March, 2021

59 Posts
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Behind the Curtain
Brahms’ Funeral Music
At the end of the summer of 1896, Johannes Brahms was displaying some typical jaundice symptoms. The whites of his eyes and the mucous membranes had started to turn yellow. His doctors continued to observe Brahms for several months before
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Upcycling Sound
You see them huddled on top shelves in antique stores, pinned to the walls in themed bars and restaurants, or piled in mouldy smelling cases at swap meets and antiques fairs. What can be done with these poor abandoned instruments?
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Music to Make you Happy and Feel Energized
Best Classical Music to Workout To There are certain times when you want music to bring you up out of your chair, get you skipping around the room, and change your feeling to one of complete energy. We surveyed our
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Where Will I Go to Cough?
Credit: Nick Newman
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Perfect, But Too Strong: Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3
Beethoven’s opera Fidelio had problems from the start. Its premiere, in November 1805, came a week after Napoleon’s troops had invaded Vienna. The composer’s patrons had left the city, and the audience, largely made up of French officers, didn’t like
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The Music of Poetry
Wilhelm Müller: “Die schöne Müllerin”
The poet Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827) was famous in his lifetime for his verses in support of Greek struggle for emancipation from the Turks. Today, we mainly remember him for the highly popular song-cycles “Die schöne Müllerin,” and “Die Winterreise,” poems
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What Have Musicians Learned From Lockdown?
Most of us have had to live in lockdown or under various restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic for over a year now. It has been a particularly difficult time for musicians, in an already precarious profession, and the knock-on
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A Playlist for Piano Day 2021
Piano Day was founded in 2015 by composer and pianist Nils Frahm, and a group of like-minded others, and it celebrates all things piano – the instrument and those who play it, its extensive repertoire, and other piano-related projects. It
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