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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Who said Ukrainians have no sense of humour?

Or classical musicians for that matter?

... the mysterious Symphony No. 21 by Ovsyankov-Kulikovsky ... actually written by 20th century Ukrainian composer Mikhail Emmanuilovich Goldstein, is a famous fake musical antique: Goldstein, offended by a critic's comments that his Jewishness prevented him from feeling authentic Ukrainian music, penned a symphony on Ukrainian themes under the name of an early 19th century landowner. As such, it was lauded and recorded by the Soviet hierarchy, and the hoax persisted for years.

Gotta love it when they put one over on pompous bureaucrats!

You can hear Symphony No. 21 (and more) at the mid-winter Russian Romantics Festival hosted by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra next January.

1 comment:

Aussiegirl said...

Sounds like the recent example when a Nobel price winning book was submitted to countless publishers under an unknown name. Nobody wanted to publish it. Love it when the pompous get their pompadours clipped. Interesting find!

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