Unconscious bursts of creativity that engender significant artistic endeavors are not necessarily inspired by passionate romantic love alone. Greek mythology believed that this kind of stimulus came from nine muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. Muses were long considered the source of knowledge embodied in poetry, lyric songs and ancient myths. Throughout the history of Western art, artists, writers and musicians have prayed to the muses, or alternately, drawn inspiration from personified muses that conceptually reside beyond the borders of earthly love. True to life, however, composer inspiration has emerged from the entire spectrums of existence and being. Nature has always played a decidedly important role in the inspiration of various classical composers, as did exotic cities, landscapes or rituals. Composer inspiration is also found in poetry, the visual arts, and mythological stories and tales. Artistic, historical or cultural expressions of the past are just as inspirational as is the everyday: the third Punic War or the contrapuntal mastery of Bach is inspirationally just as relevant as are the virulent bat and camel. Composer inspiration is delightfully drawn from heroes and villains, scientific advances, a pet, or something as mundane as a hangover. Discover what fires the imagination of people who never stop asking questions.
Together with Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev, Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) unquestionably represents the pinnacle of 20th-century Russian music. Contrary to his famous compatriots who sought employment in the West, Shostakovich was educated entirely under the Soviet system. Even at times
She was the great-niece of the influential violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim and had a decidedly psychic disposition! Her exotic and colorful name was Jelly d’Aranyi, and during a séance in 1933, Robert Schumann told her to premiere his “long-lost” violin
Charles-Marie Widor’s 10 organ symphonies, inspired by the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Sulpice in Paris revolutionized the art of organ playing and composition in France. However, the composer also left behind a substantial number of meticulously crafted compositions for a
When we think of the composer Bernard Herrmann, we think of his film music and how it could carry a scene. Think about it: after you see Psycho, with those, literally, slashing strings, did you ever take a shower with
Forget about unattainable lovers, idealized beauty or threatening nature! When it comes to artistic inspiration and musings, nothing has been more popular than death! Indeed, death is a cruel mistress to us all! Gruesome inevitability aside, death has inspired some
Bilder aus Osten (Pictures from the East), 6 Impromptus for piano 4-hands, written 1848, came at a time in Schumann’s life when he was bothered by a number of problems. He had recurring bouts of tinnitus when all he could
As a new mother, I am always looking for things with which to entertain my ten-month-old. Because I’m a musician, the first thing I would turn to is music. Not impressed with the Mozart for Babies CDs, and bored of
One of the great joys of music from the Classical period is what other composers did with it. It was very common, even up through the 19th century, to take a theme from one composer’s work and do variation sets