Since we posted a “review” of the audience for the Pittsburgh Symphony last Sunday, Amanda’s review of the actual concert for Bachtrack is here.

By the way, everyone know the lyrics to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth?   Some from this website, and some Amanda learned in her horn-playing days:

1st movement, motto theme: “Who’s got the key to the sh*t-house?” (Alternative: “This is the Fifth of Tchaikovsky…)

2nd movement: “I am a horn player, this is my solo…”

3rd movement: “Once I was a virgin,/Now I am a whore,/Once I went for sixpence,/Now I go for more…”  (Must be British musicians coming up with these.)

4th movement: motto theme again.

Have a listen if you’re not convinced (Mravinsky’s filmed performance is here).

If you think these lyrics are bad, have a look at Sigmund Spaeth’s Great Symphonies: How to Recognize and Remember Them (1936); well worth a look here.

One example, Schumann’s Third Symphony (the “Rhenish”): “Rhineland, lovely Rhineland, super-fine land!”

But oh, for a time when people thought it necessary to even indulge in such an exercise!

Schumann’s Third here (the stunning venue is the Frauenkirche in Dresden, built 1743, destroyed 1945, rebuilt 2005):