June 18 (EIRNS)–The National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. published on June 16 a package of interviews with all of the U.S. ambassadors to Russia since the late 1980’s, starting with Jack Matlock. EIR has yet to review the entire package but Russian President Vladimir Putin figures largely in the interviews as he’s been there for the entire period of those ambassadorships. The response of Jack Matlock, who was ambassador to the then-Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991, to a question on Putin, is of significance, given the recent British effort to mythologize the history of that period, particularly with respect to German re-unification and NATO expansion.
“I think to be fair to Putin, I would say he started out being-–hoping to be-–an ally of the United States. He was the first to call President Bush after 9/11; he offered full cooperation in our invasion of Afghanistan, including overflights, intelligence, and so on,” Matlock noted. “What did we do in exchange?”
“We withdrew from some of our most basic agreements with Russia,” Matlock went on, answering his own question. “We kept expanding NATO, something that the first President Bush had promised Gorbachev we would not do if he allowed the unification of Germany and Germany to stay in NATO. Step by step we pulled out of even our most basic agreements and then, increasingly, are surrounding Russia, right up to their borders, right up to beyond their borders of the former Soviet Union, with a military alliance which they are not in.”
Matlock was not endorsing the style of internal politics in Russia and expressed his own view that there are things he believes Putin has done that have been damaging to Russia but, he stressed, “the Russian people are entitled to choose their leadership, and though his popularity may not be quite what it used to be, it is still greater in Russia than any of our recent presidents have been in the United States. And I would suggest that, before we condemn him too much, we think about that.”
A Presidents Day tribute to G. Washington and A. Lincoln both of whom loved music: Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata for violin and piano played by a master.
The Kreutzer Sonata, Beethoven’s ninth for violin and piano, is sometimes referred to as “the other Ninth”. The story of its dedication is famous: The half-African violinist George Bridgetower came to Vienna, where he and Beethoven immediately hit it off. Beethoven composed this sonata for him and dedicated it accordingly. Unfortunately, during the celebration of its successful premiere, Bridgetower impugned the morals of a woman whom Beethoven admired, leading Beethoven to rip up the title page and dedicate the sonata instead to the violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, who actually disliked the work and never performed it!
At the age of 82, the great violinist Nathan Milstein performed the Kreutzer sonata with pianist Georges Pludermacher, in what was to become his last public performance. A short bio of Milstein precedes the sonata.[Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Today, Beethoven’s second piece of Opus 49.
We are eternally grateful to Beethoven’s brother Kaspar, who arranged for the publication, against the composer’s wishes, of the two “Leichte Sonaten” Opus 49. There is hardly a piano student who has not learned from study of these graceful pieces.
We present here the Opus 49 number 2, Beethoven’s 20th piano sonata, complete with score (performer sadly unidentified). [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Beethoven’s “Leichte Sonaten” composed in 1795-76 but not released publicly until 1805 are often studied by students.
The Opus 49 “Leichte Sonaten” (light sonatas) are only known today because Kaspar van Beethoven, one of the composer’s brothers, decided on his own to present them for publication in 1805, fully ten years after they had been composed. They are both two-movement works of great charm, popular among students and professionals alike.
Here Wilhelm Kempff performs Beethoven’s Sonata #19, Opus 49 no. 1.
Beethoven’s piano sonata Op. # 3 in E-flat major, “The Hunt,” was written in 1802.
The third of the Opus 31 sonatas is affectionately known as “The Hunt”, a nickname that describes only the last movement – fast, rollicking, and full of “horn calls”. This is one of Beethoven’s most good-natured works, displaying grace, charm, and wit throughout.
British pianist George Harliono recorded this sonata in the “Snape Maltings” concert hall – a repurposed building originally used for brewing beer and now famous for its superb acoustics. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Schiller Institute author, Hussein Askary, speaks to Nigerians: Africa will become the workshop of the world.
On Feb. 4, Hussein Askary, a Schiller Institute member and co-author of its special report, Extending the New Silk Road to West Asia and Africa – a Vision of an Economic Renaissance, spoke to a webinar in Abuja, Nigeria. The event, sponsored by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), focused on critical need for railway development across Nigeria. The country’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was unable to attend but sent his remarks, declaring the Buhari administration is looks to build a “functional and industrial transportation backbone [to] aid economic growth.”
Askary broadened the event’s focus stressing the need for African wide transport network integration. This, he said, would lead to what Lyndon LaRouche called for, i.e. development corridors spiraling outward from the rail lines. He showed China’s critical role in nurturing this development and debunked so-called “debt trap” charges. Askary painted Africa’s future, with its young population, as bright, and if given the tools of progress, one in which it will become the breadbasket and workshop of the world. Here is his 15 min. presentation.
To learn more visit our World Land-Bridge page: https://schillerinstitute.com/our-campaign/build-the-world-land-bridge/
Beethoven’s “Tempest,” Opus 31 #2 in D-minor.
We come to one of the greatest sonatas in the entire repertoire, the Opus 31 #2 in D-minor, nicknamed “The Tempest”. From the unsettling eerieness of the opening movement, to the marvelous , orchestra-like setting of the Adagio second movement, and then the “moto perpetuo” Allegretto at the close, this sonata is riveting throughout.
The technical demands of this sonata place are overshadowed by its interpretive challenges, so really great performances are hard to come by. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
We’ve selected this one by Daniel Barenboim:
Beethoven’s Opus 31 piano sonatas began a new path for him.
Beethoven composed his trio of Opus 31 piano sonatas in 1801-1802, after he had remarked to his student Carl Czerny that he was dissatisfied with his compositions so far and was setting out on a new path. Each of the sonatas is strikingly different, and none is reminiscent of the courtly style of Haydn or Mozart.
The Opus 31 no. 1, Beethoven’s 16th sonata, is described by one commentator as “a running joke on the excesses of Italian opera”.
That spirit is captured perfectly in this performance by Szymon Nehring:
Beethoven, Franz Schubert: musical dialogue and the C-minor series.
No investigation of the C-minor dialogue among composers can be complete without the astonishing C-minor sonata by Franz Schubert, whose birthday we recognized on January 31. Schubert, a native of Vienna, was 15 years Beethoven’s junior, although he died just one year after Beethoven at the age of 31. In fact, he was one of the pallbearers at Beethoven’s funeral. His C-minor sonata, D958, is often performed together with Beethoven’s 32 Variations on an Original Theme, WoO 80 also in C minor, with which it has obvious affinities. Notes by Margaret Scialdone.
Beethoven’s variations are performed by Sookkyung Cho:
and Schubert’s sonata by Sergey Kuznetsov:
Beethoven and the C-minor dialogue.
We return to Beethoven with two of his best-known sonatas in C-minor: the Pathétique and the Opus 111. Listen for the development of the theme that Bach put forward in his Musical Offering!
Sonata Pathétique (1st movement) played by Dubravka Tomsic:
Opus 111 (1st movement) played by Alfred Brendel: