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Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:18:12 +0100 |
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marcus Maroney <[log in to unmask]> (et al!!) asks me what it is that
I find so irritating about the opening of the Janacek Sinfonietta.
Well try these: raucous, whingeing/whining, repetitive, grating and lacks
originality (in the sense that it is the kind of cliche'd musical sounds
one might hear from a child shrieking out in the playground). The more
often I hear it the less I ever want to do so again.
I can see a few virtues too but majestic is certainly not one of them!
Anyway it irritates me greatly. I have no problem with Janacek. I've seen
nearly all the operas and enjoyed them greatly (even House of the Dead!)
although I would venture that, like Britten, they are better by far in the
theatre rather than as a domestic listening experience.
But I didn't think I was seeking agreement, disagreement or retribution!
I asked what other openings had a similar effect on people!? It seems not
many.
And here's one that seems to me rotten right the way through - Ronald
Binge's "Sailing by" - I imagine it as a piece played in purgatory - a
short loop of tape turning endlessly until you scream for release and the
men in white coats come to carry you away! BBC Radio 4 used to (still do?)
end their daily transmission with this - probably to ensure that people
turned their radios off before falling asleep! We never let it get that
far. I have a problem with Bartok too.
John G. Deacon
Home page: www.ctv.es/USERS/j.deacon
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