Blogs

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Unravelling the influential Franco-Belgian violin and organ schools I
By 1918, the century-old Franco-Belgian traditions of violin and organ studies, developed at the Paris Conservatoire, had undergone modifications that helped consolidate their tenets, empower their disciples, and spread their influence worldwide, to this day.
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Preludes for Piano
There is a great tradition of prelude writing which stretches back to J S Bach, and beyond to the Renaissance, when musicians would use an improvisatory Praeludium (Prelude) as an opportunity to warm up fingers and check the instrument’s tuning
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Dmitri Hvorostovsky (1962-2017)
Elvis of Opera
Affectionately known as “Dima” to his family and closest friends, Dmitri Hvorostovsky commanded the operatic stage with his smoldering good looks and one of the most distinctive voices of his time. His velvety yet dark-grained baritone timbre, seamless legato and
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Forgotten Quartets
Quatuor Capet (1893-1928)
The artistic destinies of those who lived through the cultural ferment in France between 1870-1939, form an interlocking web of cross- influences and political intrigue which can be difficult for the historian to unravel.
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The Art of the Piano Étude
The piano study or ‘Étude’ has long engaged and challenged pianists, and the practice of writing Études to provide practice material for perfecting a particular pianistic technique, such as playing octaves, thirds or rapid scalic passages, developed in the early
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Music 33,000 Feet Above
Aeroflot
How does one kill time on board a transcontinental flight? Some are determined to sleep over. Some keep watching movies until get tired and fall asleep. Those in the business or first class may lie down to have a decent
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How music is catalogued
To help identify and organise pieces of music by a particular composer, individual compositions or sets of works are usually given an “Opus” number. The word “opus” is Latin and means “work” or “work of art”, often abbreviated as “Op.”,
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An Autumn Sonata – Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A, D959
The Sonata in A, D959, is the middle panel of the triptych of Schubert’s final sonatas. Schubert completed his final three piano sonatas in September 1828, just a few months before his death at the age of 31. Schubert numbered
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