Word: scheff
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Directed by JERRY JAMESON Screenplay by MICHAEL SCHEFF and DAVID SPECTOR
...work of Al Jolson ("California Here I Come") but ignores that of Wolfgang Mozart ("Symphony No. 39 in E flat," "The Marriage of Figaro"). Nowhere in the songbook is the music of Ludwig van Beethoven ("The Fifth Symphony," "Missa Solemnis"), another talented foreigner. In fairness to editor Michael Scheff, it must be noted that Beethoven disliked the telephone and refused to compose for it. (Late in his life, Beethoven is reported to have smashed his quill down on his writing table and shouted, "This damn phone is no damn use. It never rings!") But while the dearth of foreign compositions...
...also quibble with Scheff's interpretation of some classics in this collection. His "Old MacDonald Has a Farm" starts strongly (6667887), but after the first "EE-I-EE-I-OHH" (99004) loses all the melody of the original and becomes a toneless and repetitive fake (44444/44444/444444/444444). Similarly, his "Pop Goes the Weasel" begins promisingly, but fizzles fast. (Music historians will always wonder why Scheff chose a 5 for the "pop" in the song's last line. The "pop" was meant to surprise and delight listeners. Would not the higher-pitched 0 or # have served that purpose better than the flat...