Regarding reply 753, some clarification:

I was well aware that it was Baz who posted the extract from K297b. I referred to it as an example of a recent Puzzle. A had complained that she did not consider recent Puzzles as representing the repertoire. I am sorry that neither A not Baz recognised the irony intended.

I most certainly took exception to the suggestion that works of new/experimental music did not form part of the repertoire of a considerable proportion of members of these boards. I tried to make my Puzzles from that repertoire difficult precisely because I was well aware of the breadth of knowledge of that repertoire among a good few here. Some puzzles I set, such as the Riegger, were specifically aimed at testing the skills of those who had mentioned his work here. Others, such as the Satie, were aimed at enticing contributors to dig deep. I thought the style pretty characteristic of a particular period in his work, though the composition I picked is, I feel, unjustly neglected. So I hoped to encourage others to investigate it. I was rather surprised that it remained unsolved. I felt sure that autoharp, for one, would know it, and hopefully others, too. Ashley's "She Was A Visitor", eventually identified by richard, is a classic of its genre. I suspect that a good few here have taken part in performances of it. Likewise, Lucier's "I Am Sitting In A Room", which I had to withdraw due to carelessly leaving the mp3 tag intact, is an iconic work. As with "She Was A Visitor", I dared not use an extract from early in the performance, as that would have been a dead give-away. Rzewski's "Scratch Symphony" cannot justly be claimed to have been identifiable by simply naming the orchestra and conductor. They have worked together for years in a very wide range of works. I have their DVDs of the 9 Beethoven Symphonies, for instance. Then there is there Mahler recordings, etc.

I did certainly feel that Baz and A effectively conspired to undermine the "Six Events" project a couple of months ago, and yes, it was the same two who, albeit independently, took up the cudgels against the inclusion in the "Test" of music outside their particular sections of the repertoire. My complaint was that they were each demonstrating a level of contempt for the musical integrity of those who did know that section of the repertoire I was seeking to introduce to the proceedings.

Please note that I am on record as having complained about the ease with which some Puzzles may be solved. Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice, indeed! I felt quite guilty posting that solution.

I am happy to accept that there is no collusion between Baz and A regarding these matters, but would ask that they each show a little more respect and tolerance for those who appreciate areas of the repertoire which are foreign territory for them.

I continue to doubt the attributability of the clarinet part of the 'standard' version of K297b to Mozart. It still works reasonably well though, even if I do prefer Levin's version.

Pax.

It's nice to know I've not been the only one who's been caught out by leaving in embedded information for all to see. What had gone wrong this time was that I'd used iTunes on the Mac to convert the files to mp3. But even looking at the properties of a file (either in Windows or on a Mac) tells you whether there's a name that will show up when the file is played. I suppose one way round it is never to use descriptive names at any stage of the process. However, I have found Real Player good at displaying and editing such info. But there are so many different programmes out there doing things in slightly different ways and not all supporting the same formats and none of them does everything you want it to do. I have to say I have found Windows Media Centre and Sonic Digital Media unimpressive. I would like to thank Mr Baz for getting me started, though.

Ye gods! This competition is becoming more Machiavellian by the hour, we dare venture!

Since there will doubtless be many members who like us have never heard of the name "Ashley," let us relay a few things about him which we have found in the admirable Mr. Lebrecht's superb book on Twentieth-Century Composers. We do this in a "know-your-enemy" spirit of course.

He is a Northern American; quite an old one now as he was born in 1930. His 1964 work "The Wolf-Man" consists of his own amplified voice bellowing at the audience. In his 1971 production "Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon" a female reciter describes being forced to perform an act of fellatio. His magnum opus is entitled "Perfect Lives Private Parts"; we shall here refrain from the attempt to describe it.

Why is it that so much that is insufferable comes out of Northern America? (Not all - there is a branch office in Vienna nowadays.) At least discriminating members will now be in a position to know when to look the other way.

Yo, Syd!

As usual, the inept Lebrecht has it wrong. The title is "Perfect Lives". It is a comic opera for television. There were two LPs of adapted extracts issued as "Perfect Lives (Private Parts)" and a further one simply entitled "Private Parts". It is a very beautiful work. It has been shown at least twice on Channel 4 (who part financed its production) and is now available on DVD from Lovely Music. I have the libretto in front of me now, as it happens.

As to "Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon, it dates from 1968, not the year erroneously offered by Lebrecht. I first heard it in 1969, as part of "Wolf-man Motor City Review". Also in attendance were two new friends, Stella and Cornelius Cardew. They had quite opposite reactions to the work. The former thought it described a beautiful experience, the latter, a violation. It is a very evocative work. Unfortunately, UBU have made a bit of a mess of editing the disc that is taken form. "PLSA" starts about 2' 34" in. It is preceded by the end of Lucier's "Vespers". The link may take a while to download. The file is about 18MB.


"What about the Bible? And the Koran? It doesn't matter: We have Perfect Lives" - John Cage.

Ok, I have said it is composed by someone who lived a 'good' life.. and that he died in late 18th century.

Details ... died in 1741 , the solos instrument is surely a violin, and the composer was mentioned in the list that someone disgarded as not a possibility.

Published 1709 and republished in 1712

Any help ?

A

With the greatest of respect I misquoted myself - I did in fact say the middle of the 18thy  century when I first posted that.

You are correct but on the wrong thread to get points.

I shall try hard to ignore your snide comment.
A