Klarinet Archive - Posting 001129.txt from 1999/07

From: "Ed Wojtowicz" <ewoj@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Hearing Other Clarinet Players
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 22:42:38 -0400

In 1888, in Leipzig Brahms was invited to the home of Adolphe Brodsky, the
concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. It was there that he had dinner
with Grieg and Tchaikovsky.

There was indeed some tension between the two. Apparently, neither liked the
others music and made no attempt to hide this fact. Tchaikovsky wrote home
"I have been much with Brahms yesterday and today...We are ill at ease
together because we do not really like each other, but he takes pains to be
pleasant with me." In a diary entry Tchaikovsky called Brahms "that
scoundrel...this self inflated mediocrity."

Brahms was recorded by an American named Theo Wangemann. He had been sent by
Edison to record famous Europeans.

This information is documented in Jan Swafford's Biography of Brahms (Knopf,
1997)

I have a friend that has heard this recording, but don't know where it might
be available.

Ed

----------
>From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>

> I once read that Brahms and Tchaikovsky met only one time. The account
> stated that Brahms was visiting at the home of Edvard Grieg, and that
> while they were having dinner, Tchaikovsky dropped by to visit. I would
> like to know if this is true, and if anyone can supply a citation.
>
> The report went on to state that Brahms and Tchaikovsky took an immediate
> dislike for each other.
> I would really have liked to have been present on that occasion!
>
> I also have heard that there is a recording of the voice of Brahms,
> speaking in English. He was a friend of Thomas Edison, and one of the
> first people in Europe to benefit from Edison's inventions, including the
> electric light bulb and the cylinder recording machine.
>
> Does anyone know if it is possible to obtain a copy of this recording?
>
> Ed Lacy

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