# Classical Humor



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Clearly, there is an oppressive air of seriousness pervading these forums. Perhaps this has been done before (in which case I hope someone will resurrect the thread), but we seem to need a little humor to lighten the mood. I will start with this joke, which I lifted from somewhere:

A very old conductor was playing his final concert, when the first violinist was beckoned by a member of the audience. "What's the old man conducting tonight?" The violinist replied "I don't know what he is conducting but we are playing Beethoven's Fifth!"


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Try watching Ingudesman and Joo! Two classical music comedians. They are very funny!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I posted this in a thread that may have been missed. Comedy gold.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Judith said:


> Try watching Ingudesman and Joo! Two classical music comedians. They are very funny!


I have never heard of them, but will be sure to look them up. (And I will watch Art Rock's video when I get home.)


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

I'll also drop in a little PDQ Bach, from the Prof. Schickele's introduction to the Sinfonia Concertante: PDQ Bach sought new paths in the history of music . . . and became hopelessly lost.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

JAS said:


> Clearly, there is an oppressive air of seriousness pervading these forums. Perhaps this has been done before (in which case I hope someone will resurrect the thread)...


http://www.talkclassical.com/15068-most-incredibly-lame-classical.html
*77 Pages. Enjoy...!*


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*Caption: 'My husband will be home soon - quick, take the accordion!'
*
(Perhaps I oughtn't to post this, as Taggart is learning the concertina...)


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A famous commercial for a classical music record. Warning: Some will be offended!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Victor Borge, Gerard Hoffnung, Peter Schickele: hours of laughter.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Old conductors never die - they just decompose .


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> I posted this in a thread that may have been missed. Comedy gold.


I have never heard of Morecambe and Wise, although they appear to have been as big in the UK as, say, Jack Benny here in the US. I think the sketch works mostly because they avoid going too heavy on the banjos, and because it is so unexpected for Preview (er, Previn) to play along. It is nice to know that he once had a sense of humor.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Judith said:


> Try watching Ingudesman and Joo! Two classical music comedians. They are very funny!


Very funny. The one who plays piano, which I am assuming is Joo, reminds me a bit of Dudley Moore in his days with Peter Cook (particularly in the off key classical singing). I almost wish I could drive all the way to Asheville, NC to see them perform, apparently the only US gig. As for Borge, a good bit of the humor works because they can actually play their instruments quite competently.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

I'm reasonably sure that I'm stealing this from someone, somewhere in Talk Classical, so let's just call it an homage:

An old horn player dies, goes to heaven, and finds himself in the celestial orchestra. Looking around, he notices, to his wonder, that all the great musicians and composers in history who had passed on are also seated in the orchestra, on various instruments. He leans over to the guy sitting next to him, and says, "Wow, some band, huh?" "Yep," says the other guy.

Suddenly, there is a dazzling glory that breaks forth from the rear of the orchestra, and our man sees the Holy Figure, robed in glory and omnipotent power, surrounded by worshiping angels, striding through to the podium, his white hair gleaming in the spotlights. The horn player goes weak, gulps, and, with shaking finger pointing, asks his mate "Is...is that...actually...?"

"Naw," says the other guy. "That's just God. He only THINKS he's von Karajan."


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

KenOC said:


> A famous commercial for a classical music record. Warning: Some will be offended!


Pretty sure the person who made this was a fan of this music. Anyway it's a classic.


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)




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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Hoffnung Music Festival - very funny performances.


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

I love classical music anecdotes.
Erich Leinsdorf was once pulled over by a cop for speeding. He pleaded, "Officer, I am Eric Leinsdorf! I'm on my way to conduct the New York Philharmonic and I'm late!"
The cop replied, "Look pal, I don't care if you're Arthur Fiedler. I'm still giving you a ticket!"

A member of George Szell's Cleveland Orchestra was retiring and was about to play his last concert with the orchestra. He decided to catch Szell backstage and pay his respects. He found Szell, shook his hand, and said "Well Mr. Szell, our ten years together is coming to an end."
Szell replied, "What do you want me to do, cry?"

Beethoven was once challenged to a keyboard duel with a well-known pianist. There was a strict code of honor for keyboard dueling in that time; both contestants were to compose a piece for the other to sight-read, and the piece was supposed to be challenging, but not so difficult that it couldn't be sight-read. Anyway, the duel commenced, and Beethoven's opponent went first. He played the piece Beethoven wrote for him well enough, then it was Beethoven's turn. He opened the piece his opponent wrote, and it was an extremely difficult and technically demanding piece. Undaunted, Beethoven turned the score _upside down_ and proceeded to sight read it perfectly, and even embellished and improvised on it.

Leonard Bernstein was not a fan of avant-garde art. On a few occasions he purchased paintings that had been done by monkeys, and hung them up in his home. Then he invited his snobbiest friends over and watched them pontificate.

George Szell was considering Andre Previn to play the piano part in Strauss's Burleske. He invited Previn to his hotel room told him to play the piano part. When Previn noted that there wasn't a piano to be seen, Szell replied "Use the table!" So Previn did as he was told, and started pounding out the piano part on the table. At one point Szell stopped him and said he didn't like how he played a certain passage. Previn replied, "I'm sorry, the action on this table is different from my table at home."
Szell stood up and said, "Young man, that will be all!" and sent Previn on his way.

Another Szell story (at least I think it was Szell)- during a dress rehearsal that wasn't going so well, he got so angry that he picked up a chair and tossed it way up into the seats overlooking the stage, then stormed off. The distance from stage to seats was pretty impressive. After the rehearsal was over, a few orchestra members decided to stick around and see if they could replicate the feat. Even the youngest, strongest guys in the orchestra couldn't manage it. (imagine, sticking around after rehearsal to throw chairs! Sounds like a pretty rad group to me.)

Bach once ticked off a bassoon player by calling him a "nanny-goat bassoonist" during a rehearsal with a student orchestra. The same bassoon player confronted Bach in public when he was walking home. Despite his efforts to calm the stick-brandishing bassoonist, the confrontation escalated, and the bassoonist wrestled Bach to the ground, where the two exchanged repeated blows until a few other students broke up the fight. We often picture Bach as a rotund, stately gentleman in a fancy wig, but apparently he could hold his own in a scrap.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

isorhythm said:


> Pretty sure the person who made this was a fan of this music. Anyway it's a classic.


The video seems to have been made by Matthias Bamert, a well-known conductor who did the Chandos "Contemporaries of Mozart" series.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I can reccomend Anna Russell. Look on youtube. this one is a classic,



 if you have the time.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

These are my two favorite anecdotes about Erich Wolfgang Korngold. (I am doing these from memory, so please forgive any minor discrepancies.) 

Korngold first came to Hollywood to adapt Felix Mendelssohn’s music for a film version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After he did this, the producer asked him if he would be willing to write a full score of his own. That turned out to be “Captain Blood.” (This was in 1935). Then he wrote a much more extensive score for “Anthony Adverse,” for which he won an Academy Award. After that, he was offered another score, which he did not want to do because he wanted to return home to Austria. During his time back at home, hostilities were rising, and he was asked if he might not reconsider and come back to Hollywood and do the score. He resisted, saying that he did not want to leave his family behind again for such a long period, so the producer offered to pay for their travel and expenses as well, for the duration of the project. Somewhat reluctantly, he accepted and it turned out to be very good timing since, just after they were all in Hollywood, Germany invaded and annexed Austria, and seized the Korngold home in Vienna. Being of Jewish background, he and his family would likely have been rounded up and taken off to work camps, or worse. The movie for which he wrote the score was an Erol Flynn costumer called “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” and for many years afterwards he proudly declared himself the last living man who was saved by Robin Hood. 

The other story takes place several years after Korngold was working at Warner Brothers. One day in the commissary, Max Steiner (something of a rival composer at the studio) came up to him and asked, “Wolfie, you have been at the studio for some time now, and why is it that during that time your music gets worse and worse while my music gets better and better?” “Well, Maxie,” Korngold replied, “the truth is that during all this time, you have been stealing from me . . . and I have been stealing from you.”


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## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

Edwin Fisher was once asked by a student why he carried an old, shabby briefcase around with him and what it contained, to which Fisher replied, " I keep all my wrong notes in it."


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Stravinsky's _Scenes de ballet_ (1944) was commissioned by impresario Billy Rose for the revue _Seven lively arts_. Rose was bothered by the orchestration and sent a message: "great success - could be sensational if you authorize retouch orchestration by Russell Bennett" - to which Stravinsky replied: "satisfied with great success".


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

When I saw Victor Borge performing here, he began one of his standard bits, one in which he was obligated to play some well-known piece that he clearly wasn't particularly interested in playing. He made the introduction, explaining the obligation, and then, every time he was about to play a few notes, he interrupted himself with some sort of business, much of it involving shifting the bench or adjusting his position in relation to the piano, or fiddling with the score pages on the stand at the top of the piano. At one point, he began to play and looked oddly at the score, suddenly realizing that it was upside down and that he was, essentially, playing the music backwards. He smiled in that amusingly awkward way, and turned it back up, playing a few notes in the proper order, then interrupted himself again, and so on for several minutes. At one point, abandoning any pretense that there was anything in the interruptions other than trying not to play the piece, he stood up and held out a pocket watch. "There is a very nice story about this watch," he said. "It belonged to my father, who gave it to me just before he died. And before that, it belonged to his father, my grandfather, who gave it to my father just before he died. Isn't it a lovely watch?" He paused a moment, to show the watch around, before waving his finger and continuing, "I don't know about you, but I am not giving this watch away to anybody." He then went back to the piano, but interrupted himself again as some people came in late. (I don't know if they were planned as part of the act, or if he was just improvising a bit. As a casual concert, it did seem that people were allowed in late.) "Hello," he said as if genuinely very happy to see them. "How are you? Did you have trouble finding the concert? Did you get a good parking space? Oh, good, good. There are seats over here and there. Don't worry, you haven't really missed anything . . . but you will never know where I got this watch."


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I think Borge says that his father, on his deathbed, sold the watch to him for $20.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Strange Magic said:


> I think Borge says that his father, on his deathbed, sold the watch to him for $20.


I am sure that there are numerous variations. This is the way I remember him delivering it at the concert (for which I do not offhand remember the year).


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

I posted in another thread, but I think it fits better here:


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## pcnog11 (Nov 14, 2016)

If you were lost in the woods, whom would you ask for directions — an in-tune oboe player, an out-of-tune oboe player, or Santa Claus? 

The out-of-tune oboe player. The other two are hallucinations.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

The Opera House Intendant appears on stage, in front of the lowered curtain, just before the performance is scheduled to start. He holds out his arms to ask for quiet, then announces,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to have to inform you that tonight's conductor, our beloved Emeritus Maestro Dr. _______ unfortunately collapsed and died early this afternoon."
There is a shocked and dismayed silence in the hall.
"However, in order not to disappoint his audience, he has never-the-less consented to conduct tonight's performance..."
cheers,
GG


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

GraemeG said:


> The Opera House Intendant appears on stage, in front of the lowered curtain, just before the performance is scheduled to start. He holds out his arms to ask for quiet, then announces,
> "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to have to inform you that tonight's conductor, our beloved Emeritus Maestro Dr. _______ unfortunately collapsed and died early this afternoon."
> There is a shocked and dismayed silence in the hall.
> "However, in order not to disappoint his audience, he has never-the-less consented to conduct tonight's performance..."
> ...


The first piece on the program: Mahler's Resurrection Symphony


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)

Bettina said:


> The first piece on the program: Mahler's Resurrection Symphony


Followed by Haydn's Symphony no. 94 (Surprise).


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

True story:

After a concert one evening by Jascha Heifetz, an admirer visited Heifetz in his dressing room, gushing, "Mr. Heifetz, what a performance! Your violin has such a gorgeous tone!" Heifetz picked up his instrument, held it to his ear and knit his brow, "I don't hear anything."


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> I think Borge says that his father, on his deathbed, sold the watch to him for $20.


Woody Allen used that line in his stand-up comedy. That doesn't mean that Borge didn't use it as well.


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## Forss (May 12, 2017)

I really love this scene, when Zimerman, at about 3:42, naturally starts to conduct (as he did in the first two concertos), and Bernstein goes: "No, not today, my friend!"


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

A classic! The irony is that every one of the musicians are professionals but they placed all the instruments in the middle of the room, blindfolded themselves and they had to play with the one they picked. The result is this:


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Some high level poetry is needed!!

There was a young man from Grenada
who could f*rt the "Moonlight" Sonata, 
He blew out his *ss
Bach's b minor Mass,
and highlights from La Traviata!!

:devil::lol:


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

In one orchestra I played with for many years, we were performing Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story"...

at the first rehearsal, things were a little tense, not sure why, but there was a nervous edge to it...on the first read-thru, we were playing the opening section - the Rumble Music, which opens the show. 
of course, things get pretty wild, vigorous, lots of excitement, then a police whistle blows, and the rival gang members scatter...

Well, it was first rehearsal, and the percussionists did not have a police whistle available - so one enterprising percussionist, improvised, and blew a "duck call", which was available - so a loud raucous quacking brought the fisticuffs to a halt, among much laughing and giggling amongst the orchestra members....The conductor, gave a sort of awkward, forced smile/laugh - obviously not pleased that the correct instrument had not been used...everyone else thought it hilarious...it helped take the edge off things...
we went back, rehearsed the same section - once again, the resounding duck call halted the ongoing rumble...this time - conductor not pleased - <<_you know, it wasn't all that funny the first time_>>
some wise guy in the brass <<_Hey, that's not the police, it's the GAME WARDEN!!_>>
entire orchestra bursts out LOL!! even the conductor broke into a laugh....
rehearsal went very well after that.........


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> A classic! The irony is that every one of the musicians are professionals but they placed all the instruments in the middle of the room, blindfolded themselves and they had to play with the one they picked. The result is this:


I had their LP years ago (when I had a turntable). I still have that track on a compilation disc of British humor (or should I say humour). It also includes their versions of the "William Tell Overture" and music from The Who's "Tommy."


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I have plenty of stories from my history in orchestras and other kinds of ensembles. Some verbal humor, some literal musical humor. For example, sightreading der Freischutz Overture, people missing the sudden key change from C minor to major in the finale :lol:. Or when the conductor says "Let's go to rehearsal G as in..." "Gnat!" some cheeky violinist says. Both incidents from my undergrad years.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

JAS said:


> Very funny. The one who plays piano, which I am assuming is Joo, reminds me a bit of Dudley Moore in his days with Peter Cook (particularly in the off key classical singing). I almost wish I could drive all the way to Asheville, NC to see them perform, apparently the only US gig. As for Borge, a good bit of the humor works because they can actually play their instruments quite competently.


I was really pleased when the entire "Beyond the Fringe" was posted on YouTube several years ago. I've had the recordings for many decades, but I was too young to see and appreciate them when they performed live. I did see Cook and Moore reprise some of the sketches while adding some great new ones in "Behind the Fridge."

"Beyond the Fringe" had several classical music based sketches, of which this is probably the best known.






In addition to Cook and Moore the other two writer/performers were Alan Bennett, who would go on to a major career as a writer ("The Madness of King George III", "The History Boys" and much more), and Jonathan Miller, who would combine a career as a medical doctor and stage and opera director (Glyndebourne, the Met, Royal Opera House).


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## brahms4 (May 8, 2017)

''Why is it that whenever I hear a piece of music that I do not like,it`s always by Villa-Lobos"?-Igor Stravinsky


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I have plenty of stories from my history in orchestras and other kinds of ensembles. Some verbal humor, some literal musical humor. For example, sightreading der Freischutz Overture, people missing the sudden key change from C minor to major in the finale


I remember several riotous occasions when the clarinetist forgot to switch instruments from A-Bb or vice versa - Borodin Polovtsian Dances was famous for that...great solo for clarinet - 1/2 step off!!


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

The very first concert I ever attended as a little tyke was PDQ Bach at Carnegie Hall. I was crushed when a guy in a gray suit came out on stage and announced the concert would have to be cancelled as Mr. Schickele had not arrived. Then, mid-announcement, Schickele comes sprinting down the stairs in the balcony shrieking, "Here I am!", grabs a rope and swings Tarzan-style onto the stage. I was still disappointed, as this was obviously a comedy show, not a real concert. But I was impressed when, in the midst of conducting the Concerto for Horn and Hardart, Schickele put a quarter in the Hardart and pulled out a sandwich. Talk about multi-media!
Anyway, here's an illustrated selection from Carmina Burana:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

At a concert at Carnegie Hall with Jascha Heifetz as soloist, a well-known professional violinist competitor of his and Artur Rubinstein were sitting in orchestra seats.

The violinist exclaimed, "It's awfully hot in here!"

Rubinstein countered, "Not for pianists!!"


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

You've probably heard the famous Karajan joke. Bernstein, Böhm and Karajan are sitting together arguing who's the greatest conductor on earth. Bernstein says that God appeared to him and said, It s you! Böhm replies that that's not very likely because God appeared to him and told him, It s you! At which point Herbert von Karajan drily adds, I said nothing of the sort!

-------------------------------------

Herbert von Karajan and his wife enter a room. Wife: “God, it’s cold in here!” Karajan: “Darling, you can call me ‘Herbert’ when we’re alone.”


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

A percussionist, tired from being ridiculed by other musicians, decides to change instruments. He walks into a music shop and says, "I'll take that red trumpet over there, and that accordion." After a second, the shop assistant says, "OK, you can have the fire extinguisher but the radiator stays."


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

What's Beethoven's favorite thing to eat?

A Ba-na-na-naaaaa!


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## jdec (Mar 23, 2013)

Arnold Schoenberg walks into a bar. "I'll have a gin please, but no tonic"


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Inspired by the above post:

Q: Why did Schoenberg crawl into his house through the window?
A: He couldn't get the door open - he didn't have a key! :lol:


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Badinerie said:


> I can reccomend Anna Russell. Look on youtube. this one is a classic,
> 
> 
> 
> if you have the time.


Thanks for posting this. I heard a part of it many years ago on the radio. But I forgot who the lady was, and since then have often wondered, and tried to find it again. Web searches came up empty. And now, finally, there she is, poking fun at Wagner. 



jegreenwood said:


> "Beyond the Fringe" had several classical music based sketches, of which this is probably the best known.


It's not just hilarious, it also shows that Moore had far more to him than merely being a short and funny guy. He could have made himself a nice little career as concert pianist.

I particularly like the opening, and that run in the end, where he piles up endless stacks of Beethovenisms.



WildThing said:


> What's Beethoven's favorite thing to eat?
> 
> A Ba-na-na-naaaaa!


Hey, have you heard the latest Beethoven joke?

- Neither has he.

And speaking of the maestro, something slightly surreal:


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Artur Rodzinski was a fine conductor, but probably a certifiable nutcase. There are many stories about him - 
on one occasion he was guest conducting the New York Philharmonic - mid 1930s....this was a pretty tough, cynical outfit, esp back then. 
Rodzinski was rehearsing Mahler Sym #1, and was not pleased with the way it was going. finally, in frustration, he stopped the rehearsal - spoke to the orchestra, rather sarcastically - something like: <<_Well, my esteemed colleagues, what do you suggest we do to make the Mahler sound better?_>>
from the back row, Harry Glantz, the great first trumpeter: <<_Get Bruno Walter!!_>>

This NYPO was also the one that generated the famous Klemperer/Labate incident - Klemperer, in his earlier days, was a quite a talker at orchestra rehearsals - this generally drives orchestras nuts. OK was of course, a big man, quite imposing, tall, with a rather forbidding presence....the NYPO principal oboe, Bruno Labate was a tiny fellow, a real character. they said that Labate was so short that when he stood up from his seat, he was actually shorter than when he sat!! the chair boosted his height...anyway- Klemperer was going on and on about something at rehearsal - 
Labate: "_Hey, Klemp - you talka too much!!_" 
orchestras dissolves in uproarious laughter...


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Heck148 said:


> the NYPO principal oboe, Bruno Labate was a tiny fellow, a real character. they said that Labate was so short that when he stood up from his seat, he was actually shorter than when he sat!! the chair boosted his height..."_Hey, Klemp - you talka too much!!_"
> orchestras dissolves in uproarious laughter...


Yes, a great and famous story, and there are others involving Bruno Labate. One small correction, though: Labate was short, but not "tiny" by any means, especially in later years. "Rotund" would be a better description. Rodzinski ultimately fired him, after getting the OK from Arthur Judson.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

fluteman said:


> Yes, a great and famous story, and there are others involving Bruno Labate. One small correction, though: Labate was short, but not "tiny" by any means, especially in later years. "Rotund" would be a better description. Rodzinski ultimately fired him, after getting the OK from Arthur Judson.


I heard from those who knew him that Labate was pretty short, 5'..maybe... when he stood up, he appeared shorter than when seated....so they tell me...
for more on the Labate/Klemps incident:http://www.jeffreysward.com/tributes/bruno.htm

Yes, Rodzinski did fire him in the "Purge of 1943" - several principals - including concertmaster M. Piastro, ob I B. Labate, Bassoon I B. Kohon, Horn I B. Jaenicke[/B] - these were some very great, famous musicians.

Their replacements were very excellent, some great players, who formed the core of the NYPO for the next generation or so - 
J Corigliano [father of contemporary composer], Harold Gomberg, Wm Polisi....it took a few years for the Horn I position to settle in - but James Chambers ended up with it in Sept 1946.

Jaenicke died in 1946, Ben Kohon went on to play in the NBCSO, basically he switched jobs with Polisi. He stayed with NBC until 1947, when he retired and Sharrow assumed the position. Kohon had a long illustrious career - he played in the NYPO in 1908-11, under Mahler!!, then in Philadelphia under Stokowski, before transferring back to the NYPO in the 1920s...he was NYPO principal under Toscanini and Mengelberg.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Wow, thanks for all that history, Heck148! I don't go back far enough to have heard Corigliano, Gomberg, Polisi or Chambers in person. I have them on record, though!
As you no doubt know, Rodzinski left the NY Phil after clashing with its iron-fisted manager, Arthur Judson, and went to the Chicago Symphony. But there he was fired after one season, apparently for demanding that the orchestra abandon Orchestra Hall for the Medina Temple. 
But back to the short and portly Bruno Labate -- I've read other funny stories involving him. Quite a character.
And the funniest conductor I've ever seen -- Danny Kaye, conducting the NY Philharmonic for a benefit in 1981.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

fluteman said:


> Wow, thanks for all that history, Heck148! I don't go back far enough to have heard Corigliano, Gomberg, Polisi or Chambers in person. I have them on record, though!


I heard Gomberg, Chambers and Corigliano many times - Polisi left the NYPO in 1958, he and Bernstein clashed pretty badly...but I studied summers with Polisi at Univ of Vermont - Summer Music camp - he was also a real character - his son Joseph [Joey] was president of Juilliard for many years - a very sharp, capable fellow, he just recently retired - Joe was a pretty decent bassoonist, not as good as the old man, but still good.



> As you no doubt know, Rodzinski left the NY Phil after clashing with its iron-fisted manager, Arthur Judson, and went to the Chicago Symphony. But there he was fired after one season, apparently for demanding that the orchestra abandon Orchestra Hall for the Medina Temple.


Rodzinski was his own worst enemy - a fine conductor, but he had a volcanic temper - he was famous for summary on-the-spot-firings. He was constantly shooting his own feet off, tho...[he actually carried a loaded revolver to every rehearsal and concert!!] There are tons of Rodzinski stories....

It's no surprise that orchestras became pretty hard-edged, tough and cynical in those days of the podium tyrants - Chicago endured in short succession - Rodzinski, and Reiner - two of the ultimate tyrants - in between they had Kubelik, who fired 3/4 of the long-time woodwind section principals!! again, like Rodzinski and NYPO, the replacements were very fine, - Lindemann[clar] was eventually replaced by Clark Brodie, a great player, Sherman Walt [bssn] was replaced by Lenny Sharrow, a wonderful musician, Rateau, on flute was replaced first by Julius Baker, who left, Ernst Liegl returned, eventually replaced by Donald Peck. Mueller, oboe, stayed on, but Reiner was not happy with him and in 1953-54, brought in Ray Still to replace him.

The CSO has an excellent website - including a very good list of former musicians:
https://cso.org/globalassets/about/rosenthal-archives/pdfs/former_musicians.pdf


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Thanks again, Heck! now you're getting into my era. I well remember Ray Still and Donald Peck from my Chicago days, but the principal clarinetist was Larry Combs and the bassoonist Willard Elliot. All great players. And principal hornist Dale Clevenger, who was a friend of my uncle, so I once got to have dinner with him and his wife. I also heard him give a superb recital at Northwestern University. Of course I heard Julius Baker during his NY Philharmonic career, and Sherman Walt with the BSO. Rene Rateau was a student of Philippe Gaubert, one of the two fathers of the modern flute (with his teacher Paul Taffanel). I would love to have heard him!
One more Chicago Symphony story: My late uncle, a mathematician who passed away a couple of years ago, may have been the last surviving musician to have played under Frederick Stock, as a violinist in the University of Chicago student orchestra. Apparently Stock was none too impressed with the college students, making them stop and start over at one point in the performance.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

fluteman said:


> Thanks again, Heck! now you're getting into my era. I well remember Ray Still and Donald Peck from my Chicago days, but the principal clarinetist was Larry Combs and the bassoonist Willard Elliot. All great players. And principal hornist Dale Clevenger, who was a friend of my uncle, so I once got to have dinner with him and his wife.


The CSO section, once established under Reiner, did not change too much for the next 30 years or so....Peck and Still were long-time members, Sharrow left in '64, and Willard Elliot took over, Combs became Clarinet I in 1978...Farkas left the orchestra in 1960, and after a few changes, Clevenger assumed principal Horn in c.1965. Peck and Still had a long running feud, with much bitterness, that originated in the 60s when Martinon and Still had their very nasty affair...


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)




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## Physix (Feb 14, 2014)

Idk how much you guys like puns but... 

What's the holiest chord? 

Gsus chord


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Heck148 said:


> Peck and Still had a long running feud, with much bitterness, that originated in the 60s when Martinon and Still had their very nasty affair...


Peck and Still seemed to be polar opposite personalities, Peck quiet and soft spoken, Still lively and talkative. Still told a funny story about oboe reed making. While many oboe players buy the unfinished reeds and use special tools for final shaping, Still actually bought the machine used to cut the reed from the original block of wood. Then he went to Spain and purchased a large supply of the cane that is used and carefully learned the manufacturing process.
But then it turned out he was acutely allegeric to the saw dust created by the process and had to get rid of everything.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

fluteman said:


> Peck and Still seemed to be polar opposite personalities, Peck quiet and soft spoken, Still lively and talkative.


TMK, they got along well enough, until Martinon and Still had their big blow-up...Peck sided with the conductor, obviously that was cause for major resentment.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

well i thought it was funny


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

Knock knock, who's there? Philip Glass. Knock knock, who's there? Philip Glass. Knock knock, who's there? Philip Glass


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

How do you get two percussionists to play in time together? A: Shoot one of them.


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

Buzzfeed is the source of this one


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

A harpist must have lots of pluck,
a black silk costume, and a truck.


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