Alphabet associations - I

[Anna]

Nicolas Nabokov composed a ballet-oratorio Ode, for Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russes I think

[subcontrabass]

Nicolas Nabokov composed a ballet-oratorio Ode, for Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russes I think

Correct. Now what about Stravinsky?

[Anna]

I'll leave it for Northender to finish off, as a young girl I was obsessed with Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes. I suppose everyone wants to be a ballerina at that age!

[Nick Armstrong]

I suppose everyone wants to be a ballerina at that age!

Not I, sweet Anna I wanted to be a Grand Prix driver

[Northender]

NN wrote a book, published in 1964, on Stravinsky.

[subcontrabass]

NN wrote a book, published in 1964, on Stravinsky.

And, for the record, the relationship with Vladimir Nabokov?

[Northender]

First cousin.

[Northender]

Assuming that the requirements of 'Anna's Law' have been met, I offer the following, the answer to which begins with 'O': Written in the second half of the 19th century, this was the choice of a wartime leader while conferring on a royal vessel. It also appeared in a film set in a later conflict, and in America's longest-running animated program(me).

[subcontrabass]

First cousin.

To summarize:

Nicolas Nabokov composed a ballet-oratorio Ode, for Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russes; wrote a book, published in 1964, on Stravinsky; and was first cousin to Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita.

[Northender]

Assuming that the requirements of 'Anna's Law' have been met, I offer the following, the answer to which begins with 'O': Written in the second half of the 19th century, this was the choice of a wartime leader while conferring on a royal vessel. It also appeared in a film set in a later conflict, and in America's longest-running animated program(me).

Perhaps a little extra information may help....the war leader who chose this work outlived his interlocutor (no translator was necessary) by 20 years.

[Nick Armstrong]

Perhaps a little extra information may help....the war leader who chose this work outlived his interlocutor (no translator was necessary) by 20 years.

Your clue has made no difference to the fact that I have absolutely no idea about the solution to your puzzle!

Well, one idea - The Simpsons is presumably the US tv show...

[Nick Armstrong]

Well, one idea - The Simpsons is presumably the US tv show...

According to this learned treatise, the only O relevant to classical music on The Simpsons is Orff. http://super-conductor.blogspot.co.u...-simpsons.html

Any good to you?

[Northender]

The Simpsons is one of many films and TV programmes in which this work has popped up. The warleader who chose the piece died in 1965 - 24 years after the important meeting at which he chose it.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The warleader who chose the piece died in 1965 - 24 years after the important meeting at which he chose it.

So, Churchill (and Roosevelt)?

[Nick Armstrong]

So, Churchill (and Roosevelt)?

Quite.

"On Sunday morning, August 10 [1941], Mr. Roosevelt came aboard H.M.S. Prince of Wales and... attended Divine Service on the quarterdeck.

... I chose the hymns myself – “For Those in Peril on the Sea” and “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” We ended with “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”

Winston Churchill – The Second World War, Volume 3: The Grand Alliance

One of the O words above is presumably the one we're after. My money's on Onward, Christian Soldiers.