Back in farwaway 1980, I stayed with friends who were living in London.
The populace was consumed not by the Iran hostage crisis, nor by the
meaning of life, but by that most elemental of truths - who shot JR?
For several weeks, "Dallas" was the regular accompaniment to the evening
meal and all was finally revealed. I never saw the program after that
and have long forgotten who did the deed.
Yesterday I put on my new CD of Klemperer's symphonies and other short
orchestral works. A few minutes into the first symphony, a theme emerged
which reminded me immediately of the "Dallas" theme which had been lurking
all these years in some rarely-visited part of my mental RAM, ready to
leap into action. This is what we might call the Rachmaninov Syndrome,
following on from the slow movement of his fourth piano concerto with a
theme which is uncomfortably like an old British music hall song, if I
remember the story correctly. The symphony was written in 1960 and
Klemperer was long gone before the TV series emerged, so he didn't have
a double life as a composer for the small screen.
Two other examples of things I wish I didn't remember. I don't listen
to Tchaikovsky's first Piano Concerto all that often, but after the
wonderful Hoffnung Concerto Popolare, in which the orchestra has rehearsed
the Tchaikovsky and the soloist the Grieg, I always expect this confusion
in straight performances. Many years ago, a friend noted that after the
first couple of throat clearings by the basses at the beginning of
Mahler's 2nd, they play the opening of the Mexican Hat Dance!
Recently, I saw that highly inventive film, "Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind" in which a process allowed the removal of selected memories.
I was envious. It would be wonderful to get rid of all those pop songs
I hated but can't forget, and the examples quoted above, especially that
^&%#$ theme from "Dallas".
There must be other examples that listers can quote. So let's see them
- confession is good for the soul, and perhaps also for the memory.
Richard Pennycuick
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