Today's Piano Puzzler
We have a new one this week. And…and YIPES!, two weeks in a row, we have another first. Last week, the first was a contestant for the Piano Puzzler being someone who is a reader of this website and wrote here to say she was going to be a contestant and was anxious to see what I thought about how she did. This week, the first is arguably even more remarkable –
The contestant this week is Charles Schlotter from Bradenton, Florida. I saw that and quickly sat up. Because I actually know a Charles Schlotter. And I wondered if it was the same guy. But I thought it pretty likely. That’s because Charlie is a member of the Writers Guild, and we were friendly. But he moved away several decades ago, and we lost touch. I don’t recall where…but I think it was to Florida. And even more evidence is that he was a major fan of opera, having encyclopedic knowledge of the field. So, I thought it was very likely the Charles Schlotter I know, but I wondered if I’d be able to recognize his voice and confirm the matter. After all, it’s been a long time since we’ve spoken, maybe 20-25 years. And after the first word, I shouted out, “That’s Charlie!!” And as his conversation with host Fred Child continued, there was absolutely zero question that it was him. Further, they talk about him growing up in Pittsburgh, and…again, bingo, I remember Charlie talking about being from Pittsburgh.
And, man, was he given a difficult one. The composer style was one of those I’m generally lost in. But I thought it was between two possibilities – and guessed the wrong one. Happily, Charlie guess right! As for the hidden tun, I could hear what I thought was the tune, but couldn’t place it. So, I stopped the recording and repeated it. And sort of hear the tune better, and had a guess, but without any certainty. Charlie couldn’t hear it either, so pianist Bruce Adolph repeated it, emphasizing the tune…slightly. I had a different guess this time, but also without any certainty. And Charlie was pretty stumped, but with a few clues, did eventually get it, And it’s really well-hidden. (Oddly, when I first heard it played here, I sort of, kind of had an vague idea of who t thought that the composer of the hidden tune might remotely, maybe be, who it turned out did write it. But I didn’t recognize nearly enough to stick with that thought, and so moved on to completely different guesses.)
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