John Dalmas wrote:
>>... All the same adjectives we have heard since the work's premiere
>>in this country in 1942 are trotted out again: bland, dull, boring,
>>embarrassing. ... Why is the "Leningrad" such fair game? Any comments?
And Steven Schwartz replied:
>The objections center mainly on the first movement, particularly the
>"German" theme, which Bartok appropriated satirically for the Concerto
>for Orchestra.
And in doing so became the bane of bass trombonists everywhere. Those
solo glisses in the fourth movement are part of the passage mocking the
Shostakovich symphony. The first one is for bass trombone and starts on
a low B, one of the most difficult notes on the instrument, all exposed.
Roger Hecht