tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post3900126858694064029..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Also sprach the composerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-75443376037036292902009-03-10T04:22:00.000+00:002009-03-10T04:22:00.000+00:00Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, who I always think of as L...Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, who I always think of as Lord Berners, wrote some very funny music; he was thought of by some as the British Satie. He also wrote a novel I return to every fifteen or twenty years, alas only in a French translation because I've never found a copy of the English original: Le nez de Cléopatre, which is about the Egyptian queen and her plastic surgeon. Very funny and, I think, skillful.Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-73948994189997200972008-10-10T15:57:00.000+01:002008-10-10T15:57:00.000+01:00Black mark also against me for not thinking of Hil...Black mark also against me for not thinking of Hildegard von Bingen. I knew I was missing someone important (and I still sense we are). (I had earlier thought of mentioning the Hebraic King David.)<BR/><BR/>*<BR/><BR/>I mentioned Peter Zinovieff as composer because of his work composing a few computer music film scores in the early 1970s. I had also just finished reading his diary entries for the summer of 1976 when his computer studio was hosting Harrison Birtwistle (who was "collaborating" with Mr Zinovieff on the computer sound design for the third act of Mask of Orpheus) as well as Hans Werner Henze, and assorted other Bulgarians and rock and roll roadies.<BR/><BR/>Here is the link to Zinovieff's diary entries. <BR/><BR/>(Sequenza21's host Jerry Bowles is also a very fine writer in my opinion mainly, I believe, of short forms.)<BR/><BR/>http://members.tripod.com/werdav/vocpzino.htm<BR/><BR/>http://www.oxfordgirlschoir.co.uk/hildegard/scivias1synopsis.htmlGarth Trinklhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11084463787729969177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-1212733685262637472008-10-10T05:45:00.000+01:002008-10-10T05:45:00.000+01:00What about Franz Liszt? He wrote on many subjects...What about Franz Liszt? He wrote on many subjects. Or Adam de la Halle?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-58743244908165023682008-10-09T09:32:00.000+01:002008-10-09T09:32:00.000+01:00Fritz Hart (1874-1949), a London-born composer-con...Fritz Hart (1874-1949), a London-born composer-conductor who worked mostly in Australia and Hawaii, is said to have written 24 novels between 1939 and 1946, all unpublished. This neglect seems a pity when the titles include 'Three Ways of Making Love', 'Enquiries — Strictly Private' and 'A Brazen Little Baggage'. Apparently, he also wrote librettos (of which Holst set one when both men were students at the RCM) and poems.Paul Griffithshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171653884998730659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-84438267745537972592008-10-09T07:57:00.000+01:002008-10-09T07:57:00.000+01:00Music knows no barriers here. So another black mar...Music knows no barriers here. So another black mark against me for missing Leonard Cohen from my list. <BR/><BR/>Not only is Cohen a great song-writer. He is also a fine poet, librettist for Philip Glass and author of the novel <I>Beautiful Losers</I> which has remained in print for more than forty years.<BR/><BR/>http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Losers-Leonard-Cohen/dp/0679748253/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223535289&sr=1-2<BR/><BR/>http://www.overgrownpath.com/2007/10/stranger-music-from-leonard-cohen.htmlPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-58414018277123253202008-10-09T07:51:00.000+01:002008-10-09T07:51:00.000+01:00Thanks Garth. Peter Zinovieff was, I think, more l...Thanks Garth. Peter Zinovieff was, I think, more librettist than composer but Guillaume de Machaut was certainly a very great poet.<BR/><BR/>Composers of sacred music is an obvious one. So a black mark against me for omitting Hildegard of Bingen whose three books, <I>Scivias</I> ("Know the Way"), <I>Liber vitae meritorum</I> ("Book of Life's Merits") and <I>De operatione Dei</I> ("Of God's Activities", also known as <I>Liber divinorum operum</I> ("Book of Divine Works") should be there alongside <I>Also sprack Zarathrusta</I>.Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-35214890879716809152008-10-09T07:41:00.000+01:002008-10-09T07:41:00.000+01:00Another two: Bax, who wrote poems as Dermot O'Byrn...Another two: Bax, who wrote poems as Dermot O'Byrne, and Berners. Of course, there are plenty of composers who wrote poems or librettos for setting, whether by themselves or others.<BR/>Many thanks for noticing the book, and also The General, a recording of which is being released next month on the RCA Red Seal label.Paul Griffithshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09171653884998730659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-25396244197079830872008-10-08T21:30:00.000+01:002008-10-08T21:30:00.000+01:00Ok ... how about Guillaume de Machaut or Peter Zin...Ok ... how about Guillaume de Machaut or Peter Zinovieff?Garth Trinklhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11084463787729969177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-19467434579797973592008-10-08T21:04:00.000+01:002008-10-08T21:04:00.000+01:00Daniel thanks for that. Carter Scholz is very inte...Daniel thanks for that. Carter Scholz is very interesting and E. T. A. Hoffman and Anthony Burgess definitely qualify as well.<BR/><BR/>I see that Carter Scholz also realised a number of fonts designed by Lou Harrison.<BR/><BR/>http://www.frogpeak.org/fpartists/fpscholz.html<BR/><BR/>http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2004/11/burgess1.htmPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-49863817437117128782008-10-08T20:57:00.000+01:002008-10-08T20:57:00.000+01:00Berkeley, California composer Carter Scholz has wr...Berkeley, California composer Carter Scholz has written a fine novel, <I>Radiance</I>, and a good collection of short stories, <I>The Amount to Carry</I>.<BR/><BR/>Another category is the author who also happens to compose: E. T. A. Hoffmann and Anthony Burgess come to mind.Daniel Wolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09093101325234464791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-11053906993531181922008-10-08T20:56:00.000+01:002008-10-08T20:56:00.000+01:00I guess I should also have added that Paul Griffit...I guess I should also have added that Paul Griffiths was one-time chief music critic of the New Yorker.<BR/><BR/>http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Penguin-Companion-to-Classical-Music/Paul-Griffiths/e/9780140515596<BR/><BR/>None of which gets us any closer to finding any more composers who were also authors of literary works ...Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-46622228659692623882008-10-08T20:34:00.000+01:002008-10-08T20:34:00.000+01:00Pliable, I know that John Cage (and random financi...Pliable, I know that John Cage (and random financial walks) have been on your mind this week, but (your final question aside) it must be noted that Mr Griffiths wrote the libretto to Elliot Carter's one-act opera 'What's Next?'. I can't now recall whether or not a prequel to the opera is still planned.<BR/><BR/>(I believe that Mr Griffiths also provided his own poetry, and voice, to a collaboration with contemporary classical cellist Frances-Marie Uitti.)Garth Trinklhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11084463787729969177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-4609911531279026982008-10-08T20:06:00.000+01:002008-10-08T20:06:00.000+01:00When is a composer not a composer? I note this fro...When is a composer not a composer? <BR/><BR/>I note this from the 2008/9 season of La Jolla Symphony and Chorus.<BR/><BR/>May 2-3, 2009 PASSION <BR/>Beethoven<BR/>Beethoven/Paul Griffiths (text)<BR/>Edward Elgar<BR/> Elegy<BR/>The General U.S. PREMIERE<BR/>Cello Concerto<BR/><BR/>Special Guests: Maya Beiser, cellist; Phil Larsen, narrator <BR/> <BR/>Beethoven's moving Elegy for chorus and string orchestra begins a program that features stunning guest artist Maya Beiser performing Elgar's heartbreaking Cello Concerto. <BR/><BR/>In The General, author/librettist Paul Griffiths draws a composite score from Beethoven (Egmont, King Stephen, Leonore Prohaska and Opferlied) and adds text to create a dramatic work for orchestra, chorus, and actor that tells the story of the Rwandan tragedy through the eyes of the general leading the U.N. peacekeeping mission.<BR/><BR/>http://www.lajollasymphony.com/concerts/index.phpPliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.com