36 Years Ago

36 Years Ago, Vienna 1971—A Student Journal

Day 090: A nice Sunday

Day 90 — A nice Sunday
31-October-1971 (Sun.)

Autumn park in Vienna
Sunday brings enjoyment. Walking, Vienna Boys' Choir, and a Puccini opera.

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Day 089: If a tree falls in a forest

Day 89 — If a tree falls in a forest...
30-October-1971 (Sat.)


An easy day today. I’m trying to record sounds for my electronic project. Again, I speak a bit about the learning process.
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Day 088: Beyond routines—start a new project

Day 88 — Beyond routines—start a new project
29-October-1971 (Fri.)


The daily routine of 1971 is settling in. I present some thoughts on how to spice up your daily routine by starting new projects—perhaps something that you’ve always wanted to do. Write a novel. Write a song. Sing. Blog. Podcast. The list goes on. Do it.

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Day 087: Tonight it’sa Italian—Rigoletto

Day 87 — Tonight it’sa Italian—Rigoletto
28-October-1971 (Thur.)


It'sa Italian a'night. After a normal day, I hit the opera house and see Guiseppe Verdi’s opera,
Rigoletto.
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Day 086: Brother Mike is coming to ski

Day 86 — Brother Mike is coming to ski
27-October-1971 (Wed.)


Not much happening today. The practice routine continues. A care package from home provides needed winter clothing. My brother Mike writes me and tells me that he is coming to Austria to ski.

Watch out, Alps, we’re coming.
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Day 085: Austria National Day, goodbye Pupofon girl

Day 85 — Austria National Day, goodbye Pupofon girl
26-October-1971 (Tues.)


I say goodbye to
Pupofon girl—the semi-clad, semi-naked girl tied up in ropes—from the opera, Pupofon. Come on, Google, index, index, index…

Today is an Austrian national holiday. I spend most of the day practicing.

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Day 084: Pupofon—electronic music opera

Day 84 — Pupofon—electronic music opera
25-October-1971 (Mon.)

Pupofon II this is not a puppet
No complaining today, I’m getting better at the horn. See, practice makes perfect.

I encounter an arrogant American traveler who can’t survive on $1,000 a week in Vienna.

Finally, I end the day with a great electronic music concert by my very own teacher, Dieter Kaufmann. There are tall, giant puppets walking around. Great concert.

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Day 083: Celebrating the spirit of humanity

Day 83 — Celebrating the spirit of humanity
24-October-1971 (Sun.)

Autumn in Baden
I’m sightseeing in Baden, Austria today and spend the day walking and getting some well-needed exercise. I rediscover the beauty of nature and the spirit of humankind. People are people, and kids are kids—all over the world. Something to remember.

Plenty of beautiful autumn-like pictures today. Also check out the photos and slide shows today.
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Day 082: Techie day—recording and editing sound

Day 82 — Techie day—recording and editing sound
23-October-1971 (Sat.)


I’m splicing up a tape storm in the electronic music lab, and give a detailed overview of the process of editing and composing with tape and sound. It gets a bit detailed and is meant for music majors interested in learning about these vintage composing techniques. If you’re not a music techie—skip to tomorrow.

I get a letter from best friend Lenny, and Anjali. That makes today, a red-letter day.

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Day 081: Electronic music day

Day 81 — Electronic music day
22-October-1971 (Fri.)


Friday is my electronic music class. We begin the task of collecting sounds. I speak about the types of activities in today’s world that were influenced by both musique concrète and electronic music.
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Day 080: Musique concrète sounds good

Day 80 — Musique concrète sounds good
21-October-1971 (Thur.)


It’s a full day. Most exciting is the start of my “electronic music” class and lab. I learn later that this class is rooted in “musique concrète.” No, we’re not making cement booties for the mafia’s hit list. We’re making music with sound. Very modern. Very avant-garde.
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Day 079: John joins the Vienna Boys' Choir; Grammar Girl questions

Day 79 — John joins the Vienna Boys' Choir; Grammar Girl questions
20-October-1971 (Wed.)

John joins the Vienna Boys Choir
The big news is that I join the Vienna Boys' Choir. There is even a photo of me. I start my first day in electronic music, attending an acoustics class. And I have fond recollections of my new-found friend Alan [Civil, 1st horn of the BBC Symphony Orchestra] from yesterday.

I talk a lot about my writing style in this post and pose questions for Grammar Girl—should I be “true” to the journal?
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Day 078: Three days, three world-class horn players

Day 78 — Three days, three world-class horn players
19-October-1971 (Tues.)

I've said it many times. Vienna is the city of music. In just three consecutive days, I see two solo horn concerts and an orchestra concert for a grand total of hearing three world-class horn players. AND I meet all three backstage, speak with them, obtain autographs, and try to assimilate their horn-playing skills into my body. I'm not certain if that last part worked, and so I take it upon myself to speak with them on a first-name basis.

That would be Herman, Barry, and Alan.

Vienna is the city of music.
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Day 077: Barry's in town; Sight singing

Day 77 — Barry's in town; Sight singing
18-October-1971 (Mon.)


Wow! Surprises. First, being placed in the most difficult section of sight singing class, starting off with atonal sight singing. What’s next? Well, it’s a tremendous concert with world-renowned French hornist, Barry Tuckwell. After the concert, I’m speaking on a first-name basis with Barry.

In the U.S., I never get to meet anyone at concerts. In Vienna, I’m meeting everyone. It was magical.

Today’s a long post.
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Day 076: Sunday walks and music

Day 76 — Sunday walks and music
17-October-1971 (Sun.)

Vienna park in autumn
It’s Sunday—a Bruckner mass, a walk in the park, and a great French horn performance by Hermann Baumann—remember, I’m a horn player. A frustrated horn player; though I haven’t been complaining lately. Happy

Fall/winter is on the way.
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Day 075: My trumpet's Baroque

Day 75 — My trumpet's Baroque
16-October-1971 (Sat.)

A natural horn
A quiet day of practice, reading, and a chamber concert with a Baroque trumpet.

Hey, that's not a trumpet. Why is it here? Just a short science lesson on the natural horn and the harmonic series.
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Day 074: Nothing exciting today




A day where nothing exciting happens. Finally. Let’s take the day off.
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Day 073: Two concerts, two decades, too good

Day 73 — Two concerts, two decades, too good
14-October-1971 (Thur.)

2007 Oleg Chmyr and Ukrainian opera singers
The title says it all—two concerts, two decades, too good. 1971 features an incredible concert with the Romeros, a family-style classical guitar ensemble, known for their flamenco playing. The crowd goes wild! There are five encores. John is on stage with them! What? How did that happen?

A wonderful 2007 operatic concert reintroduces me to some well-needed live music.
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Day 072: A day of hope, web changes, new RSS feed

Day 72 — A day of hope, web changes, new RSS feed
13-October-1971 (Wed.)


Not much today, but I experience a sign of
hope.

Some website changes and a new RSS feed, I
hope.
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Day 071: Music—no boundaries

Day 71 — Music—no boundaries
12-October-1971 (Tue.)

A second performance of
War and Peace by the Bolshoi brings about some introspective thoughts on the power and influence of music on us. Music transcends politics. The arts have no boundaries.

A serious journal entry.
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Day 070: Music theory, in German

Day 70 — Music theory, in German
11-October-1971 (Mon.)


Yay, I register for school and attend my first music theory class. It’s in German. Duh, what did I expect? Well, it’s more difficult than I imagined. This brings me to a discussion of foreign students in ESL classes. I can now relate.

I decide to write an opera, and some lyrics for a song for Anjali. Happy
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Day 069: The early bird gets the book

Day 69 — The early bird gets the book
10-October-1971 (Sun.)

Brass band in park
Today is such a jam-packed day—from the early-bird in line for tickets, to a morning mass, reading books, walking in the park, taking pictures, and ending with a night opera—today was, well, jam-packed.

I take a tangent on the
benefits of reading. I’ll throw in a bunch of pictures if you promise to read about reading.
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Day 068: Music appreciation, Vienna style

Day 68 — Music appreciation, Vienna style
09-October-1971 (Sat.)


I don’t practice today. I go to see
Boris Godunov for the second time. Again, performed by the Bolshoi. The Viennese really love their music and they show it. This is music appreciation at its best.
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Day 067: *?!%?!!-@?

Day 67 — *?!%?!!-@?
08-October-1971 (Fri.)


I’m getting rubbery lips from trying to practice too much. Here it is again, I’m whining away about my horn playing. So redundant, so predictable. Well, I must have been frustrated.

I continue my long tradition (since yesterday) of swearing. See?
*?!%?!!-@?
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Day 066: One-step-in-front-of-the-other

Day 66 — One-step-in-front-of-the-other
07-October-1971 (Thur.)


Sergei Prokofiev Wikimedia Commons
Life goes on with my second horn lesson and the notification that I need to do better. I will. Once again, music fills the evening with a performance of Prokofiev’s War and Peace performed by the amazing Bolshoi Theater Company. Prokofiev is on the right here. Hi Sergei. (I like that name.) Read More...
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Day 065: William Tell, meet Bonanza

Day 65 — William Tell, meet Bonanza
06-October-1971 (Wed.)

AES Show Mixer
Remember my horn audition? Well, I blew it. I guess I was very nervous. What will happen next? Will I get into school? I’m not certain. I need some soul soothing—Tchaikovsky and the Lone Ranger to the rescue.

In 2007, I hit the Audio Engineering Show in NYC to walk down the aisles of Javits Center and look at all of the music and recording equipment that I can’t afford to buy. Well, I can buy a few things.
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Day 064: Boris is good enough



2007 Washington National Art Gallery
It’s the Bolshoi Theater Company at the Staatsoper with a rousing performance of Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. It’s an amazing performance. Mussorgsky is certainly good enough for me. In 2007, I spend a bit of time in Washington, D.C.
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Day 063: My first Viennese horn lesson

Day 63 — My first Viennese horn lesson
04-October-1971 (Mon.)

2007 Washington DC
Today is my first horn lesson from Professor Gabler in Vienna. Holy cow, it’s an assembly line. I wait my turn as I listen to other students, and other students wait their turn as they listen to me. Uh, oh. What is this Viennese style lesson?

In 2007, I am in Washington, D.C. and get to see
Whistler's Mom. Winking
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Day 062: A day of contrasts

Day 62 — A day of contrasts
03-October-1971 (Sun.)


Today is a day of contrasts. First, the wonderful experience of seeing a performance of a Benjamin Britten mass with the Vienna Boys' Choir in a church setting, followed by reading about the Vietnam War in Time magazine.
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Day 061: Oktoberfest is here

Day 61 — Oktoberfest is here
02-October-1971 (Sat.)

Oktoberfest elephants at the Hofburg
It’s time for some serious partying at Oktoberfest, Vienna style at the Rathaus. We’ll also learn a bit about the actual festival, not from me, but from Wikipedia. Drink, drink, drink! (in moderation)
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Day 060: Austria—beautiful panoramas

Day 60 — Austria 360—beautiful panoramas
01-October-1971 (Fri.)

Vienna National Library in Neue Hofburg
01971: Some letter writing to mom and my brothers relieves some of my horn-playing stress.

2007: I discover two new websites, one Austrian,
www.austria-360.at, and the other www.panoramas.dk, that display absolutely gorgeous 360-degree panoramic pictures from around Austria and the world. Absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fun. The picture at the left is from panoramas.dk and is of the Vienna National Library (© Peter Winkler). It is stunning in 360.
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