Alfred Brendel conference

“ Can pure music show humour (beyond any extra-musical element such as text or direction)? ” Alfred Brendel, who, when asked his favourite pastime declares “laughing”, answers yes to this question without hesitating and intends to tell us why. He is a passionate musicologist, dedicated to passing knowledge on, and for the past few decades has enjoyed giving conferences such as (“Does classical music have to be entirely serious?” given at the University of Cambridge in 1984). He has also written a great number of articles on his favourite composers. As a speaker, he illustrates his points with numerous musical examples, taken notably from Haydn, perhaps the grand master of humour in music.