The
Ill-Tempered Clavier
Do you dare to admit disliking composers whose music is universally revered? Charivari considers the pros and cons of the Western musical canon
S
ome years ago, I was dining with a distinguished music critic, a man whose writing and opinions have graced numerous journals and newspapers. We were talking about the pianists and composers we liked and disliked. Admittedly, we had taken drink, but were still conversing coherently and lucidly – well before we started mumbling. We had more or less agreed on our favourite pianists and those held to occupy the lower tiers in the pantheon. We agreed that we could both live the rest of our lives without hearing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons again. Or the Blue Danube (except in the Schulz-Evler transcription). And possibly Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Then my friend raised the stakes. ‘You know what?’ he said. ‘I would not mind in the slightest if I never heard another note of Beethoven.’ I stirred uneasily. ‘I’d be sorry not to hear the G major Piano Concerto again.’ ‘OK,’ my friend conceded. ‘I’ll give you that. And maybe the Appassionata.’ I was reminded of this conversation recently when talking to an elderly friend from New Zealand, a passionate and discerning pianophile. ‘I know you’ll think I’m a complete Philistine, but I have never got on with Schubert’s piano sonatas. I just don’t get them. And as for Richter and his interminable tempos in the G major and the great B-flat – sorry I can’t take it.’ It’s difficult owning up to a dislike of a major composer, one who is generally loved and revered. Mozart and Chopin, for example. On BBC Radio 3 a few weeks ago, young Jess Gillam (saxophonist and radio presenter) was talking to her guest, South African cellist Abel
16
January 2020 International Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach: Greatest composer of all time?
www.international-piano.com
