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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: A Strange Thread (skip beginning)
Post Subject: I love your Mariopol joke.Posted by Romy the Cat on: 5/20/2026
Well, indeed, this becomes an interesting thread. There are three good subjects I would like to squeeze out of it. One of them is about Shostakovich and his trumpet; I will address it here. The second one is about the definition of the word moron.
The last one, and more significantly interesting, is that I am not in complete agreement with you, Robin, about the composer needing to be recognizable as a critical concept of performance, and about conductors and musicians injecting their own attitude and interpretation as the ultimate no-no. I am actually well prepared to argue this concept — not "argue", but share my view on the subject — and go slightly deeper. It has not been argued, but I would like to present an alternative view. If you like, I can start a new thread.
First things first, about morons. I am not a scholar of the English language, and if I begin teaching people English, it would be kind of ridiculous, but I have a history with this word, and I use it in a very specific purpose. I insist that my connotation is “correct” — even though it is not supported publicly. My diagnosis of audio people (and not only audio) is that they are typically united in groups by sharing common illusions, and this is why humanity misuses my word "morons". The reason why I am so picky about it is that I feel that I own the copyright on the word morons in the audio industry. 😀. Yes, I do not care about the dictionary definition of this word. My wife constantly argued with me about me use the word Morons, as she was very concerned about the political correctness and accuracy of relation to dictionary. I was trying to explain to her that I do not let language control me and I control the language. She didn't like it, but she is another example of a person without consciousness, just an empty shell of fear of herself.
I came to the United States, I believe, in 1992, spoke little English, watched a new movie called Groundhog Day, and I heard the word moron for the first time. I had a friend then. He was some kind of music producer and audio guy, and I asked him what it meant. He told me that there is a clear distinction between an idiot and a moron. He said that an idiot is just an idiot, but a moron is an idiot who is in a position not to be an idiot and expected to express an informed, referenced opinion, yet he is still expressing the opinion of an idiot. From here, you can clearly see how iconic the phrase "audio moron" is. It is a sophisticated metaphor that encompasses 99% of participants in the audio industry, particularly those who consider themselves high-end professionals.
Now, regarding the Shostakovich trumpet. Yes, Robin, you are absolutely correct, and it is a well-known difference between Russian brass and Western brass. And yes, I also feel that some Russian music needs to be played with a trumpet that is 1/10 of a decibel from actually clipping. I certainly cannot follow the score, but your approach to the trumpet is at the level of the third bricklayer from my example above. I hope that with my further explanation, you understand where I’m coming from.
I hugely respect Shostakovich as a composer, and it is impossible to ignore him, but I mostly detest his symphonic music, with very few exceptions. He has very interesting quartets, some interesting chamber music, and spectacular piano preludes. His opera is garbage, and most of his symphonic music is not garbage, but extremely detested by me. You need to understand that I grew up in the Soviet Union in the 70s-80s, and this guy was used in every dishwasher and washing machine. It was the official music of the Russian government, and all the stories that Western people like about him as some kind of victim are absolute bullshit. He was the most celebrated and the most permitted composer in the Soviet Union, and he took full advantage of it. Saying this, I under no circumstances deny his talent as a composer.
But if you know him, if you heard how he talked, how he thought, how he communicated with other people, the stories he was telling about himself to different people during different periods — different stories — it is kind of very ugly to me. The son of a bitch composed the celebrated Nazi march in his Seventh Symphony. I absolutely hate this march. I call it the Russian Bolero, and it is the most distasteful music. Still, he admitted that he originally composed this music 10 years before to symbolize the proliferation of communist and Leninist ideas around the world. Then the thousands of musicians around the world are arguing about how to play certain notes in the march to demonstrate more 'cute' aggression. I do not mock your comments on his Allegro from the 8TH, but if you hear my reasons for the thread, you might understand why I feel it is not applicable to Shostakovich. I feel that music is an expression of consciousness. I don’t connect with Shostakovich’s smug little grin consciousness, so his music doesn’t resonate with me. While I recognize his brilliance, what I hear is this anxious, conflicted, sly and non-integrated worldview, and I just don’t relate to it. For example, that march from the Seventh Symphony—to me it is just and empty posturing.
So, if you are right, and if you insist that the composer is supposed to be recognizable, then what is recognizable to me in Shostakovich? It is "smirky" and nervous sarcasm. Not the ingenious sarcasm that some other Russian composers used to describe Russian reality, but self-fearing sarcasm, which reaches the level of monumental grandiosity while at the same time recognizing himself as a parochial little man. Your dislike of the German player from Wand’s orchestra is spot on, but this German trumpeter does not even understand what self-fearing sarcasm means. I think this entire concept does not exist in German culture. This is the primary reason I generally dislike Russian music and consider myself a Germanic person in musical terms: it doesn’t have the constant vulgarity of Shostakovich’s expressionism. It is exactly the same reason why I have a lot of issues with Mahler: super beautiful, super intelligent, probably the most capable composer of all, who sometimes goes into absolutely unnecessary self-vandalizing with unpleasantness, at least that is how I feel.
Look, for instance, at the Tenth Symphony Allegro. Absolutely spectacular music, brilliantly, brilliantly composed, but absolutely about nothing. It is just like a cacophony of beautiful sounds, beautiful harmonies, but about nothing. Smerky, self-deprecating, pretentious nothingness. You will never see in Brahms, for instance, a sequence of three notes that would express this nothingness.
I completely agree about the German trumpet in the clip above. The playing is not only safe but boring, but he cannot play nothingness. This guy grew up playing Bruckner, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms... So now, we want him to play Russian self-deprecating nothingness? I do not think so.
I like that you are enjoying Mravinsky’s 1962 performance. I like the original version with the non-corrected pitch. If I remember correctly, Mravinsky played in England, at a festival of Russian music or something like that. The recording was crap and high-pitched, but that tuned Russian orchestra, perhaps because of a recording mistake, sounds spectacular to me. Pay attention: you can feel the very playful satire there. However, I do not particularly appreciate that performance for the trumpet, but for the quality of the strings that the orchestra demonstrated. Interestingly, however, Mravinsky, who played more or less respectfully to the score, was not, in my view, the one who demonstrated the best Russian orchestral playing. Again, in my view, it belongs to a completely different Russian conductor who, ironically, never played this composer’s music, but played his own music. So I am slightly buttering you up for a debate about whether you see yourself in art or art in yourself. Trust me, if we dive down that rabbit hole, you will be surprised how deep it goes.Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site