James Inverne's article about Iestyn Davies' prank nameplate at Carnegie Hall brings to mind those anagram generators on the Web that will humorously rearrange the letters of any name you care to type in.
Just for fun, we here at Classicalite decided to test these anagram generators by typing in the names of some of our favorite composers to see what comes out. What hidden meanings might be lurking in these famous names?
At AnagramGenius.com, we discovered that:
Johann Sebastian Bach =
"Aha! Enchantin' bass job!"
Which sounds perfectly appropriate for that great composer of SATB choral works.
But the following was news to us:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart =
"A famous German waltz god"
Mozart mastered many different musical forms, including the symphony, concerto, mass and opera, but the waltz wasn't really his thing.
We typed in the name of that other waltz god, Johann Strauss Jr., and out came "Son's rash junta."
Perhaps it is written in our names, not our stars, what our accomplishments will be in life. For instance, we were delighted to learn that "Andrew Lloyd Webber" translates to "Bawdy Bellower Nerd."
But we're not sure of the meaning behind this one from wordsmith.org. Maybe an obscure Clockwork Orange reference?
Ludwig van Beethoven = "A Vendible Woven Thug"
Moving on from composers to performers, AnagramGenius.com informs us that "Madonna Louise Ciccone" translates to "Occasional nude income."
And we aren't surprised to hear that "Bruce Springsteen" translates to "Creep brings tunes."
But we're a little concerned about this one:
Valery Gergiev = "Grave grey evil"
As you can tell, we have a bit too much time on our hands here at Classicalite. I will stop here, because if I write about any more anagrams I may bust a lung from laughing. And I don't think that is covered in my workman's comp.
Yours truly,
Nebulous Riot (Louise Burton)
