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Based on the statements below, Who is to jump?

  • Alberto Ginastera

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • Gustav Mahler

    Votes: 8 53.3%

Balloon Debate Grand Finale!! poll

4K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  Sid James 
#1 ·
Well due to unexpected circumstances we have found ourselves at the final stage of the balloons journey and only Messers Mahler and Ginastera have survived or managed to maintain their compsure enough to avoid jumping!

I can't say I have been very happy with the way things have gone with this game from the very negative reception the idea got at the outset to the sudden developments which bring it now to a premature conclusion but that's the internet. You never know how others will react and there's no way of controling or predicting that. If you remember the climate on this board when the balloon debate started 4 months ago it was full of derrisive and argumentative trolls who have since been either banned or have left on thier own.

On the positive side I have learned about Ginastera and Castelnouvo-Tedesco, I have learned things about Mahler and Shostakovich that I didn't know before and have made freinds with some very interesting people. I also was foreced to research my own spectre, Bottesini, in some depth which has enriched my knowledge of one of my heros/demons. There have been interesting comments made by some concerning the contestants posts which are mostly the result of quite a bit of research and creative writing.

I suppose the Balloon will be brought into service after some repairs and some fine tuning concerning the timeline etc. but that won't be for a while and may not even be on this forum (I don't know yet). It was kind of fun for those involved and quite baffling for most of the transient passers-by.

Anyway, on to the poll. I don't think we need a discussion period so on with the poll immediately! You are asked to vote for the composer you think should be asked to sacrifice himself by jumping out of the balloon in order to save his companion.

Here then is Mr Gustav Mahler in defence of his position:

Like many composers, my early years were fraught with disappointment and desire,both swelling up to a first real position as conductor at Bad Hall. As the name suggests, not all went well. The orchestra never was quite up to the task of playing well and they were but a stepping stone in my career. Still, as with all musical related positions, I gave it 200% of my efforts as it deserved.That was followed by Ljubljana in 1881, Olomouc in 1882 and Vienna in 1883. During these times I continued to compose my first three symphonies and various Lieder. The symphonies didn't fare very well at the critics table due to some anti-Semitic critics bent on running me out of town. The first symphony did well though and at least helped spread the word of my new compositions.
The 2nd Symphony was a bit too long for the public yet that's how I composed it. At 83 minutes, the attention span of some made it a difficult work. Still, I did achieve some recognition due to it's performances. I did make some friends in the critics circle and started to read more favourable reviews.
My symphony #3 had a bit more success with the public but still not enough with the critics.
This work follows my Wunderhorn series of Lieder and incorporates many melodies from said works. I think it one of my best works and so dear to my heart. The themes of what the earth,nature and other parts of existence tell me shows my desire to be at one with God,nature and mankind.
Finally, Symphony #4 ends my creative early period of activity. This work had a success with both critics and the public,proving to be my most popular symphony to date.

As yet I had not really found my soul mate and therefore had no real friens to share my successes with. All alone in the world but then also comfortable with my loneliness.
I would later add such feelings to my works.

At this point in my life I cling to whatever love and happiness I can.

Yours,

Gustav Mahler

And now the floor is given over to Alberto Ginastera who has this to say in his defence:

To begin with, I owe a debt of thanks to everyone who judged me worthy of continuing this voyage. I assure you that I've spent a good bit of my time working out ideas for a trio of new compositions- which has always been characteristic of the direction to which my mind inclines. I can't continue, though, without some remorse for the absence of G. Bottesini, whom I think deserved a better fate than the one he received.

When I first hit upon the idea of composition, it was an exciting prospect for me- and my early efforts were met with encouragement and praise. There are certainly dozens of other composers who showed more ability in their earlier yeers than me- but I was grateful for the support all the same.

Looking back a little later with some self-criticism, I noticed that my initial sketches of my mid-teens years were mostly irredeemable dabbling, and (with only one small, semi-reconstructed exception) I 'did a Dukas' and and permanently locked them up in the 'circular file.'

Opus 1- the work from which my legitimate career begins, is the music to the ballet Panambí. The ballet itself is based on a Guaraní tribal tale [the Guaraní are indignenous to N. Argentina] and contained legendary, mystical, romantic and supernatural elements. In short, it's not surprising that my post-adolescent imagination would be fired by this kind of musical story. The goal of premiering this work as a full-fledged ballet proved elusive, but Panambí proved quite performable when presented as a suite at the venerable Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (a place rivalled only by the Sydney Opera House as the most famous venue of its kind south of the Equator) back in 1937. It was really heady stuff for a 20-year old!

I look back on that composition with some qualifications... I've really learned a lot since those early times. Portions of it reinforce my decision to expunge works preceding that one. In spite of those feelings, however, the piece remains probably one of the half-dozen of mine most familiar to the public-at-large- so I guess it's not all that bad for something I had begun as a teen-ager!

Remember that your vote is to be based upon these defences and not on your own personal preference for the composers in question.

Thank you all, Bach, WorldViolist, HandleBar, Chi_town/Philly, Mark Harwood (get well soon, nice job on Wagner!) for your participation, research and creativity in this endevour.

See you at the landing site!



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#3 ·
Ive voted for Ginastera to fall. Not only is his defence riddled with spelling mistakes :D but he also sounds slightly too happy and I much prefer the more realistic outlook of Mahler.

Of course... there are other reasons.
 
#4 ·
Ive voted for Ginastera to fall. Not only is his defence riddled with spelling mistakes :D but he also sounds slightly too happy and I much prefer the more realistic outlook of Mahler.
Dos propósitos:

1er: If I had known that this was going to be my final chance to make my appeal, I would have shown more gravitas...:(

2ndo: There are more spelling mistakes in my travelling companion's note than there are in mine.:rolleyes: [Not that it should have anything to do with the case... but] [O]ne can criticize me for a lot, but not for that.:p Alberto Ginastera
 
#8 ·
It was an honour to be invited along. Since my health has been poor, I stayed only until I saw the foul Herr Wagner plummet to his reward so that I could die, if not content, then less troubled. I left behind my bequest of a vote, but whatever the outcome I must thank Post-Minimalist (whatever that means!) for the trip.
Best wishes to all, except of course the execrable Wagner, in the shadow-life of posterity's attentions.

Mario
 
#9 ·
Mahler is a touch too self-pitying for my liking. Instead of rejoicing in this amazing talent he's been given (which most of us would give our right arms for), he seems to want to use it to make us all understand his misery more fully. So I decided I'd help him to take the quickest way out.
 
#24 ·
Well the results are all in and Herr Mahler is kindly asked to give up his life to save the Winner of the 2009 TalkClassical Great Balloon Debate:
****************
*Alberto Ginastera*
****************


Well done Chi_town/Philly! :D:D:D:D

The Ginastera Celebrations will commence after a short farewell from Gustav Mahler if he would like to say a few words. Excellent show from Handlebar BTW!

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