Blogs

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10 Podcasts about Classical Music and Beyond
Do you listen to podcasts? I enjoy listening to podcasts, especially when I am driving. In this article, I share some podcasts about classical music that our contributors and I listen to. Perhaps there are a few that you might
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The Lyrical Piano
Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words)
Felix Mendelssohn is credited with creating a new genre of music for the piano: the short lyrical pieces known as the Lieder ohne Worte, the Songs Without Words. It was common in the Romantic period to have short lyrical piano
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Making Fun of the Master
Richard Wagner in Caricature
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was a revolutionary in German music and in opera. For opera-goers, the advent of Wagner onto their stages was cause for comment, particularly in the caricature sections. In images, the cartoonists could take aim at all they
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The Enchanting Power of Intimacy: Music in Small Venues
I will never forget a concert I attended in the mid-1980s in a tiny Medieval church in Zadar, a small seaside town in former Yugoslavia. Amidst the ancient stone pillars and arches, a string quartet played music by Beethoven and
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Five Composers Who Died Tragically Young
If you ask music lovers to name a composer who died too young, many will think of Mozart, who died just a month before his 36th birthday, in the midst of composing his Requiem. Of course, the loss of Mozart
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The Loud Harpsichord
Frank Martin’s Harpsichord Concerto
Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890–1974) wrote across all genres but is known for his works for an unusual instrument. Where his 1944 work, Petite symphonie concertante, uses the instrument in conjunction with harp and piano, his 1951–1952 work, Concerto for
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Music of Royalty
King Henry VIII
In popular culture, King Henry VIII (1491–1547) is primarily remembered for his six wives and countless mistresses. His private life was summarized in a popular rhyme. King Henry VIII, To six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, Two
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Putting Anger into Music
Zemlinsky’s The Mermaid
Austrian composer and conductor Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942) was in the middle of the innovations of the Second Viennese School, with Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) as his pupil. However, despite their common location and close age, Zemlinsky was not the revolutionary
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