Unconscious bursts of creativity that engender significant artistic endeavors are not necessarily inspired by passionate romantic love alone. Greek mythology believed that this kind of stimulus came from nine muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. Muses were long considered the source of knowledge embodied in poetry, lyric songs and ancient myths. Throughout the history of Western art, artists, writers and musicians have prayed to the muses, or alternately, drawn inspiration from personified muses that conceptually reside beyond the borders of earthly love. True to life, however, composer inspiration has emerged from the entire spectrums of existence and being. Nature has always played a decidedly important role in the inspiration of various classical composers, as did exotic cities, landscapes or rituals. Composer inspiration is also found in poetry, the visual arts, and mythological stories and tales. Artistic, historical or cultural expressions of the past are just as inspirational as is the everyday: the third Punic War or the contrapuntal mastery of Bach is inspirationally just as relevant as are the virulent bat and camel. Composer inspiration is delightfully drawn from heroes and villains, scientific advances, a pet, or something as mundane as a hangover. Discover what fires the imagination of people who never stop asking questions.
If you love The Blue Danube, but didn’t happen to have an orchestra hanging about, there were many options for being able to play the piece at home, either by yourself or with friends. For solo piano, the work is
Launcelot A. Cranmer-Byng (1872-1945) was a prolific author, translator and editor who published hundreds of articles and compiled numerous books in a variety of languages. His possibly most famous collection is titled “A Lute of Jade.” It was first issued
Austrian composer Johanna Doderer (b. 1969) looked at the Slovenian Lake Bohinj for her second symphony, Bohinj (2015). Lake Bohinj in Slovenia is a remote lake on the edge of Triglav National Park. Ms. Doderer first focused on the magnificent
Johannes Brahms was seemingly nonchalant when it came to critical assessments of his work or the opinions of his fellow composers. Nevertheless, he proudly and secretly kept a handwritten list of works dedicated to him by other composers. In a
Johann Strauss II’s waltz, An der schönen, blauen Danube (By the Beautiful Blue Danube or The Blue Danube), was only a mild success at its premiere at the concert of the Wiener Männergesang-Verein (Vienna Men’s Choral Association) on 15 February
Croatian composer Matej Meštrović (b.1969) brought interesting instruments to his 2018 work Danube Rhapsody, adding in the hammer-struck cimbalom and the Croatian long-necked lute, the tambura or tamburitza. Meštrović uses the folklore of the countries that border the Danube, and
Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) first encountered the Danube in March 1923. On a visit to Bratislava, Slovakia, he saw the river and decided to write a Slavic symphonic poem about it. He regarded the river as Slavic since it passed through
The scandals and doings of centuries-old family dynasties have long been a source of fascination for the general public. Royals like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle manage to stay in the headlines day after day, keeping countless people entertained without
