Classical Notes: December 26, 2006 Archive

Taco Bell's Canon

Posted at 12:06 PM on December 26, 2006 by Don Lee

A Christmasy arrangement of Pachelbel's well known Canon in D cycled through more than once on the sound system in the home where I spent the holiday weekend. Somehow, despite many, many hearings, I have managed not to get tired of the piece.

But a recent post on YouTube (passed along by colleague Jeff Esworthy) clearly shows how familiarity can breed….well, contempt would be too strong a word; this guy has a light touch. And, as you'll see, he earned his right to complain.

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac

Posted at 7:21 PM on December 26, 2006 by John Birge

So goes the title of one installment of Oscar Levant's autobiography. A few choice quotes to remember this pianist, composer, and wit on his 100th birthday anniversary, December 27, 2006:

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I am schizophrenic, and so am I."

"I used to call Audrey Hepburn a walking X-ray."

"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left."

"I'm a concert pianist, that's a pretentious way of saying I'm unemployed at the moment."

"Leonard Bernstein is revealing musical secrets that have been common knowledge for centuries."

"Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you will find the real tinsel underneath."

"The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too."

"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."