Blogs

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A Journey to the Heart
Schubertiade Hohenems 2025
The Schubertiade Hohenems, specifically the one held in July 2025, was more than simply visiting a music festival; it felt like coming home. Tucked between the rolling hills of Vorarlberg and the shadow of the Alps, Hohenems hosted a celebration
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A Boulez Celebration
Ensemble Intercontemporain
Jean-Guihen Queyras and Pierre-Laurent Aimard
In the hallowed halls of the Philharmonie de Paris, the Boulez Celebration of 6 January 2025 unfolded as a vibrant tribute to the centenary of Pierre Boulez’s birth. Under the masterful direction of Pierre Bleuse, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, an ensemble
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Robert Schumann’s Illness, In His Own Words
Every person with mental illness experiences it in different ways, with different symptoms of different severities. This deeply personal and subjective experience means that mental illness is famously difficult to diagnose, even with our comparatively advanced medical knowledge. If it’s
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Your Favorite Composers’ Favorite Composers
Pop star Chappell Roan has adopted a slogan for herself that has become famous: “I’m your favourite artist’s favourite artist!” Who’s the equivalent in the classical music world? Have you ever wondered who your favourite composer’s favourite composer was? Sometimes
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The Crazy Deadly Inventions of Maurice Ravel’s Father
Thanks to the precision of his compositional technique, the work of Maurice Ravel has been compared to that of “a Swiss watchmaker.” The descriptor is even more accurate than it seems at first glance. Maurice’s father, Pierre-Joseph, was indeed Swiss,
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From Vision to Victory
Sir Henry Wood and the Heart of the BBC Proms
It has all started again, hurrah! I am, of course, referring to the BBC Proms, officially the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. It’s one of the world’s most beloved classical music festivals, held every summer for eight weeks, mostly at London’s
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How the Clara Theme Unlocks Early Schumann
Robert Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17, opens with a passionate declaration of what scholars and performers often call the “Clara theme,” a five-note descending scale. But what is this melody, and why does it matter? To understand it, its
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Brahms’s Composer Colleagues and Their Unjustly Neglected Masterpieces, Part 2
Great composers are often placed on pedestals, and it can be easy to forget that they spent their careers working alongside talented composer colleagues. Johannes Brahms was no exception. Today, we’re looking at the lives and music of five of
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