Blogs

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Johannes Brahms and His Family
Johannes Brahms would not do well on Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok, that’s for sure. Of course, he is one of the most widely performed and beloved composers of all time. In the historiography of music, he stands alongside Johann Sebastian
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Beyond the Silver Screen
The Concert Music of John Williams
I’ve never made a secret of the fact that John Williams is my favourite film composer. With over 100 film scores to his credit, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic
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Dance, Dance, Dance: The Branle
The Branle was a group dance, performed by couples in a line or in a circle. The name of the dance comes from the French verb ‘branler’, meaning to shake, sway, or wobble because of the sideways steps. After the
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More Than a Toy
Everything About the Toy Piano
There are a surprising number of pieces written for toy piano. One of the most famous is John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano (1948) but the instrument has a much longer history, dating back to the mid-19th century. As pianos
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Nicknamed Compositions by Franz Schubert
During the first decades of the 19th Century, the city of Vienna must have been a real party town. Conductors, performers and composers from all parts of Europe flocked to the city to take advantage of the rapidly expanding employment
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Opera Doctors – the 20th century, Part II
The character of Dr. Daniel Athanasius in Hans Pfiztner’s 1931 opera Das Herz returns us to the Faustian pacts we saw in the 19th century, however, this opera has a very different ending. Instead of being dragged down to hell,
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School Music Teachers: Ingenuity, Innovation, and Inspiration
Christian Li Plays Handel Halvorsen Violin and viola duo Once again, it’s back to school time and music teachers are preparing their classrooms with equipment and with innovation. You’d be surprised how many issues a music teacher encounters. Organizing the
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King and Composer: Henry V of England
We know of Henry V through Shakespeare’s eponymous history play, telling of the events surrounding the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. We first met Henry V when he was plain Hal, bouncing around the play Henry IV, parts 1 and
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