On Friday, June 13, 2003, at 09:37 AM, Andrew Stiller wrote:
On Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 04:57 PM, Andrew Stiller wrote:
Of course, I also think all orchl. music before Mahler shd. be played with the violin sections sitting opposite each other,
Not just *before* Mahler* but *including* Mahler, too, right? Zander does it this way for his Mahler recordings and performances, presumably because that's the way Gustav did it.
It was Mahler himself who made the current arrangement (formerly rare) the standard. He also introduced the concept that you don't clap betw. mvts.
Hmm. So why does Ben Zander (considered something of a Mahler expert round these parts, although that may well be bogus) separate the violins on all his Mahler recordings and performances, claiming that that's the setup Gustav used in Vienna? Is he full of it, or what?
In the last mvt. of Tchaikovsky's 6th there is a passage where the melody is composed of notes alternating between the firsts and seconds, an effect expressive of restlessness and anxiety--and completely effaced if the violin sections are not separated.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that passage. I remember someone in the music history class I TA'd was puzzled by the alternation. I'm glad I (correctly, as it turned out) speculated that it was probably written for separated violin sections.
- Darcy
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