Re: GG: any opinion on Sweelinck?

[Karl Berry <karl@cs.umb.edu>]

    1)  Did GG ever express an opinion about the music of Jan Sweelinck?  I've

I don't remember him ever mentioning Sweelinck except in passing, but he
(as you may know) did play one of S's fantasias (in `d minor', really
Dorian mode I think, or some mode) for a TV program, shown in one of the
Sony videos.  It got included on the Sony CD of the `early music'
(Gibbons & Byrd).  One of my favorites.  (Inspired me to even try to play
it, although I can only play at approximately 1/100th his speed :).

He did admire the pre-baroque polyphonal composers in general.

    2)  I would appreciate any discussion of GG's views on Schoenberg (all I

I don't remember the answer to the question of whether early Schoenberg
was ok with GG, but I can offer the information that GG's one published
book was on Schoenberg, and he also did a (non-contrapuntal) radio
documentary on him (excellent, as I thought all those documentaries
were).  He also discusses Schoenberg in the TV programs.

The one thing I do remember him writing about Schoenberg was that the 12
tone system per se was pretty silly, the kind of mathematical game a
child might place, but the things he did with it were amazing.  He also
very much liked the idea that Schoenberg saw himself as extremely
traditional, conservative, and doing his thing in a direct line of
Germanic composers (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms [Mahler? someone else? Can't
remember the romantics]), even though others portrayed him otherwise.


Please let us know about your concert program and recording as things
progress!

Karl