{"id":31138,"date":"2017-01-13T15:11:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T20:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=31138"},"modified":"2017-01-13T15:11:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T20:11:32","slug":"news-from-1882-to-1883-thanks-to-brahms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=31138","title":{"rendered":"News from 1882 to 1883, thanks to Brahms"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was at the New York Philharmonic the other night for a Beethoven piano concerto and a Brahms symphony. (You too can hear the concert, at nyphil.org<\/a>, YouTube and Facebook–or so a program footnote informs me.)<\/p>\n

The program notes were written by James M. Keller,<\/a> and read the way he looks (click on link, take a look at him, come back here): erudite, ebullient and fun.<\/p>\n

The notes always include fascinating history about the piece of music we’re listening to, often quotes from the composers’ letters and\/or friends, and photos of art related to the music.<\/p>\n

For instance, the program is showing me a small B&W photo of what I’m sure is an immense full color portrait of an imperial Napoleon painted by Ingres. Tons of gilt, lots and lots of ermine. (Who does this remind you of? Who? I didn’t mean to do that, and I’m not a bit sorry I did.)<\/p>\n

The Beethoven concerto was the Fifth, known as The Emperor–and Keller explains why: a possibly apocryphal story certainly infuriating to Beethoven, if he learned of it. But that’s how pieces of music often get their nicknames: some foreign invader in the audience at the premiere yells out.<\/p>\n

But I wander. This is about Brahms, not Beethoven.<\/p>\n

One page of the program is headed “At the Time<\/strong>. In 1892-83, as Brahms was composing his Symphony No. 3, the following were taking place…” The snippets of events are particularly entertaining. Some are eerily relevant. Isn’t everything, nowadays, as we get yanked back in time? Here are excerpts:<\/p>\n

1882<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n