Blogs

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Playing Badly Alone
I love to be able to play badly alone – pianist Mitsuko Uchida (from an interview with journalist Joshua Barone) Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, D. 960 – IV. Allegro ma non troppo (Mitsuko Uchida, piano) Confined
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How to Talk So Colleagues Will Listen
Golden Rules for Chamber Music Playing
Playing chamber music has always been a great joy. Now more than ever, chamber music has become the essential genre for musicians. During these challenging times, while we avoid large gatherings, musicians have realized we must re-imagine concerts and performing.
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Playing Second Fiddle (Ahem, Clarinet)
My work in Britten Sinfonia frequently involves playing second clarinet parts, yet elsewhere (like many wind players) I move between second and principal positions. I get asked if I enjoy one more than the other, and the honest truth is
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In Memoriam: Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020)
Until very recently, the music of Russian composer and pianist Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020) was virtually unknown to Western audiences. Although he has authored more than 150 works—among them several piano concertos and chamber compositions—Kapustin has been stubbornly unwilling to participate
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My Beethoven by Eliza
Introducing Beethoven’s Symphonies to Toddler Yes! There is a long list of classical music specially composed for children. Over the years, Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker helped create some of
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Franz Schubert – Composer for Our Corona Times
Schubert…..makes tears catch at the edge of my eyes; such fragile hope, such powerful emotions. Ian McMillan, poet (via Twitter) I was reminded of Ian McMillan’s quote while listening to the final lunchtime lockdown concert from London’s Wigmore Hall, a
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In Memoriam: Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)
Interlude is sad to announce the passing of probably the most famous film composer of the 20th century. Ennio Morricone (1928-2020) scored more than 500 films over several decades in almost every imaginable musical style and for almost every imaginable
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Exile Music—Even When the Body Is Quelled the Human Spirit Soars
Even under the worst of circumstances, when one group of people brutalizes another, despite oppression, the drive to make and create music cannot be suppressed. Research has shown that during the Holocaust, in the most heinous of conditions, the prisoners
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