|
Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
|
|
66 members (Animisha, benkeys, BWV846, Anglagard44, brdwyguy, amc252, Bellyman, 16 invisible),
2,260
guests, and
395
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 64
Full Member
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 64 |
I sometimes mention books here, but they're usually specifically about pianos and/or piano-playing. This is a little further afield, about Ernst Hanfstaengl, who became chummy with Hitler mostly due to his piano talents; Hitler used to call him up and ask him to come over and play, and he ended up benefitting in a big way. So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point... Hitler's Piano Player: The Rise and Fall of Ernst Hanfstaengl, Confidant of Hitler, Ally of FDRBy Peter Conradi http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/mar/27/biography.featureshttp://www.powells.com/biblio?inkey=17-9780786716913-0
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565 |
I sometimes mention books here, but they're usually specifically about pianos and/or piano-playing. This is a little further afield, about Ernst Hanfstaengl, who became chummy with Hitler mostly due to his piano talents; Hitler used to call him up and ask him to come over and play, and he ended up benefitting in a big way. So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point... So come on, finish the sentence... So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point... ...tell them to stick with it and pal up with a fascist dictator with a penchant for genocide and world domination and then reap the personal rewards.How's that?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 792
500 Post Club Member
|
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 792 |
Coo....yes!!!!...you could start by annexing Austria and grabbing a whole load of Bösendorfers!!!!
Sauter Alpha 160, Yamaha N3 Avant Grand, Sauter Studio Upright (1974)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,302
1000 Post Club Member
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,302 |
I sometimes mention books here, but they're usually specifically about pianos and/or piano-playing. This is a little further afield, about Ernst Hanfstaengl, who became chummy with Hitler mostly due to his piano talents; Hitler used to call him up and ask him to come over and play, and he ended up benefitting in a big way. So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point... So come on, finish the sentence... So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point... ...tell them to stick with it and pal up with a fascist dictator with a penchant for genocide and world domination and then reap the personal rewards.How's that? but his story doesn't end there. guess you'll have to read the book (or a hitler biography) to find out how that sentence really ends.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565 |
Possibly so. But the way the last line of the OP's post was structured was amusing, unsettling and ambiguous in even measures.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,854
3000 Post Club Member
|
3000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,854 |
I don't think that anything to do with Hitler is amusing in the slightest.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,565 |
I don't think that anything to do with Hitler is amusing in the slightest. I think you've missed the point. It was the unresolved nature of the sentence that amused me - the possibility that the lesson a reluctant young pianist should learn is that rewards might await following an association with someone like Hitler. I mean there is something ironic there, surely? Unless you've had a complete sense of humour bypass (which I suspect you have) or are so horrified at the very mention of Hitler (or anything else evil or highly controversial) that you feel the need to play the role of moral police. Which is really rather boring to be honest.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 16,105
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 16,105 |
I see that this thread is generating some deep-seated emotional thoughts and feelings, perhaps in a negative way.
I saw a movie once, “The Pianistâ€, about a bright and talented pianist in Nazi occupied Europe during World War II. It was a very interesting move.
It may well be that Adolf Hitler was somewhat cultured in his own way and liked music and the fine arts. Chances are, he only used that as another tool in his sinister and monstrous quest to rule the world and annihilate an entire race of human beings, along with everyone else he could not rule with an iron fist.
I doubt that Adolf Hitler would be any kind of positive influence on any young, aspirating pianist, or anyone else for that matter… just my .02.
I was going to lock this thread… but on second thought, and in the interest of freedom of speech, (which is not an absolute guarantee on PW) I’ll leave it for now; but that option remains open.
Rick
Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,925
2000 Post Club Member
|
2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,925 |
Looks like an interesting book. Thanks for the heads up.
"Imagine it in all its primatic colorings, its counterpart in our souls - our souls that are great pianos whose strings, of honey and of steel, the divisions of the rainbow set twanging, loosing on the air great novels of adventure!" - William Carlos Williams
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,302
1000 Post Club Member
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,302 |
i'll paraphase a famous quote and suggest that those who don't study history are destined to abuse it. unfortunately the invocation of godwin's law is inevitable, but i too appreciate the heads up and have ordered the book.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,534
4000 Post Club Member
|
4000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,534 |
Playing for Hitler makes the red dot issue seem trivial...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 64
Full Member
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 64 |
So come on, finish the sentence...
So if a child who balks at piano lessons says that there's no point...
...tell them to stick with it and pal up with a fascist dictator with a penchant for genocide and world domination and then reap the personal rewards.
How's that?
Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to bridle at that. I was thinking in broader, more neutral terms, that it gave him an entre in his early life, starting during his Harvard years, for instance, and in some ways probably helped him survive later on. One night at Harvard, his buddies were having such fun with his playing that they commandeered a truck, hoisted on a piano, and drove him around town late at night, with him playing. (Hitler's interest in culture was apparently rather limited, coming from what would be termed an uncultured background.) What I find funny is the anomaly of two posts in this forum at the same time, with "Hitler" in the title.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,956
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
|
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 13,956 |
What I find funny is the anomaly of two posts in this forum at the same time, with "Hitler" in the title.
Yep - what a hoot.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 213
Full Member
|
Full Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 213 |
What I find funny is the anomaly of two posts in this forum at the same time, with "Hitler" in the title.
I don't know if can be applied in this case, but Goldwin's law seems related: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law Regards, Kurt.-
Last edited by kurtie; 11/20/12 09:34 AM.
|
|
|
Forums43
Topics223,403
Posts3,349,419
Members111,636
|
Most Online15,252 Mar 21st, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|