Day 289: Richard Strauss day
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
289 — Richard Strauss day
17-May-1972
(Mittwoch–Wed.)
TRANSCRIPT
Very aggravated. Unable to continue work in
electronic music. Stupid equipment doesn’t function
right. Most problems are with the quality. Was
reading about synthesizers and computers and how all
of these things can be remembered automatically—thus,
great quality.
Then played Strauss “Suite” (chamber music). Nice
horn parts.
At night, saw “Arabella.” Strauss opera. A nice
opera. Some beautiful parts.
REFLECTIONS
Studio
equipment. Today,
I’m complaining. Most of the year, I didn’t complain.
Equipment does break, especially considering the
amount of work we have been putting it through. As
always, if the issues occur when in the middle of a
deadline or conclusion, you tend to get a bit more
aggravated.
Synthesizers. This is
one of the first times I mention synthesizers. In
1971–1972, they are just starting to emerge on the
music scene. In my last month at Montclair State they
had purchased one and locked it in a room. These
synthesizers are the non-keyboard patch-bay style
synths where you route the sound signal by physically
patching cables among the synthesizer components.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that there are
not the magic answer to great quality. They may
eliminate the issues of tape hiss, but new issues
emerge.
Strauss
chamber. This
must be the Richard Strauss, “Suite
for 13 Winds in Bb Major.” Don’t
remember much about this, perhaps a class ensemble or
a student recital. I’m glad I was performing.
Strauss
opera. Today is
Richard Strauss day. At night I enjoy his
opera, Arabella.
A Google search led me to the website,
OperaToday,
which has short synopses and streaming audio of
select operas. The streaming sounds like an audience
recording—you can hear a bit of coughing going
on.
Here is
Arabella.
John
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