Rachmaninov and Medtner.

[Serial_Apologist]

Absolutely and utterly false, as I'm sure both Rachmaninov and Medtner would themselves testify if only there were still with us and happened to be members of this forum (if only!). Medtner is Medtner and Rachmaninov Rachmaninov - two very different composers who each happened to have in common their Russianness, their gifts as pianists and piano composers, their preternatural genius as song composers and of course their mutual friendship, respect and admiration. Medtner confined himself largely to piano music, songs, chamber music and piano concertos whereas Rachmaninov did all of these things but also wrote other orchestral scores and stage works; Medtner claimed to have found orchestration a chore (which from the score of the first piano concerto in particular one would never guess) whereas Rachmaninov relished it. Medtner is Rachmaninov without the fame, perhaps, but each had so well developed a melodic gift that the suggestion that the former was the latter without the tunes is at best arrant nonsense!

One wonders where this idea originated. It was I think hinted at early on in the week. I once had a reel-to-reel of a Medtner broadcast on R3 in the early 70s in which the presenter used a word for describing Medtner's melodic gifts that would certainly - well, hopefully - not go down well in ANY circle today: niggardly.

[ahinton]

One wonders where this idea originated.

Probably with one of the côterie that coined the "Russian Brahms" epithet that Medtner himself so deplored.

I once had a reel-to-reel of a Medtner broadcast on R3 in the early 70s in which the presenter used a word for describing Medtner's melodic gifts that would certainly - well, hopefully - not go down well in ANY circle today: niggardly.

One wonders what on earth (if anything) could possibly have been meant by the use of such a term in such a context!

[Sir Velo]

A good friend of mine from Cambridge days; now an internationally celebrated poet, was generous enough to introduce me to Medtner's music many years ago. Initially, my reaction was that the bravura masked a lot of empty note spinning. Hearing the "Night Wind" sonata again (with its curious half echoes of Scriabin), this week, convinces me of Medtner's elusive genius; as did the performance of Demidenko of the 2nd PC.

[verismissimo]

A good friend of mine from Cambridge days; now an internationally celebrated poet...

Christopher Marlowe, eh, Sir V?

[Stanfordian]

Glad you mention Hamish Milne. I hadn't heard his recording of this Medtner sonata before and was completely bowled over by it. And having just played the Geoffrey Tozer interpretation I think Milne has got the edge.

Hiya Pianorak,

You may already know this Hamish Milne's Complete Medtner Piano Sonatas and other piano works (7 discs) on Brilliant Classics has been reissued with a new cover. Am I right in assuming that these recordings were originally on the CRD label? I'm sorely tempted at the low prices I have seen on amazon. Link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medtner-Complete-Piano-Sonatas-Hamish/dp/B004BAUCZ8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1352377891&sr=1-1-fkmr0

[Nick Armstrong]

Hiya Pianorak,

You may already know this Hamish Milne's Complete Medtner Piano Sonatas and other piano works (7 discs) on Brilliant Classics has been reissued with a new cover. Am I right in assuming that these recordings were originally on the CRD label? I'm sorely tempted at the low prices I have seen on amazon. Link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medtner-Comp...1&sr=1-1-fkmr0

Bloody Hell, thanks!! Ordered already!

What great stuff Brilliant produce!

[Stanfordian]

Glad you mention Hamish Milne. I hadn't heard his recording of this Medtner sonata before and was completely bowled over by it. And having just played the Geoffrey Tozer interpretation I think Milne has got the edge.

Hiya Pianorak,

You may already know this Hamish Milne's Complete Medtner Piano Sonatas and other piano works (7 discs) on Brilliant Classics has been reissued with a new cover. Am I right in assuming that these recordings were originally on the CRD label? I'm sorely tempted at the low prices I have seen on amazon. Link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Medtner-Complete-Piano-Sonatas-Hamish/dp/B004BAUCZ8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1352377891&sr=1-1-fkmr0

[Pianorak]

Hiya Pianorak,

You may already know this Hamish Milne's Complete Medtner Piano Sonatas and other piano works (7 discs) on Brilliant Classics has been reissued with a new cover. . .

Many thanks for this. Hate to admit it but I did NOT know. Order has now been placed.
(Btw thanks for the apol the other day.)

[Pianorak]

Many thanks for this. Hate to admit it but I did NOT know. Order has now been placed.

Unbelievable but true - Placed the order yesterday and it arrived today!
Also received today: DVD Artur Rubinstein in Concert: Beethoven 3rd, Brahms 1st plus various solos by Schubert, Brahms and Chopin.

[LeMartinPecheur]

...the presenter used a word for describing Medtner's melodic gifts that would certainly - well, hopefully - not go down well in ANY circle today: niggardly.

SA: you are being over-squeamish. OED does not support any connection between niggard or its derivatives and words that are, shall we say, related to negro.

Niggard (= mean, stingy) is in Chaucer's Troilus, c1374, where negro is 1555, neger (= negro, nigger) 1587, and nigger 1786.

The precise etymology of niggard etc is highly obscure, though a French origin is indicated by its ending apparently.

So please let's not allow false etymology combined with PC-ness to eliminate a perfectly respectable English word. That's how we lose contact with our still-readable medieval literature.

EDIT The Onions Oxford Dictionary of Eng. Etymology links niggard to Swedish and Old Norse words of the same meaning, and to OE hneaw, and an earlier modern English form, nigon which suffered a changed suffix.

[Serial_Apologist]

SA: you are being over-squeamish. OED does not support any connection between niggard or its derivatives and words that are, shall we say, related to negro.

Niggard (= mean, stingy) is in Chaucer's Troilus, c1374, where negro is 1555, neger (= negro, nigger) 1587, and nigger 1786.

The precise etymology of niggard etc is highly obscure, though a French origin is indicated by its ending apparently.

So please let's not allow false etymology combined with PC-ness to eliminate a perfectly respectable English word. That's how we lose contact with our still-readable medieval literature.

Thanks for the correction, LMP