Putzi, Putzi - So Ein Kerl! (What a Guy!)

Ernst (lovingly called Putzi) Hanfstaengle was a Harvard grad, and the only guy I know of from Harvard to work for both President Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler.
You don't believe that? Well, if you 'google' Putzi's last name, the above statement may show up.
At any rate, Hanfstaengle was a member of a powerful and aristocratic German family; came to America, went to Harvard, and at least minored in music. He actually wrote tunes for the Harvard band when it came to football time.
Upon returning to Germany, he became swept up by the tide of Nazism, joined the party, and eventually entered the hallowed Hitler inner circle, becoming essentially Hitler's aide, and has been photographed many times at the tyrant's side.
The story that tantalizes me the most is the one that deals with Hitler's asking Putzi to compose a new march for one of the Nuremberg rallies, only about three days hence.
Hanfstaengle was in a state of panic, as he had other duties always at hand, and knew that there would simply be no time to construct a melody and orchestrate it for the Nazi bands who were to play at the rally, only hours away, AND - one does not say "no" to Hitler.
And so Putzi, knowing full well how insular Hitler was as regards cultures outside his own, felt the dictator could not possibly be familiar with ANY Harvard march; the result being that Hanfstaengle took a healthy portion of one of the Harvard marches, orchestrated it, and offered it to the Nuremberg rally.
A truly unique tale; however, I have come across it more than once from different sources. One source claimed that this story was related by Putzi's son Egon, about whom I know veritably nothing - I do believe that Egon had something to do with Harvard after the war. What the role was, I do not know.

A Valentine's Day Gift For The Music Lover - A Curio!

How about a rather unique piece of music for the music lover?
Traditionally, composers writing a Theme and Variations will, of course, begin with the theme and then create variations upon that theme, ending much of the time with the most highly developed variation. Great examples would be the Goldberg Variations by Bach; or, the Thirty-Two Variations by Beethoven.
Perhaps the most singular composition in that form was written by a rather obscure composer, Vincent D'Indy. He titled it the "Ishtar" Variations.
He reverses the entire composition by beginning it with the most florid variation, and makes sure that the ensuing variations are less and less complex. He finally arrives at the theme upon which these variations are based, and the piece ends as soon as the theme is completed. One might say that this curio should be called "Variations in Search of a Theme"; actually, D'Indy himself thought of this as the title.
The music is based upon the Dance of the Seven Veils, each veil being discarded until the fair one is clad in her birthday garb.
So the music is fully clothed at first, and eventually arrives at the skeletal base.
Pretty clever, what?

Musical Suggestions for Valentine's Day

A musical Valentine gift?
How about the most popular valentine ever sent by a great composer?
Of course, it is the so-called "Moonlight" sonata by Beethoven(he did not name it "Moonlight"; rather, the publisher thought that title up).
Beethoven, seemingly, was strongly infatuated with one of his students, a beautiful 17 year old countess , Guillieta Gucciardi, who never became aware of his longing for her.
At any rate, she was immortalized by his dedicating this composition to her.
The most durable musical valentine in history - it was published in 1802.

The fabled pop pianist George Shearing has a wonderful arrangement of "My Funny Valentine" by Richard Rogers. I have a video of it he did at the Carlyle in New York about a generation ago, and Shearing wrings the sponge dry by putting this great tune into different classical styles, such as Bach, Delius, Rachmaninoff and Schumann. It goes on for several minutes, and is one of Shearing's most brilliant offerings.
See if you can find it!

I rather doubt that the Bard would have accepted, let alone understood the florescence of Tchaikowsky's music to Romeo and Juliet; but, for the modern ear, is there any piece of music depicting the love of one human being for another more representative than this composition, absolutely drenched in beautiful melody? Highly recommended!

On the Passing of Oscar Peterson

As many of you may know, Oscar Peterson passed away yesterday at the age of 82.
Peterson was one of the most powerful and gifted among the jazz and pop pianists of our time.
He was born and raised in Canada, where during childhood his father insisted upon a strict and well formulated piano development in classical music, which Oscar received, and we hear the classical techniques inculcated in virtually everything he recorded throughout his career.
As a pianist, Oscar may well be thought of as second only to the fabled Art Tatum. From my perspective, his finger articulation was essentially equal to Tatum's. The primary difference was that however brilliant Peterson's improvisational passages were, Tatum's were more protracted. Personally, I do not know how Tatum's pianism can ever be exceeded.
But Peterson will always be held in admiration by his followers as one of the true greats.
Both as a musician and gentleman, Oscar Peterson will be missed by his admirers from all over the world.

The Power of Music - Incalculable?

On a Christmas Eve, in the trenches, during World War I, the sound of men singing carols drifted over the devastation and was heard by the adversaries.
To encapsulate, I will spare the reader the logistical details.
What occurred is an indelible moment in Man's convoluted history.
The fighting and killing ceased by mutual agreement, and for a brief time the enemies came together in order to sing carols and other Christmas music. There are photographs of the Allies and the Germans singing, some with arms around the shoulders of their sworn enemies.
After a brief period of this surreal peace, the men returned to their positions and resumed killing and maiming one another.
During the first critical years of their existence, the early Christians used music as an intrinsic form of community in order to enhance and strengthen their tenuous grip on existence.
The Nazis used music as a kind of mortar to bind the bricks of their tyranny together in the form, primarily, of the marching bands and parades, along with the music of Wagner, whose music helped transform the young Hitler.
There are many examples of the incalculable power the language of music holds. I invite you to mull over the few examples I have projected.

A Call to Arms

Harald Saeverud - a name not generally known in our culture.
In Norway, a composer who becomes one of the most powerful voices following Grieg. He lived a long and fruitful life(1897-1992), already a young boy when Grieg died in 1907.
I will address his prolific and meaningful output in another writing; at this time, I should like to tell you about a most compelling piece for the piano, titled "Ballad of Revolt".
One story which describes the reason for the Ballad is the following: when the Nazis had occupied Norway, Saeverud recalled a particular day when he stepped out of his home and saw in an area facing his house a group of German soldiers billeted and in full uniform. Another story was that the composer was on a train and witnessed the plight of occupied Norway - I do not know which of these two incidents is the truth, or whether both are apocryphal. At any rate, he later remarked that during this period "I had to make my work a personal war against Germany".
And so he wrote a series of works describing his anger and hatred directed at the Intruder.
One of his pieces written at that time was the Ballad, which is truly a call to arms .
One of my former students, who is now a professor of music in Norway, called my attention to this piece when he last visited me. It took some time to find a copy of it, but I do have it , in a fine edition from Norway.
The two recordings I know of are by Leif Ove Andsnes, the legendary Norwegian pianist, and in a multiple CD set of Saeverud's complete piano output, Einar Rottingen, who studied with Saeverud during the last years. Rottingen has honored me by having played and recorded some of my music in recent years.
The Ballad is a magnificent expression, reminiscent in spirit of the so-called 'Revolutionary" etude by Chopin, or the equally well-known Polonaise in "A" flat. Listen to the interpretation by Andsnes - I think that you will find it a most evocative and relentless statement.

The mighty heap

They were called "The Mighty Five." The detractors called them "The Mighty Heap", obviously citing them in the same manner as one would cite the always present heaps of horse manure on the streets of Moscow.
I refer to the group of composers who permanently etched into our consciousness the power of 19th century Russian music and forever forged Russia into co-existence with the German, English and French contributors to European music.
What is amazing is that only one of the Five was a trained musician from the outset.
The others dealt with music as an avocation at first - imagine! Moussorgsky was a clerk in the bureaucracy; Rimsky-Korsakov was a naval officer; Borodin was a chemist; Cui was an artillery officer; only Balakirev was a musician from the outset.
And yet what comes out of 19th century Russia by way of this group, especially from Moussorgsky establishes a new road for the musical world to be able to travel upon.