Oh now I see. I’ll expect to hear more about the French thanks to the Oregon Symphony in May… maybe leading to a teaser about the Widmann family, and Chamber Music NW this summer?

Yes, I got carried away about Chopin. It’s easy to get carried away by Chopin… and yes, Brahms. But no, despite being hard to outdo among DWEMs who lived entirely in the 19th century, not renowned for their orchestral prowess.

Haaaaaaaa, of course it’s all Hannah’s fault! Thanks for the intel Bob.

Word salad is an excellent source of fiber. Good for the digestion. Keeps the heart young and the mind limber.

“Virtue-signaling” is such a funny little phrase. I’m used to seeing it lobbed around by anti-woke types trying to cast doubt on the sincerity of a Black Lives Matter sign on somebody’s lawn, or a rainbow flag in their profile pic, or pronouns in their bio, or whatever. Honestly I’ve never been able to follow the ins and outs of the argument. Which “virtue” do you imagine is being “signaled” here? Temperance?

In any case I can assure you that a love of Bach and Beethoven and Brahms and all the rest requires no apology at all.

Cheers!

Ha, Jeff, I was hoping you’d be mollified by my inclusion of Brahms.

True that I might have mentioned Debussy….or Messiaen or Franck or Ravel or Milhaud, et alia. Same goes for Rodrigo, de Falla, Holst, Britten, Handel….the list goes on and on and on and on and on, which is The Problem Itself (and is distinctly a problem when you’re trying to keep a monthly column under 2000 words). The Italians, God Bless Em, are really only good at operas and film soundtracks, though of course that’s not nothing.

Anyways, if anyone in Oregon were playing any of these Europeans’ orchestral music this month they surely would’ve merited a shout out.

As for Chopin…well, we are specifically talking about orchestra music here, hardly the man’s forte.

BTW, when Cascadia Composers was casting about for a dazzlingly gifted coloratura to render Ligeti’s “charming little ditty” with sufficiently crazed authority, it was none other than Hannah Penn herself that recommended Maddy while guaranteeing; “You will LOVE her!” True dat, molto thanxo, dear Hannah!!

You’ve covered about half the required DWEMs. Now it’s time for the French – including the Pole Chopin, who was French enough to be revered by none other than “musicien français” Debussy – the Flemish, the Spanish, some Irish, Angles and Saxons (but nobody too Germanic), not to mention Italians, who used to be more western before the same geologic processes that created the Alps moved them easterly. Very technically speaking.