If you take a close look at the orchestral score of the very beginning of the prelude to Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, you will notice that the English horn that plays that G-sharp in the third bar holds the note for the whole length of the measure. That is, the G-sharp is still sounding while the oboes have moved on to A for the last eighth-note of the measure. I have to say this dissonance is hard to hear in the orchestra. (It's eliminated in the piano score.) I wonder if Wagner was going after a pianistic pedal effect here. (The Schirmer edition of the piano reduction has no pedal markings.) Perhaps this suggests that pianists playing the prelude should use the pedal for this measure? (You can find a reproduction of the autograph score here, if you go to page 3.)
Thursday, August 2, 2007
World at Waugh
A few weeks back I came across Evelyn Waugh's The End of the Battle, the last volume of his Sword of Honor trilogy. I hadn't read the first two volumes, but this edition had a helpful synopsis of the previous books' action. It's a shrewd, insightful, and altogether enjoyable novel, even if you don't agree with Waugh's politics. Best of all, I found a useful and lucidly written web companion to the Sword of Honor books, as well as to Brideshead Revisited. It's full of notes, essays, even biographies of key figures in Waugh's life and world, all compiled by the astute David Cliffe. I commend it to anyone with an interest in these books. You can find it here.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Welcome
It's no doubt fair to say that had this blog not existed, no one would be rushing to invent it.
My aim is to comment on those things that mean the most to me--music (primarily opera and classical) and literature--and to do so in a way that doesn't merely amplify what is already being said around the blogosphere. My background is as a book editor, and my interests are wide-ranging.
As for the blog's title, it's a reference to the famous company known to all record collectors. I chose it because it evokes both music and the written word, and also because "company" implies inclusiveness. I would like to believe that those who might be inclined to read this blog are members of the "gramophone and typewriter company," metaphorical and virtual though it may be.
Record collectors often refer to the Gramophone and Typewriter Co. by its initials, "G&T." Which has always amused me, as it's also a way of referring to a gin and tonic, one of the great drinks.
