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Subject:
From:
"Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 9 Sep 2006 16:04:38 -0500
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Clara Clemens wrote an article about her father and music for Etude Magazine
in the 1920s. I don't have the citation handy, sorry. Paine also had a lot
to say about his musical tastes in his biography (besides slave songs, he
enjoyed Chopin nocturnes and the sorts of things Clara learned to play when
taking lessons with Leschetizky). Twain attended many operas and recitals in
Germany when living there in 1897-8. He later enjoyed of lot of what Ossip
Gabrilowitsch played at Stormfield and there is a commercial CD of OG's
piano playing, including OG's own compositions, if you want to hear somebody
playing piano who actually played for Twain.

Re: recordings of Twain. Edison visited Stormfield and made the film and
made a recording. The film survives because it was distributed with a 1909
film version of P&P; the recording does not survive because of a fire at the
Edison plant, ca. 1913. That film (there are two distinct segments, one with
his daughters, the other sauntering around the entrance to Stormfield) can
be seen as part of the Ken Burns film on Twain. There are several known
instances when Twain's voice was recorded and a search of the MT Forum
archives will yield those postings (including my own), which pretty much
cover what is known on the subject.

Re: Twain wearing white suits. I don't recall that it was ever clarified by
anyone, but Twain regularly wore white suits in the early 1870s, but like
most men of the day, wore them only in the summer. A little digging would
probably confirm he wore them in the 1860s. Reporters who interviewed him in
the early 1870s repeatedly comment on his dress, mentioning his white summer
attire. But his white suits only became news-worthy when Twain began wearing
them outside the summer months. I think Twain himself-- or maybe it was
Paine-- claims this began when he wore a white suit to the Congressional
copyright hearings, but I think it began a little earlier than that. In
seeking an answer to this question, do keep in mind that finding a photo of
Twain in a white suit in a given year does not really mean much unless you
can verify the month in which he was wearing it.

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX

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