February, 2015

32 Posts
archive-post-image
Dancing in Bach’s Chains
What happens when you take a synthesized excerpt of the fugue in B-minor from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach and use it to frame a pop song? In the case of Lady Gaga and her
Read more
archive-post-image
Piano Trios – Fauré / Pierné
Gabriel Pierné Piano Trio op.45 II. Allegretto scherzando From Piano Trios – Fauré / Pierné (2014) Released by Harmonia Mundi Pierné: Piano Trio op.45 – II. Allegretto scherzandoGabriel Fauré’s Piano Trio is a late work (1923) which at once aroused
Read more
archive-post-image
Meeting Julian Lloyd Webber
Music runs in the blood of the Lloyd Webber family; his parents were students of the great Vaughan William at the Royal College of Music, his godfather was the English composer Herbert Howells, and of course, his elder brother Andrew
Read more
archive-post-image
The Armchair Traveller
Many composers are inspired by the places that they live, or by the people they know and their music can convey those images long after the places or people are just memories. The American composer, Ferde (or Ferdie) Grofé, was
Read more
archive-post-image
For the Fun of it All!
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962)
Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) gleefully reminds us that high-quality classical music does not always have to be deadly serious. He managed to sum up his general approach and attitude towards music in a few meaningful words: “I want to be free—independent
Read more
archive-post-image
Opposites Attract: Well, what then?
Alexander Scriabin and Vera Ivanovna Isakovich
Natalya Sekerina emphatically rejected Alexander Scriabin’s proposal of marriage, and the composer was devastated. In a long letter, after many years had passed, Natalya writes, “That beloved man could never have had happiness, if I had been afraid to say
Read more
archive-post-image
Instruments of the Orchestra: I. The Violin
When you attend a symphony orchestra concert, the first instrument you see, on the left of the stage, are the violins. No classical music concert is complete without a violin. Violins are small string instruments that are played with a
Read more
archive-post-image
J.M.W. Turner and Frédéric Chopin –
Visions of Modernity in Art and Music
The recently released film, ‘Mr. Turner’, by Mike Leigh focuses on the last 25 years of James Turner’s (1775-1849) life, the height of Turner’s career. The film opens with a beautiful Dutch landscape scene, with the sun rising at dawn,
Read more