wagner ovenbird She was in an exclusive symphonic relationship with Wagner. Sometimes you only have room in your heart for one great love, and Wagner was hers. As an act of solidarity she decided to hate Brahms. She had no choice, really, because Wagner hated Brahms and in order to love Wagner properly she decided she had to hate Brahms. Wagner was breaking all the rules, such a dashing rebel! Brahms was a boring traditionalist and she wasn’t going to tolerate hearing any of his music. Her fiance liked Brahms, but he was not allowed to play Brahms in the house, because it would be an insult to Wagner, obviously. She saw the entire Ring Cycle every year, borrowing dresses to wear so she wouldn’t have to appear in the same one twice. She would bring the score with her and spread it across her lap so she could read along. She had collected every score to every piece of music Wagner ever wrote and kept them in a special box in a tucked away closet. Once a friend came over to hang out with her fiancé while she was away. The friend liked Brahms. The fiance liked Brahms. And they took her absence as an opportunity to put Brahms on the record player. Just sit with that for a moment. They played BRAHMS on HER record player. When she came home she was furious. The needle of her record player was now contaminated with Brahms. She would have to replace it. No stylus of HERS was going to touch the grooves which encoded music written by BRAHMS. Her fiance, traitor that he was, sometimes went to the symphony to hear Brahms performed. I don’t know if the marriage survived. Some differences of opinion can be tolerated. But it’s possible Brahms amounted to an irreconcilable difference. At least she has Wagner. She’ll always have Wagner. 260601 what's it to you? who go blather from