Friends and Memories

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

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text excerpt

Before we left Petersburg we went to a very interesting orchestral concert at the “Salle de la Noblesse,” and there I heard pieces for the first time by Rimsky-Korsakow, Borodin, and César Cui; the latter, who was a military man, came forward in his uniform to bow to the audience. Borodin, I believe, was also a Professor of Chemistry. The friend who took us to the concert was devoted to music. He said, alluding to combinations and harmonies that then were considered extremely daring and eccentric -

“Quand à moi, j’aime bien cette musique modern - il y survient toujours quelque petit malheur intéressant et amusant quand on ne s’y attend guère.”

That night they played the nocturne out of Scheherazade, Rimsky-Korsakow’s famous ballet. One phrase executed by the clarionets had a peculiarly gurgling sound. Our friend was not only musical, but humorous.

excerpt from 'Friends and Memories' pp. 352 (155 words)

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