On Tuesday, August 20, 1996 at 2:00:00 AM UTC-5, Parsifal77 wrote:
A few months ago, I happily plunged into Arthur Abell's "Talks With
the Great Composer's." Initially, the book seemed like a gold mine of fascinating information about such composers as Brahms and Richard Strauss. Abell claims to have recorded-- verbatim-- all these composers had to say about their spiritual lives (a topic which Brahms rarely discussed), the creative process, etc. In it an an account of a conversation between Joseph Joachim and Darwin! Even Joachim and
Tennyson!
: A few months ago, I happily plunged into Arthur Abell's "Talks WithThere's clearly something wrong with Abell's 'recollection' of conversing with Brahms "a year before Brahms died" about the composer's alleged encounter with ragtime, reprinted in Schauffler's The Unknown Brahms, pp.176-77. Brahms died in 1897. The "
: the Great Composer's." Initially, the book seemed like a gold mine of
: fascinating information about such composers as Brahms and Richard
: Strauss. Abell claims to have recorded-- verbatim-- all these composers
: had to say about their spiritual lives (a topic which Brahms rarely
: discussed), the creative process, etc. In it an an account of a
: conversation between Joseph Joachim and Darwin! Even Joachim and
: Tennyson!
: Later on, though, I stumbled upon a Brahms biography which mentioned the
: book in a brief footnote. The author doubts the veracity of Abell's
: conversations-- especially since the composers' spiritual beliefs jive so
: much with his own.
I'm writing a book on Brahms so was also duly excited a few years ago
when I first ran across the Abell. But one quickly gets suspicious, for
all kinds of reasons. The common wisdom is that it's a fraud.
Still, somebody ought to do some sleuthing about the whole thing. Abell
did know Brahms and Joachim and the other composers apparently, and did write a shorter, vaguer account of a Brahms interview back in the 30s--without the spiritualistic stuff. The best guess is that he cooked
up his later "interview" from a few things Brahms told him, more things Joachim told him, and added some plugs for his own beliefs.
Anybody out there have some solid info?
Jan Swafford
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