Today was a big day. I read about the world’s oldest joke and heard an old favorite, Haydn’s Symphony No. 93, on XM Radio.
Okay, here’s the joke, recorded ca. 1900 BCE by a Sumerian who shall remain nameless:
Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.
Hey, I didn’t say it was the world’s best joke.
Speaking of farts, listen to this snippet from the second movement* of the Haydn I mentioned:
Ah, that good old south German humor. Now, Haydn’s music in general is full of jokes and surprises. But this is a doozy. I’ve heard other conductors play it safe, letting the bassoon play in the usual suave manner (well, as suave as a bassoon can ever get). After all, this is classssical music. But in this summer of audacity, I must say George Szell got it audaciously right.
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*Butt-head: “Huh-huh … you said ‘movement’!”
Scheiß! The internet is a fickle mistress. The article linked at “south German humor” unceremoniously disappeared. I’ve replaced it with a more general Wikipedia entry, which (as of today) does not single out the southern part of the German sphere of linguistic (and other) influence.
Despite his unexpected diss of George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra oboist, I’ll share this video, published a few days ago, from Richard Atkinson, one of many enlightening and entertaining videos he has produced.
Update: A YouTube visitor commenting on this video said: “Szell is simply amazing. His personality might give you a totally opposite image but he always manages to get the spirit of humour. And of course he’s one of the greatest Haydn/Mozart conductor [sic].” And Richard Atkinson liked the comment! What R.A. did not like about this particular Szell performance will remain one of life’s little mysteries. 🙂