Originally posted by Caliban
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That's what I assumed. So we'll regroup and head off again into the gloom of lost causes. Might even have a quick bite of turkey during the twelve hours' respite, if there's time for a stop. -
I'll wait till tomorrow before I give any clues. Some quizzical funsters may rejoin the fray on Boxing Day!
A peaceful Christmas night to all."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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With Calibans' timeline I posit that the Piano Concerto No 4 is Xaver (Xavier) Scharwenka - Op 82. conducted by Mahler. I had never heard of Scharwenka.
Xavier is most likely the x and I offer Xavier Montsalvatge who wrote a opera based on Puss-in-Boots ...a Christmas panto special.
But Xavier Montsalvatge also has one son called Xavier....so maybe he's not the seasonal clue!
As for the third, well, Xavier Cugat? Franz Xavier Mozart - but he wasn't the first born. xavier Davis is the son of Duane Davis....hardly a famous musician.Comment
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Well, I had the Scharwenka Concerto 4, having thought of Xaver Scharwenka as soon as we started on the letter X. There seem to be two stories about the premiere (see my earlier post) but I'm pretty sure this is it, with the Mahler concert in 1910.
My vote for the seasonal offering is, however, for Xaver Gruber, composer of Silent Night.
That's left the firstborn to solve, which has me stumped. Mozart's Xaver was the sixth of six, so that won't work. Of course the musician doesn't have to be a composer, but that hasn't helped me so far.Comment
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Don I have to take some sort of penalty! I thought Wolfgang Xaver Mozart was WAM's oldest son, but I see you are right - he was the youngest! My bad, as the saying goes. Maybe excessive consumption of Baileys had something to do with it...
Yes, Xaver was the connecting "X"...
Apologies for the Herodian preoccupation with firstborn
Well done, you get the "Y" question, with apologies for my misleading clue!!!!
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Well done, Don and to Caliban...Comment
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What! And I spent the whole night pacing up and down the library at Petter Towers - the best Wilton is nearly worn out. But I hold you no grudge - 'tis the season of goodwill, after all.Originally posted by Caliban View PostDon I have to take some sort of penalty! I thought Wolfgang Xaver Mozart was WAM's oldest son, but I see you are right - he was the youngest! My bad, as the saying goes. Maybe excessive consumption of Baileys had something to do with it...
Yes, Xaver was the connecting "X"...
Apologies for the Herodian preoccupation with firstborn
Well done, you get the "Y" question, with apologies for my misleading clue!!!!
So I've won a Y? Well lie back for a moment while I whip something up, as Nigella might say. (All that food, and as usual we never got to that interesting box of cheeses which seemed such a good idea in the shop.)Comment
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We are, I think, playing Old Rules, with the Simon variation (‘Make it a bit easier’). So here we go. House stars will be given for neatness, and don’t let me catch anyone talking:
What Y was helped by an old-timer, and named six of his issue after others in his craft?
We want eight names – Y and the seven others to whom I refer.Comment
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Make it a bit easier? I've been looking at this off and on and am none the wiser. I was thinking maybe an operatic role but nothing seems to work. A 'race' like the Gibbichung, maybe. And, because I do crosswords, thought that craft might refer to a boat. The Flying Dutchman maybe. Nope. Noyyes Fludde.. Nada!! I shall wait for others...Comment
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bts,Originally posted by BetweenTheStaves View Post
I suspect by the general lack of traffic today that many people are more occupied with family and festivities than staring at the small screen! So I'd like to leave things into tomorrow to see if others can join in.
It is very hard, I find, to know the degree of difficulty when composing a question. I will reveal one fact which might help a little - all the eight answers are real people, not roles.Comment
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It's very quiet round here. Have I killed the thing stone dead, or is everyone suffering post-Boxing Day?
I shall be going out for a while shortly, so may have to leave another hint before then and see what happens by my return later this afternoon.Comment
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All the forums that I frequent are very quiet today, Don.
Looking forward to your return and a clue !Comment
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Originally posted by BetweenTheStaves View Post
bts,
Better than that - a clue before I go. The name of one of the eight appears in the question (translate).Comment
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Some sideways thoughts, ending in another question
Back home, and full of Chinese buffet, I have been musing over us getting to the letter Z in this marathon, and what would or should happen next. I guess it will just go round again, but my cryptic mind wondered for a moment if, after A to Z, next would come AA to ZZ. Not very practical, though a musical BB would be easy enough. (In fact, once past AA, film buffs might have a better time, with Bebe Daniels, Sissy Spacek, Dedee Pfeiffer …)
But first of all, there would be AA. Aaron Copland is too easy – What about aardvark? Is there a musical aardvark to be found? I think there is at least one, though it would be a pretty obscure question. I seem to remember that Gordon Crosse wrote a stage work for children in the ‘60s called ‘Meet My Folks!’, based on poems by Ted Hughes. I’m sure the said animal came into it somewhere. All the Folks were pretty eccentric, and I think My Brother Bert might have been the culprit.
I did have a recording of the work on LP (EMI CLP 1893), but it must have gone in a house moving purge, so I can’t check. Can anyone out there confirm?Comment
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Spot on, Hercule. To elaborate, for the others, and since I've done the research, and saved my paragraph for this occasion:Originally posted by hercule
Violinist and composer Eugene Ysaye was, at the age of twelve, overheard by Henri Vieuxtemps who had him (re)admitted to the Conservatory in Liege to study under Wieniawski. Later in life he named his six unaccompanied violin sonatas (Op.27) after six other violinists: Szigeti, Thibaud, Enescu, Kreisler, Crickboom and Losada. (Who were those last two? Sounds like a great double act.)
Did you need the clue, I wonder, or have you just come back into play after the festivities. I really didn't rate this question as very hard, because if you take what might be a first step for any of these questions, and try a list of composers, there aren't very many who start with Y.
You have now have the final scene of Act I - 'Z'. All yours.Comment
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