Eric Kisch:

>Can anyone nominate other such persistent "head busters?" I'll start with
>Hoffnung's Chopin mazurka done with four tubas.  Heard on only piano
>afterwards, there is a sense of loss of color...

Inevitably, that brings us to the legendary Hoffnung Music Festivals.  If
you've never heard of them, imagine an orchestra playing the orchestral
part of Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto while the soloist valiantly tries
to play the Grieg - I haven't really been able to take either concerto
seriously since.  Or try Beethoven's Leonore No 4, when the off-stage
trumpet keeps missing his cue and then finally gets it right.  There are
many other delights.  We need this sort of thing to remind us not to take
our music - and ourselves - too seriously.

Richard Pennycuick
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