Aaron Rabushka ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>The story that I'd heard about Scherchen replacing Webern at this premiere
>was that the latter had taken two rehearsals to get through eight measures.
>Is this verified anywhere or is it yet another bubba misa?

According to Louis Krasner's notes to the Continuum release, Webern
rehearsed 'one, two or even three notes at a time' although 'after two
rehearsals we had not covered more than three or four pages'.

Scherchen took over, having never even seen the score, and had just 1/2
hour's rehearsal, at around midnight the night before the premiere.

There is a similar story concerning a BBC SO Mahler 6 which Webern was to
conduct in the mid-30s.  According to what I read some years back, agter
3 hours of rehearsal they hadn't got past bar 6.  The performance was
cancelled.

Deryk Barker
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