Brahms - Schumann - F.A.E. - Eto - Masselos

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Violin Sonatas

Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

F.A.E. Sonata (Frei Aber Einsam) in A minor

I. Allegro - Albert Dietrich (1829-1908)
II. Intermezzo - Robert Schumann
III. Allegro - Brahms
IV. Finale - Schumann

Toshiya Eto, Violin
William Masselos, Piano

(Nonesuch, 1977)

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Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6

Johannes Brahms

Sonata No. 1 in C, Op. 1

William Masselos, Piano

(RCA, 1972)
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LP transfers; includes covers,
labels and notes (English).

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I could offer these LP's without writing a word about the associations they automatically bring to mind - a stream of memories as well as ongoing concerns. But I've decided not to be silent - mainly because of the ongoing concerns - the still-living ideas involved ... rather than some nostalgic saga of this or that which once happened and which is no more. People who have downloaded my torrents might know by now that they occasionally get something outside of "some free music." This will be one of those times.

The two-LP set of Eto and Masselos performing Brahms plus the F.A.E. Sonata was acquired in 1982, during the years I lived in New York. William Masselos was no one I knew personally - but nevertheless a prominent figure in my mind - as well as in the minds of some people I knew at the time. Masselos lived in a building on West End Avenue between West 93rd and 94th Streets. Since I lived on 94th Street, I often saw the pianist on the street in daily comings and goings. But my best chance encounters with the pianist came when I happened to walk past the ground floor windows of his apartment on 93rd Street and heard him playing through his open windows. This was much more than just "free music" in the air - it was the equally important feeling of being humanly supported by the "everyday" presense of a great artist (a feeling, incidentally, I haven't had since then). But this kind of support can also come from a handful of ideas left behind by a handful of great artists ... words, sounds and images; the best reason to keep certain memories alive; and one of the best ways to survive in a predominantly ungenerous time.

For three years (early 1981- late 1983), I was intensely involved with a very unusual chamber music group (we were repeatedly told at the time: "What's going on? These things simply don't happen any more"). When I acquired the Eto / Masselos LP's, my group was planning what would turn out to be its final concert. On the program was to be the F.A.E. Sonata - but no one in the group (Julliard graduates included) had ever heard a performance or recording of the contribution of Albert Dietrich to this joint work. So, I bought the set, and this turned out to be more than instructive. While William Masselos, of course, had nothing directly to do with our group (outside of perhaps having heard of us) - I'm certain he never realized what he and Eto had nurtured on the next street with their wonderful reading of the F.A.E. Sonata - not to mention the three Brahms Sonatas.

Included in this upload is a folder with a selection of documents concerning our chamber music group in the hope that everything is basically self-explanatory. The participants in our group numbered around several dozen, of which very few (among those who survive) now remain on speaking terms. Therefore, whatever place and personal names which happened to appear have been removed. This is inconsequential, however, because as I've indicated, I'm sharing these things because of the ideas which were involved - ideas which continue to be as current as ever (perhaps even more so). What happened during the three years our group existed belongs to a species of unrepeatable events in which people suddenly come together against all odds in an unexpected way; then, they part forever ... but in the process, something is kept alive which was thought to have departed long before.