Music Hath Charms
My name, Crowther, comes from an obsolete Welsh musical instrument called a crwth (the Welsh evidently spent a lot of time at the dentist, since they learned to speak without vowels). It was what is called a "bowed lyre," and had six strings, four of which were fingered on the unfretted neck and two of which were off to the side of the neck and played as drones. It had a flat bridge, which meant that playing a single note was close to impossible. All the strings had to be played together all the time. The crwth was the instrument of choice of the Welsh bards. They were known for lyrics, but weren't especially musical, which is not surprising since the instrument is for all intents and purposes unplayable. The crwth disappeared from view back in the early 1800's, possibly because they were rectangular and made good cat boxes. Today the dictionary definition of a "crowther" in Great Britain is "inept and rascally fiddle player." That's me to a T.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:42 AM
5 Comments:
This one I can relate to as when I was at school, I was in the choir and would sing with great gusto and energy. But I am tone deaf so can not carry a tune, pretty soon my whole row of comrades would be singing off key with me. Choir directer was a softy who did not want to dismiss me so he came up with the idea that I would mouth the words but not make a sound. Worked most of the time unless I forgot and started making my unjoyful sound again.
Great cartoon, love the expression on the faces of the two women on right side.
Very funny John Crowther!
The great conductor of the NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini, was notorious for the acuity of his ear. It was said that he could spot a single wrong note played fortissimo in a tutti passage by the entire orchestra. One day he stopped a rehearsal because the first clarinet had played a sharp instead of a flat in a solo passage. He made the culprit stand up in front of the orchestra. “What day where you born?” he asked. The clarinetist gave the date. “That day is the blackest day in the history of music. Now sit down.” Next time through, however, the man played every note perfectly and expressively. The maestro smiled and said:”You have made yourself proud, you have made me proud and you have made music proud.”
Such behavior on the part of the music director is no longer permissible in today’s egalitarian orchestras, but in those days the musicians who played for the great Italian conductor, terrfied as they might have been, still worshipped him. After his death, a guest conductor –said to be Arnold Schoenberg-- was invited to lead the ensemble. It was immediately evident to the orchestra that the composer could not hear the notes of his own compositions. Consequently, the bassoonists decided to play the clarinet parts and the clarinets the bassoon. Schoenberg did not stop the rehearsal.
Thanks for the story, prof. I known that AT was notorious.
Lee, when I was in elementary school the music teacher divided us into the "crows" and the "canaries," and the former were instructed to remain silent. In was designated a crow, but obstinate little kid that I was, I sang anyway. She wasn't going to tsake my fun away from me! I went on later to sing (and dance) in musical theatre, and with a musical group, where I also scratched away ineptly on the fiddle.
This may very well illustrate what kind of people we can be but in musical terms. Are you a D sharp or C flat? I can definitely relate more to this than to the analogous half-empty, half-full dichotomy.
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