Zwischen Mundstück und Mikrofon

When there is not a reverent silence in the Berlin Philharmonic, but instead bursts of laughter fill the room, it is usually one person to blame: Klaus Wallendorf. Originally a principal horn player, he has often lightened the mood significantly with his announcements, moderations, interludes of poetry, and comedic inserts.

Although Wallendorf is now retired, the Philharmonic has appointed him as the "court poet for life" and continually requests his participation. He still actively tours the country with "Kleine Lachmusik" and "German Brass."

In this book, Klaus Wallendorf has gathered what has entertained the music world for decades: reports from the orchestra pit, poems and speaking polkas, introductions, overviews, and digressions, a daring study of instruments, witty descriptions of pieces, and humorous observations from the everyday lives of his musician colleagues. In doing so, he has crafted a musician's biography of a completely different kind.

In it, you will learn, for example:

• how to use double tonguing
• how Karajan tests horn players
• how to practice low notes on a high seat
• how to avoid a python in the rainforests of Queensland
• what connects the timpanist with invertebrates
• interesting facts about the dramatic processes in the throat of brass players
• what drives the home conductor
• how to give a eulogy
• how to amplify sound in a center
• what is meant by symphonic kitchen duty
• what really happens when the Philharmonic travels

In Wallendorf's collected papers, you will discover all this in a diaphragm-tickling way, with illustrations by F. W. Bernstein and Heike Drewelow.

"Klaus Wallendorf is the funniest colleague in the superstar ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic.".