WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756; died Vienna, December 5, 1791
Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano in E-flat Major, K. 498 Composed in 1786; 21 minutes
This short, beguiling work is sometimes called the “Kegelstatt,” or “Bowling Alley,” Trio, but the legend that Mozart tossed it off it while playing a game of ninepins is probably a tall tale. More likely, the Trio was composed for one of the weekly soirées that Mozart frequented at the Vienna home of Prof. Nikolaus von Jacquin, a distinguished botanist. Their mutual friend, Caroline Pichler, recalled that “for as long as I can remember, parties were held at their home on Wednesday evenings. In winter, too, when the Jacquin family lived at the Botanical Garden, erudite conversations were conducted in the father’s rooms, while we young people talked, joked, made music, played little games and in general were admirably entertained.”
Mozart was especially close to the professor’s son Gottfried, “a fiery, troubled individual with a considerable talent for music”—a talent that the composer was eager to encourage. (With his apparent approval, Gottfried published a number of Mozart’s compositions under his own name.) Franziska von Jacquin, Gottfried’s younger sister, took piano lessons with Mozart, who considered her his most “hard-working and diligent” pupil. The Trio’s challenging piano part was no doubt tailored for her hands as well as Mozart’s. One can easily envision the first performance of the work in the Jacquins’ elegant salon, with Franziska at the fortepiano, Mozart on the viola and Anton Stadler playing the clarinet. (This is the same Stadler for whom Mozart would later compose his great Clarinet Quintet and Clarinet Concerto.)
Whatever circumstances attended its composition, the Trio is suffused with a spirit of playfulness and spontaneity. Mozart’s decision to start off with a slow movement in itself reveals a cheerful disregard for convention. The Andante is laid out in a simple ABA scheme, with a quiet coda appended for good measure, and energized by the recurring ornamental figure of a turn. The middle Menuetto features an unusually substantial Trio section, dominated by running triplets in the viola part. Only in the Rondo finale does Mozart’s consummate craftsmanship call attention to itself, in the wonderfully varied treatment of the eight-bar theme. As his biographer Hermann Abert observed, “New ideas shoot up like flowers in spring and yet, on closer inspection, they all prove to be derived from a single source.”
“The Enchanted Town II, Drohobych” 1920-1922 by Bruno Schulz
After the Nazi conquest of Schulz’s town in June 1941, some 900 Jews were rounded up and shot and most of the rest were pressed into forced labor before later being killed. The Gestapo sergeant in charge of Jewish laborers, Felix Landau, held Schulz aside and ordered him to decorate a riding school and his children’s nursery. It seemed to be his salvation.
Photo: Yad Vashem Art Museum
Last month, the New York Times profiled the life of Bruno Schulz—a Jewish writer and painter in Poland who was forced to illustrate a children’s playroom in a Nazi officer’s home and then killed—and the permanent exhibition of his work at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Israel called “Wall Painting Under Coercion.” An excerpt from the article:
As one of his famous lines reads, “My colored pencils rushed in inspiration across columns of illegible text in masterly squiggles, in breakneck zigzags that knotted themselves suddenly into anagrams of vision, into enigmas of bright revelation, and then dissolved into empty, shiny flashes of lightning, following imaginary tracks.”
[David] Grossman, the Israeli author, says he discovered Schulz when someone told him that Schulz’s influence was evident in his own first novel. He had never heard of Schulz, but he picked up his stories and felt a chill of admiration and recognition. Upon learning of the infamous line about Nazis’ killing each other’s Jews, Mr. Grossman was filled with the ambition to write about the Holocaust.
In his widely admired novel “See Under: Love,” a character named Bruno escapes a ghetto under Nazi occupation and jumps into a river, joining a school of salmon.
Read the full article, which includes an online image gallery. Grossman, who spoke at the exhibition’s opening, will appear at the Y on May 4 to talk about the impact of Bruno Schulz and pay tribute to his legacy.
We saw this sign at a wine shop on Lexington Avenue in the 80s as we were on our way to the 92nd Street Y for Francine Segan’s tea talk and tasting the other night. Good thing I had my camera with me!
My grandmother may have been 100% Italian, and I may make eggplant parmesan from scratch, but I have no shame in admitting I love Chef Boyardee. There were a few years back in the day when Chef Boyardee was pretty much all I ate...straight from the can. Why bother dirtying a pot, right?
mom: hey, how r u today? do you tweet? i have no idea how to get tweeting………sounds like some people are addicting to whatever it is. i guess i shouldn’t bother bec i don’t need to get addicted to some other ridiculous hobby like that.
me: hahaha. where did you hear the term “tweeting?”
mom: on tv this morning. just asks the question, “what are you doing?” who cares i suppose……seems weird to me but what do i know. i’m just hanging out and trying to stay out of the way of getting into having to do something. so just relaxing.
They’re talking about Twitter, of course. The “Postcards from Yo Momma” website was destined to be a hit, as sharing unintentionally humorous or downright insane emails from your parents seems to be universal activity.
Doree and Jessica will be at 92YTribeca on May 7 for more talk about the perils, pitfalls and hilarity when parents meet technology. They even made—hold onto your embeddable video hats—a trailer for the book.
Video: Martha Stewart and Stephen Adler at 92Y, February 19, 2009
Previously we posted highlights and quotes from Martha Stewart’s recent talk with BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Stephen Adler and now you can watch the full program above.
Don’t Miss:
Rachael Ray in Conversation with Kim Severson: Mar 26
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg with Stephen J. Adler: Apr 7
Founded on March 22, 1874, the 92nd Street Y (then known as the Young Men’s Hebrew Association) quietly celebrated its 135th birthday this past Sunday. The image above is the programme from an event on April 3, 1875 (during our first season) and as you can see, the entertainment was as diverse then as it is today. Concerts, readings and lectures have been a hallmark since the Y’s inception.
The Y’s first home was a former private residence at 112 West 21st Street. It had parlors, a reading room and a gymnasium. Fifty years after the inaugural meeting, founding Board member Dr. Simeon Newton Leo (pictured) wrote in 1924:
“There is something about Jewish youth which has ever made a strong appeal to my sympathy. To my mind they represent an element destined, if properly guided, to reach great achievement… Hence it became a matter of how best to reach our boys and win their good will and determination to seek proper associates with enticing entertainment of a kind that, while amusing, would broaden their minds and lead them in elevating paths, creditable to themselves.”
In 1900, the Y moved to the corner of 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. In 1930, the current building opened and in 1945, the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and the Young Women’s Hebrew Association merged to form the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. Today the Y has evolved into a world-renowned community and cultural center that reaches out to people of every race, ethnicity, religion, age and economic class.
Last week, Courtney E. Martin, Elizabeth G. Hines, Gloria Feldt and Deborah Siegel (pictured above, left to right) appeared at 92YTribeca for a dialogue about women’s lives, power, entitlement and empowerment in honor of Women’s History Month. Each spoke to what feminism meant to them as young women and now. Gloria remembered needing a male co-signer for everything, including applying for a credit card. She had 3 children by the age of 20 and said that the birth control pill both saved and gave her a life. Elizabeth, who is 9 months pregnant, talked about how the US has no mandated parental leave; the only thing close is the FMLA 6 weeks unpaid leave which is a difficult predicament, especially in this economy. Deborah recalled the Anita Hill case as her “wake up call” that there was still work to be done in the movement. Courtney gave advice on how to get men on board: Only date men who want a feminist partnership.
What do Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, and Jerome Kern have in common? Yes, they are all important composers in the American Songbook canon, and yes, they were all Jewish. But they are also part of the Shabbat Lecture Series: Music as Melting Pot Mosaic presented by The School of Music at the 92nd Street Y. These two-hour programs include a lively discussion of the life and music of the composers, in-depth analysis of the recordings, archival footage, and a light snack to digest it all. They are presented by Joelle Wallach (pictured), who was born in Morocco and makes her home here in New York City. Joelle composes music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voices and choruses, and her String Quartet 1995 was the American Composers Alliance nominee for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
GalleyCat attended the book release party for memoirist Chris Campion’s Escape from Bellevue (A Dive Bar Odyssey) at 92YTribeca on Friday evening. In their video above, GalleyCat followed Chris backstage with video camera in hand, where they witnessed Chris and the band joking around about “felonious behavior” among other things. Chris offered some tips on how to have a good book reading: “Don’t be afraid to stir the pot and go after them.”
That sounds like solid advice to us and 92YTribeca serves as a pretty big pot. Saturday Night Live legendary writer Tom Davis will be stirring it at his book talk here on March 26, followed by journalists/bloggers Doree Shafrir and Jessica Grose who will throw “Yo Momma” into the mix on May 7.
92YTribeca Snapshot: Jon Glaser’s Witness Protection Program
“Jon" of Adult Swim’s Delocated with the band “Bo Ra Flengo”
If you missed last night’s 92YTribeca comedy program, An Evening of Entertainment from the Witness Protection Program featuring Jon Glaser, Yo La Tengo, The World Famous Pontani Sisters, Eugene Mirman, Andy Blitz, A.D. Miles and Scott Adsit, you can’t really relive the night through photos (or vodka) but you can try. More pics below but to play it safe, stay on top of our comedy schedule.
On March 24 at the Y, don’t miss award-winning documentary filmmaker Oren Rudavsky; Abe Foxman, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League; Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens; and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, Fordham Law School professor, when they discuss “Why Zionism Has Become a Dirty Word.”
Brush up on your Annie lyrics and be prepared to have fun. When one of the biggest stars in hip-hop has already reworked “Hard Knock Life” to great acclaim, it is probably a safe bet to assume that it could not be improved any further, no matter how loud and animated you get. But please do not let that stop you from trying. It’s not going to stop us.
CHECK THIS OUT: 92YTribeca started a Twitter meme today involving vodka and sing-alongs that is blowing up, as they say. Here’s The Tweet that started it all, inspired by a bit from last night’s comedy show with Jon Glaser, Eugene Mirman and others.
Top left to right, the top eight richest people in America: William Gates III ($57.0 billion), Warren Buffett ($50.0 billion), Lawrence Ellison ($27.0 billion), Jim Walton ($23.4 billion), S Robson Walton ($23.3 billion), Alice Walton ($23.2 billion), Christy Walton & family ($23.2 billion), Michael Bloomber ($20.0 billion)
To borrow the words of Honorable Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ”We love the rich people.” Though it might be more accurate to say we are fascinated with them, we understand the love Mayor Bloomberg has. With the incredible losses suffered this year by many on the list, pushing them off completely, Bloomberg’s fortunes rose, making him the wealthiest citizen of New York City.
The New York Times sent reporter Jennifer 8. Lee to cover the talk. She writes:
A number of the New York billionaires who have dropped off the list have seen their fortunes implode in a spectacular way as the companies they once ran have been humbled in spectacular fashion. Maurice R. Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, has gone from being worth $1.9 billion last year to less than $100 million today. (Plus, the company is now in the bull’s-eye of Washington — and the public — for awarding $169 million in bonuses). The 95 percent drop in value of Citi shares in the last two years has also pulled Sanford I. Weill, the company’s former chairman, off the list.
...But Ms. Swan said that while “the tech and the finance fortune tend to grab all the publicity,” about 175 of the 1300 or so on the list were “blue collar billionaires,” meaning they made their wealth from more prosaic industries such as frozen potatoes or hauling trash. “These are my favorite favorite billionaires,” she said.
The Y’s first home was a former private residence at 112 West 21st Street. It had parlors, a reading room and a gymnasium. Fifty years after the inaugural meeting, founding Board member Dr. Simeon Newton Leo (pictured) wrote in 1924:
What do 
