Klarinet Archive - Posting 000915.txt from 2001/02

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] You never know who'll you meet... New!
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 15:31:26 -0500

On Fri, 23 Feb 2001 13:08:09 EST, CmdrHerel@-----.com said:

> I just noticed the subject line of this, and although I have no idea
> what the current thread is, it reminded me of a recent performance
> event.

A bassoonist friend of mine, Felix Warnock, was once playing the
Saint-Saens bassoon sonata as part of a 'wind quintet plus piano'
concert. Just before they started, the promoter came up and said that
since there were no programme notes, he would be very grateful if the
performers could introduce the pieces as they went along.

There was no problem with the quintets and K452, and Felix thought he
remembered seeing a note in the piano part for the Saint-Saens.
However, when he looked, just before going on, he realised to his horror
that he'd been thinking of another piece, and another piano part.

So, well,...he made it up.

"...written as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire, wurra wurra,
turned out to be a winner, wurra wurra, so it was published...."

(You can imagine, along the lines of the Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie.)

In the interval though, he became aware of someone looking intently at
him across the green room, and then moving towards him through the
crowd. So, he resigned himself to his fate.

"Mr Warnock," said the man.

"Good evening, Sir," said Felix.

"I'd like you to know," said the man, "that I very much appreciated your
performance of the Saint-Saens bassoon sonata. I've driven over two
hundred miles to hear it -- it's very rarely played in concert, as
you probably know -- and your rendering was excellent.

"However," he continued, "I am at present engaged in writing a biography
of Saint Saens; and I have to say that if what you told us about the
circumstances of the composition of the bassoon sonata is true, I shall
have to throw out most of Chapter Four!"

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN artist: http://www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

... I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!

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