Two portraits of Vladimir Mayakovsky by Alexander Rodchenko, via paris.blog.lemonde.fr

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James and I have been listening to this excellent box set of vocal music from the former East Germany.

The widget above plays a sample of Friedrich Schenker's "Leitfaden fur angehende Speichellecker" (Guide for bootlickers-in-training) composed in 1974. The text is based on a 1927 poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky, in which the poet provides a satirical "guide for toadies" and at the end rips off the mask and says tells the audience to do just the opposite. In the Schenker piece, the singer tears up her music and throws it away at the end, and the pianist slams down the piano lid and stomps away. My description is adapted from the booklet of the box set mentioned above.