This is "who" we are not.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    I have to get up at 3am, get on the road 4am, and hope that the 405 and LAX aren't screwed up.
    Why I do this is summed up by this exerpt from "The Big Broadcast of 1937," to which I pray we all subscribe.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3E66kcfJTM

    Let Leopold RIP, next to Bugs Bunny if need be. We have bigger fish, being fishers of ......
    Thanked by 1Continuousbass
  • ClergetKubiszClergetKubisz
    Posts: 1,912
    That's me on bass clarinet by the way...

    That was awesome, but I fear I've missed the point, Melo.

    Coincidentally, has anyone heard Ton Koopman play that on the organ? Worth checking out.
    Thanked by 1ZacPB189
  • ARRGGGHHHH!
    If there is anything worse than those bloated Stokowski arrangements of organ works for symphony orchestra, it's anybody's arrangement of anybody's orchestral works for organ. No matter our profession, art, or trade, the poor in taste (and scholarship) we will always have with us.The most amazing (if not disturbing!) thing about observing Bach organ works played by a modern symphony orchestra is that nobody is caught up in uncontrollable and derisive laughter. Ditto orchestral works on the organ. (And, I don't need to hear about Bach's arrangements of Vivaldi's concertos!)
  • Bach's arrangement of Vivaldi Concertos.
    Liszt's arrangement of the Fantasia and Fugue on BACH for Organ for Piano
    Dupre's arrangements of Bach Chorale Preludes
    Busoni's arrangements of Bach
    Bach's arrangements of Bach
    Ravel's arrangement of Mussorgkys' Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano for Orchestra
    Emerson, Lake and Palmer's arrangement of Ravel's arrangement of Mussorgkys' Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano for Orchestra for Rock Band
    Jean Guillou's arrangement of Mussorgkys' Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano for Organ
    Edwin Lemare's arrangement's of lots and lots and lots of all kinds for music for the organ.
    Arrangments of Mozart's Fantasias for Musical Clock Organ for Organ by Dupre and others.
    The Firebird Suite on the Organ.
    LOL!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9zAlSXSOo

    Arrangements of organ music and arrangements of chant have brought many to the organ and to chant. We should not deny others the opportunity to discover organ and chant music through music...by being purists.
  • JahazaJahaza
    Posts: 470
    Schoenberg's Bach orchestrations.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    I"m reminded of a concert in Poland, ca 1980: Stokowski's arrangement of Bach. I thought it crude and unlovely, but feared I was a heretic or a young inexperienced musician, so I said nothing. Thanks for the reminder!
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Melo,
    I am a little confused here. Am I to understand that you enjoyed this rendition by Leopold Stokowski or not? For me, I love the piece but truly find the orchestration to be cumbersome. Are you saying that even with poor arrangements, the joy of music gets you going in the morning? If so, bravo. If not, please explain.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Aw Ken, I know I'm a tough read most of the time but here's my regular obfuscating reply:
    1. What's the title of the thread.
    2. The Bugs Bunny reference is legend when he strides through the orchestra and all the musicians gradually cease playing the opera, murmuring "Leopold, Leopold!"
    3. The pomposity of Stokowski's silhouetted ascension to stage orchestra of "Fantasia" has always been a laughing stock for me, if not my generation. No, the only rivals I know to "Leopold's" self aggrandizement (as I studied them) were Sir Thomas Beechum and Arturo Toscanini. And I'm not dissing any of their musical genius. Just sayin' who we try not to be.
  • Leopold, Leopold, Leopold!
  • Chrism
    Posts: 872
  • This would be useful in showing a choir...
    Thanked by 1ClergetKubisz
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Obfuscation... nice.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Don't knock it! I trace my love of classical music to the Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker cartoons I watched as a child. It wouldn't surprise me if kids don't even hear any of that anymore. They are all playing video games. It's amazing that concert literature was used in cartoons, but as I indicated, that might have been the only exposure some kids got. I am sure all you exalted purists were conducting the Berlin Philharmonic at the age of four.
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Wow!! CW, don't take it too much to heart. I watched those cartoons too. I still would if I had time. In fact, you are totally correct that Warner chose excellent music for those toons. If I recall correctly, the Bugs Bunny cartoon also did the Barber of Seville and some Bartok as well. The spoof on Leopold actually went over my head when I was a kid. I thought that they meant Leopold Mozart, and I couldn't figure out why. As far as orchestration goes, Stokowski was not to my taste, but if he inspired young people to consider classical music, fabulous!! The guy I loved when I was growing up was Leonard Bernstien.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    I remember Bernstein and never missed his televised concerts for young people. Are the kids hearing any of that music anymore?
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    I don't think so. I'm not sure where young people would go to see and hear good music and have it explained to them like the Maestro used to. In NYC, where I'm from, there are free concerts in the park given by the philharmonic, but those are usually attended by folks like me who already love classical music.