Lecture on Ysaÿe Sonatas by Peter Wilson (Part 2)

[RaRaLandEQ]

This is wonderful and I would've killed to be there, not to mention he really seems to know what he's talking about, but from someone (an expert) you would expect to pronounce Ysaÿe's name right. I believe ee-sai-ee is the correct Liege pronounciation.

[PeterWilsonMusic]

RaRALandEQ: Bravo! You are the first person to ever raise this issue! You are absolutely accurate in explaining the correct pronunciation of the name Ysaÿe. I based my pronunciation, however, on the way several of his students pronounced the name during interviews or discussions. My guess is that once he came to America, his name was butchered, and he likely resigned to the "easiest" pronunciation. Itzhak Perlman's first name is frequently mispronounced, for example. (So was Milstein's!)

[PeterWilsonMusic]

Truthfully, I have tried to compromise when pronouncing Ysaÿe's name, which is to say that I am gentle in my "EE" sound at the end of the name. A composer whose name is consistently mispronounced is Kurt Weill. Most musicians, ironically, pronounce his name "VILE" when the composer asked specifically that his name pronunciation be CHANGED to highlight the "W" sound in an effort to separate himself from the "Nazi" pronunciations.

[RaRaLandEQ]

First of all, thank you! I almost wanted to remove my comment after thinking I sounded like some snot-nose, because, who am I to point out such frivolous information to an expert. Looks like nobody else bothered to. Guess it had to do with hearing people pronounce my name incorrectly as well. Phonetics. But I do appreciate having all the extra knowledge in return. Did not know that about Weill. Although it is quite common mistake, east of The BeNeLux.

[11marini]

Peter, I'm so glad you uploaded this. I would have killed to have been able to be there for this! Can you upload part 1?

[petardas]

calvoooo