Playlists

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Cello Concerto Overview: The Should Haves Part II
Here are six more cello concertos a cellist should have in their repertoire. Robert Schumann studied the cello as a youngster and although he was unable to continue due to an injury to his right hand he developed a deep
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Cello Concerto Overview: The Should Haves Part I
Concert Favorites: Cello Concertos That You Should Learn My teacher János Starker used to say that cellist soloists have to be ready to play a greater number of concertos than our more brilliant sister, the violinist, who can play an
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Piano Songs
The ‘Song Without Words’, a work for solo piano with a distinctive lyrical or songful melody line, is most usually associated with the composer Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote over 50 Songs Without Words at various points throughout his life. These
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Music and Nature: Flowers
Flowers show us the invisible world – they pop up to show us Spring, they dance in the wind, they bring happiness, and can mark occasions of solemnity. Composers, accordingly, use music to show us flowers – dancing, or something
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Music and Nature: Water
Water, in music, is more than just a drop in the ocean. Composers imagine water in rivers, water falling from the sky, water jetting up to the sky, water as a single raindrop, or as the entire sea. Water creatures,
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Music and Nature: Trees
When we’re young and in dance class, we’re told to imitate trees – swaying in the wind, bowing down in a torrent of rain or just standing tall in the cold winter sun. Composers are equally inspired; they see trees
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Child’s Play
Piano Music For and About Children
Music for children has inspired composers from J S Bach to the present day. Bach’s Twelve Little Preludes were included in Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s Klavierbüchlein, a collection of short pieces for one of Bach’s sons, and intended to help the
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Music for piano duet
The piano duet – four hands sharing one keyboard – was once an important part of musical activity, to be enjoyed at home and in the cultural salons of Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and in more
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