The psalm text “Ecce quam bonum et quam iocundum habitare fratres in unum” (Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity) (Vulgate Ps. 132, King James Ps. 133) was widely used in medieval
March, 2022
Although he published it second, Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor was actually the first concerto he composed. Written before he had actually finished his formal education, Chopin was the soloist in the premiere of the work on 17 March
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) wrote very little for solo piano – a mere 6 pieces – but one of them was the delightful Holiday Diary, written in 1934, when he was 21, but creating a scene as for a child half
When it comes to religious eroticism, nothing beats Jules Massenet’s Thaïs, composed to a libretto by Louis Gallet and based on a novel by Anatole France. The action takes place in Alexandria and the Thebaid desert in Egypt in the
We think of musical notation as an object to be realized by a performer. As it sits on the page, there’s little there for someone who’s not musically educated to understand. You need the knowledge to read the notes. And
Mykola Lysenko: String Quartet in D minor, “1st Movement” The political conditions in 19th century Europe spawned a rapid growth of Nationalism and Patriotism across the continent. “The pride of conquering nations and the struggle for freedom of suppressed ones
The country gentleman as composer sounds like the stuff of romance novels, but for Right Honourable Sir Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, later 14th Baron Berners in the peerage of England, and a baronet, that was his life. On the surface a
