> I would have asked Schumann If there are more angel transcriptions somewhere hidden.


And hopefully this time, said angels don't suffer from echolalia!


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

MagneticGhost said:


> I would ask Rachmaninov to give up being a celebrity pianist/conductor and take up composing full time. What was it? Only six compositions from 1917 till his death. Slack!!


From what I hear, it was not just lack of time. When he left Russia, he left his source of inspiration.



Serge said:


> And my follow-up question to Beethoven would be, of course: Mr. Beethoven, can you hear me? (I know, I know...)


Hehehe, I was going to make the same joke, but of course, I have better taste than that... 

I would ask Schubert: So why didn't you finish it?


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Off the top of my head, I'd ask Mahler what on earth he thought he was doing when he switched the movement order of the 6th symphony.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

You can shoot me your questions through PMs~ ;3


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

BurningDesire said:


> You can shoot me your questions through PMs~ ;3


:tiphat: Thanks, BD! I have amended the OP accordingly.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

It would be difficult to do it by phone/seance/PM, but I'd like to tickle Shostakovich under the chin and ask him the question "Is Dimochka going to give us a widdle smile?"


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2014)

I'd ask Beethoven if he would take a post-dated cheque for a 'cello concerto.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

^^^that's a hell of a thing to ask someone you barely know...


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I would ask Wagner who was his real father.

I would ask Mozart where his body rests now.

I would ask Bach if he was really happy to give up all his week-ends.

Seriously, I would ask Stravinsky why on earth he composed Pulcinella after Le Sacre....


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I would not go calling on any dead guy, that's macabre, sort of musical necrophilia... 

Nope, I'd call some one living like Georg Friedrich Haas or our own Mr Crudblud to ask what either would want in economical return to write 40 mins of fun music like a Concerto Grosso with a quartet of Chamberlin, Serpent, Cimbalon and Jazz Drummer. 
The follow up question would be, when can You have it ready!

/ptr


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

^^^I don't know...the last post I read from Crudblud said something about going out for milk and then a date with a girl - and then silence. So maybe a seance isn't out the question in this case too?


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## Eviticus (Dec 8, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> him, or her...
> 
> If you could call up your composer (in a seance or on the telephone *or by private message* ) and ask him or her *one* question, not necessarily about music, what would it be?


I wouldn't really be interesting in asking the composer about themselves, i'd be more interested in the fact their spirit survived death opposing everything we understand about neurology and life.

Therefore, i'd ask them something about the grander scheme of things like 
Is there a God or God(s)?
Or 
I'm assuming there IS a God(s), why does the God(s) try so hard to conceal themselves?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

TalkingHead said:


> I'd ask Beethoven if he would take a post-dated cheque for a 'cello concerto.


He would say yes, then sell the same piece to Simrock, giving both of you exclusive rights to it, and then compose another violin concerto instead of one for 'cello, promising it to a London publisher.

But seriously though, I would have loved to have a Beethoven 'cello concerto. And a piano concerto or two by Schubert, for that matter.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Eviticus said:


> I'm assuming there IS a God(s), why does the God(s) try so hard to conceal themselves?


So that he doesn't have to listen to people crying "why God, WHY!?"


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Taggart said:


> I would ask Bach whether he approved of his music being played on a piano.


Please let me know when you get an answer to that one. I'm dying to know. No pun intended.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Also, I would ask Ethel Smyth how she feels about a person in 2014 naming a composer-related thread "Question him" and then only adding the "or her" as an afterthought. :devil:


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I would ask two of my favorite composers, Wagner and Schubert, the same question, that I discussed with someone on TC a while ago. 

You know how people customarily ascribe some aesthetic properties to foreign languages they do not speak - French sounds pretty, Dutch sounds ugly, Italian is romantic etc, all those stereotypes. However most people do not perceive their own native language in the same way - as beautiful or unmelodious or anything else. It is simply the default language they have spoken all they life and are accustomed to. Now, both Wagner and Schubert were masters of vocal music who have honed the art of combining music and word to a great perfection. So, the question I would ask them is: how exactly did they perceive their own native language that they also used for their masterworks. Was it the "default language" for them or was it an aesthetic object in itself?

I think Wagner touches on this topic somewhere in his writings though.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Eviticus said:


> I wouldn't really be interesting in asking the composer about themselves, i'd be more interested in the fact their spirit survived death opposing everything we understand about neurology and life.
> 
> Therefore, i'd ask them something about the grander scheme of things like
> Is there a God or God(s)?
> ...


I 'like' your wit, which reminds me of Bertrand Russell, who was asked what he'd say to God if he met Him after death. I can't find the exact words, but his answer was on these lines: 'I'd say, God, God, why did you make it so hard to prove Your existence?'

I don't agree with your worldview, though, Eviticus - still, I'm sure you won't hold it against me when I meet you at the Pearly Gates with an invitation to your own Housewarming Party. :cheers:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> Also, I would ask Ethel Smyth how she feels about a person in 2014 naming a composer-related thread "Question him" and then only adding the "or her" as an afterthought. :devil:


Why ask Ethel Smyth and waste an opportunity? You can ask *me* why!

The answer is that English was based on the idea that 'him', 'mankind' etc included the female of the species, as in the old Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Wales - 'For Wales, see England.' 

I am firmly an egalitarian when it comes to the sexes, but I also have a great regard for the traditions and idioms of my own language & literature. You will not find *me* modernising Milton's hymns or trying to ban 'The Taming of the Shrew'.

'Question him or her' is too unwieldy to be stylish. 'One Question' is a title I might have used if I'd thought of it while posting, but actually I don't think it has the immediacy of 'Question him'.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Why ask Ethel Smyth? You can ask *me* why! The answer is that English was based on the idea that 'him', 'mankind' etc included the female of the species, as in the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Wales - 'For Wales, see England.'
> I am firmly an egalitarian when it comes to the sexes, but I also have a great regard for the traditions and idioms of my own language & literature. You will not find *me* modernising Milton's hymns or trying to ban 'The Taming of the Shrew'.
> 
> 'Question him or her' is too unwieldy to be stylish.


Ingélou, I bow to both your egalitarianism and your defense of your language!

(But would "Ask the composer" have killed you? Sorry! Sorry! Couldn't stop myself...)


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## Fortinbras Armstrong (Dec 29, 2013)

GioCar said:


> I would ask Mozart where his body rests now.


Which reminds me of one of my favorite trivia questions: Besides Mozart, what other well-known composer lies in an unmarked pauper's grave in Vienna?

Vivaldi.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Fortinbras Armstrong said:


> Which reminds me of one of my favorite trivia questions: Besides Mozart, what other well-known composer lies in an unmarked pauper's grave in Vienna?
> 
> Vivaldi.


I never knew that! :tiphat: 
It is so sad, how many composers & musicians ended their lives in hardship.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I might ask Clara Schumann if she and Brahms ever consummated their love for each other. 
But I wouldn't be so mean as to split on her answer afterwards.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Since Elgar has already been asked about his hidden Enigma variation and we presumably know it now, I might ask Sir Malcolm Arnold if he would tell his version of the premiere of Jon Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, what that clash of cultures was like and what he really thought of the score if it could have been practiced properly and played well. I've already heard Jon Lord's telling. Arnold seemed amazingly gracious for attempting such a thing at the time even if the orchestra was not.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> Ingélou, I bow to both your egalitarianism and your defense of your language!
> 
> (But would "Ask the composer" have killed you? Sorry! Sorry! Couldn't stop myself...)


No, it wouldn't. Truth to tell, it didn't occur to me. When it comes to posting new threads, I am a creature of impulse.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Fortinbras Armstrong said:


> Which reminds me of one of my favorite trivia questions: Besides Mozart, what other well-known composer lies in an unmarked pauper's grave in Vienna?
> 
> Vivaldi.


Was Mozart's really a _pauper's_ grave? As I understand it there were regulations because of some disease outbreak at the time that people had to be buried quickly together.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> I would ask two of my favorite composers, Wagner and Schubert, the same question, that I discussed with someone on TC a while ago.
> 
> You know how people customarily ascribe some aesthetic properties to foreign languages they do not speak - French sounds pretty, Dutch sounds ugly, Italian is romantic etc, all those stereotypes. However most people do not perceive their own native language in the same way - as beautiful or unmelodious or anything else. It is simply the default language they have spoken all they life and are accustomed to. Now, both Wagner and Schubert were masters of vocal music who have honed the art of combining music and word to a great perfection. So, the question I would ask them is: how exactly did they perceive their own native language that they also used for their masterworks. Was it the "default language" for them or was it an aesthetic object in itself?
> 
> I think Wagner touches on this topic somewhere in his writings though.


It would probably be a mix of both. Though I suppose it starts out as a default language, but surely somebody who works with words sees the beauty within a language even if it is their own native one?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Every language has its own beauty and its own genius. With English, it is its huge vocabulary from Anglo-Saxon, French, Latin & Empire sources, which makes it so expressive. I agree, starry - wordsmiths will love their own language & by knowing it so intimately, will be even more alive to its special beauties, one hopes.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

starry said:


> Was Mozart's really a _pauper's_ grave? As I understand it there were regulations because of some disease outbreak at the time that people had to be buried quickly together.


It was my understanding that lots of middle class Viennese were buried in mass graves simply because it was considered to be in good taste at the time not to have an ostentatious funeral or grave marker. Mozart wasn't in fact all that poor when he died.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Just to play :devil:'s Advocate, I might ask *Johann Joseph Fux* whether, if he'd lived in the twentieth century, he'd have changed his name for marketing purposes; or whether, if he'd lived in the twenty-first century, he'd have kept his name for marketing purposes.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Why ask Ethel Smyth and waste an opportunity? You can ask *me* why!
> 
> The answer is that English was based on the idea that 'him', 'mankind' etc included the female of the species, *as in the old Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Wales - 'For Wales, see England.*'
> 
> ...


Really?

Quite unfair for England :devil:

(forgive me, on Sunday afternoon I like joking...your's is a nice thread anyway, as usual )


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Just to play :devil:'s Advocate, I might ask *Johann Joseph Fux* whether, if he'd lived in the twentieth century, he'd have changed his name for marketing purposes; or whether, if he'd lived in the twenty-first century, he'd have kept his name for marketing purposes.


I just hope he'd be happy about how many music forum members he's helped around spam filters.


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## Eviticus (Dec 8, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> I 'like' your wit, which reminds me of Bertrand Russell, who was asked what he'd say to God if he met Him after death. I can't find the exact words, but his answer was on these lines: 'I'd say, God, God, why did you make it so hard to prove Your existence?'


 It's a marginally softer approach than the Richard Dawkin's response which is; 'Well which God are you exactly? Thor? Zues? Allah?' And a hell of a lot softer than Captain Kirk's response: 'What does God want with my starship?' (Star Trek 5)... apologies for digressing! 



Ingélou said:


> I don't agree with your worldview, though, Eviticus - still, I'm sure you won't hold it against me when I meet you at the Pearly Gates with an invitation to your own Housewarming Party. :cheers:


Of course not - as long as the DJ plays very little Bach.


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2014)

brianvds said:


> It was my understanding that lots of middle class Viennese were buried in mass graves simply because it was considered to be in good taste at the time not to have an ostentatious funeral or grave marker. Mozart wasn't in fact all that poor when he died.


From the Wikipedia article on Mozart (relevant text in bold):

"_Mozart died in his home on 5 December 1791 (aged 35) at 1:00 am. The New Grove describes his funeral:

Mozart was interred in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the St. Marx Cemetery outside the city on 7 December. If, as later reports say, no mourners attended, that too is consistent with Viennese burial customs at the time; later Jahn (1856) wrote that Salieri, Süssmayr, van Swieten and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild.

*The expression "common grave" refers to neither a communal grave nor a pauper's grave, but to an individual grave for a member of the common people (i.e., not the aristocracy). Common graves were subject to excavation after ten years; the graves of aristocrats were not."*_


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

It was probably some ruling on the order of the Emperor rather than a long standing custom. Then again I could be wrong, sometimes you pick up information but you can't always be sure it's correct of course


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

starry said:


> It was probably some ruling on the order of the Emperor rather than a long standing custom. Then again I could be wrong, sometimes you pick up information but you can't always be sure it's correct of course


I seem to remember reading that this was indeed a directive from somebody in authority. The government ordered austerity in burials because they were concerned that the growing ostentation in the ceremonies, markers, etc. was simply costing families too much money. Or something like that.

The new rules proved unpopular and were dropped or modified after only a few years. This is from an increasingly infirm memory, mind you!

In our own day, China has occasionally inveighed against (or even outlawed) ostentatious weddings. Many families have beggared themselves in marrying off their children.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Assuming that the masters are following music from their resting places:

I would ask Bingen what she thinks of Josquin.
I would ask Josquin what he thinks of Bach.
I would ask Bach was he thinks of Mozart.
I would ask Mozart what he thinks of Mahler.
I would ask Mahler what he thinks of Norgard.

This would be very, very interesting.


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2014)

KenOC said:


> I seem to remember reading that this was indeed a directive from somebody in authority. The government ordered austerity in burials because they were concerned that the growing ostentation in the ceremonies, markers, etc. was simply costing families too much money. Or something like that.
> 
> The new rules proved unpopular and were dropped or modified after only a few years. This is from an increasingly infirm memory, mind you!
> 
> In our own day, China has occasionally inveighed against (or even outlawed) ostentatious weddings. Many families have beggared themselves in marrying off a daughter.


That's correct as far as I recall. I spotted an article about Mozart in (I think) "Gramophone" about a year ago where I read that the Emperor had made some ruling about where and how ordinary people (i.e. non-aristocrats) should be buried. But it led to widespread revolt and the ruling was either rescinded or ignored. Therefore it would seem that Mozart is buried in his own grave somewhere, or rather it would seem that there is no reason why he shouldn't be. Quite apart from whether it was a single of mass grave, I think that the "pauper" story is a myth that was ditched some time ago.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Freischutz said:


> Brahms, what did you and Clara do with your love child?


I would appreciate it if you did not mix up in other people's private lives hahaha


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I'd ask Purcell if his wife really locked him out because he'd been drinking; and I'd ask Albinoni if he was annoyed that the only piece that springs to mind when most people say his name is a piece that he didn't actually write.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I'd ask Bruckner, Wagner and Mahler:
> 
> "Hey guys, what were you thinking ? I haven't got all day to sit there and listen to all this bloated stuff!
> I found this Persichetti guy. A whole piano sonata in just 9 minutes!
> ...


bloated stuff? who? Gustav, Anton and Richard?

come on mr. Persichetti, show some respect to intelligence


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I'd ask Bruckner, Wagner and Mahler:
> 
> "Hey guys, what were you thinking ? I haven't got all day to sit there and listen to all this bloated stuff!
> I found this Persichetti guy. A whole piano sonata in just 9 minutes!
> ...


Of course I forgot to mention that this would have to be a conference call.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> bloated stuff? who? Gustav, Anton and Richard?
> 
> come on mr. Persichetti, show some respect to intelligence


I don't have a house full of servants, sounds familiar? One to serve you chocolate morsels, one to pour white chocolate sauce, one to de-cork your wine and one to wash your car. I have chores to do, so I am forced to listen to these three composers, piecemeal-a movement or segment here and there.

I'm just happy they would even think of getting together with me for a pithy conference call. I don't know how well they would consider my request for "Speak English!!!" however. We'll see how it goes.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I wonder could any of them once back in the land of the living really meet your expectations?

Also some of them led colourful lives to say the least and once they saw what the world now has to offer might have little time or inclination to answer you.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

It would be tough to explain texting while driving, but I could save them some money on a cell phone plan. I'm sure of that.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I'd ask Shostakovich to summarise in what ways his music would have been different if he hadn't been constantly waiting for the dreaded knock on the door .... and ask him which pieces are closest to what he would have written if he'd felt able to do so without fear of repercussions


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I don't have a house full of servants, sounds familiar? One to serve you chocolate morsels, one to pour white chocolate sauce, one to de-cork your wine and one to wash your car. I have chores to do, so I am forced to listen to these three composers, piecemeal-a movement or segment here and there.
> 
> I'm just happy they would even think of getting together with me for a pithy conference call. I don't know how well they would consider my request for "Speak English!!!" however. We'll see how it goes.


you will have more time when you go to Capri and Costiera Amalfitana,

for a careful listening of the symphonies.

After this, you can organize the conference call in "Esperanto" language hahaha

I pour my white chocolate sauce on the walnut cake, myself


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't really want to wake up a dead person. But if I did, the only appropriate question would be coffee or tea?


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

starthrower said:


> I don't really want to wake up a dead person. But if I did, the only appropriate question would be coffee or tea?


I think some would have something much stronger in mind


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> you will have more time when you go to Capri and Costiera Amalfitana,
> 
> for a careful listening of the symphonies.
> 
> ...


I just hope my plane doesn't disappear. Could spoil the trip. I have to be esperanto that the flight gets to Mt. Vesuvius as planned.

If you are telling me you actually pour the white chocolate sauce yourself simply to impress me, well, it's working! :lol:


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I just hope my plane doesn't disappear. Could spoil the trip. I have to esperanto the flight gets to Mt. Vesuvius as planned.
> 
> If you are telling me you actually pour the white chocolate sauce yourself simply to impress me, well, it's working! :lol:


Atlantic is not so complicated sea (except the vermuda triangle of course)

Vesuvius will be reached on time

not only the white chocolate on the cake, but I also pour the Béchamel sauce on the lasagne


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> Atlantic is not so complicated sea (except the vermuda triangle of course)
> 
> Vesuvius will be reached on time
> 
> not only the white chocolate on the cake, but I also pour the Béchamel sauce on the lasagne


Sounds delicious! 

Yeah. I'm sure everything will be okay. Thanks!


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## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

I'd like to ask Beethoven whom all those letters were intended for and why they were hidden in away in a desk for years - also when did he actually go completely deaf -


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## Frei aber froh (Feb 22, 2013)

I would ask Shostakovich how much of _Testimony_ is true and how much is rumor or crap made up by Solomon Volkov. I also might ask Tchaikovsky how he died... no, if I only was allotted one question, I would ask Shostakovich as I said I would.

Okay... can I ask Shostakovich two questions? Maybe three?

Also, I do want to ask Tchaikovsky how he feels about the institutionalized homophobia in Russia (and around the world) today.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Hermioneviolageek said:


> I would ask Shostakovich how much of _Testimony_ is true and how much is rumor or crap made up by Solomon Volkov.


Shostakovich would give you a totally ambiguous answer that would clarify nothing. He was quite good at that.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

I'd play this for Bach and ask him how he likes it.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I agree with starthrower, to let them sleep.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

KenOC said:


> Shostakovich would give you a totally ambiguous answer that would clarify nothing. He was quite good at that.


Living under Stalin would do that to a man.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> I agree with starthrower, to let them sleep.


As if we had a choice!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

shangoyal said:


> I'd play this for Bach and ask him how he likes it.


I believe he would like it.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I believe he would like it.


I just saw your new avatar and now I am listening to the philosopher symphony.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Dear Luigi,

Who was the Immortal Beloved?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

brianvds said:


> Dear Luigi,
> 
> Who was the Immortal Beloved?


Ooh, yes - hope you get an answer!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Ingélou said:


> Ooh, yes - hope you get an answer!


I'm on to it, I am, I am.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

shangoyal said:


> I just saw your new avatar and now I am listening to the philosopher symphony.


Haydn passes the pithiness test. I approve of any of his symphonies.
Since he didn't write one entitled "Prince of Posts", I suppose "The Philosopher" is as good as any. 

Enjoy it!!!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would like to ask Morton Feldman the secret to the wildly varying durations for same pieces with different recordings... like one recording of the String Quartet 2 can be 4.5 hours on one and 6 hours on another? 

Very curious.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I would ask Wagner what he thought of Hitler, Nazis and the Third Reich.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Haydn. Is this your skull?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

From the Wiki entry on Luigi Boccherini:
*In 1761 Boccherini went to Madrid, where he was employed by Infante Luis Antonio of Spain, younger brother of King Charles III. There he flourished under royal patronage, until one day when the King expressed his disapproval at a passage in a new trio, and ordered Boccherini to change it. The composer, no doubt irritated with this intrusion into his art, doubled the passage instead, leading to his immediate dismissal. Then he accompanied Don Luis to Arenas de San Pedro, a little town at the Gredos mountains; there and in the closest town of Candeleda, Boccherini wrote many of his most famous works.
Among his late patrons was the French consul Lucien Bonaparte, as well as King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, himself an amateur cellist, flautist, and avid supporter of the arts. Boccherini fell on hard times following the deaths of his Spanish patron, two wives, and two daughters, and he died almost in poverty in Madrid *

I'd ask Boccherini whether he'd react to criticism in the same way again - was it worth the poverty for the sake of his artistic freedom?


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Beethoven. 
Why didn't you write a viola concerto? Violists are people too.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Beethoven.
> Why didn't you write a viola concerto? Violists are people too.


I agree!... it wasn't until the 20th century that the viola got more focus on its ability to solo beautifully I think.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Beethoven.
> Why didn't you write a viola concerto? Violists are people too.


By this logic, if somebody doesn't write a concerto for certain instruments, is he making a statement that players of those instruments aren't people?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would like to ask Alban Berg how he managed to create such vivid operas... ones which leave a strong imprint on the mind weeks and months after they are seen.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Beethoven.
> Why didn't you write a viola concerto? Violists are people too.


It's no use. He can't hear you.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Hey Mahler! Why couldn't you write a 20 minute pithy symphony in anticipation of smart phones and cable TV taking up a big chunk of peoples' time! Some genius!


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

hpowders said:


> It's no use. He can't hear you.


Where's my Ouija board.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

hpowders - this reminds me of Bertrand Russell in The Conquest of Happiness: he argues that boredom is necessary.

*'Imagine a modern publisher receiving the Hebrew Bible as a new and never-before seen manuscript. It is not difficult to imagine the response: "My dear sir, this chapter [in Genesis] lacks pep; you can't expect your reader to be interested in a mere string of proper names of persons about whom you tell him so little. You have begun your story, I will admit, in fine style, and at first I was very favorably impressed, but you have altogether too much wish to tell it all. Pick out the high lights take out the superfluous matter, and bring me back your manuscript when you have reduced it to a reasonable length."'*

Although I remembered Russell's example myself, this is actually quoted from a blog called 'Useful Boredom' by Jonathan L. Friedmann
The link is here. https://thinkingonmusic.wordpress.com/tag/bertrand-russell/
Interestingly, Friedmann goes on to say:
*In a similar way, classical music exposes the difficulty most of us have engaging in "superfluous matter." But instead of taking the common path of frustration or the snobbish approach of elevating musical lulls into something more than they are, we should accept boring passages as boring, and embrace the stillness they can invite within us. After all, if everything were exciting or immediately appealing, nothing would be.*

I was tempted, for a moment, to start a thread on this. But then I thought of Wood's Rule and the recent rumpus of the 4'33" thread, and desisted. :angel:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would like to join with Dr. Who to help me get into his Tardis so that I can visit Palestrina, bring him back to the 21st century, and ask about his legacy for all of Western music. And his thoughts on Schoenberg.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> hpowders - this reminds me of Bertrand Russell in The Conquest of Happiness: he argues that boredom is necessary.
> 
> 'Imagine a modern publisher receiving the Hebrew Bible as a new and never-before seen manuscript. It is not difficult to imagine the response: "My dear sir, this chapter [in Genesis] lacks pep; you can't expect your reader to be interested in a mere string of proper names of persons about whom you tell him so little. You have begun your story, I will admit, in fine style, and at first I was very favorably impressed, but you have altogether too much wish to tell it all. Pick out the high lights take out the superfluous matter, and bring me back your manuscript when you have reduced it to a reasonable length."'


File with Lord Of the Rings and Gullivers Travels.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Ingélou said:


> hpowders - this reminds me of Bertrand Russell in The Conquest of Happiness: he argues that boredom is necessary.
> 
> *'Imagine a modern publisher receiving the Hebrew Bible as a new and never-before seen manuscript. It is not difficult to imagine the response: "My dear sir, this chapter [in Genesis] lacks pep; you can't expect your reader to be interested in a mere string of proper names of persons about whom you tell him so little. You have begun your story, I will admit, in fine style, and at first I was very favorably impressed, but you have altogether too much wish to tell it all. Pick out the high lights take out the superfluous matter, and bring me back your manuscript when you have reduced it to a reasonable length."'*


From my experience ALL fictional books have been boring in the beginning. Doesn't apply to movies though.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> From my experience ALL fictional books have been boring in the beginning. Doesn't apply to movies though.


When I was a child, I expected to have to plough through some boring chapters at the beginning of a storybook before it warmed up. So when Taggart & I watched *Seabiscuit*, we stuck out the tedium, and were well-rewarded. The 'slow build' really is very satisfying, so boredom does have its uses - I agree with Friedmann.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> When I was a child, I expected to have to plough through some boring chapters at the beginning of a storybook before it warmed up. So when Taggart & I watched *Seabiscuit*, we stuck out the tedium, and were well-rewarded. The 'slow build' really is very satisfying, so boredom does have its uses - I agree with Friedmann.


It can have an adverse effect though if the 'slow build' is too slow it can prove a perfect cure for insomnia.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Polyphemus said:


> It can have an adverse effect though if the 'slow build' is too slow it can prove a perfect cure for insomnia.


True - and we've given up on plenty of films in our time. For all we know, they might have been as good as *Seabiscuit* if we'd stuck it out. 
So it's a dangerous strategy to start slow & write long - if people take your music or your novel up, however, the rewards are correspondingly big.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

I was bored with the latest cinematic offerings so I dug into the DVD library and watched :-









They don't make them like that any more. Keenan Wynn And James Whitmore's 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare' a joy forever.


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> True - and we've given up on plenty of films in our time. For all we know, they might have been as good as *Seabiscuit* if we'd stuck it out.
> So it's a dangerous strategy to start slow & write long - if people take your music or your novel up, however, the rewards are correspondingly big.


I haver a habit of finishing what I start so if I start a movie I will stick with it to the end, no matter how painful. The most awful experience I had recently was 'Interstellar' which I found to be mind numbingly tedious despite the stellar cast. How I sat through its interminable meanderings without committing Hara Kiri (good movie) is beyond me.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> hpowders - this reminds me of Bertrand Russell in The Conquest of Happiness: he argues that boredom is necessary.
> 
> *'Imagine a modern publisher receiving the Hebrew Bible as a new and never-before seen manuscript. It is not difficult to imagine the response: "My dear sir, this chapter [in Genesis] lacks pep; you can't expect your reader to be interested in a mere string of proper names of persons about whom you tell him so little. You have begun your story, I will admit, in fine style, and at first I was very favorably impressed, but you have altogether too much wish to tell it all. Pick out the high lights take out the superfluous matter, and bring me back your manuscript when you have reduced it to a reasonable length."'*
> 
> ...


Similarly, can you imagine a writer of today beginning a novel with "It was the best of times...it was the worst of times..."

I can see the NY Times book reviewer: "What condescending claptrap!! What are we, children? I do not know what the dickens to make of this!!!"


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would love to ask Amy Beach what it is like being a female composer during her time.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I would like to ask the following of Schnittke:
"Could you not have lived perhaps 20 years longer?"
84 years isn't too much to ask, surely?


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'd ask Glazunov simply if he was a Christian early in his life, cuz I'm pretty curious about it. If he says yes, then I'd make him prove it by making him vow not to become an alcoholic for me.

I'd ask Arensky why he had a psychotic/anxiety spell in his mid 20s, what set him off.

I'd ask Rimsky-Korsakov what part he had to play in Tchaikovsky's fate. -_-

I'd ask Tchaikovsky to finished his flute concerto, and make it good.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I'd ask Glazunov simply if he was a Christian early in his life, cuz I'm pretty curious about it. If he says yes, then I'd make him prove it by making him vow not to become an alcoholic for me.


Lots of Christians are alcoholics. It's a medical condition.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would like to ask John Cage the secret of Buddhist motifs in his music.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

violadude said:


> Lots of Christians are alcoholics. It's a medical condition.


Too true! But it makes me feel all the worse to know that he had no one to help him until later in life, when he finally met a woman (who was a Christian) that enough authority to tell him to stop.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I would like to know which of his symphony cycles Beethoven likes among all the conductors who have recorded his symphonies.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Albert7 said:


> I would like to ask John Cage the secret of Buddhist motifs in his music.


I wouldn't mind some advice on how to write a piece as talked-about as 4'33''.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I'd ask Ravel for orchestration lessons.....


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would ask Debussy if he composed any poetry with how beautiful and radiant his music is to me.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

I would ask Sir Arthur Sullivan if he has found the lost chord.

Jimmy Durante claimed to have it, but I fear he was not entirely in earnest.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

I'd question Ernest Chausson about death.
Is it really as easy as riding a bike?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm writing this in a notebook:

"Mr. Beethoven, are you really PO'd that your Ninth Symphony gets more street cred than your Missa Solemnis, a much greater work; perhaps the finest work you ever composed?"


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> I'd question Ernest Chausson about death.
> Is it really as easy as riding a bike?


It's as easy as crashing a bike, anyway...


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Shosti, what is it with Symphony 7? Was it a dud with a couple of good movements, or are we missing the point? What really happened in Leningrad?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would to like Glazunov the secret of how he managed to procure a saxophone and be so creative with it when most people neglected it at the time.

Both thumbs up.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> I might ask Monsieur Lully if he really thought it was fair to have a monopoly on music and musical theatre so that the works of other musicians were published under his name.


You should carry a stopwatch to measure the length of time for that answer.

...and a pillow.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I would ask a room of composers from all generations if they were willing to eat sushi with me? Seriously, I need more sushi lovers with classical music composers


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

To Schubert and Prokofiev, I would ask for tips on melody writing.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Asking Boulez to conduct Ferneyhough.


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