University Challenge

[LHC]

As soon as they mentioned trombone solos in orchestral music I thought...Rimsky-Korsakov will be in there
The young lady in University College Oxford seemed to know that Holst was a trombonist, not that it did them much good on the bonuses!

The trombone introduction to the Tuba Mirum in Mozart's Requiem (question 3 of the bonus round) was also used for a 'name that tune' segment in Face the Music many years ago. The only reason I remember this is that I recognised it immediately and was very surprised when, like last night's students, none of Joseph Cooper's guests were able to identify it.

[Nick Armstrong]

The trombone introduction to the Tuba Mirum in Mozart's Requiem (question 3 of the bonus round) was also used for a 'name that tune' segment in Face the Music many years ago. The only reason I remember this is that I recognised it immediately and was very surprised when, like last night's students, none of Joseph Cooper's guests were able to identify it.

The reason I recognise it is that I once had to try and play it without an alto trombone (it’s very high)

[ostuni]

Yes, but definitely written for the tenor trombone - as with virtually all Classical sacred music including trombones, the standard scoring was for ATB instruments (and thenTuba Mirum solo is for Trombone 2).

A bit of trombone HIP-geekery: that Ab at the top of the first quaver arpeggio was customarily played in 1st position in Mozart's day.

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, but definitely written for the tenor trombone - as with virtually all Classical sacred music including trombones, the standard scoring was for ATB instruments (and thenTuba Mirum solo is for Trombone 2).

Yes, by strange coincidence I came across my part for it yesterday for the first time in 20 years (while looking for something else, which I couldn’t find, as usual! )

[smittims]

Brahms 2 and Beethoven 6 include some high note for the first trombone. I suppose these days they're played on a tenor.

[Nick Armstrong]

Brahms 2 and Beethoven 6 include some high note for the first trombone. I suppose these days they're played on a tenor.

I recently played Dvorak 7 and there are a couple of high bits which challenge my amateur lips & tenor trombone - fortunately not solos (I confess to playing them an octave down in the concert )

[ardcarp]

In the past, I put on a concert of Bruckner's motets including the ones with trombones. (Ecce sacerdos is rather spectacular...with organ too.) To get the best value out of the three trombonists we hired, we also programmed Bruckner's two Aequali for bass, tenor and alto trombones. They are rather short, ordinary and chordal pieces. In short, a bit bland compared with the glory of the motets, and I rather wish we hadn't bothered with them

Back to University Challenge, Mrs A and I found the questions in last week's programme, er, challenging. (Only got a couple of answers. ) OTOH tonight's seemed easier by far and we were on a bit of a roll. The scores of the teams were quite high, which seems to support the 'easier question' theory. Anyone else find that this was so?

[cloughie]

Yes, by strange coincidence I came across my part for it yesterday for the first time in 20 years (while looking for something else, which I couldn’t find, as usual! )

Nick, you’ve shattered my image of you - the legal mind, calm, collected and everything in its place.

[french frank]

the legal mind, calm, collected and everything in its place.

(Sorry, Nick )

[Nick Armstrong]

Nick, you’ve shattered my image of you - the legal mind, calm, collected and everything in its place.

The mind is reasonably organised. It’s the outside world that’s all over the place

(Sorry, Nick )

Et tu, Bruta

[Nick Armstrong]

It is my considered belief that the classical music questions are getting harder.

The answers to this week’s classical music round plumbed a new depth or two

[Ein Heldenleben]

The answers to this week’s classical music round plumbed a new depth or two

Nutcracker for The Rite …ye Gods . I didn’t get the Glass but perversely I’m rather proud of that. All I can say is that I know one or two things about Durham. There are some superb musicians there . It has a lovely music school just in front of the Cathedral and the Vice Chancellor is the inestimable Sir Thomas Allen . Just a pity that he and a few others weren’t on the team.

[gurnemanz]

Nutcracker for The Rite …ye Gods . I didn’t get the Glass but perversely I’m rather proud of that. All I can say is that I know one or two things about Durham. There are some superb musicians there . It has a lovely music school just in front of the Cathedral and the Vice Chancellor is the inestimable Sir Thomas Allen . Just a pity that he and a few others weren’t on the team.

Point taken on Nutcracker/Rite. However, the Durham team, especially their captain, were very knowledgeable and quite young. I think the average age was about 20, a time when many people just start getting into classical music. That was the case with me. I was an undergraduate at Durham and used to like taking in evensong in the cathedral of an afternoon. The Chorister School next to the cloisters was very near my college, St Cuthbert's.

PS A nit-picker writes: Thomas Allen is Chancellor, a ceremonial post, which might involve song or two. If he were Vice-Chancellor, he would be running the place.

[Bryn]

Nutcracker for The Rite …ye Gods . I didn’t get the Glass but perversely I’m rather proud of that. All I can say is that I know one or two things about Durham. There are some superb musicians there . It has a lovely music school just in front of the Cathedral and the Vice Chancellor is the inestimable Sir Thomas Allen . Just a pity that he and a few others weren’t on the team.

Why the surprise at Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky being mixed up? That latter was possibly the greatest influence on the former. Though I would not challenge your point about there being some fine musicians at Durham, I do recall one student there briefly contributing to either this or the old BBC Forum who got quite put out at the suggestion (actually a verbatim assertion by Skempton himself) that a major influence on Howard Skempton's musical development was the music of Morton Feldman, so they are not all as musically perceptive as they might be.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Point taken on Nutcracker/Rite. However, the Durham team, especially their captain, were very knowledgeable and quite young. I think the average age was about 20, a time when many people just start getting into classical music. That was the case with me. I was an undergraduate at Durham and used to like taking in evensong in the cathedral of an afternoon. The Chorister School next to the cloisters was very near my college, St Cuthbert's.

PS A nit-picker writes: Thomas Allen is Chancellor, a ceremonial post, which might involve song or two. If he were Vice-Chancellor, he would be running the place.

Yes of course he’s Chancellor. I went to a Graduation ceremony in the Cathedral once and as he walked down the nave in full regalia I immediately thought of Beckmesser and The Mastersingers..