Various Thoughts About My Work
(and a few other things)
by Bruce Duffie
First posted
in March, 2017, with additions from time
to time
On editing my
interviews...
As you may or may
not be aware, my full-time employment from
1975-2001 was with WNIB, Classical
97 in Chicago. Except for four
hours overnight during the week, and four hours
on Saturday afternoons, the programming
was exclusively classical music in its great
variety. In addition to my regular duties as
announcer, I also gathered interviews with various
musicians for use both on the air and in selected magazines
and journals. In all (through about 2005), I
did over 1600 exclusive interviews. A few
guests I met twice, and very rarely even more times.
While it was not the original intent of
the management to include atonal or cutting-edge
repertoire, I was able to add that material on my weekend
overnight shifts, and part of those programs were the interviews
with composers and performers of new music.
Preparing and presenting
these interviews on webpages is very
different from editing sections for use on
the radio. What sounds good to the
ear may not look good to the eye. Hence, various
changes need to be made in order for the resulting
impact to be virtually the same.
Let me state here
that it is my purpose and duty to render
the thoughts and ideas of my guests as completely
and accurately as possible. It is
also my feeling that I should make the guests look
good. I have a genuine interest
and overwhelming love of my subject, and always
tried to solicit ideas from my guests in response
to my own inquires and proddings. Occasionally,
I would ask a question which was purposely ambiguous
in order to allow the guest to have the freedom to
answer in whatever way he or she chose. This
would, however, come after at least a few questions which
would indicate to the guest that I, as the interviewer, knew
what I was talking about, and that I was interested in knowing
what they had to say.
As to the actual editing,
when doing it for the radio, I would
always try to select sections that showed my guest
to their best advantage. I would also
make sure to end the section on a positive note.
Let me inject here
that when WNIB was going off the air on
its final day, I chose an opera that ended with
a positive sound in a major key —
Turandot
— and the final piece of music at 12 Midnight
— Lyric for Strings by
George Walker
—
was also a chosen because of its aural impression,
and the fact that it ended
quietly in a major key. My first thought
was to use Adagio for
Strings by Barber, but that
piece was so associated with the movie Platoon and other works
and dates, that I desired something more unique
and somewhat unknown with the same feeling.
To read more about the final broadcast, click
HERE.
When editing the
spoken words for visual (print) use, certain
mannerisms and repetitions become really
annoying, and when something is annoying, it
detracts from the overall impact. So the phrases
‘you know’ and ‘I
think’, and the interjection ‘well’
were almost always dropped. I also
usually removed the phrases ‘kind
of’ and ‘sort of’ in most instances since
they diminished the thought and derailed the impact.
My guests were strong and vibrant,
and there was no reason to veil them in any kind of namby-pamby
cloak. In speech, sentences would often begin
with the word ‘and’, so I would either drop
the word, or simply connect the thoughts into one sentence.
Parenthetical material, which is meant to amplify or clarify
ideas, makes for tricky reading, so I would often re-order
the sentence to get the thoughts together.
I hope you notice
that in all of the instances I never changed
any ideas of my guests, nor did I put words
into their mouths. Their thoughts are
what has come through... at least that has always
been my hope, and what I strive to accomplish.
On the rare occasion that my guest would not answer
my question directly — or at all!
— I would change my question in the print edition
so that my guests could answer in the way they saw
fit. If there were any digressions or extraneous
portions, those were usually omitted, and any glaring
errors were either fixed or explained. Again,
those instances were very rare.
I did change English-English
to American-English, but mostly
only in spelling. ‘Labour’
became ‘labor’,
‘theatre’
became ‘theater’,
‘programme’
became ‘program’,
‘organisation’
became ‘organization’,
and references to a group
became singular rather than plural.
‘The audience don’t care’
became ‘The audience
doesn’t care’. This adjustment, by
the way, is only in the text of the interviews.
The biographical boxes and reprints of obituaries
were almost always left intact.
People whose first
language is not English will often become
quite proficient with English vocabulary,
but will continue to use their original structure
patterns. Whereas in English we put
the modifiers first — a lovely blue
sky — others might speak about ‘a
sky blue lovely’.
Those quirks have often been fixed, though not
in every instance.
It always was my intention
to present these conversations as
something to learn from and enjoy. The
transcripts are not of the ‘legal
stenographic’ kind. My guests
were not on trial. I was a guest at
their concert venue or in their hotel, or they
were guests in my home or studio. I always
treated them with kindness and respect, and allowed
them to express themselves without fear of any kind of
accusation or derision.
It is special to be
able to do it at all, but I have managed
to do it quite well in both the audio medium
and the printed renditions. Not to
toot my own horn, but most people seem to think I am
pretty good at both. I have found it necessary
to look not only at the big, overall picture, but
also the smallest details. I’m
sure there is nothing new or extraordinary about
this, but keeping that in my mind as I edit goes a
long way to strengthening the impact of each interview.
I know
these interviews are generally
long, but they are what I have, and I
want to share what is there. In a radio
broadcast, people have to sit there until it is
over... or go away and miss whatever comes next.
On the printed page, readers can interrupt their
journey and (hopefully) come back at some point to
pick it up again without missing a beat.
Occasionally I will
update the pages with new photos and links.
So even though a date at the bottom might
indicate the page was uploaded before others,
that is why later interview links can appear.
I do not do this chore very often, so there may
be links which could be on a page, but are not.
However, as long as there is the possibility of additions
or corrections, things might get improved!
On that thought, it
always pleases me to be able to include
links to other interviews within each new one
that is posted. In most cases, these are
names that are brought up by the guest, or appear
in the biographies or obituaries. Only occasionally
have I introduced them in the course of asking
questions, and in each case, the reference
was, I hope, relevant and logical.
I freely
admit to being a cheerleader for my
topic and my guests. This is not a bad
thing since I am not a news gatherer, but rather
a feature reporter. Because my interviews were
Features rather than News, some of the basic rules
and formats did not apply. For instance, the old
adage for news gathering is to ask these questions:
who, what, where, when, why, how, huh? That
last one (which I have added) is usually where I
got the best and most interesting responses.
[A brief related addition, posted on November
5, 2019] Regarding my webpages, several
times I have received requests to place advertisements.
In all cases I have declined, and despite
my tight financial situation, I hope to be able to
continue to say a resounding “NO!”
to any and all inquiries of that sort.
= = = = = = = = = = =
The following list
appears on a couple of the interview pages,
but since people continue to ask, here is
the answer . . .
I have
done interviews with several musicians
who were born in the Nineteenth Century.
My guest with the earliest birth-date (March
10, 1892) was soprano Dame Eva Turner.
However, composer/administrator
John Donald
Robb (June 12, 1892), though three
months younger than Turner, was nearly two years
older at the time of our conversation.
Hence, a clarification is needed when I am asked
who my oldest guest was! Next in birth-order
is composer Paul Amadeus
Pisk (May 16, 1893), followed by composer/pianist
Leo Ornstein (December
2, 1893), and
lexicographer Nicolas Slonimsky
(April 27, 1894).
Then come mezzo-soprano Sonia Sharnova
(May 2, 1896), composer/critic Virgil
Thomson (November 25, 1896), and composer Vittorio Rieti (January
28, 1898).
The order continues with composer/pianist
Ernst Bacon
(May 26, 1898), followed by composer Marcel Dick (August
28, 1898), conductor
Werner Janssen
(June 1, 1899), and composer
Alfred Eisenstein (November 14, 1899).
The remaining four are composers Elinor Remick Warren
(February 23, 1900), Otto Luening (June
15, 1900), and Ernst Krenek
(August 23, 1900), and finally publisher Hans Heinsheimer (September
25, 1900).
The rest of my guests
were born in the Twentieth Century.
Perhaps, if I have the opportunity, I might
interview someone born after January 1, 2001,
and thus have conversations with people born
in three different centuries and two different
millennia! Though there is no clerical
error involved, and it is not my intent to pad my statistics,
somehow the film Mr. 3000
comes to mind.....
= = = = = = = = = = =
Many of my guests
are mostly or completely unknown, and in
an odd way, that pleases me very much.
If someone who is little-known becomes more-known
through my efforts, then I have succeeded in bringing
forth something special to the composite knowledge
of mankind. A lofty statement, certainly, but
when one thinks about it, each of us is asked to push
our tiny segment forward, and my task seems to have been
to enrich the musical world through discovery of interesting
items. Yes, I have also presented some of the best-known
and most popular figures, but, as John von Rhein mentioned
in a Tribune article
about the station, he admired my collection of ‘oddball’
composers and performers. Many times, after
doing a program featuring one of them, I would get
a call or two asking why this person was not better-known.
The callers would remark to the effect that
the music or performing artistry just presented
could certainly stand up against the output of the well-knowns.
Editing these interviews
from a quarter-century ago or more,
I often find interesting sidelights and tidbits
that either amplify ongoing ideas, or give
new insight into little-explored or un-spotlighted
areas of the subject. It is truly amazing
that these thoughts would be found in the most remote
places and come from such unlikely sources.
This is why I do what I do, and I hope that others
both enjoy and are enlightened by it all.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Despite the fact
that my early exposure to great music was
on radio (mostly WEFM, the station sponsored
by Zenith in Chicago), and that I built
up a huge collection of recordings on LP and open
reel tape, and that I made my living at another
station (WNIB, Classical 97, also in Chicago),
I maintain — and have said
openly many times — that the
real place to hear great music is live in a concert hall
or opera house. The collision of these two worlds
becomes the so-called ‘pirated’
performances. Usually operas,
these gained wide circulation amongst
the cognoscenti, and in my teens and twenties I found
a number of people who traded copies of various
things with me. However, once I became a professional
radio announcer, I was very careful NOT to use any
of this material on the air. First of all, the sound
quality was often poor, and even though those of us who obtained
these performances understood this, the casual listener
would not be expected to be aware of the reason(s) for
presenting something in poor sound. Besides that,
broadcast rights were very tricky, and I did not want to involve
the station in anything which could have caused legal problems.
It is a thorny issue, and the musicians I have spoken with
have not come to any kind of consensus about it. Many
of them collect copies — not just
of themselves but of others, both past and current
— even while decrying their use and existence!
I remember specifically one top record executive remarking
on the Texaco Opera Quiz that he does, indeed, collect
them, but would immediately bring suit against anyone
who tried to distribute copies of one of the artists on
his label!
These days, though
I am not involved in the day-to-day broadcasting
activities, I am posting interviews with
my guests and illustrating the webpages with
photos of the artists and their recordings.
I find things on the internet, but try not to use
any copyrighted material, and I eschew the
placement of images of pirated recordings on my sites.
The commercial recordings are fair game,
especially since I am giving them free publicity,
but usually not the broadcasts and in-house items
which seem to abound.
= = = = = =
= = = = =
A few random
thoughts.............
Whoever named the
Butterfly committed a spoonerism.
I think that every time I see one flutter
by, no matter what the articles on its etymology
say.....
Technically, I was
born in Elmhurst, Illinois, on March 11, 1951.
My mother’s doctor was at
Elmhurst Hospital, so that is where she went
to deliver me. My father, however, always
insisted I was born in Evanston, since that is
where we lived at the time. With the myriad suburbs
surrounding most major and minor cities,
I wonder how often this kind of thing happens...
It is pleasing to me that I am exactly
— to the day — 100
years younger than Rigoletto.
Another Verdi opera, Don Carlos also
had its premiere on March 11, but in a later year (1867).
I also share that date with composer Carl Ruggles
(1876) , and band leader Lawrence Welk
(1903). A quick Google search just now also
revealed many others, including Shemp Howard (1895).
[Related story... I met Michael Fine when
he was producing one of the recordings made by the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. I inquired if he was related
to Vivian Fine,
whom I had interviewed. He said no. I then asked if he was
related to Irving Fine, another composer, and he said no.
Finally, I asked if he was related to Burton Fine,
principal violist of the Boston Symphony. Once
more, the answer was no. He then volunteered that
he was related to Larry Fine of the Three Stooges.] More
March 11 birthdays... Astor Piazzola (1921),
Mercer Ellington (1919), and Henry Cowell (1897).
When I interviewed Geraldine Decker,
we had a great laugh that she, also, was born on March 11
(1931).
They left out the
letter ‘D’
from the name Arizona. I’ve
never been there, but I know it’s
quite arid in the South West...
There are three major
musical works in three different languages,
all of which the public quite often mistakenly
adds the word ‘the’
before the name. To wit: Messiah, Pagliacci, and Winterreise. Each one is named
as just shown, NOT The Messiah,
nor I Pagliacci, nor Die Winterreise. [Note that the
title of the TV Game Show Match Game
also lacks the article. More about that program
later on this webpage.]
What is with this
overwhelming compulsion to cite the excrement
of the male cow?
English is not the easiest of languages… It can be
understood through tough thorough thought though.
General observation... Regarding professional sports, we,
in the Twenty-First Century are
just like the Ancients.
We take
delight when our city’s hired
gladiators defeat any other city’s
hired gladiators. [GO CUBS!]
= = = = = = = = = = =
[September 1, 2017]
While there have always been doomsayers
and other prophets predicting the end
of time, in the past twenty years, there have
been three distinct events which many people truly
believed signaled the End of Days. Obviously,
they were wrong, but it is interesting to make
note of them...
(1) Y2K. In anticipation of the numbered-year
leaving the 1900s
and moving to the 2000s, the hue and cry was
heard all over the world that the computer
systems could not handle that change, and all our
electric and electronic grids would fail, and
we would be destroyed. Much time and effort
was put into correcting the problem, which apparently
worked.
(2) One version of the Mayan Calendar simply stopped
on December 21, 2012, and many people
felt this was to be the last day of Earth.
Another version (which carried on for many more
years) was later discovered, but that did not seem
to prevent a few people from weeping and wailing and gnashing
their teeth.
(3) On November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World
Series.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[December 26, 2017]
A number of people have asked me
about how I selected which interviews would
be used on the air, and when they would be presented.
These days, on the WNUR series —
and also on the late (and hopefully lamented)
series on Contemporary Classical Internet Radio
— there really is no rhyme nor reason for
selection. Programs were prepared, and now the
ones which exist are simply repeated after two
or three years, and usually in a different month.
HOWEVER, in my quater-century at WNIB, I was very
careful and rather ingenious about timing. Fairly
early on, I stumbled onto the use of ‘round
birthdays’. This simply meant that when a composer or
performer had a ‘round birthday’
— 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, etc. — they got
a show. Every five years each one would come up, and
a few of the early interviews aired several times. These
programs were in addition to any promotional use
— such as when one of their works was being
presented in live performance in the Chicago area, or in
conjunction with a new recording. The advantages of
this system meant I did not have agonize over who had been
done and who might be neglected, and so forth. It also
was completely color-blind and gender-blind. There are
only 366 possibilities, and everyone has one whether they
like it or not. It also suited my style, in that I celebrated
life and not death. Yes, I mourned and eulogized my guests
when they passed away, but I did not, thereafter, mark their dates
of death with special progams.
What brings all this
to mind is a brief article in the newspaper,
which is reproduced at right. Since
I am not doing fresh interviews any more, I wondered
just how well I did during the time I was gathering
them, from 1978-2006. So, I counted up just
the composers, and of the 496 names, 62 are women (12.5%),
and 15 or 16 are African-American (approximately
3%). The discrepency is a man named Roque Cordero.
He was included in the series of recordings of music
by Black Composers issued on Columbia LPs,
but in our interview he told me quite forcefully that
he did not like that label. He insisted he was Panamanian,
not black. There are probably others
— both in general and on my list — who
dislike or even disown one category or another, but that
is for another discussion. As to other minorities,
I cannot accurately compute them for various reasons. First,
I am often unaware of their background. A name might
come from a few generations back, or perhaps have been
lost or changed through marriage or assimilation. Further,
I have met a number of composers who belong to countries
other than America. How should I count them? Are
they to be lumped into a vague category of Minority-Citizens?
Then, to discount the entire exercise, it is not my desire
nor intent (nor responsibilty!) to ascertain any kind of pedigree.
My interest is their music, and their ideas about its
creation and presentation. Beyond that, I truly do not
care. Their race or sexual orientation or any other
factors are not my concern. As long as they are part
of the Classical Music community, I accept them as such,
and will give them their shot (as I like to say). In
truth, I consider all these kinds of labels both insulting
and unnecessary. We are all people, citizens, musicians,
etc. Naturally, I do not want to purposely include or exclude
anyone, and without really paying much specific attention to the
matter, I think I have been rather fair and equitable. Looking
at the numbers mentioned above, I assume that this percentage
also holds for the performers... though the women will have
a higher resulting-number since they account for nearly
all of the sopranos and mezzos! As to conductors
— which are even more neglectful of the distaff side
— there are 14 women in my group of 224 interview
guests, which is 6.25%, plus six African-Americans.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[January 6, 2018]
During this Holiday Season, I was
listening to some old favorites, including The
Typewriter, a novelty piece by Leroy
Anderson. It occurred to me that it might not
be too many years until that device, which was once
ubiquitous, would not be even recognized by most of
the populace. In musical terms, it would be like
mentioning the Ophicleide or the Serpent...
Just a note regarding soft
timbre... Throughout musical history,
usually the brighter and louder instruments
have won the battle. However, the actual
idea of being ‘loud’
is, ironically, soft-pedaled!
There are two significant instances
where the idea (and nomenclature) of being ‘loud’
was dropped. One of the early
hammer-struck keyboard instruments
was the ‘fortepiano’
or the ‘pianoforte’. Forte
means loud, and piano means
soft, so it was literally the ‘loudsoft’
or the ‘softloud’, indicating
its ability to be both, contrasting to the plucked-instruments
such as the harpsichord and the
virginal. Quickly, the name was abbreviated
to simply ‘piano’,
as we know the instrument today. So,
the idea of being
‘loud’ was dropped. The same thing happened
to the box which actually turns electrical
signals into sound, namely the ‘loudspeaker’.
We all know it as a ‘speaker’,
which, again, drops the idea
of being loud. [You may insert here any
and all puns involving the word ‘allowed’.]
= = = = = =
= = = = =
On the subject of
things that are obsolete, I have wondered
for a long time if the slide rule was the object
which went the fastest from being absolutely
necessary to being completely useless. Everyone
who did any kind of mathematical computation
needed one, and relied on it in every instance. But
as soon as the electronic hand-held calculator
came out, the slide rule was immediately pushed aside,
never to return to any kind of use... except as a relic
of a bygone age.
Of course, we can
always look back even farther in time to
the abacus . . .
Chinese type (5 plus
2) above; Japanese type (4 plus 1) below
Noting the two different
systems shown, today, one might think
of the rivalry between Mac and PC, and realize
that such dualities have existed for centuries.
Recently, there was the debate between
VHS and Beta video tape systems, between 45
rpm and 33 rpm records in the late 1940s, and cylinders
vs. lateral-cut 78 rpm discs at the turn of the Twentieth
Century. There was no real problem with
the introduction of electrical recordings in 1925,
since reproducers in the home could accommodate both.
The only real need for new equipment was at the
production end, and the record companies invested in
the new system. The same could not be said for the
introduction of stereo in the mid-1950s. There, the
home consumer had to be persuaded to purchase new equipment,
and this was not even a decade after everyone had to abandon
their 78 machines in favor of the LP players. A similar upheaval
in the music industry was seen with the advent of cassettes
and CDs.
A story I heard many years
ago (and have repeated in the hopes it
was mostly or completely true) involves the
size and playing-time of the compact disc. It
seems that one of the people who were calling the shots
at the time of its creation was a Japanese man who
knew that his countrymen simply adored the Beethoven Symphony
#9. So, to accommodate that piece of music,
the CD needed to hold about 74 minutes of sound. The
story may or may not be true, but it makes a good legend,
and I simply choose to believe it.
[August 31, 2019, and inserted here to keep
the topics together] Thinking again
of 78s, here's the famous image of our old friend
Nipper, and a couple of tidbits about its origins .
. . . .
His Master's Voice (HMV) is a
famous trademark in the recording industry, and
was the unofficial name of a major British record
label.
The trademark image comes from a painting
by English artist Francis Barraud titled
His Master's Voice. It was acquired from the
artist in 1899 by the newly formed Gramophone Company, and
adopted as a trademark by the Gramophone Company's United
States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company.
According to contemporary Gramophone Company publicity
material, the dog, a terrier named Nipper, had originally
belonged to Barraud's brother, Mark. When Mark Barraud
died, Francis inherited Nipper, along with a cylinder
phonograph and recordings of Mark's voice. Francis noted the
peculiar interest that the dog took in the recorded voice
of his late master emanating from the horn, and conceived
the idea of committing the scene to canvas. The incident
took place at 92 Bold Street, Liverpool.
A different source relates a cautionary
tale for artists about getting and keeping
the copyright for art...
When Barraud painted Nipper curiously searching
for his master's voice in the phonograph's
horn, not only was the artist turned down for a copyright
for the image, but he was also rejected by the Royal
Academy, and various magazines. The Edison Bell company
responded that "dogs don’t listen to phonographs."
Barraud eventually sold another painting,
with a Berliner brass horn, to one of the company's
managers, where it caught the eye of the Emile
Berliner, the company's founder, who commissioned another
copy AND bought the rights to it! The famous image went
on to become the trakemark of the Victor Talking Machine
Co. Victor was Berliner's partner, and the image ultimately
survived Victor's merger with RCA in 1929. It was printed
on record labels, letterheads, novelties, and catalogues
for decades, but Barraud, the original artist, only
received two payments of £50 each.
Here are a few more details about the dog,
and the original painting (shown below, which
depicted a cylinder machine, and not the flat-disc
machine we all know)...
Nipper was born in 1884 in Bristol,
England, and died in September 1895. He was a
mixed-breed dog and probably part Jack Russell Terrier,
although some sources suggest that he was a Smooth
Fox Terrier, or "part Bull Terrier". He was named
Nipper because he would "nip" the backs of visitors'
legs.
Nipper originally lived with his owner, Mark
Henry Barraud, in the Prince's Theatre where
Barraud was a scenery designer. When Barraud died
in 1887, his brothers Philip and Francis took care of the
dog. Nipper himself died of natural causes in 1895 and
was buried in Kingston upon Thames in Clarence Street,
in a small park surrounded by magnolia trees. As time progressed
the area was built upon, and a branch of Lloyds Bank now
occupies the site. On the wall of the bank, just inside the
entrance, a brass plaque commemorates the terrier that
lies beneath the building. On 10 March 2010,
a small road near to the dog's resting place in Kingston upon
Thames was named Nipper Alley in commemoration of this resident.
In 1898, three years after Nipper's death,
Francis Barraud, his last owner and brother of
his first owner, painted a picture of Nipper listening
intently to a wind-up Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph.
Thinking the Edison-Bell Company located
in New Jersey, USA, might find it useful, he presented
it to James E. Hough, who promptly said, "Dogs don't
listen to phonographs". On May 31, 1899, Barraud went
to the Maiden Lane offices of The Gramophone Company
with the intention of borrowing a brass horn to replace
the original black horn on the painting. Manager William
Barry Owen suggested that if the artist replaced the machine
with a Berliner disc gramophone, that he would buy the painting.
The image became the successful trademark of the Victor and
HMV record labels, HMV music stores, and the Radio Corporation
of America, after the acquisition of the Victor company
in 1929. The trademark was registered by Berliner for use in
the United States on July 10, 1900.
Francis Barraud said, "It is difficult
to say how the idea came to me beyond the fact
that it suddenly occurred to me that to have my dog
listening to the phonograph, with an intelligent and
rather puzzled expression, and call it 'His Master's Voice'
would make an excellent subject. We had a phonograph and
I often noticed how puzzled he was to make out where the
voice came from. It certainly was the happiest thought I ever
had."
The slogan "His Master's Voice", along with
the painting, was sold to The Gramophone Company
for £100 (equivalent to £10,628 in
2018) – half for the copyright and half for the physical
painting itself. The original oil painting hung in the
EMI boardroom in Hayes, Middlesex, for many years.
The two cartoons below reflect our 'progress'
as we firmly embrace the Twenty-First Century,
and amplify my remarks vis-à-vis the typewriter
. . . . .
[February 3, 2020, and
inserted here to (again) keep the topics together]
I just ran across an interesting article about
the latest in sound reproduction. It is reproduced
HERE.
[Another observation, from May 11, 2020] Future
generations may wonder why something called a
"compact" disc held more material than a "long playing"
record!
Next is a cartoon from 2017 (below-right),
which was originally placed on this page on September 27,
2021.
The other cartoon (on the left, and probably
from a couple of decades ago) just seemed appropriate, and was
added January 30, 2022.
Statement seen: "Classic LPs are going for
record prices!!!!"
Next, yet another vinyl gag [added to this page on July
16, 2022]
= = = = = = = = = = =
[June 29, 2018] Alert
observers might notice that as of the
end of March, 2018, many of the links to my interviews
which appear in Wikipedia articles
have a slightly different format. Specifically,
my name has been removed from the line. For
several years, it was <<<Interview
with (name of guest) by Bruce Duffie, on (date of interview).>>>
Because someone complained
that I was spamming, and felt the only reason
for these links was my own self-promotion, that person
urged the removal of all of these links. A
discussion was launched, and several Administrators
weighed in with their opinions. Fortunately,
enough of them saw the importance of the interviews
themselves, and the complainant was admonished
to cease the battering, and even urged to apologize (which
did not happen). After about a week, the discussion
was formally closed, and the upshot was that I removed
my name from many of the links, and am not including it
in future postings. However, a number of the old-style
links remain, so there might be a bit of confusion since they
are not uniform. For anyone who cares to read it, the
entire discussion is reproduced HERE.
[Updated information about the above
item] Since I had "corrected" many of the
links (to remove my name), another editor(s) felt this
was wrong, and undid some of those corrections... thus replacing
my name in the link. One editor contacted me about
the removals, and I showed him/her the discussion (linked
above). Since I don't go back to old Wikipedia pages very
often, I do not know whether the changes have been made to
a few or many of them. It is unimportant... as long as
the link itself is there, I am satisfied.
[Further updated information about my involvement
with Wikipedia] In August of 2021, another editor started
deleting my links. Upon inquiry, he stated that I had
no rights to use the images of record covers. I explained
that record companies sent me promotional copies of their material
in hopes that I would use it on the air, and also (where possible)
show their images. I even checked this out with one President
of a major record company, but this did not stop him from saying he would
continue to delete my links. Despite having been praised as "an
asset to Wikipedia" by several Administrators (shown above via the link),
I knew that he would see anything I added or deleted from Wikipedia. So,
I have simply withdrawn from any further involvement. My hope
is that he has lost interest in me, and that my earlier links would be
left intact. I say all this to (a) let you know that no further
interviews will be linked, and (b) tell why some links might disappear from
existing pages.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[January 3, 2019] In
reading some of the comments about my
interviews, a couple people have noted that a few
of my questions tend to pop up with regularity.
While this is certainly true, I do hope
that in each case the inquiries come naturally, and
at an appropriate place in the conversation. I
never worked with a specific list of questions,
and always tried to discuss the specific strengths of each
guest. However, since all were involved in so-called
Classical Music, there were bound to be common points
of interest and expertise. To look at it another way,
when you eat at my restaurant, each meal on the menu will be
unique, but many will have some ingredients in common. Since
all are being prepared by myself as chef, there will be
some resemblances and similarities. I hope this does
not discourage anyone from sampling my cuisine.....
It is also interesting
to see how various people respond and react
to the same question(s). Continuing
the metaphor, there will certainly be differing opinions
from various people to the same item on my menu.
Observing those reactions should not, necessarily,
cause me to change the recipe. Perhaps having
a few condiments on the table will allow for each person
to season the dish to their own taste, but this can only
happen when a certain stability is built into the process.
Once again, my goal with the interviews is to allow
each guest to express their own views, and I trust that a few
similar questions will get a variety of responses.
= = = = = = = = = = =
A few years ago, I met a fine
baritone whom I had known on the stage for
a long time. Warren Fremling has performed
in local and regional productions over the years,
and has had a significant impact each time. Lately,
he has been an invaluable help to me by proofreading my
interviews before they are opened to the public on
my website. I am grateful to him for pointing
out not only mistakes (of which, fortunately, there are few),
but also for occasionally suggesting better ways of expressing
the ideas. As I have mentioned, I never change the
focus nor direction of the words my guests use, but by tightening
and sometimes re-gathering thoughts, their objectives are
made more clear to readers. In several cases, Warren has
suggested slight changes which bring these thoughts into
sharper focus, and for that I am eternally grateful.
In our exchanges, he also has
provided me with further insights into the
world of professional singing, and his most recent
gift to me was a clear and succinct explanation
of the various voice-types, and how they can be viewed
by experts and novices alike. With his permission,
it is reproduced here...
There
are two things that decide
this. The first is color.
Richness in the middle voice is revealing.
The second, and much more reliable, is the
location of the bridge or passagio. A mezzo’s
bridge is a-kin to a baritone’s. It’s on the D,
a ninth above mid-C (a baritone’s being an octave
lower, obviously). I’ve diagrammed voices according
to their interest and comfort to the listener’s
ear – not what the singer does, but what is natural
to the instrument. A soprano or tenor sound like
this: \/ - the bottom is light and the voice sounds
more interesting and easier as the voice ascends.
The mezzo and baritone sound like this: () – the
voice is fattest in the middle. We have some of the
low notes of the contralto/bass and some of the high notes
of the soprano/tenor, but you can’t live there. The middle
is where we’re most at home. The contralto/bass
is the exact opposite of the soprano/tenor – the voice gets
fatter and more beautiful with the descent.
|
= = = = = = = = = = =
[February 4, 2019]
As the the shortest month of the year rolls
around once again, I am reminded of the one word
which I simply gave up trying to pronounce correctly.
I made an effort, but it simply was too awkward
to do both correctly and smoothly at the same time. I
could say Feb-ROO-rary, but it required slowing down
the enunciation to the point where it was simply untenable.
[You may insert any kind of joke here, regarding
it not being a ten, or even a nine, but perhaps a two or three
at best...] Imagine, if you will, a car on the highway,
and for some unknown reason it just slowed to a crawl. It
would certainly look strange, to say nothing about impeding
traffic and being hazardous. This is not to say that
an announcer mis-pronouncing a word on the radio could be hazardous
in any way, but you get my drift... So if any tapes
exist of my work where I say the name of the second month, you
will hear a firm and confident FEB-you-air-ee. I know it
is wrong, and I knew it at the time, and I make no excuses.
I am sure I made other mistakes,
and, indeed, I was corrected on a few occasions.
But by and large, I was complimented by
members of the public on my accuracy and stylistic
manners. It was especially nice to hear
that I had pronounced the name of a person or location
properly from someone who was from that particular locale.
I want to say, however, that when someone
called to make a correction, my first task was to ascertain
if that person on the telephone was accurate! There
were a few occasions when a caller would berate me
and give a different version of the way to pronounce
a name, and when I checked with a known authority, I found that
my own rendition was correct, and the caller had been wrong.
It reminds me of the sign which famously hung in
the City News Bureau for many years, which screamed, “If
your mother says she loves you, check it out!”
On that particular subject, I remember
one evening when we aired a syndicated broadcast
of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The announcer
(who shall remain nameless) proclaimed the conductor
to be Esa-Pekka Sa-LOH-nehn. Well, I had
interviewed the
Maestro, and, as usual, had asked him to do
a station break, in which he said his name. His
pronunciation was SAL-oh-nehn. At some point
during the evening, I must have said his name myself,
and pronounced it his way, and immediately received a phone
call screaming at me for my stupidity. “If
the announcer on the Los Angeles Symphony broadcast
had said it one way, that MUST be the accurate way!”
I tried, very calmly, to explain, but the
caller simply slammed the phone down. The next
evening, I brought in my interview tape and played the station
break. I have no idea if that caller from the previous
night heard it, but at least I settled the matter for anyone
who was listening . . . . .
= = = = = = = = = = =
[April 22, 2019] Consider,
if you will, the following scenario...
Bill opens a small restaurant that features Fine
Dining. He is successful, and over the course
of forty-five years, the eatery becomes well-known
and highly-respected. After spending his adult life
maintaining this establishment, he decides to retire.
As it happens, the location he originally chose
-- which was, at the time, perfectly good but not very
popular -- had become very desirable. So Bill closed
the restaruant and sold the location to Bonney, who brought
in her own staff and opened a shoe store. It immediately
attracted business, and became very competitive.
Now when one thinks of the history
of the restaurant vis-à-vis the ongoing
story of the shoe store, it should be obvious that
aside from the physical location, there is no connection
whatsoever. Right? Perhaps, the
historical account of each one should have a mention
of the other as being at the same address, but that's
certainly all the crossover interest there would be.
With that in mind, I ask you to look
HERE.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[June 28, 2019] Following up
on my remarks about diversity (above, with the date
of December 26, 2017), much has transpired in
the short time since then. While I do not
— and did not — go into
the political area when conversing with my
musical guests, it has come to my attention that the
Music World is, nonetheless, very much involved
in such social matters. For example, the editorial
in Opera Canada of Summer, 2019, discusses
the “central debate about how to
keep the art form relevant for an audience which no
longer passively accepts the racist, misogynist and sexist
tropes of yesteryear.” It goes on to
discuss the “challenges faced by women singers
portraying some of the standard repertoire’s
iconic roles... many of which are mired in stereotypes
we find unacceptable in the #MeToo era.”
My reason for bringing this up is to
point out that in several of my interviews
— which date from 1978-2006
— I specifically ask the question
of my female singer guests. To wit: “How
do we keep these Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Century characters relevant to women (and men)
today who have gone through world wars, and social
upheavals, and other developments of our times?”
This is not to just pat myself
on the back for being so forward-looking,
but to show that my own curiosity was such that it became
imperative to inquire about these ideas, and to ask
how they resonated with audiences far removed from the
original mores and strictures.
Of course, in the theater, the production
team can (and often does) re-set the action
to a later era, or even to the present day. That
is, again, a discussion for another time and place,
but it does move the ideas in ways that can provoke
or amuse. There is also the need to remember
that it was only in the early Twentieth Century that the
classical musical public abandoned its craving for anything
and everything which was new. Until then, while there
were performances of older pieces, it was the newest and latest
symphonies and operas which were anticipated with genuine
eagerness. Once this trend was lost, the oft-repeated
repertoire began to show signs of losing its immediate contact
with concert-goers, and from there it is the famous ‘slippery
slope’.
In any event, I just wanted to call
attention to my own small attempts to make
inquiry when possible, and to show that my own feeling
is that opera can remain a viable and exciting
living breathing art form.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Music Joke... Question: What
are the names of the Three Bears?
Answer: Smokey Bear, Yogi Bear, Jacques
Ibert
Second Music Joke... What
if we discover that’s what it
really is all about? [Reference: Hokey
Pokey]
Third Music Joke... Question:
What is the voice-range of the quarter-hour?
Answer: People often say,
"It'll be tenor fifteen minutes!"
Fourth Music Joke... A woman
is on trial for beating her husband to death
with his guitars.
The judge asks, “First
offender?” She replies, “No, first a Gibson, then
a Fender.”
Musical variation on an old joke... If
Mezzo-Soprano Shirley Verrett
married Tenor George Shirley,
she’d be Shirley Shirley!
Continuing with a bit of music humor, for those
who wish to look at a slightly risqué image, this R-rated item is
the photo of a sculpture depicting the realization of a very old
(music-related) joke. While it is nothing more bold than
what one would see at a museum, remember, no one is forcing you to
look. So, by clicking the link you implicitly agree that your
viewing is voluntary, and no complaints can be made.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[August 29, 2019] I stumbled
upon this item just now, and thought it would
be fun to post it here. For those who do
not read music, or for anyone interested in seeing a nifty
connection between this tune and the main thrust of my
website, click HERE.
Lest you think it is only one or two
goofballs at a single establishment who would
make such an error, consider the fact that the government
of the former DDR (East Germany) issued two postage
stamps in 1956 to mark the 100th anniversary of the death
of composer Robert Schumann. They were the same
portrait of Schumann, used for two denominations, but the
music in the background was by Franz Schubert! These
are the top two stamps in the illustration below. Soon,
the error was discovered, and a new version of the stamps
(with music by Schumann) was issued, as seen in the bottom two
in the illustration.
There have been other philatelic mistakes,
but most have been caught before the stamps
were available to the public for use as postage. This
is not about printing errors, such as inverted
images, or mistakes in colors or perferations. Rather,
place names have been mis-attributed and people have
been wrongly identified. But those shown below
are the only foul-ups I know which involve music or
musicians.
= = = = = = = = = = =
[September 19, 2019] The
following is from an essay about the (missing?)
"A" in Neil Armstrong's famous first statement
when he stepped on the moon, which was posted on
the website "The Conversation" 7/16/19.
----------------------
When we talk, we formulate a thought, retrieve words from memory
and move our mouths to produce sound. We do this quickly, producing,
in English, around five syllables every second.
The process for listeners is equally complex and speedy. We hear
sounds, which we separate into speech and non-speech information, combine
the speech sounds into words,
and determine the meanings of these words.
Again, this happens nearly instantaneously,
and errors rarely occur.
These processes are even more extraordinary when you think more
closely about the properties of speech. Unlike writing, speech doesn’t
have spaces between words. When people speak, there are typically very
few pauses within a sentence.
Yet listeners have little trouble determining word boundaries in
real time. This is because there are little cues – like pitch and rhythm
– that indicate when one word stops and the next begins.
But problems in speech perception can arise when those kinds of cues
are missing, especially when
pitch and rhythm are used for non-linguistic
purposes, like in music. This is one reason why
misheard song lyrics – called “mondegreens”
– are common. When singing or rapping, a lot of the speech
cues we usually use are shifted to accommodate the
song’s beat, which can end up jamming our default
perception process.
[October 18, 2019] When I was
a teenager in the mid 1960s, I actually did some
work with computers... designing flow charts and
writing code in FORTRAN. The lines were then
put onto punch cards, which then ran through the computer
to execute the (very simple) programs. I didn't
stick with it, though, and only came back to computers via a
Memorywriter (a word-processor) which the radio station
had, and used for awhile to publish the WNIB Program Guide
in the late 1980s.
My reason for mentioning this at all is that
some time back then I saw the famous saying which
is reproduced below. Recently I remembered
this saying, and looked it up via a Google search. The
many presentations varied a bit, but had the same
basic content. Besides the signs and posters there
was a tee-shirt, a coffee mug, and even one going so far as
to use faux nazi stationery.
In any event, here is one rendition for your
enjoyment.................
In the same Google search, I spotted the following
item, which probably should be posted in every
office................
[March 23, 2021 (yes, a year
after the item which follows)]... This next
image actually belongs with both the items above and below!
.................
= = = = = = = = = = =
[March 24, 2020] During the coronavirus
pandemic, I happened upon this article,
and felt it was significant enough to share. Perhaps it should
also be posted in every office, along with the item shown
directly above (about the rising cost and increase of stupid
questions), as an antidote to the situation . . . . . . . .
. (!)
Obviously, there is nothing funny about the
coronavirus, but there is some humor to be found in
the actions of a few individuals . . . . .
[April 22, 2020] Current version of old joke:
Why did the chicken cross the road? To
maintain her social-distancing!
[November
9, 2020, and Covid is still the #1 topic everywhere...
*sigh*]
[April 17, 2021... as it all still drags on] My
local grocery store has gone too far. They’ve
put a big X on the floor to show where to stand in line at
the register.
I’ve seen enough Roadrunner cartoons...
I’m not falling for that.
[October 30, 2021] Do
we even need Halloween anymore? I’ve been
wearing a mask and eating candy for 14 months…
= = = = = = = = = = =
[June 24, 2020] We owned a Smart Car (shown on
right in the photo above) for about five years. It was really very
comfortable, and fun to drive around
town. Our other car was a mini-van, which
we used for transporting larger items, and took on longer
road trips. One day, when our Smart Car was
parked in a lot that was full, the owner of the white Smart
Car asked if she could use the ‘other
half’ of our space. The
result looks as though our cars are kissing! In
the spirit of admonishing a couple who are showing too
much PDA (public display of affection) to “Get
a room!”, a passer-by shouted, “Get a
garage!!!”
= = = = = = = = = = =
[September 12, 2020] As people
who have read my interview with Charles
Nelson Reilly know, one of my guilty pleasures
is watching re-runs of Match Game. The ones
I like best are from the 1970s, with host Gene Rayburn,
and panelist Richard Dawson, who was there until 1978. Of
course, Reilly was there throughout, and he truly made the
show funny. One of the other regular panelists, Brett Somers,
said that a fan had declared that the program should really
be called Charles Nelson Reilly's House Party, alluding
to another program actually called Art Linkletter's House
Party. One week, Raymond Burr was in the lower-middle
position of the six panelists. My reason for mentioning
all of this is that on one episode that week, there were two
questions relating to music! The first one went something
like this... Tough Teddy said, "Our school was soooooo
tough... [audience shouts, "How tough was it?"] ...it was
so tough that the the school orchestra kidnapped the janitor and
put him in the _______." [The panel and contestants were to
fill in the blank at the end of the sentence, and when they matched,
it scored a point for the contestant.] The more popular
answer was "Tuba", given by the contestant and four of the panelists,
but Reilly (and one other panelist) said "Drum". This was
what the writers were going for, since there was a commercial product
called "Janitor in a Drum". The second musical question
was, "Pat Pending (!) invented a juke box for people who hate music.
You drop a quarter in the slot, and it ______s the record."
The obvious answer (which won the game for the contestant)
was "breaks" (or smashes).
[November
2, 2020... amazingly this goes with the Match
Game item above!] I continue to enjoy these
re-runs, and now they have added the evening series
Match Game PM. Each week had a stand-alone
game which was edited a bit to get through the entire game
in one segment. (The weekday edition just played for
the time allotted, and games spread over to the next day when
necessary - which was most of the time!) Anyway, there
were two music questions in recent PM programs... The
first was "Lawrence _______". The panelists gave Lawrence
of Arabia, and Lawrence Welk, then Reilly chimed in with, "I
know this is an old reference, but Lawrence Tibbett!" Rayburn
acknowledged that he knew of "the famous baritone", and began
singing the Toreador Song from Carmen, but the audience
was not impressed. The third response from the polled
audience was Lawrence Olivier. For the record, Lawrence Welk
was chosen by the contestant, and won the top prize. The other
question was more obscure. The question was "_______ foxes."
The panel suggested sly foxes, and, being theater people, Little
Foxes (the play by Lillian Hellman). I don't remember the
third choice, nor which was the winning item. I was engrossed
in the fact that while Somers and Rayburn were trying to remember which
actress starred as Regina on Broadway, and which one was in the film,
Reilly screamed, "AND BRENDA LEWIS STARRED IN THE OPERA REGINA
BY MARC BLITZSTEIN." I was so proud of him at that point. For
the record, it was Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway (1939), and Bette
Davis in the film (1941). The opera premiered in 1949 at the
46th Street Theatre, with Jane Pickens as Regina, conducted by Maurice Abravanel.
Lewis sang Birdie, but then moved to the title role when the
opera was revived in 1953 at the City Centre Opera.
[December 2,
2020... a couple more related items] Two more
questions come to mind, and both relate to music in
the nude. (!) A well-endowed lady volunteered
for the All-Nude Orchestra. Unfortunately, she played
_________. The contestant responded with Cymbals,
and some panelists also said that. But after all six made
their contribution, Rayburn said that his answer was the Accordion!
[Huge laugh from the audience.] On another episode
was this question... A man complains to the conductor
of the All-Nude Marching Band, "I don't mind playing in your ensemble,
but do I have to walk in front of the _________???" Again,
the contestant said Cymbals, but a couple of the panelists said
Trombone!
[December
27, 2020... one more item!] This is from the
third version of the program, the Match Game-Hollywood
Squares Hour. This incantation of the program
only lasted one season (October, 1983 - July, 1984).
Rayburn returned as host of the Match Game portions,
and Jon Bauman (who had been Bowzer with Sha Na Na) hosted the Hollywood
Squares segment. Bauman dressed normally, in a suit
and tie, with regular hair, not all greased up. However,
he did occasionally refer to his Bowzer character "from a previous
life," and sometimes showed his famous open-mouth fists-in-the-air
pose. Anyway, on one segment, there was this (musical) question:
"When well-endowed Wanda played her accordion, Lady
of Spain became Lady of _______." As it happened,
one panelist (Mark Russell) gave away the punch line by saying
that the title became Lady of Pain, and they had to throw out
the question before the contestant had a chance to respond. For
those who are interested, see my interview with accordionist Robert Davine.
On another program, the
question was "George was always tired when he got home
from work because he was a ________ salesman." I don't
remember any of the other responses, but Bauman said "Anvil",
and promptly started singing the "Anvil Chorus" from Il
Trovatore. (Remember that Bauman had attended
Juilliard!) Rayburn also joined in, but no one else
seemed to respond to their rendition. *sigh*
[January 16, 2021...
though the date of my posting is not really relevant
since all the Match Game programs are re-runs
from 45 or more years ago!] Another couple of musical
questions... "George knew his son would be a musician
because his head was shaped like a __________." The
contestant said Violin, and the six panelists said Drum, Grand
Piano, Heart - which is an Organ (the panelist made that clarification!),
Triangle, Tuba, and Reilly said a G-Clef, and drew a very respectable
image on his card. The last panelist (Joyce Bulifant) noted
that it was quite an ensemble, and Rayburn pointed out that there
were seven different excellent responses. [The following was
added on November 27, 2021, but placed here for obvious reasons]
On another program, there was a different set of seven responses.
The question was, "Ugly Edna was the center-fold of Musician's
Monthly because her legs looked like a ___________. The
contestant said Violin, and the six celebreties said Baton, Tuba,
Piano Legs (Reilly), Cello, Slide Trombone, and a Pair of Bassoons
(Patti Deutsch).
Another question was, "When Joshua
wanted to destroy the wall in Jericho, his trumpet wasn't
enough, so he used a _________." The contestant and
one panelist said Tuba, another panelist said Piano, one said
Bulldozer, and the other three said Hammer. Rayburn lamented
that four of the six panelists just didn't understand the question!
Though there were no 'right' or 'wrong' answers, he often
would gently deride them when there was one (or more) obvious answer,
and the contestant or panelists would completely miss the joke.
[February 12, 2021]
Yet another "Audience Match" question was, "Bella
_______." Dawson rightly said that the audience often
mis-spelled their responses, and that despite his name
being Bela, they might have said "Lugosi," which, indeed was
the number-one answer. Incidentally, other questions
on the program often used the character of Count Dracula, and
Rayburn spoke the quote in an accent quite close to Lugosi's.
Again, I forget what the number two response was, but Reilly's
(third position) response was, "Bella figlia dell'amore,"
which is the opening phrase of the Quartet from Rigoletto.
Rayburn then began singing the phrase (correctly). It's
just another reason why I love that show.
[March 21, 2021...
yet another one to SPRING up... ! (Sorry for
the pun. I just wanted to SEASON this line.)] Rose
phoned her psychiatrist. She said, "My husband is
on the roof! He thinks he's a ________" The contestant
said Cat. Three panelists said Bird, one panelist said
Weather Vane, and another said TV Antenna. Reilly said
FIDDLER ! (Get it? Fiddler on the Roof!)
[January 23, 2022] One more
re-run just seen... The question for the big money
was "______ toast". One celebrity response was "French"
(which was the $500 (top) audience response, and the one the contestant
chose). The next celebrity response was "White", and then
Reilly said, "I'm going to give a Nellie answer. MELBA!" He
had to explain who Nellie Melba was, and that she was a famous opera
singer. It turned out that Melba Toast was the $100 audience
response.
[February 19, 2022] From another re-run
of Match Game 75... The tuba player said, "I don't think
that new conductor likes me. In the middle of my solo, he
started __________ing in my tuba!" While the celebrities were
writing their responses, CNR asked, "How far was the tuba from the
conductor?" (Some laughter from the audience) Betty
White asked, "And what was the trajectory?" (More laughter)
CNR continued, "How old was the conductor? All those strings
to get across..." (Much laughter) The contestant's response
was, "Tinkling". Rayburn then pretended to be on the podium looking
at the orchestra, pointing to the violins, then the cellos, then the basses
farther away, and, "Waaaay in the back are the tubas." The celebrity
answers were a bit boring... Allen Ludden said "Blowing", Brett
Somers said, "Barfing", CNR said "Eating lunch", Dolly Martin said "Expectorating",
and Betty White said "Pouring Water." Richard Dawson was the only
one who matched the contestant with "Tinkling".
[March 7, 2022... I just keep watching the
progams, and they keep serving up the music questions] On
a PM show, the question was: A Marching Band member said,
"I learned a painful lesson today. Never stop fast when there's
a ______ player behind you." The contestant said Tuba, but all
six celebrities said the 'right' answer, which was Trombone!
From another (regular weekday) show from 1978...
Jack said, "This t-shirt craze is really wild. I saw
a girl with an entire orchestra on her front. She had the
biggest ________ I ever saw!" The contestant said Cymbals. The
celebrities said Tubas, Instruments, Bassoons, and Maracas. CNR
said Kettle Drums, to which Rayburn commented that when they were
upside down they'd look... (he never bothered to finish the sentence
since everyone was laughing). By this time, Richard Dawson had
departed for Family Feud, and Bob Barker (host of The Price
is Right) sat in the lower-center seat that week. He said
Boobs, to which the audience loudly booed. He then said, "This
audience is the pits... like orchestra pits!" and the audience continued
to boo. After everything settled down, Rayburn said that in the
office, they all thought the answer would be Bongo Drums. Yes, there
were more boos from the audience. It's really a fun show...........
[March 17, 2022... and the shows just keep
coming along!] A Match Game Limerick: A kinky young
pianist named Twist/Played piano with only his wrist./When he got
on his knees/And banged on the keys/He said, "I'm bound to be ________."
The contestant and four on the panel (including CNR) said Kissed.
Dawson said Hissed (which was my answer), but Bobby Van had
the best response, which was LISZT !
Another question from another show... A stripper
said to the night club owner, "I want a new dressing room! The
musician next door just poked a peep hole through the wall with
his __________." The contestant had the best answer, which
was Trombone, but none of the panel said that. CNR was away
doing a Broadway show, so Gary Burghoff sat in his seat and said
Drum Stick. (He had actually worked as a jazz drummer, and
was seen in M*A*S*H playing a drum solo (which was not overdubbed!).
Other responses were Piccolo, Horn (which matched), French Horn
(which did NOT match), and two said Instrument.
[August 19, 2022] From a very early program in the
series, since Rayburn was called the Host rather than the Star...
A music teacher said to Dumb Dora, "You don't play a _________
by blowing on it." The contestant and five of the panelists all
said Piano. CNR was the only one who said Violin.
[October 17, 2022] Here's yet another pair of questions...
They call Oscar the Orchestra Leader "The Ostrich" because when
the band plays bad, Oscar sticks his head in the _______. The contestant
and three panelists said Tuba. Arlene Francis said Pit, and CNR
said Toilet. [The contestant had matched one in the previous round,
so only 5 panelists responded.
The other question was an Audience Match. Slide _________.
Brett suggested Rule, Betty White said Projector, and Richard
Dawson made a joke of Slide, Kelly, Slide (the 1927 silent film),
but then opted for Trombone. I was amazed that Trombone did not
show up as any of the audience's responses. The third most popular
response ($100) was Home, the second ($250) was Projector, and the top
one ($500) was Rule. I don't remember what the contestant picked,
but it was not Trombone..... *sigh*
[November 18, 2022] A baritone asked a tenor, "How
do you hit those high notes?" The tenor replies, "Before each performance,
my wife _______s my shorts." The contestant and four of the panelists
said starches. Patti Deutsch said heats, and clarified that it
was because the theater was cold. CNR said lights. Dawson
then remarked that if she lights the shorts, only dobermans would hear
the high notes!
= = = = = = = = = = =
I am
proud to say that a quotation from my interview with
Maria Tallchief was used as the text with the animation
in this Google Doodle.
To see the
video, and read about its creation, click HERE.
= = = = =
= = = = = =
[December
20, 2020] A couple of images for the season
. . . . . The first one is not new, but does involve
some wonderfully appropriate critters!
On
the other hand, it has been a very tough year
. . . . .
= = = = = = = = = = =
The following panel contains two separate jokes.
Do NOT try to make them into one idea. They
just happened to be inspired by the world situation
. . . . .
All of his reminds me of an actual
musical chord, concocted by Nicolas Slonimsky,
which he calls The Grandmother Chord
(shown immediately below)...
From the interview, here is
how he explains its derivation...
Technically, it is a mathematical problem because you
have to use all twelve different notes and all eleven different intervals.
It's not so easy; if you start by just trial and error,
you won't get anywhere because you will either repeat a note
or repeat an interval! But I also found that musically
it's very easy. Jocularly I say that great adventures always
have very elementary fundamental principles, and this principle
is extremely simple! Using a convergent system of intervallic
progression, the first note of the scale, let's say C, then the last
note of the chromatic scale, B. Then the second note of the
chromatic scale, C-sharp and the one before — the
penultimate — B-flat, then D, A, E-flat,
A-flat, E, G, F, F-sharp. So it's convergent, and when it's
expanded [sings, alternating between low and high notes] "da-DAH-dee-DAH-dah-DAH"
and developed throughout seven octaves, then I have my Grandmother
Chord.
= = = = = = = = =
[February 10, 2021]
While editing my interview with my old bassoon
teacher Wilbur Simpson,
he said something which led me to find more info about it. To wit:
"When you were a kid, some of the
most interesting things that I can remember real early
were when Walter Damrosch was piped into school. We
used to listen to those programs." My research produced
the material shown in the box below...
Walter Johannes
Damrosch (January 30, 1862 – December 22,
1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer.
He is best remembered today as long-time director of the
New York Symphony Orchestra and for conducting the world premiere
performances of George Gershwin's Piano Concerto
in F (1925) and An American in Paris (1928).
Damrosch was also instrumental in the founding of Carnegie
Hall. He also conducted the first performance of Rachmaninov's
third piano concerto with Rachmaninov himself as a soloist.
Damrosch was
the National Broadcasting Company's music director
under David Sarnoff, and from 1928 to 1942, he hosted the
network's Music Appreciation Hour, a popular
series of radio lectures on classic music aimed at students.
(The show was broadcast during school hours, and teachers
were provided with textbooks and worksheets by the network.)
According to former New York Times critic Harold C.
Schonberg in his collection Facing the Music, Damrosch
was notorious for making up silly lyrics for the music he discussed
in order to "help" young people appreciate it, rather than letting
the music speak for itself.
|
Now, ninety years
later, what would be the long-term effect of even
a mere five million listeners (and viewers) of similar presentations
on their computers? I hereby "donate" all the interviews which are
posted on my website as research materials to be
used as any kind of compendium or supporting material to a
venture such as this.
= = = = = = = = =
[October 16, 2021] Occasionally,
people notice that my name (DUFFIE) is spelled differently
than usual. As a young boy, I asked my father about
it, but he just dismissed it with a shrug and a throw-away line
about an ancestor being a horse-thief. In any event, when
heard and not seen, most people will assume it's DUFFY. That
has never bothered me, except when necessary... like directing people
to my website! There, the name needs to be spelled correctly.
When speaking with composers,
or others involved with new music, they often asked if
I was related to John
Duffy. A few even thought I was him! John
was a composer himself, who also founded Meet The Composer
in 1974, and ran it until 1996. When John and I eventually
met, I distinctly remember that we both had to carefully write
the other's name when scribbling our contact info. I also
interviewed the violinist Robert McDuffie,
and there is a woman named Duffie Adelson, who ran the Merit School
of Music in Chicago. In college, after we music students
learned about the early Renaissance composer Guillaume Dufay (or
Du Fay, pronounced doo-FYE, or dew-FY, in either case it rhymes
with defy) (1397-1474), I was always called by that name.
What brought all this to my mind
recently was watching baseball games of the Chicago Cubs.
(Yes, even after trading away several of their best
players, I will still follow them, as I have since I was a kid.)
After being with other teams, the infielder Matt DUFFY signed
with the Cubs for 2021. It always pleased me to hear the
TV announcers say his name, especially when he hit a home run, or
made a spectacular fielding play. As it happened, there were
a couple of Cubs games against the Minnesota Twins. (They don't
play each other very often because they are in different leagues, but
now, with inter-league contests, they do meet every few years.) Until
I happened to hear my family name spoken on the Twins' roster, I was
unaware of pitcher Tyler DUFFEY. Unfortunately, I didn't pay
close enough attention at the time to know if DUFFEY pitched to DUFFY.
After the fact, I e-mailed the
Cubs to find out, but received no answer. So, I sent
the same e-mail to the Twins. Again, no answer. Finally,
I contacted the Cubs Insider, an unofficial website.
Well, you guessed it, I got no response. That's
three strikes, so I'm out. This is too bad, because
it would have been fun to speculate about DUFFIE watching DUFFEY
pitching to DUFFY. Of course, the best would be if I
was at Wrigley Field to catch a homer, or even a foul ball in this
situation! *sigh*
Oh well, as they say, "Wait 'til
next year . . . . ."
[May, 2022] It's now 'next year', and DUFFY
has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels. *big sigh*
[October 19, 2021] Also regarding
names... The Poet and Peasant Overture by
Franz von Suppé is certainly one of the more popular
items on concerts of light music. It's from an 1846 Viennese
operetta Dichter und Bauer, to use the original title.
For a long time, my interview with pianist Mischa Dichter has
been posted on this website. Earlier today, I uploaded
my conversation with conductor Harold Bauer.
I just thought it was a nifty happenstance.
= = = = = = = = =
[October 30, 2021] A
friend of mine sent me the following item. It reminds
me of Emily Litella, the malaprop character played by Gilda
Radner in the early years of Saturday Night Live.
[November 17, 2021]
With all the re-thinking about language these days, just
as we call 8:00 "eight o'clock", perhaps we should call August
"eight o'calendar."
Also, what is the
difference between a thingamajig and a doohickey?
= = = = = = = = =
[November 27, 2021] The cartoon
below could easily have been inspired by my own work-space...
*sigh*
= = = = = = = = =
[December 31, 2021] Three thoughts
as we move from one year to the next.....
A guy walks into a bar on New Year’s Eve and orders a glass
of champagne.
“It’s finally happened!” he exclaims. “I’ve made enough money that
I don’t have to work for the rest of the year!”
-----------------------------
My New Year’s Resolution is to go to the gym more often, get into
grad school, pay off my bills, and learn a new language.
I don’t have a clue how I’m going to get all that done by tomorrow.
-----------------------------
I’m going to stay up on New Year’s Eve this year.
Not to see the New Year in, but to ensure this one leaves.
= = = = = = = = =
[January 8, 2022] First, let me say that I
am NOT a gamer. I don't play video games, and really never have. When
I was in undergraduate school, I played Pinball, which
had flippers controlled by my hands, and a round steel ball
which knocked down targets and banged into bumpers to accumulate
points. It was kinda fun, and I wasted a bit of time on
the machine in the basement of my dorm. Partly, it was also
that we discovered a way to 'cheat' a bit, thus gaining free games,
and allowing us to keep playing for no extra cash.
Later, while working for WNIB, there
was a pinball machine in the coin laundry next to my 'L'
stop, and I'd sometimes go in and play a bit. Being cheap,
I'd put in 50 cents, and play until that was gone. Sometimes
I'd spend an additional 50 cents, but never more than that amount
of money. Usually, that meant fifteen to twenty minutes, but
occasionally a half hour, and sometimes a mere five minutes.
What brings this all to mind was an article
by Jake Peterson which I just stumbled on in the Lifehacker
website. It was titled, "Why Do Retro Games Look Better
On Old TVs?" The subtitle was, "8-bit Mario is never
going to look great on your 65-inch 4K TV." Here are the
opening two paragraphs...
<<<If you own retro
consoles—say, a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis—you have
access to some of gaming’s greatest roots. However, you might
find plugging these awesome consoles into your current TV doesn’t
result in the experience you remember from years past. Games look
fuzzy and distorted, and it can be tempting to think your memory is
playing tricks on you. It’s not your memory, though; it’s your TV.
For retro gamers, the CRT is the
display of choice. Those giant, boxy television
sets that nearly everyone threw out or gave away in favor
of modern flat panels are actually coveted for their ability
to properly display games from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and even part of
the aughts. Retro games are not designed for modern, pixel-dense
TVs.>>>
The article then goes on to explain
the thesis in detail, most of which I do not understand and don't care to
explore further.
My reason for bringing this up is that
since discovering 78 rpm records as a teenager, and learning
of the difference between 'acoustics' and 'electrics', the
old collectors insisted that acoustics sounded better on outside-horn
machines [as shown here on the right, and also seen above where
the dog Nipper is listening to His Master's Voice]. This
means that these records do not sound as good when played by equipment
which has speakers. A variation of the outside-horn machine
was the inside-horn cabinet, which simply put the horn into the box,
and allowed it all to look nicer in one's living room. In the
photo at left, the horn is in the short chamber immediately below the
turntable, and below that is a larger chamber where records could be
stored. When not in use, it could be all closed up, and was a
distinguished piece of furniture. A photo of two of the
greatest singers of that era, Tita Ruffo and Enrico Caruso, listening
to their efforts can be seen on the page of my interview with George Jellinek. They
only made one record together, on January 8, 1914. That
page also has a self-caricature made by the tenor of the recording
process of singing into the horn.
Acoustic records were recorded by
singing or playing into a horn that looked like a megaphone,
and electrics were recorded by using a microphone. The
date of change from one to the other is 1925. All records
made prior to that date are acoustics, and after that date they
all are electrics. The change was almost immediate, and
generally universal, because it was the record companies which had
to invest in the new equipment, which they did. Both acoustics
and electrics would be playable on either horn or speaker machines,
so it was not that urgent for the public to get new equipment. It
is similar to film, in that all movies prior to The Jazz Singer
of 1927 were silent, but after that date, little by little sound
was incorporated, and they were called talkies. But the change
was more gradual because it meant that all the movie houses had
to invest in sound reproduction equipment. Other huge changes
happened in 1948 with the introduction of Long Playing records, (although
a few 78s were still being made as late as 1955 or so), and again in
the mid-1950s when Stereo came along.
Anyway, it just hit me that no matter
what development comes along, a similar upheaval probably
occurred in the past... *sigh*
[January 13, 2022] Continuing with
the idea of recordings, while preparing to post my interview
with oboist Ray Still,
he mentioned that early in his career he had played on a
record called Classical Music For People Who Don’t
Know Anything About Classical Music, conducted by Robert
Russell Bennett. A bit of searching turned up some interesting
items, which are shown below.
= = = = = = = = =
[January 30, 2022] For a very special
music joke about Mary Had a Little Lamb, click HERE.
[February 5, 2022] Remember the old PSA
(public service announcement) shown below-left? Well,
I've devised a new one relevant to my topic, shown below-right
. . . . .
[March 5, 2022] Three computer jokes
. . . . .
I heard Reggae music coming from my printer.
The paper was jammin’.
—
I bought a 3D printer, but I didn’t like it.
So I 3D printed a dumpster to throw it in.
__
On Ash Wednesday
I will be giving up spreadsheets for 40 days and 40 nights.
It’s going to be completely Excel Lent.
= = = = = = = = =
[April 28, 2022] C'mon... we all knew
this was going to happen, right???
[August 21, 2022] As the new school year
begins, perhaps we should re-examine the curriculum . . . . .
= = = = = = = = =
[September 17, 2022] It is known that
I never discuss politics, and rarely post items of topical interest.
However, back in 1987, I had a wonderful interview with Lord Harewood.
During his lifetime, he was (among other things)
editor of Opera Magazine and
the famous Kobbé's Complete
Opera Book, Director of the Royal Opera Covent Garden and the
English National Opera, as well as several festivals, and the BBC.
He had boundless enthusiasm for opera in general and Verdi in particular
– equating his music with Shakespeare's plays.
He was also a member of the British Royal Family.
Captain George Henry Hubert Lascelles acceded to the title
of 7th Earl of Harewood on 23 May 1947. Lord Harewood
[pronounced HAHR-wood] was the grandson of King George V, and first
cousin to the late Queen Elizabeth.
With her passing, and the accession of King Charles III,
I wanted to present this small bit of my conversation . . . . .
BD: You
are first cousin to the Queen. Has your involvement and interest
in the arts engendered more interest on her part?
H: I don’t
think she would put it down first in her list of hobbies if she were
asked to write in Who’s Who.
The one member of the family who likes it a lot and is very involved
is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. He likes music a lot,
but he is the first person for a generation who has.
BD: Permit
me to ask one question, and you may dodge it if you like. Will
he make a good king?
H: [Matter
of factly] Oh yes. I think he’s a marvelous man.
He has so many qualities and so many experiences and he’s so judicious
about how he estimates them and how he goes about them. I think
he’ll be extraordinary.
* * * *
*
[September 19, 2022] [This item by Norman
Lebrecht appeared on September 18, 2022, in the column SlippedDisc,
‘the #1 Classical
Music News Site’.]
In 2016, Judith
Weir received the Royal Command to become the first woman ever to
serve as Master of the Queen’s Musick, a title that dates back to 1626.
No-one proposed, then or now, to modify the term Master in a manner
that made it more gender inclusive. Now she is Master of the King’s
Musick.
She tells the Washington Post: ‘I think most of us have
grown up with, as we knew him, Prince Charles. He actually is a most
unusual lover of classical music. He was a cellist in his youth, played
in college orchestra and really intensely loves classical music. He’s
made some very touching statements when interviewed about his interests
and has made it clear that it’s absolutely top of the list. I don’t
expect there to be less interest in what we musicians do, and I’m sort
of anticipating that there’s a chance for us to do even more, once
he gets over the huge backlog of work he has to do.’
* * * *
*
In another item, Weir says: ‘“For this funeral service,
Westminster Abbey requested that I set to music the first seven
verses of Psalm 42, “Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so
longeth my soul after thee, O God”. The words and music speak at first
of the soul’s great sadness and thirst for God’s reassurance; but as
the psalm progresses, the mood becomes calmer and more resolved, culminating
in consolation, with the words “Put thy trust in God”. The Queen’s strong
faith in, and support of, Anglican worship was an inspiration for me
when setting this psalm to music.”’
= = = = = = = = =
[October 1, 2022] Over the years, Kathy
Cunningham has created several groups of hand-made ceramic pumpkins.
One is pictured below, and more can be found HERE.
= = = = = = = = =
[Thanksgiving, 2022] As we head into the Holiday
Season once again, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago presents
their annual exhibit Christmas Around the World and Holidays of
Light. Since 2011, Kathy Cunningham has been in charge of
the USA TREE, which is always a highlight of the display. This
year, she made a set of enamel ornaments depicting the birds, flowers,
and trees of each state, plus Washington D.C., and the four US Territories.
These, along with the set of wooden ornaments and other items from
previous years adorn the tree. Everything except the crystal icicles
and the flags is hand-made, and can be seen on the various webpages starting
HERE. Shown
below-left is a shot of the tree after being decorated by the Friends
of the USA Tree, but before it had been placed into the exhibit.
On the right is a close-up of one of the new ornaments (front and
back) as an example.
= = = = = = = = =
[December 4, 2022] I ran across the following
cartoon a couple months ago, and saved it for Christmastide. Having
grown up as a choral singer, this particular carol appeared regularly.
Like Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall, it can become
repetitious. (!) If I may, allow me to recommend one (of many)
recorded versions for your listening pleasure. When Joan Sutherland
committed it to disc, she used an arrangement by Douglas Gamley. Since
it only runs 3:10, let me suggest that you listen to it twice. The
first time, just enjoy her lovely voice. The second time, ignore
her singing (as much as possible), and concentrate on the rest of the sounds.
It is the 'arrangement' which is notable, and can even be used
as a teaching-device to demonstrate the possibilities of making a terrific
version of an over-familiar (and over-repetitive) piece.
= = = = = = = = =
[December 27, 2022] A few months ago, I ran across
some cartoons by a Canadian pianist. I saved this one (below) for
an appropriate time . . . . . . . . .
= = = = = = = = =
[January 19, 2023] As we head into the New Year,
here's a bit of news that's sure to cause consternation among lovers
of Classical Music... *huge sigh*
= = = = = = = = =
[February 14, 2023] It's Valentine's Day, which
reminds me of a wise-crack I used to say in years when I was on the air
that evening (1975-2001). [Note that when one hears the term 'VD',
it usually refers to venereal disease, which is now called STD, or sexually
transmitted disease.] Anyway, on Valentine's Day I would, "Wish everyone
a safe, happy, and prosperous V.D." While I was never reprimanded by
the management for saying that, I do wonder if such a phrase might not be
decried as unacceptable in today's socio-political climate. Being
on a Classical Music station, perhaps my listeners were a bit more sophisticated
than those tuned to the Top-40 bubble-gum frequency... (!)
= = = = = = = = =
[March 2, 2023] Throughout my adult life, I have
always encouraged people to experience live Classical Music concerts.
As far back as when I was in junior high school (7th and 8th grades),
my growing knowledge and enthusiasm manifested itself in this quest. Later,
I have been quoted as saying that though I made my living on radio via recorded
performances, the LIVE variety was The True Way.
Some months ago, I saw the following cartoon, and stuck it in my file
for future amusement...
Little did I know that the idea would actually come to pass... What
follows are two news items from a regular daily feed called Slippedisc.
There have, of course, been occasional disruptions in concert halls
over the years, but this seems to be a first. Let us hope that it
is the last...
Here are more details from the following day ...
= = = = = = = = =
[March 14, 2023 (
day) ] A special version.....
= = = = = = = = =
[April 2, 2023] I wonder if anyone
has ever tried speakng the phrase, "Alexa: Klaatu barada nikto."
[Reference: The 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still.]
= = = = = = = = =
[April 30, 2023] With budget considerations
always being discussed, this item should be kept handy . . . . . . . . .
= = = = = = = = =
[August 8, 2023] Some bad news, and then some good news.....