Template:Did you know nominations/Alchymic Quartet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cielquiparle (talk) 12:43, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Alchymic Quartet

Andrew Szydlo presenting chemical experimants
Andrew Szydlo presenting chemical experimants

Created by Gerda Arendt (talk). Self-nominated at 15:45, 31 December 2022 (UTC).

General: Article is new enough and long enough
Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation

Image eligibility:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Ready to approve once QPQ completed.  Ploni💬  00:07, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick review. I reviewed now Template:Did you know nominations/Ariana Orrego. Perhaps the image could be cropped? GRuban? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 00:24, 1 January 2023 (UTC)
Updated! Cropping it would be an improvement.  Ploni💬  01:07, 1 January 2023 (UTC)
Finally: I got it cropped thanks to GRuban, Ploni. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:52, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
Looks good to go!  Ploni💬  02:59, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
@Gerda Arendt: loving the hook, but it's a bit unclear to me. Was it intended to be played regularly during the teacher's experiments? If so, can the article be updated to match? And when the article says He won Szydlo to not only come for the celebration of his 60th birthday, but also give a speech at the main concert, I don't understand what "won" means. Was there a contest? theleekycauldron (talkcontribs) (she/her) 07:05, 20 February 2023 (UTC)
Last first: in German, you can "jemanden für eine Aufgabe gewinnen", and it didn't occur to me as an idiom, sorry. Deepl tells me it's "to win someone over to a task". Would that be good enough or is there a better phrase for it? It was a major trip for Szydlo, so having the experiments on the side was ideal, but will be rare, beginning with not happening the following day, when the chemist sat in the audience after his speech and was the first to stand for the ovation (pictured). Music is often inspired by something but can be meaningfully performed without the something. The same composer wrote a piece inspired by a painting, but you don't have to know the painting, or by concentric phenomena, as you will remember. - This hook would be most meaningful on 28 Februar 2023, his mother's 90th birthday. She sat next to Szydlo but didn't rise as fast. (But I hate to ask favours ;) - I love GRuban's pic cropping, better later than no pic.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:38, 20 February 2023 (UTC)
Hook needs revision per discussion above. Cielquiparle (talk) 12:10, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
Didn't I explain? Help wording, please? We could say "meant to be played", "intended ...", "ideally ...", or say that the first time (on 4 Nov), that actually happened? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:21, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
when i first read this hook, i admittedly had thought waterhouse had written the music for his teacher to play in the background while he was conducting research. i didn't realize i had read it incorrectly until now, so thanks for bringing this up, theleekycauldron. the article suggests to me that the composition was written to be ideally performed alongside the chemical experiments, although the experiments themselves aren't strictly required for the performance. would replacing "to be played during" with "written to be performed alongside" or "written to be accompanied by" resolve this ambiguity?
regarding the use of "won", would replacing it with "convinced" or "persuaded" be appropriate? note that both words suggest that the performer did not immediately agree to the task when it was requested of them, but i am not sure if the german idiom conveys the same meaning. (i imagine "convinced" is more applicable to this situation, as i personally feel that "persuaded" may suggest a more antagonistic relationship between the two, which, i assume, is not the case here.) Gerda, does this translation seem accurate to you? on the contrary, if szydlo readily agreed to perform, perhaps replacing "He won Szydlo ... his 60th birthday" with "Szydlo agreed ... Waterhouse's 60th birthday" would work.
as an aside, english does have the expression "win over", but i think its use often suggests that the party persuaded was initially opposed to the proposition. dying (talk) 10:26, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you for a valuable English lesson. For the hook, I propose your suggestion:
ALT0a: ... that the Alchymic Quartet is a string quartet by Graham Waterhouse, to be performed alongside chemical experiments of Andrew Szydlo (pictured), his former teacher at Highgate School?
"win" - I understand that "win over" is not appropriate, by your explanation, but the other two also seem to suggest too much of reluctance that had to be overcome. The image in the program book, and what Szydlo said, speak of closeness over all these years, but it was still a big deal for him to not only make the trip, but also arrange for the experiments, and speak the lauding words (in German, and he said: "I learned German for three years to speak in German." - You can hear it in the video), and be the first to stand afterwards right after the final note, initiating the standing ovations. What can English do to say so? "achieved"? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:39, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
oh, that's a difficult question, Gerda. offhand, i can't think of any one english word that encompasses what you wish to describe. i think the word "enlist" might be close, as its frequent use in military contexts may suggest that szydlo's efforts were not trivial, but it similarly suggests that szydlo may have preferred to not perform at all. in any case, since i couldn't find the additional nuance you mentioned in the cited sources, i wouldn't worry too much about trying to include it in the article; i think your current wording, stating that szydlo was invited and came to perform and give a speech, is sufficient if theleekycauldron finds it agreeable. dying (talk) 11:29, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
I think a simple "persuaded" is probably what you're looking for? We wouldn't say that if it weren't important... ALT0a looks good per initial review. theleekycauldron (talkcontribs) (she/her) 08:36, 18 March 2023 (UTC)
theleekycauldron, did you mean to add a tick for alt0a? i am assuming that i can't approve alt0a myself, having suggested the new wording. dying (talk) 18:47, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

yep, should be good to go :) theleekycauldron (talkcontribs) (she/her) 06:23, 28 March 2023 (UTC)