The Wagner-Geyers had moved to Dresden when Wagner was less than a year old and Weber was
"the chef d’orchestre to the King in a town that had abandoned Bach and all the German masters – Buxtehude, Schütz, Handel - for the paltry superficialities of the Italian opera. Oh, he tried, especially to reform the opera. Even added Geyer to the company of singers. An indifferent tenor, my step-father, but at least he could hold a melody... Geyer christened me 'The Cossack'. Mostly because of my ability to slide down the banisters of our house without falling off. I had a chair in the actor’s box and Weber gave me a part twice, in 'The Vineyards by the Elbe' – as an angel with wings – and in Kotzebue’s 'Hate and Repentance', where I even had a line to say. Learned piano badly."(From my novel "A Pilgrimage to Bayreuth")
And later on, quoting again from the novel:
"The twilight of the only god in Germany. Karl Maria. Caught tuberculosis. In London. Died at the house of Sir George Thomas Smart during the night of the 4th of June, 1826. Thirty-nine years old. Eighteen years later I had his body brought back to Dresden to be buried. Yes, but great artists never actually die, they're merely absorbed into history, and assimilated. Assimilated? Did I really just say that? But it's true, too true. History's written by the moon-children, who reduce everything to the same dead rock they're made of. Who was Karl Maria von Weber? A composer. Correct for ten marks out of ten. Who was Karl Maria von Weber, Geyer? An amanuensis of the spirit of music, sir. Incorrect. No marks. Try again. An acrobat, sir. No. A tightrope walker, sir. No. One of those few geniuses who are capable of transforming the spirit into song, sir. No marks, Geyer. We don't give marks for ridiculous, arty-farty answers. Weber was 19th November 1786 to June 4th 1826. Weber was 'a key figure in the early development of the Romantic movement'. Weber's 'Euryanthe' is now widely regarded as an early influence on Wagner. Weber was a series of facts like these, written in a concert program you could read when you were bored with listening to the music. Ten out of ten for attendance. Did you notice the dress the Countess of Nobody was wearing? I thought the third elf was really rather pretty; I wonder if she'll let me visit her backstage?"
These days, alas, Weber has been relegated from the Premier League to the mere Hall of Famers. Beethoven on the other hand...
Amber pages
The Gettysburg Address, delivered, today in 1863
The first Arab leader ever to do so, Anwar Sadat, set foot in Israel, today in 1977 - but see October 6
And today in 1978, the Jonestown Massacre, a date in an almanac about which I confess to knowing nothing - though of course I could easily look it up, and eventually I probably will. But because I do not know it, it can not be a part of my personal history, and so I may well look it up, but I will not research it, and I will not write about it, not in this Book of Days anyway.
á
And today in 1978, the Jonestown Massacre, a date in an almanac about which I confess to knowing nothing - though of course I could easily look it up, and eventually I probably will. But because I do not know it, it can not be a part of my personal history, and so I may well look it up, but I will not research it, and I will not write about it, not in this Book of Days anyway.
á
Which paragraph, defining the term "passer-by" to perfection, provides a perfect illustration of what is called a syllogism (a false deduction or conclusion etc based on logic and achieved through the use of ratiocination...) and an even more perfect illustration of why the human world remains as barbarically uncivilised now as it was when we still lived in caves.
And speaking of hypocricy, disingenuousness, and insincerity; I said I would not write about it, and yet, self-evidently, I have just done so.
And speaking of hypocricy, disingenuousness, and insincerity; I said I would not write about it, and yet, self-evidently, I have just done so.
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