Tárrega watch

[french frank]

He pronounced it TarrEga.

Where do we go from here?

I suggest you send him a very polite email, saying that, at the risk of being accused of eccentricity, you are waging a one-man campaign to stop the mispronunciation of Señor Tárrega's name.

[Richard Tarleton]

As ff knows, no reply from RC to my email. Did he read it? Who knows.

In the meantime a for James Jolly for maintaining his fine run of form with Turina's Homenaje a Tárrega this morning.

[french frank]

As I'm sure I've mentioned , it's a like a standard dactyl -˘˘ Nothing unusual. Think: Eliot, Gulliver, Washington, geography, polio, Williams, Connery, Islington, Paddington. Tárrega. Must be the accent that misleads

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As I'm sure I've mentioned , it's a like a standard dactyl -˘˘ Nothing unusual. Think: Eliot, Gulliver, Washington, geography, polio, Williams, Connery, Islington, Paddington. Tárrega. Must be the accent that misleads

- that makes it very clear. (Another example might be ... err ... "tarragon"?)

[Richard Tarleton]

Another "standard dactyl" which English birdwatchers and drinkers of Spanish wine alike routinely get wrong is Cáceres, the lovely City of Storks in Extremadura.

[LeMartinPecheur]

TarrEga nothing, what about all the R3 announcers who still say HAndel instead of HENdel??? He even often signed himself Hendel to help us dumb Brits!

Hosts, don't bother shifting this to a separate thread

[Richard Tarleton]

Martin, there is a Pronunciation Watch thread should you feel so inclined

This particular obsession of mine has been instructive in how it has shone a light on the labyrinthine workings of the BBC's bureaucracy, and how it has revealed the inability of R3's managers to take the simplest of steps to rectify what is a very minor and easy-to-sort problem.

[Richard Tarleton]

Result!

I was just going out of the door around 10 this morning when I heard the strains of Rosita, a little ditty - a polka, actually - for guitar by guess who. It's one of my party pieces.

I held my breath - and yes, Rob stressed the first syllable. Appreciative email has gone to Essential Classics.

[jean]

TarrEga nothing, what about all the R3 announcers who still say HAndel instead of HENdel??? He even often signed himself Hendel to help us dumb Brits!

It seems it was the Italians he was trying to help. He didn't use that spelling here:

...Curiously, the Italian spelling “Hendel” (when spoken by an Italian) results in much the same sound as the German “Händel” (both are open e sounds [ε] like bed, spread, fed, etc…) That spelling choice could very well have been motivated by a desire to trick the Italians into approximating the German pronunciation. I have found no evidence that 18th century Brits pronounced the first vowel of Handel in a manner approximating a German ä. Indeed, the Great Vowel Shift that brought English language vowels closer to their modern equivalents had 1) already taken place by the 18th century, and 2) did not particularly impact the letter a as it appears in Handel’s name...

I'm not entirely convinced that the ultra-RP pronunciation of a hasn't shifted since the mid-C20, though.

[Richard Tarleton]

Ah well, I suppose it gives me a purpose in life. I sensed trouble whenever Sarah said she would be playing tracks by Julian Bream, and sure enough - Tarrega, pronounced as if there was no accent. Needless to say I've emailed the programme, but don't expect to hear my email read out on air

[LeMartinPecheur]

It seems it was the Italians he was trying to help. He didn't use that spelling here:

...Curiously, the Italian spelling “Hendel” (when spoken by an Italian) results in much the same sound as the German “Händel” (both are open e sounds [ε] like bed, spread, fed, etc…) That spelling choice could very well have been motivated by a desire to trick the Italians into approximating the German pronunciation. I have found no evidence that 18th century Brits pronounced the first vowel of Handel in a manner approximating a German ä. Indeed, the Great Vowel Shift that brought English language vowels closer to their modern equivalents had 1) already taken place by the 18th century, and 2) did not particularly impact the letter a as it appears in Handel’s name...

I'm not entirely convinced that the ultra-RP pronunciation of a hasn't shifted since the mid-C20, though.

Jean: apologies, I hadn't seen your most interesting reply till today.

With hindsight I realise I should have given a clearer indication that my irony-light was very much on in my canard about Handel/Hendel. But I do get a bit fed up with the modern tendency to adopt the 'correct' foreign pronunciation of names that have been well-rooted in English for years, as if everyone using the traditional one is now beyond the politically-correct pale. Peking and Bombay are shining examples - where do we now go with Paris, Berlin, Munich, Milan, Florence and oh so many more? If we're not careful we'll ensure that our children won't be able to understand their own literature

This is no disrespect to Richard and his TArrega campaign: with names not yet rooted in our language we might as well get them right first time.

(Should I ever get to talk to a German about GFH I I would try to remember to call him HAEndel!)

[french frank]

Ah well, I suppose it gives me a purpose in life. I sensed trouble whenever Sarah said she would be playing tracks by Julian Bream, and sure enough - Tarrega, pronounced as if there was no accent. Needless to say I've emailed the programme, but don't expect to hear my email read out on air

Oh, dear, I was a bit late warning you. I only listened to check on the pronunciation too But there was a written accent ("hope this helps") on the á.

[vinteuil]

.


... sorry, Richard - you'll have to have a word with Sean the Fafferty - 5:15pm Wed 17 Jan, decidedly taRAYga


.

[Richard Tarleton]

.


... sorry, Richard - you'll have to have a word with Sean the Fafferty - 5:15pm Wed 17 Jan, decidedly taRAYga


.

Thanks vints - he's been a member of the club for at least ten years, a serious old lag. I haven't listened to In Tune for a long time...... I'll drop him a line, but probably a hopeless case

[vinteuil]

.

... sorry, Richard - you'll have to have a word with Ian Skelly - 11:08 Wed 4 July, decidedly taRAYga

[ Francisco Tárrega - Recuerdos de la Alhambra, arr Ruggiero Ricci perf Ning Feng, vln ]


... and he did it again at 11:18.