Re: GG: the piano is hung from the chandelier

[CLAUDE BEN ZACHARY <czachary@ucla.edu>]

Junichi --

This is just Glenn playing with language.  He is saying that the cadenza 
he's written is intended to be an integral part of the concerto as a 
whole, and *not* an excuse for empty virtuosity by the pianist 
ornamentally displaying his gifts and the sound of the piano while the 
orchestra looks on as if part of the audience.  The "piano hung from the 
chandelier" is a humorous way of expressing irrelevant showmanship, and 
might be an oblique reference to Lee Liberace and his famous trademark.

Claude Zachary
UCLA Dept. of Library and Information Science

On Tue, 15 Jul 1997, Junichi Miyazawa wrote:
> >From the very end of "A word about the cadenzas"(GGR, p.69):
> 
>   . . . Both [cadenzas for Beethoven's first concerto],
>   in other words, effect an organic balance with the work, 
>   thereby of course denying the original purpose of cadenza 
>   writing as a virtuosic display.  At any event I have not yet 
>   requested the orchestra to file to the balcony while for three 
>   glorious minutes the piano is hung decorously from the chandelier.
> 
> For me, the last sentence, which is only joking, is ambiguous.
> 
> All in all, what GG wants to say is:  
> GG denied the character of the virtuosic display of cadenzas
> by writing his cadenzas for the Beethoven concerto, but he says
> he has never pompously displayed his virtuosity when he plays any
> cadenzas at performing concertos.  Correct?
> 
> What is the situation of the last sentence?
> 1) Do the orchestra members leave the stage to go to the balcony
> to watch how marvelously the virtuosity is displayed?
> 2) What is the most ambiguous phrase for me is "the piano is hung
> decorously from the chandelier".  Does it have a literal meaning?
> Is the piano hung over the stage?
> I cannot imagine the situation.  
> Or I might misunderstand the sentence because of my 
> ignorance of English grammar and expressions.
> 
> Please explain the sentence.
> 
> Replies are preferable *on* the list, rather than *off* the list
> to share them by all the subscribers.
> 
> Thank you in advance.
> 
> Junichi
> 
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>  Junichi Miyazawa, Tokyo 
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