# Is this a wind-up?



## kangxi (Jan 24, 2014)

The watchmaker Raymond Weil died a few days ago. What has this to do with classical music, I hear you all ask?
Well, this section was in his obituary in The [London] Times:

"His passion for music, particularly opera, led him to give watches and collections such names as Maestro, Nabucco, Don Giovanni, Flamenco, Allegro, Toccata, Tango, Parsifal, Traviata, Othello, Fidelio and Amadeus - the last launched in 1983 in conjunction with Milos Forman's film of Peterr Shaffer's play. Of these, Othello and Traviata were probably the most emblematic collections in terms of creative watchmaking.
Weil liked to quote Nietzsche's "Without music life would be a mistake", adding: "And without time, music, be it classical, rock, pop, folk or jazz, would not hold its magical thrall over our senses.""

Good for him, although he missed an opportunity to call one of his timepieces Haydn's Clock.

I suppose we could use this to kick off a discussion about clocks & metronomes & the like in music. Isn't there a nightwatchman in the Meistersinger?

Me, I'd rather go for an anecdote. This was also in The Times, a few years ago (there are other versions floating around the web): On winning the Swiss Open sponsored by Raymond Weil, Andre Agassis was presented with, in addition to the prize money, a Raymond Weil watch. On being told by the presenter "Where will you see another watch like this one?" Agassis replied "Ebay, tomorrow."

Ob classical music reference: did you know that the chimes that Big Ben gives out on the hour were known as Jowett's Hornpipe? Jowett (Master of Balliol in the mid-nineteenth century) derived the melody from Handel's "I know that my redeemer liveth".


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